Great article on false accusations

[Quentin0352]

I found this digging up information for a debate on another board and thought it good enough that it should be here with the excellent information it has. It is a study done on false allegations of child molesting but also is relevant in many ways to the Duke situation right now.

http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume2/j2_4_7.htm

On his way to work, a clinical psychologist had no way of knowing he was about to be arrested.  As he got out of his car, two police officers approached him, asked him who he was, placed him under arrest, handcuffed him, and drove him off to jail.  He had been charged with sexually abusing his two-year-old daughter (Spiegel 1986).

I know of several similar incidents.  A clinical psychologist was investigated by Child Protective Services for allegedly molesting his three-year-old daughter.  A manager in a local supermarket was investigated for allegedly abusing his seventeen-year-old son, a local football star.  He was fired as soon as the investigation became public.  A drug and alcohol counselor was fired because it was rumored that he molested a counselee.  A woman left her husband, a young army N.C.O., and informed him that she intended to keep all the appliances, furniture, and any other possessions she wanted (whether or not they belonged to her).  And if he tried to stop her, she would turn him in for sexual abuse.  The N.C.O. did nothing.  His rationale was that his career in the service would be ruined.

The common strand in all these situations was that the allegations were found to be false.  The clinical psychologist spent $50,000 in his defense, lost his practice and most of his friends (Spiegel 1986).  The second clinical psychologist spent nearly $35,000 in Juvenile Court in his defense (criminal charges were never filed).  Both psychologists reported suicidal thoughts, anxiety, and depression.  The supermarket manager lost his job, his home, filed bankruptcy, and went through a divorce.  He related these tragedies to the intervention of the state.  The drug and alcohol counselor lost his job because of the rumor, even though a check of the local law enforcement agencies (city, county, and state) found no charges filed, nor was there any complaint filed with CPS.  The N.C.O. was blackmailed by his former spouse.

Why were there divorces?  Why were people fired before they were convicted?  How could a spouse blackmail her husband with impunity?  In a larger sense, what was it like for these people?  What were the effects of a false allegation of child abuse on the people that were subject of that allegation?

This study examined the experience of a formerly intact middle-class family, victimized by false allegations of child and sexual abuse.  It examines not only the facts, but the ethos, the experience of being innocent and on the wrong side of public opinion, and the power of the state.

[FEMINAZIHATEMARTYR]

Welcome to the Brave New Marxist World where presumption of guilt reigns unchecked and Due Process is irrelevant. All of this was accomplished by the radfems in the name of "empowering women". Even more incriminating is the fact that this kind of BS continues while every judge, attorney, politician and bureaucrat knows about it but does nothing to correct it. Oh Ive heard tons of excuses as to why nothing can be done ad nauseum but few have acted until this falls on their heads, but by then its usually too late.  :evil:

[woof]

Here is a story about a Dr. who's life was completly destroyed by false allegations.

http://www.ejfi.org/emerson.htm

Last updated 1/18/06

Tim Emerson, M.D., engaged in an historical battle for all of our rights in San Angelo, Texas. His was the most important Second Amendment trial in more than six decades. Fifth Amendment rights and the unbridled use of the Commerce Clause by the Congress were also at issue in his case. Unfortunately, liberty lost.

The story began in 1998. According to court records his then wife, Sacha, was having an affair with her hairdresser and petitioned for divorce on August 28, 1998, and requested a restraining order against Dr. Emerson, claiming he had threatened her paramour during a telephone call.

At the time Dr. Emerson was the lawful owner of approximately 30 firearms of varying types that he had owned both before and all during the marriage. His collection included a 9mm model 92F Beretta pistol purchased on October 10, 1997, that he kept in his office. It is fairly common, and prudent for medical doctors who have many drugs in their offices to also keep a firearm there.

Note that about half of the hundreds of married men who have contacted the Equal Justice Foundation have been charged with domestic violence or abuse after finding their wives were having an affair. Allegations of domestic violence or abuse are a standard tactic in a divorce today with virtually no recourse for the husband. Under current laws such false allegations are standard as they give the adulterous wife the house, the car, the kids, the bank account, and anything else she wants with no questions asked, i.e., due process is a thing of the past. She will also almost certainly receive child support even if the child(ren) prove not to be her husband's. And there is no penalty for her perjury.
Temporary orders hearing


On September 4, 1998, the judge of 119 th Judicial District Court for Tom Green County held hearing on application for temporary orders.

