Bent Not Broken - Shea Family Legal Funds Help

Friends,

This is really hard to swallow my pride and admit that we are facing some major difficulties in trying to finance the legal fees to keep the kids safe from some very dangerous situations. I’ve spent most of my career fundraising for others (Hospice, United Way, Veterans with PTSD, Homelessness, Drug Prevention & Recovery) and it never occurred to me to ask for help for us, until I came across a page for a family who lost their child to a rare disease and more recently a family whose Dad/Husband committed suicide. It brought me to tears and I couldn't even imagine the hurt and pain they have endured and continue to endure. It made me think about the call for action on bringing addiction, the opioid epidemic and mental health awareness to the forefront. My children do not suffer any physical impairments but are struggling with PTSD and are challenged with a parent with serious addictions, personality disorders and all that comes with that. It has been extremely difficult to come up with the right words, phrases or sentiments about our situation without coming off as sounding like I am some super-parent because I am not. It's embarrassing to ask for financial assistance with a situation that affects my sensitive teenagers, precocious 9 year old, friends, family and daily life. 

My only goals here are to:
1. Protect the kids from serious danger already happening 
2. Help try to prevent an avoidable tragedy for my kids should there be an OD/accident 
3. Put the legal issues to bed by finally putting an End to the enabling, denial, indifference, and tolerance and Put into Action what has been imminent and now immediately necessary
4. Spread awareness and offer help for any other families, bent-families or bending families that are dealing with or on the verge of dealing with similar issues. 

The kid's mother struggles with severe opioid addiction, alcoholism, and personality disorders. As does her live-in roommate of 2 years and past live-in roommate of 3 years.  Has been to rehab numerous times, made some progress but then regresses. Years of battling this addiction, sporadic inconsistent recovery efforts and dealing with attorneys, enormous fee$ and a family in denial, Nothing for my children has changed except schools, cities, various living situations, various partners mom brings home, lack of commitments, unmet expectations and obligations, broken promises, etc. Addiction is a family disease and it has affected and continues to infect the kids in so many ways that I can't even articulate all of them here. When sober and independent, their mother is a decent mom and person. The kid’s mother's family, while good intentioned, do not seem to grasp the totality and reality of what is going on or what my kids face on a daily basis. They have not grasped the concept of Enabling and loving someone to death. Taking real concrete legally bound preventative safety measures to avoid dangerous and life threatening situations for a 15, 14 and 9 year old has escaped their scope and abilities. 

That is exactly why I am asking for your help. This isn’t meant to be an indictment of the kid's mother or her family but I continue to take on 90% of sole responsibility for the kids financially, physically, emotionally and spiritually with no "co-parenting" support or reimbursement. 

Unfortunately, my job is not one that is lucrative enough to finance the legal fees that need to be paid in order to finalize these actions. Another challenge we face is that the other side of this unfortunate situation is well-financed, will not listen to reason, avoids recovery and cannot admit that there even is a problem. No-shows at scheduled court hearings, Cancelled court hearings and subsequent mediation attempts, Abdication of Legally-bound time-sharing, Absconding on trips to avoid Legally-Bound Time-sharing, Broken Communication, Blocking Communication, Negligent and Contradictory Co-Parenting, Delay tactics, Unresponsive to drug-testing requests, Unresponsive to my attorneys, avoidance of being served injunctions, avoidance of DCF, theft, domestic violence, negligence, indifference, abandonment, numerous police visitations to numerous residences, dragging out litigation, procrastination until some unforeseen law enforcement action all have not worked. A public arrest, public news at 6pm type stories, newspaper articles, rescinding of a job didn’t motivate anyone to think there was an ongoing problem.  Stealing of our daughter's bodily fluids was the only thing that finally inspired the last rehab trip.  Currently and foreseeably in the future the mentality is that: " She got her graduation certificate from Rehab and all traces of addiction have been cured and stamped out. End of Story. Life shifts back to Happily Ever After........" 

We all know better! This is not reality for most addicts and families of addicts. It is not my kid’s reality. 

