diane-birnholz

How I Became a Prosecutor

Wed, 13 Aug 2025 20:21:11 GMT

In high school, our class took a field trip to the local courthouse. It was my first taste of being inside a courtroom, rather than just reading about it. That day featured the dramatic testimony of an elderly woman, a rape victim, as to the sexual assault she endured in her own bedroom. The defendant, a greasy-haired blonde in his early twenties, had shoved a dishtowel in the victim’s mouth before raping her. I was equal parts horrified and riveted. The teachers soon decided that the trial was much too upsetting for a group of high school students and shepherded us out of the courtroom. I wanted to stay. And I no longer wanted to be a defense attorney. I wanted to stand up and be the one fighting for this woman who’d been victimized in the worst possible way. I was going to become a prosecutor and I was going to take down criminals in court.

So that’s what I did. I put myself through law school and was fortunate to receive several high-paying offers at various law firms for the summer after 2L, but I turned them all down to accept a job as a Certified Law Clerk at the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office. The magical part about that position is that I was allowed to appear in court at preliminary hearings, even before graduating law school! The most memorable case I handled that summer was an armed assault hate crime targeting a member of the LGBTQ community outside a gay bar. I introduced half a gun into evidence, the half that the perpetrator had dumped on a shelf at a nearby grocery store as he fled the scene after the assault. I will never forget the gratitude I received from the victim for how I’d stood up for him in court.

After graduating, I clerked for a federal judge, and then served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles. I gave voice to more crime victims, prosecuting a wide variety of criminal defendants in federal court, including takeover-style bank robbers, fraudsters preying on senior citizens with telemarketing schemes, and defendants charged with conspiracy, assault, narcotics, escape, and gang firearm crimes. I loved that job, but reluctantly left when it was time to have children. I began teaching Criminal Trial Advocacy and legal research and writing classes at UCLA School of Law.

I enjoy teaching various courses as well, but criminal law is my passion. In keeping with my desire to fight injustice in the world, I began volunteering with the California Innocence Project. I also got that murder mystery/legal thriller novel written. It features a young Assistant U.S. Attorney working her first murder case. I hope to find a literary agent and see it published.

I say "yes" to all media inquiries that come my way. I welcome additional opportunities to work as an on-camera legal analyst/correspondent, or to provide expert written commentary. I'd also be interested in sharing my expertise by working as a consultant or host for a true crime documentary or television show. For me, it’s all about criminal law, all the time.

With a deep love of books from a very young age, I first read “To Kill a Mockingbird” when I was nine years old. From then on, I knew I’d be a lawyer someday. I was going to be a criminal defense attorney and fight injustice in the world. Around the same time, my grandmother introduced me to Agatha Christie, and wow, I was hooked. I dreamed that someday I’d write my very own murder mystery novel.

Inside the Case File: People v. David Hayes

Fri, 30 May 2025 13:07:44 GMT

Teaching Trial Advocacy Through Realistic Legal Hypotheticals

One of the most valuable ways to prepare future litigators is to immerse them in the realities of a criminal case—not just the statutes and elements, but the ambiguity, the gray areas, and the human stories behind every piece of evidence.

When I teach Criminal Trial Advocacy, my students aren’t just handed neat summaries or sanitized hypotheticals. They’re handed a case file.

And not just any file—one written to mirror the complexity of real-world prosecution and defense work, complete with police reports, forensic results, character contradictions, and evidence that doesn’t always point in a straight line.

People v. David Hayes is one such case. It begins in 1992 with the discovery of a young woman’s body in a quiet canyon road. It lies dormant for decades—until DNA technology advances, and suddenly, the cold case thaws. Now, students must comb through the details and prepare for trial, either for the prosecution or the defense.

What follows is a short excerpt from the opening section of the file, designed to drop them right into the scene.

LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT

REPORT OF INVESTIGATION

On Saturday, August 8, 1992, I received a call on my car radio that a woman’s body had been found alongside Old Ranch Road near Mandeville Canyon in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles. I was driving back to the West LA station at the time from an unrelated crime scene. The call came in to me at 7:03am. I radioed back that I was in the area and could respond, and I asked for backup.

I arrived at the location, about halfway up Old Ranch Road near the intersection with the first Horse Trail, at 7:11am. Several bystanders were gathered at the location.

I observed a woman lying face up just off the side of the road near some tall bushes. She was lying on the east side of the narrow, winding roadway. I examined the woman and quickly determined that she was dead. I observed a large wound to the left side of her chest, which appeared to be a stab wound. Based on the body’s temperature and the condition of the dried blood, the woman appeared to me to have been dead for several hours. I searched a perimeter around the body, including in the bushes, and found no weapons. The dead woman was fully clothed in a white sleeveless bodysuit, shorts, and sandals. The front of the bodysuit was saturated in blood. There was no purse or handbag or any other personal possessions near the body or in the area. I checked for some form of identification on the body and found only one item, in the front pocket of the shorts: a credit card Visa receipt from a bar named Bottoms Up on San Vicente in Brentwood. The receipt indicated a charge for a Cosmopolitan cocktail and was dated from 9:00pm last night, August 7, 1992, and was signed by a Barbara Miller.

A man and woman approached me and stated that they had been the ones who made the discovery. They identified themselves as John and Linda Thomas. The Thomas’s had been out walking their dog when they saw the body on the side of the road. The man said that he saw all the blood and thought the woman looked dead, but he touched her wrist just to be sure. Feeling it to be cold, he did not touch or disturb the body any further. The couple then ran a quarter of a mile down Old Ranch Road to their home and called 911.

Back-up units arrived on the scene within two minutes of my arrival. I supervised officers as they cordoned off the crime scene perimeter. I made sure no one came near the body or the immediate crime scene. I called in the LA County Coroner’s Office and the LAPD Forensic Investigation Division. I remained on scene until 1:55pm when both teams were finished up and the body was removed. No other personal items were found on or near the body.

There were no identifiable footprints or other forensic evidence recovered near the body and there was no blood in the area other than on the victim. Based on my experience as a homicide detective investigating crime scenes, it is my opinion as well as that of the forensic team that the victim was killed elsewhere and that her body was dumped on the side of the road.

Detective Robert Coleman, LAPD Homicide Division 8/8/1992

Excerpt from the LAPD Homicide Report

That’s the beginning. From there, students sift through interviews, analyze forensic results, confront red herrings, and make tough calls about how to build—or defend—a case with imperfect evidence. They learn that "reasonable doubt" is not just a phrase, but a force. That storytelling in court must be backed by fact. And that a case can hinge not just on DNA, but on how you interpret what isn’t there.

If you’re interested in how case-based learning prepares the next generation of legal minds—or you’d like to explore more teaching materials—I’ll be sharing additional excerpts and reflections in upcoming posts.

Stay tuned.

Micro Memoir - Apology

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 21:08:33 GMT

“You’re more than beautiful.”

A surprising choice of words for a prisoner to write the woman prosecuting him. Inappropriate, clearly, and yet somehow your letter didn’t feel creepy. That’s because I knew you didn’t mean it in a creepy way.

You aspired to be a lawyer. I know you would have been a good one. I watched you in court –you served as your own attorney in your criminal trial on a string of bank robberies. I treated you just as I would any opposing counsel, except that our weekly calls were prefaced with anoperator’s voice, “Will you accept a collect call from the Metropolitan Detention Center?” and Ialways had a witness present while talking to you on speakerphone. You were polite, prepared,extremely intelligent, and much more pleasant to deal with than just about any of the criminal defense attorneys I ever went up against.

I think about the life you should have had and what you should have become. Your story stayed with me over the years and literally became my story. In the novel I wrote, a man very much like you enjoys a happier ending -- the ending I wish the real you could have had.

You put up your best fight in court, but the jury found you guilty. The judge apologized to you and said it gave him no pleasure as he sentenced you to 17 years in federal prison.

I never apologized for putting you behind bars. “I was just doing my job.” Isn’t that what people always say? I was protecting the public safety. Was it my fault you grew up homeless to a mom addicted to crack? Was it my fault the halfway house you eventually escaped from sat adjacent to a vacant lot where drug dealers tempted you back to your crack habit? Was it my fault you started robbing banks again to fuel your addiction?

No, it wasn’t my fault, and yet I feel that I’m the guilty one. I wish I could tell you that I’m sorry. I’m sorry for my role in a system that imprisoned you from the day you were born. I’m sorry you were unable to realize your dreams or to come even close to reaching your potential. Your life mattered. Your life should have been more than beautiful.

State or Federal Crime?

Tue, 04 Jul 2023 03:44:47 GMT

One of the first questions I like to ask students in my Criminal Trial Advocacy course is whether they know the difference between state crimes and federal crimes. I’ll give them an example to think about: Why is it a state crime to hold up an employee of a 7-Eleven convenience store with a firearm and steal $5,000, but it’s both a state and a federal crime to hold up a teller at a Bank of America, with a demand note but no firearm, and steal just $1,000? How can that be? Why would an unarmed bank robbery be a federal crime, but committing an armed robbery against a convenience store or a restaurant or a Walmart would be strictly a state crime?

If you don’t know the answer, you’re in good company. The students are usually baffled, and these are second- and third-year law students who are interested in pursuing criminal law as a profession. Many of them are headed for the public defender’s office or the district attorney’s office. Someone in the class might offer a tentative guess, but most students don’t really understand why some offenses are only state crimes and why some are both state and federal crimes.

The answer is that bank robbery is a federal crime because the deposits are federally insured by the FDIC. The other answer is that bank robbery is a federal crime because it’s codified as such in Title 18, Section 2113 of the United States Code, which is the penal code for the federal government. It’s important to know that the government can’t prosecute someone for a crime unless the crime and the elements of that crime are very clearly laid out in a statute. This is to make sure that citizens are on notice of what constitutes a crime, or not. This is true whether we’re talking about prosecutions by a state or by the U.S. government.

