TTSOML #132: Intimidation By Wenatchee PD

Sorry, I got distracted listening to Eva Cassidy's version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". A nice distraction actually.

Things only got stranger after I was released. The Judge refused to give an order which would allow me back to my grandparents to pick up my belongings, including my legal papers. So I was further prevented from filing my bankruptcy and getting things sorted out.

When I got out, I had nothing with me except the clothes on my back. I looked awful. My face had aged, and was drawn, and I had lost weight even though I was pregnant. I asked the taxi driver to take me to the cabins, and when I showed up, no one could believe how I looked. I looked like shit. I was still pregnant and while I'd been in jail, I tried to maintain calm, and I sang lullabies and songs out loud because I knew by that age, the ears were developed and a fetus can hear things outside of the womb. I knew my baby could hear me singing, so I sang, not just for myself. When the people next door who had wanted to "beat me up" (before I was ever singing) heard me they'd sometimes yell, but since they couldn't touch me, and had been partly responsible for putting me in the hole, I just kept singing. They couldn't touch me and I was going to do what was best for me and my baby, not them. Victoria and I had a couple of conversations between the walls.

I stayed at the cabin until I secured my own apartment in downtown Wenatchee. It was in a house, but there were several totally separate apartments. It wasn't shared housing really, we only shared a walkway and a stairwell. I was in a hispanic part of town, and kept up my Spanish there as much as possible. A couple of guys across the hall from me, kept me and my baby fed. I had my own food of course, but in the last 2 months of my pregnancy, they insisted I share their Mexican meals with them and I was like a sister to them. Ricardo had the place to himself but shared with roommates now and then.

Unfortunately, my landlords were huge snoops. It was a cute little place and although tiny, affordable and had a view. But, the landlords entered my apartment more than once without asking first, and I caught them red-handed once. I REALLY did NOT appreciate that. There was no "emergency" or maintenance thing that excused it. Aside from that, I think they tried to be somewhat fair. What was great though, was how supportive the christian community was when I called this one assistance place, Serve Wenatchee, and told April what they'd been doing. April snapped back at me that if I didn't have anything to hide, why should I worry? Her husband was a police officer too, but he was really nice, whenever I saw him. My argument that it was illegal without notice or without emergency was lost on her. These people in this town, just didn't see a need for rules, basically. They just do what they want, I found. I hope it's not like that in every small town. I like to think Wenatchee is just a big blemish on the bottom of America, but only God knows if there are more zits like that out there.

I guess Pam and her husband had kicked their tenants before me, out, for being drug dealers or using the house as such. My question is, how did Pam KNOW they had drugs? Unless she did a little snooping? So maybe Pam was looking around for the same with me. If so, they can both say honestly, they never found anything, because I didn't use anything.

So anyway, I went to Serve Wenatchee for initial help in gettng my own place. They were sympathetic about my family situation, but after meeing my family once, I think my father was trying to justify they DID "support" me and I suddenly got very little response from Serve Wenatchee. Like I was duping them or something. They also heard a bunch of crap from some medical professionals LATER which made them question me, but at least for a short time, they were very helpful and at one particular moment, I and my son were spared because of their activism and I give Kathy and the other women credit for that. I'll get into it in a moment.

I had my own place, and I went on food stamps. I had zero support from my family and I figured it was "safe" to take state support. Afterall, I'd put in a LOT of money over the years, and volunteer work, and money, and I figured I was more than entitled to it at this time.

My headaches were still very bad. The stress of being falsely charged was very harmful. I had more migraines than was normal and then I had tension headaches too.

The father of the baby wanted to stay with me but I said it was better to go to his family, which needed him. He had older boys and how would they miss him?! It would be awful, and again, I wasn't in love with him at all. I wasn't even really attracted to him, when I was completely sober, sad to say. If I didn't have to kiss him, it was best. However, that said, I truly cared for him and his family and I knew he was respectful as well. I didn't reveal his identify to anyone, not even to Christa, and I mixed it up enough so it was confusing to people.

I went to the PDs office from my house. I expected the whole thing to be dismissed but no, the state really wanted to nail me. This prosecutor told my PD they would only offer a plea deal where I would plead "no contest" and have a 1 year delay where they could imprison me if I "did something again". I said, "I never DID anything to start with. I am innocent, and this is WRONG." So then my PD tells me he's really, really, worried I'm going to end up losing if we go to trial, and that then I would have my baby taken from me.

I already knew it was possible for the "illegal" to happen, because so many times I'd had illegal things happen to ME and everyone got away with it. So it was very "possible" for me to end up in jail, even as an innocent person. I had seen the system work against me, even when I did everything right and was honest, and did my best.

I asked for help with a lawyer, and my family, my parents especially, pressured me to take a plea bargain. I told them there was no way, that it would end up ON MY RECORD and then I would be considered a criminal and there was no going back after that. My own parents knew I was innocent and were telling me to just take the deal. I thought about it and had excruciating migraines over it, and was sick and couldn't sleep, and had a panic attack or two, but one thing I KNEW. I AM INNOCENT. Even if I went to jail, I was NOT going to LIE and admit to something I did NOT do. Even if I had to go to jail despite my honesty. I was worried though, because from what I'd seen, this could happen.

