Commentary on Press Articles

There have been a couple of stories on the ayres case in the press in the last few days, and some interesting commentary is found in the comments sections of the articles.

The first item relates to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle (pdf) In their article about the outcome of the 7/25/2012 hearing, commenter "nevermindme" (some of us think that "nevermindme" is a San Mateo County insider) has this to say about the situation:

The San Mateo county prosecutor's office has a vested interest in losing this case. They and the Judicial branch in SM County sent thousands of his victims to him as he was the county contracted provider for juvenile psyche evals.

He used abuse of this power to intimidate many of his victims into silence as he had the power to decide if they got to go home or to a group home or jail.

If the man is convicted it will increase the financial penalty the County must pay in the civil cases. There is some evidence the County was well aware of his behavior for years before he retired. There are many cases, reports of his abuse that are outside the criminal statute prior to 1990.

These comments are similar in nature to what I've been saying for a number of years now. In addition to the financial consequences to the county, there are several local politicians who have been supporters/friends of ayres in the past (Like Jim Fox and Rich Gordon for example) and who stand to face significant embarrassment were there to be a conviction.

The second article of interest is in the Pacifica Patch online paper (pdf). It is a poll titled "POLL: Should the County Continue to Prosecute William Ayres?" 


The poll itself is not going strongly in favor of continuing prosecution as of this writing. It should be noted that ayres' family and friends found the poll early in the game and began voting and posting comments with information designed to mislead and mis-direct. 

There is some lively discussion there, and commenter "Jeremy Jack" claims to be an ayres friend, and is definitely a supporter, and is posting half-truths in order to mislead the public into having a positive and sympathetic perception of ayres. There are more than 50 comments on the poll as of this writing.

If you get a chance, go over there and vote in the poll. You'll have to register for a free account on the Patch news site, if you don't already have one.

Molester ayres' Competency Certificate - Additional Detail

Much of the discussion for the hearing on July 25, 2012 centered around the 1372 California statute that relates to incarceration/treatment/release of people who have “competency” to defend themselves issues.

At today's hearing, the court was in receipt of the report provided by Napa State Hospital regarding william hamilton ayres' competency. The report was issued on the 23rd of July, and was received by the defense attorney and the prosecution on the 24th of July. 


The report was delivered along with a “Certificate of Restoration” meaning that the treating facility (Napa State Hospital) has determined that ayres has been “restored” to competence and should therefore be capable of defending himself in criminal trial. Because the certificate was provided, the law states that within 10 days, the perpetrator is to be returned to the charging authority.  There are provisions for tracking delays beyond the ten days, and it sounds like the authorities can be soundly spanked if they violate this provision too much.

It states the following:

“If the committing court approves the certificate of restoration to competence as to a person in custody, the court shall hold a hearing to determine whether the person is entitled to be admitted to bail or released on own recognizance status pending conclusion of the proceedings.”

Child molester ayres will be permitted to request a hearing, essentially contesting the declaration of competency. Defense Weasel McDougal has stated that he has not talked to his client yet, but that he anticipates that he will, of course, request this further hearing.

When ayres was committed to Napa State, his bail was returned to him. AP news organizations are reporting that this amount was $250K, but it was actually $750K. Because he is now considered to be again under the jurisdiction of the court, he is again entitled to a bail hearing.

McDougall will probably be arguing that because ayres turned himself in to Napa State, he is no flight risk and should therefore be let loose with no, or very little bail. The prosecution will no doubt be arguing that because he was deceptive in his competence, he is not trustworthy. (I’m making a leap here… We don’t know yet that the report says that he was lying, but based on several clues, I think we can safely assume that the report states exactly that.)

Scumbag McDougall asked that the report which accompanied the certificate be sealed until the hearing, arguing that it contained personal medical information. McKowan argued that the only medical information in the report was stuff that was already available to the public, as it was part of the competency trial.
The judge granted Scumbag McDougall’s request as usual.


We do get SOME clues as to what’s in the report:

1) McDougall says that releasing the report to the public could bring prejudice against the child molester.