Most of the crimes we’re familiar with and hear about every day in the news or on podcasts, like murder and rape and robbery, are state crimes, not federal crimes.

Generally, federal crimes are those crimes that the federal government has an interest in, as well as the authority and jurisdiction to criminalize. There has got to be a federal interest involved. Wire fraud is a federal crime because telephone calls involve wires that are part of interstate commerce via telecommunications or the internet. Mail fraud is a federal crime because it involves the U.S. mail. Drug crimes are federal because the drug trade affects U.S. interests and involves interstate commerce, although federal authorities will generally only charge drug crimes when they’re of a more serious nature, such as manufacturing or selling large quantities of narcotics or transporting them across state lines.

Murder is a federal crime, per 18 U.S.C. Section 1111, in certain limited circumstances, like when it’s the murder of a federal judge or it’s committed on federal property or by a federal prisoner. Murder is also a federal crime if it’s perpetrated during the commission of other delineated crimes, such as bank robbery or a drug offense.

When I was a federal prosecutor, I handled many cases that involved federal firearms crimes, including charges against defendants for being a felon in possession of a firearm, or for the use of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence. Federal firearms offenses often involve very serious sentencing enhancements on top of the sentences for the underlying crimes.

There are various implications that arise from whether a crime is investigated and charged as a state or federal crime. One is that the penalties in federal court are often much stiffer than those in state court. Another is that a federal agency like the FBI or DEA or ATF will generally investigate federal crimes and then present the case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for prosecution, as opposed to state cases that involve the local police and the local district attorney’s office. If a federal case is indicted, the trial will take place in federal court, and if convicted, the defendant will serve his or her sentence in federal prison rather than state prison.

Please let me know if you have any questions about this issue or any other related topics. I really enjoy teaching and educating people about the U.S. legal system, so if any of you have any questions relating to criminal law or law enforcement, please send me a message and ask aw ay!

The Brutal Kidnapping and Murder of Arkansas Girl Kacie Woody

Wed, 07 Dec 2022 02:09:50 GMT

The Brutal Kidnapping and Murder of Arkansas Girl Kacie Woody by a 47-year-old Catfisher who Posed in Christian Chat Room as a 17-year-old Boy

On December 3, 2002, 13-year-old Kacie Woody was kidnapped from her small-town Arkansas home, sexually assaulted and murdered in a local storage unit by Dave Fuller, a California man posing as a teenager to befriend Kacie in an online chat room, where he obtained her trust, along with her phone number and home address.

In 2002, Kacie Woody was a responsible, well-liked 13-year-old middle school student living in a small town in Arkansas with her dad and two older brothers. Tragically, Kacie’s mom had been killed in a car accident six years earlier. Her dad was a police patrol officer who worked nights, which meant that Kacie would sometimes be left home alone in the evenings.

Kacie had recently become interested in boys and had even started meeting them in online chat rooms. During the summer and fall of 2002, she met and developed a strong online bond to two of these “boys,” Scott, 14, an actual teenager from Georgia, and Dave from California, who claimed to be 17.

Friends and family members were concerned about Kacie being overly trusting and by the fact that she was giving out her personal information to strangers online. On December 3, 2002, a friend of Kacie’s sought the assistance of a school guidance counselor to caution Kacie to be more careful.

However, that very night, Kacie found herself home alone while her father worked a night shift. She was busy chatting online with her boyfriend Scott when Dave called her on the phone. Kacie and Dave had developed a strong friendship centered around the “fact” that both had suffered the loss of a family member who had become the victim of a terrible car crash. Kacie was giving Scott all the details of her phone conversation with Dave in real time, when she suddenly stopped responding to Scott’s messages. Scott thought this was odd as he could see that Kacie was still logged in online. He became increasingly worried as his messages were met with silence. He tried calling Kacie and emailed one of her friends, but he didn’t get a response.

Meanwhile, Kacie’s brother and his friend came home from classes to discover that Kacie was missing. Her dad rushed home and discovered that Kacie’s coats and shoes were still there at home, despite the freezing temperature outside. Even more alarming was the discovery of her broken glasses. It was clear that Kacie had been kidnapped from home. Law enforcement followed various leads to track down who this Dave was and who could have taken her.

Police soon learned that a 47-year-old San Diego man named Dave Fuller had recently rented a motel room, a van, and a storage unit, all in the area near Kacie’s home. Fuller’s phone number had made multiple calls to Kacie’s house. As a result of their quick investigating, law enforcement officers found the storage unit on December 4, 2002, but just as they arrived, they heard a single gunshot ring out from inside. Fuller had just killed himself. Police then found Kacie’s body inside the van in the storage unit. She had been bound, sexually assaulted, and shot in the head.

This is the story of Kacie’s kidnapping and murder.

Tragedy Strikes

Kacie Rene Woody was born on October 17, 1989, in Little Rock, Arkansas, to Rick and Kristie Woody. Kacie had two older brothers, Austin and Timothy, who were both local young athletes. Kacie was a good girl, and popular with her friends.

The tight-knit Woody family was struck by tragedy when Kacie was only 7 years old. The family was in their car traveling to one of Kacie’s brother’s ballgames. Rick was driving, with Kristie in the front passenger seat and the three kids in the back, when a horse suddenly bolted right in the path of their car on Highway 287 in Conway County, Arkansas. The front of the car suffered the worst impact. Rick survived the crash with broken ribs, but Kristie, 38, died from her injuries.

Kristie’s death took an enormous toll on the entire family, particularly on young Kacie, who had been very close with her mom. Her mom’s untimely death also forced Kacie to grow up early and take on many household responsibilities, such as laundry and cooking, that many kids her age weren’t yet handling.

Kacie’s Online Dating

Trouble began in 2002 when Kacie was 13 years old. The Woody family lived on Griggers Lane, a small dead-end street in the tiny town of Holland, in central Arkansas, about 30 miles north of Little Rock. Rick Woody, Kacie’s dad, worked as a police officer in the nearby town of Greenbrier. He was a patrol officer and would often work nights.

Kacie’s older brother Tim, 19, was taking classes and still living at home. One of Tim’s friends, Eric, 19, was also temporarily living in the Woody home. The two young men were often home in the evening and could help keep an eye on Kacie, which helped put Rick’s mind at ease about working the late shift. Also, Kacie’s Aunt Teresa (her deceased mom’s sister) lived right next door. However, even with all these precautions and family members helping, there were times when young Kacie would be left home alone at night.

Kacie has been described as sunny and bubbly, bright and cheerful. In keeping with her personality, her favorite color was yellow. Starting in the fall of 2002, she was in the seventh grade at Greenbrier Middle School. According to findagrave.com, Kacie was active in the band, choir, and was a member of the Gifted and Talented Program at school.

Kacie, like many girls her age, was thinking about boys, a lot. This was normal. What worried her friends, though, was how Kacie was going about meeting boys: she was communicating with them in online chat rooms. People who cared about her were concerned that these “boys” were complete strangers to her, and that Kacie was way too trusting. Her friends and family members didn’t approve of Kacie giving out her phone number, or even worse, her address, to people that she’d just met online.

Kacie Meets Two New “Boys” Online

In May 2002, Kacie met a boy named Scott in an online chat room. Chat rooms were a popular outlet at this time, and Kacie, living in a very small town, found them to be an exciting and yet harmless pastime. Scott was 14 years old and lived in Alpharetta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. His online name was Tazz2999. Kacie’s was modelbehavior63. Police would later determine that Scott was in fact who he claimed to be.

However, in the summer of 2002, Kacie met Dave, another “boy” online in a Christian chat room clearly meant for youths. Dave claimed that he was 17 years old and said that he lived in San Diego. His photo showed him to be a good-looking teen with long wavy hair. Dave and Kacie quickly transitioned from online chatting to trading numbers and talking on the phone. Their friendship developed, and they began confiding in each other. The subject of Kacie’s mom’s death was central to this relationship. Kacie typically didn’t like discussing the matter, but she found Dave to be sympathetic and told him that her mom had been killed in a car accident. Dave mentioned that his aunt, who lived in Arkansas, had also been in a car accident and that she was in a coma and would likely die from her injuries. This shared bond of tragedy brought the two close together.

Kacie was open with her family and friends about her online activities, but her friends had mixed feelings, including about Dave. One of Kacie’s friends, Samantha, had interacted with Dave as well, and she was suspicious of him. She questioned whether he truly was a teenager. He used words like “groovy” and “wicked” which seemed to date him as an older man.

At first, Kacie’s dad was okay with Kacie being in touch with Dave. After all, the online chatting and the phone calls were all taking place from the safety of their own home. Kacie wasn’t actually going out and meeting any of these chat room boys in person. But Rick changed his mind when he found out that Dave told Kacie that he had turned 18. Rick told Kacie that she needed to stop communicating with Dave. Kacie, however, didn’t stop. She believed it was an innocent, supportive friendship. There had initially been some romantic connection between Kacie and Dave, but Kacie ended any thoughts of romance due to her blossoming online relationship with Scott.

At some point, Dave told Kacie that he might be coming to Arkansas to see his aunt before she died. It’s not clear whether Kacie and Dave left open the possibility of seeing each other, but they didn’t have any concrete plans. One friend later said that Kacie did not want to meet Dave in person.

On around October 3, 2002, Kacie and Scott officially became girlfriend-boyfriend. Scott knew of Kacie’s ongoing friendship with Dave, and he seemed to approve. Scott and Dave even spoke to each other on the phone in a friendly manner.

Police later discovered that Dave may have gone to Arkansas for a weekend at least once in the fall of 2002 to scout the area, including Kacie’s house.

An Argument

On December 2, 2002, Kacie had an argument with Samantha due to a simple misunderstanding between the girls. Sam had seen a photo of Scott hanging in Kacie’s locker and remarked that Scott was “hot.” Kacie misheard and thought Sam had insulted her boyfriend by calling him “fat.”

