Day 1 : State vs. Christine - A Family Divided

Roseburg, Oregon. This will be a brief update concerning the "kidnap your own kids and go to jail" trial of Ruth and Brian Christine, which got underway today in this picturesque, hilly and wooded locale situated in west-central Oregon. I'll provide others as we go along, time permitting.

The first items on the agenda at any trial are always preliminary motions of one sort or another. Today, we had several, the most daunting of which was a motion to suppress evidence and testimony obtained after the Grants Pass police first illegally entered the Christines' motorhome, terrorizing and interrogating both parents and their three, small girls. The Assistant DA wanted time to prepare a response, which is why the judge delayed further proceedings until tomorrow.

We also filed a motion to preclude the state from putting any of the Christine children on the witness stand during the trial.

First, because they are all too young to appreciate what is going on or to be reliable in what they might have to say about anything.

Second, because they have been too long in state custody, being prepped for this day, thus are even more unreliable as witnesses.

Third, and most importantly, however, because it is outrageous for the state to use them in its quest to imprison the Christines for the rest of their lives. Imagine the psychological ramifications when they get older, if their testimony actually is used to railroad their own parents into prison. Supposedly, this whole case is about the welfare of these children, yet the state brazenly attempts to utilize them in this offhand fashion to get another trophy conviction and kick over the traces of what it has perpetrated in the pursuit of "justice" in this case.

The most remarkable and, thus far, overlooked motion, however, was to preclude the state from putting on any witnesses at all. Farfetched? Some would think so. However, Oregon state law requires that the state identify the witnesses it will use in advance to the defense. This is so that we might prepare our case by lining up our own witnesses and evidence to counter the state's case. Precisely 3 minutes before the trial was to begin, I was handed the state's witness list, composed of 48 individuals. The state has far too big an advantage in these cases to be allowed this sort of edge, as well. Realistically, the judge isn't likely to grant our motion, but he could well use it to force the state to cut its case to the bone.

Finally, we filed a motion for Judgment of Acquittal on the three charges of kidnapping the girls. I was going to hold this for filing as soon as the state rested, but decided to file it today when the DA said he was inclined to dismiss those charges, anyway. You see, Oregon has a statute that says parents can't kidnap their own kids.

So, why have they been charged with kidnapping their own children all along? There is no penalty to the DA for doing so, and he gains some serious advantages in being able to press for large bail amounts (granted in this case) and forcing defendants to plead out to lesser charges without the inconvenience of having actually to try a case (not possible here because we know the score). Measure 11 increases the horsepower of this tactic because it requires minimum sentences. I was sorry to see him roll over on these charges, because I wanted to pound on them to the jury all through the trial. Oh, well - I'll use them to pound on the DA in closing argument, anyway. As I told a local reporter, "The big guns of this case were silenced today."

The other serious charges will also go away on our motion, once the state rests, I am confident. You see, there are other Oregon statutes right on point.

Side note: Oregon is a fairly bizarre state, with a law for most everything. People think Oregon is cutting-edge liberal due to the medical-marijuana and doctor-assisted-suicide laws. I think it is really cutting-edge fascist, and this Christine case is one of the best examples of that around. "In Control We Freak" should be the state motto.

Anyway, back at the trial, we think the charges of kidnapping the social workers go away because Oregon law requires that, in order to be guilty of kidnapping, one must "interfere substantially with another’s personal liberty" (Oregon Revised Statute 163.225(1). In another case, State v. Garcia, 288 Or. 413 (1980), the Oregon Supreme Court noted that the phrase was added to Oregon ’s kidnapping statute in order to distinguish cases involving true abductions from those in which a victim is merely moved or detained incidental to the commission of some other offense such as robbery or rape. Gee, kinda reminds one of the Christine case, doesn't it?

