Funded Justice: October 2017

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Loving Mom & Medical Professional needs your help

I am a 32 year old mother, who has spent her life working hard and being a respectful member of the community. I am engaged to a wonderful man and we had plans of getting married, buying a home and raising our family. That was all derailed when a woman who I encountered was accidentally bumped with a shopping cart in a Publix. She is not from America, and began to yell she would sue me. When my mother and I attempted to walk away she got physical with my elderly mother and myself. When I proceeded to protect us this woman fell on her knee and started yelling saying she was attacked. I presented surveillance but it is too grainy to see what happened. Please help us. I do not have the finances to fight this. My daughter is 5 and she will suffer if I can not represent myself properly. I want to move on and prove what this woman did and hopfully stop her from doing this to others in the future. I am a hard working citizen who cares for others. If you can help us, I will be sure to help others i the future. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Please help Dan raise legal fees for his divorce

I need help paying legal fees for my divorce.

My wife, V, and I began dating in April 2001. V was pregnant when we started dating, and A was born in August 2001. V was accepted to UT Dallas in fall 2004, and I applied and was accepted to the Electrical Engineering program at UTD for the same semester. We lived together in Dallas for two years, until I was accepted to the Architectural Engineering program at UT Austin in fall 2006. We lived separately while V finished her degree at UTD, and I began studies in Austin. A lived with V’s parents in Houston, while we were in school for these three years.

We were married in Houston on 8 June 2007, and moved in together in Austin in July of that year, with A. V worked at an insurance company while I completed my Bachelor’s Degree. In January 2009 I got a job in the field that became my career, as I completed my final undergraduate semester. I legally adopted A in August 2009. In September 2009 we purchased a townhouse. Our daughter J was born in February 2010.

I was accepted into the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Acoustics Program at UT Austin for the fall 2012 semester, and three weeks before the end of the semester, in November 2012, our son B was born. Also in November 2012, we closed on a house in northwest Austin, and moved in shortly thereafter.

The relationship has never been on very solid ground, with fights being somewhat common. During the fights, V has displayed a history of initiating physical and emotional violence, and has also been prone to emotional outbreaks at times of high stress:

In around 2005, during an argument, V struck me with a metal candlestick, breaking the skin on my left arm and requiring stitches. We told the medical team and my parents that I cut myself while dumpster diving.
In 2005 or 2006, I had been out of town on an audio recording session, and when I returned home he found evidence of heavy drinking at the apartment. Knowing that V very rarely drank alcohol, I inquired about what happened. V at first claimed that she had some friends over to study, but ultimately admitted that she and a male friend were studying alone, and that she offered him enough alcohol, including hard liquor and my homemade beer, that the friend was unable to drive home. V had also insisted that the friend sleep in bed with her, claiming to me that she wanted to be sure he did not choke on his own vomit.
In 2008, I was completing a semester project that was keeping me at school more that V appreciated. I made special arrangements with the professor to complete his project at home, to maximize the amount of time I was able to be with my family, while still working on the project. Later, in a rage, V smashed part of the balsa wood model with a dictionary.
In April of 2008, after I made an off-hand comment about V’s lactose intolerance while getting ice cream, V, A and I returned home. V locked herself in the bedroom and eventually came out screaming and being generally violent. I left the apartment with A because the environment was not safe. I did not have parental custody of A at the time, and V called the police, claiming that I had kidnapped her daughter. The police showed up, noticed some dried blood on my face from when V had scraped me with my glasses, and in the end, V was charged with domestic assault, and arrested. This resulted in a CPS visit, court ordered anger management classes for V, and a couple months of couples counseling. During the same incident, while A and I were away from the apartment, V took a thumb drive with files related to a group project I was working on and hid it, claiming at the time that she had thrown it out the porch to the wooded area. A and I searched the area, but could not find it. I got one of V’s friends from work to bail her out of jail, as I was unable to – being the subject of the attack – in hindsight this should have been a huge red flag. Upon returning home, V revealed that she had hidden the thumb drive in a drawer.
Later in 2008 V began an affair with one of her coworkers that continued into early or mid 2009. I found instant messages open on our shared computer, which hinted about a meetup that the two were planning that very morning, and I looked further back and found evidence of previous meetups as well. I called V at work, and asked point blank if she was having an affair. V came home immediately to talk about it, but I left the house before she arrived. We worked things out with the help of couples counseling, although V was very hesitant to tell her counterpart that the affair was over. It is probable that the two of them continued a platonic relationship, if not a sexual one, until he was fired around 2010. V continues to put the onus of this affair on me.
In 2002 I was witness to the murder of a friend. V has found that I am incredibly sensitive to this subject and she has consistently brought this subject up in the course of arguments about completely unrelated issues. V has repeatedly claimed to wish that the bullet that killed my friend had also hit me, or had hit me instead of my friend.
We bought a house in November 2012. Throughout 2013 and 2014, I would come home for lunch as often as possible to visit V and the kids. It was very common for V to be still in bed at lunchtime, with the kids unattended.
It has always been my responsibility (and pleasure) to wake the kids up and get them ready for school, help them with their homework and musical instrument practice, and to read them a story and put them to bed at night. When I am unavailable for this, due to being out of town, etc., V has consistently refused to stick to the routines that the kids are used to, and instead wakes them up by flipping on the lights and announcing that it is time to wake up, and putting them to bed by playing games on her phone in our bed, then sending them to their rooms to tuck themselves in, or letting them sleep in our bed. They have never responded well to this. It was not uncommon for me to return from a late night at work to find the young children still awake, and in our bed, well after their bed time. On a related note, during a week-long period in January 2016, when I was out of town on business, my father came into town to ensure that the kids were at school on time, and taken care of in general. On Tuesday or Wednesday, V told my father that she could take care of them for the rest of the week, and he returned home to Houston. The kids did not make it to school on time for the rest of the week, and A ended up having to get a ride from the neighbor on Friday.
It has also been my ongoing responsibility to do the grocery shopping, the laundry, and the dishes, not to mention the house maintenance and lawn care responsibilities. V's main family responsibilities were to make sure the bills were paid, the social calendar, and transporting children to their after-school activities.
Several times (Mallie, Nano, Dobby, Strawberry, Blueberry) V has unilaterally adopted a dog which the family was then responsible for. V has consistently refused to feed the dogs or keep them watered, or to walk with them along with the rest of the family, leaving these responsibilities to me and the kids.
Around June of 2016, V began a series of casual sex type affairs, with men she met on Craigslist. In July 2016, V asked me to look up something on her phone, and I found a very tawdry text message on her phone from some unknown male. V maintains that nothing happened between herself and the text messager.
In March 2017 I returned from work to find that V had shredded many of my underwear, shirts , and (oddly) all three neckties that I owned, with scissors.

