Americans seem somehow to live with an "if-they're-in-prison-they-must-have-done-something-wrong" philosophy. Perhaps that is why it is so difficult for me to convince people that I have found one of the innocent ones and work on her behalf--because she has no access to the internet on her own.
Here is another example:
Another Wrongful Conviction in Houston
By TChris, Section Innocence Cases Posted on Sat Dec 20, 2008 at 03:38:59 PM EST
Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt insists his department bears no responsibility for Ricardo Rachell's wrongful arrest, conviction, and incarceration. When the police arrested Rachell for sexually assaulting a minor, they recovered physical evidence that could have been tested for DNA. The department's notoriously unreliable crime lab had been closed, so the evidence wasn't tested. Prosecutors didn't order DNA testing and nobody told the defense that the evidence existed.
While Rachell was in jail, the officers involved in his arrest investigated a string of similar assaults in their district. If that fact caused them any concern for Rachell's innocence, they did nothing about it.
[more ...]
Jurors sentenced Rachell to 40 years in prison in a case built largely on eyewitness testimony from the victim and one of his 8-year-old friends. More than five years later, DNA evidence — available but never tested before Rachell's trial — cleared him of any involvement in the attack. ...
Eventually, DNA evidence linked registered sex offender Andrew Wayne Hawthorne to at least one of those assaults, and he pleaded guilty in three cases. He is serving a 60-year prison sentence.
There's plenty of blame to distribute, but the Houston Police Department deserves a large slice.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
What Ever Happened to My Little Boy?...What Ever Happened to My Son?
by Aine O’Brocken
written for Elsa Newman, as I think she might say it, if she had access to the internet
©2008, Aine O’Brocken
written for Elsa Newman, as I think she might say it, if she had access to the internet
©2008, Aine O’Brocken
He was such perfection at the moment he was born. I knew I held someone special in my arms. I named him Herbert. Herbert Ian Newman Slobodow.
Herbie loved everyone and was afraid of no one. He would grow, I knew, to be like his grandfather—my father, who never came across a stranger—only friends he was meeting for the first time.
And, to my great delight, he bonded wonderfully with me. We delighted in each other.
Herbert would come to love the violin. By the time he was eight, his skill was extraordinary for a child that age. At one of his lessons, his teacher called the previous student back as the older boy was leaving—a high-school boy of no small skill himself—to look at Herbie’s bow hold. The child held the bow like an adult.
And he played—to use a trite expression—like an angel. As a child he had begun playing classical music. His concentration was superb. I have photos of him playing, his face displaying the peace and serenity of a mini-virtuouso who had found his calling. He was happy and content with himself and his instrument.
Here I must add that no ADD child, no ADHD child could play that way, play so well. I know this from violin teachers; I know it from violinists themselves. Playing the violin takes focus…love…dedication…and concentration. Herbie had them all, even at the age of seven. This thought is crucial to the question of ADD/ADHD—which Herbie’s father insists that he has. Herbie’s father sees to it that my son uses amphetamines to control a disease—which he doesn’t have. Strange behavior.
Herbie was a child deeply committed to kindness. When he was very young and in school, the teacher put his locker right next to the locker of a little girl with a hearing problem—because that teacher knew Herbie could be depended on to help her, without suggestions from adults.
The child Herbie loved life and loved living. He was a good boy, seldom needing discipline of any kind. And a part of his joy in life and loving was the joy of loving me—his mother. And I loved him in return with a love equaled only by my love for his younger brother, Lars.
Some of my dearest treasures from where I sit now—in a prison cell I did nothing to deserve—are my memories of my sons and their joyful exuberance in the simple things of life as well as the monumental moments. 
Oh…the little-boy joys of climbing into a hollow tree and having your picture taken. Herbie is on the right, Lars on the left—or you might say, in a manner of speaking, Lars is extended from one side to the other.
Herbie and Lars both loved going to camp. When he was living with me, Herbie would come home from day camp dirty from the top of his head to the soles of his sandals. When he was living with his father, he came home as sparkling clean as when he had left in the morning, as if he were terrified of creating dirty clothes—or a less-than-squeaky-clean Herbert.
The clothes, of course, although possessing a distinctive potential to bring out his father’s wrath, were a personal problem for Herbie, since as I understand it, his father—although the boy was too short to reach the buttons at the back of the machine--made Herbie do the family laundry. “What do you do,” I once asked, “if you can’t reach the buttons?”
“I jump,” answered Herbie.
“But what if you miss?” I went on.
“Then Dad hits me,” replied my son, eyes downcast.
That last paragraph introduces a new element into my view of Herbie’s life. When Herbie was seven-ish and Lars five-ish, their father and I began the process of separation, divorce and custody decisions.
I wonder if any mother ever believes that the man she chooses to marry and father her children might molest and abuse those children.
Oh…the little-boy joys of climbing into a hollow tree and having your picture taken. Herbie is on the right, Lars on the left—or you might say, in a manner of speaking, Lars is extended from one side to the other.
Herbie and Lars both loved going to camp. When he was living with me, Herbie would come home from day camp dirty from the top of his head to the soles of his sandals. When he was living with his father, he came home as sparkling clean as when he had left in the morning, as if he were terrified of creating dirty clothes—or a less-than-squeaky-clean Herbert.
The clothes, of course, although possessing a distinctive potential to bring out his father’s wrath, were a personal problem for Herbie, since as I understand it, his father—although the boy was too short to reach the buttons at the back of the machine--made Herbie do the family laundry. “What do you do,” I once asked, “if you can’t reach the buttons?”
“I jump,” answered Herbie.
“But what if you miss?” I went on.
“Then Dad hits me,” replied my son, eyes downcast.
That last paragraph introduces a new element into my view of Herbie’s life. When Herbie was seven-ish and Lars five-ish, their father and I began the process of separation, divorce and custody decisions.
I wonder if any mother ever believes that the man she chooses to marry and father her children might molest and abuse those children.
I suppose not. I suppose every woman expects the man of her choice will be the ideal husband to her and ideal father for her children, should children be in the couple’s future.
I know the thought never entered my mind…not when I met Arlen Slobodow…not when I married him…not when I brought our two sons into the world.
And yet, when we filed divorce proceedings and the question of custody raised its head, a horror virtually beyond belief began for my sons and me.
When the disclosures first started, they were couched in such symbolic language that I failed to understand what the boys were trying to tell me. For just one example, Herbie, coming home from a visit to “Dad’s”, spoke of a snake there that bit him. Another example: teachers reported that Herbie, after a rain, walked the playground at school in search of worms—and then either ate or pretended to eat them, saying, “Mmmmm. These are really good.”
Only after the disclosures began in earnest and I began a written record, did I understand what was going on. The father I had chosen for my sons was molesting them sexually. And he was abusing them in every other way he could think of mentally, emotionally, physically, verbally and spiritually.
When their father would come to get them for a visit, Herbie would hang onto a table, screaming, “Mom! Mom! Don’t let him take me.” But the courts had spoken. I had complete faith in the justice system of the United States to protect my children. At every step, I trusted and tried to work through that system.I should not have done so. The system failed me and my sons in every way. Herbie warned me: “Mom, you’ve got to do something! Dad is going to take us away from you.”
But I knew he was wrong. The American justice system could not possibly be so corrupt that it would order children into the custody of their abuser. Yet when the length and frequency of their father’s visits were increased by the court? Lo and behold, the frequency and seriousness of the disclosures likewise increased.
“Aha!” gloated the father’s attorney. “See? Elsa Newman is making this up, so that she will gain custody. It’s all made up! More visits, more complaints from the mother!”
