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A Ghost Story from the past (1988)

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bmorgan54	Speaking of Wally	#21	[-]
Posts: 23 (03/13/08 11:30 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Read down on this one--Walter was at it again: Charged Filipino Nurses Confident of Acquittal Despite Delays, Prejudice After four suspensions and rescheduling of their case hearings and perceived partiality of the Suffolk Criminal Courthouse, the Filipino nurses charged with patient endangerment and their lawyer are confident that they will be cleared of what they called "malicious" charges filed against them by the SentosaCare LLC and its owner Bent Philipson. BY AUBREY SC MAKILAN MIGRANT WATCH Bulatlat Vol. VIII, No. 2, Feb. 3-9, 2008 After four suspensions and rescheduling of their case hearings and perceived partiality of the Suffolk Criminal Courthouse, the Filipino nurses charged with patient endangerment and their lawyer are confident that they will be cleared of what they called "malicious" charges filed against them by the SentosaCare LLC and its owner Bent Philipson. Ten of the nurses, who resigned from their positions as contract nurses with the SentosaCare LLC at the Avalon Gardens Nursing Home in Long Island, are members of the Sentosa 27, the 27 nurses who first filed charges against SentosaCare LLC for workplace abuse, withheld wages, and large-scale breach of contracts that allegedly constituted massive illegal recruitment. The number of nurses joining the campaign has been increasing, thus the group has been renamed as the Sentosa 27++. The 10 nurses and their legal counsel Felix Vinluan, known as the Avalon 11, are facing criminal charges of patient endangerment filed by SentosaCare LLC and its owner Bent Philipson. The nurses however said they have written documentation proving they did not walk out on their patients mid-shift, but completed their shifts before submitting their resignation letters to the Sentosa-owned Avalon Gardens in Long Island. Postponements "I believe I embody the sentiments of the other defendants in the criminal case when I say that I want this case done and over with at the earliest time possible," Vinluan said, expressing his disappointment over the repeated postponement of their case hearing. Last year, Judge Robert Doyle of the Suffolk Criminal Courthouse postponed the Oct. 28 hearing for Dec.17, only to reset it again for Jan. 28, 2008. But Vinluan told Bulatlat that on Jan. 24, they were advised that the trial will not start until April 28. Despite the delays, Vinluan said, "My co-defendants and I have nothing to fear or to hide, so we want the trial to proceed at the earliest possible time. We are confident that we will be exonerated of these charges that were maliciously filed against us by Sentosa's Philipson and his lawyers." Vinluan added that the District Attorney's office "has become complicit in these retaliatory and vindictive actions by Philipson." He said they cannot secure a fair and objective trial from the District Attorney's office for it allegedly "railroaded the grand jury proceedings" so that it could secure an indictment against the respondents. Anti-immigrant Aside from the delays, the respondents and their supporters are also not convinced that they will get a fair trial in Suffolk County in Long Island, New York because they described the area as "known for its strong anti-immigrant sentiments." Rico Foz, executive vice president of the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), which is leading the campaign for the defense of the Sentosa 27++nurses, cited last year's immigration raids in Latino communities, which were done in the guise of conducting building inspections, as among the most recent cases of the county's bias against immigrants. Foz said that Suffolk District Attorney (DA) Thomas Spota was involved in the controversial Marty Tankleff case. In the said case, the accused Marty Tankleff was found guilty, in 1990, of killing his parents and sentenced with 50 years imprisonment to life. However, in 2000, the lawyer of Tankleff tried to present new evidences in court but was disallowed by Spota. Tankleff filed an appeal and the appellate court ordered a re-trial based on the new evidence. Gov. Eliot Spitzer appointed Attorney-General Cuomo as Special Prosecutor to the case replacing Spota. Tankleff was subsequently found not guilty and released in December 2007, after spending 17 years in jail. Foz said that Suffolk District Attorney (DA) Thomas Spota is currently under investigation by the New York State Commission of Investigation for his mishandling of the Tankleff case. "Thus, we are also urging New York Governor Spitzer to appoint a Special Prosecutor to handle the case," Vinluan told Bulatlat. In a Jan. 2 letter, Foz asked the New York State Commission to include Spota's handling of the Sentosa case in its investigation. In the said letter, Foz cited the mishandling of the District Attorney's Office of the Marty Tankleff case, its improper practices, and "a pervasive lack of documentation, and improper documentation in Suffolk Police and District Attorney investigations." "Hopefully, with your office's investigation and recommendations, we can prevent the situation whereby these nurses and their lawyer would have to be first convicted and incarcerated before they would eventually be found not to have committed any offense," said Foz. "Their prosecution is uncalled for, if not outright malicious," said Foz noting that the Sentosa nurses case "is another example of the Suffolk County District Attorney's mishandling of investigations, this time, because of the District Attorney's political and economic ties with certain influential personalities." Citing news reports, Foz said that Suffolk County District Attorney Spota privately met with lawyer Howard Fensterman and the operators of the Avalon Gardens nursing home in May 31, 2006. Foz said that during the said meeting, Fensterman, a political campaign contributor of Spota and a top fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and the nursing home management asked Spota to investigate the 10 Filipino nurses. An investigation followed immediately, and the nurses and their lawyer were eventually indicted on the charge of endangering the welfare of their patients. This indictment, Foz said, is apparently the first of its kind in the state. NAFCON also belied Assistant District Attorney Leonard Lato's press statement on March 22, 2007 that the nurses walked out from their duty, saying that nine of the ten nurses were not on duty at the time they submitted