By early 2017, we had spent most of our savings, had maxed out several credit cards (and were participating in a debt reduction program), had taken out loans against most of the value of my life insurance, and had borrowed money from the kids’ accounts. In the previous almost ten years of marriage, the paying of the bills has always been V’s sole responsibility. This is understood to be a major source of V’s ongoing stress. Adding to this stress, in early April 2017 our air conditioning system required repair which was estimated at $1,850, and the couple’s tax preparer reported that we owed the IRS was owed approximately. These, on top of the expected expenses of A’s dual credit course at the local community college, and our planned trip to Grand Rapids in June (where I was presenting my MS thesis at an industry conference), were completely demolishing the family budget. I have had control of the family budget since early April 2017, when V made it clear that she would no longer be accepting this responsibility. It was after taking control of these matters that I realized that the money that V earned at her 2-3 days-per-week office job was not being deposited into the shared bank account, but instead into V’s private account, which was supposed to be used as a business account only, for her burgeoning crafting business.

V and I had a major fight on 18 April 2017, after I came home late from work due to needing to meet with my thesis advisor on campus after his lecture, and after my typical workday. I returned to the house to find that she had destroyed things around the house (she put scissors or a screwdriver through a painting that a former neighbor of mine made, had overturned a bookshelf that was full of recording and beer brewing equipment, had cut up more clothes, destroyed a photo album, etc.). She had this tantrum while the younger children were at home, and left as soon as I came home with A. She returned about a half hour later, saying that she needed to retrieve her laptop, but began to hit and punch me. I led her back to the bedroom to keep the children from seeing her in this state. As per usual, I left her in the bedroom, and locked myself out of the room (she was able at any time to unlock this door from the inside). This was to give her some space to calm down, and it had worked fairly often when she was in this kind of state. This day she came back out almost immediately, swinging her keys on a lanyard like a nun-chuck, and I brought her back to the bedroom. She came back out again, this time with a knife, and I grabbed her wrist and took the knife away, then grabbed her upper arm and took her back to the bedroom. I lifted her up and placed her on the bed, and stroked her legs in an attempt to calm her. It seemed to be having the intended effect, and she was in there for much longer this time. Eventually she calmed down enough for me to feel like she was not a danger to others on the road, and she left the house. She peeled out, and raced down the street, not stopping at the stop sign at the end of the road.

It is easy to see in hindsight that our marriage was doomed, but I stubbornly tried to keep it together for the sake of the children, if nothing else. After she left in April I set forth three conditions that I insisted on, if our relationship was to continue: (1) I wanted V to get individual counseling, with someone qualified to diagnose her for suspected bipolar disorder, (2) I wanted us to get couples counseling, where we could discuss our situation, and V's promiscuity in a safe place with a third party present, and (3) I wanted V to keep the same schedule as the rest of the family; she had gotten into the habit of taking a late afternoon nap as the rest of the family ate dinner, then staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning, while never being available to help with the kids in the mornings.

After leaving on 18 April, she did not return to the house for several days, leaving me with three kids and four dogs. After that, she came back periodically, when she needed to do the laundry, take a shower, get something to eat, use the internet, etc., and even spent the night on occasion. She joined me on our planned trip to Grand Rapids, MI in June (it had been planned since February), and when she told me towards the end of the trip that she had a good time and was glad she came, I thought that we would likely get back together afterwards. She left again the day after we got back to town.

I took her out to dinner on her birthday, 31 July, and we had great conversation, staying at the restaurant until after it had closed and they asked us to leave, then spending about a half hour in the parking lot chatting and dancing while I sang our wedding song. The very next day, 1 August, she filed papers, and on 2 August I was served with a Petition for Divorce (somewhat expected), and also an Ex-Parte Protective Order (not at all expected), in which she claimed that I had been beating her regularly for years, and had sexually assaulted her. She claimed that I was a danger to her and the children. Her evidence was photos of bruises on her wrist and bicep, from when I had grabbed her to secure the knife and take her back to the bedroom to calm down. I had been watching the kids virtually single handedly for approximately 3.5 months at this point. Luckily, when I received these papers, the kids were visiting grandparents out of town, or I would have been forced out of the house immediately upon receiving the Protective Order.

