In case you have not noticed this nation has several several crisis's going on. The economic crisis a repeat of the Keating Five incident. The war in Iraq a repeat of Vietnam policies and even identified by Cheney as a "quagmire". Then we have what appears to be the conditioning of the population into accepting certain events, circumstances as normal.
In all these situations "society" had addressed similar circumstances before and had implemented policies to avoid their repeating, they have been repeated by this administration, so there is a claim to have faith in the institutions, just where are the protections ?
As for our "personal" incident in the CVS pharmacy, oh clueless ones, is relevant because I know what happened. I know what I was doing, what my girlfriend was doing and the circumstances behind the event. I also know how I responded to the authority in the store and the results of the chain of events that followed the incident. Lets follow the chain.....
POLICE
An event occurred, video and witnesses were available. The police assaulted me, accosted my girlfriend yet they did not collect the store video or identify any of the witnesses in their reports. So the police avoided collecting irrefutable evidence of the event, material that could have supported their case against me.
Assault, deception, conspiracy to cover up the context of a criminal event - identifies "Law Enforcement" at its finest.
ATTORNEY'S [1, 2]
I hired two attorneys who sold themselves by stating that we had "rights", before they were paid. Part of the sale was that these two attorneys would act as a team in representing us. When I outlined the discussion around the police requesting my id without being able to state a reason, I was told that I did have rights. I had also written up an outline describing the event and that it occurred in a CVS store that had video camera's all over it and that my girlfriend was medically impaired, having come from the ER, a claim that could be supported by doctors and therapists.
We walk into the courthouse, I was handed one police report which consisted of false events. I pointed the false items out on the report, it said I did not provide id, it said I resisted arrest and then I asked the attorney about the video. The charges had also been separated so that neither my girlfriend or myself were charged with the same "crime", this ensured a separation of attorneys and circumstances, the court never heard the context of the case - so much for professionals being aware of how the case was evolving. The response from my attorney between visits with their three other cases, was that the "police lie all the time" and the "video did not matter". The attorneys statement implies that this is standard, accepted process.
Officer of the court, certified by the Virginia State Bar, dismissed evidence and material that would support the defense of their clients, choosing instead to multitask their cases. According to a letter from the Virginia State Bar they are fine representatives of the institution, but they have a "diligent" membership.
COURT
My attorney did get a "deal" with the prosecutor. My attorney was flitting between three cases, when he did stop I noted the missing evidence, reluctance to engage, my having to chase all over the courthouse to find the attorney I accepted the deal. Now this is interesting, when my case came up in front of the judge, the judge ranted for several minutes on the prosecutors "deal". The judge wanted me to spend a year and a half in jail. Think clueless one, no evidence, no presentation, just one unsubstantiated police report and presumption of guilt.
My girlfriends case was different, she, not the attorney mentioned that she did not remember altering the ER prescription, the judges response was that he had to punish her. In her case the prosecutor started ranting about people using the Zoloft excuse to get away with crimes, a social argument, not an argument specific to the case. The reality was that after the incident, hitchhiking ten miles home from the police station my girlfriend was found. An ambulance was called, my girlfriend spent a week in the hospital where they had identified the medical problem, she was bipolar and was an individual that reacts oddly to some medications, Zoloft - supporting evidence for medical incapacity.
We were both judged guilty of crimes.
Officer of the Court, went on a rant stating that I should spend 180 days on each charge, a year and a half - based on a report from an upset police officer without hearing both sides of a case or available evidence. Would I have had a "fair" trial ?
APPEAL
After the sentencing and the judges rant I tried to contact my attorney to obtain the video, to either support or refute my claims. Phone messages and letters were not responded to.
I contacted the CVS pharmacy and tried to obtain the video, at first they avoided the subject just addressing my claim of their liability, several months later I finally managed to elicit a response of "No" to the video. So much for evidence that I could take to another attorney for an appeal. Without evidence in hand they respond with any "strategy" is acceptable "strategy".
Presumption of guilt, there is no appeal....
JUST WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO PROVE ONE'S INNOCENCE ?
Curious I figured that I would try to see what it took for these "institutions" to behave in a professional manner, not avoid an issue under their responsibility.
Virginia State Bar - they do not address "strategy", but one can hire another member.
Police Chief - no response.
Mayor of Manassas - no response.
Potomac News - the paper that published our names and street address before conviction, no response.
These silly forums - blindness, threats, implying that our case was the exception or I am wrong (trial without evidence is acceptable). A proactive response from the populations in this industry would be to look into my claims and address and as a result shut me up - instead they cry about how unfair I am to them, that they are human too...
Extrapolating from our experience, one can assume that these policies are not unique.
Just what is the failure rate of the citizens alleged protection, the Judicial Process ?
Where is the proof of success or failure ?
Where does one go to "register" an experience such as ours ?
Why didnt one of these departments respond proactively ? My being found correct would have identified a "problem" with their department that could be addressed. My being found incorrect would have shut me up, I could not go around being an annoyance.
They do not know, you do not know, no one knows how many people "fall through the cracks" the issue is avoided.
This society has been conditioned to respond to claims of innocence with "that is what they all say". This society has been conditioning its populations to believe that the only effective strategy an individual has is to deny an event took place.
In Virginia I can make a supported claim that the professionals have been conditioned to accept "presumption of guilt". The institutional protections have been negated through the implementation of ineffectual policies.
In the context of national events we can identify that the current administration implemented a proactive, preemptive policy to force others into acceptance, a crusade. This has been demonstrated in our foreign and domestic policies, from invading Iraq based upon a lie to invading homes based on suspicion of criminal activities. We have seen this administration lie to execute their initiatives and avoid the consequences of their actions.
