Scott Dyleski is a young man unjustly imprisioned in California for the murder of Pamela Vitale. Pamela Vitale was brutally murderd in her home in Lafayette, California on October 15, 2005. Scott was 16 at the time and lived in a planned community about a mile away in the same Hunsaker Canyon area of Lafayette.

Scott was sentenced to Life Without Parole in September of 2006. He was transferred to San Quentin Prison on his 18th birthday, becoming the youngest inmate in the California prison system at that time. He has been moved now to Kern Valley State Prison.

Scott was convicted based on very flimsy evidence and lack of an adequate defense. He was assigned a relatively inexperienced Public Defender with limited resources who had to go up against an agressive, experienced prosecutor with virtually unlimited resources in a case that received prejudicial coverage. At the least, both Scott Dyleski and Pamela Vitale deserve the justice of an intense investigation and a fair trial.


About Scott's trial, from Teen Advocates USA ...

 Watch the public defender's closing argument which raises troubing questions about the reliability of the state's evidence including DNA samples so insufficient they could not be submitted to the FBI's CODIS program for comparison, forensic evidence collected from the crime scene and elsewhere that was never tested and a time of death that relied upon the opinion of a computer forensics expert instead of medical science. PART ONE   PART T


   Links to Articles

Mythical Predatory Teens: Pam Vitales Murder & Alleged Killer Scott Dyleski Are Unique, Seamus McGraw, Crime Library

Music to Kill For: Prosecutors in the Scott Dyleski trial evoke the specter of Marilyn Manson, er, make that Velvet Acid Christ, Justin Berton & Rob Harvilla, East Bay Express (2/22/06)

 
Summaries from a Trial Watcher

(2/02/06) The Murder of Pamela Vitale. Why the Media Can't Report Much on Suspect Scott Dyleski.

(2/13/06) Deputy D.A. Hal Jewett Lets The Cat Out of the Bag? Why is He So Concerned About the Criticism of Government Officials in the Scott Dyleski Murder Trial?

(7/17/06) A Killer On The Loose? The DNA Evidence in the Dyleski Case May Raise Reasonable Doubt That Other Suspects are Involved.

(7/27/06) Opening Statements In The Scott Dyleski Murder Trial (July 27, 2006)

(8/06/06) Bombshells at Dyleski Trial On Day 4 - Who Is The Man In The Car?

(8/07/06) Do Scott Dyleski's Statements Show Intent to Kill And Guilt, or The Panic Of a Mixed-Up Kid Linked to the Victim by His Credit Fraud Scheme?

(8/08/06) The DA Tries to Smash the Alibi in the Dyleski Murder Case. He Twists His Hearsay-Based Time Line So Tight It May Not Fit the Facts.

(8/09/06) The Dyleski Murder Trial -- With Friends Like This You Don't Need Friends. And With Cops Like This You Don't Need Cops.

(8/14/06) Did Scott Dyleski More or Less Confess? Five Little Pieces of Paper Raise The Question: Is Witness David Curiel a Flipper or a Fibber?

(8/20/06) Dyleski Murder Trial - Will Loose Ends Cause Reasonable Doubt Regarding the DNA Evidence or Will Facts Add Up to a Conviction Despite Them?
 
 (8/28/06) The Scott Dyleski Sentencing - ’Why? Why? Why?
Jury Finds Scott Dyleski Guilty of 1st Degree Murder, With Special Circumstance of Murder During the Commission of a Burglary. This Means Life in Prison Without Parole. Sentencing September 26, 2006 At 9:00 A.M.


Justice for Scott Dyleski
link




   Articles
'Convicting the Innocent: Aberration or Systemic Problem?', Rodney Uphoff, Wisconsin Law Review, 2006

'Prosecutorial Lawlessness is its Real Name', Hans Sherrer, Justice Denied Magazine, Vol 1(6)
California Reform Legislation (SB999)
The Tim Masters Case: It turns out that this 'evil' Goth kid who made macabre drawings wasn't so evil after all


 
 A Letter from Scott
click to enlarge





Forums on Scott's Case and in Support of Juvenile Justice

 JusticeforJuveniles.org
 KidsinCourt.com
WhoopassforJustice.org



 Also, special thanks to Bill Farkas - BillFarkas.com








The Changing Attitudes About Children Being Tried as Adults (view more)
One of the problems with LWOP sentences, regardless of age, is that prisoners are denied access to services and education. Appeals can take years and are difficult let alone getting a wrongful conviction overturned - this is true even in cases where there are blatant reasons to think the person is wrongfully convicted or even solid evidence found of a wrongful conviction. The current California Senate Bill (SB 999 - see below), as well as bills in other states, are very conservative. They are merely asking that the possibility of parole be considered after 25 years.
from Lisa Bloom "Life, Without Possibilities"

Number of prisoners currently serving life without parole for juvenile crimes in the United States: 2,225

 Number of prisoners currently serving life without parole for juvenile crimes in the entire rest of the world: 12

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibits the death penalty and life without parole for child offenses, has been ratified by 193 U.N. member countries. Only two countries have not ratified: the United States and Somalia. Somalia is unable to ratify the convention because it has no functioning government


Additionally, California "... state law includes an unusually high number of "special circumstances" that increase the penalties in homicide cases. Youths 16 and 17 who are convicted with special circumstances are sentenced to life without parole...(LA Times Editorial, Jan 16, 2008)."