Sacha had retained an attorney who appeared on her behalf. However, Dr. Emerson made the grave mistake of appearing pro se (he represented himself). It is nearly always a fatal mistake for any professional, or any man with substantial assets to represent himself in court.

After the hearing a temporary restraining order was entered against Dr. Emerson on September 14, 1998. This was essentially a form order frequently used in Texas divorce cases and contained standard language prohibiting Dr. Emerson from engaging is various financial transactions and from making threatening communications or actual attacks upon his wife during the pendency of the divorce case. Specifically, there was no finding by the court that Dr. Emerson had threatened his wife although Sacha alleged he threatened her paramour.

Unbeknownst to Dr. Emerson the state court's order made him immediately subject to 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)( that makes the possession of any firearm or ammunition a federal felony with a mandatory prison term of up to ten years. Neither the order or the state judge informed Dr. Emerson he would be subject to federal criminal prosecution merely for possessing a firearm or ammunition while the temporary orders were in effect.

Dr. Emerson was then in the position of being required by court order to refrain from disposing of any marital property and at the same time being in violation of Federal Law for possessing this property.
Arrest


On November 16, 1998, Sacha barged into Dr. Emerson's medical office with their four-year-old daughter and refused to leave, apparently after earlier seeing him entering a cafe with another woman. After an argument in his private office she contacted San Angelo law enforcement officials alleging that Dr. Emerson had pulled the Beretta on her and pointed it at her and the child.

Trials and appeals
State trial


As a result of Sacha's allegations, charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and endangering a child were brought against Dr. Emerson in Texas court and he was arrested and jailed. Additionally, his firearms collection was seized, and he was charged with a Federal felony.

The arrest ended his medical career.

However, on October 23, 2000, he was acquitted by a jury of all charges brought by the state after a showing that he was defending his business property and patient medical records against criminal trespass. This time he went to court with a competent attorney.
First federal trial


On December 8, 1998, a Federal Grand Jury indicted Dr. Emerson on five counts under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(.

District Judge Sam Cummings, San Angelo, Texas division, granted Dr. Emerson's motion to dismiss the federal case on February 26, 1999, on the basis that his Second and Fifth Amendment rights had been violated. This was the first time any Federal court had confirmed that the Second Amendment is an individual right.

But the government, under the Clinton administration and Attorney General Janet Reno of nearby Waco fame, appealed.
Consequences


In the meantime, because of the domestic violence charges resulting from the divorce orders and the consequences of the federal charges:

• Dr. Emerson lost his medical practice and all means of earning a living, as well as about $50,000 in unpaid bills due him.

• He lost his office, and all medical textbooks, instruments, and diplomas.

• Prior to April 3, 2003, he had spent forty-two days in jail though, until October 7, 2002, he had never been convicted of any crime.

• Because of the domestic violence charges, exclusive custody of their daughter was given to his adulterous wife.

• Though he has not seen his daughter in more than five years, he is forced to pay child support and is now more than $45,000 in arrears because he cannot work as a medical doctor. A heart condition, for which he underwent open-heart surgery on October 19, 2002, made it impossible for him to work in any strenuous occupation. His current incarceration prevents him from making the court-ordered payments though the arrears will continue to accrue.

• When he is released from federal prison in the fall of 2005 he will be subject to imprisonment in Texas for non-payment of child support.

• Because of the arrears on child support, his medical license was suspended. With his conviction on a federal felony charge on October 7, 2002, his medical license has been permanently revoked. It is extremely difficult to find suitable employment, or any employment, when one is a physician not working in that field, to say nothing of his suffering from a severe heart condition no doubt aggravated by the pain and suffering the courts and prisons have subjected him to.

• His driver's license was revoked as of October 9, 2001 as a result of the delinquent child support payments so he could not, and did not drive after that date. He had previously worked as a clerk in a 7/11 convenience store but with his driver's license revoked he could no longer get to that job.

• Prior to his incarceration he was living in poverty outside San Angelo, Texas, with his 82-year-old father solely on his father's military and Social Security retirement pensions.

If all this sounds as though it were taken from a story by Franz Kafka, welcome to the ways domestic violence and divorce are intertwined in America today with the consequent destruction of marriage and families.