Jobo1163’s Weblog

Open Letter to all North Carolina Representatives, Politicians, Judges, Attorneys

Special attention North Carolina Governor Mike Easley, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, Guilford County Chief Justice Judge Joe Turner,

Guilford County Judge Teresa Vincent, Attorney Kathryn Lindley (Lindley Law Firm)

Attorney T. Keith Black (Forman, Rossabi, and Black)

Attorney Cindy Hatfield (Hatfield and Hatfield)

 Dept. of Health an d Human Services-Civil Rights Division-Atlanta Georgia

North Carolina Watchdog

North Carolina Judicial Standards Committee

North Carolina Law Board

 

I have written a few blogs, articles, and memos, referenced below. I suppose some folks think me obsessed, overly emotional, irrational.

I may be.

 

Why am I so upset, so outraged, so depressed, so stunned, astonished and demanding that someone hear this and pay attention?

Because it is wrong. It’s just wrong.

The content of this blog is my perspective, as Judge Fox said-”there are other ways to express your First Ammendment right.” This is mine.

 

I believed in you people. I trusted each and every one of you to do the job you took the oath to do. I suppose you could call me gullible, simple, maybe even naïve. But I believed in you.

 

My parents used to say I looked at the world and life through rose-colored glasses. I wore an almost permanent smile and tried to be the beacon for God that we all are supposed to be.I didn’t know about a lot of bad things, partly because I

didn’t want to know, I suppose, but mostly because those things did not penetrate my world. There was not room in my world for those things.

My world consisted of hard work and family. Trying to keep us above water during

recessions and hard time. Trying to instill virtue, honor and integrity into the hearts and minds of those that God delegated me responsible for.

Many a time I have seen children not being cared for properly, their parents addicted to substances that kept them from being the parents they should be.  Often I would wonder, where is their extended family? WHERE ARE THEIR GRANDPARENTS?

 

Sometimes I would chance to meet some of these people I wondered about. I would ask them why they were not involved. The answer was always the same.. They did not want to become “tied up in that system” the court system, social services, etc..

That saddened me, it angered me, and I would think “What a Cop-out.”  I was wrong.

To all of you who I thought were copping out on your families, I am sorry.  One has to be made of steel to get “tied up that system” and one must have a never-ending money source.   

Tracy King with the Guilford County Child protective Services told me “ never lose focus, your primary objective is to reunite this family” We were almost there with a few bumps in the road, til J and M P came into our lives. They destroyed everything I had built. I’m still struggling with the why. They destroyed another human being emotionally to attain their end and the Guilford County Court stood behind them. Maybe in the courtroom it wasn’t that clear. But Attorney Kathryn Lindley knew. Attorney Kathryn Lindley knew the whole story.

So why didn’t she report it correctly? Creative writing is not her strong point either.

To destroy another human being emotionally so that you can have her children, should be a crime somewhere next to murder. Aiding and abetting in that destruction by a public servant should be even worse. How does a Guardian Ad Litem think she is “helping children by helping to destroy their mother?”

Even upon hearing the stories, the tales of woe..I just didn’t believe it. Our government officials corrupt? All of them? Running our lives and our communities and our worlds solely based on what would put the most money in their own pockets?

 

NO! These government people were special people that God alone had appointed to look after the best interests of the public. They would not sink so low.

I’m sure there are a few good ones out there, you must be outnumbered. Please don’t give up , don’t sucuumb to keep your job.

 

Even when Deputy Attorney General Gerald Robbins hurled at me what I deemed to be a horrible threat regarding my grandchildren, I shook it off. .I  trusted him even as he stood there before me tearing apart my testimony and he had to know he was wrong..

When Judge Sammie Chess, (I believe he would be a great leader), when Judge Chess told Deputy Attorney General Gerald Robbins that I was right and he knew it..when he said The State of North Carolina Has A Conscience, I just knew everything would be OK and fixed right away. Gullible me.

Even when Attorney Cindy Hatfield told me straight up I had been railroaded before court. I tried to get her to explain that, she eluded the explanation. I didn’t believe her anyway. I went to court somewhat disillusioned, head spinning, mind reeling. but deep down I believed in our justice system, Judge Joe Turner would see how hard I worked, he would be able to tell I was totally honest and truthful…he would know..

