COLDWATER (WKZO AM/FM) –Convicted killer Curtis Dawkins has turned his experiences serving life without chance of parole in a Michigan Prison into a book of short fictional stories that were published last summer.
Now a legal battle is brewing over the proceeds. So far the book has earned about $30,000, but it could earn more, especially if it gets a lot of publicity.
Dawkins had come to Kalamazoo to go to WMU where he learned to write and met the woman he would marry. He got a Masters in Fine Arts, got married, got a job and moved to Portage.
After battling substance abuse he fell off the wagon Halloween 2004, had a psychotic break after smoking crack and dressed like a gangster, killed Tom Bowman, a perfect stranger in 2004.
Dawkins was convicted of felony murder and several gun charges and is currently serving at the Lakeland Correctional Facility in Coldwater.
Earlier this year Dawkin’s book of fictional short stories based on his experiences in prison, “The Greybar Hotel” was published by Simon and Shuster. An LLC was set up to capture the proceeds for a college fund for his three children.
The Attorney General’s office has filed suit, and sent the LLC a bill which amounts to over $300,000 for the cost of his incarceration to date.
The Supreme Court has already struck down New York’s “Son of Sam” law, which barred prisoners from profiting from books and scripts they may write after they are convicted. The legal challenge was filed by Dawkin’s publisher, Simon and Shuster after it published Henry Hill’s story, which eventually was turned into the Martin Scorsese movie “Goodfellas”.
Michigan has a state law on the books that says the state can seek reimbursement from inmates, with the exception of money earned while working prison jobs.
Dawkins ex-wife, who has since moved to the west coast, says it would be a tragedy if some good didn’t come from all this, referring to the education fund. A hearing on the issue is scheduled in Kalamazoo Circuit Court after the New Year.
