Could surrendering have changed Jesse James Hollywood’s fate?

I often wonder what might have been had Jesse James Hollywood understood what surrendering is really all about. I don’t mean the kind where you give up and raise the white flag. Exchange prisoners and turn to a civilian lifestyle after the bodies have been burned and the nightmares buried. I’m talking about accepting what life was like at the very moment of his gravest suffering. From all that I learned in researching this amazing story for both the movie Alpha Dog and my book Stolen Boy, all Jesse had to do was accept the fact that Ben Markowitz owed him money. Sure, Ben had spouted off and threatened Jesse. Yes, they’d had major ego-laden, volatile exchanges. And sure, Jesse was worried Ben might hurt one of his family members, but really, so what? Why couldn’t Jesse have just said – okay, the guy’s a punk, I’ve been punked, and now it’s time to move on.

There is an amazing amount of powerful energy behind someone who learns to do this. This is something we can all do. Look around us, and say, this ain’t so bad after all, is it? This is what is called accepting the moment as it is. Surrendering to what is. It may seem very passive, and non-energetic, but it is actually just the opposite. You see we are conduits to God’s energy, to the Supreme Truth, also known as consciousness. Consciousness is the energy of our creator. So, we are the hole in the flute, and what we do is ask the God energy to play us. Let’s not block the hole – let’s open it up to all that is.

Most of the God energy that swirls around us is wasted through negative thoughts, emotions, and actions. This is what the world of form is all about. We see it swirling around us at all times. And what we tend to do is use the negativity from thought and emotion to help us create in the world of form. And look where that gets us. Look at the shape the world is in right now. But what if we tried something different for a change? What if, when the thoughts and emotions frame a negative energy within us, we stop, and recognize it? Honor that, Yes, something is not going right here, so now we need to slow it down, and turn the energy into a positive form before we continue creating in the world of form?

And what if Jesse had done this, if he had realized, Yes, I’m really mad with what Ben had done. And, yes, there is this ball of hateful energy right here in my gut, but I’m not going to let it take me over. I’m not going to let the negative emotions usurp my ego and create hatred and negativity all around me. If Jesse had done this, then he would have stopped living in the past, which is something the ego just loves to do. It loves to color the present emotions with negativity from past thoughts and memories. And this is what happened with Jesse. And the same for Ben, if he had just stopped for a moment – something he couldn’t do because he was so messed up with drugs, alcohol and hatred at the time – then he would have been able to take control of himself, and forget about Jesse. Forget about this little ex friend of his who acted like he wanted to hurt him. And both these guys could have gone on with their lives, all their actions being sponsored by positive emotions and thoughts, which would lead to creating loving, positive happenings in their lives, rather than death to family, and death to self.

The bottom line they could never learn is this – present consciousness creates ultimate reality.

Discussing Jesse James Hollywood (14)

Law enforcement agencies have a history of being all too willing to jump into bed with an often-untrustworthy media, at the peril of often-defenseless citizens. The government has all the leverage and power in a criminal prosecution (unless maybe your name is Kobe Bryant or O.J. Simpson), and if that leverage and power is mishandled it can cause irreparable damage to ordinary people. Innocent men and women, who might otherwise be undeserving of such treatment, can have their lives ruined by the slander and innuendo fostered by the marketing aspect of over-eager law enforcement personnel; men and women who are working hard at their own jobs, trying to obtain personal advancement in their own careers. Their efforts to ascend the bureaucratic hierarchy and yet do what is right can sometimes conflict.

That’s why we have the Bill of Rights, to protect the average citizen from potential governmental malfeasance. That’s why – when charged with a crime – we are constitutionally guaranteed our day in court. We are entitled to confront and cross-examine all witnesses against us. And it is our right to testify on our own behalf if we should choose to do so.

Jesse James Hollywood deserves these and all constitutional protections, before being labeled “Guilty by press” or “Guilty by police officer opinion.” In spite of what people may think or say of Jesse Hollywood, he – to this day – bears the cloak of innocence. The state of California has yet to prove a single count against him, beyond a reasonable doubt. Yet Jesse faces the unenviable task of essentially having to prove his innocence while faced with a negative public perception that has been painted with color and judgment by a major motion picture, a novel, and the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s office.

To be continued…

Discussing Jesse James Hollywood (13)

Santa Barbara County Senior Deputy District Attorney Ron Zonen had the right idea. He wanted to popularize Jesse James Hollywood’s name and image around the globe, hoping that someday someone somewhere would find them useful in helping to identify and capture the fugitive. Mr. Zonen had felt a strong personal responsibility to prosecute the last piece to the puzzle and avenge the loss suffered by the Markowitz family, and that’s why he agreed to work with filmmakers. A thorough investigation into the matter has proven that Mr. Zonen did nothing other than his best to stick between the lines of legal aggression and professional responsibility in his prosecutorial work. He is a victim’s advocate who fights to the best of his abilities on behalf of those who sometimes cannot defend themselves. And he’s a public hero, who should be praised for zealously representing the people of California, not ridiculed for attempting a novel approach to apprehend a fugitive. All prosecutors do it, and their infatuation with the mass media has changed the very nature of the way criminal cases are now handled. That’s why it is the system that needs to be examined and then overhauled.

Early on when Jack Hollywood’s son was desperate and on the run, members of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department helped serve a search warrant on Jesse’s parents’ house in the San Fernando Valley, a suburb of Los Angeles. One of the department’s commanders told Jesse’s father that he hoped to be the one to find the fugitive so he could be the one to shoot and kill him. Jack Hollywood stared at the officer, mortified. In the eye of the law, his son was already a guilty man. Some law enforcement agencies are notorious for leaking information to the media that is used to demonize a defendant and help create a public perception of guilt, often before the defendant ever steps into a court of law. The defendant is then thrust into the position of essentially having to prove his innocence, a rather tall order in most cases since defendants rarely possess the financial wherewithal to counter the government’s high-financed, prosecuting machinery. One can never forget that the burden of proof in all criminal matters resides with the state, not the defense. That burden is ‘Guilt beyond a reasonable doubt’, and prosecutors are held to the highest standard of law for very good reasons.

To be continued…