Shaun Webb's Blog, page 13

The making of “Behind the Brick” II

The map shows all the routes my characters are taking in Michigan circa 2050.  The pink shows the wall surrounding the entire U.P. of Michigan while the blue and red represent other routes.  I have researched extensively so that train lines, sensible driving routes and character development within the State of Michigan is as accurate and realistic as possible.  I’m about 240 pages into my first draft (note: I re-read every ten chapters and make changes.) and it’s going well.  I still hope for a March or April 2013 release.  This is by far the best book I’ve written.  I can’t wait until YOU get a chance to read it!

Filed under: Behind the Brick Tagged: book, map, research, writing

Jeffrey Pyne: Guilty or Innocent?

Jeffrey Pyne is on trial for the murder of his mother.  She was bludgeoned to death inside the families garage over a year ago.  After sitting in jail for 12 months, Jeffrey is finally getting his day in court.  Many people are doubting Jeffrey’s guilt while others think he did it; not for thrills, but to protect his siblings.

Mrs. Pyne had a history of severe mental illness, as discussed in publications such as the Detroit Free Press, News and Oakland Press.  Jeffrey and his siblings had allegedly taken several beatings from this woman throughout their lives.  Could it be that Jeffrey had finally had enough?  Perhaps someone else close to the family inflicted the fatal blows that killed Mrs. Pyne?

During testimony, Jeffrey’s boss claimed that Jeffrey arrived at work with raw injuries on the insides of his hands. One question:  What boss checks their employees hands before work begins?  Jeffrey claims that his hands were hurt from tossing pallets around while at work.  Having tossed my share of pallets at jobs throughout my life, Jeffrey could very well be telling the truth.  Pallets injure hands.

At the beginning of the case, as Jeffrey sat in jail, there was no mention in any media outlet of his mom’s mental difficulties.  As a concerned citizen pushed the media, it was finally investigated and shown to the public that yes, Jeffrey’s mother was extremely ill and had a penchant for beating her kids, including Jeffery.  If in fact Jeffrey did this, I can easily be led to the conclusion that it was for protection, not cold-blooded murder.

Jeffrey Pyne is an extremely intelligent, well-mannered young man who led his class and is gifted in academic achievement.  I do not see him throwing everything away just for the thrill of killing.  A man like this would have to be pushed into an act like that.  Remember, it is very possible that someone close to the family or even part of the family (i.e. cousin, uncle, etc) did this to protect those children.

I think the evidence thus far is thin and not nearly enough to convict this young man.  We’ll see how the case plays out.  I don’t trust Oakland County, their juries and especially the prosecutors, so I suppose anything can happen.  If he is found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder, it’ll be another scar on the jury system in this country.

Here’s hoping the correct decision is reached.  Right now…..that would be “Not Guilty!”

Filed under: Jeff Pyne murder trial Tagged: mother, murder, siblings, trial

The Moronic Media

Another case of the media not knowing the difference between a sex offender and a pedophile. Perhaps one day they’ll smarten up and learn the difference between these two “labels.”  A pedophile is attracted to pre-pubescent children, while a sex offender is a “title” placed on the heads of anyone on the registry, whether they whizzed on a dumpster or raped someone. 

Pedophile:

pedophilia n. an obsession with children as sex objects. Overt acts, including taking sexual explicit photographs, molesting children, and exposing one’s genitalia to children are all crimes. The problem with these crimes is that pedophilia is also treated as a mental illness, and the pedophile is often released only to repeat the crimes or escalate the activity to the level of murder. (See: molestation, rape, pornography)

Sex offender: 

sex offender n. GENERIC term for all persons convicted of crimes involving sex, including rape, molestation, sexual harassment and pornography production or distribution. (See: rape, molestation, sexual harassment, pornography)




Sex offender ( should say pedophile) suspected in 1970 Wis. child  murder

CARRIE ANTLFINGER, Associated Press[image error]Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This  material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

CARRIE ANTLFINGER, Associated  Press

                 Published 7:52 a.m., Sunday, November 18, 2012

Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/us/article/Sex-offender-suspected-in-1970-Wis-child-murder-4047844.php#ixzz2Can6aLXH

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee prosecutors are trying to use the state’s sex offender law to help keep a 73-year-old man suspected of a 1970 child murder in custody. Robert Hill recently finished a 10-year sentence for sexually assaulting four children under the age of 10 between 1995 and 2002. But police say Hill also confessed to the 1970 killing of 9-year-old Donna Willing, before recanting. They say he knew details of her injuries that hadn’t been released. Since physical evidence in her case was destroyed or lost in the 1990s, prosecutors will now try to prove he is a sexually violent person who should be kept in custody indefinitely. A hearing Monday will determine if the case goes to trial.

Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/us/arti...

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: comparison, media, murder, wrong

Like it or not, this is the truth

False Rape Accusations May Be More Common Than Thought

By Wendy McElroy  |  Posted: Tue. May 2, 2006Also published in Foxnews.com

Is it the new 1-in-4 statistic?

I don’t mean the widely-circulated ’1-in-4 women will be raped in their lifetime’ but a statistic that suggests ’1-in-4 accusations of rape are false.’

For a long time, I have been bothered by the elusiveness of figures on the prevalence of false accusations of sexual assault. The crime of ‘bearing false witness’ is rarely tracked or punished, and the context in which it is usually raised is highly politicized.

Politically correct feminists claim false rape accusations are rare and account for only 2 percent of all reports. Men’s rights sites point to research that places the rate as high as 41 percent. These are wildly disparate figures that cannot be reconciled.

This week I stumbled over a passage in a 1996 study published by the U.S. Department of Justice: Convicted by Juries, Exonerated by Science: Case Studies in the Use of DNA Evidence to Establish Innocence After Trial.

The study documents 28 cases which, “with the exception of one young man of limited mental capacity who pleaded guilty,” consist of individuals who were convicted by juries and, then, later exonerated by DNA tests.

At the time of release, they had each served an average of 7 years in prison.

The passage that riveted my attention was a quote from Peter Neufeld and Barry C. Scheck, prominent criminal attorneys and co-founders of the Innocence Project that seeks to release those falsely imprisoned.

They stated, “Every year since 1989, in about 25 percent of the sexual assault cases referred to the FBI where results could be obtained, the primary suspect has been excluded by forensic DNA testing. Specifically, FBI officials report that out of roughly 10,000 sexual assault cases since 1989, about 2,000 tests have been inconclusive, about 2,000 tests have excluded the primary suspect, and about 6,000 have “matched” or included the primary suspect.”

The authors continued, “these percentages have remained constant for 7 years, and the National Institute of Justice’s informal survey of private laboratories reveals a strikingly similar 26 percent exclusion rate.”

If the foregoing results can be extrapolated, then the rate of false reports is roughly between 20 (if DNA excludes an accused) to 40 percent (if inconclusive DNA is added). The relatively low estimate of 25 to 26 percent is probably accurate, especially since it is supported by other sources.

Before analyzing the competing figures, however, caveats about the one just mentioned are necessary.

First, the category of ‘false accusations’ does not distinguish between accusers who lie and those who are honestly mistaken. Nor does it indicate that a rape did not occur, merely that the specific accused is innocent.

Thus, there is a drive by voices for reform, like the Innocence Institute, to improve eyewitness identification techniques within police departments.

For example, the Innocence Institute suggests “Police should use a ‘double-blind’ photo identification procedure where someone other than the investigator — who does not know who the suspect is — constructs photo arrays with non-suspects as fillers to reduce suggestiveness.”

Second, even if false accusations are as common as 1-in-4, that means 75 percent of reports are probably accurate and, so, all accusations deserve a thorough and professional investigation.

Third, the 1-in-4 figure has ‘fuzzy’ aspects that could influence the results. For example, Neufeld and Scheck mention only sexual assault cases that were “referred to the FBI where results could be obtained.”

It is not clear what percentage of all reported assaults are represented by those cases. As well, the terms ‘rape’ and ‘sexual assault’ are often used interchangeably, especially when comparing studies, and it is not clear that they are always synonyms for each other.

Nevertheless, the FBI data on excluded DNA is as close to hard statistics that I’ve found on the rate of false accusations of sexual assault.

Where do the other figures come from and why is there reason to doubt them? Let me consider the two statistics that I have encountered most often.

“Two percent of all reports are false.”

Several years ago, I tried to track down the origin of this much-cited stat. The first instance I found of the figure was in Susan Brownmiller’s book on sexual assault entitled “Against Our Will” (1975). Brownmiller claimed that false accusations in New York City had dropped to 2 percent after police departments began using policewomen to interview alleged victims.

