Once Upon A Time by Harry N. MacLean

Once Upon A Time: A True Story of Memory, Murder and the Law, Harry N. MacLean. New York: HarperCollins/ Crime Rant Classics, 1993. 535 pps.

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     Susan Nason, fourth grader, went missing in Foster City, California in 1969. She was discovered dead a couple of months later. The homicide went unsolved for twenty years. Some say it remains unsolved to this day.

     George Thomas Franklin had some kids, a wife, a white van, and a sexual attraction to little girls. He beat all his kids-- George Jr., Janice, Eileen, and Diana-- and his wife Leah. He was not a nice man. 

     In 1989, Eileen Franklin began claiming that she had a sudden returning of memories of the murder of Susan Nason. And that her dad George Thomas Franklin had done it. Her retrieved memories involved hypnosis and the use of several therapists. She retrieved other memories of her father sexually abusing her. Later she would claim that her dad killed two other people. But he was cleared of the latter through D.N.A.

     There was a trial. George Thomas Franklin was put in prison as the murderer of Susan Nason.

sapphoq reviews says: I had heard or read bits and pieces of the Susan Nason/ George Thomas Franklin story before [finally] picking up this book. I'd heard that he was in A.A. and that his A.A. buddies had written a slew of letters to the judge. I also located the articles written in 1969 after the Susan Nason murder and some written during and after the trial. 
     George Thomas Franklin and Leah are now divorced. Leah has blossomed and is now an attorney herself. She denies many of the things that Eileen has "remembered." She was astonished to find that there was a claim that Eileen had rubbed a spot on her head bald and bloody. No such spot existed. Eileen's claim is that her mother Leah simply wasn't "there" mentally when she was growing up. This inattention is supposedly why Leah does not recall the spot.
     I had some problems with Eileen's claimed memories. Having read both Lenore Terr and Elizabeth Loftus, I tend to be in the Loftus camp. Eileen's "memories" kept changing as was convenient. Meanwhile, her dad [a creepy guy but perhaps not a murderer] languished in prison.
     Eileen going to the jail before the trial in an attempt to get a confession from her father was one of the reasons why George Thomas Franklin is a free agent today. During that visit, rather than get into the particulars of the case George pointed to a sign that stated that conversations may be monitored. I would have done the same, innocent or guilty.
     The portrayal of Eileen's older sister Janice was most interesting to me. She was bent on revenge. I would have liked to have known more about Janice. Although Eileen was one of the main characters of Once Upon A Time, I wonder about Janice and her rages. Janice was not addicted to being a victim. She simply wanted revenge.
     Harry N. MacLean did an excellent job with this book. Excepting those who object to any talk about the implications of repressed memories going viral in the present time, highly recommended.

Presumed Guilty by Martin Yant

Presumed Guilty: when innocent people are wrongly convicted, Martin Yant. Amherst NY: Prometheus Books, 1991. ebook, 197 pps.


I used to say, "The American justice system is the greatest in the world." Things happened and then I added a caveat, "except when it doesn't work." The recent actions of our increasingly paranoid government politicians and agencies has caused me to re-evaluate my thinking and belief system. I am not so sure anymore. I've witnessed far too much injustice to make any such statements anymore.

Presumed Guilty was a horrifying book. Case after case was presented of innocent people who went to prison [and some who went to the electric chair] because of liars. The liars were found among prosecutors, police, expert witnesses so-called, people seeking revenge, and other players in the judicial system. In the scramble to get tough on crime and get re-elected, suspects are arraigned on multiple charges in the hopes that at least one or two of them will stick.

sapphoq reviews says: I'm all for the guilty being made to pay for their crimes. I am against innocent people being forced to pay for the actions of others. Martin Yant has written an important book. He is not just another liberal whining about people in prison. Read this book. Your views may also change a bit as a result. I am happy that there are people and agencies devoted to helping the truly innocent men and women serving time to get out and get free-- hopefully before they are put to death. Highly recommended.

No Crueler Tyrannies by Dorothy Rabinowitz

No Crueler Tyrannies: Accusation, False Witness, and Other Terrors of Our Times, Dorothy Rabinowitz. New York: Free Press, 2003.  e-book, 145 pps.

