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Man locked out of work by prison of his past
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Sun Archives
- Teen sentenced to four years for slaying of abusive father (5-23-2001)
- Pope’s ex-wife, siblings recall the violence (4-25-2001)
- Teen murder suspect could face adult woes in prison (3-1-2001)
- Judge denies youth bid for freedom (2-8-2000)
- Trial set for Pope (8-29-2000)
Sun Coverage
The Nevada Board of Pardons has been told that Conan Pope must prove himself before his voluntary manslaughter charge is pardoned.
But Pope can’t prove himself, really, if he can’t get a job. And he can’t get a good job unless he gets pardoned — unless he no longer has to tell potential employers about how, at age 15, he killed his dad.
Death was a pattern in the Pope household. Pope’s father, Frank, spent four years behind bars for fatally smothering his infant daughter in the 1960s. While incarcerated, Frank reportedly admitted to killing another daughter as well.
Conan, in turn, served almost six years for fatally shooting his father in 2000. The teenager told Judge Michael Cherry he did it to protect himself and his sister from a father who physically and sexually abused them. Pope pleaded guilty to manslaughter rather than go to trial and detail the grim workings of his father’s household.
At sentencing, Cherry was sympathetic: “I know it’s been a horrific experience for you, Conan Pope,” he said. “You’re still a little boy. You’ve got a lot of time to grow up. I hope the prison time doesn’t set you back ... I’m going to pray for you. Every day. And hope things get better for you.”
So far, things are not getting better.
Parole and probation officers, as well as the Clark County district attorney, have recommended Pope not be pardoned. In a letter to the Pardons Board, county prosecutor Steven Owens noted, among other things, that Pope, now 25, “has failed to exhibit exemplary behavior for an extended period of time.”
Pope spent most of his teenage life in adult prison, where he had a number of exploitative encounters — to put it gently — with adult offenders.
Since his 2006 release, he’s held a few jobs for short periods, and teetered on the verge of homelessness. Every time he applies for new work, attorney Kristina Wildeveld says, background checks yield the manslaughter conviction and Pope, an apprentice electrician, can’t get work flipping burgers.
If pardoned, Pope won’t have to disclose his past to prospective employers. (Of course, the Internet, and its archive of Pope’s ordeal, is a beast that can’t be silenced.)
Beyond this, the pardon would also give Pope some kind of relief, Wildeveld said. It would mean the actions of a troubled teen do not sentence the man he’s become to an invisible life sentence; without bars, but stuck in place just the same.
Pope’s case is an extreme example of something happening across the country. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that job seekers are flooding courts with requests to seal old charges popping up in new job interviews. Clark County District Attorney David Roger has seen an increase in record sealing requests, from roughly 15 a week to about 10 a day.
Because of the severity of his charge, Pope’s only option is a pardon from the board, which includes Gov. Jim Gibbons and Cherry, the same judge that sentenced Pope, now a state Supreme Court justice. Pope will appear before the board this morning in Carson City.
While Wildeveld is confident her client will be successful, the board has reportedly never pardoned anyone convicted of such a violent crime. On Tuesday, on the set of “Face to Face With Jon Ralston,” Pope sat with hands clasped, stiff in a white dress shirt fastened tight around the neck.
He admitted that he should have asked for help instead of shooting his father.
“I could have gone more out to people,” he said, “saw that they would have stepped in and helped out the situation, contacted police for me, but I don’t know if that would have been enough.”
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Well I understand that he wants to be pardoned. I also realize that Murder is still Murder! At any age. He admitted to KILLING another human being ! PERIOD ! So after he can not find a job because of his record, he wants his record sealed and a pardon ?
Are you kidding me ? Murder is Murder, (the end of another human beings life at the hands of another.) If you are man enough to kill, you are man enough to pay the price. ( For every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction ) . I agree with the judge on this one! Think before you act... This is the real world.
What a world we live in. Everyone believes they are judge and jury without being privy to the facts. He had a plea deal. We will never know the entire story. What a nightmare for this kid. To be abused and terrified by his father for years. To know his father had killed his siblings. I guess that was okay because he didn't get caught.
Where were the teachers, neighbors, law enforcement while this kid was growing up? This isn't "just his fault". It the the failure of a society that "doesn't get involved". Hides behind gated communities and ignores opportunities to know neighbors. Try and have a little compassion. If this kid has a chance at changing his life, even a speck, after what he has been through, let's support it.
