why didn't steve downs get custody

But why was the judge in family court hopping over to criminal court? It does not contradict what I said, but what they said. Now Diane Downs did not say any of this, but told a hard to believe story, and then changed it from one to two masked guys, etc. Our legal system is not perfect. Barry Sheck and bis crew of investigators should get involved. In 1992 I became involved in this work following my interest and research into a notorious murder trial that was held in Oregon many years ago. Belli filed a motion for a 2-week extension to familiarize himself with the case because he had to be in Italy, and declared Diane innocent in a press conference, but Foote denied the motion and declared you have an attorney, use him.. If you had, you would clearly know that I do not claim her guilt or innocence. In fact, what investigator Tracy had written in his notes is that the heart monitor jumped because of excitement or intense fear. She goes on to say that she has deep regret and mourns the loss and death of her children. She was the prosecutions only hope. Comments about the title of the website, the blogger, the bias, details like the word bipolar and when it was used when cyclothymic disorder was diagnosed by the person who treated the subject and there is an affidavit posted. Up. She has been denied parole 2x and is up again in 2020. Why arent you debating the faulty ballistics, and the fact that the gun they affirmed was used in the commission of the crime was not the right one? You cant possibly shake off all the gun powder residue and avoid all the blood. As a married man, the ball was in his court and he decided togo forit. The powers that be knew they had nothing on Diane so Christie became their sacrificial lamb: opinion, not fact (witness statement the gentleman who was behind her for at least 10 minutes). Diane, 18, had run away from home to do so. If the police department had done their job properly, I would not have written this blog, no matter the outcome. It wasnt until Prosecutor Hugi said Dr. Jamison had labeled Diane a deviant sociopath that Mr. It is said that their union was loveless and that Steve was a player who was also quite irresponsible and immature from time to time. In 1984, Diane was convicted of the death and injuries of her children, and she was sentenced to life in prison. This is basically the book best kept secrets in condensed form full of outlandish theories. (Appendix 3). As far as her innocence goes and the possibility of being paroled if she admitted her crime, Diane strongly maintains her innocence. Ann Rule did not leave a great legacy as far as honest reporting goes, and she is not the only one to have commercialized a criminal case for personal gain. I tried to contact you by email but my email wouldnt acknowledge you email address. No excuse there. It was flawed. Unfortunately, Danny Downs was permanently paralyzed from the waist down because of a bullet injury in his back. Now in hindsight, seeing footage on youtube, especially the interview she did with the reporter Anne Jagger, the things she says and facial expression is exactly described in the bookhad to find the section in the book, but on that note, Anne rule did site that interview correctly. Five doctors have observed and documented this phenomenon. http://www.salem-news.com/articles/july152013/midnight-med-tb-2.php I have researched the case and pointed out discrepancies and the fact that it was not the slam dunk that they were portraying. The details about the gun missing, the daughters testimony and the fact that she had no blood or gun residues are facts. I watched and worried through her escapeto find her childrens real attackerthat bushy haired stranger . Because she was failing quite miserably at remaining pure and chaste, she was expelled after only a year, and thus, she returned to her parents home in Arizona. She followed all the correct Parole Boardprocedures for two years with no hearing. Right after the shooting, little Danny would ask the nurses, , Even Ann Rule in her book, keeps mentioning that, Every time, she said she did not know, they told her to think again and made suggestions. What about the judge stopping a defendant from getting a new attorney? Gun shot residue is not always present. Click here to read the complaint. Dianes family could give you countless examples of the inaccuracies they found in her book. I say these things if I were on the jury. The absence of the gun or gun powder residues on Diane is fact. The children should have been receiving therapy throughout. Because she seemed "aloof". Crime is entertainment and big money so this case will continue to be on the forefront and the same assumptions will be repeated over and over again. I know several people who know or knew both of the surviving children as well as Diane. Farrah had trouble with the law because of a passionate love affair with a movie director. If it was not such a high profile case, Diane Downs would have been paroled a long time ago: speculative, Ill stop there. Or that the sketch did not resemble the suspect enough? We make them president. Another significant development about the children is that Danny is great with computers but is still paralyzed from the bullet that hit his back but is leading a regular