I spent approximately $4,500 in a week preparing for trial, and getting her to agree that I was not a danger to the children. I spent an additional $10,000 preparing for and participating in the 3-day trail. During the trial, V's mother testified that she had seen V slap A across the face when she was talking back to me about math homework, and that there was occasion when V was a teenager that she hit her mother with a shoe, while her mother was driving, and that the blow was severe enough to draw blood (I had not been aware of this incident until the trial). Also at the trial, A talked to the judge in her chambers, and told her that she wanted to live with me, and that V was abusive. I was told by multiple people that our minor child,above the age of twelve, would be able to talk to the judge in chambers, and that her testimony would be considered in the ruling, but that we would not find out specifically what was said. This turned out to be inaccurate, as the judge told us major parts of A's testimony, and yet ruled that V and I were to split the house 3.5 days a week each, while the children stayed put (this is referred to as a "nesting arrangement"). Another part of the ruling required V to attend anger management counseling, and the last major portion of the ruling required my to pay for both sets of legal fees, as V was claiming an income of only $800 per month. The judge did make clear that she did not believe that I was abusive towards V or the kids, noting that if this was true she would expect to see "a broken jaw" when I discovered her affairs, as opposed to the couples counseling that I always reverted to; the protective order was thrown away.

We have been in this nesting arrangement since late August, and it is not immediately clear when this will be over. We will either end up in mediation, or back at trial.

I am attempting to raise enough money to either see us through trial, where we will almost certainly be forced to sell the house, or through mediation, where I intend to use the remaining funds to pay V off on her portion of the equity that we have in the house so that I can keep the kids at the house.

Thank you for your time in reading this, and for your generosity in donating.

Desperate, heartbroken father fighting for rights

My name is Leon, father of a beautiful little 9 year old girl, named Karleona, who I miss so much I find myself not sleeping at night and breaking down in tears thinking about her. My ex-girlfriend of 15 years has controlled my time with her throughout our relationship and after, and now, after, has done everything to altogether prevent us from being together, or her talking to me. She's gone as far as getting a restraining again me over a verbal fight, almost 2 hours drive apart, on Christmas day eve, because she refused me any time with her. I guess I finally got tired of giving her everything her way, thinking i was keeping the peace for my daughter's sake, all the while my daughter and I were spending almost no time. She's moved her, to now, her 3rd school In 3 years, and this time further away. I am her loving father, she has my name and my name is on the birth certificate, but as the law stands, we weren't married, thank God, but because of that, as the mother, she gets her rights, as the father I have to pay lawyers and court fees to prove that I'm even the father. If the mother doesn't say, and sign paperwork, saying so voluntarily. I'm working so hard to pay the monthly bills, and on top of that deal with various health issues and costs, that I'm struggling to pull together any money to fight for my daughter and her right to see, and be influenced and raised by her loving father. As a proud, hard working person, I struggle with my pride asking for help, but it's taking a toll on my mental health, and i can't imagine the pain my daughter is hiding from her mother, behind her smiles. I also know, as someone raised without birth parents, how life as teenager and a young man was more difficult and I don't want her to struggle in life as I did, and far too many others have, and do.

PLEAESE,PLEASE help, if not for me, then for my daughter. The pain I feel without her, hurts unlike any I've ever known. She deserves to grow up being loved by her dad.

I believe my ex will do everything in her power fighting me. I'm positive it will end up going beyond proving paternity and a civil mediation for schedule of time, to paying for counseling, guardian enlightem being appointed(more lawyers who represent the child$$$), travel costs where she lives and on and on. Any help will be greatly appreciated. My only wish is to see and spend time with her this year, before its over.

Dr Jeff Cooney's Legal Fees - Show him some love!

Hello!

I'm Margaret Lewis. As a Bend Oregon resident I have known veterinarian Jeff Cooney for the last seven years. I'm asking for you to join me in helping Dr Cooney pay for legal fees incurred when his beloved High Desert Wildlife Rescue fell apart.

Jeff suffered a series of three strokes in early 2016 that left him unable to fulfill his role at the rescue while he was hospitalized and going through rehabilitation. During the time Jeff was away, his wildlife rescue came under scrutiny because of irresponsible actions by his (then) partner and Jeff's inability to perform his duties of caring for the animals.

Charges were brought against Dr Cooney and his (then) partner. He is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday October 18th. The total of his legal fees is as yet unknown.

Dr Cooney has served our community for years, passionately caring for injured wildlife and educating the public about the native creatures around us.

https://blog.procpr.org/mouth-to-beak-cpr-rescues-injured-bald-eagle

This has been a difficult battle. I believe our community should repay Jeff for his selfless unpaid service to us. Please give what you can - no amount is too small! Also I ask that you join me in praying that justice is served!

Help Disrupt the IACP Conference in Philly!

The IACP brings together law enforcement agencies from around the world to "advance the science and art of police services." Central to the conference's agenda is to share and develop the latest strategies for managing dissent and putting a friendly face on police terror and control. The conference's presentations on issues such as "diversity in hiring," "trust and accountability," and, above all, "community policing," will be led by those who engineered some of the most notoriously brutal policing of the past year — including the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, who repressed the rebellion at Standing Rock; the DC police chief, who gave orders to kettle J20 protesters in January; and the Chief of Pasco, WA's police department, who will be doing a presentation on how his department maintained stability and "public trust" after officers murdered Antonio Zambrano-Montes. Border Patrol and the FBI will also be present.

