My 911 Call, The "Attempted Murder" of My Daughter, & Oppression of the Family Death Penalty [View all]

[Land Shark]

Above is my daughter Iida (pronounced EE-duh), in 2010. She is even more wonderful today, especially in her emotional intelligence, her spirit, and her generally great mood. She's definitely momma's girl, and always has been.

Every night now since January 6, 2011, I’ve slept alone in the very bedroom that newspapers said my 11-year-old daughter Iida was the victim of an attempted murder by stabbing.

While sleeping in bed. (Hold your judgment! This is the media, remember!)

By her own mother. (Hold your judgment!)

By Merja Karita Lehto, my wife of 14 years from Finland. (Hold your judgment!)

In one of the few things the media said that was accurate and true, the “husband called 911.”

Despite sleeping every night in that bedroom, I have not had any nightmares or troubled thoughts about the event itself that created my daughter’s relatively minor injury, nor has my daughter Iida (now 12) or my son Jonah (now 10) had any nightmares or emotional trauma. Shortly after this happened, they both continued to play happily in the area newspapers would merely call a "crime scene," a scene of the attempted murder of an innocent girl.

But what IS quite troubling, and what I experience as a daytime nightmare, is what local authorities did to our entire family in the hours, days, and months after my 911 call, and also what they continue to do, despite declaring all along that the kids and I were the three statutory victims of attempted murder.

This aftermath of cruelty and oppression by local authorities and media is detailed below, and is definitely the worst thing that's ever happened to us. And, it is ongoing, even after the legal cases are now all resolved, with outcomes just like I told everyone from the beginning.

The attempted murder case appropriately ended on November 30, 2011 with an acquittal of not guilty, the details of which I explain below. The additional “civil” case for termination of parental rights of my immigrant wife Karita was voluntarily dismissed by the special prosecutor in March, 2011.

Both of these major legal cases went away without any questioning of my two kids or me beyond the brief questioning of the first 12 hours or so after what happened - after my 911 call. Thus, our initial interviews couldn’t have changed even if we had wanted to change them because police lost interest in obtaining the truth from me and the kids once they realized that what I was describing would not aid them in their predetermined plan to demonize a female immigrant, my wife, as some sort of a Monster Mom.

The authorities then went on to demonize and attempt to railroad a mother, wife, nurse, and immigrant who never intentionally hurt a child or anyone else. She is not only 'not guilty,' she is AN innocent when it comes to the subject of violence.

Because I am the one who called 911, I sure hope that I can be heard to put in a fair word for a woman who left a country with universal health care to come here and work for a health care nonprofit that accepts all comers regardless of ability to pay, even though the nonprofit pay wasn't enough for her to purchase health care for herself.

When I finally got a chance to say something to the media (immediately after the November 30, 2011 hearing in which charges were dismissed on the grounds of temporary insanity), this is what I had to say in the raw video footage of my 4 minute interview:

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But, based on what newspapers and TV said 12 hours later, 36 hours later and in subsequent stories (all of which were based exclusively on what police said), I doubt you would ever get a true picture of what really happened in my home that night. So here's the gist of it, the facts of which were all told to police from the beginning, but the police reports left out much, embellished other things, and added some untruths, all to try to make a case:

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED:

Yes, my daughter did get a relatively minor abdominal knife injury, but nobody will ever guess the truth based on reading the media. In a nutshell, Karita appeared to be sleepwalking, and never said a word to me or expressed any emotion at all, nor did she even move or resist, even when I was taking the knife away from her. She was standing there, vacant and empty as a sleeping statue, her arms relaxed at her side. If the police press release is true, then I was able to disarm an “attempted murderer” by simply holding her hand for almost two minutes!

All of this was described repeatedly and videotaped in a demonstration for police in the first few hours afterward, but there was no hint whatsoever in the press release or subsequent verbal comments by police that there was anything mental going on, or that she was sleepwalking somehow and obviously not herself and not in control of her actions. Absolutely nothing had happened to “trigger” the quiet, and strangely almost peaceful event, in which the first wound hardly scratched Iida and she didn’t even wake up, but the second somewhat harder one woke her up and caused her to softly moan. My son Jonah, who was only six feet away, didn’t hear anything or wake up until I entered the room and turned on the lights. Still, police reports state that Iida “screamed” and that’s why I came to the room, but in separate interviews very early on the same sequence of events is described: Jonah wakes up only after I turn on the lights.