life. After Diane was convicted, the two living children were adopted by the prosecutor in the case and his wife, and it was Christie who ultimately pointed to her mother being responsible for the shooting. During Dianes examination at trial, Fred Hugi said in front of the jury, in the form of a question, that she had been diagnosed as a , Anne Rule made a big deal of a brass unicorn engraved with the childrens names that Diane had purchased. If there is one thing Diane knew about her lover, is that he was fickle and did not like trouble of any kind. He failed. It was omnipresent in the courtroom as well as the Duran Duran song Hungry like the Wolf that supposedly was playing when the children were shot in the car. The fact that Dianes injury was way more serious than they tried to pretend? When they assess the conduct of an inmate, what counts is mostly how she behaves inside through the years and if she shows violent tendencies. The weird behavior (laughing and joking in the shooting reenactment), bullets found at her home and the constant changing of her story only is icing on her guilty cake. One of the jurors finally declared we started as a group and finished as a group., He also said we dont want to put pressure on the group, we dont want to end up bickering. According to The Cinemaholic, Steve was found to not be a good fit to care for his kids who would need specialized care and had been through a very traumatic event. I remember when it was in the news. They went after Diane at trial for tapping her foot when they played Hungry like the wolf. If it doesnt matter to you, it should. The trouble reportedly took place a day earlier when Sean Preston allegedly was behind a locked bedroom door and Jamie broke down the door to get in and then "violently shook" the child, The. Even if I have no doubt that Hugi loved the kids, we have to wonder why he adopted them two years later just when little Christie started saying she had no clue who shot them. I never found a photo of James C. Jagger online. If she was the shooter, it had to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Be the first to get hottest news from our Editor-in-Chief, Check your email and confirm your subscription. And what happened to her little daughter is beyond unethical. lol. Her mom is still alive and would love to have contact but respect that they wont. I watched the paroles hearing in 08, was lucky to find it, it was streamed live at the timemy sister, who is a whiz with computers, found it for me. Q. I like your approach. Probably a 911 button. Click 'See First' under 'Follow' Tab to see Tuko.co.ke news on your FB Feed. But without proof, Diane couldnt implicate Steve Downs any more than she could shoot him as he violated a restraining order threatening to beat her AGAIN. Forensics or lack thereof and blood splatter? Nevertheless, when Diane came back to Arizona, the pair united, and soon, on November 13, 1973, to be exact, the couple tied the knot. Go to the hate groups for that. Phenobarbital was administered alongside the Dilantin. On her way to the hospital,she was followed by someone who said she was going slow, but Diane said she was driving fairly fast. Mr. Even on a worldwide scale, the age of accountability is considered to be twelve years old. It is also very is to clean. ..a little over year before the shooting had a surrogate babypregnancy and giving the baby awayumits donnoits the gal already had a fragile mentality.may not have been the best idea. The reason Im harsh is because Ive detected that youve paid for this site and therefore cant be wrong. It is possible that he still resides in Arizona, but exactly where he is or what he does, we dont know. And the motive? The underlying basis of this article. While that makes her technically eligible for parole at some point (in her case 2009) it does not actually mean she has an end date or a release date. The strong, emotive language. They said she was going slow but the time at which she arrived seems to indicate otherwise. They were in their care during the time Diane worked when she moved to Oregon. I hope they have. Judges are subject to certain ethical standards and have a duty to be impartial. After each of the kids was shot multiple times on that fateful day in 1983, Steve cooperated with the police completely. They should have stayed out of it instead of contributing to her revictimization. she flat out says, they are saying Duran Duran made her shoot her kids!..Im like HUHOkay now this is my favorite groupstill is at 44yrs old.I had to investigate this. Nuts maybe, but not threatening. You dont get any kind of advancement or rehabilitation in prison. Nobody knows but her. Detective Welch reminded Diane of the assault her sister witnessed in February 1983, in which steve Downs broke Dianes tailbone (Appendix 74, page 1025). If you read the blog, you will see many examples of media hype and character assassination. http://sputniknews.com/us/20150620/1023613662.html#ixzz3djEXlSAC // The Prison State of America Dec 28, 2014 Chris Hedges, http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_prison_state_of_america_20141228 The gun presented at trial being the wrong one is a fact. After graduation, Steven joined the Navy and Diane was sent to Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College