She had the right to a fair trial as much as anyone else out there. Mr. Downs must have had a bad feeling about Jagger because before trial, he tried to retain defense attorney Melvin Belli who had the reputation of fighting for his clients and to win all his cases. Late one May night in 1983, Diane Downs sped into an emergency room dropoff in Springfield, Ore., with a horrifying story to tell. ANNE RULES BOOK IS A LIE, ,ALL MADE UP CRAP. Until the end of the trial. Thats the problem with high profile cases. I try to bring up the elements that were totally ignored. I do not care if the bushy haired stranger made no sense or if they could not explain the why of the tragedy, I do not care if she was madly in love with a guy because all that counts is proof and evidence in a court of law, and there was definitely a reasonable doubt. A number of them were clearly . We dont know. He said all the police needed was for Diane to bear witness against her ex-husband. I know better now than to accept blindly the truth presented to us on a silver platter by the media and the judicial system. Christie was understandably all over the place and I agree that the way in which her statements were procured were very odd and seemed to be very coached. Any thoughts on how the detectives basically made up their mind right away in spite of numerous tips coming in? Here are the pros and cons of sole legal custody. Flash-forward to the present day. I have simply bothered researching the evidence and in some instances, the lack of it. I am pointing them out. Knick never signed the premarital agreement and Diane never married him. She was a first time offender who has shown no violent tendencies and is afflicted with a mental illness. She has been in prison for so long that we dont know what her mental health situation is so it is a moot point for me. It did not matter that they had no evidence; they did not like her attitude and she was going to pay for it. Yes, but it is a fact that she was starting to say that she did not know who shot them when it happened. Actor Robert Blake was found not guilty of the shooting murder of his wife. . He failed. It was omnipresent in the courtroom as well as the Duran Duran song Hungry like the Wolf that supposedly was playing when the children were shot in the car. Even if the nurses notes indicated countless times that the children asked for their mother and enjoyed her visits, they cut them off from the only family they knew and loved; supposedly for their own protection. Only the people who present ongoing threats to the safety of the public in general are the ones this sentence is reserved for. It is not, as the blogger frequently refers to, evidence. No, Im not that gullible, Okay, I just read that she faked throwing her keys. One of the important pieces of evidence was the absence of all but a trace of gunshot residue. My opposition to movies about true crime stories is unshakable. Thanks again. They both would fall in love and decide they want to marry each other. It no longer matters as far as the verdict, she was found guilty, but why no parole? Mr. Jagger said it wasnt t enough to know a witness had lied, but she would have to prove it. The interpretation of blood splatter is different than no blood splatter. Diane may very well be guilty, but YIKES this investigation and trial seemed so butchered and tilted in the prosecutions favour. Wasnt Mr. F supposed to be a child molester? a clinical lab to Dianes not being herself the day the Detectives pressured Diane to accompany them, the fact is Diane was clearly suffering the residual effects of that chemical poison in her system. In her book, Ann Rule made sure to mention that running water was heard by a dispatcher when Diane was at the hospital; insinuating that she was washing her hands and getting rid of evidence. Either way, it appears to be a conflict of interest. And some are even contradictory: shes mentally ill, but also not mentally ill; the site owner wants to focus on pure facts, yet ignore other facts; things happened in court, but those are irrelevant to what else what also happened in court, etc. But without proof, Diane couldnt implicate Steve Downs any more than she could shoot him as he violated a restraining order threatening to beat her AGAIN. I will change it. I have nothing to gain and I am not making up songs and dances about a unicorn. ..a little over year before the shooting had a surrogate babypregnancy and giving the baby awayumits donnoits the gal already had a fragile mentality.may not have been the best idea. Isnt is odd how something we are exposed to as children can stick in our memory? As for Diane, give me a break. Late Tom Billings had been the first who openly questioned Diane Downs guilt. I try to bring out the details that were ignored because Down was so unpopular. Why is there virtually no info on him? Ive been trying to decipher her handwriting on the couple of pages she wrote to her daughter (misquoted on here somewhere is a highlighted If you love your little boy, youll take him far away from here- why is this being taken as a threat and not a warning?!). But there were discrepancies; the tool marks did not matchand the detective lied on the stand about it. I am a Mortuary science student, true crime fanatic, and have been following the Downs case since it happened. In reply to Kit There was no blood on the front seats so Cheryl was laying down and Christie was asleep laying down and never witnessed anything. It wasnt until Prosecutor Hugi said Dr. Jamison had labeled Diane a deviant sociopath that Mr. It was Judge Footes first criminal case and it was against a woman whose children he had removed from her care even though she had not been convicted or sentenced; a conflict of interest and pure madness. I think she was the only one there that night with her children. Diane ran away from her husband many times between 1976 and 1977, but with nowhere to go except her parents house, she would come back. I hope this would never fly these days to separate wounded children from the only family members they have. This is also what the state did to her. They had him micromanaged, and with the testimony of little Christie they were in business: argumentative It wasnt simply her demeanor that got her convicted. This happened in 1983, not 1893. This blog is riddled with inconsistencies, suppositions and a lack of the most basic referencing (e.g. What followed was a tragedy subject to many interpretations. Messed. She goes on to say that she has deep regret and mourns the loss and death of her children. Wednesday, March 1, 2023: Today on General Hospital, Obrecht is furious with both Liz and Scott, Finn offers to stand by Liz, and Sonny and Dex bond over a meal. Diane Downs is guilty beyond any doubt and I do not believe that her daughter was coached. Of course, her mental health has deteriorated. I was shocked any asked why she thought that. Do you REALLY believe she expected them to live especially since she drove at less than 10 mph. The courts were divided in the 80s, family court, traffic court, criminal court, juvenile court I dont believe they