2) McDougall wanted to “waive” the transport of ayres back into custody, and leave him at Napa State Hospital as he’d been there for 9 months, and “Napa should be the most accommodating versus jail.”  The 1372 Statute indicates that if the defendant needs continued treatment to remain competent, that they can stay at the facility beyond the 10 days.

BUT Prosecutor McKowan stated that the content of the report indicates that it would be highly unlikely that Napa State would allow him to remain in their custody – In other words: ayres has been permanently “cured” of his dementia, and therefore can’t stay there any more. Judge Grandsaert mumbled that it would cost the county to keep him there too….

Hallelujah! Napa State Hospital has apparently found a miracle cure for Alzheimer’s or general dementia which normally only degrades over time! Not only have the geniuses there discovered a way to HALT dementia, but they’ve actually been able to REVERSE it!!!

What an exciting development!

Somebody call the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research and tell them the great news!!

–Meh… not so much… ayres has been competent all along, and his gambit was figured out by the docs at the loony bin. (Call the Fisher Center back and tell them to resume fundraising…)

So what’s next? (This is the “pure speculation” part of this article):

McDougall will whine that all of those doctors up at Napa are dolts, and that ayres is indeed still competent.


There will then be a hearing to decide if McDougall’s medical opinion is more weighty than the entire staff of trained psychiatric professionals at Napa State. If they find that he’s competent in spite of McDougall’s illustrious opinion, then the can determine if ayres should require bail or not, and how much.

The prosecution must then decide if they will proceed to try him again for his crimes of molesting many young boys under the guise of providing them with psychiatric care.

It has long been my contention that DA Wagstaffe does not desire to try him for his crimes, and there is apparently some understanding within political circles that this is so - my best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. ( This was the rumor and innuendo part of the article.) 

I’m assuming that Wagstaffe will grumble about saving the taxpayers a whole bunch of money, and everyone in the county will applaud him for his wisdom in letting yet another child molester wander around San Mateo County.

I could be wrong; I’ve been wrong before.

Also of note:  SFGate has an article up (pdf), and in it they contacted the DA office, but didn’t talk to McKowan. Instead they talked to ADA Morley Pitt, who said:

“We are happy that the proceedings may be reinstated and that we can proceed to trial-setting and have the community and a jury decide whether the defendant committed the crimes we've alleged"

What this means, if anything... I have no idea.

[Update July 26, 2012]:
There's a pretty good article in The Examiner (pdf) about the ayres story. Also it appears that the articles about ayres that were posted in the Mercury News have disappeared for some reason.

ayres is Competent

william hamilton ayres, who molested many young boys while they were under his alleged psychiatric care and who has been deceiving the court with a competency gambit to avoid retrial for his heinous crimes, has been found competent by medical professionals at Napa State Hospital.

According to the new article in the Mercury News (pdf) DDA McKowan had this to say:

"We are amazed by this because it goes against everything we thought we knew about his condition. We are extremely happy and hope to get to trial as soon as possible."

Neither side was willing to comment about the content of the medical report.

My speculation is that it says what we've been saying all along: ayres was NEVER incompetent. The office of the DA should not be surprised, as they were provided video evidence of ayres competence before they accepted that determination.

The Mercury News calls this a "shocking turn."  Not so much, as far as I can see... perhaps the DA was shocked.... let's just face it... everyone knew all along. 

We'll know what the report says in a couple of weeks, I suppose.

william hamilton ayres Child Molester to have new bail hearing

Hearing update:

The report and "Certification" was completed by Napa State Hospital and provided to Jonathan McDougall, the asshat attorney for child molester william hamilton ayres and the prosecution yesterday. McDougall "has not had an opportunity to discuss it with his client." (Bullshit, because Barbara Ayres is now his conservator, and she was present in the courtroom.)

The nature of the "Certification" was not discussed, and McDougall had the report itself, but not the certification sealed. 

What was discussed was that ayres needs to be transported back to the custody of the court within 10 days. (This means jail.) At which point there will be a hearing to set a court date, and for a bail hearing. 

McDougall indicated preference for ayres to stay at Napa until (whatever the next step is.) Prosecutor McKowan indicated that she didn't think Napa would have any interest in keeping him there, and that it was costing the county money.