Elsewhere, the two percent figure appears without citation or with only a vague attribution to “FBI” sources. Although the figure shows up in legislation such as the Violence Against Women Act, legal scholar Michelle Anderson of Villanova University Law School reported in 2004, “no study has ever been published which sets forth an evidentiary basis for the two percent false rape complaint thesis.”

In short, there is no reason to credit that figure.

“Forty-one percent of all reports are false.”

This claim comes from a study conducted by Eugene J. Kanin of Purdue University. Kanin examined 109 rape complaints registered in a Midwestern city from 1978 to 1987.

Of these, 45 were ultimately classified by the police as “false.” Also based on police records, Kanin determined that 50 percent of the rapes reported at two major universities were “false.”

Although Kanin offers solid research, I would need to see more studies with different populations before accepting the figure of 50 percent as prevalent; to me, the figure seems high.

But even a skeptic like me must credit a DNA exclusion rate of 20 percent that remained constant over several years when conducted by FBI labs. This is especially true when 20 percent more were found to be questionable.

False accusations are not rare. They are common.

[image error] Wendy McElroy Send email Wendy McElroy is a Research Fellow at The Independent Institute and her books include the Independent Institute volumes, Liberty for Women: Freedom and Feminism in the 21st Century , and Freedom, Feminism, and the State .




Filed under: Falsely accused Tagged: article, common, false, rape

So long old girl.

Goodbye Maggie.  Thank you for years of feline pranks and friendship. You made a lot of hearts melt and did a great job as a mouser. May you run free wherever you go and enjoy a pain free and wonderful ever after.  9-11-01 thru 11-14-12

Filed under: Maggie Tagged: cat, happy, love, pet

The making of “Behind the Brick”

Despite all the worldly bullshit that attempts to infiltrate my desires, I have made major progress on my new novel, Behind the Brick.  The last two weeks have found me filled with energy, excitement and creative juices that are flowing like a fountain.

I don’t want to give away much, but I’m dealing with quite a populated cast of characters.  I like my novels to be and stay busy, so this doesn’t bother me in the least.  I enjoy keeping multiple plot lines and giving the reader a complete experience.

My cast of characters.  (I won’t tell you anything more than the names).

1.  John Wisecroft

2.  Henry Jasper

3.  Henry Marsh

4.  A. Davis Goddard

5.  Ivan Cross

6.  Davis Lowell

7.  Sal “The Gal” Parker

8.  Rachel Lyons

9.  Matt Lyons

10.  Steven Smith

11.  Rick Lyons

12.  Jill Lyons

13.  Casper

14.  Mary

15.  Rene Duchard

16.  Nurse Lisa

17.  James Rogers

18.  Alan Lowell

19.  The man in the green truck

There you have it.  I know you can’t make heads or tails of it, but in Spring you will.  This is my best work yet.  The Black Jacks series is on a temporary hiatus, but will be continued after this work is finished.  We can never forget the awesome Amy Fraser, now can we?

In the meantime, I’ll be at more shows around Michigan through mid-December, then it’s a 1 and 1/2 month break before getting back at it.  In that month and a half, I’ll be working extensively on Behind the Brick in hopes of getting it ready for an April release.

Lastly, I’ve been doing a little reading….Everything’s Eventual by Stephen King.  I read 1408 and found the writing simply awesome.  How he can give me a picture of such chaos is beyond me.  It keeps my dream alive of being able to do the same one day.  That’s the thing with dreams…you never, ever quit on them!!  Work hard enough and they may come true!

 

Filed under: Characters Tagged: book, cast, reading, update

Railroaders soundly routed!

Andrea Dean

Andrea Dean and Deb Carley, two of the more infamous former Oakland County Prosecutors (i.e. the railroaders) were both soundly trounced in their laughable bids for District and Circuit Court Judges. It’s no surprise that the voters of our county were too smart for the two wanna-bes and voted as such.

This follows the ultra-laughable run for Circuit Court Judge by Rob Giles (another railroader) in 2008. He received a ridiculous 2% of the vote back then. I don’t know if it’s arrogance or sheer stupidity, but these awful former prosecutors don’t seem to get a few things. Let me help them with it:

1. The newspapers write about crooked prosecutors who go way beyond the realm of legitimacy to get a conviction, even if the defendants are innocent.

