GUILTY Bali - Sheila von Wiese Mack, 62, found dead in suitcase, 12 Aug 2014 #2

[FormerOakParker]

Also, with regards to how Heather was able to get along with her friends, there are reports in which SWM states that HM's friends were also suspected of stealing money, credit cards and other items from her. On one report, there was a call from a neighbour about people in the house while both SWM and HM were out of town. SWM had an ADT security system (one report claims that three motion detectors from inside the house were stolen at some point) and HM had the code.

So I don't think the "friends" that HM was hanging out had a problem with her "issues". Sounds like they had a few of their own.

MOO

Agreed. Not only did HM exploit her mother at any given opportunity, but she helped so-called friends exploit SM as well (some comments report that friends were stealing from SM all the way back in HM's middle school years). They seemed to view SM as a non-person w/a big checkbook. Just look at how HM built up her friends' expectations that SM should foot the bill for a wild under-aged Chicago hotel party and TS's luxury vacation in Bali. Not cool at all. They do seem to have some moral/integrity issues. Could explain their reluctance to speak out on social media or to reporters. Looks like a case of "birds of a feather all flock together."

 

[Kamille]

Hmmm...so why didn't Elkin go himself? And who is paying this "legal team"? I had a feeling that Heather's family was not going to leave her there to rot. Someone is working behind the scenes I would think. Or this guy is nuts. Sounds like she's got a "team" of Indonesian lawyers too?

BALI, Indonesia (WLS) --
Another local lawyer is traveling to Bali to help represent Heather Mack, the Chicago woman accused of murdering her mother, Sheila von Weise Mack.

Mack's attorney, Michael Elkin, said an additional lawyer from his firm, Vanessa Favia, will be in Bali to assist their client's Indonesian lawyers with the case.

http://abc7chicago.com/news/another-chicago-lawyer-joins-heather-mack-legal-team-in-bali/302585/

MOO

 

[RR0004]

Hmmm...so why didn't Elkin go himself? And who is paying this "legal team"? I had a feeling that Heather's family was not going to leave her there to rot. Someone is working behind the scenes I would think. Or this guy is nuts. Sounds like she's got a "team" of Indonesian lawyers too?

BALI, Indonesia (WLS) --
Another local lawyer is traveling to Bali to help represent Heather Mack, the Chicago woman accused of murdering her mother, Sheila von Weise Mack.

Mack's attorney, Michael Elkin, said an additional lawyer from his firm, Vanessa Favia, will be in Bali to assist their client's Indonesian lawyers with the case.

http://abc7chicago.com/news/another-chicago-lawyer-joins-heather-mack-legal-team-in-bali/302585/

MOO

Hard to tell from the article if ME will actually be there (thought he couldn't/wouldn't?) or if he's just sending a less costly underling.

 

[Hiandmighty]

So there is one lawyer there already and they will send another? Is that to be inferred?

 

[Kamille]

Well it's unlikely ME will go there. He's got a law office to run (and a website to finish)

Link for VF http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/60181-il-maria-favia-1689909.html

MOO

 

[Kamille]

So there is one lawyer there already and they will send another? Is that to be inferred?

It's deceiving the way it's written. It appears there are more than one Indonesian lawyer involved in Bali, ME working on the case in the US and now VF will go there from the US to help the Indonesian team.

MOO

 

[Kamille]

I stand corrected, this one says that ME has gone there with VF. Also lists the other attorneys in Indonesia and indicates that TS has a "team" in Indonesia too.

Chicago-based attorney Michael D. Elkin released a statement today, noting that he has traveled to Bali with Oakbrook Terrace-based lawyer Vanessa Favia to assist Mack's Indonesian lawyers, Raja Nasution, Lily Lubis & Associates "in any manner that that they feel is appropriate and necessary as well as to provide consultation to them in their representation of Heather, and to ensure that the interests of her unborn child are safeguarded."

He said that Mack's Indonesian legal team also has been in contact with Schaefer's legal team.


http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/9-10-2014/Bali-murder-suspect-gets-lawyer/

 

[SouthAussie]

Thanks for the new articles Kamille. It sounds as though Favia is involved due to the welfare of the unborn child.