The actual wound stopped bleeding even before the ambulance arrived only 5 minutes later. The upper abdominal location is typically non-fatal and treated via hospital observation. Responders asked Iida to get her pink boots on by herself which she did, and then one man carried her across the snowy deck anyway to make sure she didn’t slip, so they never even put her on a stretcher. Finally, police were so unconcerned that they didn’t let myself or the grandparents (who had been awakened for help) go to the hospital with Iida because they wanted to get statements, so this was reluctantly agreed since everyone knew Iida would be OK.

Months later (and they put on a no contact order between all of us and Karita without our consent so we never communicated for months), we learned that Karita had a psychotic dream/delusion that Iida would be raped, tortured and killed the very next day at school and had an irresistible impulse to save her life by wounding her, thus keeping her out of school. We knew both intuitively and obviously that she was in some kind of dream world and didn’t know what she was doing, and this fact just gave the details for what was already obvious to us based on the way she appeared like a sleepwalking zombie of some sort, and the whole context of a lifetime of love and caring for two children.

In short, the reason the kids and I have not had emotional trauma from the actual event itself is, perhaps surprisingly, BECAUSE WE WERE THERE. Those who weren’t there, and especially those who read or saw distorted media accounts, appear to be more traumatized than we ever were.

For example, within 18 hours people who saw TV coverage were posting that my daughter should be able to take a knife to her mother and finish her off! Another suggested a baseball bat. That's why I said at the end of the video above that my daughter would be horrified if she learned of these things.

THE REAL NIGHTMARE BEGINS

Early in the morning after, I was summoned to the police station from the motel bed where I had a couple hours to look at the ceiling and think. The police chief had some new questions and wanted to interview me some more. He asked me detailed questions about Karita’s appearance and demeanor (which police had also noted in their reports was extremely quiet, very slow to move or say anything even hours later). After his questions, he segued to informing me that attempted murder charges would be filed by the prosecutor and bail set at $250,000. Whoa, I thought, they’re making this into a huge case!

Given the sudden notice that this would be a high-bail attempted murder case, a couple of things became extremely obvious to me right away. First, at some point there would be media, AND MY DAUGHTER AND I DID FOUR PAPER ROUTES TOGETHER. Because my daughter would be at the hospital for a while to make sure she was OK, I would have to personally deliver over 100 copies of the news of the profound tragedy that had happened. I wouldn’t wish this upon my worst enemy.

I begged the police chief, having every reason to do so, NOT to put out a press release, and he promised he would not. He noted, and I understood, that this didn’t mean a story would eventually come out because of the rumor mill, or (as the chief put it) because of “FOIA requests and media listening to police scanners”, but I was OK with that because I didn’t want to feed that fire, only to have to deliver 100+ copies of it for my daughter’s job she loved and appreciated so much.

I also appealed to the chief not to unduly scare the community with a charge and story of attempted murder. I said “How could any child in the community sleep at night, if it is really true that an otherwise loving parent, for NO REASON, and with no notice, could really attempt to MURDER them in their bed while sleeping?? How could any child sleep at night??” The Chief had no answer that I recall.

The interview concluded, and in reliance on the Chief’s promise, I completed a videotaped walk-through of the events in the place where they occurred. In that video, which I now have a copy of, one can clearly see the police chief as I describe how I coaxed the knife away over the course of a couple of frozen, emotionless minutes, finally realizing I could simply slip it out of her hand without any resistance.

But, just a few hours later, in a police press release personally signed by Chief Bjorne himself, as well as in his subsequent verbal comments to the press, he described an “attempted murder” of Iida in her bed via a “stabbing”.

