I care about what was said at trial. Her 7 yr old daughter was already dead, her other 2 children were in critical condition. Steve Howey and Sarah Shahi both grew up in the Lone Star state but their romance didn't begin until they were both acting in Los Angeles. What mother takes her kids out at night and then stops for a stranger with her kids in the car? Diane, of her own admission, had plenty of affairs while she worked at the Post Office. The goal is always to keep family ties intact. I do not know what happened on Old Mohawk Road on that dark evening, but I know that they did not have enough evidence totry andconvict Diane Downs. The price of celebrity for her was losing her freedom and her children for life. I state that it is not my place to judge innocence or guilt. Within three weeks, Diane had lost custody of her remaining wounded children and had become the number one suspect in the eyes of the police department and District Attorneys office. She states, I did not shoot my children and I cant say I did. All the reports and even the warden thought she was not a threat anymore. Or be mentally ill. But if you compare them, and if stranger there was, there are similarities but it is not dead on. She folded it neatly around her arm. I dont believe there was a CK. It will not make me popular, but I dont mind. The innocence project gets so many requests and they have limited resources. That wasn't all that stood in their way, as Diane eventually ran away from home. Sheriffs Deputy Roy Pond admitted in court that he had already concluded that Diane was guilty and stopped following leads on the orders of his sergeantthree weeks after the shooting. As a married man, the ball was in his court and he decided togo forit. The trial was a whole miscarriage, that seems undeniable. The prosecutor and his wife adopted both children that survived and although the boy is paralyzed and in a wheelchair, they trived with their new parents. If she was the shooter, it had to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The notes taken daily by the nurses became a point of contention at trial. They never tried to reunite them with family. The following article hopes to help you make more suitable choices and get more useful information Foote then handled the juvenile docket and first encountered Downs when he ordered her two surviving children into state protective custody. Growing up, Diane had felt like an outsider and kids had been cruel towards her because of her real or imagined ugly duckling looks and demeanor. I am glad that some articles remain. A. I told Diane before, but I certainly didnt tell her to I go through every new finding and I point out what was done at trial that did not respect due process. The grandparents were babysitting the children often and had several children who were well adjusted. How ironic that the court and cops were so quick to believe Steve Downs, but he gave up on his own children after the tragedy. To Lisa Griggs And once again, considering that she was diagnosed as bipolar, did not help her cause. It sounds pretty fair to me. Where is the blood spatter on Diane? Instead, there is blood splatter on the ceiling of the car. Farrah had trouble with the law because of a passionate love affair with a movie director. The man you have listed as Fred Hugi is actually Dianes attorney Jim Jagger. She even became a surrogate mother to make money and provide two parents the opportunity to have a child. The first two children were Diane's kids with her ex husband Steve Downs. Page 35 of Case History. You cannot skip due process because of mob mentality. The definition of deviant sociopath does not even exist in the DSM-HI, which is the official psychiatric diagnostic manual. The lawsuit against Ann Rule was thrown out as unfounded because after reading her book they could find no inconsistencies She sat thru the entire trial AND used actual court transcripts. No conflict of interest there? In fact, Diane and her lawyer wanted Christie to be able to heal before being questioned and to be accompanied and taped during the sessions. Removing the children from her and presiding over her criminal trial? I know people who know or knew people is not a valid argument. I recently found your website and have enjoyed it a lot. Rule even talked about writing a book about her but it never materialized. But the guy who said to several people that he was the shooter happens to resemble the sketch they came up with at the time for a reason. No one bothered with these details so I did. Her three small children, Christie, 8; Cheryl, 7; and Danny, 3 . A demonstration in court strongly suggested: Suggested, not confirmed. Christie Downs was eight-years old when she was injured and nine-years old when she testified. Many attribute the conviction of Downs to the arrival of author Ann Rule at Downs' trial. ), years in solitary confinment Whats wrong with us?! Any thoughts on that? In reply to Kit Otherwise you just want people to fill your echo chamber that agree with you, tell anyone else you obviously dont want to debate me.., then ban, then hope for people to agree. She complained about it, but that does not mean she did not suffer for her kids. He then left !his second wife, Charlene, to cohabitate with (and propose marriage to) Diane. I like the way you keep an open