Sipping '05 Barde Haut, trying to save the world....

[JimHow]

Man, it's been a busy year.
Hopefully I can take a little time off this winter and road trip through some warmer climes!

Got charges dropped against a guy accused with kidnapping the other day.
The "victim" recanted her story after a small sliver from a security camera from a building across the street indicated he never took the foot off the brake of his car, which meant he never got out of his car, which meant he didn't abduct the young woman at 4am on Lisbon street like she said, which meant she recanted her story, which meant he's no longer facing 15 years in prison. incredible story.
Don't EVER presume someone is guilty, no matter what the facts may appear to be at the outset.
And don't EVER question the right to counsel, no matter how rich or poor that person may be....

http://m.sunjournal.com/news/lewiston-a ... an/2195414

This 2005 Barde Haut is a stunner....

[Gerry M.]

Wow!, just wow! Words can't do justice to what this man and his family went thru. What goes unsaid in this article is failing to ask the question as to why the police investigators didn't do what you did in securing the video. It would have saved so much pain for so many. Well done Jim!

[JCNorthway]

Interesting article in NY Times about an interview with Richard Posner who recently suddenly retired from 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. The gist of part of his reasoning was that people who did not have lawyers to press their cases (basically poor and uneducated) were mistreated by the judicial system, and he wanted to do something about it. I think he was referring to appeals or non-criminal cases, recognizing that all are entitled to representation in criminal matters. But it's similar to what could easily have happened to your client without dedicated representation.

[JimHow]

Yeah, it's a pretty scary business, criminal defense, there are many innocent people charged with crimes, especially as the courts, from the U.S. Supreme Court on down, have systematically eroded civil liberties over the past 40 or so years. It is very scary when you are the only person standing between somebody walking out of the courtroom a free man or walking into a prison cell for 15-20 years or more. You have to fight with every ounce of energy you have. There is no backup plan.

[DavidG]

Well done Jim!

Article's behind a paywall. How does a security camera (mounted on a building somewhere?) capture an image of a driver's foot on a brake inside a car?

[JimHow]

Here's a copy of the story, David, it's pretty crazy:

Lewiston-Auburn
Charges, including kidnapping, dropped against Rumford man
By Christopher Williams, Staff Writer
Published on Wednesday, Sep 6, 2017 at 9:09 pm | Last updated on Thursday, Sep 7, 2017 at 5:05 am
AUBURN — Surveillance video from a downtown Lewiston office building cast enough doubt on a woman's story of kidnapping to persuade prosecutors to confront the alleged victim, who admitted to having lied about being forced into a vehicle at 4 a.m. on May 24.

On Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Matulis filed dismissal of all charges against Joshua Brown, 41, of Rumford. He had faced two felony charges that were brought last month by an Androscoggin County grand jury, including kidnapping, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. He also was charged with two counts of unlawful sexual contact, both felony and misdemeanor.

"My analysis of the case after we reviewed everything is that we were not going to be able to prove any of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt in front of a jury," Matulis said Wednesday.

Brown's wife, Sheri, said Wednesday the ordeal her family has experienced since the criminal charges were filed has cost them jobs, tens of thousands of dollars, their health and their reputations in the community.

Brown said she, her husband and teenage son have endured more than 100 days of shunning, ridicule and finger-pointing.

James Howaniec, Joshua Brown's attorney, said Wednesday that it was an investigation and series of fortunate circumstances that led to the unraveling of a false account of events that morning in May.

His co-counsel in the case, Jesse Archer, had scoured the area of Lisbon and Pine streets for surveillance cameras that may have captured the alleged abduction. What he eventually found was black-and-white footage from a camera inside an office cooperative on the first floor of a building at that corner.

The video showed a portion of a taillight of Brown's car that remained lit the entire time it was stopped, thereby disproving the woman's story that the driver had exited the car to compel her into the passenger seat, Howaniec said.

When Matulis was made aware of the camera, he subpoenaed the video footage from the building's owner, Howaniec said.

"That's a significant piece of evidence in this case," he said. "Thank God it didn't get deleted."

