I get the feeling you've spent a lot of time with these guys:
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
I have sued more than once, and I had to really watch what was happening with the attorneys because there were routes of attack that I could not stomach doing being suggested by the lawyers and sometimes seemingly going on of their own accord. In spite of the scruples I insisted on, they resulted in satisfactory settlements, as well as lawyers who rolled their eyes at me something strange.
Too bad I'm not stupid, eh! ; )
Secondly, I sure as hell hope that I never need a lawyer for anything serious. I've had to rely on them in the past and they can't even tell the truth. Four witnesses against him and he lied to us, his clients, through his teeth.
Oh yeah, this guy was a "good christian lawyer" too. I have yet to meet an attorney that is more concerned with the truth and facts than he is with his money and his billing.
This just in, there's a reason for all of the generalizations regarding attorneys. Hint: Congress is full of 'em! ; )
And before you come back with some schtick about him "making a living," spare me.
I posted the "daughter's" version not because I agree or disagree but just as information FWIW. And it may not be worth anything. While she claims to be the daughter, there's certainly no proof that she is. The other "daughter" also posted on that forum.
My other comment about that is she complained largely about drug abuse. The man isn't in prison for abusing drugs.
20 years in prison for a case that appears to have enormous holes in it where judges dismiss appeals based on technicalities where the man may or may not have been represented at trial ... well, certainly this whole thing is curious.
I get the feeling you've spent a lot of time with these guys:
Wow. You ought to write for Lifetime.
Never tried to thumb it. Sounds kinky.
Posting without reading, or reading without comprehension, can and should lead to embarrassment.
I will say to you as I said to another, posting without reading or reading without comprehension can and should lead to embarrassment.
Don't assume were all liberals here - actually only a very few counties are: 
I think that the wife needs to be put in prison. Maybe they should do a DNA on the child just to see if the story has a ring of truth.
Yep, the biggest liars are the guilty so it is easy for them to just assume you are both.
I used to be, and still am to some extent, a strong supporter of LE and prosecutors. Having been railroaded on some penny ante stuff, traffic tickets, and being familiar with some other cases I was not involved in, I know that cops do lie and prosecutors do aid and abet them. That degrades their reputations for all of us.
As you said, stay away. When you can't, be polite and don't antagonize. That is not fool proof but it is still the best.
I take you to be a biased person without any ability to hear anything other than yourself talk.
Why don't you see my webpage and see whatmy clients say about me and ask if that many people could be worng, or just that you had a bad experience.
We are not all like the caricutaure you would like to think is the "truth"
Do you think there are not dishonest doctors and dentists simply because they take a different oath??????
Do you think all plumbers and masons are honest???
Any man who does, risks it.
What are you saying, that a woman must "obey" her husband and have sex with him whenever he wants? ROLFMAO!!!
Think back. Surely you remember the atmosphere at the time, the campaigns about awareness about spousal abuse and child abuse? Due process went out the window. There's cases in Washington State, Wenatchee; Janet Reno made her career on cases now considered to be bogus. The daycare abuse cases. Remember "Women/children wouldn't lie?"
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.