Embezzlement charges: discussion, etc.

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

There is the matter of $9000 restitution. He may not be able to take the deal if he can't come up with the money.

I don't know this for sure, but it's probably safe to assume that Raven will be given a repayment schedule. He will not be required to pay back the $9,000 in one lump sum. So if he decides not to take the deal, it won't be because the courts didn't try to work it out reasonably with him.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

heraldsun.com: Plea offered in embezzlement case

... Perez said she should know by Aug. 23 whether or not Abaroa would agree to the deal. Otherwise, she would indict Abaroa on five counts of embezzlement and put the case before the Sept. 21 grand jury session, she said.

____________________________________________________________________

So it seems as if the August 26th court date might be to discuss whether or not the plea has been accepted?

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

..NO kidding..........i cannot believe the plea offered is for raven to only repay the $9000 in goods that he stole in the 1st place.....

.. what kind of idiot DA can't do the math between wholesale embezlement and resale value..?????........especially on ebay...plus the super deluxe soccer shoes he kept for himself...

... and she offers him a plea?!..........."pay back the 9K....( "ummmmmmmmmm, ok, i sold the stuff for 20K, sounds good.....).............pathetic .............i hope voters in NC are paying attention to her .

Let's hope that if LE thinks that Raven is the perp., that all of this is being done in an attempt to make him feel like he's "home free". Once you eliminate stress, that's when a perp. is most likely to slip up. And IMO, if he killed Janet, he will slip up eventually. And considering the rules of 'double jeopardy', we don't want him in court before then unless there's enough evidence to convict him.

 

[Moxie]

Let's hope that if LE thinks that Raven is the perp., that all of this is being done in an attempt to make him feel like he's "home free". Once you eliminate stress, that's when a perp. is most likely to slip up. And IMO, if he killed Janet, he will slip up eventually. And considering the rules of 'double jeopardy', we don't want him in court before then unless there's enough evidence to convict him.

Wow - you raise a good point!

 

[Moxie]

I think that that date is scheduled in case Raven decides to take it to court rather than accepting the plea deal. I don't remember the date that was mentioned but one of the articles stated that they will know by [whatever date - could be 8/26] whether or not he's accepting. If he chooses to accept the deal, I imagine that that court date will be used to inform the court of the decision or whatever other housekeeping issues they have with the case.

That would make sense. I don't know a lot about how the justice system works, so this is a crash course for me. But the charges are listed as Felony Embezzlement, and the new court date is August 26th. It also says at the top, "arraignment", all five charges are there, and all five are listed as felonies.

 

[snapple]

Let's hope that if LE thinks that Raven is the perp., that all of this is being done in an attempt to make him feel like he's "home free". Once you eliminate stress, that's when a perp. is most likely to slip up. And IMO, if he killed Janet, he will slip up eventually. And considering the rules of 'double jeopardy', we don't want him in court before then unless there's enough evidence to convict him.

Good Point, JG... I REALLY, REALLY hope that's why raven hasn't been arrested yet.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Good Point, JG... I REALLY, REALLY hope that's why raven hasn't been arrested yet.

I'm with ya', snapple. That's why I'm still giving LE the benefit of the doubt, and trying to be patient, (although that does get difficult at times). Circumstantial cases can be successfully prosecuted but if it comes down to being a case involving little or no hard evidence, they've got to be sure to turn over every possible stone before going forward. If it means that the perp. will end up in jail for his crime, then I'm willing to wait. Of course, I am not directly involved so that's easier for me ... I can certainly understand how family and friends would become frustrated after so much time.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

I don't know a lot about how the justice system works, so this is a crash course for me.

Moxie, I am so very sorry that some selfish, evil "person" thrust you into this through his unspeakable actions. What an awful reason to have to learn about all of this.

I'm glad that you're here, and I hope that you realize how much we all care about all of you.

 

[ewwwinteresting]

I'm with ya', snapple. That's why I'm still giving LE the benefit of the doubt, and trying to be patient, (although that does get difficult at times). Circumstantial cases can be successfully prosecuted but if it comes down to being a case involving little or no hard evidence, they've got to be sure to turn over every possible stone before going forward. If it means that the perp. will end up in jail for his crime, then I'm willing to wait. Of course, I am not directly involved so that's easier for me ... I can certainly understand how family and friends would become frustrated after so much time.

It has been said that almost all evidence is collected within the first 72 hours of a crime.

It has been three months. I am concerned that there hasn't been an arrest yet.

