what does justice really mean?

[ilovemykids]

i live in las vegas, nevada. my husband and i were both accused of child abuse by his mother. she doesn't want a black woman raising her grandaughter(my step daughter). neither of us have ever been involved with the law before. the da here wants to prosecute us because there are pictures of a bruise on her lower back that she got from falling. we accepted a deal for a gross misdemeaner and probation. we were told that we had to accept the same deal at the same time or my husband had to testify against me. their evidence is my mother in law's testimony that i don't feed morgan and that i was the one that beats her. she has told the da that she will not testify, that is why there is a deal. my question is when we went to court to accept, my husband got a gross misdemeaner, while i got a felony until i finish probation, then i get a misdemeaner. isn't there something wrong with that? also, his lawyer sent him the "deal" that we will be signing on the 25th and it says nothing of me getting a lesser charge later,just a felony. it also says that we have to have lifetime supervision after probation, what does that mean? They say i get a "heavier hand" than him because i'm the primary caretaker and they want to make sure i go to probation. also, the these things don't make sense to me because we have 2 other children that they aren't the least concerned about, and morgan lives with us too! they don't know anything about us, we take our children to daycare, so i'm not the primary caretaker. we also have letters of recomendation from our families/friends, and a licensed pschycologist that says we love our kids and would never hurt them. what can i do? to add to this there were over 3 people that
'forgot" their children in there cars for whole days and they died. the da let them go with nothing.

 

[stephenk]

" my husband had to testify against me"

what would your husband be testifying about you?

 

[calatty]

Why in the world would you plead guilty to felony child abuse if you are innocent?? The only reason is because you are guilty and by pleading guilty you can get probation, but if you went to trial you could go to jail. The reasons you got the felony has nothing to do with being the primary caretaker, but because the evidence against you was stronger than the evidence against your husband. A hundred letters from acquaintances or paid professionals saying you love your children don't mean a whole lot when there is an eyewitness relative who says she saw you abusing the child. There are laws that allow defendants to petition for reduction of a felony conviction to a misdemeanor after they successfully complete the conditions of probation. I am not aware that a DA has ever let a parent go who killed a child by suffocating them in the car, but your beliefs that it happens and that it means you shouldn't suffer any punishment, and that you think this matter has something to do with race, shows that you are in dire need of parenting classes which I hope are included in the conditions of your probation.

 

[ilovemykids]

you don't know me

THIS MESSAGE IS FOR CALATTY. first of all, you don't know what you are talking about. there is no eyewitness. no one EVER has seen my husband or myself abusing our children. the mother said " i think". also, i never said i was getting a felony because of my race, i said what my mother in law told us was her reason for calling cps. we did not plead guilty, we plead no contest, and nothing has been signed yet. the only "evidence" they have is a picture of a bruise on her lower back, and a statement from a mental lady saying i did it. there is a lot of background here that you don't know about, so don't judge what you know nothing about. For 4 days before she called cps, she kept offering us $400 a month to take morgan back to ny with her and keep her because she didn't want us to move to nv in the first place. She's clinically depressed and stopped taking her meds a month before she got here. Since she's been gone she has stated that she will keep calling cps on us until i leave my husband. also, the entire day before she called cps, we ALL where with 4 other people that saw no bruises on my step daughter, then she spends the night with grandma and now there is a bruise? while cps was doing their investigation morgan stayed with grandma and was throwing up everyday from being over fed. If we bruised her why did they place her back with us 2 weeks after this all happened? why did they let us keep our other 2 kids at home? why did they close our cps case 3 months early? and for your information we already did the whole parenting classes and anger management thing. The reason we didn't contest anything in family court is because we didn't know any better, and the attorney we hired told us not to worry about anything, just do what they want regardless and everything will be fine"cps has more power than god". those were his exact words and we listened because as i said previous, we didn't know any better. As for the criminal case, we were told it's procedure and that it was going to get dismissed because we alredy went through cps. they lied to us about every little thing and now it's too late. so you see we or should i say i, am not guilty and did not plead guilty because of any evidence, i plead no contest because i listened to another lawyer. the reason my husband is getting a lesser charge is because they say he is covering up for me, all because his mother says i had to of been the one,once again not because of any evidence. We are also in the process of sueing the original cps worker, and the police department. they had my 2 4 year olds bent over a bed with a flashlight on their asses with no warrant and no probable cause. the cps worker took my 2 kids and gave them to the grandmother with no court order,etc.,etc. this "battle" with morgan and gram has been going on since i met my husband 3 years ago, only now we moved away and she was desperate. as soon as she found out that her son was being charged and she couldn't take morgan home with her to ny, she told them she didn't mean any of it, but it was too late. Once the cps worker talked more with gram, she asked us if she was ok and wondered if she would flee with morgan. we lied and said there was nothing wrong with her because#1 who wants their kids in those awful foster homes? #2 our lawyer told us not to say anything until she came home.and last, look in the lv sun review-journal, 4 different parents 4 different kids in a short time where left in cars and it's still happening. ALL of them where let go. how do you "forget" you have kids in the car and go to work, or shopping? you don't, but the da said ACCIDENT. So yes, if they "forgot" they had kids and went shopping and got off, i should get off for not being the monster they think i am!!

