Posted on 05/02/2002 2:19:56 PM PDT by RGSpincich
Judge denies "choice of evils" defense
By JEFF BARNARD The Associated Press 5/2/02 1:51 PM
ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) -- A judge ruled Thursday that Ruth and Brian Christine cannot use a "choice of evils" defense against charges they took their three daughters at gunpoint from state child welfare workers.
The ruling undermines defense attorney Edgar Steele's plan to argue the couple was rescuing their children from a rogue state agency.
Judge William Lasswell said the threat to the Christines' three young daughters from being in foster care did not exceed the threat posed by the crimes the Christines are accused of.
"I do not believe this case as I have heard it so far ... meets that test," Lasswell said of Steele's planned "choice of evils" defense. "The children's services department was acting in a lawful way."
Brian Christine allegedly pointed a gun at state social workers driving the three girls -- Bethany, then 5, Lydia, 3, and Miriam, 2 -- back to a foster home following a visit with their parents on Aug. 1.
The Christines, both 29, are on trial in Douglas County court on charges of kidnapping, robbery, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and custodial interference.
The state alleges that last August, a year after the Department of Human Services took the three girls into foster care to protect them from their parents, Brian Christine took the girls from a state social worker, met up with his wife and a friend, and escaped to Montana, where they were found within days.
Lasswell added that his ruling will not prevent Steele from offering evidence supporting his rescue argument but there will be no instruction to the jury that they can find the Christines innocent based on a "choice of evils" defense.
Lasswell left the door open for the defense to argue that the Christines were under such stress at the loss of custody of the three girls that their state of mind and capacity to tell right from wrong were affected.
Lasswell also denied a defense motion to suppress evidence the children were malnourished and one had been knocked down stairs by her father.
When police first confronted them on July 31, 2000, the judge said, the expectation of privacy inside a motor home in a public parking lot was not the same as that in a cottage in the woods with a fence around it and "No Trespassing" signs.
Lasswell rejected the Christines' testimony that they gave permission to a police officer to board the converted bus and talk to their children under coercion.
Following the rulings, jury selection began and was expected to last throughout the day Thursday.
With a corrupt jury being chosen as we speak.
No, it's not just you.
How can this be? Posters from previous threads have been insisting that there is no evidence that the children were not being properly cared for.
Steele's argument got broomed? The Christines are toast because of all the admissions they've made. I'm still with the jury out 2 hours--IF they take a lunch break & cig break that adds up to 1 1/2 hours.
Well, um, not exactly camping facilities. Most Walmarts--usually the Superstores, open 24 hours--look the other way when it comes to a few campers & RV's parked in their lot. I distinctly remember some municipalities in Florida banning overnight parking/camping at Walmarts & I saw a sign that banned overnight parking/camping at a Walmart in Panama City a couple years ago. I've also seen RV's parked in Walmarts around here. No one really cares.
I see some of them changing their tune on a variety of subjects. One, who posted to you last August, said that the reported weights of the girls had to be bogus. He said that the reported weights were "not at all healthy even on a vegitarian diet." The same guy now says the weights were normal given the diet of the Christines.
That's a rough one. ; )
The parking lot issue was a sidelight, IMO, the police were given permission to enter the motorhome.
More wrangling today in the case of an Oregon couple accused of taking their daughters from state social workers at gunpoint. Today the judge ruled the daughters of Ruth and Brian Christine can be called to testify in the trial if they pass a competency hearing, which tests their ability to know right from wrong and the importance of telling the truth.
Prosecutors have reserved the right to call all three girls to testify, but defense lawyers believe the prosecution is primarily interested in questioning the couples oldest daughter, Bethany, who was five at the time of the alleged crime last year.
Well, they're probably going to lose, badly.
That figures. Steele predicted victory on Day One.
And now they have a jury.
Jury seated in Christines' trial
By JEFF BARNARD
ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) -- A jury was seated Friday in the trial of Ruth and Brian Christine, who are charged with taking their three daughters at gunpoint from child welfare workers.
A panel of nine women and three men was chosen after defense attorney Edgar Steele and prosecutor Rick Wesenberg questioned a pool of 38 people over the course of two days on subjects that included their attitudes about fundamental Christians, state child welfare agencies, and whether religious beliefs could justify breaking the law.
The Christines, both 29, face charges of kidnapping, robbery, custodial interference and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
The state maintains that on Aug. 1, Brian Christine threatened two child welfare workers with a gun at an Interstate 5 rest stop as the workers were driving the Christines' children -- Bethany, then 6; Lydia, 4, and Miriam, 3 -- back to a foster home following a birthday visit with their parents in Grants Pass.
According to police, Brian Christine took the state van with the girls in it to a nearby lumber yard, where he met up with his wife and a friend. They then switched cars, and escaped to Montana, where they were all found a few days later, police said.
The defense maintains that the couple was rescuing their children from a rogue state agency, the Department of Human Services, after having their children unjustly taken from them a year earlier.
Steele has described the couple as fundamental Christians, and the couple testified in a pretrial hearing that they occasionally fasted as a family for breakfast and lunch as a religious practice.
Authorities took the three girls from the Christines on July 31, 2000 after police, tipped by an anonymous caller, questioned them in their bus, parked behind the library in Grants Pass. Police decided the girls were malnourished and one of them, Lydia, had been hit by her father so that she fell down the stairs, cutting her forehead.
The couple face another trial scheduled for July in Grants Pass on charges alleging they mistreated the girls by withholding food, that Brian Christine had assaulted Lydia, and that Ruth Christine had withheld medical treatment from Lydia.
Just before court convened for the day, Steele accidentally struck himself in the eye with the end of an elastic cord while unpacking documents, causing a short delay. Wesenberg told the potential jurors that he was mopping sweat from his brow because he had a fever.
Steele has described the couple as fundamental Christians, and the couple testified in a pretrial hearing that they occasionally fasted as a family for breakfast and lunch as a religious practice.
Is it religion or is it rationing? I haven't heard of this religous practice.
The usual fast is not to eat during the day, but after sundown/the evening meal broke the fast.
Okay but it seems a little tough on small kids.
I can only find the old stuff, 1980's and back. Don't see any RACER listings for Douglas County.
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