Troubles with the Law

[Sister]

Snipped:
http://www.criminalsearches.com/details.aspx?id=w1x00xCC&vw=criminal&1=9bYq9RQWq2v06QqmWqhn2etiS%2fmjyX2LNkECXTIo3Xc%3d&input=name

Texas Department of Corrections, TX
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Adrian Hillin Lawless.

Full Name:     Adrian Hillin Lawless    Date of Birth:     06/27/1966
AKAs:       Height:     
Weight:     
Hair Color:     
Eye Color:     
Race:     WHITE
Gender:     Female
   

ADDRESSES

D CRIMINAL OFFENSE 1
Offense Date:         
Offense Type:    Alcohol
Offense Code:   
Offense Description:    DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED
Date Reported:     
   
D CRIMINAL OFFENSE 2
Offense Date:         
Offense Type:    Alcohol
Offense Code:   
Offense Description:    DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED 3RD OR MORE
Date Reported:

This could be pastor Lane's son Brett...   
Texas Department of Corrections, TX (more info...)

PERSONAL INFORMATION
Brett Lawless.

Full Name:     Brett Lawless    Date of Birth:     10/14/1959
AKAs:       Height:     5'9"
Weight:     148 LBS
Hair Color:     BROWN
Eye Color:     HAZEL
Race:     WHITE
Gender:     Male 

[Sister]

Your info:
Timothy John Lawless, 10 sex crimes in jail in sacramento, whose father is gary d lawless, is still a total brick wall as no one can find Gary D lawless the father. But we believe the gary d lawless sex offender is his brother.  this is the gary d lawless who also was arrested and in prison on a drug deal gone bad/murder, he beat the murder and was to be released this year, he could be out, or just about getting out.


Is the guy responsible for the highlighted area above truly a Gary "D" Lawless, because I actually think he is a guy named Gary Lawless (without the "D") who is an Oakland gang member that is 30 years old in 2007.  He was in jail from July 2003-2007.  He is the accused murderer, sex offender, & drug dealer that shot his fellow gang member.  His birth record is below.

California Birth Index, 1905-1995
about Gary Lawless
Name:    Gary Lawless
Birth Date:    17 Oct 1976
Gender:    Male
Mother's Maiden Name:    Love
Birth County:    Alameda
Order Original Certificate:    Order Now

There also is a Gary Lawless that is a horse jockey in Alameda in 1974-76, but I'm doubt he is related to any of these guys.

[Sister]

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Thomas W. LAWLESS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 96-5581.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

March 14, 1997.

In 1995, Lawless sent a package from Arizona to a confederate in Knoxville, Tennessee. Authorities became suspicious of the contents, received permission to inspect the contents, and discovered approximately six pounds of marijuana.

http://openjurist.org/108/f3d/1377/united-states-v-w-lawless

[Sister]

William Henry Lawless
Convicted in San Diego California, Living in Oklahoma Who is this??


Appearance       
White Male;
age 58; 
5 ft. 9 in. tall; 
200 pounds; 
Gray Or Partially Gray hair;
Blue eyes   
 
Other Physical Identifiers       
Scar - Abdomen     
 
Sex Offender Registration Offenses       
Rape - Second Degree
County: San Diego.   City: San Diego.   State: California.   Date: 11/09/1977   
 
Addresses
       
27701 E Admiral Pl., Lot 75,  Catoosa, Oklahoma 74015   US.   County: Wagoner.   
Begin Date: 04/07/2009
Jurisdiction:&nbspWagoner City Police Department.  Comments:&nbspPer Wagoner Co SO   
 
Aliases       
no known aliases
Offender IDs       
ODOC#:  806653
Date of Birth: 10/11/1950
Sex Offender Registration       
Status:  Active
Start Date:04/23/2003
End Date: LifeTime
Aggravated: No
Habitual: No
Level:3
 

William Henry Lawless 
 

image 1 of 3  Next   
03/03/2006   
 
 
Aliases     
no known aliases
 
 
Offender IDs     
ODOC#:  806653
Date of Birth:  10/11/1950
 
 
Sex Offender Registration     
Status:  Active
Start Date:  04/23/2003
End Date:  LifeTime
Aggravated:  No
Habitual:  No
Level:  3
 
 
 
 
 Appearance     
 
 
White Male;  age 58;  5 ft. 9 in. tall;  200 pounds;  Gray Or Partially Gray hair;  Blue eyes   
 
 
 
Other Physical Identifiers     
 
 
Scar - Abdomen     
 
 
 
Sex Offender Registration Offenses     
 
 
Rape - Second Degree
.   County: San Diego.   City: San Diego.   State: California.   Date: 11/09/1977   
 
 
 
 
Addresses     
 
 
27701 E Admiral Pl., Lot 75,  Catoosa, Oklahoma 74015   US.   County: Wagoner.   Begin Date: 04/07/2009
Jurisdiction: Wagoner City Police Department.  Comments: Per Wagoner Co SO   
 

[Sister]

Sexual or Violent Offender Search Details


Offender
Name: Lawless, Richard Ray
Offender Type: Sexual
Level: Non-Designated


Photo Date: 11/26/2007

Physical Description (Updated 03/22/2007)  Race: Caucasian Sex: Male Age: 60
Height: 5'11" Weight: 150 Birth Date: 08/05/1948
Skin Tone:  Hair: Brown Eyes: Hazel
Scars, Marks, Tattoos: 

Last Known Address  Primary Address: 742 Old West Mullen Trail 
City: Elliston State: MT Zip Code: 59728
County: Powell

 
Offense Non-Montana Statute:  Washington Rape Of A Child  Counts:  1 
Sentence Date:  09/24/1986 
 
Registration Agency  Agency: Powell County Sheriff Phone: (406) 846-2711

Registrant Information Updated: 03/24/2009 09:32:28 AM
Source: Montana Sexual or Violent Offender Registry

[Sister]

Registered Offender List
Search Criteria:  lawless
Click on offender's name for additional information
Name    Type    Address    State Registry
CHAD R LAWLESS    Not Mappable    INCARCERATED
,      WI
CHRISTOPHER L LAWLESS    Not Mappable    JAIL JACKSON CO
MURPHYSBORO, IL 62966    IL
Gordon Lester Lawless SR    Mappable    4 Dewberry Drive Leisure Gardens
Presque isle, ME 04769    ME
LAWLESS,JACK SIDNEY    Mappable    1008 MCGOWEN ST5
HOUSTON, TX 77002    TX
LAWLESS, JAMES CHARLES    Not Mappable   
,      CA
JEFFERY L LAWLESS SR    Mappable    109 W HOWARD ST LOWR
PORTAGE, WI 53901    WI
LAWLESS, JOHN    Mappable    95 HOMESTEAD DR
CORAM, NY 11727    NY
Larry J Lawless    Mappable    1846 JACKSON FURNACE RD
SOUTH WEBSTER, OH 45682-9055    OH
Lawless, Richard Ray    Not Mappable    742 Old West Mullen Trail
Elliston, MT 59728    MT
Richard Keith Lawless    Mappable    17570 Freedom Ln
Brownstown, MI 48193    MI
LAWLESS,ROBERT LEE    Not Mappable   
, TX     TX
LAWLESS, ROBERT ALAN    Mappable    201 W CALIFORNIA AVE # 321
SUNNYVALE, CA 94086    CA
Lawless, Terry Lee    Not Mappable    x Homeless
Seattle, WA 00002    WA
Timothy R Lawless    Mappable    30 Price Street
Calais, ME 04619    ME
LAWLESS,WALLIE    Mappable    24941 Buffalo Ridge Rd
Anamosa, Ia 52205    IA
William Henry Lawless    Mappable    27701 E Admiral Pl. Lot 75
Catoosa, Ok 74015    OK
RAY,DAVID ANDREW    Mappable    111 MELROSE DR
MONTGOMERY, TX 77356    TX
RAY,DAVID ANDREW    Mappable    111 MELROSE DR
MONTGOMERY, TX 77356    TX

[Sister]

Fresno 16 Aug 1937 - Thomas Lawless charged with failure to provide for a minor child    Reported by Mrs Leona Cobley.  Being 1937 would this not have to be something very serious for him to be charged?  and $500 bail in 1937 - that is a huge amount! 