Except I was not the one making the complaints. The victims of their father’s unspeakable abuses were speaking. And of course the more time they spent with him the more abuses there were to disclose. Duh!
Meanwhile, my sons struggled frantically to tell the truth and find someone besides me to believe them. I had taught them to tell the truth. They believed in the truth. They believed that if you told the truth, people would believe you.
They were wrong. And how far did their struggle go? Let me give you just one example. During an interrogation by law enforcement authorities in DC, the boys emerged, glowing—knowing they had held to the truth to the very end.
What that end was emerged only when, on the way home, the boys asked me, “Mom? What’s kids’ prison?”
The burly law officer who had questioned them had apparently informed them that if they refused to tell the truth—that is to say the version of “reality” he wanted to hear—they would be sent to “kids’ prison.”
Herbie found what he thought would be a solution. In conference with Lars, during an unguarded moment on the part of law enforcement, Herbie suggested that they should tell the officers that their dad was “neece.” They would not say “nice,” and thereby lie. They had too much integrity, even at such an early age. Rather they would pronounce dad “neece.”
So, at the end of this interrogation, the boys announced to law enforcement that their father was, indeed, a “neece” man. Law enforcement heard what they wanted to hear, which was “nice,” and released the boys for me to take them home.
Thus do children learn that telling the truth is a pointless activity.
For nearly a year, the boys were in treatment with a psychiatrist, who in fact, reported abuse early on. Nothing came of the report. The abuse continued. Now, although I have repeatedly asked Dr. Jill Scharff, that psychiatrist, to release the boys’ records to me, she refuses to do so.
Again, it is thus that children learn to devalue truth.
Herbie once asked me, “Why won’t the courts listen to me? I tell them what happened, and they won’t listen.” I had no explanation.
Thus do children learn to devalue themselves.
Remember the child who played the violin so beautifully? That was Herbie. He had had three different teachers. During visits to his father, he did not do well in the violin. At length, the third teacher called me, practically in tears. “Please,” she said, “don’t let his father bring him anymore. He was here today. He was dirty. He was unkempt. He was unprepared. He tried to play, but couldn’t do it.”
Herbie had an explanation as to why he did not do well when he was at dad’s. “When I try to play, he hits me in the crotch.”
Thus do children learn to devalue what they had once loved.
When the boys visited their father, they were often invited to the workroom in the basement for drawing sessions. They were made to draw according to their father’s instructions: nice pictures of dad; ugly, scrawled pictures of mom; nice pictures of the guardian ad litem; ugly pictures of mom’s attorneys.
Thus do children learn to despise where once they loved and bonded.
Their father would also practice correct speaking with them. There were many sessions like this one: “Who is nicer?” he would ask, “mom or dad?”
Herbie would answer, “You are both nice,” hoping to escape punishment.
Lars would answer, “You are, Dad.”
And Dad would say, “Lars has the right answer.”
Thus do children succumb to the forces of brainwashing, simple forces with a child lacking age and wisdom—no matter how great his integrity.
And then came the crime which sent me to prison, although I had neither foreknowledge of the event nor any form of participation in it.
A family friend, Margery Landry—godmother of my two sons, and called “Aunt Margie” by both of them—broke into Arlen Slobodow’s house on a night when he had visitation with the children. I was out of state to attend my niece’s wedding. Margery, she says, was hoping to find evidence of child abuse…of molestation…or of child pornography, which the children had disclosed that their father used them to make.
The events which followed, the struggled between “Aunt Margie” and the children’s father; the accidental shooting of their father, the subsequent 9-1-1 call, in which Arlen Slobodow virtually set up a case for the prosecution against me; the criminal trial in which I was convicted of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder [despite the fact that both these charges were null prossed against Margery Landry]; the appeals court reversal of the jury decision in the criminal trial; the retrial, so that Doug Gansler would not have a blemish on his record when he ran for state office, all of these things had a clear effect on both my sons.
Thus do children learn that the so-called “American justice system” is nothing but a fraud.
Thus do children come into the complete and terrifying control of a man who fathered them, but later said, “I don’t care if the kids grow up f***** up.”
Thus do children change. Thus has my older son has seemed to turn against me.
And thus, a woman I barely know has begun writing this story for me, hoping for publicity that will set me free from a prison I have not deserved—and will set my sons free from the prison of molestation and abuse their father has crafted for them.
Finally, thus it is that this woman has been receiving comments of the following nature on her blogs and citizen journalism sites. The writer variously claims to be my son, Herbie or someone else—using a variety of other names.[Note from Aine: I publish these because I want readers to have an opportunity to evaluate what this young man is saying about and to me--if it is in fact Herbie who is writing. As you read, please keep in mind that I have researched this case for myself. I have not taken Elsa Newman's word. I have read documents. I have found witnesses. I have no reason to fear the kind of foul-mouthed language and accusations this person uses in his/her comments. The errors belong to the individual. I copied and pasted the comments, to be sure I got them right.]
December 29, 2008: herbie!!! has left a new comment on your post: OOOOOOOOH the fake list of names you put in everyday because it lets you sign it with your internet adress once a day wowow your blood god must be pleased
December 29, 2008: herbie has left a new comment on your post: And who the fuck said anything bad about women, i love women, but you are a disgrace to the gender
December 29, 2008: Herbie!!!!!!! has left a new comment on your post ": ok first off i got nothing to do with ashan i dont even know who the fuck that isi asked my dad, its not himSeccond Im trying to make sure people understand the amount of bullshit you "spew" into your crazy fucking rants.What am i doing? I am telling people the reality of your crazy fucked up blogs.Seriously i know your moms payed writer, but god damn what youwrite looks like some crazy fucking blood god cultist propaganda to make every female in prison look innocent.Just skimming through your wierd bullshit i can tell eather you or mom is sexist against all men.And yes this is herbiedidnt i show you that through argueng with you on my youtubeor do i have to fucking make a video to prove im meyour an ignorant, sexist, lier, cultist, paranoid, skitzophrenic, sellout, easily manipulated, pathetic, responds to your own blogs pretending to be a viewer, obsessed, delusional, and idiotic little old lady from washington who thinks shes never wrong when she always is.p.s. im fucking 15 of course i make grammer errors on the interwebs, dont tell me thats unusual to you
December 25, 2008:
Please remember i do not approve of any of this shit
I dont need help im doing fine, this is just a blog my mom pays her to write so she can get out of jail
December 25, 2008:
… annie post a blog about why you choose to copy and paste stuff mom writes to you on the internet.
Thats right, this person is a payed writer for mom, these are the words of my crazy mom.
December 25, 2008…this is just a sick sellout my mom pays to write articles for her.
These bs blogs come from my mom who thinks lying about my dad will get her out of jail.
December 25, 2008:
… as for being a musician, i only knew 2 songs, twinkle twinkle little star and some other song, and i wasnt to good at them
Ann brocken is just moms hired writer and so all theese articles come from my mom …
December 20, 2008: Shut the fuck up and leave my dad aloneWhat about Washington dc, a bitch named anne cyber bullying, libel, and slander
December 20, 2008: i love you Katherine WinfreeMom go to hell Kathrine Winfree helped me get a way from a lyng manipulative bitch who calls herself mom
December 20, 2008 herbie has left a new comment on your post
I dont need help im doing fine, this is just a blog my mom pays her to write so she can get out of jail
December 25, 2008:
… annie post a blog about why you choose to copy and paste stuff mom writes to you on the internet.
Thats right, this person is a payed writer for mom, these are the words of my crazy mom.
December 25, 2008…this is just a sick sellout my mom pays to write articles for her.
These bs blogs come from my mom who thinks lying about my dad will get her out of jail.