Organizations and individuals will be mobilizing in mass demonstrations and have called for decentralized, autonomous actions throughout the weekend to oppose this gathering, and we need your help! Any funds you can give will go towards bail in the event of arrests that weekend, and it's crucial that we fundraise in advance in order to show people coming out for this mobilization that we support them.

Please donate what you can – anything you can give helps!

** All funds not used for bail during the IACP conference will be donated to the Philly Anti-Repression Fund to support future arrestees. **

Corruption claims an Innocent man's freedom!

Hello! I'm Brad and I've decided to take action and start this campaign for my very good friend S'dayleah. S'dayleah is married to Travis Underwood, an innocent man who 12 years ago was sentenced to spend the rest of his life confined within the Michigan DOC.

Travis was found guilty on no more than tainted "circumstantial" evidence in the form of heresay from a majority of questionable characters, so inconsistent and contradictory were their statements that the Michigan Court of Appeals even recognised the differences. The Prosecutor twisted, bent and manipulated people's words in order to fit the scenario they were crafting, stringing together portions of people's statements and relying heavily on prison snitch testimony in an attempt to manufacture a guilty man.

An example of what is being dealt with here sees that no forensic evidence found linked Travis to any of the crime scenes, fingernail scrapings tested found DNA belonging to 2 seperate males, Travis was EXCLUDED as a match. There was an absence of blood evidence, evidence of chemical residue, fingerprints, fibres and any further factual evidence, this should raise enough reasonable doubt, but Travis's motion for a forensic investigator was denied, he was not afforded an expert to properly investigate all forensic evidence and speak before the jury thus violating his right to build his defence, sadly Travis was not afforded much of anything to defend himself.

There are a lot small details that are extremely significant, this is quite a complex case but S'dayleah has amounted substantial evidence that proves law officials failed to properly investigate, intentional acts of misconduct from the prosecutors office, abuse of judicial discretion from the then presiding judge and absolute ineffective assistance of counsel...the reality of the situation is that Travis Underwood was unjustly represented, and was not afforded a fair trial and that's what we need, a new FAIR trial with ALL the facts this time!

I've watched S'dayleah work tirelessly on Travis's case, pushing herself, dedicating her time and energy to investigating, researching and organizing every aspect of the case, if there is something she doesn't know about then she will learn about it and her perseverance has lead her to uncover some rather important information that needs the attention of an attorney who knows how to handle wrongful conviction cases, unfortunantly it's been tough for S'dayleah to compile the funds needed to get an attorney on board, she does her best to take care of 3 children with special needs as well as manage her own health, afford the medication used to treat her rare neurovascular disorder, maintaining the home; food, water, electricity, gas etc and making sure Travis has his necessities. I've started this campaign for S'dayleah because I've never in my life seen her so defeated and I know she and Travis need this help more than anything.
 All contributions will go directly to the attorney and when paid in full a receipt will be posted.

 We are all optimistic that solid evidence has been uncovered and now Travis just needs that attorney to get his foot back in the courtroom door to fight the corruption, right his wrongful conviction and go home to take care of his wife and children who need him.

 Without you and your support Travis may never get the attorney that he needs. Travis and his family would be eternally grateful for your help in this fight to reclaim his freedom. If you are unable to donate today please share this campaign, your help in getting the word out is just as valuable, no gift is too small.

We all wish to thank you in advance, now lets start the ball rolling and bring this innocent man home!!

Please help w/ legal fees for 18-year Army veteran

My ex-wife falsely accused me of sexually abusing our daughter. This allegation was dismissed in state court, Child Protective Services, and Family Advocacy due to a lack of both material or corroborating evidence. Now, the government is pursuing a court-martial for the same charge, despite the dismissals from three other investigations. I have important evidence that proves the allegation is vindictive, and in the context of a divorce/custody dispute. I am innocent, and I ask for your help in proving it.

I am an 18-year Army veteran. I have deployed to Kosovo, Iraq, and Korea.

I need help with my current fees for a military justice attorney. Thank you so much!

* I need to keep to these facts to protect myself during this pending court-martial.

Life changing annulment

Hello my name is Christopher Cortez I'm 33 I have battled drug addiction for several years after my father had passed away. During this time fram I have racked up several felony convictions do to my drug use (all non violent possession of controlled drugs 318:B) I have since been clean for over 3 years i have a son now and my life has changed. Do to these felony charges finding gainful employment has been near impossible making it very difficult to support my family. The reason for me doing this is to try and raise money to get my felony charges annulled so they will no longer be present on my criminal history making job hunting easier and allowing me to provide a better life for my son. All money raised will be put towards an attorney and fees needed to help me get this done. Ive never been a person to ask for help from anyone but with barely getting by on bills and food for my family I haven't been able to save any money to make this happen. I'm asking for the public's help to be able to provide a good solid life for my son and family please and thank you for any consideration.

Eviction, Again, Due to Officers Lies...

Hello, my name is Ryley Demers. I am 21 and have never had a record, love animals to death, and just want to do everything well so most people like me, so maybe I can tolerate myself and enjoy and actually live life for once.