I'm not 100% certain at this point, but it seems that this means that ayres has been found competent, and by the nature of the discussion surrounding the sealing of the report, it would seem that the report could cause some prejudice against ayres, were it to be released. 

On August 3, 2012 at 8:45am there will be a hearing to set a court date, and to hear bail arguments. (Remember that ayres had his bail money returned to him after he was committed.)

More detail will follow later today, and there were news reporters present and digging for more information about the nature of the certification, so there should be more information in the paper today. I'll post links as I get them.

Reminder: Criminal Hearing July 25th 2012

Reminder: Criminal Hearing Tomorrow:

July 25, 2012 at 8:45am PST
Hall of Justice and Records, 400 County Center, Redwood City

Tomorrow's hearing is for the criminal proceedings against william hamilton ayres, who was past president of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and who molested many young boys under the guise of providing psychiatric care.

Tomorrow’s hearing to listed as “To Set” and it’s scheduled for 8:45am, probably meaning that it will last 5-10 minutes, ending before the start of the day’s cases, and resulting in another court date to actually review the report and determine next steps.

Most recently in the criminal case, we heard that ayres was definitely malingering in a deliberate effort to avoid having to face retrial for molesting young boys. ayres has been refusing treatment at Napa State Hospital to “restore competence." 


At the time of the last court hearing, (May 3, 2012) there were delays in doctor’s reports, etc, as per usual in this case… The judge said that he’s reviewed the statues; He adjusted the due date for the Napa Director’s report to July 25, 2012 so that it falls 9 months after ayres’ initial lockup. He said that the report should  have some conclusion about whether or not restoration of competency can be done, and about the extent that it can be done at Napa State Hospital. He said that if the director’s report can be done early, it should be done early. They set the next hearing date for July 25, 2012 at 8:45am so that they could look at the report, and determine next steps.

It is likely that child molester ayres will not be present in the courtroom on Wednesday, but the molester’s disgusting,  dull-witted wife Solveig will probably be there, possibly along with the molester’s daughter Barbara Ayres of Sacramento, who recently was granted conservatorship over the molester, in preparation for his release from Napa back into the welcoming arms of the San Mateo County public. 


I wonder if Barbara will be ignoring ayres’ interest in pursuing his sexual attraction to young boys like others did for all those years?

New Allegations Against Defrocked Stockton Priest Michael Kelly

UPDATE January 14, 2014:
Kelly has just been CRIMINALLY Indicted, and request for extradition from Ireland has been filed.
Read more! 

To Victims of Defrocked Stockton Priest Michael Kelly: Please Come Forward.

There's a new story in the Calaveras Enterprise about the continuing criminal investigation into defrocked Stockton priest Michael Kelly. Back in April, Kelly was found liable in a civil trial for raping a man when he was ten years old. The victim was represented by noted attorney John Manly, who has made a name for himself in winning cases against pedophile priests. But before the trial had ended, Kelly had fled to Ireland where he continues to hide out to this day.

Since the completion of the civil trial, a number of new victims have contacted both Manly and the Calaveras County, CA Sheriff's office. Here's the Calaveras Enterprise story:

"New Allegations Surface Against Defrocked Priest"

Former San Andreas priest Michael Kelly faces renewed sex abuse allegations this week after Stockton attorney John Manly confirmed he will press ahead with litigation on behalf of several new clients.

An untold number of accusers have come forward to police and attorneys across three counties after a civil trial against Kelly ended in a $3.75 million verdict last April.

This passage in the story is of particular concern:

Both Hewitt and Manly referred to lag time in the investigation of Kelly cases. Each also suggested that Friends of Father Kelly, an advocacy group that helped fund Kelly’s flight to Ireland, was freighting an already lengthy legal process.

“(Investigations) is way backed-up. (Investigator Wade Whitney) is dealing with an officer-involved shooting while still trying to track down alleged Kelly victims and witnesses,” Hewitt said. “Friends of Father Kelly is just piling-on, emailing him, sending him letters, just hindering his investigation.”

It is incomprehensible that in this day and age, with the Jerry Sandusky and Monsignor Lynn guilty verdicts in Pennsylvania that ANYONE would be trying to hinder a law enforcement investigation into a priest accused of multiple incidents of  rape and other sexual assault of young boys.