[Sister]

gordon Lawless victim of a death row inmate.
http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/Pending/99/feb99.htm
Date of scheduled execution: 2/10/99 State: Louisiana Victim name: Gordon Lawless
Inmate name:Jimmy Ray Williams Status: stayed 
   
Eighteen-year-old Jimmy Ray Williams used a 9 mm weapon to rob and murder Gordon Lawless, a driver for an auto parts store on June 15, 1994.  Gordon was sitting in his  truck in a parking lot, having just made a delivery, when Williams approached him and asked for a cigarette.  Lawless gave him one and then Williams pulled his gun and shot Gordon in the face.  The medical examiner testified that Gordon died from drowning in his own blood. 
Williams confessed to the killing but claimed it was an accident.  Evidence presented at
Williams' trial showed that several hours before Gordon's murder, another man was shot and his vehicle was stolen.

[Sister]

WESTERLY MAN, LIKE HIS FATHER, IS CONVICTED OF SEX ASSAULT

By Ellyn Moran Santiago - The Sun Staff

WESTERLY -- A Pearl Street man has been convicted of second-degree sexual assault in connection with the molestation of a 14-year-old girl last May.


Thirty-eight-year-old Gordon Lawless -- the son of 82-year-old convicted sex offender Gordon Lawless Sr. -- was found guilty by a Washington County jury Friday afternoon. He is free on $10,000 surety bail pending sentencing on May 12. Court sources have predicted Lawless might receive "substantial time." The law allows for a sentence on a second-degree sexual assault conviction of from 3 to 15 years in prison.

"I'm pleased with the outcome of the conviction after the trial," Westerly Police Chief Edward A. Mello said.

Lawless faced his now 15-year-old victim when she testified against him in Washington County Superior Court this week. Lawless was convicted of assaulting the girl while she was at a sleepover with his stepdaughter. The victim testified that she awoke to find him fondling her while she was staying at his Pearl Street house. Lawless was prosecuted by the state's assistant attorney general Craig Montecalvo. Lawless has a prior conviction of violating a no contact order.

"The assistant Attorney General's office and the investigators from the Westerly Police Department did an outstanding job to bring this case to a successful conclusion," said Westerly Police Capt. -- and department prosecutor -- Lauren A. Matarese.

Meanwhile, his father, Gordon Lawless Sr. -- who pleaded no contest to four counts of second degree child molestation in 2003 on a 2002 case -- remains free but on probation. He lives on Tower Street.


The senior Lawless was convicted and was sentenced to serve 15 years for each count of child molestation -- but Washington County Superior Court Judge Clifton Gale suspended that sentence. The father of two of the elder Lawless's victims told The Sun he believed Gale suspended the sentence "because (Lawless) was so old."

"That was wrong -- really wrong," the parent said. The Sun is withholding his name to protect the identities of the victims.

"Justice wasn't served in the first case -- the father," the parent said. "Those were young girls; they were around 11 and 9. He should have served the jail time. The laws are wrong and people should know this guy -- and his son -- and where they live."

The senior Lawless is required to have no contact with his victims as well as participate in a sex offender program.



esantiago@thewesterlysun.com

[Sister]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/feb/22/childprotection.society


Paedophile vigilantes face life termsRetired sea captain murdered after he was cleared of indecently assaulting nine-year-old girl
Martin Wainwright The Guardian, Friday 22 February 2002 01.55 GMT Article historyTwo self-appointed "paedophile vigilantes" face life sentences for the murder of a retired sea captain committed according to a plan drawn up by a teenage girl high on cannabis and alcohol.
Pub cellarman Ian Lawless, 40, and his jobless godson Gary Lawson, 19, shouted abuse as they were found guilty of setting fire to the Grimsby flat of Alf Wilkins, 67, a former deep sea fisherman and tugboat captain who had been cleared of indecently assaulting a nine-year-old girl.

Two other neighbours on the Yarborough estate in Grimsby were also convicted for their part in the murder. Mr Wilkins died of smoke inhalation after the pair set fire to his flat by igniting an accelerant they had poured through his letter box.

Chantelle Day, 17, who drew up the murder plan, will be sentenced later for conspiracy, while Gary Fairbanks, 43, was given two years for intimidating a witness.

After the five week trial at Hull crown court, Detective Superintendent Gavin Baggs, who led the murder inquiry, warned the case sent "a strong message about what happens to people who chose to take the law into their own hands".

He said: "Alfred Wilkins was a well liked old man who kept himself to himself, but who was tormented by criminal offences founded by speculation. We are particularly grateful to witnesses who bravely spoke out, sometimes against neighbours, friends and relatives."

Lawson and Lawless - who was described as obnoxious by his QC - both claimed that their actions had widespread support on the estate.

The trial heard that the pensioner, who was waiting for a hip operation, had been targeted ruthlessly - taunted in the street and savagely beaten a week before his death by two hooded men who burst into his graffiti-sprayed flat.

He led a lonely life and had befriended some of the children on the estate, but those involved with the murderous gang repaid him with vicious rumour-mongering and steadily worsening violence.

The trial was told that a murder plot was hatched over drunken drug-taking sessions, based on an illiterate blueprint drawn up by Day, who was then Lawson's 16-year-old girlfriend. This proposed not only a variety of ways of killing Wilkins but also gave details of alibis for those involved.

Extracts read to the jury included: "Put some socks in his mouth with some Sellotape over it. Pour petrol all over his flat and all over him. Then set him on fire. Then set fire to his flat making sure it is all blown up with him in it."

The trial heard details of Lawless's chronic drunkenness and fantasies, which included an attempt to persuade fellow prisoners on remand that he was a member of the Taliban. Lawson meanwhile openly boasted of the day that turpentine was poured through Wilkins's letterbox and set alight: "He is going to get done in. I am going to do it. He is going to get blown up."

The day after his victim's flat had been left a blackened ruin, he said to a friend: "I told you I would do him in. I killed Alf."

Wilkins's suffocated body was found in the kitchen of his flat in February last year with the word "Nonce" - prison slang for sex offender - scrawled on the window, and his 12-year-old black alsatian Lucky lying nearby. Lawson told Humberside police detectives after his arrest: "When it became known Alf was dead, everyone wanted to party."

Fairbanks was found not guilty of incitement to murder but admitted telling a witness Mandy Tasker, his next-door neighbour: "Tasker, you're a f***ing grass. I am going to petrol bomb your house."

Ian Lawless caught my eye hear but this is in UK I believe.  If it si irrelevant please delete.  I did not know and have been finding some other things out of country regarding the Lawless clan.

[Sister]

This is a very sad story for all concerned - Sister
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Kenny Hulshof's account of Kezer polygraph disputed

Josh Kezer was exonerated and released from prison on Feb. 18 for a 1992 murder in Scott County, Mo., a judge said he did not commit.

In his ruling, Cole County Judge Richard Callahan wrote that the Kenny Hulshof, the former special prosecutor for the Missouri Attorney General's Office who prosecuted the case, withheld multiple pieces of exculpatory evidence, misstated evidence in his closing arguments and endorsed the “obvious lies” of jailhouse informants.

Hulshof served six terms as a U.S. Congressman, representing Missouri’s 9th District, and unsuccessfully ran for governor in fall 2008. He is now an attorney at Polsinelli Shughart law firm in Kansas City.

In his only interview since the ruling, Hulshof went on the Mark Reardon show on KMOX 1120 NewsRadio in St. Louis on Feb. 23. He defended himself and said he stood by the jury's verdict. He also said that Callahan's ruling was a "travesty" for the victim's family.

But he went a little further than that.

Hulshof said that Josh Kezer failed a polygraph test before his murder trial in June 1994.

"I've yet to hear anyone in the press pick up on the fact that Kezer failed a lie detector test on the issue of whether he was involved," Hulshof told Reardon.

There's just one catch.

Neither the Scott County Sheriff's Department or Kezer's attorneys have any record that Kezer ever took a polygraph.

Scott County Sheriff's Detective Branden Caid said he found no documentation in the original investigation files from the Missouri Attorney General's Office, his department or the Missouri State Highway Patrol to support Hulshof's statement.

"If it was ever there, it's not there now," Caid said. "As much as they wanted Josh to be guilty, I would think they would want a 15-page write-up on it, but there's nothing."

Charlie Weiss, an attorney with Bryan Cave law firm in St. Louis who represented Kezer, said he found no polygraph report in the files he received from Kezer's original defense or in the documents provided by the attorney general's office.

Hulshof also told Reardon that key witness Mark Abbott, who testified at trial that he saw Kezer near the crime scene the night of the murder, passed a polygraph test.

But there is no record of the Abbott polygraph either, Caid said.

posted by BPoston @ 1:07 PM   0 comments 

Monday, January 28, 2008
Post-Dispatch story about Joshua Kezer

Josh Kezer hugs Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter, whose efforts bolstered Kezer's claim of innocence. Kezer was exonerated on Feb. 17, 2009 and released a day later.