I am being charged with animal cruelty by a responding officer, which has info recorded that are outright lies. I was going to commit suicide May 28th, and in between 9 am and 11 am I consumed 75-325 mg aspirin. Sometime between 2(or 2:30 pm)- 3 pm, my very nerve damaged cat wouldn't stay out from underneath my feet. I was pacing, and I had to move him every 10-30 seconds for an hour. The last time I removed him I did it differently because I had stepped on him and thought I hurt him. Because I was losing brain and bodily functions, I tried tossing him to my phone couch(was a routine because it wouldn't hurt him but would disturb him enough to be like hey don't do that. He would always come running back to me and sit on my lap and want my love) but biffed it really bad and tripped on stuff. I fell face first as I was mid arm raising. His name was Twitch... 1/4-1/3 of his upper back made contact with the wall(rest was foam) and he fell 1-1.5 feet to the couch. Even though it was 3-4 times harder than I would toss him, a normal cat wouldn't have been harmed. He seemed fine, walked up, I pet him for a minute or two and he just walked off. A few hours later around 4 or 5, I went to pet him but he wouldn't move. I freaked out and tried testing limb movement gently, and it got worse. I started bawling because I wanted to die, but loved my cat more than me. I called 911 and explained things, and cops showed up 10 mins later with ambulance 5 after. I was 1.5-2,5 hours away from death when I made it there. I was life flighted to CDA, and spent 2.5 days in the ICU. A week or two after I was released, 2 officers knocked on my door and gave me my charge. I've had 3 postponements of my pretrial, turns out 3rd(of 4) pretrial date actually happened 2 months ago( was given wrong time). I had my 4th today, and I know why I'm being charged now. The officer stated I had admitted to being angry at Twitch for escaping his cage and peeing on the floor. He also said I said I 'threw his cat to the couch and he hit the wall with his back' in his report, and that his cage was soaked with dried pee of (paraphrasing so meaning is as close as possible(constant use of me locking him in there for long periods of time)). I was recorded during the 911 call, and should have been at my house because 4-7 cops and 'safety concern'. I told the truth beginning at the 911 call, saying I tripped and it was an accident. I didn't say why I tossed him due to decline of functions and interrogation. I had used his cage once for about 2 minutes so I could clean my room months before, and it was up and put away since.

I live in Idaho, so my attorney is very reluctant to prove my innocence. I finally talked to her today. By calling them and saving my cat, I obtained $43,000+ in debt because of no insurance. I lost my job which I still can't even get back yet. I haven't worked in 4 months(got ssc copy 2ish weeks ago finally). I was evicted, and might be again soon. Why would I ever want to hurt my cat? Who would accept those results for a cat if they were angry at it? He was my first animal, and stopped my from trying months before. Even for a cat, he was my life.

I have had no income at all for 4 months, and need help to try and find an attorney that is within 150 miles that will actually fight for me. I have been severely depressed since I was 15, so 6 years now. This is going to fuck me up forever, and I've been barely hanging on but have come closer to being alive again than ever until I realized what I was up against. I need help so badly. This has been holding me back. and changing things in every way... All I had going for me before really was a clean record. I critique myself so having a stain won't ever go away I think...

I know this seems either pathetic, weak, stupid or not worth it. I'm all of the above, but I don't know what do to now, which is why I'm asking for help. I've been fighting myself for a really long time, and I need to find that difference. Asking random people is the only thing I can do now, so even if you don't contribute, please share this so maybe someone else will. Everything, no matter the amount, will make every difference. This can change everything.

UPDATE: looks like my eviction is happening again, got a job finally but it won't really change anything... My kittens can't be homeless with me, and they're why I have to succeed :/

If you donate, I will remember you forever. I don't have anyone in my life at this point that can help me, so even if it fails it'll be a little but better. Thank you for your time and patience with reading my plea. I hope you all have a very nice day :)

Time to take it their doorstep!

Hello,

My name is Stephen Jesmer, I am looking to get $1000 for a retainer fee for a lawyer who would represent me against National Collegiate Trust. Unfortunately I made some poor decisions in my youth and now those decisions are coming back to potentially cause severe consequences. The debt has gone past the statute of limitations, but unfortunately without a lawyer to represent me, I am fearful that I won't be able prove it front of a judge.

Any help is so appreciated that I can't even describe how thankful I will be to anyone who is willing to help,

Stephen Jesmer

Casey looks to bring light into the world

Casey Harper grew up in Sioux City, Iowa, graduating from North High School in 1988. A long downward spiral with drugs led him all over the western U.S., and ultimately to selling drugs in Arizona. A drug fueled, multi-state theft spree in 1994 from Wall Drug in South Dakota, through Wyoming and Colorado, and finally to northern Arizona ended in the worst moment of Casey's life when he was pulled over and ultimately shot a police officer.

The officer recovered and was back on the force until his retirement; he is still alive today.

Casey was convicted in 1995 of attempted murder with the enhanced charge because it was a police officer, and sentenced to 20 years. All of this was a just and correct sentence for his crime. He served 100 percent of his sentence on Sept. 5, 2015.

Within that time, on Aug. 9, 2010, Casey's mother, Diane, took her own life. Casey's mother was his touchstone, his best friend, and Casey was not allowed a furlough to attend his mother's funeral.

Now Casey's father, pictured at left, above, has turned 70, and Casey wants to spend time with his dad while he can.

Casey is now in prison (serving time in Iowa since his transfer in 1997) on the consecutive charges of theft. One conviction was for 16 years, and one for 3. It's now two years into his longer conviction, and he is eligible to apply for clemency just on that charge. Then he would have to serve two years of the three year sentence before being able to apply for clemency on that charge.