December 25, 2008:
… as for being a musician, i only knew 2 songs, twinkle twinkle little star and some other song, and i wasnt to good at them
Ann brocken is just moms hired writer and so all theese articles come from my mom …
December 20, 2008: Shut the fuck up and leave my dad aloneWhat about Washington dc, a bitch named anne cyber bullying, libel, and slander
December 20, 2008: i love you Katherine WinfreeMom go to hell Kathrine Winfree helped me get a way from a lyng manipulative bitch who calls herself mom
December 20, 2008 herbie has left a new comment on your post
Mom and her toolBoth of you are fucking discustingOf course none of that shits real to anyone dumbenough to question "really"Mom i wish my fetus came from some one elsa you nasty whore
December 20, 2008 herbie has left a new comment on your post "AN OPEN LETTER TO DOUG GANFREE: AG OF MARYLAND--AN...":
you people are discusting, stalking dads friends now???Now that im telling the truth all you want to do lately is discredit me and insult me, but doesnt bother me coming from a psychopathic sexist working for a manipulative insane bitch with a nasty hole i escaped from. And dont lie about your self, your not little, you fat hell!your not working for anyone but yourself and mom. Your in no way shape or form a reporter, just a hired blogger And your one sick shit … look at what your writing!Its fucking discusting You know none of that shit exists
December 20, 2008 herbisism has left a new comment on your post
December 20, 2008 herbie has left a new comment on your post "AN OPEN LETTER TO DOUG GANFREE: AG OF MARYLAND--AN...":
you people are discusting, stalking dads friends now???Now that im telling the truth all you want to do lately is discredit me and insult me, but doesnt bother me coming from a psychopathic sexist working for a manipulative insane bitch with a nasty hole i escaped from. And dont lie about your self, your not little, you fat hell!your not working for anyone but yourself and mom. Your in no way shape or form a reporter, just a hired blogger And your one sick shit … look at what your writing!Its fucking discusting You know none of that shit exists
December 20, 2008 herbisism has left a new comment on your post
…your are a sexist nutjob who has some crazy ideas of female supremacy and see this case as an oppertunity to promote itor just moms hired writer, eather way your a discusting person
December 19, 2008
"I BELIEVE YOU, ELSA NEWMAN! YES, I DO! (updated)": …because she pays you to write this shit
December 19, 2008
herbie has left a new comment on your post: Mom your fucking discusting
December 19, 2008
herbie has left a new comment on your post "NAZI FASCISM IN THE US?": This woman is …some one my mom hired to lie about my dad, why?because all she cares about is herself and getting out of prisonAnd just incase you didnt notice...my dad is jewish and so am i, …
December 19, 2008
herbie has left a new comment on your post: … my mom is …fucking crazy …
December 19, 2008
herbie has left a new comment on your post "ASHAN--ARE YOU TRYING TO "BLOW SMOKE" ON PRESENT R...": Shut the fuck up mom… you are a crazy bitch and you need some help, but your to crazy to get it, yeah make theese bullshit blogs
December 19, 2008
herbert slobodow has left a new comment on your post: Mom, thats it, final straw, when i confront you on the phone about this, you ignore me and scream at me. Im pretty sure all you do is write these in prison in order to try to justify the way you treated me mom. Making me lie about my own father is a pretty fucked up thing to do.Having your best friend shoot my dad is manipulating your own friends and attempting to kill an innocent man for your own greed.You wanted to be rich, you wanted his money, his house, his children, and then... his life.God stepped in, and in pure luck, she missed a sleeping man, and hit his leg, he managed to fight her off with a shot leg.And what do you do then? you turn on your best friend and say its her fault.Then you have your mom steal from her grandchildren, because she doesnt want to spend her millions of dollers on her own daughter.I got that money back in my collage account, lol another fail for you.So what do you do, isolated in your cell?You hire some one to lie about my dad me and the trial just to prove your innocence.Your not my fucking mother, just a nasty place i crawled out of, thats all you are to me now mom. And real jews dont mention gods name
December 19, 2008
herb bert has left a new comment on your post: She doesnt fucking own me, get that in your head, mom means i came from her, not are owned by her.I find it highly pathetic to make a blog lieng about your self, and have somebody else post it.Mom doesnt stand shit,she acts like a 5 year lies about other people to make it look like its their fault, and sends you to blog about it.
What happened to my little boy? What happened to my son? What happened to the little boy who loved his mother and loved life and loved his brother and loved the violin.
His father happened to him. I suspect that’s what.
Stockholm Syndrome perhaps?
Or just that a molested child sees that a father is strong, because he can get away with whatever, while the mother who tried to protect her children failed. Is my son becoming his father?
I don’t know. All I want to know is what happened to the little boy who loved me. Where did he go?
December 19, 2008
"I BELIEVE YOU, ELSA NEWMAN! YES, I DO! (updated)": …because she pays you to write this shit
December 19, 2008
herbie has left a new comment on your post: Mom your fucking discusting
December 19, 2008
herbie has left a new comment on your post "NAZI FASCISM IN THE US?": This woman is …some one my mom hired to lie about my dad, why?because all she cares about is herself and getting out of prisonAnd just incase you didnt notice...my dad is jewish and so am i, …
December 19, 2008
herbie has left a new comment on your post: … my mom is …fucking crazy …
December 19, 2008
herbie has left a new comment on your post "ASHAN--ARE YOU TRYING TO "BLOW SMOKE" ON PRESENT R...": Shut the fuck up mom… you are a crazy bitch and you need some help, but your to crazy to get it, yeah make theese bullshit blogs
December 19, 2008
herbert slobodow has left a new comment on your post: Mom, thats it, final straw, when i confront you on the phone about this, you ignore me and scream at me. Im pretty sure all you do is write these in prison in order to try to justify the way you treated me mom. Making me lie about my own father is a pretty fucked up thing to do.Having your best friend shoot my dad is manipulating your own friends and attempting to kill an innocent man for your own greed.You wanted to be rich, you wanted his money, his house, his children, and then... his life.God stepped in, and in pure luck, she missed a sleeping man, and hit his leg, he managed to fight her off with a shot leg.And what do you do then? you turn on your best friend and say its her fault.Then you have your mom steal from her grandchildren, because she doesnt want to spend her millions of dollers on her own daughter.I got that money back in my collage account, lol another fail for you.So what do you do, isolated in your cell?You hire some one to lie about my dad me and the trial just to prove your innocence.Your not my fucking mother, just a nasty place i crawled out of, thats all you are to me now mom. And real jews dont mention gods name
December 19, 2008
herb bert has left a new comment on your post: She doesnt fucking own me, get that in your head, mom means i came from her, not are owned by her.I find it highly pathetic to make a blog lieng about your self, and have somebody else post it.Mom doesnt stand shit,she acts like a 5 year lies about other people to make it look like its their fault, and sends you to blog about it.
What happened to my little boy? What happened to my son? What happened to the little boy who loved his mother and loved life and loved his brother and loved the violin.
His father happened to him. I suspect that’s what.
Stockholm Syndrome perhaps?
Or just that a molested child sees that a father is strong, because he can get away with whatever, while the mother who tried to protect her children failed. Is my son becoming his father?
I don’t know. All I want to know is what happened to the little boy who loved me. Where did he go?
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Two Questions for the Readers
I could use a good solid opinion or two here, or even more.
I’ve begun receiving “hate” mail in the form of comments on my blogs and citizen journalism articles. The writer of this mails refers to himself—I assume the person is of a masculine persuasion—variously as “herbie,” “ herbster,” “herb ert,” “herbisism,” “ashan,” “proceed with caution,” “herbert slobodow,” and “herbie the jew,” among an assortment of other things.