".... lawyer Vanessa Favia to assist Mack's Indonesian lawyers, Raja Nasution, Lily Lubis & Associates "in any manner that that they feel is appropriate and necessary as well as to provide consultation to them in their representation of Heather, and to ensure that the interests of her unborn child are safeguarded."

News reports have inaccurately identified Favia as a member of Elkin's law practice Elkin & Associates, but Favia runs her own legal practice, Law Offices of Vanessa Favia, where she primarily practices family and real estate law."

http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/9-10-2014/Bali-murder-suspect-gets-lawyer/

 

[SouthAussie]

I stand corrected, this one says that ME has gone there with VF. Also lists the other attorneys in Indonesia and indicates that TS has a "team" in Indonesia too.

Chicago-based attorney Michael D. Elkin released a statement today, noting that he has traveled to Bali with Oakbrook Terrace-based lawyer Vanessa Favia to assist Mack's Indonesian lawyers, Raja Nasution, Lily Lubis & Associates "in any manner that that they feel is appropriate and necessary as well as to provide consultation to them in their representation of Heather, and to ensure that the interests of her unborn child are safeguarded."

He said that Mack's Indonesian legal team also has been in contact with Schaefer's legal team.


http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/9-10-2014/Bali-murder-suspect-gets-lawyer/

BBM: Interesting to note too, that Schaefer has a 'legal team'. And the two 'teams' are in contact.

That phrase legal team is very misleading though. It probably means one lawyer in Indonesia and one lawyer in the US keeping family in the loop and asking their questions. I think even Heather probably only has three lawyers max ... Elkin, Favia and Nasution.

The way they throw the term around .. makes a person imagine 6 suited lawyers working long into the night on the case.

 

[Kamille]

BBM: Interesting to note too, that Schaefer has a 'legal team'. And the two 'teams' are in contact.

That phrase legal team is very misleading though. It probably means one lawyer in Indonesia and one lawyer in the US keeping family in the loop and asking their questions. I think even Heather probably only has three lawyers max ... Elkin, Favia and Nasution.

The way they throw the term around .. makes a person imagine 6 suited lawyers working long into the night on the case.

True. Plus we already knew that the lawyer ME supposedly hired for Heather was part of a law office. More than likely even the lawyer that was appointed to TS is part of one. So when they say "team" they're likely just referring to the fact that these lawyers have other lawyers in their office that can assist with the case.

We still have no word if TS's mother has been able to hire someone private for him. You'd think that would be one of her "updates" if she has.

MOO

 

[Kamille]

Thanks for the new articles Kamille. It sounds as though Favia is involved due to the welfare of the unborn child.

".... lawyer Vanessa Favia to assist Mack's Indonesian lawyers, Raja Nasution, Lily Lubis & Associates "in any manner that that they feel is appropriate and necessary as well as to provide consultation to them in their representation of Heather, and to ensure that the interests of her unborn child are safeguarded."

News reports have inaccurately identified Favia as a member of Elkin's law practice Elkin & Associates, but Favia runs her own legal practice, Law Offices of Vanessa Favia, where she primarily practices family and real estate law."

http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/9-10-2014/Bali-murder-suspect-gets-lawyer/

I wonder if there are any legal ramifications regarding SWM's estate for her unborn grandchild. I think Gitana is just the person we need to answer the questions surrounding VF's inclusion in the case so I hope she has a chance to come in here and help us out with that.

MOO

 

[SouthAussie]

True. Plus we already knew that the lawyer ME supposedly hired for Heather was part of a law office. More than likely even the lawyer that was appointed to TS is part of one. So when they say "team" they're likely just referring to the fact that these lawyers have other lawyers in their office that can assist with the case.

We still have no word if TS's mother has been able to hire someone private for him. You'd think that would be one of her "updates" if she has.

MOO

Does the US have Legal Aid ... a free lawyer for those that cannot afford one? If so, maybe TS has one of those .. via his mum. If they even work/liaise on international cases, that is.

 

[Kamille]

Does the US have Legal Aid ... a free lawyer for those that cannot afford one? If so, maybe TS has one of those .. via his mum. If they even work/liaise on international cases, that is.