After 22 years, getting out in another four may not seem so bad.

Casey has steadily worked while in prison, has been a leader of inmate council and other organizations. He has done art and woodwork throughout his years. He mentors younger inmates. He has completed certification in several computer programs, including Microsoft Office. He has run the hobby shop, worked on maintenance, worked as a steward, and held other jobs during his sentence. He's read hundreds of books and done all he could to educate himself while in prison. He is a fantastic correspondent and has inspired many people with his optimism. He continues to study restorative justice through the works of Howard Zehr. If there's a charity run or similar event in his prison, he always participates.

He describes himself as "generally a happy guy" despite his diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

Now 47, Casey's back and knees are giving him issues, and his health is not what it could be. He used to run during yard time, but has fewer opportunities to do so. He generally lives minimally as there are not that many supporters who are able to send him money. He often does not have a coat, boots, decent shoes so that he spends weeks in the winter never going outside.

The money raised will be held in trust until Casey and his supporters find the right lawyer to help navigate the system and petition for his release, whether on parole, through clemency, or through gaining early release. Remember, he is held on theft charges from the burglaries he committed on his way through the western states to deliver drugs, money and jewelry to Arizona. The shots fired were devastating, and he served 100 percent of his time, giving up his youth in exchange for the damage he did.

Please help Casey get released before he turns 50, before time runs out with his father, so he can re-establish relationships with his brothers, so he can replace all the darkness he brought to the world with light from good works and helping others. He still has plenty of energy and marketable skills, and could work perhaps another 20-25 years.

In desperate need of financial help and appeal

My name is Shannon, I am the mother of three one of which is now a wrongly incarcerated young man. Timothy is the child of every mother's dream. Polite, loving, compassionate, intelligent, athletic, popular, charming, talented, respectful...the child, teen and young man that every adult says, "He is welcome anytime!", the type of young man that makes you proud. He was "perfect". Never any trouble in or out of school, even as a teenager! Nothing but good grades and admirable behavior. He had one girlfriend for 8 years, he held the same job for 7 years, he was a student at a California University and has dreams of being a teacher or therapist because he wants to help make a positive difference in people's lives. All of that has been stripped from him an he now sits in a cell, deprived of even time outdoors for the last two years. We are fighting desperately to free him but also to get the judgement against him removed. A judgement that will never allow him the life he deserves and has worked so hard for.

When he was sent to prison he was in full psychosis and not at all in touch with reality. He was waiting for his medication and became upset when they told him they did not have his medicine. The corrections officers, rather than helping him, beat him. One brought charges accusing Timothy of hitting him but all medical records prove it was self defense. Both officers had cut and bruised knuckles. One even had a dislocated thumb and according to the medical records these are all offensive wounds. The claim that Tim had punched one of them in the face proves false as there was no injury at all to his face, not a scrape, not a bruise, not a lump.

Timmy was injured and sent to the state hospital, Thankfully! It is also a mental hospital and they decided to keep him there for his incarceration instead of general population prison because he needed to be mentally stabilized. Because of this mixed blessing his mental illness was diagnosed, he is receiving treatment through therapy and medication and is "himself". He has a team of mental health doctors who work with him daily. They have nothing but praise for him, he was even elected to be the patient advocate for all other patients and he helps the other inmate patients in the therapy groups, helping them to read or complete assignments they cannot understand. His social worker even told me they have such high hopes for him they hope he will pursue his dream of being an elementary school teacher or a psychologist. He cannot do either with the felony.

The DA is now trying to charge him with a second felony strike and 6 more years for "hitting the officer". We need your help. This defense is extremely expensive but so important! Please help us raise the funds to save our son from these additional charges and to continue to appeal the first. Please help us to give a really good guy a chance in life. THANK YOU!

Reunite Baby Oliver with his Family

Oliver is the greatest blessing that Hannah and Aaron have received in their life.

We recently moved to Savannah, GA, to raise our son in the beautiful city and to be closer to Hannah’s family. We have spent our days reading books, telling stories, listening to The Bible Project, and discovering new things; we have spent our evenings and weekends taking Oliver to see and smell as much as possible: the parks, the Spanish moss, the beach, and the warm air. We love Oliver more than we can comprehend, and we look forward to every day with him—even the middle-of-the-night wakeups to breastfeed.

But a week ago, our family was ripped apart.

Mom and Dad sought medical care for Oliver, who is now 12 weeks old, when he had a swollen ear, arm, and a fever. We were worried about him and knew he needed to see a doctor.

At the hospital, Oliver was found to have multiple fractures and he had not gained much weight in several weeks. Mom and dad were falsely reported to the hospital for the absolutely unthinkable: child abuse. Oliver has now been taken into Georgia state custody. We have not been able to visit Oliver in the hospital since Sunday, and we were told he will be placed in a foster home until the investigation ends. He is being exclusively fed formula, and mom has not been allowed to breastfeed him or bring him breastmilk, putting extremely special and important bonding and health benefits at risk.

Hannah, Aaron, and Oliver need your support during this heartbreaking time. Lawyer fees, expert testimonies, and medical bills pile up, and as friends, family, and coworkers we must help them fight this uphill battle so that Oliver can be reunited with his parents.

We are seeking alternate medical explanations, of which there are many possible, to help explain our son's fractures. Meanwhile, we are being accused of the absolutely unthinkable, and we are fighting against powerful people.