Not only was there no hint in the press release or the media coverage of any mental defense or “sleepwalking,” the Chief even claimed that “Police executed a search warrant at the residence and found several items of evidence, including the knife used”, making it sound like Karita had intentionally hidden the knife, when in fact police knew full well that I handed the knife to the first responder, and the Chief had just a few hours earlier actually seen me describe on the video walk through how I coaxed the knife away. Despite repeated complaints about this obvious lie, the lie appeared in the press a year later, in the final article on case dismissal, and was never corrected by police or prosecutors. See http://miningjournal.net/page/content.detail/id/569626/Woman-pleads-not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity-in-stabbing-case.html

It is impossible for me to imagine how aspects of the police information given to the media can be understood as anything but lies.

Once the police Chief knew I was both against publicity and an overblown attempted murder charge, starting immediately I experienced the following “consequences” from police, prosecutors, and Child Protective Services personnel, who (it is important to remember) are all required by law to “cooperate” and work together in all cases involving alleged injuries to children.

1. They Published My Daughter’s Name. They put out a lying and misleading press release with a mug shot (see below) and included the name of a minor, my daughter.

2. They Refused My Demand for an Immediate Psychological Evaluation. They stated their procedure was only to do evaluations after two months (when the evidence may well be gone). They also defeated an emergency motion by the defense for inpatient psychiatric hospitalization, even though Karita’s condition was becoming increasingly alarming, losing 25 pounds and losing the will to live.

3. Denial of Bail, and a No Contact “Order” with Family, 24/7 Lights and Sleeping on a Concrete Floor without a Pillow. They increased bail to $1 million cash bail, and added a no contact condition such that if a million dollar cash bail were ever posted, Karita would be homeless and unable to speak to her family after posting such huge bail. Although this no contact provision on bail must be authorized by victims to be legal, it never was. On top of that, we were told, and believed for months, that the no contact order was presently in effect. Despite inquiries, courtroom discussion and faxed letters of inquiry about getting a copy, they never explained that it was only a condition on bail. Karita was placed in an isolation/observation cell, with no TV, radio, books, contact with inmates, and only two blankets, no pillow, and a concrete floor to sleep on.

4. Threats of Deportation.Because Karita was a non-citizen permanent resident, and because “permanent” does NOT actually mean permanent, a violation of a TRUE no contact order would be a deportable offense. Thus, while we were confident she did not commit a crime on the grounds of temporary insanity, were we to have contact with her if there were a no contact order in effect that would be a deportable charge to which she would not have any realistic defense! This was in direct effect an immediate, non-consensual divorce that violates the ethical canon that prosecutors and police may not discourage complaining witnesses from contacting defendants or defense counsel absent a legitimate no contact order agreed to by the victims.

5. They Filed a “Mommie Death Penalty” civil action as Well. Not only was the attempted murder charge filed in less than 18 hours, so also was a civil action to terminate Karita’s parental rights within the same immediate time frame. NOTE: In order to terminate parental rights without first providing services to reunite the family, there must be an “aggravated circumstance” such as attempted murder or life-threatening injury.” So what did they inflate the charges to, and say to the press? Exactly those things. They told the press there was “life-threatening injury” when in fact I was called down to the hospital to discuss agreeing merely to elective, exploratory surgery with a tube procedure, to make sure everything was OK. I agreed to elective, non-emergency surgery, but complications from the surgery itself led to a brief period in the ICU for Iida. But police knew from their own radio that it was not an “emergency surgery” situation, and if they actually thought it was life-threatening, they are more cruel than imaginable not to let any member of the family accompany an 11-year-old to the hospital!

6. Hauled out of the hospital and Into Court to be “Awarded” Custody of My Own Children, and Effectively Warned Not to Be the Wrong Kind of Dad, the One that Favors the Accused. Then, I’m hauled out of the hospital and into court. NOTE: The first thing that happens is that the court AWARDS ME MY OWN KIDS, subject to later revision. This is quite the shock, that suddenly the state thinks they have the power to take away my kids, even if just to give them back to me right away because it’s obvious they are well taken care of. The judge also opines on the record that in “the cases of this type” that he’s seen, it’s unfortunate that “some spouses are more concerned about their spouse than they are about their children.” To make a longer story short: The message is crystal clear, if you are perceived as favoring your spouse, you will be deemed to be supportive of an abuser and you may lose your children. And indeed, by law, once allegations against any ONE parent are proved, the court acquires full “jurisdiction” over the children and can then place them wherever it is in their “best interests” even if the remaining parent has done nothing as entirely a fit parent.

