It's from 2003 but I feel everyone should watch it.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Feeling sorry...
So, I've been keeping up with Chrissie via the SCDC inmate search application. I think about her a lot. I wonder what she's doing right now. I wonder if she'd care if I wrote to her. I wonder if she really meant what she said in the court room. I really hope she wasn't "pulling a fast one" on us. None of us wanted her to get a decade or more behind bars. We knew, being the type of person she is, if she went away for a long time, she'd come out a worse person than when she went in. It wouldn't do her or anybody any good to just lock her up and throw away the key. In 1 year's time, we'll see if she does any good by speaking to young people and telling her story. I would love to see her speak and hear what she has to say.
More than anything, I want her to know that we forgive her. We are sorry for her family. We are sorry she made the decision that she did. I could tell by looking at her that this ordeal is eating her up inside. I could tell by looking at her in court that she was in shock, still. That she couldn't believe she was actually going through this.
She has lost so much weight. She has lost the coloring in her skin. She looks like she's ill. I feel for her, I feel for her family. I feel for her when she has kids and they find out their mom killed someone. It's a sad situation for everyone involved.
I put together some pictures to show what a metamorphosis this young lady has gone through. Not only is she physically imprisoned, it looks like she's emotionally imprisoned by all the guilt that's eating away at her.
CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE
More than anything, I want her to know that we forgive her. We are sorry for her family. We are sorry she made the decision that she did. I could tell by looking at her that this ordeal is eating her up inside. I could tell by looking at her in court that she was in shock, still. That she couldn't believe she was actually going through this.
She has lost so much weight. She has lost the coloring in her skin. She looks like she's ill. I feel for her, I feel for her family. I feel for her when she has kids and they find out their mom killed someone. It's a sad situation for everyone involved.
I put together some pictures to show what a metamorphosis this young lady has gone through. Not only is she physically imprisoned, it looks like she's emotionally imprisoned by all the guilt that's eating away at her.
CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The sentencing hearing
We had court yesterday, finally, after 21 long months of waiting. We went into the courtroom and Chrissie had lots of family and friends there for support. I'm sure we would have had more if we were local as well. You can't begin to imagine how much traveling to and from South Carolina 3 times has cost us financially as well as emotionally. My dad lives in Arizona and we live in Florida. Add in hotels, food, time off work, etc.
Anyway, I hugged her mom before we went in. From the first moment I met her mom, I knew this was a woman who was torn apart inside. Her heart was broken. I held my composure all along until I came face-to-face with her mother. As a mother, I can't begin to understand what it feels like to know your child has caused the death of someone else's child.
Chrissie came in wearing an orange-striped jumpsuit and she was shackled. She was shackled the entire time. I can't imagine how humiliating that was for her. In front of her parents, her grandparents, her boyfriend, her boss. That would be enough of a deterrent for me to never do it again if I were her. People can't understand when I say I have compassion for her. It's hard to explain. I just kept looking at her yesterday thinking, "She is in shock right now. She must be thinking how did this happen to her?" I wished and prayed to God that it wouldn't have been her. It's too hard to hate her. I wished instead she was some type of psychopathic monster so it would be easy to go through with court and sentencing. It was so hard to watch this girl who had such a great life, who was so smart and had such a promising future and a family who loved her, ruin her life. I just didn't want it for her.
Mom gave her statement first, then Dad, then me. It was so hard. As soon as I got in front of the judge, panic washed over me. I couldn't stop shaking. I was choking back the tears. It was overwhelming, to say the least.
Then it was the defense's turn. Her boss spoke, one of her college professor's spoke, her psychologist and then her mom. That was the hardest to sit through was her mom's statement.
Chrissie had the chance to speak. I felt everything she said was sincere and honest and I truly believe she will never do anything like this again. I truly believe she will follow through on her word to go out and make a difference in the lives of young people and I can't wait to see it happen.
We found out she had cut her hair and donated it to Locks of Love in Stephen's name. She planted a tree outside her bedroom window to remember him. She has done counseling and gone to town hall meetings about drunk driving. She has started herself on the path to redemption.
The judge stepped out to deliberate with the attorneys. My mom started to panic and cry. She said, "I don't think she needs to go to prison. She's not a monster. Should I say something?" I didn't want her to go away for long either. My dad said, "We have to trust that God will tell that to the judge and he'll listen." I must admit though, right before the judge came in, I bowed my head and prayed to God quickly, "God, please don't give her a long time in prison. Please."