The avoidance of making good on the legally bound obligations (to the tune of $20,000) and past & current drug-fueled behavior cannot be avoided any longer.  Sometimes, families want someone to be someone they are not so badly they will pay to make it so and then that person will rebel and this is exactly what is going on and my kids are the pawns in this sad dysfunctional situation. 

We are faced with a very large debt from what has not been paid in child support fees and are facing an even bigger challenge with what seems to be insurmountable legal fees just to achieve some sort of rational financial retribution, protection from ongoing financial default, safe visitation/time-sharing plan and preventative safety measures from all of the inherent dangers that come with her addiction that have not ceased in 7 years and are active currently.

Your help is welcome and very much appreciated. I lost my own Mom (to breast cancer) at 17 and do not want the same fate for my kids. It is not easy to grow up without your Mom and even harder when she is alive but not really present.  I am grateful for your consideration and any amount of help that you can give.  Sincerely & Positively :), 

Tim, Kaley, Jack & Lily Shea

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Domestic violence victim needs help!

My best friend is a hard working single mother of a four year old son from a prior relationship that ended due to domestic violence.   During September 2017, upon picking up her child from school for her parenting time she  noticed a  set  of concerning abrasions on multiple areas of his face and his teachers claimed he came to school with them. She took her son to his pediatrician's office and he stated that he was being physically and sexually abused at his father's house. CPS was called and an investigation was opened. During the investigation, my friend was advised to withhold parenting time until the investigation was completed and was told to obtain legal counsel to permantly change the custody arangement. She found an experienced attorney that deals with domestic violence and child abuse custody cases.  During all of this conflict she not only worked full time and was working on her MSW at a local university, but she is also 8 months pregnant.  However she recently was put on bedrest for  potential pre-eclamsia and  even with no income coming in currently, she is not eligible for legal aid. She is needing help not only to help pay her retainer fee or any sub-sequential fees that arise, but to make sure her bills are still paid in a timely fashion. Thank you for reading. 

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Don't Let the Bad Guys Win!

(Please Read in Full; this story is unbelievable!)

On May 19th 2016 then-Marion County Sheriff Chris Blair was indicted by grand jury on 3 felonies exclusive to one case: two counts of perjury and one count of official misconduct. They found that he lied about seeing this victim's injuries, both in the grand jury inquiry and in a federal affidavit.
On June 2 of the same year the grand jury issued a presentment regarding "The Leadership of the Marion County Sheriff's Office" highlighting a multitude of incidents of excessive force, overaggressive tactics, and cover-ups of these incidents. Also documented was the sheriff's creation of "special" units formed to "kick ass and take names...don't worry about complaints." Numerous veteran officers complained about the unethical treatment of the citizens of Marion County and were reassigned to "punishment" posts.
On November 13th , 2015, then-deputy Cody Hoppel pled guilty in federal court to two counts of deprivation of a person's civil rights under color of law, or, simply put, using his uniform and the State's authority to terrorize people. One count was caught on video and for some reason only made local news: Five deputies beating Derrick Price, a black guy who'd laid down in submission. The other count was the until-then covered up beating of Dustin Heathman, a white guy who DID defend himself at first, them submitted to arrest, only to be beaten severely as he complied to all orders.

It is the case of Dustin Heathman that we are seeking justice for. Mr Price pled guilty to several crimes and is content with the resolution of his issues. Mr Heathman exercised his right to a trial by jury and was rail-roaded with lies, omissions, and a State hungry for a conviction, justice be damned!
Mr Heathman was sentenced to life in prison for attempted murder of a law enforcement officer with a firearm. He didn't out a scratch on anyone despite the obvious ability to do so if he'd wanted to: In terms of firepower he was more heavily armed than law enforcement that day. In terms of tactical superiority, he was in a block home and could see out while law enforcement could not see in.
Against Mr Heathman was a SWAT grenadier team, a sniper-spotter team, an armored vehicle known as a BearCat and inside this a 5-man assault team wearing body armor and Kevlar helmets.
You might suspect that Mr Heathman may have been a king-pin drug dealer to warrant this kind of force. Or maybe a wanted killer. Negative. Mr Heathman was wanted for misdemeanor driving infractions. In specific, Mr Heathman had been placed on a year's misdemeanor probation for a 1st time DUI in Marion County. Neighboring Levy County charged Mr Heathman with misdemeanor driving on a suspended driver's license. Mr Heathman knew this charge was baseless and frivolous and thus that he had NOT violated probation. He just had not had the opportunity to clear this up before Marion County came for him. This was later proven to be true when, five days after Mr Heathman wrote them a letter, Levy County dropped the charge. This would tend to prove Mr Heathman's honesty when he told Marion deputies that he hadn't done anything wrong and to leave a summons at the gate and get off his property. 
When asked if he was armed he answered honestly and specified how he was armed.