The writer—sorry, but the seventh-grade teacher in me can’t help noticing this—seems unable to spell or capitalize his way out of a paper bag! Now that fact would make me consider the possibility that the writer is not Herbie Slobodow--Elsa Newman’s intelligent, kind, loving, gentle, musician and athletic son, now fifteen years old--but some other person who pretends to be “Herbert” or “Herbster.” I don’t know.
However I cannot imagine any son speaking thus about his mother: “Your not my fucking mother, just a nasty place i crawled out of….” or “Shut the fuck up mom….you are a crazy bitch and you need some help, but your to crazy to get it, yeah make these bullshit blogs…,” “…my mom and her hitler way of the world….” And these are not the only such things he says. Nevertheless the person who leaves comments for me under these names, says these things about Elsa Newman. If this is indeed a child speaking about his mother, it is a strange thing indeed.
The only possibilities I see are these:
1) Herbert Slobodow has grown to hate his mother and does, indeed, spew such filth about her without conscience and without concern for the picture of himself that he is creating around the world;
2) the material is written, not by Herbie, but by his father, Arlen. Now you understand, Arlen Slobodow is a man who would very possibly consider himself well justified in referring to his former wife as a hole out of which his son had crawled. In addition to that, I have a certain feel for a writer that comes from all those years of teaching language arts. After years spent grading well over a hundred student papers per week, I find myself noticing small mannerisms, points of style, spelling techniques and inconsistencies, punctuation (or lack thereof) capitalization (or lack thereof), a certain turn of phrase typical of a particular writer—whether said writer is a student or a literary personage. And here are some things I know of Arlen Slobodow: he is a writer of scripts, which means that he is quite familiar with the process of putting words into other people’s mouths; is it just possible it could be this father himself, the accused pedophile, who is doing this writing? Arlen tends to write without capitals, without particular concern for punctuation and with little care for correct spelling. That is the second possibility I see.
3) Or there is a third possibility: the material could be written by some friend of Arlen Slobodow or some member of his family other than his older son. I have no particular reason to think this. However, I must acknowledge it as a possibility.
Soooo…what I’m asking here is that if you have read any of these comments, lend me a response. Tell me who you think is writing this garbage about Elsa Newman.
Garbage? Perhaps that is too high-class a name for what this person is spouting--as if Newman did not have enough suffering to do on her own, unjustly imprisoned for a crime committed by someone else, and partly for believing her sons when they said they were being molested by their father…for believing the physical signs of abuse physicians found on their young bodies. When a boy’s anus is stretched and broken and bleeding, Herbie, Herbster, Ashan, Herbie the Jew or whoever you are, it is a clear and documentable sign of sexual molestation, whether or not you choose now to admit that.
And at the time that doctors verified this abuse, you, yourself, were clinging to tables or doorways or your mother—begging not to have to go visit your father, and being forced to leave your mother and go to your father anyhow. People who supervised visits can bear witness to that, Herbster or Herbert or sheepsunion, whoever you are.
And now…although I hate to break it to my readers…I have to tell you that that whole shebang above is merely a lead in to a different question. And that question is about slander.
If the person who calls himself by many names , also calls me many names, is that slander? Let me give you some examples, straight from comments left by the (young?) man(?) of many names.
1. “Ann brocken is just mom’s hired writer and so all these articles come from my mom and her hitler way of the world….” [Gee, I hate it when he says that! I have spent hours virtually every day for the past year working on getting to the truth of the matter, and the kid(?) says I’m being paid to write this.] As if Elsa Newman had some source of money when Arlen Slobodow has a judgement against her for something like two million dollars. Guess again, folks! Besides that, you couldn’t pay me for all this work. I write because I believe in Elsa Newman, because I believe Elsa Newman, because I believe the two little boys who said their father was molesting them and abusing them in other ways, because I believe the physical evidence from these boys’ past, and because I believe that this whole mess has been a horrible miscarriage of justice.
2. [Aine O’Brocken] “is just a sick sellout my mom pays to write articles for her. Oh, that’s a name for me, all right—sick sellout. Ptooie!
3. “by the way annie post a blog about why you choose to copy and paste stuff mom writes to you on the internet.” I can hardly do a blog on that, since your mother/ex-wife (or whatever she is to you, depending on who is writing this crud) has no access to the internet and cannot write to me except by snail mail.
4. “Shut the fuck up and leave my dad alone What about Washington dc, a bitch named anne cyber bullying, libel, and slander.” Bullying, libel and slander—hmmmmm. Sound more like I’m the recipient than the bullier.
5. “You are fucking discusting.”
6. [You are] “a psychopathic sexist working for a manipulative insane bitch.”
7. “ And don’t lie about yourself, your not little, you fat hell!” This, I suppose as a response to my calling myself a little, old lady. And as virtually anyone knows, being a little, old lady has absolutely nothing to do with being little or old or a lady; it’s a state of mind. I’ve been here for years.”
8. “Your one sick shit, no matter how much she pays you, look at what your writing! It’s fucking discusting. You know none of that shit exists.” Quite the contrary, actually. The more time I spend on this case, the more I believe Elsa Newman is telling the truth about everything.
9. “you are a sellout and a sexist…your are a sexist nutjob who has some crazy ideas of female supremacy.” Naw. Anybody knows that women are just a hole for the real humans to crawl out of, don’t they? NOT!
Anyhow, to sum it all up, I am asking two questions of my readers, if any of you will be so kind as to comment.
Question one: who do you think is writing this abusive material about Elsa Newman?
Question two: has herbie/herbster/ashan/herb ert/herbie slobodow (or whoever this writer is) has this person yet crossed the line into slander in his/her name-calling and vicious approach to this writer.
Thanks. I'll be waiting to hear from you.
I’ve begun receiving “hate” mail in the form of comments on my blogs and citizen journalism articles. The writer of this mails refers to himself—I assume the person is of a masculine persuasion—variously as “herbie,” “ herbster,” “herb ert,” “herbisism,” “ashan,” “proceed with caution,” “herbert slobodow,” and “herbie the jew,” among an assortment of other things.
The writer—sorry, but the seventh-grade teacher in me can’t help noticing this—seems unable to spell or capitalize his way out of a paper bag! Now that fact would make me consider the possibility that the writer is not Herbie Slobodow--Elsa Newman’s intelligent, kind, loving, gentle, musician and athletic son, now fifteen years old--but some other person who pretends to be “Herbert” or “Herbster.” I don’t know.
However I cannot imagine any son speaking thus about his mother: “Your not my fucking mother, just a nasty place i crawled out of….” or “Shut the fuck up mom….you are a crazy bitch and you need some help, but your to crazy to get it, yeah make these bullshit blogs…,” “…my mom and her hitler way of the world….” And these are not the only such things he says. Nevertheless the person who leaves comments for me under these names, says these things about Elsa Newman. If this is indeed a child speaking about his mother, it is a strange thing indeed.
The only possibilities I see are these:
1) Herbert Slobodow has grown to hate his mother and does, indeed, spew such filth about her without conscience and without concern for the picture of himself that he is creating around the world;
2) the material is written, not by Herbie, but by his father, Arlen. Now you understand, Arlen Slobodow is a man who would very possibly consider himself well justified in referring to his former wife as a hole out of which his son had crawled. In addition to that, I have a certain feel for a writer that comes from all those years of teaching language arts. After years spent grading well over a hundred student papers per week, I find myself noticing small mannerisms, points of style, spelling techniques and inconsistencies, punctuation (or lack thereof) capitalization (or lack thereof), a certain turn of phrase typical of a particular writer—whether said writer is a student or a literary personage. And here are some things I know of Arlen Slobodow: he is a writer of scripts, which means that he is quite familiar with the process of putting words into other people’s mouths; is it just possible it could be this father himself, the accused pedophile, who is doing this writing? Arlen tends to write without capitals, without particular concern for punctuation and with little care for correct spelling. That is the second possibility I see.
