The Diligent Virginia Attorneys - A Crusade against Chattel (1989-1995)


This is not about the individual in the pictures or their choice.
This is about how the Virginia courts, the "officers of the court" handled a dispute where the spouse did not agree with their husbands lifestyle choice and wanted out of the relationship. This battle took five years and four attorneys (1989-1995), this page highlights what assets were available, was and was not used and the outcome. It also presents questions that we have found ourselves asking through the years. Was the husbands attorney just representing his client zealously ? Looking out for the best interests of the client and resolution to the dispute ? We did not care for this attorney's client, he was abusive and his making a lifestyle choice that his wife did not agree with, pushed her over the threshold. So just how far was this individual willing to go for his client / cause, this crusade ? Did the third attorney represent the wife competently ? dismissing assets that documented stress and abuse ? Did we have an "abuse of process" issue ? If so then why did the attorney that started it, forget about it ? Leaving my girlfriend, myself and the psychiatrist confused as to the desertion. Then there is the question of these "Christian Groups" and members of the "Church of God" whose members actively persecuted a housewife and mother trying to escape from a relationship with someone that chose a lifestyle that she found "unacceptable" with her children ? As you read this keep in mind that according a trustee of the Virginia courts and the Virginia State Bar the wife was competently represented.
Mommy, why does daddy paint his toe nails ? Mommy, why do the other kids laugh at me in school ? Mommy, why don't the other kids play with me ? Mommy why does daddy wear your clothes ? Mommy, why does daddy beat you ? These were questions the child was asking of his mother. When she escaped she was stressed out so much that the doctors had prescribed "Prozac". This was a case where any "rational" system should have aided in an equitable resolution, in this weakened state both parties became prey of the Christian groups and the Virginia Court racket.
Based upon the Fairfax County Court's ruling and this Christian attorney this was a good father and a good Christian. These are the only pictures that I took of the pictures from the fathers album that I would consider posting. This is considered a good Christian ? For years this confused us, the reason that we continued to see the psychiatrist, as the wife was the one that went to church, sought family counseling while the husband "played". The husband called her up at a Church camp to inform her of his decision to become a woman - yet these "Christians" persecuted the wife for escaping....

What the wife had in hand	What was available
A complete album of pictures that the husband took of himself similar but worse than the ones posted. Allegedly a bill from a doctor who was going to perform a gender alteration on the husband. The wife was informed of this intent in a phone conversation while she was at a church camp - she used to be the church goer. Documents from Social Services indicating their assistance, housing for both herself and her minor son and food allowances. Lists of name of doctors, therapists, witnesses and the dates of separation documented by Social Services. The wife was reluctant to release her doctors documents because she discussed everything with these "professionals" who had been there for her throughout this trauma. These discussions included being upset with her attorneys, trying to "accept" the "strategy" of sacrificing a client. The reluctance to allow access to the documents did not preclude talking to these people or having them appear in court to support her position - they were never contacted by her attorney's.	Two to three years prior to separating from the husband January 1989 the wife had been participating in mental health counseling in Social Services. From what I have been told the husband had even threatened them on several occasions, demonstrating abusive personality to them also. The doctors and therapists witnessed the state of the relationship and had years of documented abuse? When the wife separated she left with the minor son to a neighbors house for sanctuary. When she left the residence she notified Social Services and had them register her separation - so there should have been documentation. Stalking and harassment. The family that the wife sought sanctuary with was so terrified of the husband that they bought a .357 revolver and filed a restraining order. Before I got involved I witnessed this "father" who was carrying the minor son throw the child at the woman who provided sanctuary for the wife and child, knocking the woman down in the process. The husband would call up this families home at all hours of the night, threatening and preaching, it got to the point that they all were listening in to his tirades for entertainment. A list of places where the wife worked and the husband showed up to harass her, usually costing her the job and causing stress. Numerous assaults, one of which my neighbors ran the husband off, a co-worker chased him off with a butcher knife. One time I found the wife unconscious on my patio, he had smashed in her face. We moved thirty miles away, to a remote region, did not get a mail box and did get a Post Office Box. The husbands attorney had the courts release our street address and within months the husband shows up. In letters from the husbands attorney the appearance was again a coincidence - believed by the courts. The wife knew of an illegitimate child in Pennsylvania or Ohio with a woman that the husband had an affair with. An adultery that predated any voluntary adulterous activity by the wife. Their also was another woman that took the pictures for the album, who the husband was allegedly having an affair with. Husband allegedly had a felony statutory rape of a thirteen year old child on his record.