And who could have possibly railroaded me except Deputy Attorney General Gerald Robbins. And come on girl that was just absurd. He was an honorable, trustworthy government official appointed to look after my very own interests, me being one of the public and all. Gullible me.

 

I believed judges had exhibited some kind of special insight and perception in order to be a judge and those things they said crushed me. I believed they had to have exhibited some extraordinary ability of sorting the facts from fiction during testimony.

I believed State Supreme Court Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake had seen something special in Judge Joe Turner or she would not have appointed him, (now I wonder about her.)

 

When Attorney T. Keith Black was questioning me in what I considered to be an unnecessarily harsh and intimidating manner, I glanced sideways at Judge Joe Turner, who sat there with his glasses perched on his nose, looking over them in such a manner, that  made him look quite distinguished. I was comforted with the thought; he’s not going to fall for that. He can tell the good from the bad. Boy was I ever wrong.

 At the end of the trial, as Judge Joe Turner praised me for 12 years of rearing grandchildren, I knew I had been right about him, then suddenly he said “BUT” and then the You Women Just Can’t”… my head started reeling…. I could not focus. I was waiting for Attorney Cindy Hatfield to interject and she did nothing. except whisper to me, “Well he’s never seen you on a bulldozer” I thought I was going to pass out then and there.   

Judge Joe Turner also said we were the most dysfunctional group that had ever been in his courtroom. Wow! That’s heavy. I work 2 jobs for 20 years, raise three children that aren’t mine and Judge Joe Turner calls me the most dysfunctional ever to grace his courtroom. That hurt, that hurt a lot. Do these judges not have the sense to know what kind of damage they inflict on people with those cruel terminologies?

 

Obviously Judge Joe Turner has just massively misunderstood everything. Later at the visitation hearing I was able to make him aware that the man he had just awarded custody to James Monroe Peele) Jimmy Peele) was an absentee father, that he had ran from his own child support for years. That F S, one child’s father, who was testifying against me, was $8000 in arrears on his child support. That was the only reason F S Sr. would come to court I felt sure, if he had found a way to get out of that dreaded child support. $59 a week will buy a lot of beer and tattoos.

Judge Joe Turner did realize all these things at the hearing to determine what visitation I would now be allowed with these children I had looked after for 12 years. He was very visibly upset and he gave me much visitation. I kept waiting for him to do the right thing, say he had been misled and reverse his decision. Gullible me.

 For weeks after, I watched my mail for the letter from Judge Joe Turner saying he had made a mistake, “Go Get Your Babies, Ms. Logan” Gullible me.  I still believed Judge Joe Turner had made a horrible mistake and he would now correct it.

 

Things went from bad to worse. I heard that J P’s wife M P was quite the alcoholic. I heard that, J P assaulted M P in their presence, cursed them daily, took the Lord’s name in vain everyday.

Apparently M P did not like little B. I heard, M P inflicted unreasonable punishments on poor little B everyday. A child already traumatized by the huge mistake Judge Joe Turner made in stripping him from his family for all the wrong reasons, now tormented and tortured by the alcoholic wife of his legal custodian J P

 

Somehow the Judge had to be made aware of the suffering these children were enduring. It’s hard to get everything said in a courtroom. Attorney Steve Crihfield suggested that psychological evaluation for everyone would tell the truth. Would I be willing to pay the costs, about $2400? Yes, I would. I was sure an evaluation would show J P and M P to be psychopaths. I waited a couple of months, the order never came.

Attorney Steve Crihfield then suggested that a Guardian Ad Litem for the children

was the answer. Weeks went by, paperwork flying, but no help for the children. 

 

   

Finally, I believed God had answered our pleas. Attorney Kathryn Lindley was appointed Guardian Ad Litem for the two boys by Judge Linda Falls.

 Now I admired Judge Linda Falls. She had unseated one judge who she accused of settling cases in his chambers rather than in the courtroom. Judge Linda Falls must be the feisty one and for the public, to have revealed that. I was disappointed that she had appointed the Guardian Ad Litem for only two of the children and ignored that these boys had a sister, but Attorney Steve Crihfield said that’s just the way it was.

It really concerned me that opposing counsel Attorney T. Keith Black had written the order and he had written it that way. Why was opposing counsel writing the order for my motion.? I didn’t think it worked that way. But at least now, the boys could be heard.

