An open Letter to Tom Durkin, the lawyer 
who represented Matt Hale at his criminal trial in 2004

October 16, 2019

Thomas A. Durkin
Attorney at Law
Durkin and Roberts
2446 North Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60614

tdurkin@durkinroberts.com
(309) 981-0123

Dear Tom,

     I am the first to say that you absolutely destroyed Jon Fox on the witness stand. There is really no doubt about it and I have always conveyed to others my opinion on that subject. Thus you obtained a correct and righteous victory on my behalf in that regard (count three). And I thank you for that.
     The problem, however, is that—in regards to the Evola charge—you conceded to the jury that he and I were talking about a federal judge when that was simply not so, and thus you caused my conviction on two charges (counts two and four) that had utterly no basis.
     It is for that reason that I would hope, desire and expect that you would write a letter addressed to the Pardon Attorney admitting that your concession that Judge Lefkow was the person being talked about resulted in the conviction of an innocent man. As much as my family and I have suffered by virtue of your actions, my interest is in looking forward, not backward, but that is naturally a bit hard to do when one wakes up every day in a prison cell.
     Without Judge Lefkow being talked about, the Evola charge should have been laughed out of court. The jury needed to know that we weren't even talking about the woman when Evola came to my house on 12/5/02 so that my statements on 12/7/02 were a total rejection of his new, un—solicited plans against her life. You denied that jury the truth of my case which required my full acquittal as a matter of law.
     How do I live with this? Not easily. I can only live for that which I still have left: the cause of our people's future.
     The fact of the matter is that your antipathy towards that cause had a big part in the way you defended me at my trial and that it was all to the bad. Therefore, I do not fault you only for your concession of a non-existent federal case. When you told the jury that I "deserve to be convicted on a moral basis," you sent the message to the jury that my life did not matter and the jury received that message loud and clear. Your own animosity towards me and what I believe in prevented you from representing me effectively, sad to say.
     I sent you a letter on July 2nd. I hope that you received it okay. May I hear back from you soon. You can even set up a phone call with me if you would like. The number is (719) 784-9464. Ask to speak to Counselor Hansen. Thanks.
For Truth and Justice, 
Matt Hale
"Attorney—Client Mail: Open only in the presence of Inmate" "Thomas A. Durkin, Atty at Law"
(Please place on envelope. Thanks)

P.S. If you could answer the following basic questions, I am all eyes:
     What the hell am I doing in prison for forty years on charges of soliciting the murder of a federal judge when there is zero evidence that a federal judge was even being talked about on the key date in question? How exactly is that not your fault? Wasn't it important to inform the jury that we weren't talking about Judge Lefkow on 12/5/02? Did they not need to know that in order to fairly adjudicate whether I was guilty of the charges? If a man is charged with trying to rob a bank, doesn't his jury need to know that it wasn't a bank?

cc: Patrick Blegen (co-counsel at trial)