Posted on 08/15/2004 1:35:23 PM PDT by TERMINATTOR
The American injustice system. Put apparently innocent people in jail on the word of a felon while ignoring evidence or failing to produce it... This is nothing short of abuse. Sick! Sick! Sick!
It's terribly sick. He's been behind bars for a year today. I'm sorry to keep posting like a maniac, but it's been a very stressful time and it's just eating me up, trying to get him out of there. He has wonderful friends who are giving him support and help, but his health has now declined so much that they've removed him from the heart transplant list, so he's now lost that last hope he had. I asked if he could make a deal, and he said no... said he'd rather die in prison than live free as a convicted felon when he didn't do anything to deserve it an was railroaded so disgracefully. Thanks for putting up with my venting.
With enough publicity, Dr. Strippy may obtain sufficient funding to appeal his conviction. If the case was as badly handled as you say, I would suspect higher courts would throw out the conviction, if only to assuage the liberal media smearing GOP-leaning Virginia as backward and prejudiced.
Why couldn't Strippy have gotten assistance from the UVA law school? VA is very careful of its reputation... Which overlook is Greenstone?
Thanks for posting the story. First I've heard of this. We should use our clout to raise a stink over this big time. This cannot stand.
Several more questions: 1) Since this took place on national park service land, couldn't it get into the federal courts? They're not always better, but it sounds like it couldn't be worse than the August County ones. 2) Wouldn't he have had medical insurance that would have shielded him from his medical problems that left him so destitute? 3) I did a search on this story and see that he has an ex-wife and daughters. Wouldn't his family have helped him get a decent lawyer, expecially since they're near a law school? 4) I also see that in their investigation, the NPS found that a man had been abducted, robbed, beaten, raped and taken to that overlook the previous fall. The NPS reports that in the same paragraph that they report the Strippy/Swann incident. Do they suspect a link between the two events?
I tried to say this in a nice way. :)
But then, I'm a transplanted Yankee--at least to those born south of the Mason-Dixon line--so I tried to be diplomatic.
Actually, Katie Couric is an alum of UVA.
I was surprised it wasn't treated as federal both due to the incident itself and because Swann was drunk and you can't have guns OR booze on federal land. There is actually some dispute even among law enforcement about whose jurisdiction this was. Waynesboro Police, State or Augusta County Police? It seems whenever there's an incident up there, there's a dispute over who should be covering it.
Once he had the heart attack and bypass operation he no longer could be covered. I believe (not 100% sure) that at that time he was no longer able to keep his position and it's a pre-existing condition after that. He got treatment from UVA but it's all done through medicare, I believe.
His family is in no condition to help him. No ex-wives are gone and one daughter who is unable to do anything for him financially. These are not rich people by any means.
I saw that too, the report, as if Bob was The Blue Ridge Shooter. I actually laughed when I read it, not because the crime is amusing, but at the very thought of Bob doing this kind of thing. In fact when he first told me about it, I laughed and said "Oh, come on, Bob!" because I thought he was really pulling my leg. I think at first they wanted to think there was a link, but there was not at all.
He mentioned something to me about a student group at UVA that might have been helpful to him, but that was after he was already in the belly of the beast, so to speak. He didn't persue any kind of help initially because he felt his case was so obviously in his favor that if he went and told the truth it would turn out fine. He, like so many who have no experience whatsoever with the criminal system, really didn't think it would be a problem.
Greenstone is, I think, the 3rd or 4th overlook. You have to go kind of off the parkway and down into it. I never paid much attention since I was usually a passenger, so I can't state for sure, but I think it's number 3 or 4. I wish he could have gotten some help from UVA. As for now, his former classmates and Mensa friends are donating to his defense and we're in the appeal process at the moment. That's why I am not sure what I can safely say without botching the thing, and I don't want to make it any tougher on him than it is already. But these discussions seem general enough.
"What do his musical ability or his intelligence have to do with his orientation?"
Nothing. It's just the flow of the article. What do you know about him? This is what I know and remember. Sexual orientation and intelligence are not linked as far as I know. It's just how it was put together in the article.
No, the title of "Dr." which was mentioned several times.
That's not a title. It's an honorific. Titles are bestowed by the monarch, or inherited from the parents.
I did not know there was a difference. Thank you for educating me. :)
Considering the charges, this might not have been the best phrasing...
Does he have a private attorney now? I used to live in Charlottesville, but all the attorney's, affiliated with UVA, are gone that I knew, so I can't recommend anyone. The only thing I can think of is getting in touch with the Rutherford Institute. They won't be able to help because this is not their line (their specialty is religious freedom). But it's close enough (abuse by the justice system) that they could possibly recommend legal counsel for him. It's just a thought. Their web site is www.rutherford.org.
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