And these men in black perceived this as an act of war, and proceeded to go after them with every legal or illegal means at their disposal. Plus, you do not let a newly appointed judge to criminal cases, preside over a high profile murder case when he has no experience whatsoever and has already prejudged the defendant dangerous to her children. So they did everything in their power to slant the media and the public in their favor. Downs wanted to get rid of the kids because her new boyfriend didn't want . A conviction founded on lies is no conviction at all. Page 50 of Case History He failed. From the very beginning, the DAs office had their ducks in a row because in an unprecedented move, Judge Gregory Foote who had denied access to the children by all blood relatives and given their care over to the State, was promoted from juvenile to senior judge to preside over the trial of Diane Downs. The notes taken daily by the nurses became a point of contention at trial. Tracy, I never said she was in the car. One should also wonder why their biological father who was so eager to bash his ex on the stand was not given custody, and did not stay in contact with his two remaining children. I have simply bothered researching the evidence and in some instances, the lack of it. Diane had spent three days in the hospital ingesting massive doses of Morphine, Demerol, Percodan, and visterol. Caught in the act, Hugi declared that Christie only said that because she was pressed for an answer. The person leaned into the car. I understand that the authorities were afraid to leave the two remaining children under her care if they thought she was guilty, but they could have been released to the grandparents or other blood relatives with supervised visits from their mom considering that she was not charged with any crime. I lived through the media coverage. Whether or not Mrs. Frederickson could have attacheda clinical lab to Dianes not being herself the day the Detectives pressured Diane to accompany them, the fact is Diane was clearly suffering the residual effects of that chemical poison in her system. There was no blood on the front seats so Cheryl was laying down and Christie was asleep laying down and never witnessed anything. You can believe what you like. Why am I not arguing the facts of the trial? I agree that the verdict may have been very different. That was the extent of her investigation of Dianes side. Her son ended up in jail and ONeils children accused him of neglect and bad parenting. Lori, I luv how you ended your comment Lets also remember that this is the US of A and we dont lock people up for being narcissistic, antisocial histrionic individuals. 4. He is in his 70s now and his photo is not on his linkedin or anywhere I could find. Or can have an accomplice. In fact, Knick admits Diane took that gold chain as collateral against a $500 LOAN she made to him. What is known for a fact, is, Prosecutor Fred Hugi took physical custody of Christie and Danny shortly after Christies confessions to her school mates, and he officially adopted them in the summer of 1986. I do not discuss her guilt or innocence because this is not what the blog is about, but I personally hope she is released one day. What a terrible injustice. I would say so. Why was no one in the family given the right to adopt them. She said She did it. That single fact collaborated by a witness, convicts her for me. Maher also didn't specify that two of three authors weren't even from Johns Hopkins University: Jonas Herby, MS, whom the working paper described as a special advisor at Center for Political . You mention that her attorney should have raised objections. Barry Sheck and bis crew of investigators should get involved. The way Christie was coached did not correspond to the reality of the direct evidence. Cathleen was murdered in Feb. 1982 in her home in Brighton. ..it is quite possible if she was tried in todays world, with the evidence they hadquite possible it would of went differently we been living in a society that pretty much demand 100% pure forensic evidence proven. 2. The forensic evidence alone is absolutely weak. There is also a recording where she says that she had no idea who shot them. Imagine knowing that your adoptive dad was responsible for putting your natural mom in the slammer? The question is of course, how can we determine guilt or innocence without a fair trial? The fact that the judge who presided over the child welfare case and the criminal case was the same individual is absolutely a conflict of interest. Foote ruled in favor of the prosecution and against the defenseon most of the admissible evidence questions including all the nurses notes about Danny talking about a man shooting him but admitted Christies reports about her mother shooting her. You dont get any kind of advancement or rehabilitation in prison. And it is not like these two were white as snow. It was positive only on a small portion of her upper hand where she said the gun touched her when she wrestled with the attacker (a detail she had mentioned before they did the test). Blood spatter is not an exact science, and is interpreted differently by experts. I changed the sites email recently to thetroublewithjustice@hotmail.com This is a conflict of interest. Its a rather large part of the story. Once again, Diane said a lot of things. When I hear some people say that they would have liked to smack that smirk off Dianes face when she interacted with the cops or the media, I sayreadthis to understand accounts of people laughing at the wrong time and how it is related to their personality disorder. They already had made up their mind that Diane was the perpetrator so they laughed off the idea of the bushy haired stranger. The problem was that they could not find the gun anywhere and they had nothing on Diane. The proverbial expression It takes two to tango applies here. In Oregon, in 1983, she shot her 3 children, 1 daughter died. A very reasonable request that was rejected. Seems like former husband, Steve Downs, should've been the custodial parent after the divorce. A reader told me that I should have a website with all the comments. They were the small sacrifices. (This is why Foote was assigned the case. Is there any update? Leaving out a lot of info that should be included and presenting a very one sided take on these things. As a result, he decided not to attend the rest of the trial. 