The charges of robbery, more Measure ll stuff, should go away for similar reasoning. Theft is defined at ORS 164.015. In relevant part, theft is committed whenever a person takes property with the intent to deprive another of the property or to appropriate the property. "Deprive" means permanently; so does "appropriate." These terms are defined in just that fashion in other Oregon statutes.

We will move to kill all the rest of these Measure 11 charges when the state rests. They should be granted. If not, an appeal is guaranteed.

So, what does that leave us with? Custodial interference, that's what. And, for that, there are at this moment several network sound trucks sitting outside the Douglas County Courthouse, reporting to the world about the ongoing events of this case.

Incidentally, we offered the DA a plea bargain quite a while ago: Ruth cops to misdemeanor custodial interference and gets time served. Brian pleads to anything the DA wants, so long as he qualifies for diversion to Oregon's "boot camp" program, whereby convicts are rehabilitated quickly and placed back into society. Nothing doing, said the DA; he wants them both doing 7 years hard time.

Meanwhile, the American justice system gets another black eye. Your tax dollars at work.

Incidentally, Court TV and all the networks are taking the live feed directly from the courtroom, so you might actually get to sit in on the trial as it goes along. Hopefully, someone will let me know so that I can pass it along to you. Honestly, I'm a little too busy to ask.

Copyright © Edgar J. Steele, 2002
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Day 4 : State vs. Christine - A Family Divided

by Edgar J. Steele

May 5, 2002

Roseburg, Oregon. It is exceedingly difficult to talk about a case while you're trying it, knowing that anything you say is immediately shown to the other side. The temptation is to toss out diversion, but that merely muddies the water for most followers and makes the post-trial analysis seemed more than a little contrived.

Thus, there are whole aspects of this case that I simply cannot address just yet. But I will later on - believe me.

One of the most interesting turns that things took on Friday, once we finally got to some witnesses, was the decidedly smarmy nature of the state's case. The state seems to have decided to place the character of Brian and Ruth Christine on trial. I think that was a mistake....and a fatal mistake, hopefully.

I know I wouldn't want to have to try to take apart a former Eagle Scout and his wife, who once was a missionary for Mother Theresa, on moral grounds.

Here's a photo of a T-shirt that one enterprising resident of Douglas County has put together and is selling for $25 each in front of the courthouse during the trial.

http://www.conspiracypenpal.com/images/two.jpg http://www.conspiracypenpal.com/images/backtwo.jpg

He put our www.PCLU.org website URL on the shirts to encourage donations for the Christine Defense Fund. All profits above the cost of the actual shirts are given directly to the Christine Defense Fund. If I knew how to do it, I would put one of those shopping/checkout pages on my PCLU website to accommodate direct orders.

The front says, "No Hugs...No Kisses...No Kidding. My mommy and daddy vacationed in Oregon and now all I have is this lousy t-shirt." The back says, "In Control We Freak...Visit Oregon...Lose Your Kids...Go To Jail...State vs. Brian and Ruth Christine...April 30, 2002...www.pclu.org."

Tell you what, though - everybody who contributes $30 or more to the defense fund via PCLU, either with credit cards through paypal.com or direct mail to the post office box...AND...who includes a return address and shirt size (XL, L, M, S)...will receive one of these shirts by return mail, in recognition of their support of the Christines.

The two kids in the photo are my own, Kelsey and Rex, ages 12 and 14, respectively. It's a good thing we didn't live in Oregon when they were the ages of the Christine kids, because they were just as skinny.

The State's first witness on Friday was a guy who was one of Brian and Ruth's first "friends" upon coming to Oregon. He offered up that the family nickname for the baby was "Spam." He allowed as how that was offensive since it means "unwanted email." On my cross examination, he admitted that he never discussed his impression with any member of the Christine family, but that his interpretation was simply that - his.