3) Or there is a third possibility: the material could be written by some friend of Arlen Slobodow or some member of his family other than his older son. I have no particular reason to think this. However, I must acknowledge it as a possibility.
Soooo…what I’m asking here is that if you have read any of these comments, lend me a response. Tell me who you think is writing this garbage about Elsa Newman.
Garbage? Perhaps that is too high-class a name for what this person is spouting--as if Newman did not have enough suffering to do on her own, unjustly imprisoned for a crime committed by someone else, and partly for believing her sons when they said they were being molested by their father…for believing the physical signs of abuse physicians found on their young bodies. When a boy’s anus is stretched and broken and bleeding, Herbie, Herbster, Ashan, Herbie the Jew or whoever you are, it is a clear and documentable sign of sexual molestation, whether or not you choose now to admit that.
And at the time that doctors verified this abuse, you, yourself, were clinging to tables or doorways or your mother—begging not to have to go visit your father, and being forced to leave your mother and go to your father anyhow. People who supervised visits can bear witness to that, Herbster or Herbert or sheepsunion, whoever you are.
And now…although I hate to break it to my readers…I have to tell you that that whole shebang above is merely a lead in to a different question. And that question is about slander.
If the person who calls himself by many names , also calls me many names, is that slander? Let me give you some examples, straight from comments left by the (young?) man(?) of many names.
1. “Ann brocken is just mom’s hired writer and so all these articles come from my mom and her hitler way of the world….” [Gee, I hate it when he says that! I have spent hours virtually every day for the past year working on getting to the truth of the matter, and the kid(?) says I’m being paid to write this.] As if Elsa Newman had some source of money when Arlen Slobodow has a judgement against her for something like two million dollars. Guess again, folks! Besides that, you couldn’t pay me for all this work. I write because I believe in Elsa Newman, because I believe Elsa Newman, because I believe the two little boys who said their father was molesting them and abusing them in other ways, because I believe the physical evidence from these boys’ past, and because I believe that this whole mess has been a horrible miscarriage of justice.
2. [Aine O’Brocken] “is just a sick sellout my mom pays to write articles for her. Oh, that’s a name for me, all right—sick sellout. Ptooie!
3. “by the way annie post a blog about why you choose to copy and paste stuff mom writes to you on the internet.” I can hardly do a blog on that, since your mother/ex-wife (or whatever she is to you, depending on who is writing this crud) has no access to the internet and cannot write to me except by snail mail.
4. “Shut the fuck up and leave my dad alone What about Washington dc, a bitch named anne cyber bullying, libel, and slander.” Bullying, libel and slander—hmmmmm. Sound more like I’m the recipient than the bullier.
5. “You are fucking discusting.”
6. [You are] “a psychopathic sexist working for a manipulative insane bitch.”
7. “ And don’t lie about yourself, your not little, you fat hell!” This, I suppose as a response to my calling myself a little, old lady. And as virtually anyone knows, being a little, old lady has absolutely nothing to do with being little or old or a lady; it’s a state of mind. I’ve been here for years.”
8. “Your one sick shit, no matter how much she pays you, look at what your writing! It’s fucking discusting. You know none of that shit exists.” Quite the contrary, actually. The more time I spend on this case, the more I believe Elsa Newman is telling the truth about everything.
9. “you are a sellout and a sexist…your are a sexist nutjob who has some crazy ideas of female supremacy.” Naw. Anybody knows that women are just a hole for the real humans to crawl out of, don’t they? NOT!
Anyhow, to sum it all up, I am asking two questions of my readers, if any of you will be so kind as to comment.
Question one: who do you think is writing this abusive material about Elsa Newman?
Question two: has herbie/herbster/ashan/herb ert/herbie slobodow (or whoever this writer is) has this person yet crossed the line into slander in his/her name-calling and vicious approach to this writer.
Thanks. I'll be waiting to hear from you.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW:
An open letter to Herbie...or Herbster...or Herbeest...or Her bee... or canadarm2...or sheepsunion...or however you choose to name yourself today.
I have a few questions that I’d like to ask you. Since you have not yet written using my email address, which I sent you via a comment on a variety of blogs and such, I thought perhaps this would be the best way to get these questions to you, since I know you are reading this particular blog now.
1. How did your mother make you lie?
2. To whom did she make you lie?
3. What kind of lies, exactly, did she make you tell?
I am interested to know exactly what she did to accomplish this. Maybe if I could hear some of your point of view, I could understand better, and I might not be so convinced by the documents I have read.
Aine of Brocken
I have a few questions that I’d like to ask you. Since you have not yet written using my email address, which I sent you via a comment on a variety of blogs and such, I thought perhaps this would be the best way to get these questions to you, since I know you are reading this particular blog now.
1. How did your mother make you lie?
2. To whom did she make you lie?
3. What kind of lies, exactly, did she make you tell?
I am interested to know exactly what she did to accomplish this. Maybe if I could hear some of your point of view, I could understand better, and I might not be so convinced by the documents I have read.
Beyond that, I would like to say again that I am glad you are expressing yourself. However, I suppose I fall short of complete appreciation of some of the things you say to me and the way you say them, since I had understood from people who know you that you are quite a nice young man, thoughtful and courteous. Aside from that, I do understand that you have had many difficulties in your young life. And if swearing and name-calling makes you feel better about yourself and the vagaries of that life, then go for it.
Since I, of course, was not there, I do not know what really went on when you were younger. But I do know that there have been many, many doctors, pediatricians, social workers, teachers, psychologists and psychiatrists who expressed concerns about you and your brother when you were younger because of many things you told them about feeling unsafe.
Believe it or not I have read through all of the materials myself and made my own decision. While I cannot say exactly what was going on, I can say that something terrible was happening to you when you were younger, some of which had nothing to do with your mom. It is obvious from reading what I have read. One day when you are older, I hope you will get a chance to review some of this and decide for yourself.
What I believe and what many, many intelligent and informed people believe is that your mother is unfairly imprisoned, and that she is innocent of wrongdoing. I do know her friend brought a gun to your house and struggled with your father. I do believe that woman was guilty. I believe she was brought to such a crazy action because she adored you and your brother; you were telling her terrible, terrible things were happening, and she desperately wanted to save you.
Unfortunately, what ended up happening is the worst chain of events possible:, your father’s being shot in the leg, and as for your mother: wrongful conviction, separation from you, and inability to be there for you in your life. I do hope the terrible things that you were mentioning when you were younger are no longer happening, and am truly happy if that has stopped or was misunderstood by all the professionals.
I want to keep my websites going, not to harm you, but to see if one day the public can better understand what has happened to your mother. What happened to your mother is not unique. There are many women all over the country—there are, in fact, thousands of women--who try to get help for their children and end up in jail, or are otherwise blamed. This is very sad.
Would you be interested in talking or writing to other children whose mothers were taken from them when they asked their mothers for help? There are many children out there this happened to. This is a real tragedy. But the reality is that many of them have grown up and are now speaking about what happened to them and to their mothers.
.
Out of all of this, there many things I do not know. What I do know for sure is that your mother loves you very, very much. She talks and writes frequently about how smart and brave and talented you are, and all the good things she wishes for you. I hope that you can feel that love even if your mom and you disagree right now about what really happened when you were younger.
