Special Jury Trial January 8, 2009

[believe09]

After the motions hearing on 1/6/09, the state intends to go forward with the special jury trial...

 

[Cubby]

Thats good news. I'm thinking about wearing my tawni sweatshirt all week without washing it for good luck or something. Yes, strange I know.. If I do I will wash it daily, lol.

 

[Fairy1]

After the motions hearing on 1/6/09, the state intends to go forward with the special jury trial...

What does this mean? What possible charges are on the table?

 

[believe09]

What does this mean? What possible charges are on the table?

Well, he violated his parole and was on the run for 9+ years, he committed subsequent offenses while on parole-the question then becomes can the judge extend his sentence because of aggravating factors such as:

• prior offenses now that they know who he is.
• the extent of the damage done to Tawni when she "flew out of the window."
• The fact that he and LDJ knew Tawni prior to the event-meaning they actually picked her up at her home rather than the story they submitted repeatedly to detectives almost 10 years ago.
• The fact that she was held against her will while in the car.

Once the special jury trial has concluded, the feds will decide if he will face human trafficking charges. There is no statute of limitation on those charges and no prior plea deal will likely apply to the federal case. There are other women who have been "trafficked" by WW, including LDJ by her own admission.

 

[ArizonaGiGi]

I talked to channel 3tv, ch 12 and the phoenix republic newspaper. They were all interested and wanted all of the information.
I left messages with ch 15 (who did the original story) and fox10. Hopefully some or ALL of them will show up and cover the case.

Believe, thank you so much for all of your hard work on this case :blowkiss:
You ROCK ! ! !

 

[believe09]

I talked to channel 3tv, ch 12 and the phoenix republic newspaper. They were all interested and wanted all of the information.
I left messages with ch 15 (who did the original story) and fox10. Hopefully some or ALL of them will show up and cover the case.

Believe, thank you so much for all of your hard work on this case :blowkiss:
You ROCK ! ! !

I just LOVE YOU.

The jury trial is a GOOOOOOOOOOOO-so there will be much drama over the next two days....

 

[believe09]

Witnesses who will testify:

• Suzi Dodt
• Mike Lancaster
• Deb Mazzone

I am certain there are more, but these are the ones that we know and love...the jury will be picked tomorrow and the trial will commence either tomorrow afternoon or Friday.

Oh My.

 

[ArizonaGiGi]

Oh how I wish I could be there tomorrow, wearing my Tawni Lee T-shirt, sitting where WW could see it.

Where's Vashley? Maybe she could go? Can';t remember who else lives in that part of the state?

 

[Fairy1]

Well, he violated his parole and was on the run for 9+ years, he committed subsequent offenses while on parole-the question then becomes can the judge extend his sentence because of aggravating factors such as:

• prior offenses now that they know who he is.
• the extent of the damage done to Tawni when she "flew out of the window."
• The fact that he and LDJ knew Tawni prior to the event-meaning they actually picked her up at her home rather than the story they submitted repeatedly to detectives almost 10 years ago.
• The fact that she was held against her will while in the car.

Once the special jury trial has concluded, the feds will decide if he will face human trafficking charges. There is no statute of limitation on those charges and no prior plea deal will likely apply to the federal case. There are other women who have been "trafficked" by WW, including LDJ by her own admission.

Thank you, believe09!!! I have hope.....once again.

 

[Fairy1]

I talked to channel 3tv, ch 12 and the phoenix republic newspaper. They were all interested and wanted all of the information.
I left messages with ch 15 (who did the original story) and fox10. Hopefully some or ALL of them will show up and cover the case.

Believe, thank you so much for all of your hard work on this case :blowkiss:
You ROCK ! ! !

YOU ROCK, AGG!!!!!!!! Thank you for being Tawni's voice. :blowkiss:

 

[Fairy1]

Witnesses who will testify:

• Suzi Dodt
• Mike Lancaster
• Deb Mazzone

I am certain there are more, but these are the ones that we know and love...the jury will be picked tomorrow and the trial will commence either tomorrow afternoon or Friday.

Oh My.

Sorry to be such a thread hog, but what about LDJ??? She NEEDS to be there to testify!!!

 

[BeavisMom62]

Thats what I was wondering Fairy! Any idea, Believe if LDJ will appear? Oh, my! This is exciting and such good news! I haven't been following this thread as closely lately, or I must have missed it, but I don't recall that LDJ has actually ADMITTED that she was trafficked (sp? is that the correct term???)

 

[believe09]

Sorry to be such a thread hog, but what about LDJ??? She NEEDS to be there to testify!!!

I still do not understand the ins and outs of who is testifying, I have to say. It is likely that she would have to be at least interviewed by the feds if they accept the human trafficking case. Her sworn statements as they are today paint a picture of kidnapping in any case because of her indication that Tawni repeatedly demanded to leave the vehicle.....