7. They Appoint a Mandatory “Lawyer”-Guardian ad Litem for My Daughter, Who Never Speaks to Her but on Her Behalf States she has “Concerns about Placement” of the Kid with Me. Just in case I didn’t get the message, then the purported “lawyer” guardian ad litem FOR MY OWN DAUGHTER, who never had a single substantive conversation with her, stated in open court a couple weeks into the case that she had “concerns about placement” but never said what those were. Those “concerns” later evaporated and the case was dismissed during March of 2011, but it was abundantly clear that one needs to keep the child protective folks and the guardians ad litem happy and pleased or else you will very likely lose custody of your own children, even though you never did a thing. Your own lawyer will tell you that GAL’s have a “lot of power” and you “need to be on their good side.” Another person very familiar with these cases actually suggested I file for divorce “to ease the mind of the GAL.” This is all driven by the “best interests” standard which, since it is undefined, means “whatever the GAL thinks is best.” That’s who gets YOUR kids, because they pose as lawyers for the kids alone. {Last year, an ABA proposed amendment to the federal CAPTA law to require GALs to be real lawyers was rejected in the Congress for reasons unknown.}

8. No Notice for Months Under the Michigan Crime Victims Rights Act Like many others, we got no notice of the first arraignment and we heard everything about the case on the TV and papers. Like few others, this non-notice continued for many months. Even though as the three declared victims it simply doesn’t matter what the case outcome or our position is, prosecutors tried to say that we had to claim financial restitution against Karita or else we could not exercise Crime Victims’ Rights, which was untrue. Keeping us in the dark like this continued on for months and months, despite a meeting I had with the prosecutor in person. (Things only changed when I went and spoke in open court to the judge in the fall of 2011).

9. DHS CUT OFF OUR FOOD (First of 2 times). Within the first week, the CPS caseworker told me she had taken the liberty of canceling the Food Stamps card that was in my wife’s name, claiming that it would be “fraud” for a spouse to use the card (not true, if the spouse was awarded benefits.) The alleged new card for food stamps never arrived, but Food stamps were canceled. After a month without food stamps (the month of January, the first month after the event) I had to order another replacement, which finally did arrive.

10. WE WERE DENIED HOUSING. We applied at a housing area that receives some federal aid. They approved us quickly for housing, but then insisted at the last minute that if we wanted to move in we had to sign something to put Karita on a no-trespass list. (They can add, and do add, people at will to these lists without anyone’s signature). I told them that if Karita ever got out of prison or the mental hospital, she would have either paid her debt to society or would be deemed appropriate for hospital release, so in either case there was no threat to the housing area, toward which Karita had simply never been the remotest problem. Even though HUD regulations require that all lease conditions be “reasonable” and I cited case law showing this was an inappropriate condition on the lease, and would force us to have any and all visitation off site (plus, you guessed it, constitute another deportable offense if it were successfully argued that she violated the no trespass list). The top managers had somehow received the police reports in this matter (though I never received them, and wouldn’t cite them if I did have them), so I believe they were in at least some contact with prosecutors and/or police, who illegally shared the police reports that constituted their basis for asking me to sign off and agree that Karita could never set foot on their property.

11. I Lost Employment as a Substitute Teacher. I was never called again to be a substitute teacher, perhaps out of concern that students might ask me about topics they would rather not see discussed at school. In past years, I always let students give me a “report card” by secret ballot at the end of the class, and I discovered that many students wished I could teach them all the time.

12. My Community Ed. Classes were all Canceled. My community education classes were all canceled, allegedly due to lack of people signing up for them, although they were quite popular the year before.

