As the title implies, it has been nothing short of chaos around here. I apologize for the lack of updates, guys - I've had a whopping seizure problem lately and I'm up to about 1 to 3 seizures a day some days. It's difficult to write on a post-ictal brain. Today has been a little more restful and a little less seizure-prone, so I'm here to bring you updates!
The Good:
1. Some really important evidence has come in that proves the accuser is a liar. I cannot disclose details but let's just say it's pretty interesting stuff. Our attorney is hopeful that it will be very useful.
2. I have written a 38-page transcript of the recorded confession, taking approximately 12 hours to complete it. I'm pretty darn proud of myself, and the attorney seems pretty glad to have it. I hope to go over it with him soon.
3. We are thus far keeping up with lawyer fees, thanks to the donations of friends. It's a tenuous balancing act for us, but at least the retainer fee and first month's payment are out of the way. Keeping our fingers crossed that we can keep up. It's one hell of a task!
The Bad:
1. Someone has leaked vital information to the accuser. She's suddenly switching up her story to try and get around George's obvious alibi, saying she suddenly has new memories that it happened some other time. I can't even believe they're letting her get away with it! And neither can our attorney. He's going to try and set this straight, but if they're actually lending even a half a second's credence to her constantly-changing stories, it's hard to believe they'll bother with the truth. It's horrifying to see them buying into her crap.
2. There is reason to believe George's former attorney is actively working against us now. It's not something you can really prove or put your finger on, but let's just say we and George's new attorney are less than happy about a few things.
3. A new landlord has bought out the property we've been living at for the last year. Long story short, he swooped in and tossed out the rental terms from our old landlord, and then required everybody to "lock in" their rental rates (and required a one-year lease) and/or have their rent raised by up to 600 dollars; if anyone so much as paid the next month's rent, they were considered locked in for the next year. He did all of this while firing all of the maintenance staff (with no replacements in sight) and setting up a drop box so he could just roll in the money from like five states away. It's a real shady thing, and we certainly can't afford it. Fortunately, we managed to find a new apartment in just four days, and we are working as quickly as we can to relocate in light of this new landlord's shady tactics. We're really going to miss our old landlord; he was a great guy!
The Terrible:
I can't really go into much detail, but basically - George's case hangs by a thread. It's much more hopeful in some ways, but at the same time, certain factors leave him really on the edge here. I really do not know how this is going to go. It's destroying our lives, and the sense of utter betrayal and disgust at the lies of the accuser grows every day for us. It's hard to hang on to hope. I wish I could explain more, but the recent leak has us a little paranoid for the time being. Sorry, guys.
That's about all for now. Over the weekend we will be scrambling to move to the new apartment, get me a neurologist appointment for my out-of-control seizures, and a whole slew of other stuff. It's nothing short of chaos around here! Thanks for your patience, everyone - I'll do my best to update as much as possible!
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
A Glint of Hope
We talked to the lawyer today. He is...nothing short of amazing. The consultation went even better than we could have expected. At this point, we're just waiting for one more thing to fall into place before it's settled. It's going to be a hard fight, but this is one of the biggest pieces of good news we've had.
Our Anonymous donor has said funds will arrive hopefully soon. Once it's done, we hope to have things covered. It's going to be tough - we're going to utterly destroy an already stretched budget, and frankly I don't know how we're going to do it yet. I'm going to be wracking my brain over our budget soon, trying to figure out what in the world I can try to drop or cut back or whatever. I don't know yet.
Anyway, great news. Not much more to say for now. Thanks again for all your support and concern. We will keep everybody posted while we keep up the fight!
Our Anonymous donor has said funds will arrive hopefully soon. Once it's done, we hope to have things covered. It's going to be tough - we're going to utterly destroy an already stretched budget, and frankly I don't know how we're going to do it yet. I'm going to be wracking my brain over our budget soon, trying to figure out what in the world I can try to drop or cut back or whatever. I don't know yet.
Anyway, great news. Not much more to say for now. Thanks again for all your support and concern. We will keep everybody posted while we keep up the fight!
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Weekend Drag
Weekends have become an interesting time for us, since this all began. With nothing open, all of our errands, phone calls and breakneck pace come to a sudden screeching halt - but then we're left compiling all of the things we couldn't work on during the week. We don't really get a break; just a sudden, dramatic change in what we're working on. Honestly, it's starting to wear on me after nearly two months of this. I slept in today for the first time in a long time. The moment I woke up though, I hit the ground running.
