Patrick Bonifay and the Miller ruling
I had not heard from Patrick Bonifay for more than two years. Long before Trout was published, we had a falling out. I continued to send him a birthday card every year and when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Miller and Jackson that life without parole for teenage murderers was unconstitutional, I sent him a card.
A letter from Patrick arrived in the mail the other day. Knowing Patrick, I had assumed he was already making plans for his release, maybe even had plane tickets to Spain or Morocco. I was surprised by the sobriety, and maturity, of his letter:
"I will go before a judge who will now have the discretion to sentence me to less than a life sentence but there's no guarantee that he will. I'm not jumping for joy but just taking things in stride.
"If the judge gives me a sentence that will allow me to be a free man, praise be to God, I will be overjoyed then. If I end up being released I will go to Atlanta and look into being a heavy equipment operator or a truck driver with the real possibility of coming back into the prison system and speaking to high risk youth in an effort to help them make better choices and have some guidance in their lives..."
He signed the letter with is Muslim name, Nabiyl.