13. BUSINESS CRASH. My business crashed, because as a suddenly “single” parent, I had too much on my hands.

14. SETTING ME UP FOR A WELFARE FRAUD CHARGE. After DHS/CPS voluntarily dismissed the parental termination lawsuit, I received a “notice of action” form out of the blue regarding Medicaid and Food Stamps. It said that DHS had added back Karita as a 4th household member (she had been automatically removed upon initial incarceration), then it reinstated Karita’s Medicaid and paid back-benefits in Food Stamps of over $400, retroactive to February 1 (when the benefits were cut due to initial incarceration). Though dated April 1, 2011, it was mailed April 5, 2011, received April 7, with a due date for appeal of April 10, 2011 (ten days from the pretended date of April 1). I looked this gift horse in the mouth and reported the DHS employees for welfare fraud. Claiming there are more people in your house for food stamps or other welfare purposes is classic welfare fraud, and I believe they thought that since I was fighting to keep the family together, that they could slip this one by me. But I realized at all times the difference between “household” and “family”. You can probably guess whether a welfare fraud charge is a deportable offense or not, and what the rule is in terms of whether one must perpetrate the fraud or only benefit from it, for immigration purposes. On appeal from this decision to “benefit” me, the DHS judge would not allow me to prove that DHS was lying when they claimed I called in a request for an additional household member.

15. After Winning Reversal of the Fraudulent Benefits They Gave Me, They Wanted Me to Pay the Food Stamps Back in Cash. I had to go to the highest state levels to insist that they simply reverse the food stamp transaction, rather than demand the same value back in cash. They finally admitted I had that right, and that they could accomplish that, but claimed they didn’t know about it because “so few people” can pay benefits back in Food Stamps, as they spend them. And yet, they had options on their form for paying back in full, in cash. How many people can do that?

16. Wrongfully Terminating Medicaid And Food Stamps. Because the welfare fraud tactic did not work, they instead “got me” by sending an employment verification form (when I told them I was an independent contractor) to the tax service I worked for during the beginning of April, during the height of tax season. Now, a tax professional would be an idiot (in light of their knowledge of tax law) to sign an “employment” verification for an independent contractor. But the deadlines are strict and the DHS rule is that failure of an employer or other third person to return a verification form is grounds for terminating benefits regardless of the lack of fault on my part. So that’s how they terminated my health insurance, the kids’ health insurance, and food stamps (for the second time). I take the kids to the doctor as needed and pay cash instead.

17. Court Orders For a Couple Months That I Not Speak To My Own Children. The parental termination judge issued an incredible order that was in effect for nearly two months saying I could not speak with my own children about the case. The judge kept it in place even after the kids’ own counselor and the kids’ attorney complained about how inappropriate this was and potentially harmful to kids. The judge’s rationale? The theory that I might get the kids to “recant” and then “as a practical matter, recantation could make this case go away.” I never needed to “inform” my kids factually – the early (and only) interviews were all consistent and ultimately more than enough evidence so that the prosecutor could not find a hired gun expert to contest the case, even after a 2 month search just for that purpose. But here again, the judge talked ominously about how very serious the trouble would be for me if I talked to the kids and thus “made this case go away.” The judge was protecting the case, and the conviction, NOT THE KIDS.

18. The ONLY “Services” I Got From the State was an attempted “Gotcha” Test. Under the guise of providing “services” to the family, the only thing CPS ever did was have me agree to attend 3 appointments with a “family counselor.” They had someone administer a “parental attitudes” exam to me to see if I had appropriately nurturing (or abusive) attitudes. I passed with flying colors and they dropped the idea of the other two appointments.

19. Public Disclosure Of Private Irrelevant Facts: Based on the Bail Determination Form filed on the very first day, instead of going through the required statutory bail factors recited right on the form itself for convenience, they used the bail form (a publicly filed document) to put out embarrassing information about me. Nothing on the bail form is focused on the defendant (her employment, contacts in the community, flight risk, etc.). The form even states that my “only job” is “4 paper routes” and that we “lost our home” which we did not, we just recently moved.

20. Police And Prosecutors Knew I Would Have To Deliver Newspapers Containing their False and Misleading Press Release. For the longest time, I wondered where people were coming up with the idea that I only delivered newspapers for a living, since I was a teacher, had a business etc. Then I found out that came from a publicly filed Bail Determination Form! On the morning after January 6, as part of my plea to the police chief not to put out a press release, I had stated that 4 paper routes were my “only job” (but only for the next days!) because my daughter would be in the hospital. The filing of this document on January 7 shows the state of mind of police and prosecutors, and proves that police and prosecutors KNEW FULL WELL that I would have to deliver these papers especially for my daughter. Thus, even if the Chief had never promised not to do a press release, their actions in doing one were despicable, because there’s no legal requirement or duty to posture in the media.