When it became obvious that SWAT was going to storm the house, Mr Heathman prevented the inevitable blood-shed that comes when armed men meet in close quarters. Mr Heathman knew that these men would shoot first and ask questions later if they entered his home. He knew he would die. But he also knew he hadn't done anything wrong and his principles would not allow him to submit to a baseless arrest.

For nearly 6 hours, deputies stood around outside Mr Heathman's home. He never fired a shot. In fact, over several phone calls with a negotiator, he accurately identified the positions of officers, what they were doing, what they were wearing. Yet the only thing that Mr Heathman fired upon was an armored vehicle, a target DESIGNED to be shot at while rendering the fire ineffective against the passengers inside. And he only fired on it as it approached to deposit the assault team, issuing threats and ultimatums over the PA system. And then, when it backed off, Mr Heathman ceased fire... Until it pulled forward again.
Now why would a man hell-bent on killing cops tell officers he was armed? Why wouldn't he lure them into an ambush? Why wouldn't he fire on deputies whem he could have inflicted actual casualties? Why would he fire on the one target he knew he could shoot at without hurting anyone?
Clearly he fired to prevent the forced armed entry into his home. Clearly he feared for his life. Clearly there was something wrong when military-grade force was being used for what was essentially a traffic ticket and clearly Mr Heathman had reason to believe he was in danger. This would prove to be true.
The BearCat sustained gunfire damage and Mr Heathman was slightly wounded by bullet fragments and glass.
Before the situation got any worse, Mr Heathman told negotiators he was coming out. He did everything he was told, wasn't agressive and in fact, deputies testified that as he approached them, walking backwards, hands up, in his underwear, he was talking about the Constitution. He was promptly cuffed and thrown to the ground and severely beaten.

Now, you may think that up until this point the story is bad but tolerable. But none of what's just been said is actually germain to Mr Heathman's legal defense, which is what we are asking you to donate towards. We want you to know that Mr Heathman is highly likely to have his convictions overturned for a new trial and that, because of events that happened AFTER his conviction that will now be admitted to the record in the course of this new trial, his chances of victory are HIGH... IF he can get a competent lawyer to represent him.

Before we close, here is why we will win with good representation:

State v. Glosson, 462 So2d 1082 (Fla 1985) and State v. Williams, 623 So2d 462 (Fla 1993) both state that law enforcement misconduct which deprives a defendant of due process (the fundamental fairness in proceedings) REQUIRES a dismissal of criminal charges, the idea being that, if law enforcement can do whatever it wants and remain confident that the State will prosecute the case anyway, which is precisely what happened in this case, eventually the public will lose confidence in law enforcement and the judicial system and start taking the law into their own hands.
In an October 28th 2015 article in the Ocala StarBanner entitled "Investigating the Investigators," the State Attorney's office at least had doubts about Mr Heathman's case, and this was before the depth of law enforcement dishonesty in this particular case was known. Besides the arrest of the sheriff- can you imagine a sheriff getting booked into his own jail?- and the admission by a deputy that he committed a crime against Mr Heathman, then lied under oath during the investigation and that at least two other deputies did as well, consider the following:

*The grand jury's presentment was based on interviews with 35 witnesses over 3 months including the sheriff, his top aides, detectives, former officials, and prosecutors. Not one witness could recall another time when deputies discharged their firearms at a suspect and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) was not called in to conduct an independent investigation; the decision to forego the FDLE investigation was made by then-sheriff Chris Blair. Blair was on scene to orchestrate the cover-up of a crime that BY LAW JUSTIFIES MR HEATHMAN'S ACTIONS under Self Defense!

