For anyone who has become cynical about what goes on in American courts today, the entire Tonya Craft saga of the past year provides ample ammunition for such a viewpoint. What are some things we have witnessed firsthand that make one wonder if any judge anywhere in this country has the will to do right? This only is a short list, but it is a beginning:
- "judge" Brian Outhouse clearly tried to rig the proceedings in an attempt to engineer a conviction against Tonya, and the ashen expression on his face after the announcement of the verdict is proof that he had no intention of conducting a fair trial;
- Prosecution witnesses committed perjury, something that has been documented in this blog many times. These are not mere "allegations" or possibilities of perjury; the proof is ironclad and the facts are indisputable;
- Prosecutors lied, suborned perjury, fabricated false evidence, disrupted the proceedings (with encouragement from Outhouse), attacked the defense in violation of all ethical standards, as listed by the Georgia State Bar (not that anyone there cares about prosecutorial misconduct), and demonstrated themselves to be pathetic bullies;
- "judge" Brian Outhouse time and again refused to let in exculpatory evidence, knowing that even a "law-and-order" appeals court would overturn a guilty verdict, but by then Ms. Craft would have served many years in prison;
- A number of people in official positions either lied under oath or shaded the truth in violation of the law, including the prosecutors, Outhouse, and Det. Tim "Dirty" Deal, to name a few. Outhouse had unreported ex parte meetings (a violation of judicial ethics, not that anyone in authority in Georgia gives a damn about such things) with at least one prosecution witness (Sandra Lamb) and prosecutors Arnt and Gregor.
What I am saying is that the court system of the LMJC is on the same level with what existed in the old Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. It is no better, and, in fact, it is worse. Unlike "Dirty" Deal, no one in the U.S.S.R. or Nazi Germany claimed to be a "pro-life Christian," and unlike Outhouse, none of the people went to a local Baptist church. In other words, those court systems of those disgraced regimes made no claim to be doing real justice; they just had raw power and they used it how they wished.
So, Tonya Craft has been able to face down something akin to Roland Friesler's court, and still has prevailed. Today, she faces another situation and one only can hope that Judge Marie Williams will not reward Joal and Sarah Henke for committing perjury.
This last point is instructive. When people flout the law, as have Joal and his wife, they should not be praised or rewarded by judges or anyone else. The Henkes have no business having any children in their household, as they are open and arrogant lawbreakers, and they should be in prison, for perjury is a felony and both of them knew they were lying under oath.
I will go one step further. If Judge Williams grants custody to the Henkes, then she will be announcing to the entire world that perjury works, and will be encouraging future witnesses to lie with impunity.
What is at stake here is not simply a custody issue. What is at stake here is the truth. Courts are supposed to be places where the truth rises to the top, not sinks to the bottom.
I will go even further. There is no better lesson to teach young children than to demonstrate unequivocally that telling the truth is more important than anything else. Joal and Sarah Henke have told lies from the beginning, and I am sure that they will continue to lie (under oath) during these proceedings.
No one -- NO one -- should be rewarded for lying under oath in a situation like this. One hopes and prays that Judge Williams understands this point and does the right thing.
40 comments:
Praying for Tonya today!!!
shared.
Looks like Chief Perjurer #1 Joal Henke takes the stand first.
Ditto Trish's post.
While I too hope that Judge Williams does the right thing, I find myself echoing Bill's sentiment that the entire "justice" [sic] ystem is so irredeemably corrupt and rotten from within that it is institutionally incapable of bringing truth to the fore or of seeing true justice done.
We need to remember, above all else, that the "justice" [sic] system did not deteriorate into its current state in a vacuum. It reached its current nadir because it is an institution that reflects the moral fabric of the nation as a whole. I certainly need not remind any regular readers/contributors to this blog what condition that fabric is in.
So, as I said, while I too hope and pray that justice is done in Tonya's case, I cannot help but think that if it is done, it will be through pure, blind luck, the result of one judge's momentary, capricious dispensation of compassion and mercy, NOT because the integrity of the system leads to the application of the letter or spirit of the law.
Following the tweets, it seems as though the "I just remembered" Joal Henke has been replaced by the "I can't remember" Joal Henke. What a wanker!
Had a long prayer this morning focusing on this custoday hearing. I hope everyone does the same. Ask the Lord to intercede over the evil that is coming from the Henke side & to give Tonya's team & Judge Marie Williams the knowledge & strength to overcome that evil & make the right decision to give Tonya full custody of her children, just as he gave that strength and interceded in the the travesty of a trial. God is great & His work will be done.