The judge came in. He started to make his ruling. He started out and said, "I sentence you to 15 years--" and I felt like I got punched in the stomach. I hung my head, cried and shook my head. That's not what we wanted, nor expected. Then he continued on with the rest of it..."suspended upon the following conditions..."
And they were:
* 1 year in prison
* 3 years house arrest
* 300 hours community service with MADD, talking to young people
* $10,000 fines/court costs
* $1,850 paid back to my dad for Stephen's funeral expenses
If she messes up in those 4 years, she will serve the remainder of the 15 years in prison.
Also, with the house arrest:
* She may not leave Greenville, SC for 3 years
* She has to pay $8.00 per day for the ankle monitoring equipment (Approximately $240 per month)
* She can only go to the doctor, school, work, church, attorney's office
We are pleased with the sentence. We feel it is balanced and fair and the judge made a good decision. He feels she has the potential to do great things and to change lives, and that's what Stephen would have wanted.
Thank you everyone who has stuck by my family and followed this case from day 1. You don't know how much we appreciate you.
And to Chrissie's family, if you're reading this, we pray for you all the time. There's not a day that goes by that we don't think of you or of Chrissie. We constantly think about what life must be like in your shoes and wouldn't wish any of this on anyone. We don't hate Chrissie. We are sorry for her and we hope she makes good on her promise to us.
Anyway, I hugged her mom before we went in. From the first moment I met her mom, I knew this was a woman who was torn apart inside. Her heart was broken. I held my composure all along until I came face-to-face with her mother. As a mother, I can't begin to understand what it feels like to know your child has caused the death of someone else's child.
Chrissie came in wearing an orange-striped jumpsuit and she was shackled. She was shackled the entire time. I can't imagine how humiliating that was for her. In front of her parents, her grandparents, her boyfriend, her boss. That would be enough of a deterrent for me to never do it again if I were her. People can't understand when I say I have compassion for her. It's hard to explain. I just kept looking at her yesterday thinking, "She is in shock right now. She must be thinking how did this happen to her?" I wished and prayed to God that it wouldn't have been her. It's too hard to hate her. I wished instead she was some type of psychopathic monster so it would be easy to go through with court and sentencing. It was so hard to watch this girl who had such a great life, who was so smart and had such a promising future and a family who loved her, ruin her life. I just didn't want it for her.
Mom gave her statement first, then Dad, then me. It was so hard. As soon as I got in front of the judge, panic washed over me. I couldn't stop shaking. I was choking back the tears. It was overwhelming, to say the least.
Then it was the defense's turn. Her boss spoke, one of her college professor's spoke, her psychologist and then her mom. That was the hardest to sit through was her mom's statement.
Chrissie had the chance to speak. I felt everything she said was sincere and honest and I truly believe she will never do anything like this again. I truly believe she will follow through on her word to go out and make a difference in the lives of young people and I can't wait to see it happen.
We found out she had cut her hair and donated it to Locks of Love in Stephen's name. She planted a tree outside her bedroom window to remember him. She has done counseling and gone to town hall meetings about drunk driving. She has started herself on the path to redemption.
The judge stepped out to deliberate with the attorneys. My mom started to panic and cry. She said, "I don't think she needs to go to prison. She's not a monster. Should I say something?" I didn't want her to go away for long either. My dad said, "We have to trust that God will tell that to the judge and he'll listen." I must admit though, right before the judge came in, I bowed my head and prayed to God quickly, "God, please don't give her a long time in prison. Please."
The judge came in. He started to make his ruling. He started out and said, "I sentence you to 15 years--" and I felt like I got punched in the stomach. I hung my head, cried and shook my head. That's not what we wanted, nor expected. Then he continued on with the rest of it..."suspended upon the following conditions..."
And they were:
* 1 year in prison
* 3 years house arrest
* 300 hours community service with MADD, talking to young people
* $10,000 fines/court costs
* $1,850 paid back to my dad for Stephen's funeral expenses
If she messes up in those 4 years, she will serve the remainder of the 15 years in prison.
Also, with the house arrest:
* She may not leave Greenville, SC for 3 years
* She has to pay $8.00 per day for the ankle monitoring equipment (Approximately $240 per month)
* She can only go to the doctor, school, work, church, attorney's office
We are pleased with the sentence. We feel it is balanced and fair and the judge made a good decision. He feels she has the potential to do great things and to change lives, and that's what Stephen would have wanted.