Also on cross, he seemed unimpressed to learn that every Christine family member has a nickname (like my own family, by the way, and most others), usually a play on the sound of their own name. The baby's name is Miriam, rhymes with Spam. Of course, some of the media chose to ignore that fact, preferring to run with the witness' interpretation that the parents didn't want their baby (death to KXL Radio for that bit of yellow journalism, by the way). Ruth was in tears for quite a while after court Friday over that indignity.

We're not done with this fellow, however, and will recall him as a part of the defense case next week, along with the head SCF employee who was similarly nasty in her assessment of the Christines...and unnecessarily so, which is our lever on her, of course.

We essentially gave the State its case for Custodial Interference and Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle in our opening statement. But, that's not good enough for this deputy District Attorney on the make for a name. He wants felony Kidnapping and Robbery, as well. He runs the risk of offending the jury with his overreaching, which is the only thing that provides us hope of thereby exonerating Brian and Ruth of all charges. He who lives by the sword dies by the sword, as they say.

Another country homily comes to mind, as well: Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. Let's hope this country lawyer can bring some truth to those adages.

The DDA begrudgingly gave up the charges of Kidnapping the children on the first day of trial, after I beat him up for over an hour the previous week about the Oregon statute that says you can't be charged with kidnapping your own kids.

But, he stubbornly refuses to abandon the charges of kidnapping the SCF workers. Here's how they were kidnapped, per the State's own opening statement: Brian told one worker to stand aside and the other to "get out of the car." That's it. Kidnapping, according to the DDA. Never mind the Oregon Supreme Court, which has said that such incidental interference with another's liberty while committing another crime is NOT kidnapping.

The Unauthorized Use charge seems likely to stick, but the DDA wants to stretch Brian's driving the state car 1/4 mile to where his own was parked into felony Robbery. Again, the Oregon Supremes have proclaimed that robbery requires an intent to permanently deprive another of the article stolen, so robbery seems an exagerration, at best.

I will view getting Brian and Ruth found "not guilty" of all the Measure 11 felony charges (5 kidnapping counts originally, now 2, plus 2 robbery counts) as being a complete win. If we actually convince the jury to let them walk on UUMV or custodial interference, that will be a huge victory...and pretty unlikely, by the way. Of course, there's that gun....that dictates an enhancement of whatever charge sticks, up to the level of "first degree," almost certainly against Brian only. That means more jail time, but the minimum 60 months for the use of a weapon can be decreased in the discretion of a judge for a first offender, as Brian certainly is.

My objective: Ruth walks with misdemeanor custodial interference and time served. Brian takes felony custodial interference and UUMV, qualifying for diversion to Oregon's boot camp for prisoners program (the same punishment meted out to Tonya Harding's boyfriend for having whacked Tonya's archrival in the knees with a pipe, thereby securing Tonya's ticket to the big show).

Of course, before the trial, we offered to plead to Custodial Interference, but the DDA wanted none of that. In this day of rapists getting probation and murderers out in 3, he wants Brian and Ruth to do 7-1/2 years hard time. For what? For loving their children enough to forcibly take them back from the state that had wrongly seized them in the first place, that's what. For this, they are about to get painted as the parents from Hell, adding extreme insult to the injury they have already sustained. If you're like me, along about here you might be asking just what is going on in this case.

By the way, here's another shot of the T-shirt front artwork:

http://www.conspiracypenpal.com/images/front.jpg

That's "Spam" (cute nickname - I like it), aka Miriam, sitting there on the bed. She's the one that had been sick with the flu for two weeks. She had been refusing food during that time and had lost weight. This is one of the pictures that, until unveiled in court this week, has been under court seal for so long. Miriam is the girl the anonymous call was made about, the one that started this whole sordid affair. Supposedly, she weighs 15 pounds as shown, since this is one of the pictures taken by the State authorities in the hospital, just hours after all the children were seized. You tell me - does this child look to be just days away from death due to criminal neglect by her parents? Does this child look like she weighs just 15 pounds?

-ed "I didn't say it would be easy. I just said it would be the truth."

- Morpheus

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