Life without parole "is an effective death sentence carried out by the state slowly over a long period of years (Sentencing Children to Die in Prison, University of San Francisco Center for Law and Global Justice)."

See also...

'Juvenile Life Without Parole: Sentencing Our Children to Die in Prison', Center for Law and Global Justice, University of San Francisco.

Scott Dyleski

There are two overarching purposes for this site...

 ... to portray the real Scott Dyleski, juxtaposed against the Scott that was demonized by the media and the prosecutor

... to raise awareness of the unjust trial and provide the public
with a better understanding of what transpired


People vs. Scott Edgar Dyleski

1st Appelate District, Division 1: A115725

Supreme Court Case: S173389

It is unfortunate that Scott did not get an adequate defense from the beginning with an equal playing field. We had hopes, that an appeal would be granted, but it has been denied this round. The case is now under review by the Supreme Court.

The opinion of the three judges is riddled with inaccuracies and promotes many of the same myths that have been passed around in the media. It's astounding that a young man's life is placed in their hands, yet they do not seem to know the real evidence in this case.

Just one example ...

"A fifth piece of paper, in defendant’s handwriting, had a vertical, unnumbered list of five bullet points (Filed 4/27/09  P. v. Dyleski CA1/1)"

There was no credible forensics or testimony showing this infamous 'To-Do' list was writtne by Scott. The only witness to claim this was Scott's handwriting, David Curiel, had huge credibility problems himself (A Flipper or a Fibber). Scott Dyleski's fingerprints were not on the  'To-Do' list nor were they on two other of the five notes that David claimed he magically found in a dresser three months after Scott was arrested  - a dresser that had been cleaned twice and searched by LE (A Planted List). For David to claim he knew this was Scott's handwriting was ludicrous as he had only lived in the home on the couch for two weeks (or was that two months or was it three months since each time period was claimed by Mr. Curiel). No handwriting expert was called as a witness, yet the jusry and the press used this as a damning piece of evidence against Scott Dyleski. An entry that appears or appeared on wikipedia and, hence, about.com pages (and other viral replication on the internet - 1 ) emphatically claims that “A chilling to-do list in Dyleski's handwriting was also compelling evidence according to jury spokesperson, Peter De Cristofaro”. The "To-Do" note actually did not fit the evidence in the Credit Card fraud that Dyleski engaged in since one of the items on that list was "Get PINS". It was not chilling, but looked amateurish and childish with the step-wise procedure outlined not even fitting the crime of murdering Vitale. In addition , there were nine third party fingerprints found on the notes that were not Scott Dyleski's.

More to come ..




 

If you are poor and even if you can afford to pay your own lawyer, there is no way there is enough money to hire the private investigators, pay for independent forensic evidence testing, and hire experts to testify. The system is inequitable as the Prosecution has far more resources at their disposal. Particularly troubling is that a Public Defender typically also does not have as many resources as the Prosecution so there is no option except to raise funds for an adequate defense.

Inadequate Defense + Lack of Money = Injustice

Scott Dyleski


 






A poem by Scott - 5th Grade
Where I'm From

I am from the little black dog
I am from the seven tiny kittens
I am from the beautiful green couch
These are the things of my very old home
 
I am from the stone bridge over the pond full of beautiful orange coy and catfish
I am from the great waterfall
I am from the garden of trumpet vines and hummingbirds
This was the world of my childhood
 
I am from the long steep hill to the town
I am from the beautiful hills and spectacular view of the bay
This was my old neighborhood
 
I am from my wonderful grandfather and Aunt Margie
I am from my free spirited mother
I am from my hard working and organized father
I am from my lovely cousin Judy
These are my closest family
 
I am from new food Tuesday
I am from fresh baked cornbread smothered with butter and honey
I am from Chinese food on Thanksgiving
I am from the freedom to break traditions and make my own rules
I color out of the lines









  This site was made by Scott's supporters 
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all original content is copyrighted by ScottDyleski.org 2007 - 2009

artwork entitled, "Earth LIfe Sun", in the background is by Jean-Francois Colonna, Ecole Polytechnique, France