Thank you everyone who has stuck by my family and followed this case from day 1. You don't know how much we appreciate you.
And to Chrissie's family, if you're reading this, we pray for you all the time. There's not a day that goes by that we don't think of you or of Chrissie. We constantly think about what life must be like in your shoes and wouldn't wish any of this on anyone. We don't hate Chrissie. We are sorry for her and we hope she makes good on her promise to us.
To Chrissie's psychologist:
I have decided to, once again, make my blog public. Because we were going to court, I decided to make it private so that the defense would not have any "ammo" against me if we went to trial.
Chrissie Clark's psychologist pointed out in court yesterday that both she and Chrissie spent some time reading my blog until they were no longer able to do so. I hope she will try to read it again. I need to address something she said in her statement:
Back on 12/3/07, I posted a blog here.
I openly stated that Stephen's blood alcohol content was .05, so he had in fact consumed alcohol that night. We were all aware he had done so. Her psychologist in court said "two young people made bad decisions that night." She made us look like hypocrites talking about how Chrissie chose to drink and drive when Stephen did the same thing. I disagree with this wholeheartedly. Here is how the 2 differ:
Chrissie was a underage, and the limit for a MINOR for intoxocation legally is .02. Her blood alcohol (1 hour after the wreck) content was .227. That is 11 times the legal limit for a MINOR. She wasn't having a couple drinks. She was getting wasted. She was at the limit that most people need to seek medical attention. The fact that she was even able to have the hand-eye coordination to get the key into the ignition boggles my mind!
Now, Stephen was a responsible adult. He was on a date and had a couple of drinks at DINNER, where he ate a MEAL, 4 hours before getting onto his motorcycle. For the next 3 hours he drank nothing but water. Even the medical examiner told us "it was 0.05, but don't worry, that's nothing. He was not intoxicated." He was below the legal limit of intoxication. That's why the limit is 0.08. I know that if Stephen was as impaired as Chrissie was, he never would have gotten on his motorcycle that night, and his date wouldn't have ever let him leave either.
These are two VERY DIFFERENT scenarios. Stephen was not on trial yesterday, and frankly, neither was Chrissie. She had already said she did it. There was no reason to even bring it up. But we all knew about it. And everyone in the courtroom who mattered knows the limits of the law and knew who was at fault.
Chrissie Clark's psychologist pointed out in court yesterday that both she and Chrissie spent some time reading my blog until they were no longer able to do so. I hope she will try to read it again. I need to address something she said in her statement:
Back on 12/3/07, I posted a blog here.
I openly stated that Stephen's blood alcohol content was .05, so he had in fact consumed alcohol that night. We were all aware he had done so. Her psychologist in court said "two young people made bad decisions that night." She made us look like hypocrites talking about how Chrissie chose to drink and drive when Stephen did the same thing. I disagree with this wholeheartedly. Here is how the 2 differ:
Chrissie was a underage, and the limit for a MINOR for intoxocation legally is .02. Her blood alcohol (1 hour after the wreck) content was .227. That is 11 times the legal limit for a MINOR. She wasn't having a couple drinks. She was getting wasted. She was at the limit that most people need to seek medical attention. The fact that she was even able to have the hand-eye coordination to get the key into the ignition boggles my mind!
Now, Stephen was a responsible adult. He was on a date and had a couple of drinks at DINNER, where he ate a MEAL, 4 hours before getting onto his motorcycle. For the next 3 hours he drank nothing but water. Even the medical examiner told us "it was 0.05, but don't worry, that's nothing. He was not intoxicated." He was below the legal limit of intoxication. That's why the limit is 0.08. I know that if Stephen was as impaired as Chrissie was, he never would have gotten on his motorcycle that night, and his date wouldn't have ever let him leave either.
These are two VERY DIFFERENT scenarios. Stephen was not on trial yesterday, and frankly, neither was Chrissie. She had already said she did it. There was no reason to even bring it up. But we all knew about it. And everyone in the courtroom who mattered knows the limits of the law and knew who was at fault.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Heading to court, finally
So it stuck this time. No more waiting...
On Monday, we're heading to South Carolina for the sentencing hearing. Mom, me, Bill, Trey, Dad and Linda will be heading to Abbeville, SC. The reason we have to go to Abbeville is because the judge is based there. He is a traveling judge and just so happened to be in Greenville when he heard our case.
The hearing is scheduled for 2pm on Tuesday, June 9th. If you'd like to come, you're more than welcome. Also, I am posting Chrissie's mugshot below.
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