[N.B. This book is a series of  previously published articles from The Wall Street Journal.]


    Some folks may recall the allegations of sexual abuse at Fells Acre Day Care in Massachusetts in the 1980s. It was part of a general mass hysteria that turned children into victims of abuse at the hands of over-eager interviewers. The lives of the Amiraults were forever changed. Rabinowitz has four separate articles on the Amiraults in the book.

     Rabinowitz also covers Grant Snowden in Dade County, Florida. He was a police officer who was falsely accused of sexually abusing children who were being babysat in his home. Janet Reno was the state attorney then. She was gung ho for slamming alleged sexual abusers of children against the wall. Nursery schools were being closed regularly. Grant Snowden fell victim to an alleged expert in childhood sexual abuse who had interviewed the child "using dolls and 'let's pretend' games and, as the interview records showed, exhortations and explicit sexual suggestions." (page 40). 

     Then there was the mass hysteria and Satanic Panic that happened in Wenachee in Washington State. Parents allegedly raped children in their homes, orgies were happening in a church, and all sorts of things. Folks lost custody of their kids and were carted off to prison.

     The one case that Rabinowitz covered of an adult accusing another adult of sexual abuse was during a colonoscopy. A woman who was upset that the doctor would not support her lawsuit against a prior landlord [she claimed that she was having stomach pains from the stress of eviction and this messed up her life] then accused him of having oral sex with her during the procedure. She sued the doctor later on for a large sum of money.

sapphoq reviews says: To those who are genuine survivors of sexual abuse, please note that I do understand that there are some evil and demented people in this world. Anything that I write about those who falsely accuse others is not directed at you who-- like me-- have had to live through stuff that others haven't even had to think about. Much respect. Keep striving. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

     I don't particularly miss the 1980s as a decade. The cases described in No Crueler Tyrannies were aided forward by a host of ambitious prosecutors, prejudicial judges, supposedly expert child sexual abuse interviewers, and a willing public frenzy to feed off of sensational media reports. [Rabinowitz does not make it clear that there was a police officer who led the pack in the Wenachee accusations]. People went to prison for things they did not do. Even after acquittals [most re-trials on appeals are not won], it was difficult to impossible to get back the life that was had before.
     People in this decade [here I guess it is "usually men" although I have no evidence to back up my guess] continue to be falsely accused of sex crimes that they did not commit. I do feel a certain relief that it is no longer a parade of toddlers and preschoolers. But my relief is uneasy at best. Because innocent people continue to have their lives torn apart by those who false accuse them and then by copycat accusers who are then compelled to come forward. These things happen.
     Where is the justice when someone is forced to plea guilty to something he or she also did not do in order to avoid trial on trumped up charges by overly-ambitious state agencies anxious to prove that they are committed to the protection of people? Especially when there is a multitude of charges brought? Getting tough on crime is good for the headlines. Innocent people having to serve time in prison, endure premature career endings and unjust lawsuits where the standard of proof is lower than in a criminal case, and the cost of competent legal assistance are things that a public addicted to yellow journalism is not interested in.
     Sexual abuse and sexual assaults do happen. There is no doubt about that. But a system that is set up to automatically believe the accuser is a system that is faulty. Innocents are bound to be convicted by such a system before even seeing the inside of a courtroom.
     We need more sane voices like Dorothy Rabinowitz. No Crueler Tyrannies is highly recommended.

     

Sex Crime Monster?: Durham's Monster of the Century by Peter Cripps

Sex Crime Monster?: Durham's Monster of the Century, Peter Cripps. self-published via Lulu, 2011. 412 pps.

False accusations ruin lives. 

If you are making false accusations of a sexual nature against someone, this book has 412 pages of reasons why you ought not to. There are other ways to get back at someone which don' t drag others into your mire of lies.

The author has written a very compelling book. He is angry and he has reason to be. He suffered. His loved ones also suffered.

The author was consistent in his story. The truth of this book is a beacon which canno be denied. "Published writing is the best revenge." ~ Spike Q. 

sapphoq reviews says: Get this book.

