Girl taken in 1991 surfaces; couple held

[KRonn]

This is a link from a Boston lawyer who is often in the media on cases like this and such. This Garrido guy should have been in prison, probably for good.     Instead he had been released early, after 10 years of a 50 year term, and went on to more crimes, finally culminating in this kidnapping.  As usual for what usually occurs - people with long and/or heinous criminal records are let out early or let out when they shouldn't be, and are caught again when they commit the next heinous crime, the one that finally (hopefully) puts them away for good.


http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/opinion/x1467270548/Murphy-Garrido-case-Police-stupidity-Obama-should-condemn

Murphy: Garrido case: Police stupidity Obama should condemn

When 11-year-old Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped in 1991 by Phillip and Nancy Garrido, police focused on Dugard's stepfather as a likely suspect. This was the first stupid act of government. Even the dimmest cops know that parents who do dastardly things to their children don't facilitate a kidnapping in broad daylight, at a school bus stop - where countless witnesses would be around to take notes.

The more serious "stupid" law enforcement stuff started in 1999 when the California Department of Parole began monitoring Garrido in connection with his release from prison for raping and kidnapping a young woman in 1976.

Garrido had taken the victim to a shed and held her captive while he brutalized her. Garrido told authorities he was a compulsive sex offender who had already committed numerous sex crimes. One situation involved a 14 year old he'd drugged and raped in 1972. Charges were dropped when the child refused to testify.

Stupid act of government No. 2.

Failure to prosecute Garrido left him free to attack the woman in 1976.

Garrido was sentenced on that case in 1978 and ordered to serve 50 years, but was released 40 years early, in 1988, because he claimed to be "reformed."

Stupid act of government No. 3.

That early release enabled him to kidnap Jaycee Dugard in 1991. Garrido took the child to his home where she was raped, impregnated and enslaved for 18 years while living in tents and sheds in Garrido's backyard.

When California officials took over Garrido's parole in 1999, they knew he targeted women and children for sex crimes, and that he was on the sex offender registry. They also knew the guy was a kidnapper who violated one of his victims in a shed.

Garrido's home had bars on the windows, and it was well known that children were living in tents and sheds in his backyard. Yet parole officers, who regularly visited his house, did nothing to ascertain the truth about who the children were, why they were there, or what was going on in the back yard.

Stupid act of government No. 4.

Untrained neighbors who knew Garrido was a registered sex offender called police more than once to express their concerns about the children. But when the cops showed up, they never went in the back yard. Instead, they told Garrido the tents and sheds might constitute a code violation.

Stupid act of government No. 5.

When Jaycee was finally rescued last month, the Parole Department issued a statement in which they claimed Garrido didn't have a single violation from 1999 to 2009.

Stupid act of government No. 6.

The guy had a whopping violation going on right under their noses. That parole didn't care enough to notice is hardly proof of no violations.

The failure of government in this case is so profound, Jaycee's family should file as many lawsuits as possible. If law enforcement can't protect kids simply because it's their job, they should be forced to give a damn in order to avoid expensive litigation.

The Supreme Court has ruled that police cannot be sued no matter how deficient their failure to protect the public. But parole officers are held to a higher standard and thus can be sued if a parolee poses a special risk of harm to an identifiable class of people, such as women and children.

In addition to lawsuits, activists should be marching in the streets and demanding reforms so that a disaster like this can never happen again.

Organizations like N.O.W. and rape crisis centers should be leading the effort because these are the groups that claim to be fighting for a fair legal system and equal protection of the laws so that women and children can live violence free lives. But thus far, they have been silent - which raises disturbing questions about why such an extreme example of government failure isn't worth their time.

The silence from Washington, D.C., is also disturbing - especially given President Obama's willingness to use his bully pulpit to criticize cops for acting "stupidly" during the incident involving Harvard Professor "Skip" Gates.

While many people agreed with Obama that racism remains a serious social problem, most thought there was nothing "stupid" about a cop arresting a guy who would not stop screaming and publicly accusing the police of racism in a case where race was irrelevant.

Whatever one makes of the Gates fiasco, there can be no doubt law enforcement acted "stupidly" in this case - and that the epidemic of child sexual abuse and violence against women in this country is a matter of national importance at least as worthy of the president's attention as the arrest of his buddy from Harvard.

Obama's silence on the Jaycee Dugard case is stupid act of government No. 7.

[Malthus]

I love how it is, somehow, all Obama's fault. 

[Caliga]

I love how it is, somehow, all Obama's fault. 

The article makes a good point, though.  Where is Obama's faux outrage?  You'd think he'd score universal points with people due to the "won't someone please think of the children!?" nature of this case.

[KRonn]

I love how it is, somehow, all Obama's fault. 

Forget the Obama part, that was a bit lame. I thought this a good highlight of how bad the guy's past criminal record is. I think Murphy was mainly making the point of the guy being let out due to police or judicial, or systemic "stupidity", using an Obama phrase to make her point.

[Valmy]

The silence from Washington, D.C., is also disturbing - especially given President Obama's willingness to use his bully pulpit to criticize cops for acting "stupidly" during the incident involving Harvard Professor "Skip" Gates.