It breaks our hearts every moment we are not able to see his beautiful smile and hear his voice and laugh, to feed and hold and love him with everything we have. Our days are filled with tears and bouts of strength, and we are doing our best to hold our heads high and be strong -- for him.

We are putting our trust in God to help us reunite our family. But we need your help, because we cannot do this alone -- mentally, physically, emotionally, or financially.

Please help spread the word and help us reunite our family.

We won't stop until we have our beautiful, intelligent, happy baby back in our arms. We love you Bubby, and we'll never give up.

#JusticeForAbel

Abel Cedeno was just another teen boy trying to get through his personal trials and tribulations and school. Bullied since the sixth grade, he still kept a smile on his face and loved to make people laugh. He was a funny, loving, and kind hearted teen boy who was bullied for being flamboyant and bisexual. Being who he was made him a target. Abel is every other teen boy not only in the LGBTQ community but in every community, that struggle to accept themselves in a world that isn’t very accepting of others being “different”. Every year our teens are committing suicide, SUICIDE!!, due to being tormented, tortured, spit on, name called, harassed, punched, shoved, and abused in every other way, for being what we have taught them to always be, THEMSELVES!

If he was on his way to commit suicide when he was on his way out that classroom, would anyone have cared? Would it even be in the media? Would the people outraged now even feel bad for him? Bullying is NEVER OK and schools should do more to prevent it and deal with it. Abel was often told to IGNORE the bullying and to GROW UP and be the BETTER PERSON. Ignoring the bullying is what got us in this situation.

We need help to get him a super good lawyer and to pay for legal fees and his commissary. If you can find it in your hearts and if you identify with him in any way PLEASE help us reach our goal. Abel is every teen that has always wanted the bullying to stop and has felt STUCK. Help us help HIM. If we surpass our goal we will use these funds for an ANTI-BULLYING EVENT. Thank you #JusticeForAbel #StopBullying

Justice for my brother Bradley

My little brother, Bradley Hartz, has been victimized by the US justice system. He was involved in an argument this past 4th of July over music volume that escalated into a physical altercation - one that did not result in serious bodily harm to either party. His attackers are now pressing charges against him for defending himself. Brad is being wrongfully accused of instigating this event, and facing very serious charges that include the possibility of prison.

This has been a heartbreaking devastation for our family. We just can't afford a private lawyer and his court appointed lawyer is completely unacceptable. He is literally on vacation right now and before he was he would not answer any calls or do any of the things he said would the one time we were contacted by him. Despite all of this the court refuses to appoint him a different defender for reasons we do not understand.

Any donations towards his new defense would be deeply appreciated.

Thank you all very much

The Vigneault's have no choice but to fight on

I cannot understand why this is happening to us. I really believed that by now, a rational and sensible county worker would step forward and admit that our case was handled poorly and stop this attack. Instead it get's more nightmarish daily as the rules and accusations keep changing.

Many friends have given generously and we are overwhelmed with appreciation. I am launching this new campaign because we will run out of money before we get to the hearing and the caseworker has unlimited resources at her disposal - next week she will file a motion to stop us from using THIS resource to ask for financial help. I am embarrassed that I must make this plea. Please pray that our house will sell quickly and we will then have sufficient resources to continue this fight.

They have accused me a saying disparaging things about the department. I have nothing but respect and appreciation for what CPS is attempting to do and their very good intention to protect children. We have worked with many wonderful workers from CPS whose professional demeanor and tireless efforts have blessed our family.

It is because of my respect for these good workers that it breaks my heart to see one caseworker drag down the good reputations of the many. Somebody needs to step forward and realize the damage that this caseworker is doing to our family. She knows every secret thing about us, she knows we are broke and broken and she is hitting at our most vulnerable weaknesses.

For those who are not familiar with our story, Teresa and I are under a hostile attack from Child Protective Services. One of our sons has severe Reactive Attachment Disorder. Many will say that RAD is a rare problem but NOT to a foster or adoptive family. These poor children have been rejected and neglected and are seriously damaged. Logic tells us that they just need to be loved in a family setting. Unfortunately that is the worst trigger for a child with RAD. These kids do well in an institution, a school or even any other family but in the family where he or she is loved, the child becomes an expert at manipulation.

A RAD child really believes that he will be rejected again and so he begins to punish the loving mom (the nurturing enemy) for all the times that his bio mom did not protect him. Our son was burned, beaten, starved and attacked by dogs before he was five years old. How could we turn away from the opportunity to give him a healthy family?

Unfortunately, he and his bio sister turned on my loving wife. They manipulated, triangulated and even physically hurt our pets, other children and us. We have had deputies, police, detectives, case workers, social workers in our house often. I continued to hold out hope that they would get better with love. They only got worse.

There comes a point where a family with RAD kids runs out of options. There are residential treatment centers where these kids can receive help. The average treatment lasts six to nine months and costs $210 a day. I wish I would have known that three years ago. I quit my job to keep Teresa and kids safe and have been living off my pension. That pension is now gone.

One of our social workers suggested that we contact CPS to see if the county could get behind a plan to get our son into residual treatment. A caseworker came to the house and interviewed each of our children and Teresa and me. I had read that in some cases when parents reach out to CPS that instead of help, CPS charges the parents with neglect and takes their children away. I brought this up to the caseworker who I believed was really trying to get help for our son. She put a paper in front of me that said, "Parents are no longer willing/capable to care for children." I protested, I told her that wasn't right, that those words are too harsh. I told her I was afraid someone will come in and take our kids away.