 

  

I’m not sure what the boys told Attorney Kathryn Lindley, but things got real hairy really fast. 

Another emergengy order was entered against me costing me my summer weeks with the children.

When my husband, who is a former Deputy U.S. Marshall, visited Attorney Kathryn Lindley, he came home and told me to hang it up, it was a done deal and she was supporting J and M no matter what she heard. I did not believe him. She is a licensed attorney, she had to be honest, I was paying her $150 an hour to listen to everyone.  Gullible me.

When I read Attorney Kathryn Lindley’s GAL report, I slumped against the wall. I dropped on my knees on the floor. Had she spoken the truth and judged me this way with truthful content in the report, I maybe could have handled that. But here was a court document so full of untruths, misconceptions, malicious twistings, and straight up lies,

produced and signed by a public servant Attorney Kathryn Lindley. I was absolutely floored. I may have had my first mild heart attack right then.

 

  

I believed in Judge Teresa Vincent , I believed it when I read how she had overcome the obstacles, with hard work and diligence. I believed Judge Teresa Vincent’s epilogue to the students of A&T University, Greensboro North Carolina had merit and would be a valuable inspiration. I might should not put this in writing, but what the heck. I also believed that this black lady’s natural instinct for children would be appalled at what these boys were being subjected under the roof of M and J P

You know, black women just seem to have this fierce kind of protection for children, that is not limited to their own, not limited to just black children, but wraps it arms around all children and says “you’ll have to go threw me, man, if you wanna hurt this baby.” I’ve seen it so many times. I’ve felt it as a child.  Judge Teresa Vincent must have lost this instinct in her zeal to remain on that bench.     

In court when the other parties testified, Judge Teresa Vincent made no effort to hide her astonishment at the brazen way they lied under oath on the witness stand. The expressions on Judge Teresa Vincent’s face would put Judge Judy and Judge Mathis to shame at attempts to be funny. In another setting Judge Teresa Vincent’s reaction to this testimony would have been very comical. I wish I had a video of it. Maybe there is one somewhere? Anybody know how to get it?

 

  

When B L’s (dad # 2) testimony did not match what he was reported to have said by Guardian Ad Litem, Attorney Kathryn Lindley, Judge Teresa Vincent had to know somebody was lying.. When he testified that he did not want his son, she had to know.

 I was told later by another attorney that Judge Teresa Vincent was saddened by the fact that these men did not want their sons.

Why didn’t she give them back to me? Why didn’t she send these babies home? She should have known by the end of their testimony that both fathers had been paid off, relieved of their child support, in exchange for their presence in that courtroom. Judge Teresa Vincent should have known that these men had “sold their sons”, that J P had “bought their sons” She must have known because at the end, Judge Teresa Vincent suggested Superior Court was the place for this case. Why did Judge Teresa Vincent not send the case to Superior Court if she knew all these crimes had been committed?

At the end I actually believed a little bit in Attorney T. Keith Black.

When Attorney T. Keith Black began his closing, he said, “This is one of those cases that wakes you up in the night, I know it has me. It’s your call, your honor, it’s your call.”  I teared up, he knew his clients had pulled a fast one even on him, I was thinking. Then like a demon possessed he whirled around and starting attacking me as I had come to expect from him. I reckon because it occurred to him that his client was broke and somehow he had to make me pay his fees as well as my own, and if he lost this case his client surely would not pay him. How could he account to Forman, Rossabi, and Black for all those lost billable hours? The children be damned, he had to be paid. I suppose.

.

 

Judge Teresa Vincent did not render her verdict that day, she did not do it publicly in the courtroom, as one would expect at all. She ordered J and M P to stop the abusive behavior; she told them that one of them should try to remain sober in case the house catches on fire.

 

  

Judge Teresa Vincent told me that even though I was ordered by the court to go to the Children of Divorce Class and even though they tell you to answer the children’s questions as openly and honestly as possible, that that did not mean you could do it and violate a court order.

Talk about contradicting analogies, good grief, what is a person to do?

And last but most assuredly not least, Judge Teresa Vincent ripped my heart from my chest as she finished  off this emotionally challenged Mom’s already fragile mind. With 7 simple words ” You will never have your children again.”