ran out of judges to preside over them all. The forensic evidence alone is absolutely weak. Her children were obviously more severely injuredbecause being captive in the car while a shooter aimed at them gave them less of a chance to wiggle out of the situation than an adult outside the car. She should of been sentenced to death. Lack of blood spatter is not evidence of innocence Especially when a shooter is leaning in and shooting into a box (car) while standing outside. The whole family were co-conspirators and involved in the crime? And Steven was free to follow her lead or not. You say she made more of a fuss about her arm than about the injuries her children sustained. Yes, like many Americans, I think that the US system is barbaric. This unhealthy marriage survived and became a daily struggle. Thats the point. Id like to challenge some of the bloggers claims. Ann Rule has always been sensationalist, and her books were almost unreadable at the end of her publishing days. Simply because I researched them. It seems they all went the easy way. She says she was outside the car n watched the man shoot her children n then the only adult n person who could tell police about him only gets a shot in the arm n takes time to bandage her arm. It should be illegal to use real names and facts from a criminal case while influencing the publicto falselybelieve that the whole content of the filmis true. Crime is entertainment and big money so this case will continue to be on the forefront and the same assumptions will be repeated over and over again. WTF? She signed an affidavit to that effect and wanted the jury informed of it but it was never done. Mr. Her husband turned out to be a player and a very irresponsible guy who did not really love her. I think it would give the blog more integrity and transparency. If the goal was to get rid of them, why didnt she emulate her lesser half in this matter? Like I said, the 2 years make it a bit more of a gray area. The fact that the children were in no way protected by Child Protection Services is undeniable. Downs, born Elizabeth Diane Frederickson, was a 27-year-old divorced postal worker when she pulled up outside a hospital in Oregon in May 1983. That same gun turned up at a police raid years later in Perris, California, and it did not match the ballistics from the shooting site. Just a thought. Maybe that her mom was obviously not well after spending her life in prison so it would have been a good idea to meet the Downss family quietly and get the jest of it. Once again, Diane said a lot of things. I am just curious. My problem with the circumstances surrounding the crimes against these innocent children is that they were twisted by the media. The man you have listed as Fred Hugi is actually Dianes attorney Jim Jagger. If you shoot at least 6 inches from a victim, you see what is around you in the car. The most recent tape of her daughter is not admissible because it is never allowed to bring out tapes that were obtained this way. What would have been the conclusion to have drawn without this hate campaign? The detectives took Diane to the crime scene and were able to retrieve shell cases on the ground where the incident happened. Oh my. A slightly humorous observation is that you said, and others have, that James Haynes physically resembled the sketch.. She waseighteen and soon realized that she had jumped from the fire into the frying pan. It is said that they didn't go to Steve because he wasn't a fit father or well equipped to take care of children who had gone through such a traumatic experience. Its tiresome. Master Chief actor Pablo Schreiber has said he won't do an impression on the Halo TV show, suggesting he won't try to . I lived through the media coverage. The DA that put away their mom is not an appropriate placement choice. I can make out I will ask you to take a good look at the people in your life. Her case was too public and they are afraid of public backlash. I will talk to Dianes brother. The fact that she took the kids to the nearest hospital, andtwo of them survived kind offlies in the face of their murder at all costs theory. They went after Diane at trial for tapping her foot when they played Hungry like the wolf. Danny was the product of an affair. You are wondering about the question why didn't steve downs get custody but currently there is no answer, so let kienthuctudonghoa.com summarize and list the top articles with the question. It would be about November 20th that you would have gone back with Charlene, what, the next day? I simply state facts that did not or would not come out at the time or blatant misconduct from a legal system that is supposed to be based on innocent until proven guilty. They are the ones who considered Dianes children as, To this day, his record is mixed; his law license was suspended for, Belli filed a motion for a 2-week extension to familiarize himself with the case because he had to be in Italy, and declared Diane innocent in a press conference, but Foote denied the motion and declared . So, were there any other attempted carjackings in the area that night? I will not remove anything. Is there any update? The tape of Christie and her adoption by the prosecutor are facts. Her arm was severely damaged, so shattered that she needed a graft from a hip bone. I mention in my blog that when her adoptive dad said that she was coerced and thats why she said she did not know who shot them, that of course she was because this is what she does when under pressure. it also isnt right that the rules get to keep being changed after the fact as far as how often one may apply for parole. It was a dark and rural road. One of them named Angel, called 15-year-old Christie on the phone. I have plans to go hunting with the husband of one of the alternates.. John Kitzhaber, Governor of Oregon A long long time ago. And what happened to her little daughter is beyond unethical. After arriving at the nearest hospital where the nursing staff and doctors attended to the children, the police were called in and her parents arrived promptly. The State had the same gut feeling and made sure she would pay. It took months to get Christie to say that her mother was the culprit and that is when they arrested Diane. Further: Wonder about Justice in Nation with world wide highest prisoner rate. There have been behaviors that in the general course of events one may expect from a single parent that in a way have been falsely interpreted as being some form of evil.. Diane found a full-time job with the U.S. Post Office in 1981, and was stationed in Chandler. It does not get any bigger than this. I know that most people think she is guilty. But if you compare them, and if stranger there was, there are similarities but it is not dead on. The BBC weather presenter, 60 . It is not a plus, but it is not a crime either. To listen to Christies taped conversation, click below. 6. Rule defended her right to earn a living and to tell her story. It could be argued that he developed a relationship with the children and genuinely wanted them to join his family. 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