Sam, meanwhile, was unsettled by the fact that Kacie had this photo in her locker at all. It could only mean one thing -- that Scott had sent it to her in the mail, which meant that Kacie had given Scott her home address, so soon after meeting him. Sam also continued to be nervous about Kacie’s phone relationship with Dave.

The next day, December 3, 2002, Sam decided to get an adult involved in Kacie’s online dating. Sam told a school counselor named Dianna Kellar that the girls were having an argument and that Kacie was handing out her personal information to strangers online.

Mrs. Kellar helped patch things up between the two girls, and she also spoke to Kacie about Sam’s concerns. According to Cathy Frye’s article, “Evil at the door,” published in arkansasonline.com: “As the girls left that morning, Mrs. Kellar asked Kacie about the matter. Kacie assured the counselor she had shared her number only with people approved by her dad. But Sam knew this wasn’t true.” Later that day, Mrs. Kellar brought Kacie back into her office, reemphasizing the dangers of giving out her personal information to strangers.

At the end of the school day, Kacie asked multiple girls whether she could spend the night at their house that night. All of them said no, as they weren’t allowed to have sleepovers on a school night. Per Frye’s article: “Kacie didn’t explain why she wanted to sleep elsewhere that night. She just didn’t want to go home. The refusals didn’t upset her. She laughed – that goofy, honking guffaw for which she was known – and headed to where her bus waited, its engine thrumming. Before boarding, she hugged all of her friends.”

To this day, it's not clear why Kacie asked multiple friends for a sleepover. Some have theorized that she somehow sensed that danger was awaiting her that night.

Home Alone

Kacie was home alone the night of December 3, 2002. Her father Rick was out working a patrol shift, her brother Tim was studying at the library, and Tim’s friend Eric was attending an evening class. Rick had almost called in sick that night as he was suffering from a sinus infection, but he decided to go in anyway and try to make it through his shift, which ended at 2 a.m. Aunt Teresa wasn’t home either. She was out in nearby Conway at her own daughter’s basketball game.

It was rainy and very cold that night, with temperatures down in the 30s. The dead-end street was dark. Kacie, though, was snug at home in her night clothes, a comfy pair of blue sweatpants and a gray sweatshirt that she liked to wear as pajamas. The doors to the house were unlocked, as they often were.

At 7 p.m., Rick called and checked in with Kacie. She was home and doing fine. She said that she was practicing her saxophone.

Later that evening, Kacie was on the computer, as she often was, chatting online with Scott. Kacie went into great detail with Scott about the happenings of the day, including Mrs. Kellar’s warnings to her about conversing with strangers and how they could actually be an 80-year-old rapist posing as a young person. Kacie was seated at the computer in a front room of the house, lit up in the window, clearly visible to anyone who might be outside.

Dave called while Kacie was chatting online with Scott. Through instant messages, Kacie kept Scott aware of exactly what was happening in her phone conversation with Dave, giving a blow-by-blow of all the details, including that Dave had called to say that his aunt was on the verge of death.

Kacie and Scott continued the rapid-fire messaging until 9:41 p.m., when Kacie suddenly stopped responding. He asked if she was okay. She was still logged in, but she was no longer responding. Scott found this to be unsettling and highly unusual for Kacie. He became increasingly worried that something was wrong. Scott kept messaging, with more and more urgency, asking if she was okay, but Kacie never responded. At 10:15 p.m., Scott called Kacie’s home phone number, but there was no answer.

At about 10:45 p.m., Scott emailed one of Kacie’s best friends, Jessica, but because of the lateness of the hour on a school night, Jessica didn’t see the email until the next day.

Meanwhile, Tim’s friend Eric had gotten back to the Woody home at about 10:15 p.m. He watched television while doing laundry, all the while assuming that Kacie was already in bed asleep. He had no idea that anything was amiss.

At 11:30 p.m., however, Eric walked past Kacie’s room and noticed that she wasn’t there. Tim arrived home a few minutes after that. Concerned, at 11:40 p.m. they called Rick who told them to check with Aunt Teresa and Kacie’s friends, but no one knew where Kacie was.

Rick notified the local sheriff’s department that Kacie was missing and then rushed home. He found that Kacie’s two coats were still at home, along with her tennis shoes and boots. He knew that she would never have left the house voluntarily without her coat or shoes. Law enforcement immediately took Kacie’s disappearance seriously, both because her own father was a police officer, and because of the weather conditions.

Alarmingly, Kacie’s prescription eyeglasses were discovered at home tossed aside underneath a pile of towels on a chair. They were bent and ruined, with one of the lenses popped out. Also, the rug by the front door was all crumpled up, as though there had been a scuffle by the door.

The only things that seemed to be missing were Kacie and her pajamas.

“At the beginning, it was just obvious to us that she did not just run off,” said Jack Pike, sheriff’s spokesman, as quoted in the apnews.com article, “Ark. Police Find Girl, Man Dead in Unit,” by Kelly Wiese.

It was clear from the beginning that Kacie had been kidnapped from her own home.

Rick noticed that a call from Georgia had come into their home phone at 10:15 p.m. He also found the lengthy instant message conversation between modelbehavior63 and Tazz2999 on the computer. With Kacie still logged in, Rick was able to read their entire conversation. He messaged whoever this Tazz2999 was, seeking information. It was Scott, who told Rick that Kacie had been on the phone that night with Dave, but the only information Scott could give about Dave was his first name and that he lived in San Diego.

Still Missing

Despite everyone’s best efforts and desperate searching, Kacie still hadn’t turned up by the next morning. No one had heard from her. Federal agents got involved, both in the physical search for Kacie and in the hunt for clues, including on the family’s computer. Law enforcement sought to track information about Dave from his computer username and from any information they could glean from Kacie’s friends. They needed to find out who this Dave from San Diego was. Apparently, Dave had told Kacie his full name was Dave Fagen, but this turned out to be one of his many lies.

Law enforcement tried various angles. One was to look for any suspicious travelers in the area, which gave them a lead to a Dave Fuller, courtesy of him using his credit card to rent a room at the Motel 6 in Conway. Fuller had arrived there on December 2, the day before Kacie went missing. They also discovered that this same credit card had been used to rent a silver Dodge Caravan. The phone number associated with this rental came back to Dave Fuller, and significantly, had also been used to make multiple calls to the Woody’s house.

The police soon learned that the 18-year-old from San Diego who claimed to be coming to Arkansas to see his aunt before she passed away, was actually a 47-year-old catfisher named Dave Fuller.

According to an article by Faith Karimi on CNN.com, relating to another recent murder case: “Catfishing is a form of online deception in which people use fake photos and identities to create a fictional persona. They do it for various reasons, including to target potential love interests or people they’re trying to befriend. Other catfishers can be child predators trying to gain the trust of a minor.”

Tracking Fuller’s credit card activity, law enforcement discovered that Fuller had recently rented a storage unit in nearby Conway.

The Storage Locker

Law enforcement rushed to the storage facility, hoping to find Kacie alive. However, as they approached the storage facility sometime between 5 and 6 p.m. on December 4, 2002, a gunshot rang out from inside. A SWAT team was now necessary, and once they arrived, the police were able to enter the storage locker. It was unlocked, and according to sources, the minivan was inside with its engine running.

Police found Fuller’s body, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police believe that the shot they heard was him killing himself. His fingers still held a 9mm Luger. Police never fired any shots.

Any hopes of finding Kacie alive were dashed when police found her body in the back of the minivan. She had died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Law enforcement believed that she had been dead for hours. Her body was bound, and she had been sexually assaulted. Although the autopsy couldn’t reveal a time of death, the belief was that Fuller had rendered her unconscious with chloroform at the time he kidnapped her, and that Kacie may have been unconscious throughout her entire ordeal.

Police believed that Fuller was planning to escape the area in the van that night. Their quick investigation had foiled his plan. Police also discovered that Fuller had left the storage locker at one point that morning to visit a convenience store.

Dave Fuller’s Disturbing Past

Police descended on Fuller’s apartment in La Mesa, an area of San Diego, California, in search of evidence related to the murder and about Dave Fuller’s past. Fuller was born on January 18, 1955, putting him at 47 years old.

Law enforcement searched his apartment, taking his computer and other evidence, including photos of Kacie they found there. Authorities suspected that Fuller may have tried to kidnap other children before, given the level of detail and planning that went into the crime. According to an article, “Arkansas girl, 13, killer found dead in California,” by The Associated Press, on recordnet.com: “It’s doubtful this was [Fuller’s] first time,’ Conway police Maj. Mark Elsinger said. ‘There weren’t a lot of missteps made or sloppiness on his part. There was some planning done here.’”

According to an article on latimes.com, “Kidnap Suspect Kills Girl, 13, Self,” by Tony Perry: “Neighbors said that Fuller left home last week without giving a reason or location. Conway Police Maj. Mark Elsinger said Fuller went to Arkansas ‘on a scouting mission. There appeared to be a lot of planning in this. You don’t just arrive from Sand Diego.’”

Police believed that Fuller had visited Arkansas at least once that fall as he planned to kidnap Kacie.

Although Fuller had been married for almost 20 years, had served in the Navy, and had, until recently, been employed as a car salesman, his life had been spiraling downward in the months leading up to Kacie’s murder. His wife Sally complained that he was on the computer too much. She called 911 in January 2002, accusing Fuller of domestic violence, but the case wasn’t pursued, reportedly because of a lack of evidence. She filed for divorce in July 2002. Fuller moved from the family home to the apartment in La Mesa, where he lived for about three months. His kids, an 11-year-old son and a 7-year-old daughter, mostly lived with their mom. In September 2002, just three months before the murder, Fuller was fired for visiting pornography sites on his computer at work.

Authorities suspected that Fuller may have used the internet and attempted to lure other girls using the phony name Dave Fagen, but they couldn’t find any prior convictions relating to any such attempts.

Police also discovered that Fuller had purchased the gun just a month before the murder.

