Demanding Accountability

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Bad Ticket, Errant Cop, Bad Judge?

Editor;

On June 8, 2010, Don L Ryan of Grants Pass was stopped and given a ticket for speeding in a school zone. The problem with this is; he was not in a school zone. Don pled Not Guilty to the ticket. Don appeared in court with not only a witness but photographs as well.

Officer John Lohrfink stated his radar had been calibrated and was reading correctly both from the rear as well as from the front. The officer stated that the radar did pick up the speed from the rear and he turned around to pull Don over. Lohrfink stated that the sound of the motorcycle Don was riding is what caught his attention. It is a Harley Davidson; yes they do have a unique, somewhat loud sound, not against the law though.

Don was heading down Hamilton Street along with his passenger and came to a stop at Fruitdale Ave., at which point he made a right turn. He was not in a school zone; the school zone is to the left on Fruitdale. There is no way it would have been possible to be in a school zone coming down Hamilton and making a right hand turn, it is impossible.

Judge Kathi Holmbeck listened to the officer, she then listened to Don. Don had his witness on the stand and it was verified by the witness, under oath, that Don was not in a school zone. Photographs were presented as well.

The judge stated that she was going to believe the second-year officer rather than the cold hard facts presented to her. If there was no crime, there should be no fine and it should have been dismissed. The judge stated that she was going to lower the “mandatory minimum” fine to $100.00. The judge making this decision shows that there was evidence that this “speeding in a school zone” did not, in fact take place, therefore, it should have been dismissed. She chose to agree with the officer regardless of the proof and truth that was looking her in the face.

This brings up another problem, if she in fact thought Mr. Ryan was truly speeding in a school zone, why was the ticket amount reduced? Doesn’t the word “Mandatory” mean the same thing to a judge as it does to the rest of us?

The judge’s actions show that she was not convinced that the officer was correct or the “mandatory fine” would not have been lowered. There was doubt on the judge’s part; she chose to take the word of the officer (her words) over Mr. Ryan’s testimony, photographs and a witness who was under oath.

Do we live in a Police State now? Why do we have the option to prove ourselves innocent if the courts continue to ignore us and do as they please anyway?

Concerned Citizen - Josephine County

Edward Snook’s Note: By lowering the fine in this situation, Judge Holmbeck, proved she was prejudiced. She made her decision based on the participants and not the facts. Being from Josephine County, Oregon, she most likely has very little experience and most likely her work consists of public defender representation. On second thought, maybe the experience is a negative – far too many “experienced” judges here in Josephine County rule just like Holmbeck…

The officer should have to prove guilt, not the other way around. In actuality, with freedom in mind, what is the difference between facing a traffic ticket or standing trial on an assault charge?

I commend Don Ryan for standing up and for the fact that he wasn’t happy with 20 lashes instead of 40. Don tells me he plans to appeal Holmbeck’s wrong decision and I can assure him that the US~Observer is 100% behind him. One thing that Don can be thankful for is the fact that he wasn’t facing 20-30 years in prison.

Immigration Solution

To the Editor,

With all the discussion of illegal immigration in the news, it amazes me that the politicians are all afraid to offer the solution that will work. The logical answer is to use America’s Military to enforce our borders and immigration laws. Bring all our military forces home from foreign lands and put them on our borders. This is the only place that they are constitutionally mandated to be operating - Protecting our legal citizens from foreign criminals and invaders.

The heavily armed drug cartels are over-running our local police and lightly armed border patrol agents, but will be no match against our sophisticated Military power. The United States Military is not constitutionally allowed to be operating all around the globe in illegal wars and UN police actions. We currently have 35,000 US active military on the Korean border and it is quite well sealed. All wars since WW2 are illegal and unconstitutional and this needs to stop if America is to survive. We cannot afford to be the world’s police organization. We don’t have enough jobs for our citizens and legal immigrants and certainly don’t need added drain on our social services or the drugs that are currently pouring across our porous southern border. Homeland defense can’t exist with unsecure borders. We are financially bankrupt and no country on earth has ever been able to survive with wide-open borders. We will be no different.

Randy Cort
Grants Pass, Oregon

Charges Dropped!

Dear US~Observer,

You folks at the US Observer have no idea what you have done for our family. My brother Tom is currently on a fishing trip thanks to Edward Snook. Only one month ago he was sitting in a jail cell facing a murder charge.

My husband and I did everything we could for Tom and all of his friends helped financially until we just could not give any more. We all feel so violated now that the case is over for having given so much money to an attorney who did nothing. I know that Mr. Snook told us that when the state agreed to drop the charges that we had to consider everything over because of the agreement that was made, but I would give anything to see Tom’s crooked attorney get what he has coming. I guess this is just wishful thinking and I will have to trust God for the vengeance.

Anyway, our family has truly found a hero in Mr. Snook. If there is ever anything we can do for him or the US Observer please DO NOT hesitate to ask. Thank you so very much Mr. Snook for giving my brother back to our family.

Keren Masters
St. Augustine, Florida

Klamath County, Oregon CPS Abuse

Editor:

My name is Millissia Santopietro, I'm 29 years old. On April 28, 2010, Klamath County Protection Services (CPS) caseworker Tara Holmes appeared at my door to serve me with a "protective action" order that states I have an allegation of sexually abusing my sister. I left my home under threat from Tara that if I did not leave she would take my child.