2/19/09: Josh Kezer is freed after 14 years in prison

2/17/09: JUDGE OVERTURNS JOSH KEZER'S 1994 MURDER CONVICTION

12/08/08: Southeast Missourian Sunday Story about Kezer Hearing

12/03/08: Wrongful conviction in killing? The review is on

8/04/08: Judge Callahan grants Kezer evidentiary hearing in December 2008

6/10/08: Scott City detective denies taking KEY report from Mark Abbott

PDF of report that Scott City Detective Bobby Wooten took 10 days after murder

Update From SE Missourian 6/1/08
/>St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)

November 25, 2007 Sunday

CASE CLOSED - THEN REOPENED

Mischelle Lawless was found in her car in 1992, fatally shot. Joshua Kezer was convicted and sentenced to 60 years in prison. The officer who responded to the incident still has doubts.

STLToday.com

By Benjamin Poston
Special to the Post-Dispatch

BENTON, MO — Reserve deputy Rick Walter was catching up on paperwork one night in the fall of 1992 when he was told to check out an abandoned car near Interstate 55.

He found a 1986 Buick Somerset at the top of an exit ramp about 1:30 a.m., just outside of this southeastern Missouri town that rises above the Mississippi River floodplain. Inside was the body of Angela Mischelle Lawless, a 19-year-old nursing student.

Lawless had been shot three times, once in the back of the head. But when Walter looked inside the car, he couldn't determine exactly how she had died.

"It was dark, and I didn't know if it was somebody just passed out," Walter said. "We opened the door and saw all the blood."

Fifteen years later, Walter, now the Scott County sheriff, sits in his windowless office and lets the Lawless case play out in his mind. There should be little reason to think about it now. Joshua Charles Kezer was convicted for the killing and sentenced to 60 years in prison. The case is closed.

But things just don't add up, Walter said.

Lawless clearly fought for her life against at least two attackers, Walter said, and yet, investigators identified and pursued only one suspect.

There were no witnesses to the killing. No physical evidence - DNA, fingerprints or murder weapon - linked Kezer to the scene. In fact, Kezer's friends and family say he wasn't even in the state the night Lawless was killed.

"People in the law enforcement community and regular people here have told me that they got the wrong guy in jail," Walter said.

So in early 2006, Walter did something almost unheard of in law enforcement: He reopened a murder case that was not only closed, but had already produced a conviction.

The sheriff and one of his detectives began reviewing hundreds of pages of investigative reports and witness statements. It would be a daunting task.

Witnesses were scattered. Fingerprints and blood can be reviewed and retested, but it was unclear what could be gleaned more than a decade later.

None of that mattered to the sheriff, a former construction worker who regularly wears a quarter-size pin that reads "My Son is a Marine." He already knew that if he ever got the chance, he would reopen the case.

"I wake up most mornings and wonder, 'Why am I sheriff?'" said Walter, who was elected in 2004. "I think this is why - to find the truth on this case."

FIRST TO THE SCENE

Everyone called her Mischelle. She was a cheerleader for the Kelly High School Hawks basketball team in Benton, and a farm girl at heart, having been active in the local FFA Organization.

In her younger years, she was a Girl Scout who volunteered as a candy-striper at area hospitals, so it was only natural that Lawless would pursue a nursing degree at Southeast Missouri State University.

"That's what she always wanted to do," her brother Jason said.

In many ways, Lawless was a bundle of contradictions. By her sophomore year in college, she was juggling boyfriends and partying a lot, friends said, yet she remained a regular at the Baptist Student Union.

Though she weighed just 95 pounds, Lawless wasn't afraid to stand up for herself. She even tried karate, and earned a yellow belt. "She was 4-foot-11 and packed full of dynamite," Jason Lawless said. "She wasn't the type to back down from anything."

On Nov. 7, 1992, Lawless was cruising Malone Street in Sikeston. Later that night, she dropped by a boyfriend's house. But she had a curfew, so she left sometime before 1 a.m. to get home.

Lawless would get no farther than the Route 77 exit ramp off I-55 in Benton - less than a mile from her home. That's where Mark Thomas Abbott of Scott City, Mo., said he found her bleeding.

Currently serving a 20-year federal sentence for drug trafficking, Abbott, now 38, said he was driving home after a night of heavy drinking at a honky-tonk in Sikeston, when he stopped his truck to check the Buick. The car's headlights were still on, and the engine was idling.

Abbott told authorities he reached into the car, grabbed Lawless by the waist and felt blood. He said he heard gurgling and realized she was wounded.

"At first I thought she was drunk, but when I seen her head with her hair over it," Abbott said, "I knew something was viciously wrong with her."

Abbott drove to a nearby gas station to call police, but the pay phone wasn't working, he said. As he walked back to his truck, Abbott said, a white hatchback darted into the gas station.

He told police that he saw the driver's face for a few seconds in the darkened parking lot. The driver had a dark complexion, Abbott said, and may have been Latino.

Abbott then drove northwest on Route 77 to the Scott County sheriff's department. A jailer reported that Abbott had burst into the sheriff's office.

"You need to get someone down there," Abbott shouted, "because a girl has been shot!"

COPS GET A NAME

Lawless was found wearing a turquoise sweatshirt, unbuttoned jeans and blue socks covered with blades of grass. She had been struck on the top of the head twice. A blood trail from inside the car continued over the guardrail and about 100 feet down an embankment. She hadn't been raped.

Walter believes Lawless tried to escape whoever killed her, judging from the grass on her socks and the blood outside. She also clawed her attacker. Tissue and blood were found under her fingernails.

"There was definitely some type of struggle," Walter said. "If you look at the crime scene photos, she may have been put back in the car or she could have been carried back up the slope. One person couldn't have done all that."

The Missouri Highway Patrol and the Scott County sheriff's department interviewed Lawless' friends and family, co-workers, fellow students - anyone who might have information.

Every path led nowhere until February 1993, when three inmates at Cape Girardeau County Jail claimed that Kezer, an 18-year-old high school dropout from Kankakee, Ill., had told them that he had shot Lawless.

The inmates had hung out with Kezer the month before. They said that he was a Latin Kings gang member and that he had confessed to the murder in an apartment where they were getting drunk and high.

About a week after Kezer became a suspect, police interviewed Abbott for a fifth time. He repeated his earlier story, except that this time he didn't say the driver of the hatchback at the gas station might have been Latino. Instead, he picked Kezer, who is white, out of a photo lineup. Abbott would be the only witness to place Kezer near the crime scene.

"When I picked him out, they damn near jumped through the roof with joy," Abbott said. "Sheriff wanted that case bad - it was like they broke the case open."

By early April, Kezer was extradited from Illinois on an unrelated felony assault charge later dismissed for lack of evidence. While police were bringing Kezer to Missouri, Scott County Sheriff Bill Ferrell obtained warrants for first-degree murder and armed criminal action charges, which carried the possibility of the death penalty.

Investigators had not conducted a polygraph test, taken a blood sample, thoroughly questioned Kezer or checked his alibis, according to police records.

Don Windham, the lead investigator of the case for the Highway Patrol who brought Kezer back to Missouri, said he was unaware that Kezer would be charged for murder upon their return.

"I was livid," Windham said. "I wouldn't have arrested him at that point in the investigation. We weren't ready."

THE TRIAL BEGINS

Kezer's murder trial began June 13, 1994. Prosecutors presented a case built primarily from the testimony of the jailed informers and Abbott. The DNA from Lawless' fingernails was tested; it didn't match Kezer's.

Prosecutors also lacked a motive, or any proof that Kezer and Lawless had met - until the fourth day of the trial.

Chantelle Crider, a friend of Lawless', had been watching the court proceedings and came forward to testify that she recalled seeing Kezer arguing with Lawless at a Halloween party one week before the murder.

The next day, June 17, 1994, the jury deliberated for three and a half hours before returning a verdict. Kezer was convicted of second-degree murder and armed criminal action.

"No, I didn't do this," Kezer yelled in the courtroom. "I didn't kill her."

After the verdict, special prosecutor Kenny Hulshof acknowledged that getting the conviction hadn't been easy. "There was no physical evidence to link Josh Kezer to the crime scene," he said.

Kezer was sentenced on what would have been Lawless' 21st birthday - Aug. 2, 1994. Just before hearing his sentence, Kezer was allowed to speak.

"There was other people's blood at the scene of the crime," he said. "The DNA reflected that my blood was not at the scene. My fingerprints or my palm prints were not at the scene. ... I don't why the jury found me guilty."