their letters of resignation while one finished her shift and even extended it for four more hours before resigning. NAFCON suspected that Lato gave a misleading picture to the jury by using the term "walk out" to get the indictment. NAFCON added that important details were not included in the District Attorney's report to the grand jury. In November 2006, Vinluan informed Lato and two investigators that the New York State Education Department cleared the nurses of improper conduct and that the administrative complaints filed by the Sentosa facilities against the nurses for alleged patient abandonment had been closed. But these facts were not included in the report prepared by Investigator Walter Warkenthien, to the grand jury, said Vinluan. He said the report was "maliciously inaccurate." But worse than the omission of facts, Vinluan said, the report submitted to the grand jury even contained falsehoods. Vinluan belied some statements that were being attributed to him in the report. He denied telling the investigators that the nurses "wanted to get out of their contract and avoid paying Avalon and Sentosa $25,000" and that "he didn't know where to mail" the discrimination complaints he prepared on behalf of the nurses. NAFCON said that the Sentosa nurses' case "involves the same key District Attorney characters and involve the same issues of ethical impropriety, improper investigations and reports, as well as malicious prosecutions (or the failure to prosecute) on account of special interests or relationships involving the District Attorney himself." United Although they are confident that they will be acquitted in a full-blown trial, Vinluan said they would rather have the charges dismissed now. "There really was no case in the first place," he insisted. "The nurses have remained steadfast and solid as a rock in their stance that there was no conspiracy to endanger the welfare of their patients, that I did not advise them or solicit them to resign, and that they all knew that even if they resigned, Avalon Gardens would be able to look for replacements to continue the care of their patients." Vinluan added that the Assistant District Attorney tried to "break the nurses apart" and "create a wedge among them," by giving them separate counsels. Although having separate lawyers was their right, the nurses also have the right to have the same counsel as well, which they preferred, said Vinluan. "As I was not privy to his (Assistant District Attorney's) discussions with the nurses' defense counsel, I can only say that I have sufficient reason to believe that he offered deals to a couple of my co-defendants to plead guilty to a lesser offense. But the nurses did not budge a bit. They knew they did nothing wrong. Pleading guilty to disorderly conduct - a violation, or even to taking an ACD (adjournment in contemplation of dismissal) was out of the question," he said. At present, all of the 10 nurses are employed¾ three in Long Island, and seven in the city. Vinluan, meanwhile, has taken a leave of absence from law practice since April 2007 for health and personal reasons. "(I) am busy making myself physically strong and helping in the trial preparation as well as in the Justice for Sentosa 27+ (J4S27+) Campaign initiatives." The nurses, fortunately, are not alone in this fight. There are three major fronts in the campaign to defend the rights of the nurses, said Foz. Two are in the United States, which are led by two steering committees under NAFCON: the East Coast composed of the nurses, Vinluan, Philippine Nurses Association (PNA)-NY, New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), Anakbayan New York/New Jersey, Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FIRE), NY Committee on Human Rights (NYCHRP), and the West Coast composed of the Filipino Community Center and FOCUS, some nurses who moved there, Filipino Ministry of the Diocese of San Bernardino and California Nurses Association. The third major front is in the Philippines headed by Migrante International together with the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW), Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) and the Philippine Nurses Association. Among the primary activities of these groups are the signature campaign to urge Spitzer to appoint a Special Prosecutor and fund raising for the Sentosa 27+ Legal Defense Fund (www.petitiononline.com/j4s27). The American Nurses Association which supports the Filipino nurses said, "The real patient endangerment lies in the deplorable conditions that led the nurses to leave." Bulatlat
Bob Olson	Well, Little Wally does indeed strike again	#22	[-]
Posts: 542 (03/13/08 06:58 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	When I was a young lad in the 50's learning my Christian doctrine from Catholic nuns teaching from the famed Baltimore Cathescism (I assume the same one that DA Tom Spota was taught since he makes so much of his time at preppy Chaminade High School which claims to be a Catholic learning institution), I was taught that half a truth is just as much, if not more, a lie than an outright fabrication. I think the Ten Commandments formed the basis of most of our religious experience. In fact, to swear falsely under oath is supposedly a crime in New York even though it seems to be a common practice by law enforcement in Suffolk County. To conveniently leave out key exculpatory facts in a prosecution is malicious, immoral and illegal. We Catholics call these sins of "ommission" (the right things we failed to do) as opposed to sins of commission (that which we actually did wrong. Evidently, conscience, whether social or individual, is a concept that we don't value or attempt to reinforce in modern society. Why don't we just officially teach our kids to twist the truth in class and religious education? It would be far less hypocritical. Maybe, our children would get really good at it and run for Suffolk DA someday! Now, Tom Spota has become the villian of the entire Phillipines! He has a whole country mad at him! Way to go Tommy Boy! I venture to say that the Filipino government may now have a much more sympathetic ear in soon to be NY Governor David Patterson. Evidently, Elliott Spitzer was too busy exploiting high priced call girls than to have the heart or the time to come to the aid of these beleagueered nurses. I hear that Governor Patterson will be taking calls this coming Monday. Knowing a little about being an exploited class, Patterson may just act by appointing a special prosecutor to this case. He may need all those nurses' and organized labor's votes when he runs for his first full term in 2010.