Great America
This kid should've received a medal for taking out that piece of violent garbage. Conan Pope has been a victim all his life, and he still is.
cnev, yes, it is a failure of a community- but don't judge and blame teachers and neighbors. The father was a threat to everyone he encountered. However, it was a failure of the legal system that gave that violent monster virtual ownership of his kids. The system of law and law enforcement couldn't or wouldn't protect teachers, neighbors, or the kids from the man. That's the real tragedy.
Conan Pope did the community a favor. Stop punishing him. It's enough to make a person crazy, but he's managed to hang in there. He'll never get the medal he deserves, but he can at least get this pardon. Do it.
If I could give him a job, I would.
If the idea of jailing younger offenders is to rehabilitate them for life on the outside changes have to occur to keep them on the outside, at least enough to give them a chance. If it is only to keep them locked away from the public like violent crime offenders should be then don't bother letting them out, make it for "life."
See in the old days, a hundred years ago, when a man left prison he moved to another town, another state, and could start over. Now with these damned computers no one can start over. They follow former criminals everywhere.
Even an offense expunged and sealed, or reversed on appeal, or where someone is acquitted or the case dismissed, still shows as at least an arrest. It is hard for anyone who has made a mistake to start over.
Nevada used to be THE PLACE where people came to start over. Apparently not anymore!
We are setting people up for failure from the day they are arrested.
No excuses anymore. Justice is justice. So be it for this guy as well. If you can't do the time, then don't do the crime. No excuses anymore.
OJ Simpson had excuses, excuses...no more excuses please.
In a Muslim country what would have happened to this guy? Nice lawyer, long trial with delays? Nope!
Quick and final justice is their answer. The blade meets neck...real quick...sorry, no delays of sentence there.
Now we have folks with all kinds of excuses asking that terrorists be tried in New York City....Justice? Hardly, but it will be a real circus that PT Barnum would envy. No more excuses...let's deal out justice, swift, certain and with some sense of meaning to the criminal.
Those with criminal tendencies, for whatever reason or excuse imaginable, must know that justice will be rendered.
This country is violent with the most criminal activity ever recorded in our history. It is time to stop it with certain, not questionable, justice. Make our laws mean something to be respected and obeyed. Stop the legal circus of manipulation, circumventing the law, postponements, delays, etc.,etc.
No one need interpret what I have just written. It says what it says. Those are my words and no on elses. Accept it or reject it...that is your choice... I speak and write only for myself...if you don't like, disagree then read something else more to your liking. Thank you. Have a nice day.
Two words.........NO WAY!!
Maybe he should try writing a book about his life experiences. A ghost writer could help. A lot of people would find it interesting. And in the end he could get a pardon.
Fact check - the crime rate has dropped in the last couple of years.
Where is the motivation to rehabilitate if once your debt is paid to society you still have a life sentence because you can't find gainful employment?
Our judicial system sucks, and the attitude of lock em up and throw away the key does not make for a better country, nor is it just.
if he's an apprentice electrician doesn't the union hall send him out on jobs.its common practice that the local efforts to keep the apprentices working continuously so that they can complete their four year program on time .
Apparently most readers missed the fact that Mr. Cope already served his sentence. The Judicial system has already had its way with him. How a judge could place a child, who would have been about a high school sophomore at the time, in an adult prison where he was almost certain to be used as a sexual pawn for stronger inmates and then says "he will pray for him" is appalling. We have a juvenile justice system for a reason.
As for giving the man a pardon, it seems reasonable to me. If his case had gone to trial, I am willing to bet a jury would have acquitted him, but he wanted to save his sister and himself the trauma of having to sit on the witness stand. That was quite a sacrifice. He already served his time, why keep punishing him? Give him a chance to make a fresh start.
Harry Reid should give him a job and then claim that Obama's ersatz stimulus created 10,000 new jobs in Nevada for felons.
felons? Ollie North, Duke Cunningham? Abranoff? oh that's right theY'rE REPUBLICANS!!
I am conflicted on this.One he killed someone and it shows he has violent tendencies.On the other hand I can not help feel that he was young scared and probably just wanting the easiest escape from his beast of a father.What bothers me is he and his sister were allowed to be with his father after all what his father had done to his other siblings.