We were told Raven was interviewed all night and released in the morning. Considering LE was called out at 10:58 pm, how many hours could they have really talked to him? By the time he got to the station (most likely having to wait for someone to come get Kaiden)...how much time did they really interrogate him, 4 or 5 hours? Raven has left the jurisdiction of Durham PD. He lives in Utah with his son, whose mommy's killer is still on the loose. So it is presumed that LE has no plans of further interrogation of Raven since he has not been in NC to be interrogated since Wife died and no longer lives in the area. So, if LE got information for Raven to hang himself, why not arrest him? If LE didn't get Raven to hang himself, I highly doubt they will now.

Since April 26, 2005, (within three months after his wife was murdered), Raven has flew and driven back and forth across the country. He has participated in volleyball tournaments in Virginia, mountain bike riding trips in Utah and an adventure race in Vermont. IMO, he is not going to slip up. He has moved on with his life whether Janet's killer has been arrested or not.

I can only imagine the frustration for Janet's family. To know that the creep that brutally murdered your daughter, sister, aunt, niece is still out there living their life.....the life that they stole from Janet!

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

So, if LE got information for Raven to hang himself, why not arrest him? If LE didn't get Raven to hang himself, I highly doubt they will now.

I totally understand what you're saying but I think that we're just going to have to agree to disagree on this one.

I'm not saying that LE has information that will cause Raven to hang himself. What I'm saying is that if LE has a bunch of circumstantial evidence with no hard evidence behind it, they can't be sure that it will be enough to convince a jury. So if they take it to court on the hopes that the CE will be enough to convict him, and fail, then Raven walks free. As you know, they cannot try him for the murder a second time - they will have lost the case for good.

So if LE has only CE, they may want to let him roam freely, monitoring him along the way, and hoping for him to slip up. Maybe waiting for a girlfriend to come out of the woodwork, maybe waiting for a life insurance claim to be filed, etc. It wouldn't be the first time that LE has had to sit back and wait for something more solid in order to try a case. Anyway, that's what I meant by "giving him enough rope" - basically just giving him enough room for him to forget himself. Yes, it has been three months. But that's really not that long if you think about it. If he did commit this murder, how much time would it take for him to begin to feel like he's gotten away with it? I don't know but I would suspect longer than 3 months. I think that once 6 months or 9 months or a year goes by, the perp gets more and more careless. Life goes on, and you forget that people might be watching you; might still be building a case against you. And if there's no hard evidence, unfortunately this investigation might have to move into that mode.

Finally, we don't know if the lab work has come back yet. From what we've heard about the back-up in NC, it seems quite possible that it hasn't. I can't imagine LE making an arrest without first having those results, no matter how strong their suspicions might be. Once they charge him, that clock might start ticking for a speedy trial. IMO, there's no way they want to risk starting that clock without having each and every single shred of evidence possible, especially if it comes down to being mostly circumstantial.

 

[ewwwinteresting]

I totally understand what you're saying but I think that we're just going to have to agree to disagree on this one.

I'm not saying that LE has information that will cause Raven to hang himself. What I'm saying is that if LE has a bunch of circumstantial evidence with no hard evidence behind it, they can't be sure that it will be enough to convince a jury. So if they take it to court on the hopes that the CE will be enough to convict him, and fail, then Raven walks free. As you know, they cannot try him for the murder a second time - they will have lost the case for good.

So if LE has only CE, they may want to let him roam freely, monitoring him along the way, and hoping for him to slip up. Maybe waiting for a girlfriend to come out of the woodwork, maybe waiting for a life insurance claim to be filed, etc. It wouldn't be the first time that LE has had to sit back and wait for something more solid in order to try a case. Anyway, that's what I meant by "giving him enough rope" - basically just giving him enough room for him to forget himself. Yes, it has been three months. But that's really not that long if you think about it. If he did commit this murder, how much time would it take for him to begin to feel like he's gotten away with it? I don't know but I would suspect longer than 3 months. I think that once 6 months or 9 months or a year goes by, the perp gets more and more careless. Life goes on, and you forget that people might be watching you; might still be building a case against you. And if there's no hard evidence, unfortunately this investigation might have to move into that mode.

Finally, we don't know if the lab work has come back yet. From what we've heard about the back-up in NC, it seems quite possible that it hasn't. I can't imagine LE making an arrest without first having those results, no matter how strong their suspicions might be. Once they charge him, that clock might start ticking for a speedy trial. IMO, there's no way they want to risk starting that clock without having each and every single shred of evidence possible, especially if it comes down to being mostly circumstantial.

I can totally understand what you are saying and don't necessarily disagree with it. IF Raven is the murderer and IF LE only has circumstancial evidence, and IF they have to wait for Raven to slip up sometime in his lifetime.......don't you just feel for the family???? I guess we can only hope that the test results show something when they get back.

 

[Moxie]

Moxie, I am so very sorry that some selfish, evil "person" thrust you into this through his unspeakable actions. What an awful reason to have to learn about all of this.

I'm glad that you're here, and I hope that you realize how much we all care about all of you.