IN SUPPORT OF MARTY		#23	[-]
Posts: 1037 (03/13/08 11:00 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	BOB, the half lie is the foundation of the perjury in Suffolk County. They purposely tell a half-lie to make the dumb jurors believe they are clever enough to understand the truth. They are made to believe they are very clever. The half-lie is SOP in Suffolk. It has been passed down from generation to generation in the DA's office. Make the jurors think for themselves, or make them think they are thinking for themselves. I have witnessed this on many occasions. The two most notable : In the SIL case the witness Careccia would detail how he broke into the King Kullen and ran to the front window to see a police car parked where he said he ordered it to be, otherwise he wasn't going to do the burglary. There is was. The jury heard Careccia testify that the SIL was to be in front of the store, and guess what - there was a police car there. But does Careccia say he could identify the occupant? Of course not. This is a no brainer for a no brained jury. Who else could it be but the SIL? Then the DA will tell the jury that if his witness was truly trying to frame the defendant wouldn't his witness say he identified the SIL? As soon as I read that one in the grand jury minutes I knew it was a lie to deceive the jury. Who else could it be in front of the store if there was in fact a cop in front of the store. Fact is the evidence clearly showed that Careccia did NOT enter the store to see a car in the lot because the alarm codes dispute that entirely. In the John Pius Case you have the testimony given by a SCPD detective named James Burke. That was in 1990, or about 11 years after he testified as a 14 year old teenager for Tom Spota. Testimony that sent an innocent teenager to jail for 19 years. Again, a half lie: James never told the jury that the defendant actually told him he killed Pius. He just fills in the edges with half lies. He learned his lessons well. Like I said it passes from one generation to another. This time it began in 1979 before the now Chief Investigator/SCPD Police Inspector for Tom Spota was a cop, but only a punk teenager who ran with kid burglars and drug pushers. So what does he say short of a confession? He says that the defendant told him that he was there but he never struck the kid. All he did was to place young John's bike against the tree. Show the jury the photo of the bike against the tree - presto, they become instant genuises. The only problem with that testimony was that the father of young John had testifed that it was he who placed the bike against the tree when he found his missing son. That the bike was first seen by his niece covered by leaves to hide it, with its handlebars sticking out. and that his niece attempted to pick up the bike and he took it from her and HE placed it against the tree AFTER the defendant allegedly told James Burke that he did it. GET it? Young James will also put in some evidence short of a full blown confession. He will say the defendant told him the guys attended the funeral with their Grateful Dead Jackets on and laughed during the ceremony. He would also say the defendant told him what would you do if you were drunk and you thought the kid was going to rat you out for stealing a worthless mini bike. These kids were serial burglars, for gosh sake, a minibike bothered them!!!! Then young Jim would say the defendant told him the cops are 'Pigs" and too much time had passed for them to make a case - they were stupid. Are you starting to get the picture of the half lie now? We clocked the ADA in a arson trial before our trial and he used the same bullsheet in that trial. The witness fell just short of identifying the defendant, and the ADA said it was evidence of telling the truth. In the SIL case the witness who lied got caught red handed lying that another person named Wright was at King Kullen. Wright was in jail at the time. So what does the DA tell the jury in summation? He tells the jury would we permit him to lie if we fed him information. He makes the most incredible leap of illogic when he tells the jury He KNEW the witness lied and this should prove the DA and cops told the truth, otherwise why would he permit him to say that. He just never bothered to tell the court or the defense that he KNEW his witness lied. Now, that is a no no, and he may be made to answer for that incredible act of arrogance. YES, MY FRIEND, THE HALF LIE IS FAR MORE DEADLIER THAT THE WHOLE LIE.

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