Sincerely and with great hope and best wishes for you and your brother,
Since I, of course, was not there, I do not know what really went on when you were younger. But I do know that there have been many, many doctors, pediatricians, social workers, teachers, psychologists and psychiatrists who expressed concerns about you and your brother when you were younger because of many things you told them about feeling unsafe.
Believe it or not I have read through all of the materials myself and made my own decision. While I cannot say exactly what was going on, I can say that something terrible was happening to you when you were younger, some of which had nothing to do with your mom. It is obvious from reading what I have read. One day when you are older, I hope you will get a chance to review some of this and decide for yourself.
What I believe and what many, many intelligent and informed people believe is that your mother is unfairly imprisoned, and that she is innocent of wrongdoing. I do know her friend brought a gun to your house and struggled with your father. I do believe that woman was guilty. I believe she was brought to such a crazy action because she adored you and your brother; you were telling her terrible, terrible things were happening, and she desperately wanted to save you.
Unfortunately, what ended up happening is the worst chain of events possible:, your father’s being shot in the leg, and as for your mother: wrongful conviction, separation from you, and inability to be there for you in your life. I do hope the terrible things that you were mentioning when you were younger are no longer happening, and am truly happy if that has stopped or was misunderstood by all the professionals.
I want to keep my websites going, not to harm you, but to see if one day the public can better understand what has happened to your mother. What happened to your mother is not unique. There are many women all over the country—there are, in fact, thousands of women--who try to get help for their children and end up in jail, or are otherwise blamed. This is very sad.
Would you be interested in talking or writing to other children whose mothers were taken from them when they asked their mothers for help? There are many children out there this happened to. This is a real tragedy. But the reality is that many of them have grown up and are now speaking about what happened to them and to their mothers.
.
Out of all of this, there many things I do not know. What I do know for sure is that your mother loves you very, very much. She talks and writes frequently about how smart and brave and talented you are, and all the good things she wishes for you. I hope that you can feel that love even if your mom and you disagree right now about what really happened when you were younger.
Sincerely and with great hope and best wishes for you and your brother,
Aine of Brocken
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Question: What kind of man sues a 95-year-old woman and sends his attorney to threaten her?
Answer: That would be the kind of man who sued Rose Newman for $120,000. Just in case you question the numbers, here is the sum in letters: one hundred twenty thousand dollars.
Let me explain a thing or two here about Rose Newman. She has led a difficult life. Her mother died when Rose was born. She lost a son in a freak accident that took his life when the boy was a pre-teen. As most women who have lost children in death can attest, the death of a child is one of the most difficult and emotionally crushing of events any mother can experience.
Newman’s husband died before her, leaving her a widow.
But life was not done with Rose Newman. Events that she has called “even worse” were yet to come. The first of these were disclosures by her two precious grandsons, Elsa’s sons, who insisted that their father was abusing them sexually, as well as physically, mentally, emotionally, verbally and spiritually. The abuses disclosed by the two boys at that time were literally unspeakable. The boys’ treating psychiatrist, Dr. Jill Scharff, not only heard their disclosures, but put enough stock in their veracity that she reported the abuse. The boys also disclosed to family friends, to physicians, to police officers and to others. Nobody was able—or willing--to help them. The abuses apparently continued, worse than ever. When the boys were taken for visits to their father, they would leave screaming and begging their mother not to force them to make the visit.
Enough already! Someone finally listened and came to the assistance of these boys, right?
Wrong!
Living with the knowledge that her grandsons had revealed unspeakable abuses should have been enough torment for Rose Newman. But life was still not finished with her.
Newman’s daughter, Elsa, the younger of her two daughters, was arrested. Eventually, this daughter would be unjustly incarcerated for a crime that did not even exist: there was no murder attempt, although Elsa was convicted of attempted murder. Elsa was also convicted of “conspiracy to commit murder,” despite the fact that the “conspiracy” charge had no co-conspirator.
Huh? How could that be?
The woman who committed the actual crime, Margery Landry, although she plead guilty to other aspects of that crime--such as breaking and entering and use of a gun in commission of a crime—refused to plead guilty to crimes she insisted she had not committed, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. These latter two charges were null prossed in the case of Landry.
In the case of Elsa Newman, however, these charges were brought full force against the defendant. She was tried in Montgomery County Maryland, with Katherine Winfree prosecuting.
Rose Newman searched franticaly for a means to help her innocent daughter stay out of prison and free to raise her sons.. Said frantic search took her to an account she had established for these two grandsons.
I do not know precisely. how much this account contained at the time. I do know that all the monies in this account had been placed there either by Rose Newman or her daughter, Elsa. In the first year of each boy’s life, Rose placed $10,000 in the account for the child. In addition, she added $10,000 for each of the following three years of the child’s life. Thus, each child started life with a sum of $40,000. Her daughter Elsa added some monies of her own and, in addition, made some wise investments on behalf of her sons.
As I said before, I do not know the exact amount in this fund at the time of Elsa’s arrest. What I do know is that Rose Newman, believing that justice for and the welfare of her grandsons depended in part on their mother’s having a solid defense team that could return her to her sons, looked to this fund as one source of defense for Elsa. She followed appropriate procedures…she checked every possible legal avenue…and she was informed that the fund was, in fact, available for use to pay attorney’s for the children’s mother. And this is what Rose Newman did.
She used about $70,000 an a vain attempt to help her grandsons keep their mother.
To no avail: Elsa Newman was tried and convicted of the very crimes that Margery Landry said did not exist, the very crimes that were null prossed in Landry’s case.
Upon appeal to Maryland’s highest court, Rose Newman’s daughter was released and the verdict in her case was vacated. The court opined in their majority opinion that there was nothing to connect Elsa Newman to the crime committed by Margery Landry.
And yet...again Rose Newman’s daughter was arrested. Again she was tried. Again she was convicted. She now resides, unjustly imprisoned, at Maryland Correctional Institution at Jessup.
Her children reside in Tampa, Florida, in the custody—by default—of the father they had said abused them so horribly.
And now may we return to the first question that began this story: What kind of man sues a 95-year-old woman and sends his attorney to threaten her?
Answer: that would be the same kind of man who abuses his children…who assaults family friends…who batters his wife to the point she needs to take out protective orders against him…a man who ignores those protective orders and shoves his wife to the sidewalk, stepping over her prone body to enter her house and take whatever he wants.
Holding that this elderly woman had no right to take money from a fund she, herself, had established for her grandsons, in an attempt to protect their mother for them, this man filed a lawsuit against Rose Newman for $120,000.
Hey! Wait a minute! What’s up with that, Aine? You said she used $70,000 for her daughter’s attorney’s fees. Don’t you mean he sued her for $70,000?
Nope…nope…and nope!
Apparently this man and his attorney—one Stacey Blondes Talbott, practicing in Maryland—decided that this 95-year-old woman not only needed to repay what she had used from the fund, but needed to be punished as well. So they set the amount of their lawsuit at $120,000. And they won.
Rose Newman realized she was going to have to come with considerably more money than she had expended. She went right to work on it, realizing, possibly, from her daughter’s experience what happens to people who dare to say the court is wrong.
And that, at last, was the whole story, right? Rose Newman raised the money, and there was an end to it?
Nope…nope…and nope!
Rose Newman didn’t move quite fast enough for “the man” and his attorney. So said attorney proceeded to threaten Mrs. Newman—if she didn’t hurry…if she didn’t come up with the $70,000, plus, of course, the $50, 000 added by the court for a total of $120,000…rapidly enough to suit the plaintiff and his attorney, then the plaintiff and his attorney would “take everything she had.”