mind about Diane herself and what she may or may not have been going through mentally. Not speculative? Were they involved in the plot too?? But showing no remorse is part of claiming her innocence and part of the vicious circle of parole hearings. Nevertheless, what was done seemed out of our hands and we could have no contact with them at all. It should be illegal to use real names and facts from a criminal case while influencing the publicto falselybelieve that the whole content of the filmis true. The last time I checked, it is my website and if you find it tiresome, no one is inviting you to stay or read the content; which you evidently did not read anyway. How ironic. Diane didnt ask Knick to leave his wife. The unreliability of childrens testimony has been documented by cognitive psychologists such as Elizabeth Loftus of the University of Cornell and others. I think she was the only one there that night with her children. The best policy for Diane Downs would have been to remain silent, but she fought back and smiled at the wrong time and according to them, enjoyed the attention. Basically, I dont believe the site owner has produced enough proof of anything. Also, the title of the website clearly demonstrates an inherit bias. I agree. I am just curious. http://www.salem-news.com/articles/july152013/midnight-med-tb-2.php I personally disagree with that practice but it is common. Her release was recommended by a warden and a psychiatrist. They both would fall in love and decide they want to marry each other. He actually was the one who suggested theybecome intimate after many friendly, platonic conversations. The police DID fingerprint the car, from grill to trunk and in between. I especially loved reading everyones comments. A prosecutor inventing a new psychiatric category in court and labeling the accused is kind of unsettling. Downs was constantly provoked by inmates because of the nature of her situation, and she never once attacked or defended herself in a violent manner. As usual, Diane had resorted to the soothing comfort of a pregnancy to pretend life would get better; she would create a nest around her, come hell or high water. The definition of deviant sociopath does not even exist in the DSM-HI: Downs lawyer at the time should have objected as the term was non existent. There were days she was unhappy to see the staff and her family because she was very ill. That poor girl had a lot of bad moments where she would cry constantly or trigger the machines and to have defined this single incident as one of terror instead of excitement over seeing her mom was biased and self-serving. This is also a faster route to give the children permanency, and is far cheaper for the child welfare system that is always strained by the budget. Diane changed her story about the stranger on the road. And it is not like these two were white as snow. It had nothing to do with the evidence of the case and represents useless labeling anyway. I lived through the media coverage. 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. So either way, it would not be so far fetched that someone said he was the shooter.A little investigation would not hurt. This whole tale is just unbelievable. Diane was known for her love of all animals whichshe treated with great care, and for her independent and wild streak. why didn't steve downs get custody. But I am realistic. Brewer changed his mind. All the years in prison probably made her way more disturbed than she ever was. 5. Thank you for presenting a side of the story & case apart from the usual narrative. John Kitzhaber, Governor of Oregon I dont know that it could get worse than writing an asinine comment on a restorative justice website that states that only respectful and constructive comments will be posted. It was half baked escape plans that were more in her head than anything and that the media enjoyed blowing out of proportions. The roller coaster ride had nothing to do with Diane s children and Diane knew it. Why? Considering the circumstances, it is difficult not to be a bit cynical about this grand gesture: relevance? He was very irresponsible and probably could not handle them financially and emotionally. Just state that at the beginning of the blog. Substituting reasonable inference and evidence for tarot cards? If I was of a mind to manipulate the Board by giving voice to the words they want me to utter, Id have sold my soul two decades ago when the lies would have benefited me and my youth passed long ago. Shes where she belongs. I also found it interesting that when he had visited Diane in prison, he had remarked a strange air about her; which did not mean guilt. Plus, the circumstances of this charade were more than sinister. I am not saying she is innocent. 