And it is even more incomprehensible that this group is continuing to defend Kelly given the following information that came out at the civil trial, from the Lodi News, April 19, 2012:

During testimony Wednesday morning, Vicar General Monsignor Richard Ryan, the second-ranking Stockton Diocese official, testified that a Bay Area psychologist recommended in a report around 2000 that Kelly be reassigned to a job in the diocese in which he wasn't around children and their families due to potential pedophiliac tendencies.

Just like Jerry Sandusky, Kelly would start out by first tickling and wrestling with his victims before graduating on to sexual assault.

We understand that at an anonymous Kelly victim has contacted the northern California chapter of SNAP in recent weeks. We encourage him and ALL victims of Michael Kelly to come forward.

Please report ANY information relating to potential victims of Michael Kelly to:
 


-Attorney John Manly in Newport Beach, CA: 949-252-9990

-Sgt Chris Hewitt at Calaveras County Sheriff's Department
891 Mountain Ranch Road
San Andreas, CA 95249
(209) 754-6500

Or contact 9-1-1 if there is a current threat.

Will Lynch: ACQUITTED!

Video Segment from myFOXla.com

By now, you've all seen the great news: Will Lynch has been acquitted of almost every charge against him. Lynch was charged by Santa Clara County DA Jeff Rosen for felony assault and felony elder abuse for punching the Jesuit priest who violently sexually abused him as a very young boy.

According to the Mercury News, the jury found Lynch "Not Guilty" of felony assault, and of felony and misdemeanor elder abuse. The jury was deadlocked 8-4 in favor of conviction on misdemeanor assault. 

It really impacts me profoundly to know that the jury has been this wise, in correcting the additional injustice committed by DA Rosen. 


And SHAME, SHAME, SHAME is upon Judge David Cena for deceptively answering the jury's DIRECT question about jury Nullification when he told them that they had to "obey his instructions to "follow the law." "

I hope that the right people take this as a goad to correct the law. Statutes of limitations for reporting child sexual abuse, if made consistent with what has LONG been well known about how old people are before they begin to face the reality of the impact, should be increased until victim is well into adulthood (like 60ish), or be removed completely. Further, the time served for these crimes needs to be drastically increased to keep serial offenders from ever seeing the light of day. If these things are done, then people like Mr. Lynch will not have to do what law enforcement and the District Attorneys are prevented from doing by arcane, nonsensical laws.

So that you can clearly understand the character of these two men:

According to the Mercury News, after the trial Will Lynch said:

"I was wrong for doing what I did -- in doing that I perpetuated the cycle of violence, But if there is anything I want people to take away from this -- it is you can come forward, you can seek justice and you can find justice in many forms."

Contrast this with DA Jeff Rosen's statement:

He said that he was "disappointed" and that he'd "carefully evaluate whether to retry Lynch on the misdemeanor assault charge."

What is that stinky feces smell?? Why look... DA Rosen has opened his mouth again!

Robin Sax: Commentary on Lynch Trial

Video Segment from myFOXla.com

Robin Sax, the Fox 11 Legal Analyst (Los Angeles) discusses the William Lynch trial in this video segment.

Note that Robin Sax is a former Assistant District Attorney, and agrees with all of us, that the DA in this case should never have chosen to prosecute Lynch.

She also is very frustrated that the SAME DA's office could have prosecuted Lindner for his child molestation, but did not. Further, the "retreat" that Lindner is housed at (Sacred Heart Jesuit Center)  is a haven for Jesuit pedophiles, and she points out that there are EIGHTEEN schools within a mile of the Jesuit den of iniquity.

She appeared in at least two segments. Both clips are at myfoxla.com. The best clip is the interview with Robin and KFI Radio Host Bill Carroll. The second is a shortened promo-type clip.

Remember to head over to The William Lynch Legal Defense Fund. 

(Again, I don't normally post fundraising links - I think this is the second one. I'm not in any way affiliated with these guys... look up and phone the Garagos & Garagos law firm to confirm if you want to donate but worry that my link is not legitimate!)