What the wife had in hand

What was available

A complete album of pictures that the husband took of himself similar but worse than the ones posted.
Allegedly a bill from a doctor who was going to perform a gender alteration on the husband. The wife was informed of this intent in a phone conversation while she was at a church camp - she used to be the church goer.
Documents from Social Services indicating their assistance, housing for both herself and her minor son and food allowances.
Lists of name of doctors, therapists, witnesses and the dates of separation documented by Social Services. The wife was reluctant to release her doctors documents because she discussed everything with these "professionals" who had been there for her throughout this trauma. These discussions included being upset with her attorneys, trying to "accept" the "strategy" of sacrificing a client. The reluctance to allow access to the documents did not preclude talking to these people or having them appear in court to support her position - they were never contacted by her attorney's.

Two to three years prior to separating from the husband January 1989 the wife had been participating in mental health counseling in Social Services. From what I have been told the husband had even threatened them on several occasions, demonstrating abusive personality to them also. The doctors and therapists witnessed the state of the relationship and had years of documented abuse?
When the wife separated she left with the minor son to a neighbors house for sanctuary. When she left the residence she notified Social Services and had them register her separation - so there should have been documentation.
Stalking and harassment.
- The family that the wife sought sanctuary with was so terrified of the husband that they bought a .357 revolver and filed a restraining order. Before I got involved I witnessed this "father" who was carrying the minor son throw the child at the woman who provided sanctuary for the wife and child, knocking the woman down in the process. The husband would call up this families home at all hours of the night, threatening and preaching, it got to the point that they all were listening in to his tirades for entertainment.
- A list of places where the wife worked and the husband showed up to harass her, usually costing her the job and causing stress.
- Numerous assaults, one of which my neighbors ran the husband off, a co-worker chased him off with a butcher knife. One time I found the wife unconscious on my patio, he had smashed in her face.
- We moved thirty miles away, to a remote region, did not get a mail box and did get a Post Office Box. The husbands attorney had the courts release our street address and within months the husband shows up. In letters from the husbands attorney the appearance was again a coincidence - believed by the courts.
The wife knew of an illegitimate child in Pennsylvania or Ohio with a woman that the husband had an affair with. An adultery that predated any voluntary adulterous activity by the wife.
Their also was another woman that took the pictures for the album, who the husband was allegedly having an affair with.
Husband allegedly had a felony statutory rape of a thirteen year old child on his record.

The courts awarded the divorce to the husband, based on the wifes adultry, awarding half the community property and as a result the husbands attorney then filed his suit. So for seventeen years of an abusive marriage the wife got less than $10K most of which was taken by her attorneys and bankruptcy. She lost her children, was bitten by a neighbors dog because she had no transportation and was walking. Was under a doctors care on State aid, the injury to the leg caused intermittent collapse which made employment a problem. Then there was the abortion, which was necessary because of the stress the wife was under and considered only because she was trying to save the children she had and was not in a position to handle the loss of mobility with a stalker around.

The alternate strategy - First (Mr. Alveine G. Halago) & Second Attorney (Mr. Mason) Mr. Halago was relatively ethical, we assume that his reason for dropping my girlfriend was that he was going into Corporate law, he did refer the second attorney, Mr. Mason. The second attorney, Mr. Mason's, "strategy" with the pictures when he defended us from the harassment charge resulting from the recorded phone call was effective. At the time I thought that he would have fought it based on a date that was incorrect over two weeks off - the second attorney may have made note of my questioning the date, much closer to the event than the third attorney's presentation of intent to sue by husbands attorney. Soon after addressing the tape issue this second attorney told us that his case load was too heavy and he would not be able to represent my girlfriend. Mr. Mason did not provide a referral, the judge would not allow a continuance and as a result my girlfriend went to court without an attorney.

Third Attorney - Mr. A. Strode Brent of Whitestone, Brent, Young & Merril, P.C.

Maybe everyone is right and Mr. A. Strode Brent, a Partner in the Law Firm, did his best but just did not have the skill's to obtain a positive outcome for his client. Maybe the Law Firm did not have the resources to call Social Services, obtain registration of separation and prepare Mr. A. Strode Brent.
Why did this attorney "drop the ball" ? Was there collusion between him and the husbands attorney ? I keep getting stuck on the politics, Christian network, government connections and an attorney that may have had a political agenda. This attorney was representing a client against a zealous attorney on a crusade, who happened to be politically connected - an opportunity that would explain his "professional courtesy" comment, where there is smoke....