So I started thinking about my own defense. I had counseling records where I had gone to someone after my uncle assaulted me. It was so disturbing to me, I told her about it and it was documented. This happened before he told police I was mentally ill and claimed I'd been the problem. So I could prove my uncle had a motive to lie, because it was also documented how my grandfather threatened me not to go to police about Loren. So there was that. As for Granny, her own doctor, Dr. Freed, told me she was in the beginning stages of Alzheimers, a year before her really dramatic swings. I also knew Rivercom had audio recording of me and my Grandmother where she admitted, to police, that she had "hit" me. Everyone in the Baird family denied Granny was physically violent, but she admitted this herself, over the phone to police once and I knew where the copy was to be found. At the Rivercom station, and it wasn't old (I got a copy of it later).

I also had people who would vouch for me, as character witnesses. So I told my PD, hey, get the records from counseling and Rivercom. I knew they couldn't win. Besides which, the only people trying to press charges were the POLICE. My family refused to make any statement to the police and never had. The only "statement" Judge Warren ever had, was the police statement. Which wasn't enough to jail me with in the first place, but he did it anyway. There were no witnesses besides. But most importantly, I knew I had evidence of my own which would clear me.

For some reason, my PD didn't want to obtain this evidence. And instead of being happy about it, he muttered, in my presence, over the phone to the Prosecuting Attorney, a reminder that I had "counseling records" and other stuff. It was like the two of them were working together and were in on it together.

At the next hearing, my PD got up and walked out of the courtroom. His BOSS, the head of Wenatchee's PD department (who is still the head) walked over to me and sat next to me. He started to tell me if I didn't take the plea deal, he would have to take my case to trial the very next day, and I would probably lose. I looked at him, incredulous. I said, "No, you're not! I have the right to a trial, and if you're not prepared, and you're not, you need to ask for a continuance. You haven't obtained even ONE character witness for me and I have Rivercom and counseling records as well." I didn't trust him to speak for ME when the Judge Nakita called my name, so I stood up when she did, and said, "Your Honor, my public defender is telling me to take a plea deal or go to trial tomorrow, and we do not have witnesses and he hasn't obtained my evidence or anything." So Nakita gave an extension. It was during the extension, they gave me a call and said the Prosecuting Attorney's office was dismissing their own case.

Why? because they didn't have any evidence, no witnesses, and not ONE statement. Not only THAT, they KNEW I was the one with evidence. So it was dismissed but I think it still needs to be expunged so the charge doesn't show, because it was false to begin with.

But these guys, my "public defenders" were deliberately trying to tie me to a crime I didn't commit. My OWN PDs. They were working with the Prosecuting Attorney all along. If I had taken the plea deal, I would have a criminal record.

Even though I do NOT, Wenatchee CPS STILL tried to tie me to this charge, on the record, and in documents to Canada and to the court, claiming I was charged with "Assault" to make it sound like I was of a violent nature and therefore a possible danger to my son. They are not supposed to use things that are false or thrown out, but Wenatchee CPS did, for their own means, and it has always been a bunch of lies from them too.

I told my PD about Judge Warren not filing my kites and he said, "No, he can't do that. That would be illegal. They have to file the kites." I told him, "Yeah. I know. But he didn't. AND when I got out of jail and still tried to file them, he told his clerks to refuse and put a note in the computer until I asked for a copy of that note and then it just "disappeared"." My PDs response seemed to be shock and then he said, "Well it's not just YOU. That kind of thing happens to everyone, all the time." I stopped and looked at him and said, "If you know this is happening all the time, why are you not reporting this?" He looked shocked.

As if I'd be pacified by "It's not just you". First of all, it WAS just me. Judge Warren was on a mission against me, and he got some of his orders from the Abbey lawyers in Oregon. Secondly, if it wasn't just me, and it was so "illegal" then why didn't the PDs do anything about it? They have a moral and ethical obligation to report things like that.

The charges were dropped for "lack of evidence". I don't know if that's good enough. They should have been held accountable for false arrest and for putting me in jail for that long when they didn't even have enough documents to hold me in the first place, even for a night.

I was railroaded, and it was only THEIR fear, that I might obtain my own records and bring them before a jury, that caused them to think twice. If I had not had the right to a jury, I would have been screwed.

I saved myself, once again.

No one in my family saved me. Not one of my friends saved me. No one from church saved me. My public defender would have sent me to hell in a handbasket.

I had to save myself. And did.

(And people wonder why I have "trust" issues

What this made me realize though, is that a lot of innocent people in Wenatchee, are probably going to jail, if I wasn't just a target, and I actually think both are true: that innocent people get the shaft in Wenatchee AND that I really was being targeted (and still am). I also saw how many people are intimidated into taking plea deals for political reasons and/or because the lawyers are lazy.

I saw Judge Warren get away with a LOT. And when I went to the Wenatchee FBI guy, Wes, about it, he just dismissed it, saying, "Well, he's going to be retiring this summer anyway." Some oversight. The FBI is the branch that's supposed to monitor and hold Judges accountable for violations of public trust and misconduct. Wes also told me it hadn't just been Rick Baken that "took down the mob" in Las Vegas. Wes told me he knew Rick and he'd been there too, on the same assignment. I sort of wondered why he felt he had to tell me this.

I also made a very, very, difficult decision, on my own, against everyone's advice, because I knew what the truth was, and I believed in myself. I was going to fight for myself and the truth even if no one else was. I was willing to go to jail for the truth, before taking a plea deal. Which I don't judge anyone over, if they take the plea deal. But I know how people get set up, which is why I began to think the system is a mess and it needs a lot of people like me to fix it.

After what I've been through though, and after what came next, how can I say I'm even interested anymore? I care about what happens to other people. Not just myself. But I now am in the mode of exposing the corruption for everyone else's sake and then getting the hell out for not just my sake, but my son's sake too.