Wait after Obama's embarrasing gaff on the Gates affair it is disturbing he does not repeat the performance?

[Caliga]

The silence from Washington, D.C., is also disturbing - especially given President Obama's willingness to use his bully pulpit to criticize cops for acting "stupidly" during the incident involving Harvard Professor "Skip" Gates.

Wait after Obama's embarrasing gaff on the Gates affair it is disturbing he does not repeat the performance?

How could he embarass himself in this case?  The couples' behavior is totally indefensible, and he can safely assail incompetent law enforcement officials in a general sense because so many people/agencies are involved... no need to single anyone out.

[Valmy]

How could he embarass himself in this case?  The couples' behavior is totally indefensible, and he can safely assail incompetent law enforcement officials in a general sense because so many people/agencies are involved... no need to single anyone out.

I don't know but bringing up that case as a reason he should speak out, and not a reason he should not, is bizarre.

I guess I would rather the President not be expected to speak out on every law enforcement issue that takes place.

[Caliga]

I don't know but bringing up that case as a reason he should speak out, and not a reason he should not, is bizarre.

I guess I would rather the President not be expected to speak out on every law enforcement issue that takes place.

I would too, but by jumping into the Gates fray he indicated a willingness to get involved in what I would consider complete minutiae for someone at his level.  So I'm just saying if he wants to do shit like that, here's a good case to comment on.

[Malthus]

I love how it is, somehow, all Obama's fault. 

The article makes a good point, though.  Where is Obama's faux outrage?  You'd think he'd score universal points with people due to the "won't someone please think of the children!?" nature of this case.

If you really want your President to spend his time composing messages about local-level law enforcement.  Considering the number of cases in the US going on at any one time, he'd have no time to do anything else.

Thing is, he ought to have kept his big yap shut in the Gates matter, not open it in others.

[Neil]

A lawyer calling for nuisance lawsuits.  I am less than shocked.

[jimmy olsen]

Creepy excerpts from Jaycee's diary.



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35352354/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

Jaycee Dugard diary: 'I want to be free'
Journal entries give eerie glimpse of girl's 18-year imprisonment

msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated 1:06 p.m. PT, Thurs., Feb. 11, 2010

New court documents give an eerie glimpse of Jaycee Dugard's 18 years in captivity at the hands of alleged kidnappers, with diary entries by her painting a picture of growing despair.

"It feels like I'm sinking. I'm afraid I want control of my life ... this is supposed to be my life to do with what I like ... but once again he has taken it away," Dugard writes in a July 5, 2004, entry. "How many times is he allowed to take it away from me? I'm afraid he doesn't see how the things he says makes me a prisoner."

The journal entries are included in court documents filed Thursday by the El Dorado County district attorney to oppose a motion by Phillip Garrido's lawyer for information on the current whereabouts of Dugard, who is in seclusion.

Dugard was abducted from the street where she lived in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., on June 10, 1991, when she was 11 years old. Prosecutors allege Phillip Garrido and his wife, Nancy, kept the girl in their hidden backyard compound, where she was sexually assaulted and imprisoned for the next 18 years. Garrido allegedly fathered two children by Dugard during her ordeal.

Dugard, now, 29, was found by police in late August. She and her children have been staying at a secret location, and prosecutors say she does not want any further contact from the Garridos.

Acting as a family?
Public defender Susan Gellman has asked the district attorney to provide photos of Dugard's daughters, videos of interviews with the girls, and permission to talk with Dugard in preparation for trial.

Gellman's court request claims the Garridos, Dugard and her two daughters acted as a family in recent years.

"They took vacations together; they went to the library together; they ran a family business together," the defense motion said. "The children home schooled. They kept pets and had a garden. They took care of ailing family members together. They had special names for each other."

However, the district attorney's response filed Thursday paints a different picture, saying Dugard and her children were not part of a "family," but rather captives.

'I want to be free'
The court documents contain several journal entries that prosecutors say exemplify the Garridos' attempt to gain trust and control over Dugard.

On July 16, 1993, two years after her abduction, Dugard wrote: "I got [a cat] for my birthday from Phil and Nancy ... they did something for me that no one else would do for me, they paid 200 dollars just so I could have my own kitten."

On Sept. 5 of that year, she wrote: "I don't want to hurt him ... sometimes I think my very presence hurts him ... so how can I ever tell him I want to be free. I will never cause him pain if it's in my power to prevent it. FREE."

Prosecutors contend that even after his arrest, Garrido has continued to try to exert control over Dugard. As recently as Jan. 28, according to court documents, Garrido's attorney sent a letter to her that stated, "Mr. Garrido has asked me to convey that he does not harbor any ill will toward [Dugard] or the children and loves them very much."

Gellman has also asked that Garrido and his wife, Nancy, be allowed to meet in the jail while they prepare for trial. That motion is scheduled to be heard in court Feb. 26.

© 2010 msnbc.com

[CountDeMoney]

I love how it is, somehow, all Obama's fault. 

It does, however, give all of us potential chicknappers cause for hope that we could get away with it.  At least, long enough to build up a lifetime of whacking material memories.