So many questions as to his failure, what fits the "strategy" that this attorney executed:

Why didn't he use the pictures when the husbands attorney paraded the church through the courts as witnesses against the wife - like the second attorney did in his representation ?
Why didn't he call the doctors or therapists who were expecting to be called and could relay tales of "incidents" and concern for their patient ? This failure by an attorney to engage would be repeated in (2005).
Why didn't he get the Social Services registration of separation ? If he did why was the date of separation a question for years ? The wife had followed the instructions of her counselors for the correct separating procedure.
The phone calls I remember when this attorney informed us of the husband's filing his "emotional distress" suit because of the phone calls. We read the document and noticed that the date on the document was incorrect. Over two years had passed but we remembered when the events occurred for the following two reasons:
- The date of the calls were about a week prior to both the son's birthday and my own.
- I also remember discussing the incidents with our second attorney, believing that since the events did not occur on the documented date the case should be dropped.
The calls had been made after a two hour session of the mother begging to have an alleged visitation with her son for his birthday (which had NOT passed). Both a friend and myself were barbecuing a chicken and would pass my girlfriend in tears repeatedly begging first for the visitation and then to talk to her son over a period of two hours. I had been careful only to mention actual events and to stop the husband's stalking and assaults. When the calls were made we could not understand why the daughter was so upset with her mother, we had offered to take her in also and she had given her father the address.

Mr. Brent walked out of his office without making a note - we remember being confused by this action as we believed the date was relevant, the event was over two years past and having the subject come up in the meeting without preparation took us down memory lane. We remembered the birthday and then discussions with the second attorney, believing that his strategy would be based on the date. While we were having this discussion Mr. Brent walked out of his office - I remember calling at his back, him turning around, nodding and going on out of the office, we broached the subject when he returned, again the nod and no notation made, the subject changed. This was a good strategy on Mr. Brent's part because the trustee for the courts, according to his report, awarded him his payment because he did not make note of our questioning the date. After the meeting the mother found a diary entry documenting the date.

If Mr. Brent was diligent, zealously looking out for the interests of his client, had contacted the second attorney or even pressed the issue, the statute of limitations would have been in question as having passed and the suit invalidated, saving their client emotional stress and financial losses.
- Why didn't this attorney make note ?
- Why didnt this attorney contact our second attorney who had represented us in the criminal aspect of the case ?
- Was this another "Professional Courtesy" ?
- Is this an example of professional senior attorney "strategy" ?
Professional Courtesy - I remember getting upset with this attorney, the wife presented him with documents, social service papers that she carried around, refuting the claims that the husbands attorney was making to the court. On confronting his failure to engage he responded that he was showing "professional courtesy" whatever that means. At the time we believed in "professional strategy" and assumed that he had a "plan" - discussions, something.... This attorney followed the "courtesy" comment with "attorneys are allowed a certain leeway" which I finished with "to lie to the courts". Why didn't this attorney engage ? What strategy is "professional courtesy" ? Did this failure to engage indicate a lack of skill of a partner in a law firm or an alternate agenda ? What "mistakes" did the attorney discover to illicit repeated comments on this attorney's failure ? What possible goal would a partner in a law firm have for sacrificing a client ?
According to a real estate agent, this third attorney was running for political office. The real-estate agent claimed that he had been had been slandered, he was very upset as not only were the delays costing him money but since he was a high level agent he claimed that being called liar would affect him professionally. Apparently he made up such a fuss that the attorney did file a Rule to Show Cause. Maybe there was some political dynamic going on here, where my girlfriend became a pawn.
This attorney was to be paid by his clients settlement, yet he dropped the ball - why ?
What motivated this individuals failed representation
- As a business it would be in his best interests to look out for the client try to achieve maximum returns.
- An officer of the court is supposed to represent their client.
- Was this "officer of the court" trying to gain favor for their political goals ?
- Maybe this partner did not have the skills to stand up to his associate ? But then why didn't he use the assets that were available even if they were applied ineptly ?
- This could be another Presumption of guilt, we were processed because of the past and this attorney believed his brother in arms.
What "professional courtesy" was this attorney providing to the opposing counsel ?
The Court Trustee handling the bankruptcy claimed in his report that this attorney did their job. The Fourth Attorney kept telling us the ex-attorney had left a mess, we had expected that this attorney would relay these failures to the trustee. Yet the only issue the trustee mentioned in the report was the item we had identified - questioning the date of the calls. Of course since no note (shredder ?) had been made by the ex-attorney who claimed that they did not know and therefore did their job and deserved payment.
- We also heard a rumor that apparently the husbands attorney called the wife's ex-attorney to remind him to file a claim.
- The deadline for a creditor to make a claim may have passed, I vaguely remember that we thought the time had passed with no filing and then the next week we were informed of the filing.
- Did the Fourth Attorney bring up the failures of the ex-attorney, this attorney had not identified their complaints to us so we expected that this attorney would identify "professional" indiscretions - did they (Canon 5) ? Did this court trustee dismiss these items ? If so why ?
- Did the Fourth Attorney just not bother to inform the trustee ? If not - Why not ?
Did this attorney realize that he could not win this case against the husbands attorney and just give up ? What would make him believe that he couldn't he win ? Was it because the Judges / courts were prejudiced against his client ? Was there some Christian group incentive at play here ?
Jailed for non-payment of child support - the wife lost a job because of her husband's stalking so his attorney had her sent to jail. This attorney would not respond or address the fact that his client was in jail - why ? This resulted in the next attorney being contacted.
Why didn't this attorney contact social services after the husbands attorney, accessed their clients records ?