After the trial, Walter was surprised the case was considered closed. "I kept waiting for them to charge someone else with the murder."

HELP FROM OTHERS

In 1996, Jane Williams of Columbia, Mo., visited the Jefferson City Correctional Center, also known as "the Walls." She was there for an evening worship with her church group when she saw Kezer for the first time.

He was the only inmate kneeling during the service.

Williams became riveted by Kezer's case and his claim of innocence, but she didn't know how to help. "I felt like I couldn't do anything," said Williams, 52, a retired social worker.

In May 2006, she wrote a case summary that made its way to the Missouri committee of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Charlie Weiss, a partner at Bryan Cave law firm in St. Louis, took the case pro bono in September 2006. About a month later, he discovered that Walter had reopened the case.

"How in the world did they convict (Kezer) with this evidence?" said Weiss, a former president of the Missouri Bar Association. "If there was ever reasonable doubt in a case, this was it."

In late June, the Innocence Project, based in New York City, offered to assist Weiss. The nonprofit organization, which has helped exonerate more than 200 people, is reviewing legal documents and helping with DNA testing.

The organization's staff believes there's compelling evidence to conclude that Kezer's conviction should be re-evaluated and thrown out, said Olga Akselrod, staff attorney.

"We normally don't have the amount of non-DNA evidence like what (Weiss) has amassed."

CHANGING HIS STORY

During Walter's investigation this spring, Detective Branden Caid was checking witness statements when he learned about an interview Abbott had given to police in 1997.

At the time, Abbott was awaiting transfer to federal prison, and he was seeking leniency. Abbott had proved to be a credible informer on cases involving methamphetamine manufacturing, said William J. Bohnert, a Cape Girardeau narcotics detective.

So, when Abbott announced that he had new information about the Lawless murder, Bohnert was ready to listen. Once again, Abbott described the night Lawless was killed. Only this time, he said he was there when she was shot.

The Post-Dispatch obtained a summary of the interview. The following is Abbott's description of that night:

Abbott said a male friend who was married was having an affair with Lawless. Shortly after midnight, the pair argued, and Lawless jumped in her Buick, heading north on I-55. According to Abbott, she was going to tell the friend's wife that Lawless was pregnant with her husband's child. (An autopsy showed she wasn't pregnant.)

Abbott and the friend followed Lawless in Abbott's Chevy S-10. They caught up with her at the Benton exit. Abbott's friend got out of the truck and rushed to her idling car, where the pair argued again.

Sitting in his truck, Abbott said, he heard gunshots.

The gunman fled on foot. Abbott ran to the car where he could see Lawless was bleeding. In shock, he said, he got in his truck to report the shooting.

Abbott said the friend had threatened to kill him if Abbott told anyone. The friend's name is being withheld because he has not been charged.

"I knew he was the star witness in that case, and now he's changing his story," Bohnert said. "Mark put himself at the scene, and he gave me a bunch of detailed information."

After getting the statement, Bohnert said, he contacted the Cape Girardeau prosecutor, who advised him to call Windham, who investigated the case for the Highway Patrol. According to Bohnert, Windham said they had gotten a conviction in the case and would not reopen it.

Windham said he recalled the conversation but "didn't take any stock in" Abbott's statement.

MOVING FORWARD

For Walter, discovering the Abbott interview was a turning point in the investigation, though he won't boast about its significance. "I thought, 'Maybe I'm on the right track here.'"

Walter said he believed the statement Abbott gave to Bohnert, except he doubted that Abbott was an innocent bystander. "The story makes sense other than him sitting in the car and reading Bible verses," Walter said sarcastically.

Abbott is being held at the Federal Correctional Institute in Oxford, Wis., and is eligible for release in 2015. In a phone interview, Abbott claimed the 1997 statement never took place.

"I can't understand why Bohnert would say something like that - it blows my mind that he would even make that up," Abbott said.

Bohnert said he had no reason to lie. "I know what the guy told me. He seemed convincing enough for me to talk to the prosecutor," he said.

Windham said he now had doubts about the integrity of the original investigation, adding that he and other investigators should have considered Abbott in a different light.

"One of the big rules of thumb is to eliminate the first person who found the victim ... and it sounds like we didn't eliminate him," said Windham, now a sergeant with the Highway Patrol's Division of Drug and Crime Control. "I'll feel bad if it comes out that Kezer is not involved in this thing."

REBUILDING A CASE

Attorneys at Bryan Cave plan to file a petition on behalf of Kezer that will ask the court to vacate his conviction based on new evidence:

- Crider, who said Kezer argued with Lawless one week before she was killed, now says she mistook Kezer for another man at the Halloween party. Lawless wrote about the man she met at the party in a diary passage. It wasn't Kezer.

- Another round of testing this year showed Kezer didn't match any DNA found at the scene.

- The sheriff's department discovered a November 1992 police interview in which Abbott identified a black man he knew from Sikeston as the driver of the white hatchback. The report was never given to Kezer's original defense team.

Walter said his investigation hadn't produced any evidence that Kezer killed Lawless. He declined to discuss whether others would be charged, but he said he would do all he could to make sure whoever killed Lawless was behind bars.

"I think Mischelle deserves justice, and I think her family does, too," he said.

Meanwhile, Walter keeps a faded mug shot of Kezer underneath the glass of his desk.

"People might say, 'Kezer is a nobody, and what does it matter, why would I even care?'" Walter said. "We owe him this - to find the truth, because he is somebody. If I don't stand up for these people, who will?"

ONE MAN WAITS

Kezer's request for parole was rejected in October, and he continues to serve his sentence at the state prison on No More Victims Road.

He wears a faded T-shirt, gray prison-issue pants and plain white sneakers. Now 32, his hair is prematurely gray; his skin is prison pale. He has muscular shoulders and biceps but is a little soft in the middle - a byproduct of watching TV as much as 10 hours a day.

Kezer said the justice system had failed him, but he also sees his conviction and imprisonment as part of God's complex plan.

"I had to decide the bigger purpose in life was God," he said. "That's why I didn't slit my wrists, but I instead dropped to my knees to pray."

Kezer earned his GED in prison, but he wonders how he will adjust if he is ever released. He has other doubts, too. Will anyone remember him? What will they think of him if they do?

"If you ask people who I am today, they will say I'm a murderer," Kezer said.

"I'm not."

---

LOOKING BACK ...

- Albert Lowes, defense attorney for Joshua Kezer: Lowes said he regretted that he didn't have Kezer testify in his 1994 murder trial. "He would have been a good witness," said Lowes, now practicing law in Cape Girardeau, Mo. "This is the only case I defended where the wrong guy went to prison."

- David Rosener, defense attorney for Kezer: Prosecutors accused Rosener of threatening the jailhouse informers who had claimed that Kezer had confessed to the crime. Rosener said he should have brought an investigator with him when he interviewed the jailhouse informers, to observe the depositions he took. If he had done that, Rosener said, the investigator could have testified that the informers had recanted and had not been not threatened. "(Kezer) didn't get a fair trial, and I could have done a better job," said Rosener, now practicing law in Festus. "I was devastated by this case."

- Kenny Hulshof, special prosecutor at the Kezer trial: Hulshof, a Republican from Columbia, is serving a sixth term in Congress. He declined through a press secretary to comment for this story.

- Stan J. Murphy, circuit court judge who presided over the trial: He said that the verdict hadn't surprised him and that he supported the jury's decision. Murphy declined to comment on the new investigation into Angela Mischelle Lawless' murder. He retired in 2000.

- Bill Ferrell, former Scott County sheriff whose department investigated the Lawless killing: Ferrell said he had no reaction to the decision to reopen the case. "You need to talk to the Highway Patrol instead of me, because they are the ones that conducted the investigation." When Ferrell retired in October 2004, he said the Kezer conviction was a highlight of his 28-year tenure as sheriff, according to the Southeast Missourian newspaper. "We got a conviction almost entirely on circumstantial evidence," he said at the time. "I'm really proud of the effort that went into that case and brought it to a conclusion."

---

USING INFORMERS

Since 1989, more than 30 of the 208 convictions in the United States that were overturned through DNA testing involved cases based on the testimony of snitches or jailhouse informers, according to the Innocence Project.

When investigators lack physical evidence or witnesses to the crime, they sometimes rely on other criminals to get the information they need, said Rod Uphoff, a law professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law.

Three jailhouse informers, all facing felony charges, claimed to authorities that Joshua Kezer had told them he had killed Angela Mischelle Lawless. Months before Kezer's trial, a fourth informer, this time Kezer's cellmate, said Kezer had confessed to the crime.