Good Lord! What was Judge Teresa Vincent thinking as those killer words left her lips? She may has well have put a gun to the Mom’s head and pulled the trigger, for assuredly, she finished her off with that statement.  I believe Judge Teresa Vincent finished the destruction of this human being that her own father started, that Attorney Kathryn Lindley endorsed.

Again, do these judges not have the sense to know what kind of emotional damage they inflict on the people in their courts with these cruel unnecessary damaging statements?

I did not need you, Judge Turner or Judge Vincent to avenge me for Mom’s role in this. When asked, “how do you live with that kind of betrayal?” I answer, “right now it is not about me.”, it’s about three children . Right now it’s about ensuring that they have a relationship with their Mom. I am not Gullible on Mom’s behalf. I am patient for the children’s sake.

A lesson in Parental Alienation Syndrome. Quite often, when Parental Alienation is absent, the absentee parent is idolized by the child. The absentee parent is placed on a pedestal in the child’s mind, along with an incessant desire to have a relationship with that parent. Some children will go to any lengths to secure that relationship, including turning on the parent that  was there for them and blaming them for the lost parent.  When securing that relationship also brings with it a promise to regain full custody of your children, well, that’s just too irresistible to pass up. Most parents that do not have custody of their children think they were good parents and this should not have happened to begin with.  The parental bond  and any loyalty to their own parent can be severed in a second if you really believe you are fighting for your children.

While I don’t condone it, I understand it. How do you live with kind of betrayal? You just do, because it’s not about you, it’s about the children.

 

Judge Teresa Vincent did not extend the common courtesy of telling me face to face that I had to pay Attorney T. Keith Black and Attorney Kathryn Lindley an additional nearly $3000, She did not have the courage to face me and tell me exactly HOW I came to court with “unclean hands” or HOW I undermined the court. I think I have figured out what “establishing factors to justify a change means”  I had an attorney, I paid $14,000. How did I do all this wrong stuff? I do not put her name in this blog, because a small part of me still hopes that she was straight up and did not sucuum.

My husband the former Deputy U.S. Marshall said that was one Severe Civil Penalty.

When after 2 months the order was finally done and I received my copy of it, the rose-colored glasses came off permanently. I should say they were ripped off, shattered into small splintering fragments, that pierced every fiber of my being. I felt every nerve in my body sever. I felt my heart bursting. My tongue split open and blood actually ran down my throat. Everybody was right, I thought, they are  corrupt and Judge Teresa Vincent was no exception.. The world as I knew it did not exist. There is no hope for my babies. I cracked up. I mean I cracked up.

I managed to drag myself into work each day, some days I spent the whole day in the bathroom praying, some days I’d look at the clock and the day would be done and I had not moved at all.
I could not wait to get out of there and get home and crawl in bed. My chest hurt so much, I’d hold a pillow on it and beg God for just 2 minutes of relief.

I was a bad person. I wrote notes everywhere saying I’m sorry to everybody. I came thru the house saying I’m sorry Mike, I’m sorry T, and I’m sorry J L. I told the boys I was sorry. I told the grandpa and his wife I was I was sorry and ate Thanksgiving dinner with them. I probably said I’m sorry 5000 times.T begged to me get out of bed, and sometimes being the teenage girl she was she wasn’t real gentle about it.

 I felt so guilty, she had lost her brothers. She doesn’t know her dad, and this whole mess completely destroyed what was left of her mother. I felt so guilty all the time but I couldn’t make myself get out of that bed. My husband said, “Joyce, you can’t just lay down and die. I’ve been there and that is not the answer.” I wanted to die. I begged God to let me die so they could collect the insurance and pay all those bills I’d run up.

 I did not sleep for 6 days straight.My sister finally persuaded me to take a sedative. I slept like a log, but then I panicked because I was afraid I would get drug tested at work and on Monday morning I ran out of my office and I ran into the doctor’s office, and for the first time I cried, I blurted out to the doctor that I was a bad a person and I had hurt everybody. I showed her the court order and she was furious. For the first time in my life I went on medication to help me emotionally.  