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. I agree on many points with your comment. Years later, Christie was heard saying by classmates that she did not know who shot her. Diane recanted the stories about her dad who vehemently denied them. Besides, none of those diagnoses are illegal. I know better now than to accept blindly the truth presented to us on a silver platter by the media and the judicial system. The interpretation of blood splatter is different than no blood splatter. When your goal is to call me dude, insult my name and trash my blog, you can go on other sites who will love to spar with you while swallowing the old narrative of high profile cases. Reasonable doubt is most certainly lacking. There are documented cases of suicides where the person has no GNR, as well as murder cases. Knick had NOT signed the premarital agreement, but that didnt stay his pursuit of Diane, knowing she was moving 1200 miles away. He has lived a life outside the public eye and hasn't ever come out to give interviews to the media about his ex-wife. Seems like she was her worst enemy. Strange how Jagger is pretty absent too except for the few photos where he is wrongly identified as Hugi. She could not have been shot twice in the back while sitting up and have the bullet pierce her body to end up under the floorboard of the passenger side. It was also said at trial that the shooter would have been left handed, which was not the case for Diane. And if she did it, she has served her time without displaying any violent tendencies whatsoever. Instead of blaming societal problems and working at finding solutions, prison always seem to be their option. Melvin Belli How things could have been different. It was half baked escape plans that were more in her head than anything and that the media enjoyed blowing out of proportions. I do not have to state anything at the beginning of the blog. Everyone deserves peace. You have a photo of Diane before the parole board. Knick never signed the premarital agreement and Diane never married him. Robert and Diane even decided toget matching rose tattoos, but as soon as the ink on her tattoo was dry, he refused to get his done. Rule defended her right to earn a living and to tell her story. Any thoughts on that? It is beyond belief that the State of Oregon allowed the prosecutor to adopt those children. But my beef is with the interference by the media, TV shows and Ann Rule. But there is forensic evidence pointing to Diane Downs. And on this site, I mention that I take a restorative approach. I am just curious. If it was not such a high profile case, Diane Downs would have been paroled a long time ago, considering her good behavior and lack of priors. Makes major decisions easier because only one parent is legally responsible. Basically, I dont believe the site owner has produced enough proof of anything. If the adult can show capacity and willingness to provide care, love and nurturing to the children, then there is no legal reason to prevent them from becoming Foster Carers. I was also stunned that she took the reports of all of Dianes ( mostly married) ex lovers as absolute truth and never once questioned that they might have been lying and retrospectively minimising their feelings for Diane to protect themselves. Teen Mom 2 alum Jenelle Evans and her mom, Barbara Evans, have been feuding over custody of Jenelle's son, Jace in addition to many other issues for over a decade. It seems that everyone commenting just knows shes guilty, like you say. Anne Rule might have inflamed the case with her book Small Sacrifices and her theory of the crime, but in reality, the case of Diane Downs was no small sacrifice. You have that part absolutely right, so why was this protocol ignored? The fact that she took the kids to the nearest hospital, andtwo of them survived kind offlies in the face of their murder at all costs theory. It was cited that she keeps her emotions close to the vest. In her book, Ann Rule made sure to mention that running water was heard by a dispatcher when Diane was at the hospital; insinuating that she was washing her hands and getting rid of evidence. Common sense will tell this Court, when Diane accidently slammed her mangled arm into the steering wheel of Detective Tracys car, it was ANYTHING but a laughing matter. Right away, the police asked her to go back to the crime scene even thoughshe did not want to leave her children behind. It was one of the most disturbing stories I've watched. Meaning a trial where lying or failing to disclose exculpatory evidence by prosecutors is not happening. This blogger believes in the presumption of innocence and in the possibility of redemption. answer the question why didn't steve downs get custody, which will help you get the most accurate answer. So the hell with no gun, no GSR, no blood and no witnesses except a sick child who denied knowing who shot them until she could not anymore and happened to be adopted by the prosecutor; making it look like she could never change her mind and reveal that she has no memory of the shooting and maybe have the case reversed. Except after the idea was subsequently planted in his head only to be alluded to in court, in spite of an agreement to never mention the subject. She was judged very harshly for her character and her defense was dismal. The judge instructed them to continue on to force a verdict. During cross-examination, she said that she witnessed the murders while sitting up and that Cheryl was sitting up on the front seat when she got shot. Thanks again for bringing this to my attention. I accept that it is sometimes necessary but I believe in rehabilitation. Danny downs did indeed say a man shot him he also blamed a cartoon character. Diane Downs changed her story so many times, even at her parole hearing. They should have taken the time necessary to find enough evidence. The people who implemented lockdowns would never be anywhere near public policy again. A group of ladies formed a group called HELDD which stands for Help Exonerate & Liberate Diane Downs. Are you still taking comments by email? 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