Although jailhouse informers can be valuable, relying on them to build a case is risky, Uphoff said. In Kezer's case, for example, two of the three informers recanted before trial - one of them later reversed his recantation. Kezer's cellmate at the Scott County Jail also recanted before the trial.

"Snitch witnesses right off the bat are questionable in any case," said Uphoff, who defended Terry Nichols in the Oklahoma City bombing trial. "They have a lot to gain by manufacturing evidence against somebody else, and it may be very difficult to tell if they are lying."

---

ABOUT THE STORY

Reporting for this article included interviews with police officers from multiple agencies, private investigators, attorneys, law professors, and relatives and friends of Angela Mischelle Lawless and Joshua Kezer, who was convicted in Lawless' killing.

Kezer was interviewed in prison. Mark Abbott, the only witness to say Kezer was near the crime scene, was interviewed by phone from federal prison.

The 1,200-page transcript from Kezer's 1994 trial also was reviewed, along with coverage of the trial by the Southeast Missourian newspaper, transcripts from police interviews and a variety of court records.

Lawless' parents - Esther and Marvin Lawless, now divorced - declined to be interviewed for this story.

---

Ben Poston was a reporting intern at the Post-Dispatch in the summer of 2006. He holds a master's degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and works as an investigative reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at bposton3@gmail.com

[Sister]

298 F.2d 899

Andrew D. SHERMAN, Appellant,
v.
Violet Jean LAWLESS, Administratrix of the Estate of James
L. Lawless, Deceased, Appellee.

No. 16789.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

Feb. 5, 1962, Rehearing Denied March 6, 1962.

L. J. Tierney, Omaha, Neb., for appellant and was on the brief.

George B. Boland, Omaha, Neb., for appellee and Clarence R. Sowers, Wichita, Kan., Richard L. DeBacker, Grand Island, Neb., and A. Lee Bloomingdale, Omaha, Neb., were with him on the brief.

Before SANBORN and VAN OOSTERHOUT, Circuit Judges, and GRAVEN, Senior District Judge.

VAN OOSTERHOUT, Circuit Judge.
1

Defendant appeals from final judgment entered against him in plaintiff's wrongful death action tried to the court without a jury. Plaintiff, Violet Jean Lawless as Administratrix of the Estate of James L. Lawless, Deceased, brought this action to recover for the wrongful death of James L. Lawless, alleged to have been proximately caused by the negligence of the defendant in the operation of his truck and trailer at a point on U.S. Highway No. 281, five miles north of Grand Island, Nebraska, about 3:30 a.m. on September 12, 1958.
2

Jurisdiction, based upon diversity of citizenship and the requisite amount, is established.
3

Defendant admits that he was operating his truck on the highway at the time and place alleged, but denies that he was guilty of any negligence which in any way proximately caused the injury resulting in the death of Mr. Lawless. Defendant denied that his truck hit Mr. Lawless and that he inflicted the injuries causing Mr. Lawless' death. By way of affirmative defense, defendant asserted that Lawless was guilty of negligence more than slight in lying in a prone position on the traveled portion of the highway, dressed in dark clothing, on a dark night, and that his injuries were caused by his own negligence or by some unknown aggressor.
4

This case was tried to the court without a jury, no jury having been requested by either party. The court, after hearing all the evidence, filed findings of fact and conclusions of law and entered judgment for the plaintiff. This appeal followed.
5

The errors relied upon by defendant for a reversal may be summarized as follows:
6

1. There is no substantial evidence that defendant was guilty of any negligence which proximately caused the accident.
7

2. There is no substantial evidence to support the court's finding and conclusion that defendant's truck or trailer struck and injured Mr. Lawless, or in any event there is no substantial evidence to support the finding that the injuries causing Mr. Lawless' death were inflicted by defendant's truck or trailer.
8

3. The evidence conclusively shows that Mr. Lawless was guilty of contributory negligence more than slight, such as would defeat any right to recover damages.1
9

This case presents a most unusual factual situation. It is established that during all times here material, Mr. Lawless was lying in the middle of the north bound traffic lane of Highway No. 281, at a point about five miles north of Grand Island, Nebraska. He was lying on his left side with his head to the north, and facing east. His body was approximately parallel to the edge of the pavement. He was dressed in dark clothing. The night was dark. The pavement was asphalt and had been patched in places, which patches appeared as dark splotches.
10

Defendant left Grand Island about 3:00 a.m. on the morning of the accident with his truck and trailer, which with their load weighed approximately 19,000 pounds, to deliver some farm machinery to South Dakota. From the outskirts of Grand Island to the point of the accident, he was following an unloaded Chevrolet panel bread truck operated by Mr. Downing. Defendant was traveling at a speed of just under fifty miles per hour and his headlights were on law beam, illuminating the highway some 15 feet ahead of him.
11

The bread truck driver had his bright lights on. As he approached the object, which turned out to be decedent's body, he braked his truck, then first started to turn to the right, and then turned to the left, avoiding all contact with decedent's body. As he did so, his brake lights flashed. Mr. Downing cannot say how far he was away from the body when he first discovered its presence on the pavement.
12

Mr. Downing, after passing the body, stopped his bread truck and through his rear mirror saw defendant's truck as its wheels straddled Lawless' body. Defendant and Downing immediately got out of their vehicles and went to Mr. Lawless and found him to be unconscious. Both testified that the body appeared to be in substantially the same position after the accident as before. Mr. Lawless never regained consciousness, and died that afternoon.
13

The findings of fact signed by the trial court, which were prepared by plaintiff's counsel, appear to be very general in form. There is a finding that the defendant was guilty of negligence but there is no finding as to the specific type of negligence. No purpose will be served in considering the numerous specifications of negligence discussed by counsel and the evidence relating thereto. While the evidence bearing upon defendant's negligence is far from conclusive,2 we shall assume for the purpose of this case that the court was justified in finding defendant guilty of negligence in some respect in the operation of his truck.
14

The burden is upon plaintiff to prove the essential elements of her cause of action by a preponderance of the evidence. In addition to proving negligence, the plaintiff must prove 'that such negligence was a proximate cause of the accident, and that damages were caused as a result together with the extent thereof.' Johnsen v. Taylor, 169 Neb. 280, 99 N.W.2d 254, 261.
15

In the case just cited, the court upheld the direction of the verdict for the defendant, stating in part:
16

'The evidence of damages is required to be direct and certain. Proof that damage might or could have been caused or was probably caused by the accident is not sufficient to sustain a verdict for a claimant. Such evidence is not of the quality required to satisfy the burden of a claimant to establish by a preponderance of evidence an injury and the extent thereof.' 99 N.W. 262.
17

The court in support of its holding cites and quotes from Bitler v. Terri Lee, Inc., 163 Neb. 833, 81 N.W.2d 318, 319, and Welstead v. Jim Ryan Const. Co., 160 Neb. 87, 69 N.W.2d 308, 309.
18

Thus it is essential for plaintiff in order to recover to prove that the injury causing Mr. Lawless' death was inflicted by defendant's truck. It is established by expert medical testimony, as the trial court properly found, that death was caused by a severe brain injury. The trial court found such injury was caused by defendant's operation of his truck. Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support such finding. The crucial question presented is whether there is substantial evidence to support the finding of the court that the truck caused the brain injury that resulted in Mr. Lawless' death.
19

We recognize that the testimony of the examining physician shows that decedent had received many injuries in addition to the brain injury, including laceration of the rectal area extending into the abdomen, fractured ribs, numerous brush burns, lacerations and bruises, as well as other injuries. However, there is no proof that any injury except the brain injury caused death.
20

Under well-established standards for review of findings of fact by the trial court sitting without a jury, the trial court's findings must be accepted unless they are clearly erroneous. The trial court's findings cannot be upset if they are supported by substantial evidence. For the purpose of determining the sufficiency of the evidence to support the judgment, we must of course view the evidence in the light most favorable to the prevailing party, here the plaintiff, and give such party the benefit of all inferences that may reasonably be drawn from the evidence. Plaintiff may establish her case by circumstantial evidence as well as by direct evidence. However, the evidence must be such as to make the plaintiff's theory of causation reasonably probable, not merely possible. Johnsen v. Taylor, supra. It the proven facts go no further than to give equal support to two inconsistent inferences, the judgment must go against the party upon whom rests the burden of proof. See Ford Motor Co. v. Mondragon, 8 Cir., 271 F.2d 342.
21

There is no direct evidence establishing that decedent's injuries were inflicted by defendant's truck. The testimony of Mr. Downing, who observed the movement of defendant's truck, is that defendant's truck successfully straddled the body.
22

