Posted on 02/09/2006 5:31:44 AM PST by freepatriot32
William J. Hetherington has been incarcerated in Michigan prisons for more than 20 years for having sex with his wife Linda. In 1986, he became the first man in Genesee County convicted of the new Michigan crime called spousal rape. Linda was not a battered wife; she testified at the trial that he had never beaten her in their 16 years of marriage. Hetherington was honorably discharged from the U.S. Air Force, received a National Defense Service Medal, and had no police record of any sort.
The sentencing guideline for this new offense was 12 months to 10 years but, without showing cause, the judge sentenced him to 15 to 30 years (twice the time served by the average convicted rapist in Michigan). Twenty years later, despite an exemplary prison record, the parole board routinely refuses to parole him, giving as its sole reason "prisoner denies the offense."
Hetherington has, indeed, always maintained his innocence. It was a he-said-she-said case during a custody battle; he said it was consensual sex, she said it was rape. The judge used Michigan's new Rape Shield Law to prohibit cross-examination of Linda.
No physical evidence of rape was produced at the trial. A pelvic examination of Linda at the hospital three hours after the alleged offense showed no evidence of injury or forced penetration. Apparently what persuaded the jury to convict was the testimony of two police officers that they had observed tape marks on Linda's face.
The court-designated psychologist who examined Hetherington, Dr. Harold S. Sommerschield, Ph.D., concluded: "This is not a man who would force himself sexually or hostilely on another individual, as this would be foreign to his personality dynamics. ... his histrionic personality ... would substantiate his explanation of what has occurred in regards to the relationship with his ex-wife."
The rape charge was prosecuted simultaneously with the custody case, and the divorce court had frozen all Hetherington's assets so he had no money to hire a lawyer or make bond. Nevertheless, the criminal court ruled that he was not indigent and refused to provide him with a lawyer.
For 12 years, the court refused to provide Hetherington with a transcript of the trial. Without funds, he was unable to buy one, so he was effectively denied his right of appeal, and no appeal has ever been heard on the substance of this case.
At the sentencing, prosecutor Robert Weiss called Hetherington's alleged offense equivalent to "first degree murder" and falsely accused him of beating Linda. Weiss was running for a judgeship, and observers sized up his prejudicial statements as grandstanding for support from the feminists.
Linda walked away with custody of their three daughters, the marital home, and all marital assets.
Ten years after Hetherington's conviction, a volunteer attorney, Jeff Feldman, using the Freedom of Information Act, obtained copies of five photographs taken of Linda by police at the alleged crime scene immediately after the alleged offense. The photographs were in a locker in a police garage, and the prosecution had never disclosed them to the defense.
The photographs were then examined by a forensic photographer in Miami, John Valor, using all modern techniques. Valor's four-page notarized report detailed his impressive expertise, including service as the lead forensic photographer in the trial of serial-killer Ted Bundy.
Valor's sworn statement dated January 8, 1998 stated that the pictures of Linda showed absolutely no scratches, tape marks or abnormalities of any kind, and that marks would have been clearly visible if there had been any. If a government witness gives false testimony, a convicted prisoner should be entitled to a new trial, but Hetherington didn't get it.
Years later, a completely unsolicited letter was sent to the parole board by Melissa Anne Suchy, who had been employed by Linda as a babysitter. Suchy's letter is hearsay, but it has the ring of authenticity.
Suchy wrote that Linda told her she made up the story about rape because she was then pregnant with the baby of her boyfriend, and he pushed her to press rape charges, saying that she would have to "get rid of Hetherington or he wouldn't take care of the baby."
Over the years, several pro bono lawyers and concerned citizens have tried to secure a pardon or a parole for Hetherington, but Michigan appears determined to make him serve 30 years because he won't admit guilt and because the bureaucracy won't admit it made a mistake.
Almost everyone who reads the record of what happened to William Hetherington concludes that he was unjustly accused, unjustly convicted, unjustly sentenced, unjustly denied his due process and appeal rights, unjustly denied a new trial based on physical evidence of inaccurate testimony by government witnesses, and unjustly denied parole.