 

[believe09]

Thats what I was wondering Fairy! Any idea, Believe if LDJ will appear? Oh, my! This is exciting and such good news! I haven't been following this thread as closely lately, or I must have missed it, but I don't recall that LDJ has actually ADMITTED that she was trafficked (sp? is that the correct term???)

Well, she had been with Walker almost a year and both of them admitted that she was prostituting for him and giving him the money, so that is trafficking by their own admissions....that means he picked her up when she was roughly 17...not of legal age in AZ.

 

[believe09]

It is difficult to get across how completely unexpected the decision last month by the judge to have a trial was...poor grammar but you get the gist. I mean, think about it-in a perfect world money would be no object when it comes to justice but we know perfectly well that is not the case-this is a deceased 16 year old whose own family didn't bother to look for her...there was a CA 10 years ago who issued an IRON CLAD plea deal to the perp that he would NEVER EVER face another charge regarding this case once he pled guilty to failing to render aid.

IF Tawni had not been ID'd and/or if the perp had not been finally ID'd nothing additional would have happened here. Walker could have been picked up any time and returned to AZ to simply serve out the remainder of his sentence-he likely would be released because of the time already served by now.

BUT-we have a victim's advocate attorney and a cold case detective that are going to the mat to make sure Walker get's every last moment of time in jail that can be legally given to him, and we have a judge that is not going to let this guy get out on her watch if she can help it (my interpretation) so where there is no law that completely fits this case, the judge is calling a jury trial to set some precedent. To fill in the blanks. To the tune of tens of thousands of dollars, mind you.

WE think it is the least that they can do-but I wish I could adequately get across to everyone how absolutely amazing this is. Any place else would have given Walker another deal by now to make it go away.

Hugs to you all....tomorrow cannot come fast enough for me.

 

[ArizonaGiGi]

Believe,
I was not familiar with our justice system very much, until this case.
After watching just one day of Judge Vanderpools court, I understand how unbelievable this is for the system to do what they are doing. If someone has never witnessed our justice system in action, it is harder to comprehend how very unusual this is. New law is being made. This case might end up creating laws named the Mazzone law? Wouldn't that be awesome.

I am so proud that the Judge, advocates and Prosecutors are going the extra mile(s) and spending taxpayers money (lots of it) to put WW where he belongs and should have been nine years ago. Our justice system is so slow and expensive and over crowded that it is nothing short of a miracle that this case is where it is and that the Judge, advocates etc are willing and motivated.

And I think that the good people here at WS are in large part responsible for the motivation. You, believe, being the head cheerleader ! :blowkiss:

 

[believe09]

Believe,
I was not familiar with our justice system very much, until this case.
After watching just one day of Judge Vanderpools court, I understand how unbelievable this is for the system to do what they are doing. If someone has never witnessed our justice system in action, it is harder to comprehend how very unusual this is. New law is being made. This case might end up creating laws named the Mazzone law? Wouldn't that be awesome.

I am so proud that the Judge, advocates and Prosecutors are going the extra mile(s) and spending taxpayers money (lots of it) to put WW where he belongs and should have been nine years ago. Our justice system is so slow and expensive and over crowded that it is nothing short of a miracle that this case is where it is and that the Judge, advocates etc are willing and motivated.

And I think that the good people here at WS are in large part responsible for the motivation. You, believe, being the head cheerleader ! :blowkiss:

Naaa, I was in drama club...bet you all could have figured that one out huh?

 

[Cubby]

It is pretty amazing believe. Thanks for the post.

Any news on how it went today? Just curious.

I hope WW is sweating it and carping his pants.

 

[believe09]

It is pretty amazing believe. Thanks for the post.

Any news on how it went today? Just curious.

I hope WW is sweating it and carping his pants.

Just got off of the phone with Deb. Jury selection is complete and the jury will be seated, ready to go tomorrow. She said it is full of smart people.

WW had a staredown with her which frightened her and angered her to no end. I have seen similar tactics in defendants and IIRC, the person who felt uncomfortable mentioned it to the court in private, and instantly baliffs were assigned to sit on either side of the defendant. Gives the jury the impression that the defendant is a dangerous person...hmmm...yes, I told her this story. Hint Hint.

Much of what was contended by the defense was denied by the judge although I do not have the specifics of what motions were lost or won. The photos will be in evidence, Deb will be testifying and Mike will read his impact statement, so those were not thrown out.

Deb also told me that as part of the "community impact" statement to the judge, the County Attorney mentioned how WEBSLEUTHS and other forums spent years looking for her match, were so moved when she was ID'd and WROTE letters in support of the victim and her family....:woohoo:

So WW can try and stare us down too, I guess. I want so badly to have the old forum opened up so I can put a:
:seeya: smilie in greeting to him and

:nyah: and

well, you get the picture. I believe ours was the only forum mentioned by name, but don't quote me.

 

[ArizonaGiGi]

gracias for the update. What an Ahoal for staring down Deb. After what he has done one would think he would be ashamed when he saw Tawni's Mom. That speak volumes huh.