Public Defenders

While there may be good public defenders, my sons is not one that falls into this category. Late to court, never argued the prosecutions statements and basically did nothing to help my son. In the month he has represented my son, he hasn't seen my son with the exception of less than 10 minutes in court the other day.
$10,000 for an attorney, my family doesn't have that kind of money but without it, my sons life is at stake.
Innocent until proven guilty, as much as I love this country, that has to be the most useless statement in the United States.
I just heard of a case where a man spent 10 months in prison for setting his parents on fire, in the end it was found that wasn't even close to the truth. People are assumed guilty now and then you must at all costs to your retirement, home, vehicles, etc. prove your innocence, because in some cases, you are guilty just because you are a male, or female, black or hispanic, married or unmarried. It is not justice, it is an overworked legal system that only cares about doing as little as they can for as many as they can without caring about the outcome.

Update on Adam

Dad and I were able to see Adam this past Tuesday. He is looking haggard, but told us he is trying very hard to stay strong. He is reading the Bible, attending chapel when he can, doing a Bible study and as his cell mates say, staying in his room to much. To me, that is a good thing.

Prior to our visit Tuesday there was some type of racial problem between two groups of people. One wanted another to spend his money and buy him food, when the guy refused, a fight ensued and Adams cell mate ran into the cell and told him no matter what, to stay in his bunk! I am thankful for this man who seems to want to keep Adam safe.

Yesterday, I went for my regular Thursday visit. All I was told by the jailer is that the entire section was in lockdown until Tuesday. That means no phone calls, no mail in or out and no visits and more than likely, it means staying in a small cell 24 hours a day.

I heard from several family members in the visitation area that the section Adam was in became involved in a huge race riot Tuesday night and it got pretty nasty. All they knew is that one of the new people in the section decided to start a riot. Why do people do this? Don't they know they have no other freedom at this time but to get along?

I am terrified. I don't know if Adam was hurt, involved, sleeping or whatever and I don't know how this will affect his court date on Tuesday. Tuesday we are to find out if they will lower his bond, release him to a third party or let him come home to await trial. His girlfriend is out walking free on the same charges, why can't he do the same? I do not understand the justice system sometimes.

I have all the things to begin my first 2 quilts to help pay for Adam's bills that are getting further and further behind. If anyone is interested, they will be approximately crib size, perhaps a bit larger and I can add loops to hang it on the wall. I will have pictures when they are done and I am going to ask $40 each.

Adams public defender that spoke with me weeks ago made himself out to be so much different than all the rest of the people in his office. He is not! He hasn't returned any of my calls though he has Adams Power of Attorney giving him permission to speak with me. He hasn't seen Adam though he promised for 2 weeks he would. He hasn't told us about Adams court date on Tuesday, I found that out from Adam. He requested us to get letters on Adams behalf for the judge, but has not let me know when those are to be presented. He has been a huge disappointment.

We are praying for a miracle with a private attorney and asking God to provide someone who will take Adams case Pro Bono. We just don't have $10-$30,000 plus an additional $2000 per court day. Of course, I am not beyond begging and pleading that if anyone wants to help this young man, I will gladly take any donations you might have to offer.

It is 117 in Arizona, the air conditioning is out in the jail, they only get fed twice a day and the food is pretty bad. That is why they are having riots. People that are in the jail and have yet to be proven guilty get treated like they are guilty.

I know, many of you will tell me it is about time criminals get treated like criminals, but there comes a time when the local sheriff needs to treat humans with some dignity. After all, he has taken on dogs and cats into his jails now and his jailers are now animal jailers. The animals have air conditioned cells, they are fed well and treated well. Do people rank lower than animals? In this mans eyes, YES!!

Off my soapbox now. Thanks for reading my story, thank you for the prayers.

Another arrest

Well, you can tell you live in a small neighborhood when the local convenience store clerk tells you about an arrest.

Seems Sara was arrested yesterday and while maybe I should be happy about this, all I keep thinking is how many officers does it take to arrest a 21 year old female that to the best of my knowledge has no prior criminal record, doesn't have any weapons in her home and isn't a risk to officers?

I was told there were at least 15 cars surrounding her home and the neighbors. Does anyone else think this is overkill? Even warrant task forces usually use only 2-3 officers to pick up a suspect. Of course if that person is accused of killing someone or has weapons and is aggressive, that is another thing, but we are talking about a girl that has I don't think been in trouble before.