According to the courts trustee in my girlfriends bankruptcy this did represent the client and should be awarded their payment.

Fourth Attorney Got the wife out of jail for non-payment of child support and effectively handled the settlement all the while complaining about the mistakes made by prior counsel. Their strategy was to bankrupt the wife, remove her from the civil suit filed by the husbands attorney based on the phone tapes - it worked.

This attorney deserved their paycheck. They claimed that we were lucky, when they made such claims, usually in conjunction with a complaint about the ex-attorney or the ethical conduct of the husband's attorney. The complaints reminded me of the stalking, the family that was terrorized, the employments opportunities disrupted and the Northwest Center therapists that documented the stress caused by the husband. Lastly there was the "emotional distress suit" initiated by the husband's attorney days past the statute of limitations.

Bankruptcy In order to escape the suit and protect my girlfriends assets this attorney bankrupted her and hoped that the ex-attorney had forgotten about the debt. What was interesting was that when the dead line passed this attorney called the bankruptcy trustee who at first told them that the debt had not been claimed. However the end of the week my girlfriend was told that her ex-attorney had contacted them. Was this another "wink" ?

This attorney was good, I just do not understand the emphatic instructions to see a specific psychiatrist for an "abuse of process" and then dismissing it - what caused this dismissal, I cannot believe that it was because they were upset with me for bringing it up or that I had pre-paid for an event that had not occurred.

Abuse of process This attorney instructed us to wait six months and to see a psychiatrist to support an "abuse of process" action against the husbands attorney. What was interesting is that after giving us specific instructions on an "abuse of process" action this attorney then forgot about us - almost as if they were "suggested" to drop the case - this was a source of conversation for years with the Psychiatrist that this attorney had instructed us to see.

Why did this attorney drop us ?
Why did she yell at me when I was upset after following her instructions she dropped the issue ?
Why was this attorney was so adamant about this "abuse of process" if they were not going to follow through ? My girlfriend was bankrupt, I was having problems and seeing a psychiatrist would cost more money, so why ? This was like the third attorney.

Psychiatrist - We saw the psychiatrist from 1994 - 2003. The three of us, the psychiatrist, my girlfriend and myself were perplexed by the fourth attorney's change in direction. Not only had the attorney given us explicit instructions but they had given this psychiatrist instructions also, we sat in his office wondering what to do. We had survived five years of legal battles, a losing attorney, my girlfriend was bankrupt and the fourth attorney had given us some hope. It was during this "decision" time that my girlfriend was bitten by the neighbors dog. During these sessions we discussed both the divorce case and the ongoing "dog bite" case as they went on we identified the depth of the attorney failure that we had experienced. The psychiatrist would try to defend the attorneys and then we would remember and provide refuting material, on numerous occasions he would just shake his head. On June 1st of 2000 we received a phone call from the psychiatrist telling us to pick up that days Washington Post, when we did this article was in it Big-Spending Lawyer Leaves Clients in Limbo State Bar Says N.Va. Man Fled With Settlement Funds on page B01. This started our experience with a deserting member of the Virginia State Bar.