*The day Mr Blair was arrested, Florida Governor Rick Scott relieved him of duty and appointed interim sheriff Emery Gainey. Sheriff Gainey's first act was to suspend Majors Don Maines and Tommy Bibb. Maj. Bibb was the lead investigator, along with two detectives, in Mr Heathman's case. Despite telling them at least three times that he'd been beaten in handcuffs, it never made it into their reports. (It should be noted that Blair, Maines, Bibb, and Deputy Chief Fred LaTorre were known as "The Four Horsemen of Marion County." They are all gone now because of Mr Heathman's case.)
Two days after his suspension, Maj. Bibb resigned.

Mr Heathman was not the bad guy on June 1st 2014 in Williston, Florida. Mr Heathman has maintained the same story since before the first shots were fired, and slowly but surely he's been shown to be the honest party to these charges. He refused any plea bargains; he refused his public defender's advice to seek an insanity defense reasoning that it isn't insane to know your rights.
An honest steadfast citizen versus undisputed law enforcement dishonesty and state collusion. It's definitely an uphill battle but Mr Heathman is fighting. With your help he'll have the tools to WIN. And whether you're on the Left and are tired of the ever-growing, ever-militarizing police state or you're on the Right and believe in our Constitution and the true meaning behind the 2nd Amendment- which is to enable Americans to take up arms against tyrannical, criminal government- this is a cause to support. This is a cause that should have national coverage, because the truth is, Sheriff Blair and his cronies created a culture where deputies were given carte blanch to terrorize citizens. This isn't a case of a bad apple or two beating or even killing someone. This is a case of an entire sheriff's department either victimizing a multitude of victims or covering up for those that do.
So even if you are staunchly pro-cop and believe they are above reproach- we aren't exactly pro-criminal or anti-cop- you have to see that there's something wrong when a citizen is serving a life sentence for defending himself against a crime perpetrated by law enforcement who then wrote the reports as they saw fit. None of this is suspected. None of this is questionable. A deputy pled guilty to it and went to prison; An elected sheriff was arrested for it; A six-figure-a-year Major resigned because of it. Not a single officer stepped forward to stop the beating or report it. They all swore to the same version of events, which has since proven to be dishonest.

Check the links. Google it. Research "Justifiable use of deadly force in Florida." If a defendant reasonably fears he's in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm- and in Mr Heathman's case the jury instruction added aggravated assault or aggravated battery- he is justifiable in using deadly force. So again, the crime committed against Mr Heathman DECRIMINALIZES what he did, and a new trial with good representation, we believe, will vindicate Mr Heathman.
Please donate and please share this story. If this is allowed to stay, what's to stop it from happening to you or someone you care about?

Thank You Ever So Much

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innocent father needs help with lawyer

My name is laura roten My husband charles roten was charged with aggravated dui almost 2 yrs ago we have been fighting it ever since. I know many people say they are innocent and 90% of the time they are lying but not with this case. He is truly innocent. We have a 2 1/2 yr old son, so we dont have a lot of money. We need to raise money so we can get a lawyer to prove to the state of Arizona that he is innocent

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Parents worst nightmare. Help bring Asia home.

On January 20, 2014 I gave birth to my wonderful daughter, Asia. Even though I was a single mother, I was optimistic about raising my daughter. All I wanted was to provide for her.

After two years of struggling to make ends meet with no proper support, I ran into some financial issues. My adoptive parents, who were living in Arizona at the time, offered to help me even though they never offered help before. I was desperate though, so when they offered to take Asia for a few months, I had no choice but to accept it. I gave my them temporary guardianship so I could focus on work. However, when I was making plans to pick up Asia, I learned that they went behind my back and applied and received guardianship of my daughter in Arizona.

Keeping this a secret, they then turned moved out of state of Arizona with my daughter and ceased communication. I frantically reached out to local police and FBI to report Asia missing. After weeks of waiting, I discovered they got permanent guardianship In Arizona. I then took the proper steps to end their guardianship and the judge did so on September 13,2017.

However, while I was doing that, they hired another lawyer and filed for custody again in North Carolina. They misled the court to believe I never took care of her and abandoned her. The court granted them custody and severed my rights. The evidence to show the lies is overwhelming, and it should be an easy win to get Asia back. But this is a very urgent matter, and I don’t have time to save up for a lawyer. It is my belief that if my rights are terminated, they can adopt my daughter, and it will become much harder to get her back home where she belongs.

