Questions for our VERIFIED LAWYERS*~*~*NO DISCUSSIONS*~*~*

[AZlawyer]

az....curious..and I am sure this is an absolutely dumb question...if Mr.Houze has information about where little buddy Kyron may be, does he have to disclose this to LE.

No.

 

[butterfly1978]

No.

Are you serious????? Then how is that not aiding and ebedding? Or acessory after the fact? I'm not doubting you but Geez our justice system is screwed.

 

[Calliope]

No.

As an officer of the Court, what are his obligations to the court? What is he required to do legally and ethically? For example, could he lie to the Court (assuming he had this information) and say his client has no knowledge of Kyron's whereabouts?

ETA: "As officers of the court lawyers have an absolute ethical duty to tell judges the truth..."

Would the judge ask him if he's aware of what happened to Kyron?

 

[AZlawyer]

Are you serious????? Then how is that not aiding and ebedding? Or acessory after the fact? I'm not doubting you but Geez our justice system is screwed.

Attorney-client privilege is considered to have a lot of benefits that outweigh some obvious detriments.

As an officer of the Court, what are his obligations to the court? What is he required to do legally and ethically? For example, could he lie to the Court (assuming he had this information) and say his client has no knowledge of Kyron's whereabouts?

ETA: "As officers of the court lawyers have an absolute ethical duty to tell judges the truth..."

Would the judge ask him if he's aware of what happened to Kyron?

He can't lie, and he can't put his client on the stand if he knows his client is going to lie. The judge would never ask him what his client told him, because that would be an obvious violation of attorney-client privilege.

 

[nursebeeme]

question for our wonderful lawyer:

if DDS is granted transactional immunity for her testimony would this protect her in any future civil suits filed against her (for example by the family)?

Also, if she takes transactional immunity... is this normal? Would she do it if she had nothing to add to the case? Or would her lawyer ask for this just to cover all the bases???

TIA

 

[AZlawyer]

question for our wonderful lawyer:

if DDS is granted transactional immunity for her testimony would this protect her in any future civil suits filed against her (for example by the family)?

Also, if she takes transactional immunity... is this normal? Would she do it if she had nothing to add to the case? Or would her lawyer ask for this just to cover all the bases???

TIA

No, I don't think immunity granted by the government can affect the family's private right to sue.

It might just be a CYA thing that her lawyer requested immunity. Or there could be, for example, some very minor potential criminal liability that they just want to make sure is covered. E.g., if she used Terri's ID at the gym, as some have speculated, that would likely have been a criminal act, as she would have falsely represented herself as another person in order to obtain services (use of the gym) that she had not paid for.

 

[BeanE]

Yesterday out on the intertubes I found references saying that at a grand jury, the person being investigated can request to present evidence, and it's up to the prosecutor to allow them. It said that most of the time, these requests are granted.

I can't find anything specific to Oregon though saying that. Any chance you know if that's allowed in Oregon?

Thanks! :blowkiss:

 

[GrainneDhu]

First off, thank you to the lawyers who are taking their time to answer questions. It has been most interesting and informative.

My question has to do with this: KH has filed a motion to discover where TMH is getting the funds to pay the alleged $350K fee to her lawyer.

If she shows that the money came from her parents, does KH have any further rights of discovery as where TMH's parents raised the money?

Say, for instance, that her parents mortgaged their home and cashed in some of their retirement funds to pay the fee, that's clearly their business. But what if KH suspects that TMH's parents may have struck a deal with one or more media outlets for photographs of Kyron that they (TMH's parents) took with their own camera(s)? Does he have any right to that information before the photos are published? Does he have any right to the proceeds from those photos or to forbid them from being published?

In other words, how much of a fishing expedition can KH mount into the finances of TMH's parents?

 

[TxLady2]

I have a question regarding the grand jury. Do the prosecutors have to present the case with specific charges in mind, or can they present the case to them and let the GJ decide? I'm asking because the talking heads are calling this an "investigating grand jury." Could it perhaps be a special grand jury? Can they hear the evidence and then make a determination of what the charges should be?
Okay.... that was three questions. Sorry.

 

[Billylee]

Yesterday out on the intertubes I found references saying that at a grand jury, the person being investigated can request to present evidence, and it's up to the prosecutor to allow them. It said that most of the time, these requests are granted.

I can't find anything specific to Oregon though saying that. Any chance you know if that's allowed in Oregon?

Thanks! :blowkiss:

BeanE, I'm not a lawyer for sure! But I sat on a GJ here in Oregon a few years back, and there was one case we had where the investigated person was indeed allowed to come before us and present their own evidence.

 

[AZlawyer]

First off, thank you to the lawyers who are taking their time to answer questions. It has been most interesting and informative.

My question has to do with this: KH has filed a motion to discover where TMH is getting the funds to pay the alleged $350K fee to her lawyer.

If she shows that the money came from her parents, does KH have any further rights of discovery as where TMH's parents raised the money?

Say, for instance, that her parents mortgaged their home and cashed in some of their retirement funds to pay the fee, that's clearly their business. But what if KH suspects that TMH's parents may have struck a deal with one or more media outlets for photographs of Kyron that they (TMH's parents) took with their own camera(s)? Does he have any right to that information before the photos are published? Does he have any right to the proceeds from those photos or to forbid them from being published?

In other words, how much of a fishing expedition can KH mount into the finances of TMH's parents?