Husband's attorney - Mr. J. Michael Sharman Zealous representation of a client ? I keep bringing up the "Christian Brotherhood connection because this attorneys "strategy" was to chant the Christian Mantra that we "were sinners", that "the wife should obey the husband" and he paraded church members through the court. I understand that they were members of the "Church of God", our concern stems from the "Christian Brotherhood" on this attorneys letterhead in conjunction with his strategy.

This was no longer a dispute between a "man" and a "woman" this became a cause, a Holy War, a Crusade where the courts became the willing tool.
Curious I looked up this individuals name on the Internet today, June 11, 2007, and found this link. Involvement with politics stood out, the "Christian" mantra. I then remembered the real estate agent who looked into the reasons that my girlfriends attorney was not representing her competently he claimed that our attorney was running for a local political office. It hit me like a train, this would explain why my girlfriends attorney did not engage, the missing piece - her attorney was looking for a demographic...	J. Michael Sharman is an attorney, author, and speaker with a broad base of legal and legislative experience. Recently, on behalf of a 14 year-old sexual assault victim, Mike won the largest jury verdict in Virginia for the year 2005 and largest sexual assault jury verdict in Virginia's history. Mike worked on Capitol Hill as legislative assistant and campaign executive administrator for U.S. Senator Alan K. Simpson. He has been appointed by Gov. Gilmore to the Virginia Business Education Partnership program, and he previously served under Gov. Allen on the Child Support Advisory Committee. Mike has testified on constitutional and health care issues before seven different state legislative bodies in four states, and the legislation he wrote protecting religious and economic freedoms has been successfully passed into law in seven states. Mike has written FAITH OF THE FATHERS: RELIGION AND MATTERS OF FAITH CONTAINED IN THE PRESIDENTS' INAUGURAL ADDRESSES FROM GEORGE WASHINGTON TO GEORGE W. BUSH and he has a work in progress, ENDOWED BY OUR CREATOR: DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE OF OUR CHRISTIAN HERITAGE. He served for five years on the Board of Directors for Washington Bible College and Capital Bible Seminary, and is on the Advisory Council for In Trust: The Magazine for Theological Education. Mike has a B.A. in International Relations from Mary Washington College, a J.D. from the University of Wyoming College of Law, and an LL.M. in International Taxation from Regent University. -- Christian Worldview Network This is the quote that set me off on June 11, 2007. This quote put in perspective the depth of the betrayal of the third attorney. Until this point we had assumed that this partner that was retained was just distracted by his campaign, that we might be hated just by this "Church of God" group. Maybe there was no collusion between the two. However the results of his representation indicate otherwise, since he was a partner in a law firm so there was expectation of some skill level. If the real estate agent had not notified us this attorneys political activities we would have believed that we had another incompetent member of the Virginia State Bar, that had to be fired in order to get the fourth counsel. ...a nonprofit political organization whose purpose is to elect conservative candidates to the Virginia legislature. -- Commonwealth Commentary Newsletter (CCN)	In the past I did not publish this attorneys name as I did not want to provide him and his "Christian zealot" groups with advertising. I realize that this was incorrect as they obviously choose to represent a marginalized group of people who should not be denied the opportunity of having "zealous" representation. I feel sorry for the women that these people have and will damage in their "zealous crusade" to identify them as "chattel", property of the husband regardless of his/her choices.

Here are a several conversations and situations that stand out.