My daughter has a loving hard working mother. I would never abandon her. I lost my mother because of her mistakes. I know what that life is like, and my daughter doesn't deserve to go through her life thinking she was unwanted. I am fighting for my constitutional right to raise my daughter. I did not lose my daughter. She was legally kidnapped, and she should be home with me.

I’m trying to raise enough money to hire a lawyer in North Carolina to help terminate their rights to my daughter, as they were obtained by deceiving the courts. Anything you can spare is greatly appreciated not just by me but also my daughter. If you’re unable to donate anything, know that I appreciate you taking the time to read this and hope that you will share my story with others. Thank you.

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Please help Family in desperate need of justice.

Our family was involved in a horrific accident earlier this year. We were rearended at a dead stop on the exit ramp of a major highway and forced into the highway where another car smashed us on the side. The guy who hit us fled the scene and we were rushed to the hospital with major injuries. My wife received 9 staples in her head and was on monitors for being 6 months pregnant and the babys heart rate was abnormal. (Thanking God we didnt lose her too). We lost almost everything that day and have not recovered from it. Our car was totalled. So we lost our car which lost our job (independent driving contractor) and our home shortly after. Our insurance providers are not going to pay for damages since the guy who caused the accident fled the scene. In fact they are trying to make us pay instead so We are trying to get an attorney to fight this wrong that has been done to us. Please help us to get the justice we deserve and possibly a piece of our lives back. This injustice has ripped away so much from our lives. We want this man found and held accountable for what was done to us. Thank you for your donations and support it means everything to our family to know someone cares.

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Courtney's Life Matters

Hello,

My name is Audrey, the mother of Courtney Clement. It is very hard for me to ask for help but in 2002 my daughter at the age of 18 years young received a devastating sentence of 25 years, although my daughter deserved to serve time, 25 years was an unfair exorbitant amount of time. Her court appointed lawyer stated "if this was any other county, she would have received a 10 year sentence" what type of geographic justice system do we have? to play with someones life over a county is egregious. The justice system is not fair to; people of color that do not have the money to hire a dream team of lawyers that will get the correct sentence or maybe no sentence at all.

While I have been riding this journey with my daughter, I have read about so many cases in which the justice system allowed individuals to go free because of their; color, economic position, privilege, prestige, etc. Below is link to a great Huffington Post article about racism in the criminal justice system:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-quigley/fourteen-examples-of-raci_b_658947.html

Since her incarceration she has made many strides/milestones: she received her high school diploma, Associates degree-graduating Magna Cum Laude, with a 3.8 GPA.

https://goo.gl/images/KaTRGm

She is currently working on her Bachelors degree in Justice Studies from Rutgers University School of Criminal Justice, her completion date is set for December 2017. Additionally, she mentors/tutors her peers who are seeking a GED, she is on the Student Advisory Committee, and has received certifications in other areas that will assist her upon her release/transition, these skills will make her marketable in the job market. 

Courtney is now 34 years old, she has and is a model prisoner, who is loved by all. When I would visit her, I would be approached by her peers and guards, telling me how she was good people, her peers letting me know how she helped them when they came. What I love most about my daughter is that she is a giver, and she doesn't blame anyone for her situation as a matter of fact, she states that she believes that prison saved her life. 

Courtney has appealed her case, which was riddled with many legal errors, to no avail. Currently, her case is deemed PCR (Post Conviction Release), and is pass the statute of limitation, the case now must be handled very different from an appeal. We have found a lawyer that will look at the case for a retainer of 5,000 dollars, and once he takes the case, additional cost will be incurred.

Although Courtney has made a poor decision early in her life, in which she has paid for this decision with a large portion of her life, it has been costly for her in more than time, she can never get back the things she has missed, like her brothers funeral.

Everybody deserves a second chance at life, I'm asking for your monetary assistance in this matter or if there a lawyer that would assist Pro Bono, that would be helpful as well.  Thank you for your help in advance and God Bless you all.

Sincerely, 

Courtney's Mom

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