where she failed miserably at remaining pure and chaste, not unlike most girls of her generation who rejected their strict religious upbringing. They made her out to be a monster, but in Beckys case, it becomes redeemable. If you had commented on one of the elements contained in the blog, it might have been enlightening. She entertained the idea of opening a surrogacy agency but the project never really took off. It could be argued that he developed a relationship with the children and genuinely wanted them to join his family. Did u learn nothing?? The Lifetime channel constantly makes movies based loosely on the truth; this approach is an effective weapon aimed at swaying public opinion about high-profile cases. Additionally, homicide or assault victims shot by someone else can test positive for GSR. I know people who know or knew people is not a valid argument. How.. they attacked him. Oh my. What disease did Ray Liotta have, and what caused his death? One of the important pieces of evidence was the absence of all but a trace of gunshot residue. In fact, if someone was Hungry like the Wolf in this courtroom, it was a certain crime author who could already smell and taste the fortune coming her way after the publication of this juicy story. Now if the shooter was this James Haynes guy, someone who apparently Diane Downs knew from buying drugs, then that would explain why she stopped in the middle of that road. Foote then handled the juvenile docket and first encountered Downs when he ordered her two surviving children into state protective custody. And he grew up there. During his travels, he visited prisons and spoke against this type of barbarism because his father was imprisoned for a debt of 40 pounds and 10 shillings when he was twelve years. Her ex-husband has been of great interest, considering his absence from the media despite the case getting significant attention. (Yes in the 1980s a ten yr like myself was not as mature as say todays 10 yr olds. Right after the shooting, little Danny would ask the nurses, Why did the mean man shoot me? and it would be written down in the daily notes. I think you may be right that she is likely still locked up due to her diagnoses of antisocial, histrionic and narcissistic, but again, no one would care and this crappy diagnosis wouldnt have been bought and paid for if not the high profile nature of the case. It is called a conflict of interest. I do not care if the bushy haired stranger made no sense or if they could not explain the why of the tragedy, I do not care if she was madly in love with a guy because all that counts is proof and evidence in a court of law, and there was definitely a reasonable doubt. I still remember my mother picking up the paper and seeing the headline. It was not unlike brainwashing. They played the tape in the courtroom, and the fact that Diane did not break down but tapped her foot to the music, was supposed to be another proof of her guilt. Lise lasalle you mention THIS When she (Diane) resisted, he shot her kids and struggled with her. No, Im not that gullible, Okay, I just read that she faked throwing her keys. But the birth of little Danny did not make this bad boy change his stripes; he remained a cad and a destabilizing force in their lives. There is also a critical shortage of Foster Carers internationally, so that the Hugis offered to take the children in could be viewed as altruistic. The guy should have walked away from the case or from adopting them. U seem very one sided on every case Ann Rule has ever written just as u claim she did to u. N her parents didnt want custody of the children just like the father. Yes, I had to go and sign the lease, yes, sir. Late Tom Billings had been the first who openly questioned Diane Downs guilt. The judge instructed them to continue on to force a verdict. Christie could not speak but after some rehab, she said repeatedly that she did not know who shot them. But in my opinion, it shows how Diane was disturbed and could also have found a better path in life if given the chance and the right support. You seem to forget that even a few jurors started by voting not guilty on some of the charges. I guess he did not want too many people to know about the improprieties that happened in his courtroom: I guess? Christie is a married woman and gave birth in 2005. If Hugi got attached to the children, why did he wait 2 years when little Christie was starting to say she had no clue who shot them? I am pointing them out. That towel should have been soaked in their blood not hers. This is also what the state did to her. I like the way you keep an open mind about Diane herself and what she may or may not have been going through mentally. No forensic evidence pointing to her, just conjecture based on how mothers should act. It did not matter that they had no evidence; they did not like her attitude and she was going to pay for it: opinion, not fact Id have more influence arguing for better relationships with Mexico at a Donald Trump rally in Mexico. Diane was diagnosed as being bipolar and subsequently diagnosed by a psychiatrist before sentencing. Diane Downs was convicted because she didn't appear "sorry enough" during her TV appearances. In fact, Knick admits Diane took that gold chain as collateral against a $500 LOAN she made to him. They