Kacie Woody’s case received much media attention. Journalist Cathy Frye wrote a four-part series of articles that were published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Investigation Discovery ran a documentary called “Man with a Van,” featuring Kacie’s story and warning people about trusting strangers on the internet. Her story has also been the subject of many podcasts.

Kacie’s family started the Kacie Woody Foundation to honor her memory. They travel around the United States teaching people about the dangers lurking on the internet.

Sources:

Arkansas Democrat Gazette, arkansasonline.com, “Evil at the door,” by Cathy Frye, December 14, 2003

THV11, tvhonline.com, “20 years ago | The murder of the Arkansas teen that shook the state,” by Ashley Goodwin, November 15, 2022, updated November 16, 2022

Abc7, katv.com, “Story of 2002 Conway child murder to be shared on Investigation Discovery,” by Alex Burch, February 19, 2020

Los Angeles Times, latimes.com, “Kidnap Suspect Kills Girl, 13, Self,” by Tony Perry, December 7, 2022

Apnews.com, “Ark. Police Find Girl, Man Dead in Unit,” by Kelly Wiese, December 6, 2002

Cnn.com, “Catfish scams target everyone. Here’s how to keep kids safe,” by Faith Karimi, CNN, December 3, 2022

Recordnet.com, “Arkansas girl, 13, killer found dead in California,” by The Associated Press, December 6, 2002

Groups.google.com, “FBI scours ex-home of San Diego man who killed girl, self in Arkansas”

Findagrave.com, “Kacie Rene Woody”

Findagrave.com, “Kristie Lea Smith Woody”

Findagrave.com, “David Leslie ‘Dave’ Fuller”

Maryhallbergmedia.com, “The murder of Kacie Woody,” by Mary Hallberg, November 5, 2019

Kaciewoody.homestead.com, “Kacie Rene Woody”

Case: Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders

Tue, 31 May 2022 03:39:20 GMT

Within hours of arriving at a two-week Girl Scout camp outside Tulsa, Oklahoma, three young girls, Michelle Guse, 9, Lori Farmer, 8, and Doris “Denise” Milner, 10, were raped and murdered, their bodies found stuffed in sleeping bags on a trail more than 100 yards away from their tent in the early morning of June 13, 1977. “It was the bogeyman story,” said Andrea Fielding, the Director of Forensic Science Services at the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. In the ensuing investigation, the police uncovered evidence in a nearby cave that linked to Gene Leroy Hart, a convicted kidnapper/rapist who’d escaped from a local prison in 1973 and been on the loose for the four years leading up to the murders. After a 10-month intensive manhunt, Hart was finally apprehended in the area and charged with three counts of first-degree murder. He was tried and ultimately acquitted of the triple homicide by a jury in March 1979. He died in prison two months later, where he was serving time for multiple prior burglaries. While not conclusive, recent DNA testing supports law enforcement’s theory that Hart was indeed the Oklahoma Girl Scout murderer.

The following is a timeline of the events that occurred.

Timeline

Doris “Denise” Milner

Denise Milner was born on February 5, 1967 , in Mayes County, Oklahoma. Denise was known to be a friendly but not outgoing girl. Walter Milner, Denise’s father, was a member of the Tulsa Police Department. Denise was a straight-A student who had been admitted to a Tulsa school for exceptionally bright students. She had sold enough Girl Scout cookies to be able to attend the Girl Scout camp that summer with her friends. However, at the last minute, her friends backed out and Denise reluctantly set out for camp on her own. She didn’t want to say goodbye to her mom Bettye or her five-year-old sister and cried on the bus on the way to the camp. Denise was buried at Green Acres Memorial Gardens Sperry, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Michele Guse

Michele Guse was born on July 22, 1967 , in Ottawa County, Oklahoma, the daughter of Georgeann and Richard Guse. She had a brother Michael. This was Michelle’s second time at Camp Scott, having attended the previous summer as well. She was known to be a shy, athletic girl who loved taking care of plants. She was buried in Fort Gibson National Cemetery in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma.

Lori Farmer

Lori Farmer was born on June 18, 1968 , in Little Rock, Arkansas, to Sherri and Charles Farmer. Although Lori was the youngest Girl Scout at camp that session, she was known to be quite mature for her age. She was an avid reader, and had skipped straight to 3rd grade from 1st. She was the oldest of five children. Her father, Dr. Charles Farmer, had been the emergency room director at Tulsa’s St. John’s Medical Center. This was Lori’s first time away at camp. She was buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Note: Angela Sweet was to share their tent that night

When ten-year-old Angela Sweet arrived at camp on June 12, 1977, the Camp Director informed her that she wouldn’t be able to sleep in the same tent as her own Girl Scout troop because there were too many girls for the tent. Only four girls were allowed in each tent. The director led her to the tent occupied by Guse, Farmer, and Milner. There was a spot in their tent since another girl either hadn’t been able to go on the trip due to illness or was showing up for the session late. Sweet moved her stuff into their tent and became excited as she started getting to know her three new friends. However, the Camp Director then told Sweet that her own troop would be able to squeeze her in after all, so Sweet switched tents and ended up not spending the night with Guse, Farmer, and Milner .

1967-1969

SUSPECT GENE LEROY HART’S HISTORY

194 3

November 27, 1943

Gene Leroy Hart was born in Locust Grove, Oklahoma on November 27, 1943, making him 33 at the time of the murders. Hart was raised by his mother and reportedly did not have much of a relationship with his father. Hart had a sister, Tammy Foreman, who maintains her brother’s innocence in the murders.

Hart was known for his athletic abilities and had been a talented football player in high school.

According to girlscoutmurders.com, Hart grew up a mile away from the camp, was married shortly after graduating high school and had a son with his wife. They divorced a few years later.

As is the case with many violent criminals, there was an escalation in Hart’s criminal behavior.

1966

1973

Early 1973: while serving time for the burglaries, Gene Leroy Hart escaped from Mayes County Jail but was quickly apprehended by police.

SEPTEMBER 1973

September 16, 1973: However, he escaped again and was still on the loose at the time of the murders in 1977, and in fact wasn’t apprehended until 1978.

THE SCENE OF THE CRIME: CAMP SCOTT

Located in dense woods about 50 miles outside of Tulsa in Mayes County, Oklahoma, Camp Scott first opened in 1928 under the name Camp Ma-Del-Co. A few years later, the name changed to Camp Scott, which would remain until the camp shuttered in 1977 as a result of the murders. The camp, which was owned by the Tulsa Scout Council and operated by the Girl Scouts, sat on 240 acres on the left bank of the Snake Creek and boasted twenty camp buildings and a pool. The small town of Locust Grove was two miles away.

Out there in the vast forestland, Camp Scott was pitch black at night.

APRIL 1977: AN OMINOUS THREAT

Prior to the summer camp season, some older Girl Scouts who are going to serve as camp counselors attend Camp Scott for a special training weekend. One of the girls, Michelle Hoffman, who had aged out of being a camper and was going to be an aide to the camp counselors that summer, returned to her tent to find that it had been ransacked. “Bags had been scattered all over the tent and some outside.”

A box of donuts that Hoffman had brought from home was now empty, the donuts stolen. Someone had left a threatening hand-written note inside the box, written on a small steno notepad.

According to more than one source, written over and over and over again on the first couple of pages of the notebook was the word, “Kill.”

Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.

On another page of the notebook was a chilling message in all caps: “We’re on a mission to kill three girls.”

It was signed, “The Killer.”

Hoffman took the note straight to the Camp Director. Apparently, though, the note was treated as a prank and thrown out. Tragically, this threat was never taken seriously.

1977: THE CRIMES

June 1977

June 12, 1977: First Day of Summer Girl Scout Camp at Camp Scott

June 12 -- the opening day of Camp Scott, and 140 Girl Scouts were to spend two weeks at the camp. The girls first arrived at the Girl Scout headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where they boarded buses to Camp Scott, which was owned and operated by the Girl Scouts.

Michelle Hoffman, the same girl who discovered the note in her donut box, also noticed Denise Milner, one of the only African-American girls attending the Girl Scout camp that summer, who looked nervous and upset as it was her first time going away to camp. Hoffman introduced herself to Milner’s mother and sat with Milner on the bus, telling her not to worry and reassuring her about how much fun she would have at camp. Once they arrived at the camp, Hoffman helped Milner with carrying her stuff in and finding her tent. Hoffman said that Milner’s tent was Hoffman’s “all-time favorite” because it was the one closest to the bathroom and kitchen.

The camp tents at Camp Scott appeared to look like cabins, but in actuality on the inside each consisted of only a wooden platform, furnished with four cots, no lights, and a large tentlike flap serving as the door. There was no barrier, and no type of lock, to keep anyone from gaining entry into the tents.

The three girls, Michelle, Lori and Denise, were assigned together to Tent #8 in the Kiowa Unit (sometimes referred to as Kiowa Camp or Kiowa sub-camp), an area inside Camp Scott. The girls didn’t know each other prior to arriving at camp that day.

The Kiowa Unit was one of the most remote areas of the entire Camp Scott property, and Tent #8 was the most remote tent as it sat on the edge of the semi-circle of eight tents at Kiowa. Not only was it the furthest from the counselor’s tent, Tent #1, at approximately 80 yards away, but it was also out of sight of the counselors as well, blocked by a camp shower building that sat directly in the line of sight between Tent #1 and Tent #8.

Three counselors were assigned to the Kiowa Unit, Carla Wilhite, 18, Susan Ewing, 18, and Dee Elder, 20. They were responsible for 27 campers in Kiowa.

At about 6pm that night, a thunderstorm hit the area, sending all the campers scrambling into their tents for the night. The three girls were going to write letters and play cards before bedtime.

Camp counselor Carla Wilhite noted that the three girls were “three of the quietest kids” individually, but that their tent was “just as loud and lively” as the other tents before night came.