21. Iida Ultimately Had To Quit The Job She Loved: Delivering Newspapers. As terrible as it is to have something like this happen to your family, it is worse than salt in the wound to have to deliver 100+ copies of distorted and misleading “news” about it to people you know in your community. After the first two stories, later Iida and I would unwittingly deliver another story that was not on the front page (so we did not see it), despite having threatened to not deliver the papers if they printed more stories without honoring our right to comment. Then the Mining Journal approved, then rejected, our letter to the editor (reprinted below), again denying us any voice at all. Iida decided to quit the job she otherwise loved in protest.

22. The Newspaper Knew Iida Was Their Carrier, Yet Never Called For Comment despite Requests. In five different stories over 11 months, Iida’s name was printed, even though she’s a minor. In all but the first story it is certain that they knew Iida was their newspaper carrier. I have photos of the cheap teddy bear and card signed “from your friends at the Mining Journal” sent to her hospital room. These “friends” never called for comment, much less apologized.

23. Our LTE Was First Called “Beautiful” and Approved for Publication, Then Rejected as “Libelous” - to Karita. I submitted a letter to the editor, which was first accepted for publication as “one of the most beautifully well-written and heartfelt letters to cross my desk in the nearly 8 years I’ve worked here” but which was later rejected by the senior editor, after a week of approval, as libelous to Karita! (The same person they had freely demonized in numerous articles). But, under Michigan libel law, there is a type of immunity for “official sources” such as press releases, that is specifically NOT enjoyed by those who were present at the events that the official source or press release describes. What this means, in practice, is that police press releases are printed essentially verbatim, and the eyewitnesses or original sources MAY NOT ALTER THE OFFICIAL STORY IN ANY WAY, because that alteration would not enjoy immunity under libel law, so the media will be reluctant to print it. Thus, while the Mining Journal’s position that the LTE was libel to my wife was on one level absurd, on another level it makes a certain sense, and explains how police and prosecutors can completely dominate the media version of the “Truth” and nobody else can say anything about it. I learned that this is how authorities can dominate all media representations of events surrounding a criminal charge, and nobody else can have a say about it, except to issue a denial, or to say “Smutherdude did it” but you can’t identify any specific dude, you MUST say “smutherdude” and leave it at that, because more detail is libelous to someone!

Below is the Beautifully Well-Written, but unprintable, LTE. When Karita later read it at the hospital, she found it moving and asked for copies to be made to send them to family in Finland. Is that the reaction of a person who's been libeled?

April 29, 2011
Attn: Bud Sargent, Managing Editor
The Mining Journal
249 W. Washington Street
Marquette, MI 49855

Dear Editor:

My daughter Iida Lehto has been in several news articles this year, concerning charges of attempted murder brought against her mother based on knife injuries Iida sustained from her mother in January. Iida completely recovered months ago.

But Internet searches on my daughter's name continue to retrieve two of these articles as top results, and appear to more lastingly define who she is solely in terms of one tragedy. http://tinyurl.com/69qsmbw Hoping to add balance, I ask readers to please excuse me (her father) for sharing good news about Iida.

Iida's a bright, happy, social girl in a growth phase: classmates call her “skyscraper.” She loves reading, basketball, puppies and beating adults at Rummikub. She got straight As with one A- on her report card, and a prior teacher said there should be a picture of Iida next to “dream student” in the dictionary. She's pretty, too.

In February, Iida was first in cookie sales in her troop of 18, going door to door and selling them on her paper routes. More recently, she was part of the Guinness World Record-setting skateboard parade in Marquette. According to her counselor, Iida was emotionally a remarkably healthy girl before, during, and after her hospitalization. Iida's always been physically healthy, and has no other experience or history of abuse.

After hospital admission January 7, Iida was discharged on the 15th, started school on the 20th, basketball practices the next week, and released to full normal activities mid-February. She started as point guard March 4, swishing a jump shot on the team's first attempt.