 

[calatty]

When you entered the plea, you were told that a no contest plea is the functional equivalent of a guilty plea. I repeat: an innocent parent does not plead no contest = guilty to felony child abuse. You were not told "it's procedure" when you pled "no contest" but rather you were advised of your constitutional rights to a jury trial, confrontation, and against self-incrimination and you waived them, and the judge questioned you about the voluntariness of your plea and you assured him it was voluntary. That is what the law requires. I don't believe that the prosecution's case was built entirely on a non-eyewitness's report that she thinks you abuse the child, and if it was, you were a fool for entering a plea. Anyone on this board knows I am very liberal and rarely express a person opinion, but your levels of denial and victim mentality is in the stratosphere.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

When you entered the plea, you were told that a no contest plea is the functional equivalent of a guilty plea.

Anyone on this board knows I am very liberal and rarely express a person opinion, but your levels of denial and victim mentality is in the stratosphere.


=========================================

My response:

I, I, I, just don't know what to say! I am flabergasted. I'm speechless! I must be in "conservative heaven"!

My love for CalAtty is boundless. I am hers, and I gladly give myself completely over to her! I have tears in my eyes - - I am so overjoyed!

IAAL

 

[stephenk]

THUMP! That was the sound of me falling to the floor after reading Calatty's response. Welcome to the dark side of the force. Resistance is futile.



To the original poster: You still have not answered my question. Why would your hubby be forced to testify and what do you believe he would be testifying about that would be bad for your case?

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

THUMP! That was the sound of me falling to the floor after reading Calatty's response. Welcome to the dark side of the force. Resistance is futile.

=====================================

My response:

Oh my God, that was funny!

CalAtty is my "pin-up" girl. No two-piece bathing suits for me! I've got her full-length photo in my locker. She's a hottie, wearing a dark blue suit, with her blouse buttoned up all the way to the neck, dark shoes, and an over-the-shoulder handbag. Her silk stockings have seams up the back! She also has her hair in a super tight bun.

That's my DREAM GIRL. That's my conservative girl, CalAtty.

Next step - - "Conservative Nun".

IAAL

 

[ilovemykids]

When you entered the plea, you were told that a no contest plea is the functional equivalent of a guilty plea. I repeat: an innocent parent does not plead no contest = guilty to felony child abuse. You were not told "it's procedure" when you pled "no contest" but rather you were advised of your constitutional rights to a jury trial, confrontation, and against self-incrimination and you waived them, and the judge questioned you about the voluntariness of your plea and you assured him it was voluntary. That is what the law requires. I don't believe that the prosecution's case was built entirely on a non-eyewitness's report that she thinks you abuse the child, and if it was, you were a fool for entering a plea. Anyone on this board knows I am very liberal and rarely express a person opinion, but your levels of denial and victim mentality is in the stratosphere.

like i told you before, you don't know what you are talking about. don't tell me what i was told. when we plead no contest, our lawyer told us it meant that we were not saying guilty, or not guilty, we were simply saying that we are going to comply with their rules. yes that is the only evidence they have, but once again a "great" lawyer said we should take the deal because all they need is the picture to win. and yes they have the picture,so why wouldn't i listen to my lawyer? this whole thing from the start was messed up because we didn't know any better. we've never been involved with the law before, or cps, so of course when a caseworker calls and says just come on down and tell me what happened and everyone can go home, we believed her! by the time we found a lawyer things were already a big mess that i supose a competent lawyer could have fixed. we wanted to plead disagree, but he told us no contest was better. we told him the things he should have brought up, he said now is not good, wait. he screwd us from the start. so don't you judge me when you don't even know me, or all of the details. there's nothing to be in denial about.bottom line, i have been victimized in many other ways not discussed here involving this whole thing. maybe you supposedly don't express opinions because you don't have any worth hearing. people write on here for answers, not criticizm. maybe in your plush little attorney world everyone is guilty, is that it? are you one of those?

 

[hexeliebe]

An attorney's advice is no more relevant in this matter as a mechanic's or a doctor's. Because if a doctor told you to have your left arm amputated wouldn't you have gotten a second opinion. And if a mechanic had told you your car needed a new engine wouldn't you have asked a second mechanic if the engine was bad?