Something else thats a bit perplexing is that there is no information available on this girl. No initial appearance, no bond, no jail information which makes me think the court let her out on her own recognizance and I would have to question this since Adam still remains in jail on the same counts she has against her.

Could it be because he is a male? He was told numerous times he is guilty simply because he is the boyfriend. Does this mean our courts are biased or practicing discrimination against the male? What happened to equal justice? Am I missing something here?

I wouldn't leave the United States for anything. Not only is it my home, but my dad, husband, best friend all fought to protect our freedoms and rights and one of my high school friends died giving us the freedoms we have. It is a great country and I believe in the United States Constitution and our democracy, but I surely am confused about the court system during this process.

I guess that is why attorneys get paid the money they do, because they understand it much better than I do. Maybe when all of this is over, I will also have a better understanding of how bail is set, who sets it, why some people get out to walk free and others are sent to jail to waith their time out.

To think, in 2000 I had an opportunity to go to law school and turned it down to get a degree in HR. What was I thinking??

adams milestones

I was just sitting here and thinking of the many milestones that my son has overcome in his life and wonder how many of us can say the same thing?

When he was two years old and diagnosed with Apraxia, the therapist told my husband and I not to expect to much out of him. He probably would never talk, would never be potty trained (God, can you imagine having to change diapers at 21?), He wouldn't be in a regular school, etc.

That day he went home, took off his diaper, used the toilet and never looked back. It was as if he was letting us all know, I may not be able to talk, but darn it, I can sure understand what everyone is saying about me and I'm going to prove you all wrong.

He had a speech therapist to teach him sign language and the spoken word and he would use his signing in class, but once home, he refused. Why not? He had an older brother that did his talking for him and knew what every grunt and groan meant. Then came the fateful day when the therapist told his brother if he didn't interpret for us, she would give him a sucker every time she came over.

I don't know at that time who was more frustrated, us or Adam, but his brother wasn't going to miss the chance at his sucker, so he would just roll his eyes and walk away when asked to help. Shortly after this began, Adam began to use his signing more often and began putting more words out.

Still, if he couldn't get his point across, he would either do it himself or throw a tantrum. Imagine waking up to the smell of fire in your house and to find a 3 year old on the counter in the kitchen making his own breakfast. Yep, a pan of water and an entire box of Chocolate Maypo cereal all over the stove. No fire, just burning Maypo. He was hungry and I think he felt he could take care of himself.

There was the time his therapist came over and told us she just saw a little boy riding a bike down the street, she thought he looked just like Adam, but since he couldn't possibly be riding a bicycle at 3 years old without training wheels with his condition. It was Adam and even funnier, the damn bike had a pedal missing and he rode it like a champ. He didn't know it was broke and more over, he didn't know he wasn't supposed to be riding it.

You see, with Adam, we didn't treat him like he was any different than the other children in our home. If he was good he got praised, if he was bad he got punished, if he acted out of line he got wrapped tightly in a blanket and rocked until he calmed down, he got an allowance for doing his chores, he went where we went.

The only difference was that he couldn't talk. One day I was out in the yard and one of the neighbor kids came by and asked why we moved from France. France I repeated. The young lad told me that Adams brothers told him the reason none of the neighbors could understand him was that we lived in France when Adam was born and all he could speak was French.

What a novel idea. To protect their brother from taunts, the kids came up with a plan that worked and the other kids thought it was great and worked hard to help teach him English. See, kids really are amazing and innovative.

Adam has always loved music, so when he could be in band, he took up drums. Within weeks, he had them mastered. At the age of 11 he was on an outing with his dad that is a big biker event and had a band. During a break Adam asked the band if he could practice with their drums. The drummer tossed him a set of sticks and said laughingly, 'sure kid, just don't break anything.'

Several minutes of his playing and the drummer got on stage and told the entire audience, I thought the kid was joking, but he can play. Adam got to play 2 songs with the band.

In high school band he was the Cymbals leader for 2 years running, but one year he and the drum leader didn't see eye to eye and Adam quit. No amount of talking to him would get him to go back. He was done and that was it. Now, he works diligently when he is home to teach the babies how to play the drums.