At 7:45pm, Lori Farmer wrote her family a letter that evening, the final letter of her life:

“Dear Mom and Dad and Misti and Jo and Chad and Kathy. We’re just getting ready to go to bed. It’s 7:45. We’re at the beginning of the storm and having a lot of fun. I’ve met two new friends, Michele Guse and Denise Milner. I’m sharing a tent with them. It’s started raining on the way back from dinner. We’re sleeping on cots. I couldn’t wait to write. We’re all writing letters now ‘cause there’s hardly anything else to do. With love, Lori”

After writing letters, the girls played cards and had story time before bed. Denise was homesick and upset and asked to call her mom. Dee Elder comforted Denise and convinced her to wait until the following day to call her mom.

Wee hours, June 12 - June 13, 1977: strange sightings and creepy noises

At some point that night, reportedly at about 10pm, a counselor from the Comanche Unit, near the Kiowa Unit, noticed a faint light coming from the woods. She got up to investigate and saw that it was moving toward Kiowa. The counselor assumed that it was another counselor out there using a flashlight, thought that everything was okay, and went back to bed.

Dee Elder made a tent check of Kiowa at about 10pm and found everything to be okay. At around midnight, Carla Wilhite heard girls giggling and escorted them from the toilets back to their tents.

At around 1:30am, Wilhite went out and told the girls in Tent #6 to stop making noise. At that time, she heard a strange low guttural noise behind the tents. She tried shining her light out in the woods but couldn’t find the source of the noise, which she continued to hear intermittently throughout the night.

One of the Kiowa counselors in Tent #1 heard strange noises in the middle of the night, saying, “It didn’t sound human. It didn’t sound animal.” She got up to investigate but the noises stopped suddenly so she also went back to bed.

Multiple people reported hearing moaning sounds at 1:30 am from the area of Tent #8. There were also reports of guttural noises from the woods behind Tents #1 and #2.

A camper in Tent #7 said that she woke up when someone with a flashlight suddenly opened the flaps to her tent at 2am, and then just as quickly disappeared.

Another camper reported hearing a scream at 3am from the general vicinity of Tent #8.

Someone else reported hearing someone crying, “Momma, Momma” in the night.

June 13, 1977: Discovery of the Triple Murder

At approximately 6am, Carla Wilhite, a counselor in the Kiowa, got up early to take a shower before the campers got up. Something caught her eye under a tree on the trail to the showers, something that shouldn’t be there. Wilhite discovered that it was sleeping bags. Exposed within the sleeping bag, she found Denise’s dead body, face up and naked from the waist down.

Two other sleeping bags were close by, one with Lori’s body and one with Michelle’s body. Two of the sleeping bags were zipped closed but Denise’s was the one that was open.

The horrible truth was that all three of the girls occupying Tent #8 had been sexually assaulted and murdered sometime during the night of June 12 - June 13.

Wilhite woke up her fellow counselors Ewing and Elder to help her check on the children in Kiowa. They found that all the girls from Tent #8 were missing. Wilhite rushed to the nurse’s station, and as the nurse went to check for signs of life, Carla went to inform Camp Director Barbara Day of her discovery.

Richard Day, Barbara’s husband, arrived on the scene and discovered the other two girls’ bodies in their respective sleeping bags, Lori Farmer’s and Michelle Guse’s. He covered the naked lower half of Denise with another sleeping bag.

Barbara Day called Highway Patrol officer Harold Berry.

Law enforcement arrived on the scene by 7:30am.

By 8am, Sheriff Glen “Pete” Weaver had requested help from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI), given the magnitude of the crimes.

It was clear to the police right away that at least one of the girls had been attacked inside the tent. Blood was found pooled and splattered inside the tent, including on the wooden floor, and on the mattresses, pillows and cots. It appeared that someone had tried to wipe up some of the blood using mattress covers and towels.

It was reported that Michelle and Denise had been tied up. They were found with cords around their bodies and tied to their wrists. Denise had a rope and a towel knotted around her throat. Lori and Michelle’s mouths had been sealed with black electrical tape.

A red flashlight was found on top of one of the girl’s bodies.

In addition to the red flashlight, which had a partial fingerprint, police found nylon rope, duct tape, and a crowbar. The flashlight had been altered in a couple of ways. Tape had been placed over the light portion of the flashlight with a small pinhole in the plastic, which significantly dimmed the light. Also, a newspaper was found jammed inside, apparently to keep the batteries from making any rattling noises. The paper was from the April 17, 1977 edition of the Tulsa World newspaper, pages 5-12.

The New York Times reported that the police were not releasing details about their investigation, but also noted that it was widely reported that a large bloody footprint had been discovered on the floor of the tent.

The Times further reported that the police had found evidence that, either before or after the murders, the killer had stayed in a deserted house located on a 110-acre ranch property that adjoined the Camp Scott property. The Shroff Ranch, owned by Jack Shroff, was within a mile of the camp. According to Shroff, various items had been stolen from his home, including food, tape, beer, and rope. The rope missing from his home was similar to the rope found near the bodies.

Police also discovered that someone had entered multiple tents at the camp that night. Eerily, someone had stolen eyeglasses from various of the girls’ tents and placed them throughout the camp.

At about 10am, Camp Scott was evacuated. With no explanation to the campers, chartered buses hurriedly returned the group of surviving campers to Tulsa to be reunited with their families.

The camp was shuttered, forever, and remains closed to this day.

Still June 13, 1977: The Investigation Begins

The Mayes County Sheriff Glen “Pete” Weaver was assigned to investigate the case. He had served as Sheriff from 1961-1971, and then again from 1973 (until 1981). District Attorney Sid Wise was also heavily involved right from the beginning in the triple homicide investigation.

The bodies of the girls were located about 150 yards away from their tent on the side of a trail. This trail went alongside the Kiowa Unit and also led to the camp’s back gate. Although the front and back gate of the camp were locked, they were unguarded at night. In addition, there was no fence around the perimeter of Camp Scott.

The murder scene was horrific. Inside the tent, police found parts of the tent broken, playing cards scattered, and blood all over. One of the few places where no blood was found was on a cot near the right side of the tent, apparently where Denise was sleeping. Police surmised that Lori and Michelle were likely killed in the tent, but that Denise was either carried or forced to walk to the location where the three bodies were found. There was blood on the mattresses of the first two cots (presumably Lori and Michelle’s), and there was blood on the floor of the tent beside each one of those beds.

Initially there was speculation that perhaps a woman had committed the horrific crimes, based on an initial statement the DA made that the girls had been sexually abused but not raped before they were murdered.

Autopsies were performed on the three girls’ bodies. Michelle and Lori were determined to have died from blunt force head trauma. Was the crowbar the murder weapon? Denise had also suffered a massive blow to the head, but her cause of death was from strangulation. Two of the girls had indeed been raped, and one had been sodomized. Details as to which girl was sexually assaulted in which way has not been released.

Note : Although it is consistently and nearly universally reported that two of the girls were raped and one was sodomized, I’ve also seen a report that says that the coroner said that the girls were sexually assaulted but not raped. This inconsistency is out there and is confusing.

It was reported that hair and semen were found on the bodies and/or in the tent.

June 16, 1977

Sheriff Glen Weaver claimed to have found the murder weapon. District Attorney Sid Wise almost immediately denied this. I believe this is referring to the crowbar.

According to at least one source, by this date law enforcement had searched a nearby cave. More details below.

June 17, 1977

Funeral services were held for Michele Guse at 10am.

According to a New York Times article by John M. Crewdson published on this date, law enforcement, including officers from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations, were busy conducting an intense manhunt. They brought German shepherds in from Pennsylvania to track down the killer. Police described the killer as surely a “physically agile” man, who’d been able to strangle Denise, kill the other girls with blows to the heads, and then carry the bodies more than 100 yards away from their tent to where they were discovered.

The police searched three caves that are pretty well hidden from sight but are known to be n the area near Camp Scott. Police dogs located one of the caves, two miles from camp, where police found evidence linked to the murders: a flashlight battery, newspapers from the same edition of the Tulsa World, eyeglasses that were apparently stolen from the camp, duct tape that matched the kind found on the girls’ bodies, and two photos of women. Additionally, on the wall of a nearby cave was written: “The killer was here. Bye bye fools. 77-6-17.”

According to koco.com, the two photos of the women gave law enforcement a lead. Sheriff Weaver told the media that he believed one person, a man, was the killer. He believed that the photos found in the cave may have been developed by a man while he served time in Granite Reformatory. Based on these photos, Gene Leroy Hart became the leading suspect.

Note : I haven’t been able to find out why these photos convinced Sheriff Weaver that Hart was involved or why he was sure that Hart was the one who had developed these photos while in prison.

1978

April 6, 1978

After a 10-month search, the largest and longest manhunt in Oklahoma history up to that date, police find and apprehend Gene Leroy Hart at a cabin about 45 miles from Camp Scott. Police had the assistance of 40 FBI agents and spent over $1mm on the manhunt. They may also have received a tip from an informant as to Hart’s whereabouts.

Hart was taken to Oklahoma State Penitentiary and charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

Hart had grown up in the area and had a group of staunch supporters. Although many criminal defendants seek a change of venue out of fear that the potential jury pool will be tainted by the shocking nature of their crimes, it was in Hart’s best interests not to have a trial in a different venue. He did not seek a change in venue.

1979

March 1979

March 19 – March 30, 1979: The Trial

The courtroom was packed for the trial of State of Oklahoma v. Gene Leroy Hart, which took place in the Mayes County Courthouse, Locust Grove, Oklahoma before Judge William Whistler. The initial prosecutor was Sid Wise (before he resigned) and the defense attorneys were Garvin Isaacs and Gary Pitchlynn.

The prosecution’s arguments/evidence:

P argued that Hart’s glasses had been stolen from the Girl Scout camp

P argued that Hart’s hair resembled hair found on the duct tape

The prosecution’s first two witnesses were camp counselors who described the events. The main challenge for the prosecution, in pre-DNA testing, was in establishing a solid connection, beyond a reasonable doubt, between Hart and the physical evidence found in the case.