Iida has flaws too, like the messy room, occasional disagreements with her brother, and pre-teen TV shows. Still, upon watching the movie “The Ultimate Gift” in the hospital, she offered that the ultimate gift was Forgiveness. Today, Iida's only sadness is missing her mom, who's recovering in a psychiatric hospital to stand trial.

Iida's equally wonderful younger brother Jonah made up a poignant pun: He asked: “Where does Jesus go out to Eat?” Jonah added: “He goes out to Rest-Our-Wants!”

It's hard for children to rest their want to ask for their normal life back. Resting means those who weren't there, and didn't see, use their imaginations to decide what happened and determine things like whether the kids can ever see their mother again. We're doing our part, the rest is up to the community.

Sincerely,
PAUL R. LEHTO, PO Box 1, Ishpeming, MI 49849

T H E S I T U A T I O N T O D A Y

After doing all of the above to us, and after Karita was acquitted and sent to the mental hospital for a required 60 day evaluation (followed by automatic commitment in all cases regardless of condition, because of the de facto state policy to make sure NOT guilty people don't "get away" with something, and encourage reluctant prosecutors to think they can get their prison sentence in a different way) CPS now has a new policy and demand, post-dismissal:

THE FAMILY-DEATH-PENALTY ULTIMATUM BY CPS, TO US:
CPS: Because Karita is dangerous, they claim (in contradiction of her doctors), if I allow the children to see their mother outside a hospital even one single time, no matter what the conditions of supervision might be, CPS will file to terminate not only Karita's parental rights (by refiling the old case, since civil cases do NOT have double jeopardy protections), but they will also file to terminate my parental rights as well, making state-created orphans of our two beautiful children.

In making this demand, CPS is trying to get MORE relief via my fear of termination than they could if they had won the original case against Karita only, or if they filed TODAY instead of waiting for the children to encounter what CPS considers a danger, then filing against both of us. Specifically, had CPS won the original case, Karita could not have custody of the children or make legal decisions about schools or medical matters, etc. But it would NOT stop appropriate visitation. A double termination will stop all visitation because the kids would be orphans available for a blind stranger adoption.

Not knowing these demands are being made in the background, but knowing that Karita and I will before too long move forward with our long-planned divorce based on the changes of circumstances in the last year, my daughter sent the following card she hand drew to her Mom:



I don't encourage the kids to love their Mom, but I don't get in the way of their natural affections either. That is a form of abuse in itself, called parental alienation, that's all too common.

So, I ask you, I ask everyone on DU:

GIVEN WHAT IIDA SAYS ABOVE, HOW CAN I METAPHORICALLY STAB MY DAUGHTER IN THE HEART BY KEEPING HER AWAY FROM HER MOM FOR THE REST OF HER CHILDHOOD, ALL BECAUSE HER MOM "STABBED" HER IN THE ABDOMEN (TO "SAVE HER&quot ??? If there is to be a "one strike and you're out" policy for people found not legally responsible for an act, should I BE THE ONE TO ENFORCE IT ON MY OWN WIFE AND KIDS?

At the end of the day, if there is anything good about our two children (and I could share many more wonderful stories about them, and wish I could) then the majority of the credit must go to the full-time Mom who shaped and nurtured their hearts and souls more than I did as an often over-working Dad.

Basically, CPS and the prosecutors office (who ordered them to refile because the criminal case "was going away&quot want to give me a big incentive to be Karita's JAILER: In the hospital, the kids can see their mom, but outside the hospital they can't see their mom because the risk is that CPS will make them into orphans, collecting federal bounties of up to $10,000 per terminated child along the way.

CPS knows, or should now, what the local child psychiatrist has stated: That to terminate a parent that children have a solid emotional attachment to is more traumatic to the child than the physical death of the parent. I haven't asked this child psychiatrist what the effect is of state-created orphan-hood with both parents terminated, but I'm sure it is MORE than twice as bad.

So, our plea for help now that we're up to the present day:

DEAR DU:

Every child needs a good community in which they feel accepted and understood. My children do not have one right now because of all the distortions in our local press. Would you be willing to step up and be part of a virtual yet real community that supports my kids? THIS IS ONE THING NO PARENT, NO MATTER HOW RICH, CAN DO BY THEMSELVES. This takes a village.