Annihilation In a meeting in the courthouse the husbands attorney stated that he to destroy us, specifically my girlfriend. His intent was not to see a resolution it was destruction, he was on a crusade against a woman who he considered a sinner, who had an "abortion".	Such hatred for women, his goal was to destroy my girlfriend who wanted to get away from the individual above. Why such animosity from a "Christian" to defend a cross-dresser, abuser and rapist ? Girlfriend was stalked on the streets by this attorneys client, Christian zealots and stalked through the legal system by this attorney. This attorney, with the assistance of the Prince William County Courts forced us to relinquish our street address within months the husband was in our area, harassing my girlfriend at her work. The excuse was coincidence and the courts believed this - hook, line and sinker. Just how far would this zealot go ?
Suit over Phone Tapes - When the Virginia Courts ruled the divorce in the husbands favor and awarded according to Virginia Law the Husbands attorney filed suit, "emotional distress" over the phone calls.	What stood out was that the date on the police report was at least two weeks from the event. The statute of limitations would have passed and the suit would have been void - this is where wife's attorney failure really stood out as he did not make note of our questioning the date, did not contact girlfriends second attorney for details of the case.
Not being paid - The Husbands attorney gloated that he was not being paid by the husband. If this attorney was on a "crusade" then he was not constrained by "law" or "market", an enviable position it is to have one go on a crusade for you, for free. According to this attorney's statement not only did the husband keep all his portion of the settlement, the escaping chattel was punished.	The son later told us that there was some sort of payment dispute - strategy ? The only problem with a payment is the amount of time this attorney spent on the chattel, the house was not worth the "market" rate, which can be attested by the wife losing her share to her attorneys.
Members of the church showed up at our residence.	We watched the husband wandering through the woods in our back yard. The husband terrorized the family that originally provided sanctuary for the wife. Numerous assaults, verbal and physical. Then the "Christians" would show up to "preach" about "family" and "duty". Where were these meddlers when the son attempted suicide ? Where were they during the spousal abuse ? Where were they when the father was accosting the daughter - if that was true ?
Husbands attorney courtroom strategy was to preach about family values, my girlfriends adultery and being a murderer.	This guy need to get a life and tell the truth - but then the wife's attorney did not present a defense, excusing it with "professional courtesy".
Incompetent "strategy" & Abuse of Process ?

Then we have the courts The noticeable anomaly with them was in the access of the wife's mental health records from social services, through a subpoena by the husbands attorney There are several items of interest here.

We are unaware that the courts attempted to contact either the third attorney or the wife identifying intent to subpoena. The wife found out in a phone call from her counselor as the sheriff was confiscating their records.
The wife called up the third attorney demanding some sort of action, which resulted in the "Motion to Quash".
In prior actions the children had been excluded from the divorce proceedings with statements from the judges that "we will not go against another judges ruling" - why not, if evidence was presented that identified that an issue was not addressed ?
The records subpoenaed have a note excluding the period of residence in the household, separation and a year of stalking/assaults/threats after the separation (this was discovered in a visit at the archives around 1995). The information contained in the accessed notes was not relevant to determining the divorce issue. Why the skip of time ? Why not all the records ? We had believed that the courts had accessed all the records till we went to the archives and found the note on the "Motion to Quash".

I read somewhere that the courts could access confidential information that was relevant to the case, the information accessed only identified stress of an abused house wife a year after separating, trying to escape from an abusive husband, with an impotent attorney, confiding to their counselor their strategy - which the courts gave to the husbands attorney. The information only identified stress, of course why the question returns as to why the third attorney did not engage and obtain all the records ?

Post-divorce - way to go Virginia Courts, officers of the court and members of the Virginia State Bar. These are the results of this "fair" and "impartial" system that claims to be family friendly.

Since the State's help was not enough in this situation, the mother did not have a family so she pleaded to her husbands family to keep the child away from their son after he kidnapped the child - her goal was to keep the child as far from the conflict as possible. Of course this did not work and the husbands attorney used her distraught calls against her(Good Christian Husband).
The minor son, what he told us when he reestablished contact with his mother.

Contact was reestablished by the child from the hospital, apparently the child tried to commit suicide by jumping off a building. Either the son found out our phone number or a friend of his established contact again.
Father ignored the child after the divorce, this resulted in a medical condition involving his spine.
Father ignored child protection, when the authorities were around he and the child would hide in the house till they left - the son described such activities.
For the custody hearing, the child allegedly got a new toy to play with.
The son alleges that he left the household a year prior to their eighteenth birthday, yet the mother was not notified of the change in residence resulting in an extra year of "child support" paid to the husband through the Courts/State arranged by the fourth attorney. Then the courts claimed that the payments were not made - we had the canceled checks - what happened ? Another screw up by the courts ?
The house was infested with roaches and trash, yet a Health Inspector for Fairfax County had passed it. According to a letter from the husbands attorney the inspector implied that it was the mother that made the complaint - this was considered harassment by the courts. When the house was finally auctioned off, it was necessary to strip the place because of infestation, cat feces and garbage - good job Fairfax County Health Inspector, we see that you are doing your job or your standards are pretty low.
The child was a prisoner, not allowed to play he became overweight, the mother tried the authorities but they chose to disregard her concerns - again dismissed as harassment.

the daughter who was eighteen, what she told us

When the husband kidnapped the minor son the daughter returned to the home as she claims that she was worried for her brother. The daughter had been living with a boyfriend, when the father kidnapped the son she went back to attempt to intervene - she got mad at her mother and informed where she was hiding.
We did not know this till much later when the daughter alleged to me in a conversation that her father turned his attentions onto her for relations. I do not know if this is true or not, but it was a concern given what we knew of his history.