UGA Mom
From the trial:
Joal's house purchased by his dad, dad lied to get VHA loan, said he would live there, not Joal. (That's a federal offense.)
Joal admits enrolling son in summer camp in GA while Judge Williams had ordered kids not to leave TN
Contempt of Court...another crime.
This is far from over, but I will continue to pray for Tonya and her children. There must be some justice in the world.
Looks like Joal is going to find himself in Federal Court also. The parental alienation thing is not going to go over well also.
Btw, why would he be so stupid to ignore Williams & go to the idiot Franklin about not wanting Tonya to see her children??? This guy is a piece of work. Too bad it's not a good one.
Principal says school is overcrowded, very few transfers admitted but she let #tonyacraft kids in due to friendship w/Henkes
Like I said earlier. No way the kids get special treatment without help from the inside. The principal admitted she was the inside person complicit with the Henkes. Despicable.
Uh oh, old Margo just got herself in some trouble!!!! Dang, what people will do for self-serving non-humans like the Henke's!!!
Say good-bye to your job Williams.
Anon 2:24, I doubt that anything will happen to Williams. I taught in the system for 32 years. Many times people like her get promoted as their "punishment."
My daughter moved here from Ohio a couple of months before my granddaughter started kindergarten. We own the house she lived in and we had lights and water in our name. My daughter could prove she lived in the school district with cell phone bill, bank statement, check stub--address on all--she was made to go to the Central Office and get permission to enter my granddaughter in the school.
However, Williams should be removed because she is in charge of children and is supposed to be an example of what is good and decent. HA! Again, I'll be shocked if anything happens to her.
All we can do is wish for the best for Tonya and the children. I can't begin to imagine what those children have been through living with the Henkes.
Sarah says she did nothing wrong showering with Tonya's daughter for 9 months???? That's just sick on all levels!! Someone needs to investigate that for goodness sakes.
Let's see. Joal 'just remembers' at criminal trial but has amnesia at custody hearing. Wonder what his tiny brain will come up with civil trial? This man is all three stooges rolled up in one. Sarah, on the other hand, believes consistency will eventually bring a win for her side. Yup. These people never had a brain. The tweets of the trial are almost laughable - until you remember just how serious this is. Tonya, I feel for you. After all this time, I finally realized I spent 8 years married to Joal's clone. Thankfully, I got out before he could destroy me. Praying for you to get your kids back. They need you.
For Volfan69 @2:40 p.m.
Spoken like a true veteran of the circus that is the Hamilton County Department of Education! Only the clowns change; the circus continues regardless of which ringmaster is in charge.
Margot Williams breeched her ethical, moral and professional responsibilities by allowing two students whom she knew lived out of zone to circumvent board policy and register at Westview Elementary. I have seen teachers fired for less, a lot less but the rules for the “lessers and betters” are not the same. You are correct. It is only a matter of time before Williams will be promoted to central office. She knowingly approved a lie but there will be no consequences. And the clowns at central office cannot figure out why the public has a general distrust of anything they say or do!
It will be interesting to see if the school board rep for that area, Linda Mosley, will raise any questions about her sworn testimony describing how Ms. Williams violated board of education policy.
Perfect karma would happen if Sandra Lamb and that Williams woman would put their kids in William’s school. Then she could see what it is to deal with the lies and deceit the coven spews on a daily basis. Not gonna happen but it’s fun to dream.
Volfan, the thing is, Margo Williams was skating on thin ice because of other incidences not regarding Tonya's children. So this may just be the straw that breaks the camel's back in her career as a principal. I have a bit of an insider regarding her "leadership" at Westview. ;-). I honestly didn't think she would get up there & say what she did. Maybe she has a back up plan that involves the Bass' & Henke's. The older ones, not their lying, cheating, brain-absent children.
Also, it will be interesting to get the full take of what she said on the stand & if the Kings brought up the difference in her deposition & what she said on the stand.
I think everyone should call the school board and report Ms. Williams for her conduct, and the allegations she was seen working at Ace Hardware during work hours.
OMG! According to Melidya Clewell’s Twitter reports, Finley Knowles is testifying to Joal Henke’s “good” character. Finley Knowles, whose politician daddy hired him to work in the county clerk’s office where he promptly started a very lucrative side business promoting “Christian music” on county time? Yeah, that’s really somebody I want certifying my good name. The man was a walking talking conflict of interest and he made a lot of money doing it.