His first year of high school he made the Honor roll. We were so proud of him. His teachers all loved him and after that it went downhill. He had a teacher who told us he was a drug addict and I called a meeting between this teacher, the principal and his special education teachers. It was a long meeting and one where the principal decided to tell me she would have him removed from his classes. I told her fine, but since she was making this decision it must mean the school district had deep pockets because they were responsible for his education under federal guidelines and his transportation and if they kicked him out, I was going to make sure he went to the most exclusive private school I could find.

Of course she said I couldn't do that and his special education teachers told her, she had better think again, because not only could I but they would help me do it. Adam remained in school.
It took him 7 years to graduate from high school, but he did and did it on his own. His teachers were so impressed, they had a story of him printed up in the local paper.

There are so many stories I could tell, how Adam has had to adjust in our world and try to fit in and done such a great job. Ask me questions, I will tell you! Adam is a great kid!

Literal thinking

People with Aspergers do have problems with language and understanding things we 'normal' people take for granted.

If you tell a person with AS that it is raining cats and dogs, you understand it to mean raining very hard, they are going to want to see the cats and dogs. If you tell them something you are carrying feels like a ton of bricks, they want to know how you would know how heavy that is.

I like to say people with AS think in black and white, yes and no's because with my son there is never a gray area in his life. He must get a yes or no, a maybe leaves him coming back time and time again for more explanation of what that maybe could mean.

My son is methodical about his money and paying his bills. He will figure out how much he needs and take his paycheck to the bank and tell the teller....I need 2 fifties, 4 twenties, 1 ten, 22 ones, 3 quarters, 3 dimes and 7 pennies. Because he has taken what he owes and figured out what each bill requires.

Change? He hates carrying change in his pocket, it is heavy, makes to much noise and confuses him and yet he can count change to you without thinking about it. He used to bring his dad or eye, handfuls of change and ask if we had a 5 or 10 for it because he couldn't keep very good track of it as change.

He has a great sense of humor, when you get used to it. But until then, many people are offended by his humor because it is more serious sounding then it really is.

Making friends is hard because people with AS are very honest and blunt something many of us say we can handle but really don't want.

Heaped on Blessings

Well, today life is somewhat good again. No, it is great!! Our sons charges while serious were not as serious as we were originally told they were and while the accusations are deplorable, he has a chance to fight these charges easier than the originally stated charges.

Also, his public defender is a man of honor and integrity and the first thing he wants to do is get my son out of jail, get him back to work and build up a rapport with him so he can find out what happened. He also understands and knows about Autism and Aspergers Syndrome.

My son is having horrible dreams he told his father today that he can't find his girlfriend and everyone keeps telling him she is standing in front of him but he can't see her. His dad told him he can't see her because his mind is protecting him from the truth that she doesn't care about him. Kind of harsh for dad, but it is true. His girlfriend has moved onto someone else that can support her lifestyle that she can't afford without someones help.

God has been good to us this day, he has lifted a burden off our shoulders and heart and given us hope that our son will get out of jail and be able to get a job until this all goes to court.

I wish I could convince him that he needs to give up on HER, as she used him and then tossed him away for someone else. She tossed her daughter away as soon as they took her away. This girl never agonized over the loss of her child and was having and still is having a great time running free without a child. She tells everyone she knows she doesn't think she wants this child back & yet...

My son who is not this childs father, agonizes over her and cries because he doesn't know how she is doing and worries if she is being fed enough, sleeping well, being given love and he dreams about playing with her and taking care of her.

Funny, many people believe that people with Autism are incapable of love or can only care about themselves, but with my son I have seen him love and care so much it has landed him in jail.

My sons life is in jeopardy...

If my son wasn't in jeopardy in jail because of his disability, he is seriously needing to get out of there now and if anyone knows how to reach a public defender in Maricopa County and ask for help, I would appreciate knowing this.

They moved him to a cell with gang members that want to kill him just because he is white. He is the only white person in the pod with these people. How did this happen? I asked him and he said he doesn't know. They moved him last night and he was doing as well as anyone can while waiting patiently for his parents to raise money we don't have.

I have said it once and I will say it again. If you are a hard working family or poor, you will not have a chance in helping a family member in jail because attorneys and bond cost more money than most of us have in a life of savings.

Please, to anyone who reads this, say a prayer for my son's safety. I am so scared he will be killed and no one will even let us know.