Frightened, Mrs. Newman awaited contact from her unjustly incarcerated daughter, to help her understand what had happened. [You may already know that placing a phone call to a prisoner is impossible. You must wait and hope and pray for the prisoner to call you.] Eventually, the phone call came. There is not, however, a lot that an unjustly incarcerated daughter can do for her frightened, 95-year-old mother.
So, Rose Newman has set about putting together enough of her assets to satisfy the judgement against her. Meanwhile, she lives with the fear that she won’t move fast enough to suit the man’s attorney, and she will lose everything she has—and possibly even be forced into the streets.
And we are back to the question which with which I began: What kind of man does this to a 95-year-old woman?
Answer: That would be the kind of man who sued Rose Newman for $120,000. Just in case you question the numbers, here is the sum in letters: one hundred twenty thousand dollars.
Let me explain a thing or two here about Rose Newman. She has led a difficult life. Her mother died when Rose was born. She lost a son in a freak accident that took his life when the boy was a pre-teen. As most women who have lost children in death can attest, the death of a child is one of the most difficult and emotionally crushing of events any mother can experience.
Newman’s husband died before her, leaving her a widow.
But life was not done with Rose Newman. Events that she has called “even worse” were yet to come. The first of these were disclosures by her two precious grandsons, Elsa’s sons, who insisted that their father was abusing them sexually, as well as physically, mentally, emotionally, verbally and spiritually. The abuses disclosed by the two boys at that time were literally unspeakable. The boys’ treating psychiatrist, Dr. Jill Scharff, not only heard their disclosures, but put enough stock in their veracity that she reported the abuse. The boys also disclosed to family friends, to physicians, to police officers and to others. Nobody was able—or willing--to help them. The abuses apparently continued, worse than ever. When the boys were taken for visits to their father, they would leave screaming and begging their mother not to force them to make the visit.
Enough already! Someone finally listened and came to the assistance of these boys, right?
Wrong!
Living with the knowledge that her grandsons had revealed unspeakable abuses should have been enough torment for Rose Newman. But life was still not finished with her.
Newman’s daughter, Elsa, the younger of her two daughters, was arrested. Eventually, this daughter would be unjustly incarcerated for a crime that did not even exist: there was no murder attempt, although Elsa was convicted of attempted murder. Elsa was also convicted of “conspiracy to commit murder,” despite the fact that the “conspiracy” charge had no co-conspirator.
Huh? How could that be?
The woman who committed the actual crime, Margery Landry, although she plead guilty to other aspects of that crime--such as breaking and entering and use of a gun in commission of a crime—refused to plead guilty to crimes she insisted she had not committed, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. These latter two charges were null prossed in the case of Landry.
In the case of Elsa Newman, however, these charges were brought full force against the defendant. She was tried in Montgomery County Maryland, with Katherine Winfree prosecuting.
Rose Newman searched franticaly for a means to help her innocent daughter stay out of prison and free to raise her sons.. Said frantic search took her to an account she had established for these two grandsons.
I do not know precisely. how much this account contained at the time. I do know that all the monies in this account had been placed there either by Rose Newman or her daughter, Elsa. In the first year of each boy’s life, Rose placed $10,000 in the account for the child. In addition, she added $10,000 for each of the following three years of the child’s life. Thus, each child started life with a sum of $40,000. Her daughter Elsa added some monies of her own and, in addition, made some wise investments on behalf of her sons.
As I said before, I do not know the exact amount in this fund at the time of Elsa’s arrest. What I do know is that Rose Newman, believing that justice for and the welfare of her grandsons depended in part on their mother’s having a solid defense team that could return her to her sons, looked to this fund as one source of defense for Elsa. She followed appropriate procedures…she checked every possible legal avenue…and she was informed that the fund was, in fact, available for use to pay attorney’s for the children’s mother. And this is what Rose Newman did.
She used about $70,000 an a vain attempt to help her grandsons keep their mother.
To no avail: Elsa Newman was tried and convicted of the very crimes that Margery Landry said did not exist, the very crimes that were null prossed in Landry’s case.
Upon appeal to Maryland’s highest court, Rose Newman’s daughter was released and the verdict in her case was vacated. The court opined in their majority opinion that there was nothing to connect Elsa Newman to the crime committed by Margery Landry.
And yet...again Rose Newman’s daughter was arrested. Again she was tried. Again she was convicted. She now resides, unjustly imprisoned, at Maryland Correctional Institution at Jessup.
Her children reside in Tampa, Florida, in the custody—by default—of the father they had said abused them so horribly.
And now may we return to the first question that began this story: What kind of man sues a 95-year-old woman and sends his attorney to threaten her?
Answer: that would be the same kind of man who abuses his children…who assaults family friends…who batters his wife to the point she needs to take out protective orders against him…a man who ignores those protective orders and shoves his wife to the sidewalk, stepping over her prone body to enter her house and take whatever he wants.
Holding that this elderly woman had no right to take money from a fund she, herself, had established for her grandsons, in an attempt to protect their mother for them, this man filed a lawsuit against Rose Newman for $120,000.
Hey! Wait a minute! What’s up with that, Aine? You said she used $70,000 for her daughter’s attorney’s fees. Don’t you mean he sued her for $70,000?
Nope…nope…and nope!
Apparently this man and his attorney—one Stacey Blondes Talbott, practicing in Maryland—decided that this 95-year-old woman not only needed to repay what she had used from the fund, but needed to be punished as well. So they set the amount of their lawsuit at $120,000. And they won.
Rose Newman realized she was going to have to come with considerably more money than she had expended. She went right to work on it, realizing, possibly, from her daughter’s experience what happens to people who dare to say the court is wrong.
And that, at last, was the whole story, right? Rose Newman raised the money, and there was an end to it?
Nope…nope…and nope!
Rose Newman didn’t move quite fast enough for “the man” and his attorney. So said attorney proceeded to threaten Mrs. Newman—if she didn’t hurry…if she didn’t come up with the $70,000, plus, of course, the $50, 000 added by the court for a total of $120,000…rapidly enough to suit the plaintiff and his attorney, then the plaintiff and his attorney would “take everything she had.”
Frightened, Mrs. Newman awaited contact from her unjustly incarcerated daughter, to help her understand what had happened. [You may already know that placing a phone call to a prisoner is impossible. You must wait and hope and pray for the prisoner to call you.] Eventually, the phone call came. There is not, however, a lot that an unjustly incarcerated daughter can do for her frightened, 95-year-old mother.
So, Rose Newman has set about putting together enough of her assets to satisfy the judgement against her. Meanwhile, she lives with the fear that she won’t move fast enough to suit the man’s attorney, and she will lose everything she has—and possibly even be forced into the streets.
And we are back to the question which with which I began: What kind of man does this to a 95-year-old woman?
Friday, December 12, 2008
Wow! Don't Know When Anything Has Pleased Me This Much!
Wear the Colors Black and Blue--So Children Don't Have To!Forwarded to through a protective mothers organization I belong to. According to Jennifer [remember the story of Holly Collins? Jennifer is her daughter, returned to the US to speak out about the horrors of "Court Appointed Child Abuse"] you are free to forward and re-post on blogs, websites, or wherever.
Thus I am proud to repost this item on this blog. The only comment on my own? Go with God and God go with you.
Peace…blessings…
Aine O’Brocken: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/Free-Elsa-Newman
Note: Please direct all questions to: mailto:myrainbowkids@orange.nl
Hello, this is Jennifer. It has taken me a month to get everything up and running. Please excuse the delay.
Today November 1 2008 (All Saints Day) is a very special day for me. I would like to introduce my own organization!CA3 Children Against
Court Appointed
Child Abuse
CA3 is an organization founded by adult children who suffered "Court Appointed Child Abuse" also known as "CA-CA"
Mission Statement of CA3:
1.) CA3 will be the voice of every child who is a victim of "CA- CA" Court Appointed Child Abuse!