The circumstantial evidence affords no reasonable basis for supporting the finding that defendant's truck inflicted decedent's fatal brain injury. On the contrary, the circumstantial evidence negates plaintiff's theory that substantial contact between the truck and the decedent took place, as is demonstrated by the following items:
23

1. The minimum clearance of the truck and trailer, as established by the evidence and found by the court, is not less than 10 1/2 to 11 inches. Decedent was 'tall and very slender.' He was 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighed only 150 pounds. Under such circumstances, it is entirely possible for defendant's truck to pass over the body without inflicting substantial injury. No basis exists for an inference from such physical facts that decedent of necessity must have been fatally injured when the truck passed over him.
24

2. Defendant's testimony is that he neither felt nor heard any impact as the truck passed over the body.
25

3. There were no wheel marks or grease or dirt stains from the truck undercarriage on decedent's person or clothing or any physical evidence connectin his injurie with the truck.
26

4. Two highway patrolmen who went to the scene of the accident inspected the undercarriage of the truck at the scene with a flashlight and again in daylight several days later and could find no blood marks or any other evidence that the undercarriage had come in contact with the man.
27

5. Although decedent had numerous brush marks and lacerations, the partrolmen could find no evidence of any scuff marks or scrapings on the pavement.
28

6. The testimony of Downing and defendant, the only eye witnesses, is that decedent was in substantially the same position on the pavement after defendant's truck had passed him as he was before.
29

7. Defendant was traveling north. Decedent was at all times material lying approximately in the middle of the north bound traffic lane with his head to the north. Thus, his head was the last portion of the body passed over. The head is smaller than the body and clearance adequate for the body would appear to be sufficient to afford clearance for the head.
30

8. Defendant and Downing, as a result of their observations immediately after the incident, both testified that there was a large blood pool about 12 inches in diameter on the east half of the pavement, about 10 feet south of the position of the decedent's body. No such blood pool was in evidence at the point of the body. Suich testimony was coroborated by officer McFall. Officer French confirmed the existence of the blood stain but said it was 10 feet north (rather than south). The trial court found the blood stain was to the north. If such finding is warranted, the blood stain was at a point that the decedent's body never reached as a result of the accident. If the substantial blood stain was to the south, it could hardly have been caused by injuries inflicted by the defendant. A doctor's testimony is that some time would be required to accumulate a blood stain of the size described. Such amount of blood could not possibly accumulate in the brief interval during which defendant's moving truck might have been shoving the body forward.
31

9. Decedent's attending physician testified that decedent would not be ambulatory after receiving the brain injury. The physician who performed the autopsy was unwilling to say that the injuries he found would have made it impossible for decedent to have crawled some distance.
32

10. A prior disabling injury appears to be a reasonable explanation for decedent's presence in a hazardous position, lying prone in the middle of defendant's traveled lane on a primary highway.
33

Decedent on the night of the accident was last heard from directly by his sister by means of a telephone call made to her from a tavern in Grand Island. Decedent asked her to drive his wife and boys to Hastings by daylight. He said he felt a little under the weather, and that he had traveled to Grand Island with a number of other guys, who went off and left him and that he would either have to hitch hike or walk back to Hastings. He also said he almost got into a fight but did not say with whom. Hastings is about 25 miles south of Grand Island. Decedent in his injured condition was found 5 miles north of Grand Island. The only other possible testimony relating to decedent's whereabouts is that of Mr. Hogins who was traveling south to Grand Island on the highway in question, about 3:00 a.m. Mr. Hogins met defendant as he was leaving Grand Island in his truck. Mr. Hogins stated as a witness that he encountered an unidentified man on the highway about 5 miles north of Grand Island; that the man was walking from the east side of the highway, northwest toward his car; that Mr. Hogins was frightened and pulled to his right and avoided hitting the man. The trial court in its findings, among other things, states:'As the defendant got within 75 feet of the man, he could see the clothing on the pavement. When he got within 50 feet of the man, he could see the outline of his leg. He could see that the man was lying on his left side. As he approached closer, he could see the man's features and that he had a satisfied look on his face. He did not see any blood or injuries of any kind on the man's face at that time.'
34

Defendant testified 'when he was 50 feet away, he then saw the form of a person's leg. It was at this point about 50 feet away when he saw that it was a human being when he saw the leg, and then the next thing he saw the man raise his leg or his face or it seemed to, and then he went, because of the radiator of the truck, out of view. * * * It seemed as though he raised his head just a little bit.'
35

Upon the basis of such testimony, the plaintiff contends that substantial evidence exists that the man was uninjured and conscious immediately before the truck passed over him. Plaintiff also relies upon the statement by defendant made to a patrolman that he knew the undercarriage would strike the decedent. However, in connectioin with this statement, he also said that he felt or heard no impact as the truck passed over the body.
36

Our examinatioin of the entire record convinces us that there is no substantial evidence to support the trial court's finding that the fatal brain injury was inflicted by defendant's truck. Plaintiff, having failed to meet the burden imposed upon her to prove this essential element of the cause of action, is not entitled to recover.
37

We observe that this is not a case involving joint or concurring negligence. Whatever force caused any prior injuries to decedent on the highway had come to an end before defendant's truck came upon the scene. In Weisenmiller v. Nestor, 153 Neb. 153, 43 N.W.2d 568, 572, the Nebraska court thus states the rule that applies:
38

'In that connectioin, this is not a case involving joint or concurring negligence of two or more persons thus imposing liability upon defendant as a joint tortfeasor. If defendant is liable to plaintiff for injuries and damages, he is liable for only such as a preponderance of the evidence shows that plaintiff sustained as a proximate result of defendant's negligence as distinguished from those, if any, caused by others. In other words, if defendant negligently operated his car and thereby proximately caused injuries to plaintiff, then defendant is liable to respond in damages for the injuries inflicted by his car.'
39

Moreover, if contrary to what we have heretofore said, an evidentiary basis can be found for supporting the contention the defense. Nisi v. Checker Cab suffered the disabling, fatal brain injury prior to the arrival of defendant's truck, we would be compelled to uphold defendant's contention that decedent was guilty of negligence more than slight as a matter of law.
40

Under Nebraska law, contributory negligence is an affirmative defense and the burden is upon defendant to establish the defense. Nisi v. Checker Cab Co., 171 Neb. 49, 105 N.W.2d 523.
41

Here the evidence conclusively establishes that decedent, as defendant approached, was lying on the traveled path of traffic on a primary highway, on a dark night, in dark clothing. Decedent's action in assuming such a hazardous position, if done voluntarily, would manifest a very high disregard for his own safety, and such conduct, in the absence of any reasonable explanation or excuse therefor, would in our view establish contributory negligence more than slight as a matter of law.
42

The judgment appealed from is reversed.
1

Other errors are asserted but are not set out as consideration of such errors is not reached, because of the view that we take upon the errors set out
2

See Adamek v. Tilford, 125 Neb. 139, 249 N.W. 300, 301; Weisenmiller v. Nestor, 153 Neb. 153, 43 N.W.2d 568, 571

CC∅ | Transformed by Public.Resource.Org

http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/298/298.F2d.899.16789_1.html

[Sister]

This is an FYI - Sister

Prepare to hurl.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6625955

In southwest Missouri, police are investigating allegations of child sexual abuse involving church leaders and church members. Prosecutors in two counties say there are multiple victims and similar patterns of abuse.

Some of the alleged sexual contact may have been committed as part of a ritual or ceremony, crimes that are rare in the United States. NPR has reviewed extensive legal documents in these cases over several months and also talked to most of the accusers, as well as some of the accused.

The area of Missouri where the cases surfaced has been home to extremist and fringe groups in the past. Data show that a high number of cases of child sexual abuse in the same area are reported annually to the Department of Social Services. What makes this story different is that almost all the accusers — five so far — and the accused — five in total — are related by blood or marriage.

Newton County's Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Bill Dobbs says complicated family ties are involved in the cases.

"We have, in McDonald County, Raymond Lambert, who is married to his stepsister," Dobbs says. "We have George Johnston, who is an uncle to Raymond Lambert. It is alleged by some members of that community that the religious leaders may, in fact, be the biological parents of several children who have been born into this group."

Our story focuses mostly on the pastors Raymond Lambert and his uncle George Johnston. Both men are charged with multiple counts of statutory sodomy or child molestation. Pastor Lambert led his flock on a 100-acre farm. Pastor Johnston led his on a 10-acre farm. They ministered in the family's Grand Valley Independent Baptist Church.

