Posted on 04/12/2002 6:55:25 PM PDT by RGSpincich
The Associated Press
4/12/02 5:26 PM
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -- Ruth Christine, accused with her husband of kidnapping three of their daughters at gunpoint from state social workers, has been released from jail after her father posted bail.
Christine was freed from the Douglas County Jail in Roseburg on Sunday after her father, Philip Medland, posted the minimum bail in the kidnapping case being tried there. He also posted the minimum in a child mistreatment case being tried in Grants Pass.
Court papers listed Christine's address as a Jacksonville post office box.
Christine and her husband, Brian Christine, have been in jail since their arrests last August in Montana, where the children were also found.
They are scheduled to go on trial April 30 in Douglas County Court in the kidnapping case.
The mistreatment case is scheduled for July 9. That case accuses the couple of abusing their three daughters in 2000 while living in a converted city bus they had driven to Grants Pass from Indiana.
Child welfare authorities took custody of the girls after the charges were filed.
Last August, after a birthday visit, Brian Christine allegedly followed the social workers driving the girls back to a foster home and kidnapped his children at gunpoint at an Interstate 5 rest stop. Ruth Christine is accused of helping her husband.
The girls have been put in the custody of her parents, who live in England.
The attorney for the Christines, Edgar Steele, has stated that Ruth and Brian Christine would not have been in jail if not for the advice of the Grant's Pass "advisors".
Were these "advisors" just militia nutcases or indistinguishable from same?
An army of signboarders willing to let their martyrs rot in jail.
Probably not even their beer money.
Go ahead and tell us exactly who advised the Christines.
Much of the evidence is sealed to the public and was contained in the Juvenile proceedings. It will be presented at the criminal trial in Josephine County in July. Presenting that evidence for your exclusive review prior to that isn't part of the process. Through discovery, the Christines and their attorneys were made aware of the evidence. The Christines chose to relinquish their parental rights and, thus, terminate the Juvenile proceedings based on a review of that evidence. Lucky for them that the Medlands were able to care for the three older girls.
I suggest that you contact Mr. Steele for the complete list of actual names of those in Grant' Pass that have advised the Christines. You have posted the name of one, Michael Sieradzki, who professed to have inside knowledge of the case. You should ask him, also. Then there were those pesky posters lightstream, Mynself, Northernlight, etc.. ask them too.
Nearly 3 years after the accusations were made.
As far as Micheal goes, he didn't advise Brian. It seems pretty clear that Brian advised himself according to the court records.
You're pretty confident of evidence you've never seen. Even the police officer who was in charge of this investigation wasn't confident of his own alleged evidence when I talked to him on the phone.
The children should never have been removed in the first place. Had Brian refused to allow the police to ever talk to his children, they never would have been taken and a good lawyer will get the charges vacated due to the fact that the police had no probable cause in the first place.
Then again they should have no jurisdiction at all in this matter. But that's a whole different argument.
Lucky for the girls, too. The further away they are from the "Sovereign White Citizens" crowd, the better.
Parroting "Patriot Pro-Se" pseudo-law.
You discount all the press releases on the case so let's go elsewhere for information. How about somebody who is your good friend and vocal Christine supporter.
Michael Sieradzki himself says that the girls were kept in a converted city bus in July of 2000 when temperatures reached into the hundreds, the bus had no air conditioning. He also states that the girls had the flu . No wonder the girls seemed dehydrated and malnourished. They were. For some reason Sieradzki offers this information as proof that the Christines were not neglecting their girls. To the contrary, his description of the living conditions bolsters the state's case. Surprise, living in a hot tin bus with no a/c during a heat wave is tantamount to being put in an oven. The Christines were aware the girls had the flu and still remained in the bus. Sieradzki, in his defense of the Christines, does not state that they sought professional medical attention for the girls. And they did not.
A reasonable parent would have sought medical attention for the sick girls and/or made alternative housing arrangements. The Christines did neither.
Sieradzki further states that Xrays did show an old injury of unkown origin and that the girls made incriminating statements implicating the Christines.
It all could have worked out differently if the Christines had received the necessary counseling and reunited their family. They chose to fight the system by teaming up with the already in-place local political protestors. College educated or not, these were two ignorant parents that thought cooking their sick kids in a hot bus was their parental right.
Perhaps Brian had conversations with some of the activists as he stood in front of the courthouse with his sign.
Hundreds? LOL. Let's forget that your use of hyperbole is inappropriate for the moment. There are millions of children living in shabby housing all across the country where there is no air conditioning. This is not an indication of abuse. I suppose we had better rush over to South Africa and remove every child from their parents since they are forced to exist without climate control devices.
He also states that the girls had the flu . No wonder the girls seemed dehydrated and malnourished. They were.
Only one child was said to have the flu. The youngest. And it is absolutely natural for a person to refuse food when they are sick. It's a function of survival. An evolutionary response to being sick. It actually helps you recover faster if you do not eat.
For some reason Sieradzki offers this information as proof that the Christines were not neglecting their girls.
No he doesn't. He offers it as an explanation for the circumstances. It certainly doesn't support the idea that the Christines did such on purpose which is what the charges allege.
To the contrary, his description of the living conditions bolsters the state's case.
Only if you think that camping constitutes child abuse.
Surprise, living in a hot tin bus with no a/c during a heat wave is tantamount to being put in an oven.
LOL. They were there eating lunch (kinda refutes the "witholding food" accusation). Even the cops admit this is so.
For you to extrapolate that the children were never allowed outside the bus or that the Christines were abusing them is absurd.
The Christines were aware the girls had the flu and still remained in the bus. Sieradzki, in his defense of the Christines, does not state that they sought professional medical attention for the girls. And they did not.
I don't know about you, but everyone I know doesn't consider the flu to be worthy of a hospital visit even for an infant. The flu is only in extremely rare circumstances, life threatening. It is also not treatable by any medication or anti-biotic. I know you are aware of this so it is odd that you would attempt to create a crisis where none existed.
A reasonable parent would have sought medical attention for the sick girls and/or made alternative housing arrangements. The Christines did neither.
B.S.
Sieradzki further states that Xrays did show an old injury of unkown origin and that the girls made incriminating statements implicating the Christines.
Not really. Again you distort the facts. The police have backed off of their accusation that the injury was caused by Brian. They won't repeat it.
It all could have worked out differently if the Christines had received the necessary counseling and reunited their family.
They needed no counseling on how to raise their children.
They chose to fight the system by teaming up with the already in-place local political protestors.
After their children had been taken. Hardly an indictment upon the Christines or the protestors who had seen this sort of thing occur in the past.
College educated or not, these were two ignorant parents that thought cooking their sick kids in a hot bus was their parental right.
You can't help making an ass out of yourself. These hyperbolic statements do not bolster your case.
How many years? Try 2. Some evidence never gets presented to the general public. The Christines know what evidence there is and have made their decisions based on that. This trial would have occurred alot sooner but the Christines decided to vacation in Montana.
Sounds like a rescue operation to me. What is a parent supposed to do when their children are abducted?
It still hasn't gone to trial. Does 2 years sound like a speedy resolution to you? And don't trot out the canard that this was the fault of Brian. His original indictment was thrown out by a judge. The delays were the responsibility of the court.
Exactly. RG won't mention that the state was moving to permanently remove the children even though there were no convictions obtained. He also won't mention that the state had administered sexual examinations of the children even though there were no such allegations made. The judge, thankfully threw out the "evidence" (pictures).
Yup, and every time, you rely on hyperbole and exageration instead of facts.
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