2. The people remember them and certainly, if ever faced with it, do NOT want to deal with these imbeciles in a court of law, especially if they were judges.

3.  Karma. I’m a true believer in getting what one gives, especially if it’s evil. These railroaders are getting exactly what they deserve= NOTHING!

Then we have the little situation brought about by Mrs. Dean in which she told people that she would love to re-try the Wendrows and that they were guilty of the crimes brought against them. Despite Dean’s best railroading efforts, the Wendrows were acquitted of all charges and set free, deservedly so. For Dean to still, to this day, say they’re guilty is irresponsible, reprehensible and child-like behavior.  The Wendrows are suing her for slander, harassment and hopefully many other things. May the court Gods pay them off handsomely (Out of Dean’s own pockets).

As for Rob Giles? He scooted out of Michigan after being fired as a prosecutor and currently railroads folks down in the Virginia’s somewhere. He leads a “protect children” lawyers group and

Deborah Carley

undoubtedly is spreading his “throw the innocent” in jail habits down yonder.

As for Carley and Dean? Go back, practice your pathetic lawyer jobs (Defense lawyers, no less) and keep thy mouths shut from here on in. You spoke, the people listened and ultimately booted your asses.  That’s not by accident ladies; it was you ass-uming you could pull the wool over the people’s eyes! Nice try, now go away.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:xTA0izrx7hsJ:voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Deborah-Carley-and-other-Oakland-County-Prosecutors-sued-for-improper-removal-of-autistic-teen-from-home.docx+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgHtxgQR_hrR4bXm8ucIFZG6lw1_uvnhaWYjiQA3_btDOYdPaykXrHhVdN8O8XnozuqNBJQnMdqcVcdbgJuSkMIxVwKTNfBJRJg1uySJHhQ-1xAoSzI_gLVQhCJckaEEZ9bCXf9&sig=AHIEtbSmxA7p7Ll5CUK6EJaJVPsFHCmI3g

Filed under: Routed Tagged: judge, lawyers, lose, run

Great Summer! Thank You Michigan

This summer alone, I sold exactly:

1,235 copies of A Motion for Innocence…And Justice for All?

1,006 copies of Black Jacks

1,003 copies of Black Jacks (Volume Two): A Killer for the Queen

That doesn’t count all the books I sold through Amazon and various other sites on the internet and also Kindle and other E-Book sales.

I would like to thank all the people in Michigan who believed in me enough to give me a try.  I’m getting terrific feedback and enthusiastic reviews for all the books.

I’m still working on Behind the Brick (About 1/2 finished) and I’m excited to get back out on the road next year.  I do have three shows remaining this year and a lecture at a Michigan Public Library.

Through hard work, dedication and getting my butt out there, I have enjoyed better success than I could’ve ever dreamed of.  My goal is to pass the 5,000 book mark with four titles next year.  I’ll be venturing into Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, along with all the awesome events in Michigan.

Who needs a traditional publishing company?  I have way more fun meeting all the new people and giving them smiles!  Thank you again….Hope to see you on the road!

 

 

Filed under: Books Tagged: Michigan, people, sales, thank you

Self-less-ness

I woke up at 2:30 am to the sound of my dog getting sick. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it taught me a valuable lesson aboutgiving of myself and not being a selfish, self-centered person.

It’s easy for us to get so involved in our lives that we sometimes forget about the important aspects of our existence. I feel that we are here to help others, whether it be a human being, feline or canine. This morning a dog needed me and I was there for him.  He stayed very close to me and relied on me to be the comfort he was looking for.

We have a tendency to criticize others despite our own flaws.  We tend to make others feel bad to make ourselves feel good and worthy.  It’s a natural human reaction, but we should do more to help others, not make them feel like they don’t belong in the world.  Some people are worse than others about this, but we should always be there with a helping hand.

I have made it a point to change a few things in my life to try and make others lives more comfortable.  Instead of “me, me, me” I have decided to look outside of myself and focus in on others needs.  My life is going well, so I consider myself blessed. Others lives aren’t so great and sometimes they need a boost to give them the confidence and put a smile on their face.

I will react to positive energy.  There are so many good things in this world and we tend to miss them. A cool cloud in the sky, a colorful rainbow, a person doing good for another:  These are all things we miss when we get too tied up in ourselves. Take the time to look at the fall leaves, take a deep breath of the crisp air and smile. Smiling does wonder for the entire being.