A Close-Knit, Isolated Community

Earlier this year in the spring, 10 people secretly moved out of the 100-acre farm. Most of those left behind were shocked, since members of the religious community were unusually close.

A woman who left with this group agreed to be interviewed, but only on condition of anonymity. NPR agreed to this because she fears for her and her family's safety. She is also an alleged victim named in one of the child sexual-abuse cases. The woman, in her late 20s, says she fled because she realized her extended family was behaving like a religious cult.

"They operate in a cult-like fashion," she tells NPR. "Raymond Lambert sets all the rules for the people who live there. He tells you what to go to school for, he tells you who to marry. He basically controls your life."

Former residents of this religious commune say non-church members were kept at arms-length. While children were home schooled, adults did have jobs outside of the farm. Some worked at Wal-Mart's headquarters in nearby northern Arkansas. The anonymous woman says Pastor Raymond Lambert told her to study music in college, so she became a music teacher.

One day last year, while surfing the Internet, she accidentally came across a cult-awareness Web site. The Bible-based cults she read about began to sound as if they were pages out of her own life. Alarmed, she contacted a California rabbi linked to the Web site. She says he counseled her for months, and in April of this year, she finally found the courage to leave everything she once believed in. Pastor Raymond Lambert not only controlled her, she says, but he also used his role as a minister to sexually molest her.

'This Was Her Way to Heaven'

"The first incident started with taking my clothes off when I was 15 years old," she said. "He touched me from head to toe, every part of my body, and told me that this body belongs to God. And the only way that I could subject myself to God is to give my body to Raymond, who is God in the flesh."

She grew up on the farm, passionately believing in God and church, trusting that her sexual relationship with Raymond Lambert would bring her closer to God.

"I believed that it was right, and that it was OK," she said. "I didn't feel like I needed to tell anybody, because I was believing in that at the time."

In June, she filed child sexual-abuse charges against Raymond Lambert. Not long after, Missouri police began to investigate other church leaders in the community, including Pastor George Johnston, an uncle of Raymond Lambert.

Mike Barnett, Newton County's child-abuse investigator, says another alleged victim, a 17-year-old girl, told him that Johnston sexually abused her, beginning when she was 8 years old.

"It became worse at about 12," Barnett says, referring to the 17-year-old's case. "He would tell her that he was ordained by God, that this was her way to heaven, and that she needed to give her body to him."

Barnett says he investigates child abuse all the time, and cases involving religion are rare. In a police statement, he says 63-year-old pastor George Johnston told this alleged victim that even if she had sexual intercourse with him, she would remain a virgin. In neighboring McDonald County, the state alleges that Johnston gave "angel kisses" to this same young girl, where the kiss would involve touching and fondling of her breasts and other inappropriate areas.

Allegations Heard in Court

At a preliminary hearing in October, another alleged victim, 20-year-old Mackenzie Kyle Amey, took the stand in the Newton County courthouse. Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Bill Dobbs asked her what happened in the winter of 1998, when she was 12.

"I was starting to develop or go through puberty," Amey said, "and I had some stretch marks coming, and he told me that he could heal them for me, and he touched my breasts."

On the stand, Amey alleged that Pastor George Johnston, whom she used to call Grandpa, was going to teach her algebra, but instead, "he touched me on my breasts and my vagina."

Months before these allegations, families in the religious community were coping with other disturbing news, says Amey Burkett, who grew up on the 100-acre-farm.

"In April, I learned that my grandfather thought that his daughters needed taking care of spiritually," Burkett tells NPR. "And so in order to do that, in order to keep his daughters, he had sex with them. He then went on to father a child for most all of his daughters, or his daughter-in-laws [sic]."

Her grandfather was the late Cecil Epling, a minister originally from Ohio. According to Burkett, Epling wanted his seven sons and four daughters to become a tight-knit community, so he helped buy them the Missouri farm. When Epling died, his stepson, Raymond Lambert, took over the ministry. George Johnston later joined the family's church.

Family members say Cecil Epling passed his sexual beliefs to both pastors, teaching them that they needed to fulfill the sexual needs of their daughters and selected girls in the church.

"What's inside of them is God, and they think that they have all the power, all that it takes to take care of a woman," Burkett says.

Taking care of a woman meant having sex with her, in some cases from early childhood on. Burkett said that Pastor Raymond Lambert believes that women should be put in their place to make them humble. Burkett said that this usually required stripping off clothes.

"He would always say, if you're spiritually hindered, it's one of two things: your mind or your flesh," Burkett said of Lambert. "By taking off your clothes, and knowing that you weren't ashamed of your body, it did feel like it set you free. And I know that sounds weird. A lot of things sound weird to me now. But it didn't then."

Pastors Deny All Charges

Lawyers for Raymond Lambert and George Johnston say each of their clients deny every charge made by the alleged victims.

"No one has begun to question, why are you talking now?" says defense attorney Dwayne Cooper, who represents Raymond Lambert and his wife, Patty Lambert. "What are their motives in coming forward at this time, all of them simultaneously?"

Pastor George Johnston's attorney, Andy Wood, said the allegations have hit his clients hard.

"George and his wife are just absolutely devastated," Wood said. "This has come out of nowhere. These kids that they did think of as being their grandchildren — now these kids have made these just horrible, horrendous accusations against him. And obviously, it's ruined their whole life."

I met Pastor Johnston at a preliminary hearing for one of three child sexual-abuse cases against him. He's a balding man, with a moustache and pasty skin. During the hearing, he sat solemn and devoid of expression, rarely looking up at anyone in the courtroom. When I ask him about the charges against him, he declines to speak, referring me to his lawyer.

Lawyers for Pastor Lambert and his wife, Patty, agreed to let me talk to their clients, but with substantial restrictions. I was allowed only to ask about life on the farm, and how the allegations have affected them.

Raymond Lambert is charged with seven counts of statutory sodomy or child molestation in McDonald County. Patty Lambert is charged with child molestation.

In a soft voice, Pastor Lambert describes his life: "You wake up one day and things have all changed. And the whole world now seems to be looking at our lives, and they're accusing us. We've been tried and sentenced in the media already."

Lambert says he loves every person who left the 100-acre farm, including those now accusing him of child sexual abuse. He says the allegations have been tough for his entire congregation.

"God said he was going to try us," Lambert said. "The only problem of it is, we never thought we'd be tried in such a way." While he speaks, his wife Patty holds his hand tightly.

"Everyone that lived there by choice would build, and we would watch each other's children as we went out to work," Raymond Lambert says, recalling life on the farm. "And it was a place of a community — it was not something of a forced thing."

'They're Not Fearing Me'

Raymond and Patty Lambert say families left the farm not because they feared Raymond, but because of rumors that the FBI or other authorities might take children away from families and put them into foster care.

"They're not fearing me. That's not what this is about," Raymond Lambert says.

Patty Lambert adds, "The fear came from the outside. I have no great fear of these charges, because I'm going to trust my God all the way through it."

Raymond Lambert nods his head in agreement.

"If our love and our truth about one another, and about what God has given us — and about our relationship, my wife and I — hadn't been based on something true and strong, this would have tore our life apart," Raymond Lambert says.

"But thanks be to our lord that our love is stronger," he says. "We stand together and we believe as one that our lord is going to make a way, as he's made a way and going to make a way for all those that have left."

The child sexual-abuse allegations have affected more than 30 families. One trial date has been set for Pastor George Johnston in February. No matter what the legal outcome of any of these cases, this community that so many believed in for decades is gone.