To follow up on the 4:14 posting, according to the Hamilton County Department of Education website, the school board representative for the Westview Elementary School area is Linda Mosley. Her email is: mosley_linda@hcde.org
Ms. Mosley has never been known as an activist rep exercising a lot of oversight of the administration. The most visible and active representative, for better or for worse, is Rhonda Thurman. Her email is: thurman_rhonda@hcde.org
All of this information is public record on the HCDE.org website.
It’s nice to dream but experience tells me that Williams’ illegal acts will be noted and ignored.
In regards to Joal and Margo. Please read the post Bill did just before this one. The wonderful testimony Joal gave under oath there including a recording of a phone call that Eric Echols, Craft's PI made with Margo.
If any of you were there today, I would appreciate knowing what Margo said.
Ooooh boy! Here we go again! Am I understanding this correctly .. let's see ... a witness lies, under oath and penalty, and there ARE NO CONSEQUENCES?? Is that right? Geeeeeez. I could puke.
prayers for Tonya and her children!!
The principal of Westview Elementary sounds like she operates in similar fashion to the principal of Chickamauga Elementary. Apparently, if you have either money, or a friendship with those in authority, then the rules do not apply.
Joal is a liar, so much so, that even Newschannel 9 had to report that obvious fact.
"Joal's house purchased by his dad, dad lied to get VHA loan, said he would live there, not Joal. (That's a federal offense.)"
"Joal admits enrolling son in summer camp in GA while Judge Williams had ordered kids not to leave TN"
Chalk up another two big whoppers for Joal Henke, a buddy to Chris Arnt and Len Gregor.
i am surprised by the continuing focus of where the children have attended school since being wrongfully removed from their mother's care... and how they got there. YES... joal lied. BUT.. of all the lies he has told, this is one i personally am thankful for.
the fact that the children were enrolled at westview has nothing to do with WHY they are in the temporary custody of joal... it is simply an effect of being in the temporary custody of their father.
that being said, i am thankful that, if they had to be moved to another school, they were placed at westview.
i say this because i know that there are great teachers there who care very much for their students... and those are the kind of people that the children needed to be around... as opposed to certain people at the eastwood compound.
they were, for seven hours a day, surrounded by loving teachers who did not fill their innocent minds with persuasive ideas and inconsistent thoughts. each day they attended school, they were able to be removed from their surroundings that were a constant reminder of all the negative in their lives... such as the absence of their loving mother.
i hate that these two innocent children were taken from their mother and have had to endure so much in their young lives... but i see this school as a big POSITIVE in all the NEGATIVE that has been forced into their lives.
as for margo williams... i believe she has been kind to the children... and that's all that matters to me.
Dear Gossip Girl,
Punctuation makes reading so much easier.
The fact is, they were taken from their school and friends by the lies of the father. I am so glad you like that elementary school, that being said, taking children from their mother, then adding to that stress by removing them to a completely different school "just because" he could shows a callous disregard for the emotional well being of those kids.
The fact that the principal of that school participated in the deception simply adds to the overall dishonesty surrounding this case.
Dear Gossip Girl:
HORSE APPLES!
Margot Williams had a legal and ethical obligation to follow the board's policy regarding student placement. She chose not to when the Henkes asked for a favor and should be held accountable legally and professionally for that decision. Her choice allowed Henke and his sperm sponge, Sarah, to keep Tonya Craft from her children. Her decision was dishonest and unethical but not surprising.
Ms. Williams sets the tone for that school as does any principal. What she has done is put her stamp of approval on lying to get what you want. Is that the lesson you want kids to learn? While the Westview faculty itself may be full of kind and loving adults, its leader is devoid of the moral compass that insists on fair play for all and following the rules. I don’t care how much you may think she loves the kids, the example she set has no place in education and this situation is not an example of making a positive out of a negative.
you have obviously completely missed my point.
i KNOW they were taken from a home and a school that they dearly loved! and i KNOW that it was WRONG! my point was... that i am thankful that being that THAT did happen... being that they were FORCED FROM THEIR MOTHER... and made to go to another school, that i am thankful it was westview.
the kids have had great teachers since being there... teachers who cared very much for them.
and that is something i am very thankful for... CONSIDERING the thought that they could have been placed in a horrible school with horrible people who would have just added to all the negative in their lives.
i support tonya 100% and have always believed in her innocence... from the day she was arrested.
why you took my post and tried to turn it into something negative is very disturbing. and at no point were the words "just because" in succession — in my post — as you mistakenly quoted.