would have welcomed them with open arms. Two of the kids survived the shooting with life altering injuries, and one of the children died. A trial should be based on facts and solid direct or circumstantial evidence. It did not matter that they had no evidence; they did not like her attitude and she was going to pay for it. So she warns her to stay away. I look forward to reading your other blogs. But you dont mention that she again has changed her story.. I feel sorry for Diane too. In fact, Diane had consulted a psychologist after the tragedy and after months of consultation, she was never diagnosed as a sociopath. Nothing came from Diane herself. A. I told Diane before, but I certainly didnt tell her to Their life without parole sentences are a dime a dozen and so randomly used that it beats any notion of justice for all. Clickhere to read about faulty ballistics. In Oregon, in 1983, she shot her 3 children, 1 daughter died. So, why didn't Steve Downs get custody? It was the story of two troubled young souls trying to survive without a safety net. Her quest for love had landed her into an unstable and loveless marriage. She unwillingly followed the cops in spite of being in pain and not wanting to leave the premises. She took care of herself not her children. The courts were divided in the 80s, family court, traffic court, criminal court, juvenile court I dont believe they ran out of judges to preside over them all. Since his ex wife was sentenced to life in prison, he has not reappeared in public life nor has he given any television interviews about his family. A number of them were clearly . Is Diane really a threat anymore? ..maybe it was lack of Internet and cellies *shrug)..years later, my Co worker at burger King (I was 16)told me about the small sacrifices movie she watched the night before. Children under the age of twelve may cognitively grasp the concept of truth and lie, but lack the conscience which compels people to apply the concept to their lives, or the strength to maintain the truth when adults coerce her to lie. It seems that the Downs were totally ignored. He may still reside in Arizona, but there is no proof of the same. I was always really bothered by that. During a trial, we have to go with evidence only. Hello. According to the State, ballistics evidence proved that Diane Downs was guilty. That is pure bullshit. In reply to Nick. And, when she got assigned to the mail routes in the city of Cottage Grove, Oregon, as a part of her job with the U.S. postal service, he didnt have any qualms with her taking the children. Brewer freely declared that Diane Downs would never have been convicted except that he believed the lie Jim Jagger permitted Fred Hugi to enter into the record. Of course, her mental health has deteriorated. And she should be allowed parole! After graduating high school, Steve went on to join the Navy, and Diane, having a strict religious background, was sent to the Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College. Would you seriously be confident enough to present your findings you mention in your article to Diane Downs children? Yes, shes as guilty as Simpson. 0. They were in foster care for two years before the prosecutor adopted them. I am all for reviewing facts and getting a decision overturned in cases of corrupt decisions, and many people are on your side and find these cases totally worth their time. McPherron: And you had no contact with her . #corrupt. Thats the point. Ann Rule promotes her books as true crime stories so to this day, viewers believe that the book and the movie titled Small Sacrificesdocument the true story of the Diane Downs case; in fact, it is a mix bag of truth, falsehoods, interpretation and plain fiction. (that one is more of a question). Mostly, because it was poorly investigated and they focused on Diane solely the minute they met her. It was pretty apparent during the course of this saga that the media and the state were willing to give a free pass to anyone willing to badmouth Diane. He could then have initiated the licensing process to foster and then adopt the children. Most people described Dianes injury as minor or superficial but in reality, it was a very serious injury. You simply are a rude individual looking for a reaction. They should have had ongoing contact and been placed with family as soon as they were out of the hospital and they never should have been interviewed without their own attorney (Guardian ad Litem) present. Her children were obviously more severely injuredbecause being captive in the car while a shooter aimed at them gave them less of a chance to wiggle out of the situation than an adult outside the car. From the time Diane was a teenager, when a physician ordered visterol in an emergency room situation, it has been documented again and again that sedatives ingested while Diane is in pain, provoke a chemically induced hysteria in her. After six weeks in Oregon where the children were happily spending time with their grandparents while Diane worked her postal route, the incident happened on a dark road that led to Diane being accused of murder and attempted murder. It is my hope that Leslie Van Houten and Diane Downs are never paroled. Whats next? Conflict of interest on steroids!! 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