Once confronted with the new evidence from the video, the woman recanted after having already told a grand jury that she had been forced into Brown's car.

"I really think Andrew's the hero," Howaniec said. "I really think what (he) did in this case is a profile in courage."

Prosecutors have "very difficult decisions to make in these cases," Howaniec said. "Obviously, he did the right thing."

Police had believed the initial contact had taken place one block from Lisbon and Pine streets. But after viewing footage from a surveillance camera outside 8th District Courthouse on Lisbon Street, Howaniec said it was clear police had been mistaken about where the alleged abduction had occurred.

The woman told police Brown first encountered her on Lisbon Street in front of the Lewiston Public Library. He offered her a ride and she declined.

The second time Brown approached her, he pulled his car in front of her at the intersection of Lisbon and Chestnut streets, got out and, taking hold of her arm and jacket, walked her to the passenger side of his car, police wrote in an affidavit in support of Brown's warrantless arrest.

Brown forced the woman to sit in the passenger seat by closing the door while she was between it and the seat. She told police she had said, "No," to Brown a few times to getting a ride with him, "and was afraid to say anything" more. She told police she didn't feel Brown would take no for an answer, according to the affidavit.

He then drove her to Minot Avenue in Auburn where he stopped at a store. The woman got out of his car. Surveillance video shows Brown going into the store, then exiting and getting back into his car. The woman remained on the sidewalk.

The woman said Brown had forced her to have sexual contact with him on the way to the store.

Howaniec said his client had "adamantly denied" all charges from the time of his arrest and had been prepared to go to trial, likely in November. Brown told him he had offered the woman a ride and that all contact with her had been consensual. He told police he had been driving around Lewiston because he had been running early for the start of the shift at his job in Portland.

For Sheri Brown, vindication for her husband isn't enough.

Just three days after he was charged, he was notified by certified letter that he'd lost the job he'd had for 15 years.

A couple of weeks before he was charged, the family had applied for membership in a local ATV club, only to be denied for "moral" reasons after the charges were made public, she said.

Their son, a junior in high school, had to miss the last two weeks of the school year because of verbal harassment by students, she said.

Although she kept her job and was supported by her work community, Sheri Brown's doctor had to double her anxiety medication and prescribed anti-depressants, she said.

They traded cars with their daughter, who lives out of town, in an effort at greater anonymity.

After losing his job, Joshua Brown had to cash in his 401(k), incurring substantial financial penalties. In all, Sheri Brown estimates the family has lost more than $60,000 because of the charges.

They were told they must wait a month to be refunded the $10,000 cash bail she posted for him to get out of jail.

Within 10 hours of the alleged kidnapping, police had arrested her husband, Sheri Brown said.

"It was a huge rush to judgment," she said. "If they would have listened to him from the beginning and looked at the cameras ... this would have never happened."

Shunned by many in the community and unable to speak publicly about the case, Sheri Brown said the experience has shaken her.

"I was standing by my husband 100 percent because I know his character," she said of Joshua, her husband of 24 years.

When their son graduates from high school next spring, they will pack up and leave the state, she said.

"Maine is going to be history to me, to us," she said. "I'm outta here. We're outta here. Not to say that anywhere else people are going to be fair, but, you know, we won't have people breathing down our necks and we're not going to have the pointing and talking and whispering."

cwilliams@sunjournal.com


Joshua Brown

- Androscoggin County Jail photo

[DavidG]

Ahhh, the brake lights, makes sense...

As I started to read, I thought you (and the defendant, really) were lucky that the DA was more interested in justice than adding a conviction to his record. Then I saw where you credited him as the real hero. That really impressed me. Very smart and classy move, as I imagine your relationship with him is key to your future credibility. Someone said that there's no limit to what you can accomplish when you're willing to give someone else credit. Great example here.

Jim, I know a fair number of attorneys, and you're easily my second favorite.

[Nicklasss]

Good story.