The US definitely has legal aid. But it cannot be used on a case for a US citizen outside the country to my knowledge.

Now I believe I read on here, perhaps in the other thread, that Indonesia has recently decided that all arrested people must be represented by a lawyer? (I think they actually use the term "Advocate"). And we know that both TS and HM were appointed one. So either TS is still using that person or his mother was able to retain a private one for him.

MOO

 

[Kamille]

Interesting fact sheet about lawyers in Indonesia from the Law Council of Australia.

http://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/lawcouncil/images/LCA-PDF/Country_Fact_Sheets/Indonesia.pdf

 

[otto]

Thanks for the new articles Kamille. It sounds as though Favia is involved due to the welfare of the unborn child.

".... lawyer Vanessa Favia to assist Mack's Indonesian lawyers, Raja Nasution, Lily Lubis & Associates "in any manner that that they feel is appropriate and necessary as well as to provide consultation to them in their representation of Heather, and to ensure that the interests of her unborn child are safeguarded."

News reports have inaccurately identified Favia as a member of Elkin's law practice Elkin & Associates, but Favia runs her own legal practice, Law Offices of Vanessa Favia, where she primarily practices family and real estate law."

http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/9-10-2014/Bali-murder-suspect-gets-lawyer/

When I read "interests of her unborn child are safeguarded", I think Sheila's estate be given to the child so that the lawyers can collect their fee.

 

[SouthAussie]

When I read "interests of her unborn child are safeguarded", I think Sheila's estate be given to the child so that the lawyers can collect their fee.

Ahhh .. you are so right. It does not say welfare of the unborn child ... it says interests of the unborn child.

 

[otto]

Ahhh .. you are so right. It does not say welfare of the unborn child ... it says interests of the unborn child.

The plan seems to be to make a claim against the estate on behalf of the unborn child ... Heather, as a murderer, cannot benefit, but the lawyers have probably figured out how to make the a claim on behalf of the child - in which case the money will be spent on the mother (Heather) to protect the child and preserve her relationship with her mother. Perhaps a lawyer sees a hole in this, but I suspect that's the lawyer's angle. I hope that Sheila safe-guarded against this possibility ... not that she would want to deprive a grandchild, but that she would want to deprive her murderer from using a grandchild to benefit.

 

[FigTree]

Ahhh .. you are so right. It does not say welfare of the unborn child ... it says interests of the unborn child.

I would be interested to know what happens to the child after it is taken from its mother after 6 months.

Does the child stay in care in Bali with access to its mother, or is it given a home with carers, or does someone from the inmates family have to move to Indonesia to look after the child, or can the child be sent to family in the US?

I agree, that life in a prison environment is no place for a child to be brought up.


Indonesia:
http://www.loc.gov/law/help/children-residing-with-parents-in-prison/foreign.php#indonesia

According to secondary sources from 1990, 2000, and 2010, Indonesia permits mothers to keep their children with them in prison until those children reach the age of two.[212] That age limit was also noted in 2008 by Heather Roy, a Member of Parliament in New Zealand, in a parliamentary discussion of legislation in that country on the topic of children remaining with incarcerated mothers.[213] No information could be found on the number of such children currently residing in Indonesian prisons. As of 2013, of a total detained population of about one hundred fifty-four thousand inmates, 5.1% were women.[214]

 

[Curious Me]

Oh, these latest updates irritate me. Do you blame me for wanting the consequences to finally fall heavy on spoiled, ungrateful HM?

In the interest of the unborn child, I hope baby gets to go free of this sordid mess for a brand new start. I cringe thinking about the story baby will find out about once baby grows up. The realization that in a way, baby was right there when something horrible happened to Grandma.

Wonder if HM wasn't pregnant what would've happened. Is this legal help compliments of a loophole due to the baby getting Sheila's estate? This is where it gets confusing.

 

[Paulette]

Isn't SM's brother executor of her estate? Isn't he the go-to-guy for dispersal of funds to lawyers representing HM?

Perhaps HM has her own money & can afford an American lawyer racking up the bills in Bali - probably all for naught.

Wonder if the lawyers can force SM's estate to pay for HM's futile defense.