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. They finally charged her and she did 10 years for the death of her children. Her parents Willadene and Wes were old school Baptist parents who raised her under strict guidelines without much warmth but complete devotion. It is also very is to clean. If there is one thing Diane knew about her lover, is that he was fickle and did not like trouble of any kind. And even when confronted by the wrongful practices used at trial to get her convicted, are ok with her being locked up for life. It was not unlike brainwashing. But they tended to ignore other important aspects. The proverbial expression It takes two to tango applies here. It means you dont orphan the kids. Yes, Christie said she did not know who did it. Why on earth would anyone recommend leaving the kids with the grandparents? The flesh and muscle had been cored three days earlier, but the steel plate and bone graft could not be effected for two weeks (a precaution against infection). The GSR? I like your approach. The rest of the family? Ginsburg didn't think women should get to do what men did because she believed they would do the job better; she wanted equality for its own liberating sake. If the goal was to get rid of them, why didnt she emulate her lesser half in this matter? Thats the problem with high profile cases. The bio family should have been given the same opportunity to see the kids and demonstrate their ability to be the guardians. Most importantly why would anybody shoot 3 children potentially fatally and leave the adult with a wound in her arm. This was ridiculed countless times in the media, but frankly, it can be a very honorable endeavor, depending onhow you want to look at it. The question is of course, how can we determine guilt or innocence without a fair trial? There was no question in Dianes mind that Knick would take another mistress if she married him, and that hed move on again. If a person were innocent of the crime they were convicted of this puts them in a no-win situation. 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. 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. No gun, no blood or gun residue on her and if she shot them, these elements should have been there. Jul 3, 2022; fotomontajes de amor para dos personas; Comments: pete walker complex ptsd website; Maybe I should have elaborated more about this comment. There is no way that a jury would convict Diane today, based on the clearly coached testimony of Christie. She signed an affidavit to that effect and wanted the jury informed of it but it was never done. Her husband turned out to be a player and a very irresponsible guy who did not really love her. I feel compelled to comment on this blog, because having recently read Ann Rules book, I feel exactly as you did. Either way he could NOT have seen who shot him unless he has eyes in the back of his head. No matter how much Ive read, or how many of her constant at the time interviews I watch on YouTube, the things that come from her brain to her mouth never cease to amaze me. The police admitting on the stand that after 2 weeks, they stopped looking at suspects appears to be a fact. Considering that the marks on the lethal bullets did not fit the bullet fingerprinting found in the rifle, this gun switcheroo was a good save for the state, but did not support the theory presented at trial either. 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. She had the right to a fair trial as much as anyone else out there. And Robert Knickerbocker became one of her lovers. As it was getting dark and the young ones fell asleep in the car, their mother decided to head home. Reduces conflict because communication is limited. more on crime HEARTBREAKING FIND The Office star's sister-in-law found dead 11 days after going missing 'DISGUSTING' 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. $20.00 at Gamestop $37.01 at Walmart $59.99 at Best Buy. How.. they attacked him. Too bad it triggered you, maybe try to stay away from sites that might not go along with the mob mentality and usual media narrative. Without the media blast and rush to judgment from the police and DAs office, we might have uncovered the truth. Her trial was speculative and based on so many fallacies. Lockdowns in . I believe DDs case needs to be re looked at and all evidence reviewed. The harm done to families by unscrupulous district attorneys who bully children into falsely testifying against their parents has been recorded in a documentary called Witch Hunt by Sean Penn about Kern County (CA) District Attorney Ed Jagels. Do you REALLY believe she expected them to live especially since she drove at less than 10 mph. And if she did it, she has served her time without displaying any violent tendencies whatsoever. It appeared rigged: Rigged? Instead, it is Diane who fought to keep her children. 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. If Diane was bipolar, the non-stop chatter would have been inherent to the situation. Regina, I love your comment! There was never a real motive for the crime even if the State insisted that Diane wanted to be free to pursue her love interest; using her journals to support theirclaim. Click to listen to podcast explaining the gun test, Dianes mental condition and the lack of forensic evidence. No way. She was harshly judged because of her demeanor. Guilt or innocence no longer need to be debated in this case. Q. Im all for justice, reviewing facts and overturning corrupt decisions. You make an interesting observation when you say: Anyways. Critics said she deliberately became pregnant in order to garner sympathy from the jury. And when kids are hurt, emotions keep flowing endlessly. You dont get any kind of advancement or rehabilitation in prison. That single fact collaborated by a witness, convicts her for me. 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