Dr. John MacLeod from Cornell University Medical Center testified for the prosecution that sperm found at the death scene linked to Hart. According to an article in Oxygen.com, physical evidence was used against Hart in the murder trial, “including sperm that showed ‘only .0020% of the population met the unique characteristics contained in that evidence, including Hart,’ according to the OSBI.”

Isaacs and Pitchman argued that evidence was planted against their client and pointed the finger at William A. “Bill” Stevens, an individual who was serving time for rape and kidnapping.

Notably, the defense called to the stand a waitress named Dean Boyd, who testified that she’d seen a nervous man at the diner she worked at (the Midway Café in Chotcaau, OK), 12 miles from Camp Scott, the morning of the murders. She identified the man as Stevens, whose photo Boyd later saw on TV news, and contacted the defense attorneys. She remembered based on the televised photo that he had been to the diner the morning the girls were killed.

According to the New York Times, Boyd testified that, “Mr. Stevens drove up to the Café between 5 and 6 A.M., took off his shirt outside and put another one on. ‘He was awful nervous.’” She became suspicious of him and how he kept looking at his hands and putting them in his pockets, so she called the police. However, Stevens left the diner before police arrived.

Stevens’ photo had appeared on the news because another witness, Joyce Payne, testified during the trial that she had given the flashlight found near one of the bodies to Stevens in 1977. She recognized it by the scratches and tape on it. Payne testified that “he visited her home in Okmulgee the morning the bodies were discovered and had claw marks on his arms and reddish brown stains on his boots.”

(According to another source, a camper had even seen Stevens on the camp’s grounds sometime before the murders. I haven’t been able to verify that with any other sources.)

In its rebuttal case, the prosecution called several witnesses to try to discredit the notion that Stevens was the Girl Scout murderer. According to the New York Times, the strongest rebuttal witness was a chemist with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation who testified that hair found at the crime scene in Tent #8 and on the duct tape used in the murders didn’t match hair samples taken from Stevens. The prosecution put on other witnesses who testified that the hair could’ve come from Hart.

According to the NYT, the prosecution put on another expert who testified that sperms samples taken from Stevens weren’t similar with “the patterns of sperm structure” found inside the bodies of the girls, whereas MacLeod had testified early in the trial (during the prosecution’s case-in-chief) that his test had shown “it would not be unreasonable” to infer that the sperm in the victims had come from Hart.

The NYTimes article, dated March 31, 1979, ends with this statement that I don’t fully understand: “However, all of the expert witnesses said that hair and sperm comparisons could not be used as positive identification of an individual.”

Note : I’m not sure if this statement is because there wasn’t a high enough degree of confidence in the matches to Hart, or because back in the 1970s this type of evidence wasn’t yet deemed reliable enough to constitute a positive identification. By the 1990s, I personally called an FBI hair expert in a takeover bank robbery trial who testified that hair samples found in a ski cap matched hair samples taken from the defendant’s head.

Digression/more information on William A. Stevens :

Witnesses Joyce Payne (Paine?) and her son Larry Short testified as mentioned above, regarding the flashlight, scratches on Stevens’ arms, and red stains on Stevens’ shoes. Stevens always maintained that he was working in Seminole when the girls were murdered, which his employer and a timecard confirmed.

There’s a whole convoluted story involving Payne’s boyfriend DeWayne Peters who claimed that Stevens had confessed to the Girl Scout murders. He later recanted and blamed Payne for feeding him false information to make the phony confession story seem believable. The upshot was that Payne and Short were charged with perjury relating to their testimony at Hart’s trial. After a jury trial on the perjury case, the jury deadlocked, and Payne ended up pleading no contest (similar to a guilty plea without actually saying “guilty”) to a reduced misdemeanor charge of compounding a felony. The charges against her son were dropped.

Stevens and Peters were sentenced to prison for the kidnapping and robbery of a woman from Kansas in November 1977. Stevens also pleaded guilty to raping the woman and leaving her to die in the trunk of her car. Stevens was stabbed to death in his prison cell in July 1984. He was 27 when he died.

March 30, 1979: The Verdict

According to the New York Times, the jury deliberated for seven hours before returning a unanimous not guilty verdicts on all counts, “to thunderous applause.”

The jury was reportedly made up of six men and six women.

Hart had a large following in the community, many who couldn’t believe their hometown football star could be guilty of murdering children.

Note : According to morelaw.com, Judge Whistler said that the Hart trial was the most stressful case he ever presided over and that he went to Europe afterward to rest and recover from the case.

After his acquittal, Hart remained in prison serving time on his four previous burglaries.

According to girlscoutmurders.com, Sherri Farmer, Lori’s mother, reported that Judge Whistler told the families of the victims that “sometimes in our system of justice, even the guilty are permitted to go free.”

Note : The D.A. Sid Wise made a book deal with a reporter, Ron “RL” Grimsley, whereby Wise would give Grimsley access to confidential information related to the case so that Grimsley could write a book about the murders. Grimsley was named campaign manager for Wise, who was planning to run for Oklahoma’s Attorney General. According to girlscoutmurders.com, “This arrangement, when brought to light, delayed the trial several months because Wise was forced to resign as D.A. due to his actions involving Grimsley.” “Buddy” Fallis, the DA in Tulsa at the time of the murders, was brought in to prosecute the Girl Scout murder case after Sid Wise’s resignation.

Note : A fact worth noting, given that it was mentioned in numerous articles and seemingly affected many aspects of the case, from the police investigation to the arrest and jury trial, is that Gene Leroy Hart was a Cherokee Native American. There was a degree of mutual distrust between law enforcement and Cherokee Medicine Men, with accusations of police planting evidence and stories about Medicine Men assisting Hart while he was a fugitive, putting curses on the police search dogs (apparently one or two of the dogs suffered untimely deaths), serving as informants, and the like. The case had racial overtones. Some of the participants in the case noticed what they perceived as similarities between the Gene Leroy Hart murder trial and the later murder trial of O.J. Simpson.

JUNE 1979

June 4, 1979

Only two months after being found Not Guilty, Hart died in prison of a heart attack. According to the Oklahoman, in an article by Charles T. Jones dated June 9, 1997, Hart had a family history of heart disease and was determined to have died of a heart attack brought on by severe blockage of his coronary arteries.

THE AFTERMATH

1985

According to an article by Griff Palmer in The Oklahoman, dated March 23, 1985, the Farmer and Milner families sued the Magic Empire (Girl Scout) Council and the Hartford Insurance Company, seeking combined damages of $5 million, alleging that the defendants’ negligent operation of the camp created an environment that allowed the murders to occur. Hartford Insurance had carried an umbrella liability policy on Camp Scott. As part of their case, the plaintiffs/victims’ families introduced documents which showed that a Hartford “loss control consultant” had toured Camp Scott and deemed safety conditions to be acceptable.

The case went to trial in 1985. A jury found for the defendants and determined no liability.

The Farmer family opened a Parents of Murdered Children chapter in Oklahoma. The Girl Scout Murders sparked the victims’ rights movement in Oklahoma, largely the work of the parents of the murdered girls.

Richard Guse, father of Michele Guse, helped found and was the first Chairman of the Oklahoma Victims Compensation Board.

1989

DNA testing/results

According to an article on Oxygen.com, “in 1989, the state tested DNA from a semen stain found on a pillowcase in Michelle Guse’s sleeping bag, according to KOCO, but they were unable at that point to get more than a partial match. It did not exclude Hart as the contributor. It’s unclear if a fuller DNA profile was developed from that or another sample more recently. Oxygen.com reached out to Sheriff Reed and the OSBI for clarification about the DNA testing in the case but did not receive an immediate response.”

According to an article in The Oklahoman dated October 25, 1989, “Genetic testing conducted by the FBI in 1989 linked Hart to the slayings but could not determine conclusively whether he was the killer. The confidential tests matched Hart’s body fluids with three probes of DNA evidence obtained at the crime scene.”

The Oklahoman further wrote: “One person in 7,700 American Indians would match the crime scene sample as Hart did, The Oklahoman was told. Hart was a Cherokee Indian. ‘If all five probes had matched, it would have been one in 3 billion,’ one source said. ‘With three of five matching it is one in 7,700. That means if you got tests from 7,700 American Indians one of them should match, which is the reason why the test is not conclusive.’”

1996

According to an article in the Oklahoman, a private investigator named Ted LaTurner looked into the case and got a petition approved to have the Mayes County grand jury look at some leads that he found. LaTurner also said he had a witness who named three suspects, none of whom were Hart. The three suspects named were Sonny James, Frank Justice, and Bill Stevens.

Mayes County Sheriff Harold Berry later called LaTurner a “hack investigator seeking the grand jury for notoriety and gain.” He said that “Gene Hart is dead, and all the physical evidence pointed to him.”

2010?

Note: The TV news story I watched, that contains the interview of Andrea Fielding referenced below, from koco states that Fielding decided to retest the DNA in 2010. This reporting is confusing because all other sources discuss DNA testing performed only in 1989 and 2019, with the most recent 2019 results being released just this month in May 2022. I can’t find any other reference to DNA testing in 2010 Fielding’s interview doesn’t mention the year.

I watched the interview with Andrea Fielding, Director of Forensic Science Services for OSBI, who said she picked up the case so that evidence from the scene could be retested using more modern techniques. OSBI looked at all the autopsy samples that were submitted from the three victims, the clothing items, and sleeping bags. In a TV interview on koco Channel 5 abc, Fielding stated that unfortunately, because the samples had been collected in 1977 and preservation, collection and testing techniques had changed since then, some of the items had not been preserved the way they should’ve been. A lot of the items were too degraded to get any DNA results.

However, they were able to get partial DNA profiles from fingerprints on the flashlight and semen on a pillow. Fielding said: “They were not able to exclude Gene Leroy Hart as being a contributor to that DNA profile.”