I want to take action to show my kids that there is a community of people out there right now at DemocraticUnderground.com who understand, and are like-minded in the sense that they will continue to fight for truth and justice as they see fit, no matter what the cost, yet always aware and sensitive to the impacts they have on others.

ACTION REQUEST NUMBER ONE: To further that end, if you can send my kids and me a card, or a note of support, or just a “hello” (no money required), this would be an invaluable personal and emotional support. It would be great to have a nice collection of mail to look at!! You can reach us and help keep the Postal Service going at:

Paul, Iida and Jonah Lehto
PO Box 1
Ishpeming, MI 49849-0001
Questions or comments? You can PM or call me at 204 4026 if you use area code 906 first.

ACTION REQUEST NUMBER TWO: As a separate additional option, we also have legal and related expenses that we can not afford, especially since they cut us off Medicaid and Food Stamps, and I will not go back to people who truly do abuse me. (REQUIRED DISCLAIMER AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS OP) There is a need for $450.00 for transcripts, $250 for filing fees, $300 for medical records copies, $600 for court costs, and $4000 for appellate legal assistance, and $2000 for an expert witness, for a total of $7,600. (These will be filled from smallest to largest based on if any funds are available). Funds can be sent via PayPal to the email address: agent003 at wildmail.com

The legal costs are to reverse the order of involuntary commitment (she would have VOLUNTEERED for treatment) and its fictional "dangerousness" component that is the only thread CPS can try to hang on, because the treating doctor for Karita specifically testified that the ONLY REASON they are committing her for is because they want her to be able to get a full five years of treatment/probation, but that she is totally asymptomatic. The treating doctor has told me that he has no concerns about any visitation once Karita is released, which will definitely be this year.

The $600 figure for court costs is because, sigh, the Judge in the parental termination matter sent me a bill for Iida's "lawyer" GAL for $600, which bill suggests I will go to jail for contempt of court if I do not pay it. (sigh) This is a "lawyer" we objected to from the outset, legally could not fire, and already had to pay $2000 to get a real lawyer for the kids. There's an indication from the judge that he may just switch the bill to MY lawyer for the same amount and with the same jail threat, perhaps realizing how weak the case is for collecting for Iida's "lawyer."

ACTION REQUEST NUMBER THREE: These may be the last times the kids get to see their mother, or the whole family together, the last months for Karita in the hospital (because she has been doing so very well for a year now). So the request, since it is over a 1000 mile round-trip from where we are in the UP of Michigan to the Kalamazoo area and involves hotels, is for money for travel expenses and "quality time" on a trip or trips to see Mom. Each trip costs about $400 for gas and hotel. You may use the mail address above, or paypal using the address agent003 at wildmail.com (I’m an agent for 3)

ACTION REQUEST NUMBER FOUR: More than anything, after a year and then some of all of this, I JUST NEED A "BREAK" in a serious way!!! So, any of the above, or anything else you can think of from a mental break of a card or a note, to a cup of coffee, an old laptop (my screen just crashed), frequent flier miles donated, you can even ship something "different" and the kids and I will just have a blast opening mail and discovering that there is a community of people who care, and care not just about "physical safety", but cares about the hearts, minds, and souls of kids, and adults too. And even former lawyers like me. And female immigrants.

THANK YOU FOR EVERY CARD, EVEN A PM IF THAT'S WHAT YOU CAN DO. Sorry for writing a "book" above. "Gas" of any kind in the tank, be it spiritual, emotional, intellectual or financial, is needed so I can keep this lovely young lady, and her younger brother, on the track of a good life.

I'm praying that maybe some good karma will come back from this thread where I gave the late DUer Andy Stephenson a job when he needed one (now I could use one!). I actually was the benefactor, and it was the last job Andy was ever able to hold. See http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x319663

I was also honorably mentioned for DUer of the Decade and various other stuff, but now I'm frankly just feeling guilty for asking, because this is my first solicitation since starting full time to part time activism in late 2004. Maybe the benefit is that with every contribution or card of any kind, you get me back in the saddle, working for you for free!!!

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