Innocence Isn't Enough by G. John Armstrong

Innocence Isn't Enough: A Journey Into the Nightmare of False Accusation, G. John Armstrong. Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse, 2005. e-book, 301 pps.

He was a teacher somewhere on the West Coast. He was dedicated and happy in his work. But all of that changed in 1989. Elizabeth Loftus' ground-breaking work on how memory actually works was still being cursed by some gung-ho therapists and patients who believed in the truth of "recovered memories." [Some still curse her work and the False Memory Syndrome Foundation in turn]. 

He was indicted on five charges of sexual assaults which involved three students. Yes, 'repressed memories' figured significantly in the case. The dedicated teacher supposedly had a torrid affair with one student at his home several times a week. He supposedly operated as a perpetrator would, identifying the weak and shy students and culling them from the herd for his deviant purposes. The public who read about the case or heard about the case automatically assumed guilt. The justice system also did. Investigators wanted to believe those that came forward instead of investigating the evidence as objectively as possible. He was threatened with a long prison term. Life began to suck badly.

There was a protracted Board of Education arbitration hearing with a three-member panel. That sort of hearing does not take place everyday over the course of a week or so. His took place over the course of a year and a half. It wasn't done yet when he told his lawyer that he'd had enough. The schedule was random and unpredictable. His life was being dictated by the Board in accordance with when he was to show up or not show up. He withdrew from the hearing and felt that he had gotten part of his life back.

In late 1990, sometime after the aborted hearing process, the author and his elderly parents learned via a radio news broadcast that he was facing criminal charges. The prosecutor did not contact the author's attorney before his press release. Everything is supposed to go through the attorney first but this was not done. Instead, the media got the story and ran with it. Finally, he received copies of his indictment and of some transcripts of investigations which were carried out. [These are reproduced word-for-word in the book].

In November of 1992, after two prosecutors quit, the teacher's lawyer (now from Legal Aid) succeeded in getting the case thrown out on constitutional grounds. The case had kept changing as witnesses kept changing or embellishing their stories, as more 'memories' were recovered, as the prosecution kept adding witnesses last minute.

The other side appealed. In May of 1993, three appellate court judges threw the case out forever. The man was finally free to get on with his life and a new career. In spite of his innocence, he would never teach again.

sapphoq reviews says: False accusations do happen for a variety of reasons. A vic might mix up the benign actions of one person with those of someone who actually did victimize him or her. G. John Armstrong maintains in his book that some people just like to cause other people pain.

Innocence Isn't Enough was very persuasive and believable. The author was the true victim of an over-zealous system. In reading the court documents and transcripts, I was able to detect the major contradictions in the testimonies of the three accusers and their allies. 

A sad story. I wish G. John Armstrong the best in his future endeavors. Highly recommended.

Sex,Lies, and the Classroom by James P. Wilcox

Sex, Lies, and the Classroom, James P. Wilcox. self-published, 2012. e-book, 799 pps.

Sex, Lies, and the Classroom is a bit deceiving at first glance. It reads like a poorly written memoir but in fact it is a work of fiction. There are some things that the author got correct in the book and perhaps a few things that he did not, in my opinion.

The teacher, Mr. O'Connell, styles himself as a maverick in the inner city school that he teaches at. The students are poor and mostly black. (The Black English-- or Ebonics-- is something that James P. Wilcox got right). The principal views Mr. O'Connell as a pain in the ass. I understand why.

Three students plot to get back at the teacher and they do. They accuse him of sexual misconduct. And they plot to have others do the same. Predictably, Mr. O'Connell is suspended and then fired after a Board of Education hearing, even with his attorney who is pretty good. He is also reported to Child Welfare and he is ordered to stay away from his own two children. Several of the parents of the students start a lawsuit.

sapphoq reviews says: The book was too long. The conversations between all of the people in the book who are (considered to be) not black and poor were stilted and overbearing. This was a major failing in Sex, Lies, and the Classroom.  I wanted to take a pen and slash the dialogues down into more realistic and manageable pieces. Even the more pedantic among my acquaintances do not talk that way. The prologue and the epilogue were the best parts of the book. Give this one a pass unless you want to torture yourself needlessly. Not recommended at all.