2.) CA3 will find a way to hold the family court authorities accountable for their "Failure to Protect" children from abuse.
3.) CA3 is determined to stop the "CA-CA"
Court Appointed Child Abuse "CA-CA"1.) The Court was made aware that there had been abuse to the child.2.) The Court ignored or minimized the abuse to the child.3.) The Court ordered the child to be alone in the hands of her/his abuser.
Are you the victim of "CA-CA" Court Appointed Child Abuse?- Your own parent abused you.
- The court was told about the abuse.
- The court ordered you to continue to go alone with your abuser.
- You were abused again with the court knew and basically approved of the abuse that was happening to you.
- You are traumatized from the abuse from your own parent who was supposed to love you.
- You feel betrayed by the United States justice system who was supposed to protect you.
- You are hurt, betrayed and angry and you do not know where to turn for help.
- You are the victim of "CA-CA!" ** Even though "CA-CA" is not acknowledged by any professional board, kids who suffered this abuse know that it exists and we are giving a name to it!Come join us!
We will help you find your voice and together we will try to heal from the CA-CA, Court Appointed Child Abuse.
Dedication:Dedicated to all the children who are still being abused and for those who did not make it out alive…
Disclaimer:
Please be advised that CA3 is an organization of traumatized kids who have suffered horrendous abuse and we are trying to find our voice. We already intend on being direct, confrontational and vocal. If you are uncomfortable with what we are saying, then you should go root of the problem and Stop the CA-CA (Court Appointed Child Abuse)
Adult Child Board of Directors:Non-Executive Director: Jennifer TveterProblematic Director: Zachary TveterVocal Director: Position Available
Professional Advisory Board Members:President: Dr. Joyanna SilbergSecretary: Connie ValentineTreasurer: Dara Carin
Supporting Organizations:
Courageous Kids
(We will really appreciate it if your organization will stand behind us.)
http://www.ca3cacaca.blogspot.com/Contact: mailto:caca3cacaca@hotmail.com
The CA-CA stops here
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
SEE THIS WOMAN????
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Her name is Rose Newman; she is the mother of Elsa Newman, unjustly incarcerated at Maryland Correctional Institution for Women at Jessup. Elsa was charged and convicted of a crime committed and admitted to by someone else. This someone else was one Margery Landry. Both Landry and Elsa Newman have said repeatedly that Elsa had nothing to do with the crime. In fact, Elsa Newman was out of the state at the time Landry broke into the house of Arlen Slobodow, Elsa Newman’s then-husband.
One of the most fascinating and at the same time judicially reprehensible aspects of the Elsa Newman case is the fact that Landry refused to plead guilty either to attempted murder or to conspiracy, saying neither charge was valid. The court accepted Landry’s statement and allowed her to plead to lesser charges.
In the trial of Elsa Newman, however, attempted murder and conspiracy were exactly the things she was charged with and convicted of. Thus the jury found Elsa Newman guilty of attempted murder—although she was out of state at the time of the incident, and there was, in fact, no "attempted murder," only an accidental shooting; they also found Elsa Newman guilty of conspiracy, although there was no recognized co-conspirator. Strange….stranger…strangest—to say the least.
ON TO THE SUBJECT OF ROSE NEWMAN—AND HER PERSECUTION BY HER DAUGHTER’S FORMER HUSBAND AND THE FORMER HUSBAND’S ATTORNEY:
The woman you see pictured above is 95 years old. She lives alone and on her own, her husband having died years ago. She had three children, one of whom is Elsa Newman, now unjustly incarcerated. Rose Newman also has another daughter, older than Elsa. And she had a son who died in an accident.
According to Rose Newman herself, in a conversation with me, the loss of her son was devastating, as those of you who have lost a child in death will doubtless attest. However, this grand elderly woman met, some years ago, with a tragedy she says is even more devastating: her younger daughter was accused of a crime committed by someone else; this daughter was convicted—although innocent—and was unjustly imprisoned. In addition, the grandchildren involved in this case were effectively stolen from her, as they were, by default, committed to the custody of a father of whom they had revealed unspeakable sexual abuses, as well as virtually every other form of abuse.
And now? Now comes the persecution part. When Elsa Newman’s sons were born, Rose Newman and her daughter started a fund for each of the children. Nobody—that would be nobody at all—except for these two women, the mother and the grandmother, contributed to the funds for the children. As I understand it, Rose Newman contributed $10,000 per child for each of the first four years of each child’s life, for a total of $80,000. Elsa Newman invested the money for her sons, added some additional monies of her own, and the total climbed.
When Elsa Newman was falsely accused of someone else’s crime, Rose Newman carefully checked with attorneys and the court—and upon being assured that she had the right to do so, based upon the best interests of her daughter’s children—Rose Newman put a portion of the children’s funds toward legal assistance for her daughter. The premise here was that keeping their innocent mother out of prison was in the best interest of the two children.
Now, another disaster has struck Rose Newman. The father of the boys, with the assistance of his attorney, Stacey Blondes Talbott, has sued Rose Newman for the money she removed from the account to use on behalf of her grandsons and for their mother’s defense.
The father’s lawsuit was more than successful. Although Rose Newman had used only $70,000 of the money for the defense of the boys’ mother, the court has ordered her to pay $120,000 to the father, supposedly on behalf of the boys. However, since the father somehow managed to have himself appointed as guardian of the funds, it isn’t too difficult to see who is going to end up with both the original $70,000 and the additional $50,000 added by the courts—minus attorneys fees, of course.
So now we have a 95-year-old woman, frantic and scurrying about, trying to gather $120,000 in order to meet the demands of the father, his attorney, and their friends at court.
Not only that, but apparently the father’s attorney has begun harassing Rose Newman, informing her that if she does not come up with the money—immediately, if not sooner—then she will lose everything she has: home, bank account, investments, everything.
I am only 68, although I sometimes stoop to adding a year or two and calling myself seventy-ish. I own my own home, but my bank account is minimal and I have no investments at all. I can barely imagine what it must be like for a woman of 95 to be so threatened—so terrorized (is that too strong a word?)—by this injustice…by this former son-in-law...by this court…by this attorney.
What is it like to be 95 years old and thus threatened? Are these people trying to turn Rose Newman into a bag lady?
My congratulations to Stacey Blondes Talbott! First you help put Rose Newman’s daughter behind bars, despite her innocence. [What do you mean you had nothing to do with that? Remember that wild race to the police station with your box of files when first you heard of Margery Landry’s crime? Practically fell all over ourselves in the rush, didn’t we?]
Then you defend a man accused by his own sons of unspeakable sexual and other abuses.
Then you take on an elderly woman in a seeming attempt to deprive her of everything she has and turn her into the streets.
I stand in stunned awe of such chutzpah!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Read and Listen: I Dare You
But prepare yourself to listen to some of the most horrendous abuses imaginable--no, these are beyond imagining.
THE CHILDREN OF ABUSERS ARE GROWING UP AND THEY REFUSE TO BE SILENT:
http://ca3cacaca.blogspot.com/
I respect these courageous young people more than I can ever say. Go, Jennifer! And I pray God that those who refused to believe your mother will see the truth at last--through you.
THE CHILDREN OF ABUSERS ARE GROWING UP AND THEY REFUSE TO BE SILENT:
http://ca3cacaca.blogspot.com/
I respect these courageous young people more than I can ever say. Go, Jennifer! And I pray God that those who refused to believe your mother will see the truth at last--through you.
Monday, December 1, 2008
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