The other partials connected to the victims.

Fielding: “There were none that were not linked to somebody known in this case.” “As far as the OSBI goes, and the evidence that we have, our belief is that Gene Leroy Hart committed the murders. And the evidence that we have doesn’t exclude him; it doesn’t point to anyone else, and so we will close the case that way.”

2022

MAY 2022

DNA Testing Results Announced

The latest DNA testing was done in 2019, with investigators utilizing new DNA testing that wasn’t available at the time of Hart’s trial in 1979. According to newson6.com, the testing cost $30,000, money the sheriff’s office didn’t have, but the citizens of Mayes County raised all the money for it.

The results of these tests were just reported this past week in May 2022. While officially inconclusive, the DNA results eliminate several other potential suspects but do not exclude Hart.

Mayes County Sheriff Mike Reed is quoted as saying, “Unless something new comes up, something brought to light we are not aware of, I am convinced where I’m sitting of Hart’s guilt and involvement in this case.”

According to Oxygen.com, in an article by Jax Miller dated May 5, 2022, “Mayes County Sheriff Reed said that new DNA evidence developed would have convicted Gene Leroy Hart of the murders.”

Sheriff Reed points out that OSBI interviewed 139 people as possible suspects during the investigation. He remains convinced that Gene Hart was the killer.

SOURCES:

The New York Times, “Tulsa Mourns 3 Girl Scouts Murder in Camp,” by John M. Crewdson, June 17, 1977

The New York Times, “Convict Acquitted in Death of 3 Girl Scouts,” March 31, 1979 (author not provided on my digital version).

koamnewsnow.com, “DNA points to longtime primary suspect in 1977 Oklahoma Girl Scout slayings, sheriff says,” by Time Stanley, Tulsa World, May 6, 2022

The Oklahoman, “Answers to Scout Murders Case Gone With Slain Former Suspect,” by Judy Fossett, July 16, 1984

The Oklahoman, “Slain Scout’s Dad Testifies at Suit Trial, Recalls Girl’s Exceptional Memory,” by Griff Palmer, March 23, 1985

The Oklahoman, “New Trial Plea Rejected in Lawsuit Against Girl Scout Council,” May 7, 1985 (no author provided)

The Oklahoman, “DNA Tests Link Gene Leroy Hart to Girl Scout Deaths,” by Robby Trammell, October 25, 1989

The Oklahoman, “19 Years After Scout Deaths, Investigator Seeks Answers,” by Mark A. Hutchinson, June 16, 1996

The Oklahoman, “Still No Justice After 20 Years Slain Girl Scouts’ Parents Haunted by Murders,” by Charles T. Jones, June 9, 1997

Tahlequahdailypress.com/news, “Crime Rewind: Officials say Girl Scout murder case unsolved” by Keri Thornton, November 11, 2021

koco.com, “Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders: The criminal history of prime suspect,” by Brooke Withrow, updated May 3, 2022

koco.com, “Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders: A look into one of Oklahoma’s most notorious cold cases,” by Brooke Withrow, updated May 4, 2022

newson6.com, “Newly-Released Evidence Points to One Killer in Girl Scout Murders,” by Reagan Ledbetter, May 9, 2022

claremoreprogress.com/news, “Catoosa resident shared tent with Girl Scouts murdered 40 years ago,” by Diane Dickinson, June 13, 2017

allthatsinteresting.com, “Inside the Horrific Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders that Remain Unsolved to This Day,” by Marco Margaritoff, checked by Erik Hawkins, September 26, 2021

abandonedok.com/camp-scott/, article by AOK Photojournalist Emily Cowan

strangeoutdoors.com, “The Oklahoma Girl Scout Camping Murders,” February 10, 2021 (updated May 2022, no author provided)

Oxygen.com, “Sheriff Says DNA Links Longtime Suspect to 1977 Girl Scout Murders,” by Jax Miller, May 5, 2022

morelaw.com, “State of Oklahoma v. Gene Leroy Hart,” March 31, 1978

girlscoutmurders.com – maps, diagrams, people involved, timeline, etc.

June 1966

Hart reportedly worked in Tulsa at Flint Steel. Instead of going to work, Hart kidnapped two pregnant women from a parking lot outside a Tulsa nightclub and drove them someplace remote in Mayes County. He brutally raped and sodomized the two women, both of whom survived their ordeal. Hart forced the women to ride in the trunk of his car and would take one or both of them out of the trunk to be with him inside the car. He tied them up, raped them repeatedly, covered them in brush, and left them for dead.

Note : Both women wore eyeglasses. Hart would try on their eyeglasses during the kidnapping to test out the prescription. He needed glasses himself. Eyeglasses would play a part in the Girl Scout murders as well. Note also that he took on more than one victim.

Hart was later caught for these vicious attacks and charged with rape and kidnapping. He confessed and was sentenced to three 10-year terms. However, these terms were served concurrently and as a result, Hart served only 28 months before being released on parole.

Hart then began committing home burglaries. Apparently, he committed four burglaries before this new crime spree was detected. The first three were not reported but the fourth burglary happened to be at the home of one of the only female Tulsa police officers on the force. Police arrived quickly and Hart was arrested. He was convicted of the four burglaries, and because he was on parole for rape and kidnapping at the time of his arrest, he was sentenced to four consecutive 90-year sentences.

Law Enforcement's Future

Fri, 13 May 2022 20:56:04 GMT

What is the long-term outlook for the law enforcement field?

Despite calls to defund the police, it’s hard to imagine that American society will ever become sufficiently law-abiding to function without the existence of law enforcement. An existential crisis of sorts, though, is brewing in the law enforcement field. A major problem facing police departments today is the difficulty in attracting and recruiting new, young talent. The profession is aging. Indeed, the average age of law enforcement officers has increased over the past few decades by several years while the retirement age has been on the decline. Compounding the problem is that young people are less apt now to come onto a police force committed to staying there for the entirety of their careers. There is simply a different mindset, and job-hopping is much more common and acceptable than in years past.

The mathematics of an aging police population isn’t the only problem. Law enforcement’s difficulty in recruiting talent, particularly a diverse talent, is intertwined with its myriad other problems. Job openings in the country are near record highs, and it’s hard to attract officers to police departments with all the other opportunities out there. It’s particularly hard to attract people of color to law enforcement when police shootings of unarmed minorities continue to dominate the news on a regular basis. It’s particularly hard to attract women when law enforcement’s culture has been male dominated for so long and where tales of sexual harassment abound.

Whenever there’s a problem, hopefully there can be a solution. Police forces that emphasize community policing, and that recognize the need to make sustained affirmative efforts to recruit and support a diverse population of officers may experience the added benefit of improving their public image to the point that they’re able to attract young talent and compete in today’s job market.

Both! Investing in technology and focusing on community policing are both important goals for law enforcement. Clearly, police departments must keep up-to-date with technology and equipment. One important reason is that as criminals use new technologies, law enforcement needs to as well in order to be able to detect crime and catch the perpetrators. High-tech identity theft and cryptocurrency scams are just a couple of examples of “new” crimes. Technology can also be used to help with the volume of calls and tips that police departments receive and to assist with managing large quantities of forensic data.

However, technology is only a tool and is only as helpful as the people who use it. Human skills and human empathy are just as important for a police force as technology. Community policing, coming up with proactive solutions and partnering with communities to address the causes of crime, is what will hopefully drive the future of law enforcement. The less our society has an “us versus them” mentality, the better it is for all of us.

Do you think police departments should invest more in technology and equipment or focus more on developing soft skills for use in community policing?

This article was originally published in WalletHub in 2022

Homicide Rates

Thu, 13 May 2021 20:56:06 GMT

Why has there been a recent spike in homicides across the country?

That is a great question, but there is no simple answer as a complicated array of factors affect national crime rates and homicide rates in particular. Clearly, though, the pandemic influenced just about everything in our lives, including violent crime rates. Large swaths of people in the U.S. were facing, and continue to face, unemployment and related economic issues. Community outlets, such as schools, parks, and religious institutions, were unavailable during these times of extreme stress. With all the lockdowns, people were trapped at home, feeling depressed and isolated. These types of feelings and frustrations can boil over and turn into violent criminal activity.

Another aspect of the pandemic that may have influenced crime rates was the release, or early release, of prisoners due to pandemic concerns in the prison population. California, for example, granted early release to thousands of prisoners in an effort to slow the spread of the virus in the prison system. Another approach undertaken by states was to reduce the number of incoming prisoners by granting diversion for lower-level crimes. Criminal trials were postponed for a time, resulting in the release of defendants due to statutory speedy trial requirements.

Another factor affecting crime rates is the effect that COVID-19 had on policing policies. On the one hand, police departments were generally less active during the pandemic. Police reduced foot patrols and asked the public to report some crimes online or over the phone rather than in person, given the pandemic. There were fewer active officers out patrolling due to quarantines and illness.

On the other hand, there were continued, appalling displays of police violence during the pandemic, and community relations with the police hit new lows. It should be no surprise that police violence eventually begets more violence.

Violent crimes have seen alarming increases. There has been a spike in homicides and shootings over the past year or so in many cities across the U.S. Poverty-stricken areas have been particularly hard hit economically by the pandemic and this is where the increase in violent crimes has been concentrated. Furthermore, racially motivated violent crimes have increased. Gun and ammunition sales skyrocketed during the pandemic, likely for many reasons, one being that the pandemic, combined with outrageous acts of police brutality and the resulting protests, unleashed unique fears during this unprecedented time. Another type of crime that has seen an increase is domestic violence, as people in unstable relationships were forced to shelter-in-place together at home for months on end.