Your problem is accepting this attorney's advice is the same as I see over and over again, you accept it as gospel. Well, welcome to the real world. Because it's not. And as a thinking adult you should know that.

It was your choice to accept this advice without checking your options. It was also your right to get another opinion, to interview other attorneys and to not accept the advice totally.

But instead of fighting these charges you decided to take the easy way out and now come here to cry foul. Too late.

And don't think I'm joining the dark side. I'm a liberal hippy who will be buried on my stomach so the conservatives of the world can kiss my a$$, but there's no excuse for an adult to be led around like a love-struck puppy.

You made the choice to accept the advice and the plea. PERIOD!

 

[ilovemykids]

THUMP! That was the sound of me falling to the floor after reading Calatty's response. Welcome to the dark side of the force. Resistance is futile.



To the original poster: You still have not answered my question. Why would your hubby be forced to testify and what do you believe he would be testifying about that would be bad for your case?

sorry i forgot to answer your question. i don't know any of that, his lawyer just called one day and said here's the deal. i said i want to talk to my lawyer first because i don't agree. he said that's fine you can talk to him but your husband will have to testify against you if you don't accept. my husband told him he would plead the 5th, but i don't think we ever asked what he was testifing about!! thanks for reminding me. i'll ask him tommorrow and let you know. what about you and your case?

 

[ilovemykids]

An attorney's advice is no more relevant in this matter as a mechanic's or a doctor's. Because if a doctor told you to have your left arm amputated wouldn't you have gotten a second opinion. And if a mechanic had told you your car needed a new engine wouldn't you have asked a second mechanic if the engine was bad?

Your problem is accepting this attorney's advice is the same as I see over and over again, you accept it as gospel. Well, welcome to the real world. Because it's not. And as a thinking adult you should know that.

It was your choice to accept this advice without checking your options. It was also your right to get another opinion, to interview other attorneys and to not accept the advice totally.

But instead of fighting these charges you decided to take the easy way out and now come here to cry foul. Too late.

And don't think I'm joining the dark side. I'm a liberal hippy who will be buried on my stomach so the conservatives of the world can kiss my a$$, but there's no excuse for an adult to be led around like a love-struck puppy.

You made the choice to accept the advice and the plea. PERIOD!

yes i agree that it's my own fault for taking the advice as gospel, but i was brought up to believe that doctors, police,and judges help you. i did look around before i chose this lawyer. bottom line we are not made of money and they were the cheapest. however, our first few consultations were great. they told us wonderful things, told us not to worry,blah, blah, blah.iwas also taught to respect my elders and until now, not knowing anything about law, yes, i did believe every word they said. so now i want to fight. it's not to late for us, it's too late for the trauma it caused our kids by us not fighting, but like i said before we didn't know anyone here(justmoved)never been arrested before, we thaught we had to do everything they said. we told them we didn't do it. they said well you can't have your kids back unless you confess. i don't know about you people out there but my kids mean the world to me so i was gonna lick that bitch's boot if she wanted me to.until i started doing some research of my own, now i don't know what to do with the things i found out about our cases. i need another lawyer that's not scared of clark county, that's fierce,that's from another county so they don't know how he works. but anyhow i know we messed up but now that we know alot more than we did, we are going to fix it. and hopefully help someone else out down the road by our accomplishments!

 

[stephenk]

when you and your hubby pled "no contest" was it done in open court before the judge? If yes, did the judge explain what "no contest" meant, did he ask if you understood what you had been charged with and what charges you were pleading to? Did the judge ask if you understood that you would not have a jury trial?

 

[ilovemykids]

when you and your hubby pled "no contest" was it done in open court before the judge? If yes, did the judge explain what "no contest" meant, did he ask if you understood what you had been charged with and what charges you were pleading to? Did the judge ask if you understood that you would not have a jury trial?

yes it was in front of a judge, and no she didn't explain it. i thought i knew from my family court attorney. she said all that, except the jury trial thing. why?we have to go to a different judge now to accept the plea again and get sentenced. that's where i think we can ask for a jury trial.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

My response:

No matter how you slice it, or whatever "spin" you think you want to put on it, a plea of nolo contendere (or "no contest") to a crime punishable as a felony has the same legal effect as a plea of guilty (admissible in a civil action against the defendant pleader but is not conclusive).

Parents who plead "no contest" to a child dependency allegation at a jurisdictional hearing effectively consent to the jurisdictional finding and may not thereafter challenge it by appeal. The no contest plea admits all matters essential to the court's dependency jurisdiction and removes them from further consideration.

IAAL