[Sister]

hhmmmm wonder who this is in contra costa county
03-JAN-94  000060200   0000  0000  NOTICE LIEN 
  ( E ) CALIF STATE FRANCHISE TAX BOARD   
  ( R ) LAWLESS GARY   

[Sister]

Pleadings for claim 97
05/11/2002
   
   KPWU    CERTIFICATE OF FILING/SERVICE - NTC OF CHANGE
08/19/2002   
   UNITED STATES OF AMERICA    CORRECTED NOTICE OF ELECTRONIC FILING --
11/21/2002   
   DRAFT CAPTION
11/21/2002   
   SERVICE MATRIX
05/06/2003   
   WATERWATCH OF OREGON, INC    LETTER TO HOP RE: DISMISSAL OF CONTESTS
05/09/2003   
   HOP    ORDER REQUIRING PREHEARING STATEMENTS
05/09/2003   
   HOP    INITIAL HOP LETTER
05/20/2003   
   HOP    ORDER DISMISSING WATERWATCH OF OREGON,
06/26/2003   
   THE KLAMATH TRIBES    97 TRIBES' PREHEARING STMT
06/26/2003   
   THE KLAMATH TRIBES    97 TRIBES' CERT SERVICE
06/30/2003   
   MARLENE AND LEWIS LAWLESS    97 LAWLESS PREHEARING STMT
06/30/2003   
   OWRD    97 OWRD PREHEARING STMT
06/30/2003   
   UNITED STATES OF AMERICA    97 US CERT SERVICE
06/30/2003   
   UNITED STATES OF AMERICA    97 US PREHEARING STMT
06/30/2003   
   MARLENE AND LEWIS LAWLESS    97 LAWLESS CERT SERVICE
06/30/2003   
   MARLENE AND LEWIS LAWLESS    97 LAWLESS TRANSMIT LTR
06/30/2003   
   KPWU    97 KPWU PREHEARING STMT
06/30/2003   
   OWRD    97 OWRD TRANSMITTAL LTR
06/30/2003   
   KPWU    CERTIFICATE OF FILING/SERVICE
07/10/2003   
   HOP    SCHEDULING ORDER
08/08/2003   
   OWRD    97 AFFIDAVIT TERI HRANAC
08/11/2003   
   OWRD    97 OWRD EXHIBIT 1
08/11/2003   
   OWRD    97 CERT FILING-SERVICE
08/11/2003   
   OWRD    97 Letter to Judge Young
08/28/2003   
   MARLENE AND LEWIS LAWLESS    97 LAWLESS DISC TO TRIBES
08/28/2003   
   MARLENE AND LEWIS LAWLESS    97 LAWLESS TRANSMIT LTR
08/28/2003   
   MARLENE AND LEWIS LAWLESS    97 LAWLESS CERT SERVICE TRIBES
08/28/2003   
   MARLENE AND LEWIS LAWLESS    97 LAWLESS DISC TO US
08/28/2003   
   MARLENE AND LEWIS LAWLESS    97 LAWLESS LTR TO US
08/28/2003   
   MARLENE AND LEWIS LAWLESS    97 LAWLESS CERT SERV US
09/11/2003   
   KPWU    CERT OF FILING-SERVICE
09/11/2003   
   KPWU    97 KPWU DISC TO LAWLESS

[Sister]

also in post here #23
Full Name: Dick Lawless Date of Birth: 08/05/1948
AKAs: Height: 5'11"
Weight: 150 LBS
Hair Color: BROWN
Eye Color: HAZEL
Race: WHITE
Gender: Male

S CRIMINAL OFFENSE 1
Offense Date:
S Sex Related
Case Number: 928793
Offense Type: Rape
Offense Code:
Offense Description: RAPE OF CHILD 1 RAPE OF CHILD 1
Date Reported:

S CRIMINAL OFFENSE 2
Offense Date:
Case Number: 928793
Offense Type: Rape
Offense Code:
Offense Description: RAPE OF CHILD 1 INDECENT LIBERTIES
Date Reported:

S CRIMINAL OFFENSE 3
Offense Date:
Case Number: 928793
Offense Type: Rape
Offense Code:
Offense Description: INDECENT LIBERTIES RAPE OF CHILD 1
Date Reported:

O CRIMINAL OFFENSE 4
Offense Date:
Case Number: 928793
Offense Type: Traffic/Other
Offense Code:
Offense Description: INDECENT LIBERTIES INDECENT LIBERTIES
Date Reported:

[Sister]

Guilty plea expected in 1995 murder case
FONTANA: It would let James Leo Lawless, convicted earlier in a 1977 death, avoid execution.

BY TIM GRENDA
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
SAN BERNARDINO

A man who once strangled a woman and dragged her body behind a car will plead guilty today to capital murder charges in a deal with prosecutors to avoid a possible death sentence, his attorney said.

James Leo Lawless, 44, of Fontana could have been executed if found guilty of the October 1995 shooting of Rigoberto Levay during an alleged drug dispute.

Lawless previously was convicted and sentenced to prison for strangling Linda Letz in 1977, then tying her nude body to the bumper of a car and dragging her along Sierra Avenue in Fontana.

In a deal reached with prosecutors and to be finalized in court today, Lawless will plead guilty to first-degree murder with special circumstances for killing Levay, said defense attorney Donald Jordan.

In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors will drop their bid to have Lawless executed and instead have him sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Jordan said.

"He'll never get out," he said.

Deputy District Attorney Mike Ramos declined to comment on the plea agreement with Lawless until after the court hearing today.

Lawless faced a possible death sentence because prosecutors alleged that he had killed Levay during the commission of burglary, while lying in wait and because he previously had been convicted of murder in Letz's death.

In February, a San Bernardino judge ruled that Lawless was mentally competent to stand trial, despite Jordan's repeated claims that his client was too mentally ill to defend himself.

California appeals courts and Supreme Court refused to overturn the judge's ruling as to Lawless' mental state.

"I still don't believe he's competent to make the decision of life and death, but that's all I can do," Jordan said Tuesday.

Lawless holds the distinction of being one of the longest residents of the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

He has been held in the county jail awaiting trial on the murder charge since Oct. 18, 1995, jail officials said. Jail officials said they could not confirm whether Lawless has served more time in the county jail than any other current inmate.

Reach Tim Grenda at (909) 890-4460 or tgrenda@pe.com

Published 8/21/2002

[Sister]

"VANDALS HIT SUSPECT’S CHURCH: Vandals knocked down the front sign of the Clover Road Baptist Church on Saturday in what church members are viewing as a hate crime…"

http://blinkoncrime.com/2009/05/22/sandra-cantu-case-huckaby-in-court-daniel-plowman-and-jane-doe-new-victims-3-more-charges-added-by-da/#comment-1484720

[Sister]

Leila-Anne Lawless
Age    46
Birthdate    October 20, 1962
Race    Caucasian
Occupation    Delinquency Prevention Project
Location    Charlottesville, VA

Lelia-Anne Lawless, aka "Lee Lee Lawless", aka "gratefulhoo", "rukidding", or "mywhozit", is the mother of a Registered Sex Offender, and an anti-sex offender law activist both online and in the community. "Lee Lee" is a staff member of Sosen and a valued member of other activists groups including Roar for Freedom, SOclear, the now defunct SOhopeful, and Reform Sex Offender Laws Campaign for which she heads up the Virginia state group. The RSOL Campaign which is attempting to gain support for removing almost all restrictions and penalties for sex offenders along with abolishing age of consent laws for prepubescent children is affiliated with SOclear and B4U-ACT, an organization owned by Michael Melsheimer aka "Lek", member of BoyChat and well known pedophile activist.

Lee Lee is very prolific in forums, blogs and news sites where she spreads her message that her son was convicted at the age of 18 only for consensual sex with a 13 year old girlfriend and condemns young girls for being "sleezy" when men exploit them. She fails to mention her sons other charges included distribution of marijuana, possession of cocaine and contributing to the deliquency. She claims he doesn't even have a problem at all, except for sex offender laws. Her son received a 20 year prison sentence but was released after only 2 years, within 3 months he had violated his conditions by attempting to contact his victims, using drugs and maintaining a MySpace on which he befriended 16 and 17 year old girls.

[Sister]

Inmate Name:  GOMES, ANTHONY CHRISTOPHER 
Aliases:  GOMES, ANTHONY
GOMES, ANTHONY C.
GOMES, ANTHONY CRISTOPHER 
Booking Number:  09-13137 
Date of Birth:  04/07/1966 
Gender:  Male 
Height:  5'06" 
Weight:  150 
Visiting:  24 Hour Lobby Visiting 
Mailing Address:
Mailing Information  GOMES, ANTHONY CHRISTOPHER / 09-13137
San Joaquin County Jail
999 West Mathews Road
French Camp, CA 95231 
Booking Date/Time:  05/26/2009 at 09:55 AM 
Projected Release Date:  07/16/2009 
Arresting Agency:  SAN JOAQUIN CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT. 
Type of Arrest:  COMMITMENT 
Charges/Bail:  Case# TM113505A (00) COMMITMENT   
  PC 166(C)(1)  Misdemeanor   
      CONTEMPT OF COURT
      Disposition: DISM - FURTH. OF JUSTICE
  PC 273.5(A)<MISD  Misdemeanor   
      INFLICT CORPORAL INJURY TO SPOUSE/COHABITANT/PARENT OF CHILD
      Disposition: PLED GUILTY
 
Case# TM108931A (01) COMMITMENT   
  PC 243(E)  Misdemeanor   
      BATTERY ON NONCOHAB SPOUSE

Gomes, and same birthdate as our Gary D Lawless.. Arrested this morning.