 The Pastor at church told me it would be Ok, that God had spoken to him and told him “there will be Justice for those children.” At 2am I ran out of the house into the yard and fell on my knees and asked God, was the Justice for the children seeing their grandma, the strength in their life, broken and destroyed. was the justice losing the inheritance Grandma had worked two jobs for 20 years to build for them.I went in the house and told my husband about the $20,000 in credit cards. His eyes opened real wide, he said “that’s exorbitant, you don’t pay that kind of money for a criminal murder trial.” The next day he went the bank and consolidated the credit cards into a second mortgage. I got a job at the gas station down the street and I work just enough to pay off that loan. Thank-You Wanda at Murphy.

I decided to file a complaint with the North Carolina Law Board. While I was still quite stressed, I wrote them a lengthy letter.  I received back pamphlets and instructions telling how to officially file .The instructions themselves  almost stop you in your tracks. But these things were wrong, I knew that. I was sure the North Carolina Law Board would be shocked and dismayed to see what these Guilford County Attorneys were up to. It took me months to complete all the filing, staying up all night typing while working two jobs.

The Judicial Standards Committee for North Carolina was much more difficult to locate.

I was very pleased when their contact info came in the info package from the North Carolina Law Board. I sent them the same letter. I knew the Judicial Standards Committee would be appalled at all I presented, especially that these children were being sexually abused and no one did a thing about it. 

The Judicial Standards Committee responded very quickly telling me they would review my letter. They responded back just as quickly to tell me that there was insufficient

factual basis and they were closing the complaint. As with the North Carolina Law Board, I re-filed officially this time and spent weeks compiling the factual basis they needed. Still they responded back that the complaint did not present sufficient evidence of judicial misconduct that would be the basis for a preliminary investigation.

One by one the responses came from the North Carolina Law Board. “There is insufficient evidence that the attorney violated the Rules of Professional Conduct to the extent that the attorney should be disciplined.”

All I will say is this…someone asked me…did you really expect to get any help from the Judicial System Mafia?”  Gullible me.

I will end with this..It might not be really a short ending.

 

During my struggles, before I cracked up, I tried to ready the Bible all the way thru.

“Where the Word of God abounds, evil cannot abide.”

I used the Audio Bible Online with narration. It was so much more easily understood that way.

I’m afraid though, that I not only questioned God’s actions sometimes, I was scared by the severity of the punishments he rendered. The multitudes he took out with a wave of the hand for disobedience, angered by their grumblings and ingratitude.

Then I recalled how it felt to be disrespected by your children. How easily they can make you turn on a dime. Such a small thing in comparison to this type of disobedience.

I mentioned my musings to someone in the Clergy. He said, “You need a lesson in the sovereign power of God.”  I have asked him never to confess that on me again. I hope I learned from it. I do not want to be taught it again. It is hard lesson, but invaluable.

I have come to realize that God’s big hand is in control of everything.  I can understand how his wrath might be kindled at all the corruption. I personally have only witnessed a fragment of it. I have searched the Internet and apparently it is everywhere. It’s not just my family that this happened to.

I was in the courthouse  on 9-11. A lady was suing me for a bump up in the daycare parking lot where I had taken my three grandchildren after delivering newspapers one morning and on my way to my next job.

I couldn’t swear to it..But I believe Judge Joe Turner was the judge in that case also. I remember the clerk came back in from break and she was crying, everyone was astir in that courtroom. The judge announced what had just transpired and everyone was upset and court was adjourned for the day.

Only this week it occurred to me the similarity in occurrences such as these and the punishments rendered in the Old Testament for disobedience.

When you look in the mirror today and you are appalled at happenings such as these,

and angry children who get out of control and rebellious, ask yourself, did I cause that by my disobedience?

Are you responsible for any or all of this?

When you see your clerk crying, can you assure her that she is not at risk because you have been obedient, or will you warn her that your actions could cause the wrath of the God to come upon her while he is punishing you, just because she is there, and God must deal with the bigger picture and his infinite plan. Lives he created, lives he can take, or allow it.

 

  

You often hear people questioning why God allowed this suffering or that. Why the innocents? Why? Why? Why?

 

Oh say, does that star spangled banner yet wave..oer’ the land of the free and the home of the brave..

 

May God Bless and  keep each and everyone of you, may you read this and drop to your knees, not in a breakdown like I did, but in humble submission and true remorse to God Almighty, Lord and Savior. THE FINAL JUDGE in whose footsteps you plead to follow.