By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
CASSOPOLIS -- Carol and Patrick Ryan wanted Cass County Probate Judge Susan Dobrich disqualified from their daughter's case for alleged bias and hostility.
But Dobrich Friday afternoon denied a hearing on the motion filed 10 minutes before court started.
The Jones family's ordeal has already cost more than $40,000, according to her father, Patrick Ryan, who practices law in Goshen, Ind.
Lindsey's oldest brother dropped out of college to help the family bear the financial burden. Their second son is overseeing their 11 acres and large animals.
Patrick teared up talking about "what (Drake) did to her. He knows he did something more than just physically rape her. He did something emotionally. And he did something to our whole family. She wants to testify. She wants to tell what Terry Drake did to her. I think it's very brave of her to want to do that. I'm amazed at the constant references that we're victims, and yet with this almost schizophrenic disconnect, we continue to be victimized by the system."
Their daughter still faces charges of receiving and concealing stolen weapons in connection with her alleged abduction March 1 by convicted killer Terry Drake, 56, of Middlebury, Ind., whom she met at church and developed a relationship with via online instant messaging.
Lindsey's jury trial is scheduled for Aug. 12. Drake remains in federal custody near Grand Rapids. He faces stolen property, statutory rape and possessing a firearm as a felon charges. His pretrial conference is set for Thursday in U.S. District Court, Kalamazoo. His trial starts June 16.
The pair attracted national attention with their more than three-week odyssey across the country, punctuated by periodic sightings, before they were apprehended March 24 near the Nevada border in Susanville, in rugged northern California.
The happy reunion soured when the prosecutor's office authorized the felony charge March 25, the day she flew home to Michigan with her mother. She was admitted to Madison Center in South Bend, Ind., for intensive treatment for trauma. The court had several options, including foster care and detention. The court had to obtain an exemption from Lansing to allow treatment in Indiana.
Friday's court session was for Dobrich to rule on the parents' standing in the case and on their desire to allow Mill Valley, Calif., therapist Randy Rand, who specializes in techniques to treat brainwashed subjects. Blunier and Assistant Prosecutor David Moore previously did not object to an examination by Rand. Fitz also did not object to allowing Rand to assist Angela Fileccia, the therapist working with the girl at Bashor, where she is reported to be making progress.
She initially commented that her parents were "torturous" to her and she would "run in a second." She left home numerous times in the preceding three months without her parents realizing it. "No matter who came to her window, she was leaving."
Dobrich twice wrote letters seeking more information on Rand, but nothing was provided until the end of the day Wednesday when a file an inch thick showed up. Her own research, including a number of lawsuits that have been filed in California, led her to conclude Rand's type of counseling could even be harmful to the girl.
Given the lack of response to her requests, Dobrich said she appointed Jim Henry, an associate professor at Western Michigan University who leads a team for abused and neglected children.
As to the parents' standing in the case, Cronin wanted the court to disregard the May change in court rules to "grandfather in Lindsey's longest, best allies." Dobrich said under the new rules parents are not parties to delinquency cases. Fitz agreed that the Supreme Court had spoken. Dobrich said the parents have access to all records, can give input to the parties and will receive notice of all proceedings.
Lindsey listened in by speaker phone from Goshen. The only time she spoke was to ask whether her parents were victimized by her or by Drake? Dobrich suggested she discuss that privately with her attorney.
Cronin faulted Dobrich for "misconstruing what she's learned off the Internet. The Internet is a dangerous thing. Don't we all know that from Lindsey's experience? The judge has no one scrutinizing what she's picking up on the Internet because she doesn't reveal to us what she's picked up, whether it's garbage or valuable research material."
Carol Ryan, whose background is in addictions counseling, e-mailed Rand's organization during the national manhunt for her daughter. "They accurately predicted her behavior to the T, even down to the coloring of her hair. He said something to the effect of, 'How did he mark her?' Often a predator, because they possess and obsess over people, somehow 'own' them with tattooing, piercings, dyeing of hair, haircuts." He sensed that her blonde hair had been colored black.
Cronin claimed Dobrich's "statements of bias against the family and against Lindsey jump off the page and scream for her replacement as judge in this case" as evidenced by two letters she wrote. "We didn't even get a hearing on that motion today. We'll never get a hearing on any of the other motions that we've filed. We don't have standing. That translates as, 'You're not only in the back of the bus, you're off the bus.' Can someone explain to me why the FBI has to approve a placement for a treatment plan for this child? Why was the FBI even consulted? It's one of our points about the judge's bias, that she's influenced by conversations she has outside of court with people who are not identified. Reviewing documents she finds on the Internet. It's not due process, it's a complete mystery. It's not the way legal proceedings are supposed to work."
Cronin argued that the filing must be made within 14 days of the discovery of the grounds for disqualification. "We discovered the grounds for disqualification last Friday when Judge Dobrich decided to appoint Jim Henry as an expert without a call to any party or attorney in this case, without a hearing, without a documenting file, without any explanation of Dr. Henry's credentials. It just calls him a doctor. For all we knew last Friday, he was a dentist. We have delayed in this court proceeding for seven weeks before we get a hearing on Dr. Rand's qualifications. We gave the court 60 pages of material it didn't even go through. Where were any of Dr. Henry's credentials -- even one page? I asked Dr. Henry on the phone if he had ever counseled a child or another person who has been an abduction victim. The answer was that he'd counseled a lot of teenagers. He didn't want to go into abduction victims."
Carol said, "I'm hoping and pleading for public pressure because it's my belief we will never be treated ethically or fairly by Judge Dobrich. That's my bottom line. I've come to that conclusion after nine weeks of dealings with her. I think actions speak louder than words. Our daughter's out of our house. Without any evidence at that March hearing, they assumed she's a public threat and that it was an endangerment to society to have her in our home. The way she wrote the order that said on the record the parents said they agreed with Bashor, that was only after they would not let her come home. If she's going into institutionalized care, sure, Bashor is the better place because we have access to her, but we have never wanted her there as the best choice option. We were just being reasonable and knowing that if it's between here and Dearborn, I'd rather have her so I can see her."
Carol said, "Adult criminals who certainly have the capability to flee, are allowed home detention. Why is this victim, this 14-year-old without any priors, not even allowed bail? I don't care what the legal justification is. We knew her for 14 years a certain way that was defined by responsibility and trust. She was trustworthy. She's never even taken $5 from our wallet. To go from here to there had to have been something. Then the obvious connection is this felonious man with a history of this kind of stuff. She's done what they've asked. She's complied in this treatment setting for almost eight weeks. She wants to come home and we want her home."