Today I'm listening to a recording of the confession. To be brutally honest, it angers me. The things the officer did to try and manipulate George are just crazy. I can see now why there are false confessions all the time. These guys will pry away at your brain until you truly believe you have no choice but to tell them what they want to hear - and they'll do it in a way that exploits legal loopholes, tiptoes on the lines of various laws, and sneaks past your ability to defend yourself faster than you even know what's going on. I'm pretty sure if an officer like this one came up to me today and asserted that I actually had purple skin and came from the planet Exelon, he'd probably be able to convince me with these tactics. It's unbelievable!
Anyway I'm taking notes. We managed to save George's mother. But we know that with her gone, the father of the accused is rifling through all their possessions searching for evidence to destroy, as he has been already. It's utterly exasperating. I don't know what, if any, kind of legal recourse we even have for this stuff. But the important thing is, George's mother is safe. We're going to do our best to get her some help; she's in a terrible situation and too afraid to get out.
Tomorrow we have an appointment with a potential lawyer - the one that I said hangs on a thread and a prayer. We should have more news on that tomorrow.
Today I'm listening to a recording of the confession. To be brutally honest, it angers me. The things the officer did to try and manipulate George are just crazy. I can see now why there are false confessions all the time. These guys will pry away at your brain until you truly believe you have no choice but to tell them what they want to hear - and they'll do it in a way that exploits legal loopholes, tiptoes on the lines of various laws, and sneaks past your ability to defend yourself faster than you even know what's going on. I'm pretty sure if an officer like this one came up to me today and asserted that I actually had purple skin and came from the planet Exelon, he'd probably be able to convince me with these tactics. It's unbelievable!
Anyway I'm taking notes. We managed to save George's mother. But we know that with her gone, the father of the accused is rifling through all their possessions searching for evidence to destroy, as he has been already. It's utterly exasperating. I don't know what, if any, kind of legal recourse we even have for this stuff. But the important thing is, George's mother is safe. We're going to do our best to get her some help; she's in a terrible situation and too afraid to get out.
Tomorrow we have an appointment with a potential lawyer - the one that I said hangs on a thread and a prayer. We should have more news on that tomorrow.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Never A Dull Moment
Today has taken off at a breakneck pace. I don't have long to type but I'd like to update everybody while I have just a few moments to spare. Bear with me, readers - I'm resorting to bullet points today.
1. We spoke with a lawyer from an hour and a half or so away who seems like he might be willing to work with us. With the help of our Anonymous donor, we are off to a good start. It's tenuous - we'll be destroying my paycheck to keep up with this guy. This hangs on a thread and a prayer, at this point.
2. We're going to be driving that hour-and-a-half, if we can make it, to meet with the lawyer and see how this goes. We won't really know the exact price range until we meet him. Just that, as I said, it's halfway hopeful but hangs by a thread and a prayer and maybe a miracle or two.
3. The father of the accuser has become dangerous lately. Child Protective Services has been investigating him (it's a long story), they're requiring him to register as a sex offender for a crime he has knowingly hidden for years, and now he's begun arguing, screaming, threatening, harming and endangering George's mother. He has also been actively seeking out and burning, hiding, or otherwise destroying evidence. It's a constant race against him at this point. George's mother will be staying with us for a while for her own safety, and we are trying to help her out as best we can. She's bringing along a few precious shreds of evidence she has managed to save. That's another thing hanging by a thread and a prayer right now. Gas money for a 2 and a half hour trip is hard to come by for all involved, and the accuser's father is just as likely to try and prevent George's mother from leaving (and has been so far).
4. Continuing work to gather further evidence and paperwork here and there. Swimming through red tape to get paperwork has become a constant reality for us; it's unbelievably hard to gather it up from countless places (check stubs, employment records, and so on) from a decade ago. I have to be honest, it's extremely annoying. Sign here, date here, fax this there, call this number, visit this website, sign this form, 10 to 15 business days for this, 7 business days for that, 30 days for that, five forms for one thing, three for another... At this point, I would not be surprised to hear "We need fingerprints, an iris scan, and a stool sample, sir" from the next person we speak to. It's quite a mess, moving at the speed of business (which is very slow).
Long story short, today has been incredibly hectic thus far, and we really don't know where it's going to land until the end of the day. Hopefully I'll have more concrete news by tonight or tomorrow.
Thank you again for all your support, everyone - the view count just keeps going higher and higher for our humble blog. Donations are slowly trickling in; right now we're at about $100, along with the generous donation from Anonymous and several people coming forward stating their donations are likely to show up soon as well. You guys are angels - we just don't know how to thank you enough, and we will do everything we can to keep you up to date on the latest. Stick with us, we're keeping up this fight no matter what.
1. We spoke with a lawyer from an hour and a half or so away who seems like he might be willing to work with us. With the help of our Anonymous donor, we are off to a good start. It's tenuous - we'll be destroying my paycheck to keep up with this guy. This hangs on a thread and a prayer, at this point.