My dog feels better now and I’m so glad I could pet and comfort him while he was struggling.  It made him feel better, it made me feel better, and it gave me a tingle of very positive energy.  Life isn’t perfect and we all go through our personal troubles, but we can make it much easier on ourselves if we look at it from a more positive angle.

Filed under: Positive energy Tagged: animal, happy, human being, smile

So you still think this can’t happen to YOU?

http://www.freep.com/article/20121101/NEWS01/121101059/holy-redeemer-principal-sex-abuse-suit

Folks, if you think you can walk through life not worrying about what someone might say about you 25 years later, think again. The point here is NOT whether something happened or not; the point is that there are no statutes of limitations, meaning that ANYONE can come forward and burn you ANYTIME! Try proving that you didn’t commit a crime despite the fact that there’s no evidence. This woman had to wait that long to make a complaint? Oh, I know, she was so shocked and upset that it simply festered inside her for that long.  Now she’s decided to do every student a favor and say something.  Is there a possibility she was abused? Yes. Is there also the possibility that she’s looking for a payoff? Yes. In the article she mentions that she doesn’t want any other student to endure the same abuse. Then why did she wait 20 something years to say something?  She certainly didn’t seem to care about those students well-being. I smell something here and it’s not roses…..Read on.

Holy Redeemer Catholic Elementary principal placed on leave following sex abuse suit

by Contact Patricia Montemurri at pmontemurri@freepress.com or 313-223-4538

John P. Kiley, principal of Holy Redeemer Catholic Elementary school in Detroit, was put on paid administrative leave Wednesday after the Catholic Archdiocese learned of a sexual abuse lawsuit filed against him Monday in Oakland County Circuit Court.

Marlene Veres, 36, said she was abused by Kiley as a student at the now-closed St. Bede Elementary School in Southfield.

Veres said Thursday that Kiley was her onetime teacher and basketball coach, beginning when she was a St. Bede sixth-grader and continuing for two years until the end of eighth grade.

“We were sitting on the living room couch. We were talking and he said I had two beauty marks on my neck,” she said Thursday, touching a spot on her neck. She says he told her: “Those are your trademarks and I’m going to plant a kiss on them…That’s when it started.”

“We learned of the court filing yesterday,” said Ned McGrath, an Archdiocese of Detroit spokesman.  “While these are allegations at this point, they (are) of a serious nature prompting the parish to put Mr. Kiley on paid leave of absence until this matter can be reviewed by the Detroit archdiocese.”

Kiley has worked at six different Catholic schools. He taught at St. Peter, Mt. Clemens from 1981-1985; at St. Bede from 1986 to 1991; St. Juliana in Detroit from 1992-2003; East Catholic Elementary in Detroit from 2004-2008; Gesu in Detroit from 2009-2011; and has been at Holy Redeemer since 2011, McGrath said.

In an email, McGrath said the archdiocese is conducting its own internal investigation, and has contacted law enforcement.  Kiley could not be reached for comment.

Veres said Thursday that the abuse continued from the end of sixth grade through most of her eighth grade year, or from May 1989 to May 1991. During that time, she said that they engaged in oral sex, fondling and other sex acts at her home, at the school, and in Kiley’s car.

Veres said Kiley took advantage of her family situation at the time. Her mother was a custodian at the school, and was going through a divorce.

“He always had the opportune time. He befriended my mom and she had a trust in him,” said Veres. “He knew when she wasn’t around. He knew when she was working at school.”

When family members became suspicious, she said she denied any improprieties had taken place.

“It was always there, but I suppressed it to a point,” said Veres, who is divorced. She said she decided to deal with the after-effects of the abuse because she has two teenage daughters.

“All these years, I kind of lived my life. Now, I’m thinking of my girls – and other girls and whether they’re safe,” said Veres.

Veres’ lawyer, Frederick Livingston, said Veres didn’t come forward earlier because she believed she had consented to the sex acts, even though as a young teen she was not old enough to give legal consent.

“Her parents were separated…He came in and did things that Dad would do,” said Livingston. “When it first started happening, she really believed that this person loved her, and she didn’t want to get him in trouble.”

Veres, who was interviewed Thursday by the Free Press and her Imlay City workplace, is seeking damages in excess of $25,000 in the lawsuit.

Filed under: Statute of limitations Tagged: abuse, catholic, school, student