When I was in high school, i knew a social worker in my school that was very fun.a few years after, when I was at university, i saw he get accused of sexual contact, etc, etc... knowing him well, I couldn't beleive it. Effectively, after more than a year of processing, he got declared not guilty, but the damage was done. It ruins his health, his bank account, he had to move away...

Finally, his attorney demonstrated that the version of the victim was the exact copy of a story of a novel, plus all alibis who were present with the social worker during he was supposely at that time harrassing the victim... a sad story.

Nic

[JimHow]

Ha thanks. This was an incredible case. we had a security camera from way down the street that showed the car pull up way in the distance. We magnified the image 430% but the pixelated image was too blurry to determine whether got out of the car. Our client was screaming all the time that he never got out of the car, but the police didn't believe him. The young women told the police and DA twice that she had been forced into the car, and she told the story a third time under oath before a grand jury. Then we found a camera from inside a building across the street that was looking out onto the street. We couldn't see anything of the car, whether our client got out, whether the woman got in, etc., except we could see a small sliver of video that showed that his brake light never went off. Which means he never put it in park. Which means he never got out of the vehicle. Which means he never forced her into the vehicle, evidence that was 180 degrees opposite of her version. When the DA confronted her with the evidence she recanted, and told him that she had lied, that she had in fact gotten into the vehicle on her own volition. All the while the guy was facing 15+ years in state prison on kidnapping/sexual assault charges. He lost his job, they lost about $60,000, had to liquidate a 401k, took huge penalties, etc.... all to prove his innocence.

[JimHow]

Fortunately his employer has given him his job back.

[stefan]

What a story! Great defense job, Jim.

What motivates someone to lie about an attack?

[AKR]

There's some woman in England who was recently sent jail after authorities realized she had filed a half dozen fake rape cases against various men, some of whom were rotting in prison for years.

The Daily Mail went to town on her.

The sad part of course is that when there are dubious claims absorbing the systems resources, it also hurts those who have been really victimized from getting justice.

[Chateau Vin]

Ha thanks. This was an incredible case. we had a security camera from way down the street that showed the car pull up way in the distance. We magnified the image 430% but the pixelated image was too blurry to determine whether got out of the car. Our client was screaming all the time that he never got out of the car, but the police didn't believe him. The young women told the police and DA twice that she had been forced into the car, and she told the story a third time under oath before a grand jury. Then we found a camera from inside a building across the street that was looking out onto the street. We couldn't see anything of the car, whether our client got out, whether the woman got in, etc., except we could see a small sliver of video that showed that his brake light never went off. Which means he never put it in park. Which means he never got out of the vehicle. Which means he never forced her into the vehicle, evidence that was 180 degrees opposite of her version. When the DA confronted her with the evidence she recanted, and told him that she had lied, that she had in fact gotten into the vehicle on her own volition. All the while the guy was facing 15+ years in state prison on kidnapping/sexual assault charges. He lost his job, they lost about $60,000, had to liquidate a 401k, took huge penalties, etc.... all to prove his innocence.

Can't the DA charge her? Other than lying under oath, isn't there any law that takes care of falsely accusing someone?

[JimHow]

Yes. The prosecutor could have charged her with perjury before the grand jury.
He decided not to. My client was not too happy with that but I told him to let it go.

[Chateau Vin]

Yes. The prosecutor could have charged her with perjury before the grand jury.
He decided not to. My client was not too happy with that but I told him to let it go.

I mean forget about perjury, anyone can accuse anyone with no basis, cause serious damage and still walk free? Isn't that jungle law and free for all?

On top of it, the accuser seems to be premeditated. No fine for the accuser, no record on the accuser and nothing? What stops her from doing it again? If you knowingly and falsely call 911, you could be charged. Good grief...No wonder people get disenchanted with the way justice is dispensed. The set of scales on Lady Justice are unbalanced...The blindfold instead of representing impartiality, seems like turning a blind eye to justice...

[Claret]

Good job Jim.

[Comte Flaneur]

Nice one Jim, you nust have needed a good drink after that

[marcs]

wow. Any sense of her motivation in lying about something like this?

There was consensual sexual contact involved?