This worrisome, tragic trend of homicide rates on the rise need not continue, however. Hopefully, as more and more people get vaccinated, we’ll see a sustained rebound in the economy and a return of the face-to-face contact, community outlets and interventions that help prevent violent crime in the first place. The solution to the rise in homicide rates is not to overreact with fear and attempt to justify staying with the old model of police ruling with impunity and an iron fist. One of the goals of ongoing efforts at police reform and better community relations is to treat those communities hardest hit by violent crime with fairness and transparency. Treating communities with respect is not only the right to thing to do, but police reforms can also foster some level of trust so that members of the community will report crimes and get the police involved in investigating and preventing violent crime.

What will it take for the homicide rate to decrease again?

This article was originally published in WalletHub in 2021

Wheel of Fortune – Amazing Journey

Wed, 24 Feb 2021 17:48:08 GMT

Being a Contestant on Wheel of Fortune

The whole experience of being on Wheel of Fortune has a dreamlike quality for me, partly because it was surreal to be standing there on the set, and partly because the entire process happened so fast. By the end of 2020, I was yearning to do something extraordinarily fun, so I submitted an application on a total whim. You can too! I was shocked to get an email a week later scheduling a Zoom audition. I was even more shocked to get an email a month later saying that I must be excited about my “big day” the following week – it was the first I knew I’d been chosen!

I had very little time to prepare, but I prepared as much as I could. I read all the materials they sent out, including the helpful tips from Pat – encouraging contestants to have fun and to buy vowels! They also recommended downloading the Wheel of Fortune app. The big difference between watching from home and playing for real is that you have to come up with your own letters when you’re on the show. I learned the exact meaning of the various categories, which I believe helped with “Event” in the bonus round. And I knew to solve the prize puzzle immediately if given the chance.

The wheel was heavy! We had a couple of short rehearsals before playing for real, and my first attempt at spinning was pretty embarrassing. The wheel barely moved at all. They taught us how to use our non-spinning arm as leverage so that we could reach out and give a good spin without toppling over. There was a LOT to look at – the puzzle board, of course, but also the used letter board, and a complicated score board that only the contestants can see. I loved meeting Pat (so funny!), Vanna (so sweet!) and Jim Thornton (so friendly!). My fellow contestants and I went out there hoping all three of us would win some money – and we did! We were rowdy and having fun and laughing during our rehearsals, and during the actual game too. I felt lucky to be up there with such nice people.

In terms of the puzzles, the word that baffled me the most was “_ r o _.” It’s trickier when a word starts with a vowel. I can’t tell you how lucky I feel to have won a trip to Costa Rica (I can’t wait – at this point, a trip anywhere sounds great!) and to have solved the bonus puzzle. It’s hard to know why sometimes you see it and sometimes you don’t, and I feel so fortunate to have been able to see it when it mattered. I especially love that my bonus puzzle contained an upbeat message: “Amazing Journey.” Yes, it was – everything about it! Thank you so much, WOF, for the journey of a lifetime!

Read more about the show on UCLA Law School News: https://law.ucla.edu/news/wheel-winner-birnholz-shares-story-behind-her-tv-success

Pandemic Policing

Wed, 13 May 2020 20:56:02 GMT

Police forces across the country are being devastated by the coronavirus outbreak. What measures can be taken in order to keep a functioning police force during the current crisis?

The LAPD’s motto, “To protect and to serve,” succinctly promotes the laudable core values of law enforcement agencies throughout the country. Even with the enormous difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, police forces continue to strive to protect and to serve the public. At the same time, however, they must also try to protect their loved ones and themselves from falling ill. Police officers are no strangers to dealing with folks who are injured or ailing or sick, but the current pandemic has brought with it unprecedented challenges. Operating on the “front lines,” police officers are at higher risk for contracting the virus than the general public because of the physical contact inherent in their line of work. Many police forces around the country have been hard hit by significant percentages of officers who are either out sick or on quarantine as a result of exposure. Those who are not sick may therefore be required to work more frequent and lengthier shifts. In an effort to provide reinforcements, police forces have brought in law enforcement officers from other parts of their home states and have sped up the training process for incoming recruits.

Police forces are taking a variety of measures to ensure that they continue being operational and of service to the public. Some of the more obvious steps include utilizing protective gear (to the extent it’s available), limiting physical contact with the public, transferring officers to remote work where possible, and instituting infection control protocols, such as sanitizing police stations and squad cars. Some other approaches involve a fundamental change in how the police engage in policing – such as reducing foot patrols, asking the public to report some crimes online or over the phone rather than in-person at a police station, restricting physical responses to only those situations deemed to be emergency or high-priority, and conducting investigative interviews outdoors rather than in someone’s home. The police are also making fewer arrests for relatively minor crimes, such as property crimes, and instead issuing more warnings and citations.

Making fewer arrests has the benefit of helping to reduce prison populations, important both for the safety of the prisoners as well as those officers who work in the prisons. California, for example, has granted early release to thousands of prisoners in an effort to slow the spread of the virus in the prison system. Another approach undertaken by states is to reduce the number of incoming prisoners by granting diversion for lower-level crimes. Two fortunate consequences of the various shelter-in-place orders have been the reduction of people on the street and the associated reduction in crime rates, both of which help make all of these steps possible.

With these new measures in place, and as officers who were quarantined and/or sick eventually return to work, police forces around the country will be as ready as ever in their efforts to protect and to serve the public.

Police forces will continue to evolve in response to the worrisome trend of terrorist attacks and now pandemics. Police forces will never become obsolete, for as long as we are human and continue to fall victim to crime, car accidents, and other emergencies, we will continue to have a need for law enforcement. The police will always be considered essential.

Hopefully, in response to the ever-increasing nature of the risks associated with working in law enforcement, there will be additional safeguards and health guards put in effect for the benefit of the police. Some that come to mind would be easy access to testing for the current pandemic and any future novel outbreaks we may face, access to top-notch personal protective equipment, access to top-notch healthcare, access to counseling -- especially after particularly stressful situations, reasonable shifts, and higher pay in order to compensate officers and their families for their sacrifices in facing the increased risks.

What is the long-term outlook for the law enforcement field?

This article was originally published in WalletHub in 2020

“To protect and to serve” as a motto is the cruelest of ironies as the nation reels from the murder of George Floyd at the knee of a uniformed police officer. Three other officers stood there and facilitated the murder by doing nothing to stop it even though George Floyd was in all of their custody, in all of their care and control. One officer kneeled cold-bloodedly with his hands in his pockets as he murdered George Floyd. The other officers held back increasingly agitated bystanders who begged the officers to stop and who pointed out the obvious – he’s not resisting arrest; his nose is bleeding; he’s not breathing. One officer murdered George Floyd. The other officers watched him die.

What measures should the police take? Measure one – stop murdering members of the community. “Minority communities,” as the question poses, are members of the community. No one should be considered part of a separate community in terms of how they are treated by the police. We are all supposed to be equal members of the community. We are all supposed to be protected and served.

George Floyd’s life mattered.

The majority of police officers are well-intentioned and do strive to protect and to serve. However, it would be false and overly convenient to blame “a few bad apples” in the police departments around the country for the pervasive police atrocities we see on a frequent and ongoing basis. Weeding out the bad apples won’t cure the problem. It seems that the whole tree is infected. The problems with how minority communities are treated at the hands, and the knees, of police departments around the country are systemic and ingrained.

What measures should the police take? Measure two – seek out leadership, with purpose.

What measures should the police take? Measure three – hire and train new officers, with purpose.

What measures should the police take? Measure four – hold officers accountable. Make an example of the good ones. Make an example of the bad ones.

What measures should the District Attorney’s Offices and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices around the country take? Prosecute the murderers and the assaulters and the aiders and abettors on the police forces to the fullest extent of the law.

What measures should police undertake to improve relationships with the community, especially in minority communities?

Closing Arguments Lecture

Thu, 09 Apr 2020 22:20:21 GMT

Below is a sample lecture on Closing Arguments I recorded as an extra class session for my students in Criminal Trial Advocacy during COVID.

Additional class recordings are available upon request.

diane-birnholz

How I Became a Prosecutor

Inside the Case File: People v. David Hayes

Teaching Trial Advocacy Through Realistic Legal Hypotheticals

Excerpt from the LAPD Homicide Report

Micro Memoir - Apology

State or Federal Crime?

The Brutal Kidnapping and Murder of Arkansas Girl Kacie Woody

The Brutal Kidnapping and Murder of Arkansas Girl Kacie Woody by a 47-year-old Catfisher who Posed in Christian Chat Room as a 17-year-old Boy

Tragedy Strikes

Kacie’s Online Dating

Kacie Meets Two New “Boys” Online

An Argument

Home Alone

Still Missing

The Storage Locker

Dave Fuller’s Disturbing Past

Sources:

Case: Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders

Timeline

1967-1969

SUSPECT GENE LEROY HART’S HISTORY

﻿ 194 3

1966

1973

THE SCENE OF THE CRIME: CAMP SCOTT ﻿

1977: THE CRIMES ﻿

June 1977

1978

1979

March 1979

JUNE 1979

THE AFTERMATH

1985

1989

1996

2010?

2022

MAY 2022

SOURCES:

Law Enforcement's Future

What is the long-term outlook for the law enforcement field?

Do you think police departments should invest more in technology and equipment or focus more on developing soft skills for use in community policing? ﻿

Homicide Rates

Why has there been a recent spike in homicides across the country?

What will it take for the homicide rate to decrease again?

Wheel of Fortune – Amazing Journey

Being a Contestant on Wheel of Fortune

Pandemic Policing

Police forces across the country are being devastated by the coronavirus outbreak. What measures can be taken in order to keep a functioning police force during the current crisis?

What is the long-term outlook for the law enforcement field? ﻿

What measures should police undertake to improve relationships with the community, especially in minority communities? ﻿

Closing Arguments Lecture

194 3

THE SCENE OF THE CRIME: CAMP SCOTT

1977: THE CRIMES

Do you think police departments should invest more in technology and equipment or focus more on developing soft skills for use in community policing?

What is the long-term outlook for the law enforcement field?

What measures should police undertake to improve relationships with the community, especially in minority communities?