What is Aspergers Syndrome?

Aspergers Syndrome is often times called 'high-functioning' Autism. People with Autism and Aspergers Syndrome look just like 'normal,' people. I do not use that term lightly but over the years I have had people look at my son and make snap judgements that all he needs is a good spanking and he would be fine.

I am sure I am like many parents who at times wished there was a look of Autism as there is for someone with Downs Syndrome or any other disease or disability that people accept readily. But Autism is different because people judge others on the way they look and without really knowing the truth.

Many years ago when Adam would have fits and couldn't speak yet, it was not uncommon for neighbors to come into our home to see what was going on and why this child was screaming in a fit of rage. I even begged one parent to take him home with her since she thought she was such an expert on raising children. I bet another parent my entire pay check that she would take him home and bring him back within an hour...No, of course she didn't take me up on it.

Then there was the neighbor who stalked our home at night because he was sure we were being abusive to our son and he was going to catch us in the act. Well, one day, Adam was playing in the front yard and while the guy was in his yard, Adam threw a fit. I hollered over the fence to him 'come on smart guy, you think you know so much, come calm this down, you are such an expert in child abuse, what do you think now?' He walked in his house and he never stalked the yard again.

What is Aspergers Syndrome??

Here is an explanation much better than what I could describe it as:

Asperger Syndrome or (Asperger's Disorder) is a neurobiological disorder named for a Viennese physician, Hans Asperger, who in 1944 published a paper which described a pattern of behaviors in several young boys who had normal intelligence and language development, but who also exhibited autistic-like behaviors and marked deficiencies in social and communication skills. In spite of the publication of his paper in the 1940's, it wasn't until 1994 that Asperger Syndrome was added to the DSM IV and only in the past few years has AS been recognized by professionals and parents.
Individuals with AS can exhibit a variety of characteristics and the disorder can range from mild to severe. Persons with AS show marked deficiencies in social skills, have difficulties with transitions or changes and prefer sameness. They often have obsessive routines and may be preoccupied with a particular subject of interest. They have a great deal of difficulty reading nonverbal cues (body language) and very often the individual with AS has difficulty determining proper body space. Often overly sensitive to sounds, tastes, smells, and sights, the person with AS may prefer soft clothing, certain foods, and be bothered by sounds or lights no one else seems to hear or see. It's important to remember that the person with AS perceives the world very differently. Therefore, many behaviors that seem odd or unusual are due to those neurological differences and not the result of intentional rudeness or bad behavior, and most certainly not the result of "improper parenting".
By definition, those with AS have a normal IQ and many individuals (although not all), exhibit exceptional skill or talent in a specific area. Because of their high degree of functionality and their naiveté, those with AS are often viewed as eccentric or odd and can easily become victims of teasing and bullying. While language development seems, on the surface, normal, individuals with AS often have deficits in pragmatics and prosody. Vocabularies may be extraordinarily rich and some children sound like "little professors." However, persons with AS can be extremely literal and have difficulty using language in a social context.
At this time there is a great deal of debate as to exactly where AS fits. It is presently described as an autism spectrum disorder and Uta Frith, in her book AUTISM AND ASPERGER'S SYNDROME, described AS individuals as "having a dash of Autism". Some professionals feel that AS is the same as High Functioning Autism, while others feel that it is better described as a Nonverbal Learning Disability. AS shares many of the characteristics of PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder; Not otherwise specified), HFA, and NLD and because it was virtually unknown until a few years ago, many individuals either received an incorrect diagnosis or remained undiagnosed. For example, it is not at all uncommon for a child who was initially diagnosed with ADD or ADHD be re-diagnosed with AS. In addition, some individuals who were originally diagnosed with HFA or PDD-NOS are now being given the AS diagnosis and many individuals have a dual diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism.
(Kirby,Barbara. 'The Oasis Guide to Aspergers Syndrome.' Retrieved from the World Wide Web @ http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/. 28 May 2005).

Adam has Aspergers Syndrome, ADD & PDD-NOS. Adam is very set in his ways and you can't change his mind when he has it made up. Hence, Adam is where he is because he wanted to protect his girlfriend.

Well, we did find out the investigation and grand jury indictment are public record, so I will go and get copies of those and perhaps it will shed some light on what is going on.