The question KH is asking is whether the money is marital property. If it came from her parents, it is not marital property IMO and he would have no right to ask more questions about it. Also, if TH's parents sold pics of Kyron that they took themselves, that would be none of KH's business as well. He would have no rights to any such photographs.

I have a question regarding the grand jury. Do the prosecutors have to present the case with specific charges in mind, or can they present the case to them and let the GJ decide? I'm asking because the talking heads are calling this an "investigating grand jury." Could it perhaps be a special grand jury? Can they hear the evidence and then make a determination of what the charges should be?
Okay.... that was three questions. Sorry.

I don't know the specific procedures in Oregon, but certainly the charges that come out at the end of the GJ proceeding may not be the same as the ones initially suggested by the prosecutor.

 

[Billylee]

Question

If TH, as stepmother responsible for the welfare of her stepson, was hiding Kyron somewhere and she deemed it was for his own protection, and has something (?) to base that on, could she be charged with kidnapping?

 

[desquire]

Question

If TH, as stepmother responsible for the welfare of her stepson, was hiding Kyron somewhere and she deemed it was for his own protection, and has something (?) to base that on, could she be charged with kidnapping?

Yes, but she has a defense to the charge if she, as a relative of a child, took or confined that child solely to "assume control" of the child.

She could be charged with custodial interference, however, regardless of her motivation.

 

[kappy50]

How long might one think it would take a judge to rule on the motion of the lawyer fee ???

 

[Calliope]

How long might one think it would take a judge to rule on the motion of the lawyer fee ???

to add

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/07/kaine_horman_asks_court_to_hav.html

Scroll down to Scribd window. The judge has signed and dated the order, but there is nothing filled in the blanks as to date and time by which she has to respond. Does this mean he has ruled?

 

[desquire]

to add

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/07/kaine_horman_asks_court_to_hav.html

Scroll down to Scribd window. The judge has signed and dated the order, but there is nothing filled in the blanks as to date and time by which she has to respond. Does this mean he has ruled?

The judge has basically ordered TH to appear and defend against KH's request for her to pay his legal costs in the divorce proceeding. Since the blanks for date and time are not filled in, that just means that the clerk had not yet calendared the hearing at the time the order was signed.
I wouldn't expect this issue to be heard or resolved as quickly as the RO was. Depending on the judge's docket, this might not even be heard for a few months. And given the amount of money involved, it's a pretty safe bet that TH will contest.

 

[AZlawyer]

How long might one think it would take a judge to rule on the motion of the lawyer fee ???

to add

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/07/kaine_horman_asks_court_to_hav.html

Scroll down to Scribd window. The judge has signed and dated the order, but there is nothing filled in the blanks as to date and time by which she has to respond. Does this mean he has ruled?

The request for an order to show cause was made "ex parte" (without the involvement of TH or her lawyer) and signed by the judge immediately. I would assume that someone at KH's attorney's office noticed that the judge failed to fill in a hearing time and that the date and time has since been filled in. Normally OSC hearings are set pretty quickly, so there should be a hearing on whether or not TH has to disclose the source of the funds within the next week or two.

 

[Littleone48]

It just means LE is giving you info; they call it a "briefing" when they call you in for a meeting to give you information (rather than to get information from you). You certainly can't tell from the use of that word whether or not it was a very informative briefing.

I think, if KH and DY were lying about getting info at a briefing, then either (1) LE asked them to spread misinformation for some strategic reason, or (2) LE would privately tell KH and DY to correct their statements, and if KH and DY did not do so, then LE would do it for them.



Yes, but just the usual "confidential information"--should be things like Social Security numbers.

Thank you for that information. Today I read the article a bit further and this is what I read:
FAMILY LAW NOTICE OF NONDISCLOSURE OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION FORM there is another form FAMILY LAW NOTICE OF NONDISCLOSURE OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION FORM which states the following

The disclosure of information pertaining to the parties’ family information and other matters involved in this proceeding [ongoing criminal investigation] will make the parties the target of further media and public scrutiny. The disclosure of this information will be detrimental to the petitioner and his privacy rights, and could affect the interests and privacy rights of other family members.

and this

The information contained in the pleadings filed with the Court may be potentially embarrassing for the parties or for family members. It is likely that if public access to this file is allowed, this information will be disseminated in the media.

and finally this

This is a private family matter that should not be disseminated by the press and there is no public policy served by allowing public access to these records. Such access may be embarrassing to the parties, damaging to the family, and disruptive to the Court proceedings.

For some reason I just cannot get past this as only being about SS numbers and addresses. Am I reading too much into it?

Thank you in advance for your insight into these documents.

 

[gliving]

Dear Attorneys,

Thanks so much for your imput!

My question is: if Mr. Houze is convinced he can prove Terri is innocent, could he delay making her pay his fees until she is free to make her book deals etc?

 

[AZlawyer]

Thank you for that information. Today I read the article a bit further and this is what I read:
FAMILY LAW NOTICE OF NONDISCLOSURE OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION FORM there is another form FAMILY LAW NOTICE OF NONDISCLOSURE OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION FORM which states the following and this and finally this

For some reason I just cannot get past this as only being about SS numbers and addresses. Am I reading too much into it?

Thank you in advance for your insight into these documents.

That language was from the "EX PARTE MOTION AND ORDER TO RESTRICT ACCESS TO FILE," not from the notice regarding the confidential information form.