So maybe the young man felt the system had failed him and it was his only way out.
Murder is murder that is completely correct but sometimes you do something that you really do not want to do.Mr Pope was a kid and he probably had been terrorised by his father so much that he was not thinking clearly when he killed him.
If Mr Pope is a person with a heart and soul he probably ,if had the chance,would change his actions.I for some reason believe that Mr.Pope deeply regrets his actions and it is hard enough just to live with the fact of what he did but to be constantly persecuted and will never be able to live a normal life is wrong.
Mr. Pope should be given a chance in the work world and not branded as though he is a career murder.He did not do this for the fun of it that seems to be obvious.
Maybe the state needs to give him a job they have the power to overlook what he has done the private sector will never overlook our society is to judgemental and is not willing to invetigate what he did and the circumstances behind it.Would the gamming board give him a gamming license No!!! Why???Because they are close minded and dont want to here the facts.Judge Cherry should have ordered at his sentencing That once his time was served and Mr.Pope went through some evaluations that his records be sealed.The Judge obviously had compassion at the time of sentencing and saw that this was a case of self deffense that could not be proven.The Da's office has submitted a request to dening pardon WHY???? They should feel guilty for cutting a deal and going after Mr.Pope to begin with.They should have thanked him for helping them out.The DA's office should have put his dad away for life.That would hve prevented this from ever happening so Who is to blame The system.
Good luck to you Mr.Pope if I owned a company I would hire you.
vsestini
I think as a child Mr. Pope did do what you are saying then he was condemed for it so what do you want.Mr.Pope to pay or his father.What would you have done under the same cxact circumstances if you were himat the time You probably do not know because you havent been their.It is easy to say if you haven't lived what Mr.Pope lived.
I will say one thing I am very very close to my sister and family and I would probably defened them in anyway I could.To wha t extreme I do not know but I will say this I would defend them from a monster hurting them.All depends on the circumstances.If I was left the opportunity to get the law involved then I would go that route but sometimes you do what you do to protect you loved ones.Remember Mr Pope was a kid with different muturity levels than I and you.
Just like the police they sometimes have to make a decission when protecting the public.
Now if a Police officer had killed the father protecting MrPope and his sister would it be murder?I think not.
red: I don't know Abramoff but Duke was my Congressman in San Diego and I worked with North on two occasions in the Marine Corps. Duke was as sleazy and greedy as any democrat I've ever known and North was an egomaniac but very competent tactically. I've heard that Abramoff arranged for a contract killing at one time. Were you the shooter?
According to the news, this guy's father buried an infant in his back yard. His own brother testified to the fact the guy was a dirt ball. Would you want this guy for your sister?
Some people on here want to speak about morals. The morality of death, and the universal application of the law. If you were beaten by your father, given drugs by your father, what would you do? Run to CPS and get your butt kicked when they fail to protect you.
Life is not black and white, it has many shades of gray. Give this kid a chance, it is not as if he went and hurt innocent people. Unless you have grown up in an environment of chaos and abuse, it will be easy for yo to judge.
Fact is that most criminals become repeat offenders. This is why they are flagged. This case is no different than a guy who kills elderly people "murder is murder". We have to have laws and people need to pay a price when they chose to take a life. We know right from wrong at a very early age in this country and even a 15 year old can chose to not kill. Im tired of all these criminals crying victim and demanding rights, they all forfeit those rights the minute they chose to commit crimes.
well when all the convected felonys cant find any jobs maybe you people can become there next victims so they can earn there way back to prison..So witch one of you people wants to be first..
They may pardon him but the credit reports won't. If he is pardoned and applies for a job they check his credit and it is for sure, "he won't be hired" no matter how much he cries.
Pope may not make it on the outside for a lot of reasons. For one thing, he has issues that are difficult at best to deal with. And while both newspapers in this town have cried a river of tears for him, like today's article for example, he always seems to be on the outside looking in.
The only difference between Pope and most of you so called "Christians" who think he should not be forgiven (as your Jesus said you should do) and continue to be punished is that you have not been caught yet for your crimes or punished for your "sins." Let's see what you have to say about forgiveness and punishment when it is your time to face it!
Believe it or not - people today are getting locked out of work because of their low credit scores.
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