Given "family values" spouted by these "Christian Groups" - where were they when these events occurred ? Where was this Christian attorney ? He effectively removed the mother from her children which exposed them to their father. Where were the courts who fell for this "strategy", did they ensure that the children were protected after they isolated them ?

Reston Police assault in 1989/1990 I was assaulted by the police, it was a dark night and they were in my back yard. They did not identify themselves when both my roommate and myself challenged them. The response from the night was "who wants to know", when I stated that I was the owner and that they were trespassing, they finally identified that they were the police. I asked why they were there and they did not respond, I then informed them that they were trespassing and to leave my property. At that time they said - "are you man enough to make us", law enforcement at its best. If they had said anything identifying that they had cause to be on my property we would have been accommodating, instead they challenged me in my home. We had seen my girlfriends estranged husband on numerous occasions in the woods - if they had responded professionally we would have been of assistance. In fact we thought that they were the husband. Anyway I went down to tell them to leave and they assaulted and incarcerated me. It seems like I am a target for these animals.

Both of these notes were discovered in a visit to the Fairfax County archives after the dog bite, we were curious as to why the fourth attorney claimed that we could make an "abuse of process" case.
Rule to Show Cause	Motion to Quash
We did not know of this "Rule to Show Cause" till our visit to the Fairfax County Archives. Apparently the real estate agent may have lit a little fire under third attorney in order for this to be filed with a "failure to comply with a court order" based on the real estate agents testimony. Note the response to this attempt from the judge: Court will not enter Rule to Show Cause where petition is sworn by attorney rather than party also insufficient time - return. Kind of confusing, here a professional is attempting an action to address a problem and this Judge just does not bother because the "party" did not swear to it. Why didn't the attorney get with his client, the party and have them "swear" to it ? Maybe the attorney did not want his client to know what the real estate found out ? Maybe this was a facade, rather than pushing it this attorney did enough to have "plausible deniability" and used the judge to block any concerns the agent had - attorney made an attempt, failed and the agents complaint was dismissed, which may have explained why the agent made sure that we knew the attorney had a political agenda ?	7-17-91 Motion to quash denied Def. entitled to psychiatric records from 1-1-90 Privacy Act of 1977 - relevance ? It was believed that the husbands attorney had accessed all the records and the third attorney just did not bother to review them - except the motion to quash - driven by the emphatic prompting of their client. Nothing was wrong with the dismissal of the quash till one understands the context. The wife separated on January 27, 1989, she had started counseling in 1986 or 1987. The children had been excluded from the divorce proceedings by a prior judge. With the Third Attorney's messed up strategy the wife's only support was her therapist. The only information accessed by the courts was woman trying to cope, under stress. Is this relevant in deciding who would be awarded the divorce ? The courts accessed information that did not pertain to the divorce case, it appears that the courts disregarded the Privacy Act of 1977. Was this with intent ? The courts had the file and should have known the time line. failure to notify the individual of intent excluding information that directly pertained to the case - did not cover the period of co-habitation and separation. Then again I could be wrong as it is obvious from our experiences that anything and everything is accessible. What was obtained from this period was discussions of strategy with a mental health counselor over "attorney" failures, frustration and coping with the stress from the crusading attorney. When I see these "privacy" statements I laugh, the "laws" are irrelevant and bypassed on whim.

Both of these notes were discovered in a visit to the Fairfax County archives after the dog bite, we were curious as to why the fourth attorney claimed that we could make an "abuse of process" case.

Rule to Show Cause

Motion to Quash

We did not know of this "Rule to Show Cause" till our visit to the Fairfax County Archives. Apparently the real estate agent may have lit a little fire under third attorney in order for this to be filed with a "failure to comply with a court order" based on the real estate agents testimony. Note the response to this attempt from the judge:

Court will not enter Rule to Show Cause where petition is sworn by attorney rather than party also insufficient time - return.