Gossip Girl:
No, Sweetie, you are the one who is not getting the point.
If a cop shoots me with soft bullets instead of hollow points I'm supposed to be thankful for his kindness? That's what you are asking others on this blog to believe and we aren’t buying it. I understand your point perfectly and it is bogus on its face.
The greater point you are missing is that putting those kids at Westview, no matter how great a school it is in your mind, was part of a larger plan to separate them from their custodial parent by any lie necessary. The principal, Ms. Williams, may have been the reincarnation of Mother Theresa in East Brainerd; however, she went along with a lie and in doing so helped this plan along. Wherever these kids ended up, was still wrong because of the lies their X chromosome donor told to 1. Try to get their mother jailed for life and 2. Continuing to lie and commit perjury to keep them from her after her farce of a trial ended. The fact that the kids ended up at Westview, to you the greatest school on earth, is no where near as important as the lies told to get them there. That’s the point you are missing or glossing over.
I will add that your comments about the Eastwood Compound are dead on. However, if the children had been rightfully returned to their custodial parent at the conclusion of her inquisition, then we would not be having this discussion about the merits of Westview Elementary and its integrity-challenged principal.
Just to continue with a little more gossip girl logic--
Hallelujah! I'm so thankful that Joal's daddy lied on that FHA loan paperwork so that the kids didn't have to live in the itty bitty apartment.
By the way, surely Keller- Williams has some sort of policy in place against an agent of theirs participating in a fraud against the federal government. Apparently, Joal and his daddy cooked up this whole FHA scheme together. Since Joal has the ethical fortitude of a gnat, I'd steer clear of ANY and ALL business dealings with him; he is fundamentally dishonest.
Guys, let's lay off GG. She is on Tonya's side. She likes Westview and thinks they have good people there, and that is all she is saying.
We need to turn our guns on real-live trolls and the Stinky Henke clan.
Oh, and look for a new post tomorrow. I'm putting it together now.
Mr. Anderson, with due respect, GG is wrong. Apparenntly they do not have good people at that school. The school leader is a "friend" to Mrs. Stinky Henke. If the teachers follow their leader...well you know what path they are taking. Why were the children not put in a school in their district? Isn't that the important question here? What district are they in?
Another thing that greatly disturbs me is how much church is brought into this trial. Just what kind of religion are these people? Sarah was in Tonya's Sunday School class, McGinnis was a Pastor(?), Knowles is involved in church with Henke? Sweet Mary, Mother of Jesus, for the love of all that is good and kind what kind of religion do they practice?
thank you, bill.
you are brilliant! i love how you have educated so many people, and helped them to better understand all the evil things that have taken place before our very eyes!
mr. gildersleeve,
i agree that tonya should have been able to walk out of that courthouse in may, and go directly to that school, pick her children up and take them home where they belong!!
i was told by a close friend who is an attorney what would likely happen, even if she was found innocent, and i didn't believe it. but he was right. it was heart breaking to know that after all that she had been through, that she would have to endure another day without her children... and be forced to fight yet another fight to have them in her life again.
thank you to all who are fighting for truth and justice... to all who are fighting for tonya. may God bless you all.
You can give it up gossip. Unless you tow the line that Tonya is completely innocent and anyone who does not do what she or Bill wants is part of the conspiracy. Seems this conspiracy is growing everyday. I hope that you place this judge on that list when this hearing is over.
all i can say is... i just added you to that list.
Anonymous at 10:57: don't sell yourself short: you're a pretty good conspiracy theorist yourself.
gg: that was a good one!
@10:57...A jury in tainted cess pool of a courtroom found Tonya completely innocent. Only fools would have found her guilty with the evidence presented by the two bit Catoosa County Justice System.
Volfan69...The teachers I know don't follow the lead of principals they don't respect.
GG, I totally get what you are saying, it was just the way you worded it. The thing that is upsetting to people & to the court is that it was just another JH lie. He also left the Mother information section blank & the principal allowed this. He only had temporary custody and had no right to do that. By her "letting it slide", she added to the deception. Westview is a good school, but there are parents who have gone the legal route to get their kids in there as their "school of choice" & have been denied. If Williams did this for JH, who else did she do it for? You are aware of it's location & besides Apison elementary, it is one of the "schools of choice" in that area. I don't fault you for what you said, it's just the wording was a little off for the people who don't realize how far on Tonya's side you are. I know. I've seen your previous posts & know you are hardcore for Tonya.
Btw, excellent comeback to the troll. Couldn't have said it better myself. :-)
UGA Mom
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