Tara wrote on the protective order that I "voluntarily" left my home. At a later date she told me the accusation from Nicole Chambers (my half-sister) occurred 8 years ago when I was 21 years old and Nicole was 11 years old.

I already knew Nicole had accused other family members of sexually abusing her. My grandmother told me that Nicole also made accusations of rape against one or two men in Las Vegas. I checked with Klamath County Courthouse records and discovered that in March 2010, Nicole filed a restraining order against a man named Glen Bowen Forrest, accusing him of rape: she states in her petition that he was her boyfriend of 2 years.

I have heard Nicole bums around the Tulelake area and I have seen her panhandling as I drove down Main Street here in Klamath Falls.

According to what I've heard from family members and others, Nicole regularly claims someone is sexually abusing her.

CPS caseworker Traci Jensen replaced Tara Holmes on my case. Traci has been encouraging my husband to divorce me. She recently referred to me as a child sex molester when I went for a visitation with my 23-month old daughter, Andrea Rosa Santopietro. When I objected to her accusation she immediately canceled my visit with my child.

I lived part of my life in foster care. Nicole and I have different fathers. I rarely saw Nicole throughout my life. A few years ago I made a complaint to Klamath Falls Police Office Deeds that Nicole burglarized my home.

Judge Roxanne Osborne has presided over my hearings when I was in foster care.

I was scheduled to go to trial on October 15, 2010. CPS is also claiming that I am a Threat of Harm to my daughter due to Nicole's sex abuse accusation.

I was looking forward to finally coming to trial on Oct 15 so I could prove my innocence. I felt sure it was finally going to be over and I could return home to my husband and child. But a few days before the trial, a hearing was held on Oct 11th that I could not attend because I was not notified. I have the court audio transcript of that hearing.

The transcript starts out with D.A. Ed Caleb telling Judge Osborne he does not think he can "win" my case, that he does not have evidence. My attorney, Andrea Janney, tells them that she is prepared to go to trial on the sex abuse charges, she's ready and she has expert witnesses.
Judge Osborne instructs Caleb to look at the foster files and states to him, "I know because I was the judge, I remember when she sex-abused her sister."

I DID NOT EVEN KNOW I WAS ACCUSED UNTIL 8 YEARS LATER AND YET JUDGE OSBORNE "REMEMBERS" THAT I AM GUILTY!??

It’s very clear to me that Judge Osborne is assuring Caleb that with her as my trial judge he WILL "win."

Judge Osborne moved the trial date to Dec. 9th to give Caleb more time. CPS and the courts can keep parents out of their homes indefinitely, permanently, judges do whatever CPS wants.

My attorney is working hard for me and she was ready to go to trial, and now CPS and Osborne have included an additional charge to my care - "mentally incapable of caring for my child" due to my disability.

Yes, I have a disability for which I receive a small monthly benefit. I was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) because my mother drank during her pregnancy with me.

Since April 28th CPS has not allowed me to return to my home, husband, and child. I am also not allowed to stay in the Women's Crisis Center or with anyone who has small children. I stayed with my mother-in-law, Elaine Fiori, for 2 weeks but she lives in senior housing that doesn't allow long term guests. I have had to sleep in my car at times. Winter is approaching. I'm extremely thin now, less than 100 pounds. I get cold easily so I wear layers of clothing. I am becoming malnourished and I will soon have kidney surgery. I am supposed to eat well and take care of my health but I am too often unable to eat due to the stress of the situation.

I would like to tell Judge Osborne, Ed Caleb, and CPS that I was born with FAS, but I was not born yesterday - that I KNOW ITS WRONG THAT I AM ACCUSED OF SOMETHING I DID NOT DO AND ITS WRONG THAT I"M NOT GOING TO GET A FAIR TRIAL.

Child Protection Services operates in secrecy - early in May, Tara Holmes instructed me to be quiet about this, she said DON'T TELL ANYONE - but I am telling everyone! I've been telling anyone who will listen and now I'm telling you. THIS COULD HAPPEN TO ANYONE - and CPS, Judge Osborne, and D.A. Ed Caleb should be held accountable for what they do.

Thank you,
Millissia Santopietro
Klamath Falls, OR

Editor’s Note: I commend you for your heart-breaking letter Millissia. It must have been very difficult for you to write.
It is an absolute fact Child Protection Services here in Oregon is rampant with abuse. While some caseworkers and others in official capacities strive to protect children and promote justice, far too many of them create abuse and ruin families and children, as they create victims and then destroy them. Many in this unconstitutional system act as Judge, Jury and Executioner – without having completed an adequate investigation. In some cases, without any investigation whatsoever.
Please inform us of the outcome of your tragic case and we will make it a part of history, just like we are doing with your letter. When abuses are exposed/made public, change for the better occurs…

November Elections

Dear Editor:

I was surprised to see the outcome of the November elections. I must say that our country spoke loud and clear, but the problem I have is that what happened appears to be more of the same old same.. Only time will tell.
I was attending a comedy show with friends the other night and one of the comedians said something that stuck. She mentioned the new color of politics was PURPLE, the combination of blue(dem) and red(republican). She then announced the PURPLE party’s mascot. It was none other than Barney the dinosaur. What a laugh. As the next few days passed, I couldn’t stop thinking about how the people in attendance reacted. Most didn’t really get it. I hope for those who appeared not to get the joke, it was out of frustration. Our Country deeply needs an answer and NOW is the time.

Randy Blythe
Dallas, TX

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