A good man's life has been sacrificed, and three children have been denied their father, by the malicious feminists who have lobbied for laws that punish spousal rape just like stranger rape and deny a man the right to cross-examine his accuser. They have created a judicial system where the woman must always be believed even though she has no evidence, and the man is always guilty
In Post 9, jigsaw provided a link to more info. On that link is a pdf of the judge's denial of the writ of habeas. It's 13 pages and worth reading if you've got an interest in this case. Essentially, this guy didn't file his appeal on time.
I'd still like to know whether or not he had representation at trial. The judge's order implies that he did, but other stuff in jigsaw's link indicates he did not.
It'll then be all BOW for King Jesus.
HELLO? Is anybody home in there?
A wife does not relinquish her right to say "no" the moment she says "I do".......
So the pictures were tainted? The guy is incompetent? The pictures were unclear?
If the guy closely examined the photos of the alleged "victim's" face and found no evidence of the alleged "tape marks," which look to be central to this case, the victim (the one doing time for crimes he did not commit) was railroaded.
Make like an airline and lose the baggage.
Get over yourself. Not all women are stupid enough to fall for being a slave.
Heh heh heh. That silly "constitution" talk.
You're funny.
LOL! You're kidding right? Please tell me you are....
All sex is rape. Didn't you know that?
You're not seeing my point.
According to the habeas petition and the judge's denial of same, this part of the article is absolutely false - the wife was cross-examined by the defense attorney.
He was able to cross-examine Linda, and did so at trial, according to the judge's denial of the writ of habeas corpus.
Let me guess, the only girlfriend you have had in the past 10 years is named Rosie Palmer.
Nor am I surprised. I would rather live alone for the rest of my life than to be someone's wage slave through divorse or be thrown in prison on false accusations.
http://www.quicktopic.com/17/H/7GsKRAjfG2qL
Christal Hetherington 33
08-10-2004 08:39 PM ET (US)
This site is an absolute joke.....Not one of you truly know William Hetherington. Well let me tell you some things that you should know. First of all he is not innocent. Lets see did you know that he severly abused drugs. My earliest memory of this was when I was 6 or 7 watching him roll marajuana in front of me. I remember another instance of coming home from a shopping trip with my mother to find him sitting on the kitchen floor completely zoned out, telling us his feet were computers and he was controlling the world. I remember waking up to an ambulance taking to the hospital for overdosing. I remember my dad shaving his hair into a mohawk. I also remember reaching into the pantry to get something and finding a bag of hypodermic needles. These are just a sample of what I saw. Please tell me how a man under that kind of influence and out of his right mind could honestly tell you he did not commit the acts upon my mother. I saw him try to control her. I saw him stalk her. He did commit the crime in question against my mother and not only on the occasion he was found guilty for. He knows it and everyone in the family knows it. Remember there are always two sides to every story. Now that I am grown with a family of my own, I realize how important it is to do the right things. And I also realize that when you do something wrong you need admit it and move on with your life, people will respect you for your honesty, your family will respect you. My dad had a chance to admit his mistakes and take a plea bargin and be set free from jail with some counciling, he refused. He missed out on his childrens lives and grandchildrens lives because of this. I guess I am past the point of feeling sorry for him. I guess it upsets me to see this "feel sorry for William Hetherington site" I do agree his sentence was harsh and that is all I can agree on as far as any of this goes. I have had this talk with my dad. I still go and see him on occasion and talk to him on the phone. I do care for him don't get me wrong. But I needed to express to you some of the other side of the story. So please if you want to help him get out of prison do it for the right reason, because his sentence was too harsh for the crime, not because he has manipulated you into believing his innocence.
"So the pictures were tainted? The guy is incompetent? The pictures were unclear? "
We don't know. This article is blatantly one-sided and no one seems to have found the state's evidence. Not to mention, the expert was hired by the defense to analyze 15 year old photographs.
I will admit the one-sidedness of the article, but the testimony of the examiner is compelling.
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