Kind of confusing, here a professional is attempting an action to address a problem and this Judge just does not bother because the "party" did not swear to it. Why didn't the attorney get with his client, the party and have them "swear" to it ? Maybe the attorney did not want his client to know what the real estate found out ? Maybe this was a facade, rather than pushing it this attorney did enough to have "plausible deniability" and used the judge to block any concerns the agent had - attorney made an attempt, failed and the agents complaint was dismissed, which may have explained why the agent made sure that we knew the attorney had a political agenda ?

7-17-91 Motion to quash denied Def. entitled to psychiatric records from 1-1-90

Privacy Act of 1977 - relevance ?

It was believed that the husbands attorney had accessed all the records and the third attorney just did not bother to review them - except the motion to quash - driven by the emphatic prompting of their client. Nothing was wrong with the dismissal of the quash till one understands the context.

The wife separated on January 27, 1989, she had started counseling in 1986 or 1987.
The children had been excluded from the divorce proceedings by a prior judge.
With the Third Attorney's messed up strategy the wife's only support was her therapist. The only information accessed by the courts was woman trying to cope, under stress. Is this relevant in deciding who would be awarded the divorce ?

The courts accessed information that did not pertain to the divorce case, it appears that the courts disregarded the Privacy Act of 1977. Was this with intent ? The courts had the file and should have known the time line.

failure to notify the individual of intent
excluding information that directly pertained to the case - did not cover the period of co-habitation and separation.

Then again I could be wrong as it is obvious from our experiences that anything and everything is accessible. What was obtained from this period was discussions of strategy with a mental health counselor over "attorney" failures, frustration and coping with the stress from the crusading attorney. When I see these "privacy" statements I laugh, the "laws" are irrelevant and bypassed on whim.

During the five years we found it ironic that here this attorney was defending their client with "Christian" quotes and misstatements. I did not know the wife till after she separated and we had just gone out when I observed the loving, Christian, father who was carrying his son throw the child at another woman whose goal was to get the child out of the argument knocking her down with the child.

Just where were these organizations for the children ? Did the father molest the daughter ? I do not know, this is what the daughter told me in an emotional discussion. Does/did the husband have an illegitimate child in Pennsylvania or Ohio ? I witnessed assault, terrorism, stalking, phone harassment and talked to the mental health counselors treating my girlfriend, the separated wife who confirmed abuse in the household. I took pictures of the husbands album containing really un-Christian pictures, these Christians persecute communities as living in sin yet one of their community actively went on a crusade against a woman trying to extract herself from such a relationship.

It is good to see that these "Christian" groups defends cross-dressers, rapists and abusers against an abused woman with such resolve. I really did enjoy the "Church of God" or so they claimed, coming over to preach, even have an implied threat on paper from them. If these people are on the side of "God", what does that make the other side ?

With this material available, why was none of it used by the third attorney ? Was he supporting the husbands attorney, through intent or lack of concern ?

Just walking into the court room and when the church people started their claims of upstanding citizen, born again and the wife's adultery - showing them and the courts the pictures of their "born again" individual. Asking these "Christians" if they were aware of the abuse in the household while the wife lived there. Refuting any denial with Social Services Mental Health Counselors that the wife had been seeing for around three years prior to her separation. These actions may have derailed the husbands attorney's strategy, but this attorney did not - why, is this failure chronic problem with all attorneys ?
This attorney did not visit/address the issue that their client was in jail for non-payment of child support - why ?
Why did this attorney walk out of their office when we were contesting the date that the phone calls were made ? Why did this attorney not make note that we questioned the date of the calls ? If we were right the "statute of limitations" would have passed and the lawsuit for $150K would have been irrelevant, another year, girlfriends bankruptcy and expenses for the fourth attorney would all have been avoided. Just which side was this attorney on ?
Was this attorney outclassed, the law firm which he is partner was / is reputable ? - so why did he roll over ? As a professional in business faced with a problem one would expect that one would access available resources to provide a diligent service - so why not ?
Was this attorney seeking favor for his political campaign ? Just what did these two talk about when no one was around ?

The Virginia State Bar claims that they do not address "strategy", by their inaction they do not address "ethics" either. The courts never heard this material or it was so muted that it became irrelevant. Sitting in court as the husband's attorney made misstatements to the court, the wife would pull out a paper refuting the statement and provide it to her third attorney and he would respond "professional courtesy" and remain silent. What to do, she had been through two attorneys already, had an experience with the courts without an attorney and now she had this....