She looked at me and put her hands on her chest and said, "Bob, this is me, I'm the only on who sees this. No one is going to take your kids away. I know this sounds harsh but this is how we have to word it in order to get the process going." Assuming she meant the process of finding help for our son - I signed the paper.

Signing that paper gave her the ability to lie, deceive and devastate our family with impunity. A few days later she tricked us into coming to the county building for what we thought was a discussion of our son with RAD, instead they separated from our youngest sons and took them away.

With your help, our friends and church family, we were able to get a lawyer, he's a good lawyer with experience in this area. He was able to argue for us to get our youngest back but now we are facing a trial to protect all of our children. Not content to wait for the trial, the caseworker has harassed school teachers, doctors, therapists and manipulated information to make us look like the worst of parents. They have filed a contempt motion and created false narratives in order to nickel and dime us to death and it is working.

We need more money to keep fighting. The majority of CPS case workers we have known over the years are wonderful people. They are doing the Lord's work. There are too many children in the system and too few of these overworked workers to protect them. The tools at their disposal are inefficient. It reminds me of 17th century dentistry. Their instruments are blunt and do more damage than good. Every now and then a caseworker comes along who isn't so much interested in keeping children safe as taking control over a family. I've warned people about these types and I hate myself for falling into the trap of this one.

The system is broken. We need to draw attention to the weaknesses in CPS. It's also very important to educate the public about the great damage that RAD kids can wreak on a family. Our story is not unique, that is the saddest aspect of all of this. This has happened to others and it will keep happening.

If you can find it in your hearts we need money quickly. Three thousand dollars bought 12 hours of work and now we need another five thousand dollars to continue. If you can't give, then please pray for us. If you know any other adoptive families, ask if you can help them - watch their kids for a day or just let them hear an adult voice.

Thank you dear friends,

Bob and Teresa Vigneault

PS, if you are interested here is a story (one of many) that nearly mirrors exactly what we have been through and where we are at.

Fight this fraud

We have a situation where a car dealer finance company allowed fraud to be committed in my wifes name and then ultimately after draining the company finances proceeded to liquidate our inventory per a forged power of attorney and then sued us for a made up balance owed

We can prove that they willingly allowed fraud to take place, that they altered records submitted as evidence in their lawsuit, that they knew their contract and power of attorney was void but still acted anyway and that they violated FCRA rules by denial of our request for account records.

After all of this we are unable to come up with the funds needed to hire an attorney to handle this matter for us and we cannot let them get away with fraud simply because we cannot afford to litigate the matter. Any and all assistance would be much appreciated and would help put a stop to this creditors long history of illegal activity.

Illegally held for 22 + years.

Help Benjamin Thomas maintain his freedom

My name is Benjamin Thomas and I was charged with statutory sodomy, based on a false confession and false corroboration.

Since I have been charged, I have had my lawyer hire a private investigator to find the "victim" and get a statement from her that not only did nothing happen between us, but she was pressured into saying that it had happened.

I have a good shot at winning this if I can raise the amount of money necessary for depositions, as well as the trial fee for the lawyer I hired.

HELP PARIS COME BACK HOME TO HER FAMILY

My name is Karen. My driving force is my granddaughter Paris. She came into my home when she was only 8 days old. We picked her up from the hospital and it was one of the most joyous days of my life. She was a gift sent from God. She was a product of mother with heavy continuous drug use. When she was born they detected drugs in her little system but by the grace of God there wasn't any permanent lasting effects. The rights of both parents were taken. She is now 13 months and a happy child. She loves watching SpongeBob or bob bob as she calles it . She is not only around myself but I have 2 other grandchildren in my home that I have had since birth. One is grown and the other a 14 year old. She is in a family atmosphere filled with love. I was in the process of adoption . Her birth mother gave birth to another child about a month ago and that child was also removed. The newborn was born without drug detection in his system. He was born premature with a lot of health problems and is a special needs child. They have not taken the parental rights away from the parents and they were allowed visits. The biological mother expressed her wishes for the newborn not to be placed in my home. Since rights were still intacted they placed the newborn in another home with non relatives. So since the baby couldn't come to my home they came and took my precious grandchild out of my home and placed her in the home with her brother whom she has never seen or had established a relationship with. They took my grandbaby screaming and crying because they were strangers. She has never been out of our sight the entire 13 months she was with us..We are the only family she knows or will ever know. We are just torn up by this. How can you take away the only family a child knows and put her with strangers. I fear for her safety everyday I have talked to several attorneys trying to find one that is affordable and is knowledgeable about my situation and will take some type of a payment plan. I'm on social security so my funds are limited. I have talked to one that wants to take the case but his retainer fee is 3000 dollars. I don't have that type of money to pay upfront at once. He told me that we need to act quickly and he needs to file a petition for custody/adoption as soon as possible. His exact words were time is of the essence. The attorney told me that these are two separate cases and should have not been put together but I need legal representation to establish that fact and get this matter straightened out.. I'm in desperate need of help with attorney fees. I can not rest until I get my grandchild back home to the family she loves and loves her. PLEASE HELP .THIS BABY HAS BEEN DONE A GREAT UNJUSTICE. EVERY CHILD DESERVES TO GROW UP WITH BLOOD FAMILY.. SHE MAY NEVER KNOW HER REAL FAMILY WHICH IS SO UNFAIR. I CANNOT REST TIL SHES BACK HOME. ANY DONATION WILL BE GREATLY APPREICATED

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