the Casey Anthony verdict brought to mind a situation that occurred in the little town in North Central Oregon i lived in for 16 years...a self defense or attempted murder case that never even went to trial
i was surprised at the time.....i even told family and friends it would have never been treated that way in my home state of California
here the daughter would have been arrested immediately
afterall she had shot her own father as he stood beating on his front door and yelling belligerently to his family...it wasn't the first time he'd done it...and it would be the last...the police had been called before he tried to break in thru the door...but they were reserve policemen 20 miles away in my small town and 40 miles away in the next small town over and it was winter with treacherous roads filled with black ice
one bridge had spun our car around 3 weeks before traveling at 20 miles an hour with chains on....but it was not an unexpected call...many had been called in before from the same home for the same reason...
Daddy was gonna beat the living sh*t out of any family member he could get his hands on if he got thru the triple locks on the front or back door
why this time his daughter took the protection of her mother and brother into her own hands no one will ever know
Clarence wasn't a drunk per say..but if he was drunk and got riled at any family member he was physically abusive to them..he got completely out of control and mayhem always issued....i can't tell you the number of times this happened...and only the police could stop him...black eyes and bruises became the badges of his maltreatment as his folks showed themselves around town
he never served more then a drunk and disorderly charge in jail...his wife wouldn't file charges....and the county never took the cases on for the state
sober he was a doll...supportive to the community...he helped us get energy assistance...replaced our burned out truck for nothing...took on the cost of setting up the town's radio station....bailed the Elks out when they couldn't afford to put on the annual town Thanksgiving Dinner... anonymously buried folks who's families couldn't afford it
the guy was a Jekyll and Hyde
no one put any pressure on Trudy not to press charges....she had her own reasons not to...reasons ominously gossiped about in whispers in quiet corners around town
that nite Kitty's younger brother was the brunt of Clarence's anger...it made no sense...but it never made sense....and what Kitty did didn't make any sense either ....she picked up one of the many guns laying around the house and shot her father thru the closed door he was beating on
her mother called Life Flight and the helicopter arrived before the police....he was on his way to Saint Charles Trauma Unit in Bend before the police even got the story
Kitty wasn't arrested...Clarence didn't die but ended up paralyzed from the waist down...he refused to bring charges against his daughter and the county wouldn't take the case for the state
it was all over in a heartbeat....and the town at large felt justice had been served
Casey Anthony was found not guilty today
it brought this memory to mind.... what is guilt anyway....Justice in a small town in Oregon wasn't blind...it had been watching this family's mistreatment at the hands of their husband and father go on for years...and JUSTICE was fairly dispense so said the town...so said them all...even Clarence had to admit the truth of it
more on this case in my next blog
the Casey Anthony verdict brought to mind a situation that occurred in the little town in North Central Oregon i lived in for 16 years...a self defense or attempted murder case that never even went to trial
i was surprised at the time.....i even told family and friends it would have never been treated that way in my home state of California
here the daughter would have been arrested immediately
afterall she had shot her own father as he stood beating on his front door and yelling belligerently to his family...it wasn't the first time he'd done it...and it would be the last...the police had been called before he tried to break in thru the door...but they were reserve policemen 20 miles away in my small town and 40 miles away in the next small town over and it was winter with treacherous roads filled with black ice
one bridge had spun our car around 3 weeks before traveling at 20 miles an hour with chains on....but it was not an unexpected call...many had been called in before from the same home for the same reason...
Daddy was gonna beat the living sh*t out of any family member he could get his hands on if he got thru the triple locks on the front or back door
why this time his daughter took the protection of her mother and brother into her own hands no one will ever know
Clarence wasn't a drunk per say..but if he was drunk and got riled at any family member he was physically abusive to them..he got completely out of control and mayhem always issued....i can't tell you the number of times this happened...and only the police could stop him...black eyes and bruises became the badges of his maltreatment as his folks showed themselves around town
he never served more then a drunk and disorderly charge in jail...his wife wouldn't file charges....and the county never took the cases on for the state
sober he was a doll...supportive to the community...he helped us get energy assistance...replaced our burned out truck for nothing...took on the cost of setting up the town's radio station....bailed the Elks out when they couldn't afford to put on the annual town Thanksgiving Dinner... anonymously buried folks who's families couldn't afford it
the guy was a Jekyll and Hyde
no one put any pressure on Trudy not to press charges....she had her own reasons not to...reasons ominously gossiped about in whispers in quiet corners around town
that nite Kitty's younger brother was the brunt of Clarence's anger...it made no sense...but it never made sense....and what Kitty did didn't make any sense either ....she picked up one of the many guns laying around the house and shot her father thru the closed door he was beating on
her mother called Life Flight and the helicopter arrived before the police....he was on his way to Saint Charles Trauma Unit in Bend before the police even got the story
Kitty wasn't arrested...Clarence didn't die but ended up paralyzed from the waist down...he refused to bring charges against his daughter and the county wouldn't take the case for the state
it was all over in a heartbeat....and the town at large felt justice had been served
Casey Anthony was found not guilty today
it brought this memory to mind.... what is guilt anyway....Justice in a small town in Oregon wasn't blind...it had been watching this family's mistreatment at the hands of their husband and father go on for years...and JUSTICE was fairly dispense so said the town...so said them all...even Clarence had to admit the truth of it
more on this case in my next blog