[AKR]

Yes. The prosecutor could have charged her with perjury before the grand jury.
He decided not to. My client was not too happy with that but I told him to let it go.

I mean forget about perjury, anyone can accuse anyone with no basis, cause serious damage and still walk free? Isn't that jungle law and free for all?

On top of it, the accuser seems to be premeditated. No fine for the accuser, no record on the accuser and nothing? What stops her from doing it again? If you knowingly and falsely call 911, you could be charged. Good grief...No wonder people get disenchanted with the way justice is dispensed. The set of scales on Lady Justice are unbalanced...The blindfold instead of representing impartiality, seems like turning a blind eye to justice...

This is what Title IX in college proceedings is all about. Saw some sad cases in real time when I was young.

Ross Douthat has some commentary about it in recent edition of the NYT. '

[Nicklasss]

And if we come back to the original topic, can you tell us more on your appreciation of the 2005 Chateau Barde-Haut? A kind of semi favorite of BWE, in the best vintage of the last 25 years, must be something!

Nic

[JimHow]

There are MANY reasons why prosecutors do or do not decide to press charges. It is very case specific, often not black and white.
Often, but not always, it has to do with whether they can prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
There are often many nuances and complexities to these cases that are difficult to summarize in newspaper articles.

the 2005 Barde Haut is an outstanding wine, jean-Nicolas. Indeed, it is a bit of an aberration in that, unlike most Barde-Hauts, which should be consumed young, it probably has another ten years to go. a function of the vintage, obviously.

I don't know if you guys have ever heard of the "Downeast Dickerer," (I guess he's a bit of a celebrity on the Discovery Channel or History Channel, or some such thing) got him off recently as well:

http://www.sunjournal.com/news/lewiston ... lt/2191772

[Tom In DC]

You live an interesting life, Jim.

Although he didn't plea bargain on the assault charge, Raubeson did negotiate a plea through his lawyer on a misdemeanor charge of violating a condition of release.

Do you give quantity discounts?

[JimHow]

Ha only you would pick up on that Tom.
That's a whole 'nuther chapter to the story.
Man, I have enough fodder in the past year alone for three novels.

[AKR]

Carl Hiassen basically built his career writing humor/crime novels, off the back of his work compiling the Miami crime blotter for his local rag.

I missed the 2005 Barde Haute when it came out, but have a 2000 standing up for consumption soon. Last I had that it was really great.

Such a wonderful era for the wines of the region. Really much better than the 90's timeframe, which I drank a lot of contemporaneously, but on full reflection, they just weren't so awesome.

[robert goulet]

nice work Jim and Andrew is def. a stand up guy....shows belief in our judicial system

[JimHow]

Indeed! That case was very disturbing.

It's a constant battle:

http://www.sunjournal.com/news/lewiston ... ry/2200602

[stefan]

Avoid the 2004 Barde Haut. We drank two bottles in the last month and both had St E brett. Lucie refused to drink after taking one sip. The fruit was good and I drank a couple of small glasses, but I was not motivated to drink more.

[JimHow]

Barde Haut is a controversial wine.

[Claudius2]

Jim,
Can the guy apply to the court for any sort of compensation?
He has had his life seriously disrupted due to some vindictive action by that woman.
Or is it that in 2017, women can get away with ruining someone's career and potentially their life, with no penalty?
I wonder if the two individuals were reversed what would have happened.

[JimHow]

No, Claudius, basically he can't.
He can sue the government under either federal or state law but they have something called qualified immunity, which makes it very difficult to prevail.
He could sue the woman but she is judgment proof.
These cases can be tricky. The prosecutor may still believe her basic story that she was held against her will and sexually assaulted, but not believe he can prove his case beyond a reasonable doubt because of her fabrication about how she got into the vehicle.

[Racer Chris]

I thought about him suing the woman for defamation too.
Then I thought, why would he want to make the circumstances public, of his inviting a strange woman into his car for sex at 4am when he was supposed to be on his way to work.

[JimHow]

Ha ha, yep.
Be careful what you ask for.