So how to describe today.....The courtroom was full of support today. So full that not everyone was allowed in! I thank all of you who were able to join us in person and those of you who were there in spirit and prayer. They asked all witnesses who were to testify to wait in the hall. Thankfully, I got to testify first because I would have gone nuts not being able to hear what was going on (even though Kate promised to take good notes!). It was my testimony to say that I have maintained a close relationship with Justin throughout his incarceration, that he has family in the area who support him, and that I am able to have Justin live here, and that I would make sure he would abide by the rules of bond. Then Ben was to testify to basically the same. Next up was a friend who had given Justin a friends pass for his flight home from his Florida visit in 2001 (which they for years have tried to say he fled to Florida with no return intended which has never been true). Next was the lawyer who went with him when he turned himself in May 2001, who talked about his cooperation in turning himself in to the police. Next came a letter from the Captain of the jail to say he a polite, respectful inmate who has had NO infractions since his incarceration and is a pleasure to work with. Next was a bondsman who described the ankle monitoring system he could use to insure that Justin stays within the parameters that could be set for his bond. The next few witnesses were shut down before they were able to testify that Justin was not the king pin they are trying to charge him as being. When the prosecutor failed to object to their testimony, the judge said do you object to this line of questioning so he objected saying this was testimony for the trial, not for the bond hearing. She of course sustained that! It was expected, but frustrating! The next witness was head of the Federal task force that investigated this drug ring from 2003-2007. Some of his key statements were that 3 large file drawers of evidence was destroyed in 2008. He also stated that in those drawers there was not any evidence of Justin being involved. Next was a lawyer who worked on Justins state appeal. He stated that he had sent a FOIA request to PWC and was denied the information (which is now destroyed) which could have aided in Justins defense. We also had a former cellmate of Owens who would have stated that Owen told him that Justin had nothing to do with this murder, but he did not testify since the judge was not allowing this type of testimony. Our legal team was fantastic. Everything was very clearly evident and well organized. Justin was not a flight risk - he turned himself in the first time and he has a large stable family (I use that term lightly these days), he is not a danger to the community and if the judge felt he was, she could make it a house arrest and not allow him into the community. He has a clean record of his 13 years incarcerated, and with ankle monitoring and his family risking their home, he is not at risk to flee. And then our lawyer said to look at the circumstances of the case: his previous charges were expunged, the new charges came 12 years AFTER the original crime, and 4 years after the evidence was destroyed, and 9 years after the FOIA request. NOT one other person of the 63 listed in the Continuing Criminal Enterprise (which they are trying to pin on Justin) has been charged so harshly. There is no reason he could not wait for trial at his family home.... But she denied any relief. She said because of the gravity of the charges, because he faces a death sentence, that increases the flight risk and she would not grant bond. Then she tried to get a date set for trial, because she was concerned about him languishing in prison! Since we are awaiting a decision in the Supreme court, we are not ready for a date to be set at this time. Our next hearing is set for February 25 and then we will set the date for trial to begin. Our family is disappointed. But I guess we are getting used to the injustice here. We went in with low expectation, but we did hope that we could finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. Faith is daring to put your dream to the test. It is better to try to do something and fail, than to try to do nothing and succeed.~Robert Schuller Our dream did not come true today, but we tried. We will continue to try, and I have faith we will one day succeed! Thanks for your prayers and support. I will offer a prayer of thanks for each of you tonight.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 04:36:19 +0000
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