JG,

You are very kind - thank you.

Moxie

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

IF Raven is the murderer and IF LE only has circumstancial evidence, and IF they have to wait for Raven to slip up sometime in his lifetime.......don't you just feel for the family????

It's a horrible thought. Like you, I hope they have something more than it currently seems on whomever committed this crime. I don't need it to be Raven, I just need it to be solved - and for the person who took this beautiful woman away from her baby to pay the price for it. The idea that her family might never know for sure is too much to bear.

 

[juliagoulia]

BTW, why would Raven only be responsible for $9,000.00 if the stuff he sold could have been sold at $17,000.00+....and how much did Raven received from selling the stuff? If he sold it for $10,000.00, where is the punishment????? He should have to at least pay for the value of the stolen merchandise AND repay back what he received from selling the merchandise. They are letting him profit from his crime! Oh wait, that seems to be happening with another crime I know of

I could be WAY off base...but wasn't he caught by a fellow employee who discovered him on Ebay? I wonder if Raven was selling them BELOW wholesale or something that would have caught an employee's eye. Do I remember that correctly? That someone he worked with stumbled on to his E-bay account?

 

[lauriej]

I could be WAY off base...but wasn't he caught by a fellow employee who discovered him on Ebay? I wonder if Raven was selling them BELOW wholesale or something that would have caught an employee's eye. Do I remember that correctly? That someone he worked with stumbled on to his E-bay account?

...yep..........that's what i remember , that a fellow employee accidentally came across the ebay listings...( i think it was GM that shared that info..)

...and sure, why wouldn't raven sell at the best price on ebay, after all he stole it all in the 1st place, so any mark-up was a bonus for him........sheer profit...( which, as greed usually does, turns out to be sheer stupidity on his part..)

 

[ewwwinteresting]

Hello everyone,

It has been awhile since my last post, and I haven't really made that many posts for that matter. I am just so personally linked to this case, I read up and follow along. I wish I was closer to N.C. so I could do more research.

Let me know if I can answer any questions for anyone.

Thanks

RG: If I remember right, you grew up with Raven, correct? Do you have any contact with him now? If so, do you know if he is permanently living in Utah? Does he have a job? etc..... Thanks for joining in again!

 

[golfmom]

Anyone hear yet what the deal was or if it was accepted by Raven?

 

[lauriej]

Anyone hear yet what the deal was or if it was accepted by Raven?

........if he has in fact moved back to utah.........permanently, ( and it sounds like he has..........along with kaiden ) then he'd have to be pretty crazy not to have taken the plea.......pay back the $9K ..

...although it still irks me that the ADA isn't bothering with going through his ebay listings and seeing what kind of profit he made On the 9K of merchandise and making him pay it all back...........surely he sold the goods for more.......

...round 1.......goes to raven.........

 

[ewwwinteresting]

........if he has in fact moved back to utah.........permanently, ( and it sounds like he has..........along with kaiden ) then he'd have to be pretty crazy not to have taken the plea.......pay back the $9K ..

...although it still irks me that the ADA isn't bothering with going through his ebay listings and seeing what kind of profit he made On the 9K of merchandise and making him pay it all back...........surely he sold the goods for more.......

...round 1.......goes to raven.........

I'm guessing too that since he has moved to Utah, he took the plea. This could be all "hush hush" not to alert the media. It is obvious Raven wouldn't want the media to know he admitted he was guilty of these crimes (may lead them to believe he committed another "crime":waitasec: )....and I would think the ADA wouldn't want to be shown in the light of being lenient with this guy. He is serving no jail time with 5 felony counts and only paying back the wholesale price of the items (with no regard what amount he received from selling them), I'd say round 1, 2 and 3 have gone to raven!

 

[lauriej]

I'm guessing too that since he has moved to Utah, he took the plea. This could be all "hush hush" not to alert the media. It is obvious Raven wouldn't want the media to know he admitted he was guilty of these crimes (may lead them to believe he committed another "crime":waitasec: )....and I would think the ADA wouldn't want to be shown in the light of being lenient with this guy. He is serving no jail time with 5 felony counts and only paying back the wholesale price of the items (with no regard what amount he received from selling them), I'd say round 1, 2 and 3 have gone to raven!

...........it seems it doesn't take much to NOT alert the media in this case......

...doesn't "the media" generally have a direct link /someone getting the stories from the courthouse? the jailhouse ?

...sure, we know by now that durham has a ton of crime.........but THIS crime is not solved...and it's so disappointing and sad that they barely give it a few words now and then.
...this was a beautiful young woman...star athlete.... slain on her own bedroom floor..........playboy hubby.........."sex, lies, and videotape"............( what more do they want for their story ??)

...the NON follow-up by the durham media is a shame........janet deserves more.......