2. We're going to be driving that hour-and-a-half, if we can make it, to meet with the lawyer and see how this goes. We won't really know the exact price range until we meet him. Just that, as I said, it's halfway hopeful but hangs by a thread and a prayer and maybe a miracle or two.
3. The father of the accuser has become dangerous lately. Child Protective Services has been investigating him (it's a long story), they're requiring him to register as a sex offender for a crime he has knowingly hidden for years, and now he's begun arguing, screaming, threatening, harming and endangering George's mother. He has also been actively seeking out and burning, hiding, or otherwise destroying evidence. It's a constant race against him at this point. George's mother will be staying with us for a while for her own safety, and we are trying to help her out as best we can. She's bringing along a few precious shreds of evidence she has managed to save. That's another thing hanging by a thread and a prayer right now. Gas money for a 2 and a half hour trip is hard to come by for all involved, and the accuser's father is just as likely to try and prevent George's mother from leaving (and has been so far).
4. Continuing work to gather further evidence and paperwork here and there. Swimming through red tape to get paperwork has become a constant reality for us; it's unbelievably hard to gather it up from countless places (check stubs, employment records, and so on) from a decade ago. I have to be honest, it's extremely annoying. Sign here, date here, fax this there, call this number, visit this website, sign this form, 10 to 15 business days for this, 7 business days for that, 30 days for that, five forms for one thing, three for another... At this point, I would not be surprised to hear "We need fingerprints, an iris scan, and a stool sample, sir" from the next person we speak to. It's quite a mess, moving at the speed of business (which is very slow).
Long story short, today has been incredibly hectic thus far, and we really don't know where it's going to land until the end of the day. Hopefully I'll have more concrete news by tonight or tomorrow.
Thank you again for all your support, everyone - the view count just keeps going higher and higher for our humble blog. Donations are slowly trickling in; right now we're at about $100, along with the generous donation from Anonymous and several people coming forward stating their donations are likely to show up soon as well. You guys are angels - we just don't know how to thank you enough, and we will do everything we can to keep you up to date on the latest. Stick with us, we're keeping up this fight no matter what.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
A Selfless Offer
Holy crap! An anonymous donor has come forward, offering to match any donations made by other donors. They are offering up to 50% of the cost of initial legal fees. George and I have been discussing this with the anonymous donor over Skype for the last hour or so, and we are just...speechless. I don't even know what else to say. Anonymous, thank you so much!
A Little Bit of Good News
Alright, first things first: Some vital paperwork has arrived today, extra evidence of George being four states away during the bulk of the time the accuser claims he was living with her. Some of this paperwork-gathering is painfully slow, so we are really glad to see it. Once we (hopefully) find better representation, this paperwork will be a huge help in exposing the truth in this case.
Second, our Twitter page should be back up soon. Seems we got caught up in some kind of auto spam filter (I still wonder how that happened, but oh well) according to what the site's told me. Here's the e-mail I got from Twitter support.
Once it's back up and running I'll update this post with a link to it for convenience. Thanks for hanging in there through our technical difficulties, everyone.
Second, our Twitter page should be back up soon. Seems we got caught up in some kind of auto spam filter (I still wonder how that happened, but oh well) according to what the site's told me. Here's the e-mail I got from Twitter support.
Hello,
Twitter has automated systems that find and remove multiple automated spam accounts in bulk. Unfortunately, it looks like your account got caught up in one of these spam groups by mistake. I've restored your account; sorry for the inconvenience. Please note that it may take an hour or so for your follower and following numbers to return to normal.
Thanks,
Zendesk
Once it's back up and running I'll update this post with a link to it for convenience. Thanks for hanging in there through our technical difficulties, everyone.
Meet Us On Skype
Because this is, well...the internet, and the internet is full of all kinds of weirdness (and cats, apparently), a few have been a little concerned as to our legitimacy. I think that's understandable, and we want to sort of put ourselves out there for any questions anyone might have for us - to let you meet us and really converse with us as human beings. With that in mind, we'd like to invite you to come chat with us on Skype. We'll be on camera, ready to take any questions, discuss things, and just say hello. I'm not great at being in the spotlight and neither is George, but we really feel it's important. We'd probably want the same if we were you. Below are the times, days, and Skype name to contact. Just message us at that time and we'll add you to the conversation.
Tonight, March 20th, at 7:00pm EST
Tomorrow night at 7:00pm EST
Userame to contact:
smalltown.injustice
In addition, we've set up an e-mail if anyone would like to contact us. We're trying to keep things sort of similar in name so it's easy to remember, so unsurprisingly, the e-mail is:
smalltowninjustice@gmail.com
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