Upcoming Trial

I have been thinking how fed up I have become with this whole mess and if I should attend the final trial which is for the disbarred lawyer Avalon e'lan Betts-Gaston. Part of me needs to go so that I can (1) put closure to the whole thing and (2) complete my book on the whole experience. I need to really think about this. I can give myself closure without attending the trial and sentencing for D'Mona Ross (and hopefully the attorney also) but I also think it is important that my presence be made especially as this is a new judge.

Whereas with the previous judge I was always in court unless a migraine just forced me not to be there Judge Norgle has never seen the victims sitting on the front row in this case and I think it is important that faces not just numbers but real faces, victims be present. This case is for me at least the most important of them all for it comes down to if you cannot trust the lawyers then the people have no legal recourse. I have to really give this some serious thought.

I also think it is important that I write about this, which may also be a way I can then put it behind me. In order to write what happened to me then I need to follow the case of disbarred attorney Avalon Betts-Gaston from beginning to end.

Well, I have until April I do not have to decide right now. (As there have been continuances after continuances; status hearings, trial dates, etc. April might not be the trial start date. How can she keep putting this off?)

D'Mona Ross DETERMINATION

Once more into the void! My biggest question must be D’Mona Ross what are you thinking? Well as it was expected, Judge Shadur REFUSED to allow D’Mona Ross to withdraw her plea of guilty made on February 13, 2013. Judge Shadur AGAIN stated from the transcript that D’Mona Ross had made her guilty plea under her own free will and in addition, she told the court in her own words with her own voice what she had done in the mortgage fraud. Judge Shadur said there was no predicate (I think that was the word) to withdraw her plea and her plea of guilty stands. My personal impression was that the Judge was not please about having to cancel a trial that was ready to start (the trial of co-defendant Avalon Betts Gaston).

At this time D’Mona Ross’ attorney Scott Kamin will have to discuss with her a date for sentencing. I just don’t understand; how can a person that possibly had her freedom, (all she had to do was tell the truth), already testified (dropped a dime) on her co-defendant and others to various federal agencies and now after all is said and done, only her co-defendant is left for trial, does this tactic come up. I just do not get it. It makes me ask questions again.

(1) Why on earth wasn’t D’Mona Ross in court today of all days when the judge was making the decision that could possibly send her to federal prison?

(2) Was she fully aware of what was being said in open court and how via her attorney she sounded like an idiot (my opinion of course)?

(3) Why now when Avalon Betts Gaston was going to trial?

(4) Did D’Mona Ross ever get around to reading the transcript of Avalon Betts Gaston’s disbarment? Did she know in that transcript she was blamed; the mastermind?

(5) Who hired Attorney Kamin? Who recommended him to you?

(6) Has the thought crossed D’Mona Ross’ mind there may be a strong possibility that she may be called a liar and the architect of the mortgage fraud by Avalon Betts Gaston’s new lawyer who seems to be a sharp cookie.

(7) D’Mona, were you promised something if you changed your plea (my thoughts again). Did it never cross your mind that a sharp lawyer whose goal it is will be to get her client acquitted would not use your flip-flop as another way to discredit you and put the scam on your shoulders? It will be interesting to see once Avalon Betts Gaston’s’ trial begins if you are called a liar and how many times. Will you be the fall guy (again)?

(8) It is too bad you do not read my blog or web site. (See 06/23/2014 blog) You might have thought first what do; what you have to lose or is this another fraud where you may take the blame; the entire transcript is on the web site. All you had to do was READ and you might have thought how well you had it with possibly no jail time versus now sentencing with possibly jail. Do you really want to be the one in jail; girl I hope you got something out of it. To me (my opinion) it sounds like you have been seriously PLAYED!

Next: D'Mona Ross' sentencing date which I will post when it becomes available.

The scheduling of the trial for Avalon Betts Gaston may be in November 2014 but I will post the actual date as soon as it becomes available.

D'Mona Ross 1st Status Hearing

This was the funniest court procedure I have ever seen!  Let us get started; as I stated below D’Mona Ross has decided to withdraw her February 15, 2013 plea from GUILTY along with her freely made admission in open court of admitting her part in the mortgage fraud to not guilty. Her new attorney, Scott Kamin, who at times appeared (at least to me) to be very confused (?) seem to be winging it. At one point he even called her “his potential client” (does that mean he has not been paid in full yet and could that be a reason this is dragging on?)

Mr. Kamin gave the excuse that he could not open the CD’s and review the discovery for the case and needed additional time; even though he had informed the court a month ago that Ross wanted to change her plea. I would suggest that Mr. Kamin find himself a five-year-old child to teach him how to open a CD on a computer! It was then pointed out to him that his failure to open the CD was not grounds to change her plea after all D’Mona Ross said in her OWN words that her conduct was why she was GUILTY of the charges.

(Now this is where it got funny to me; I am writing this to be best of my memory.)

Judge Shadur: her plea was not depended on how much discovery had taken place. At this time, Ross (via her attorney Scott Kamin) has not conveyed to Judge Shadur why her plea should be withdrawn.

Attorney Scott Kamin: there is a good faith base to withdraw her plea; her plea was not made voluntary

Judge Shadur: did she lie to me?

(This is where I had to hold my laughter)

Attorney Scott Kamin: no, I don’t think she lied; she just felt she didn’t do anything wrong

Judge Shadur: that is not an accurate interpretation. Are you saying I lead her down the wrong path; that I entrapped her?

Attorney Scott Kamin: no, I am not saying that.

Judge Shadur then explained to her new attorney EVERYTHING that went on when Ross made her plea including how she first did not want to admit guilt and how he then told her he could not accept her plea. Two days later after conferring with her then attorney, Ross made a FULL admission of guilt and accepted her role in the frauds. At that time, Judge Shadur (to the best of my memory) asked her at least twice was she making the admission of her own free will and was she making it because she was guilty. Ross said yes and then Judge Shadur took it one step further and asked Ross to explain her part in the fraud which she did.

Finally, Judge Shadur asked to see the transcripts of Ross’s GUILTY plea and continued the status hearing until Monday June 9, 2014 9:30am

This is a small outline of what was said but I wonder how Ross could admit what she did, snitch on others and now want to back herself out of the fraud.

Because of her change of mind the trial for Avalon Betts Gaston must now be rescheduled, witnesses rescheduled, etc. Now my thought is wouldn’t she have come out better doing what she originally said and agreed to; tell the truth and make a deal, tell on everyone and possibly get probation for being a snitch (and remember she has for the past year and a half cooperated with the government) or run the risk of getting serious jail time.

I think if I was a lawyer I would call her my “potential client” also. I wonder how long this attorney will be around?

After looking at Mr. Kamin’s website, he appears to be very competent so I just wonder WHY.

Attorney Scott T. Kamin

55 E Jackson Blvd #1050

Chicago, IL 60604

(312) 322-0077                                                                                                                                    

http://chicagodefenseattorney.net/attorney-profile/

 

 

 

Update Felix Daniel

I have received calls regarding my lack of continuing to post on Felix Daniel and the status of his appeal. I probably did not make myself completely clear on why I was not posting about him but I have released and blessed him and moved on. For those who need to know his appeal did not go through and he will have to serve his sentence.

I really don't want to deal with him again unless absolutely necessary especially as at this point the former attorney still has to go to trial and there has been a new "development." See next blog

Mortgage Fraud Updated News

Wow, so much as happened since I last posted; I am going to break up my posts to cover various topics.

First, Felix Daniel has been sentenced to 8 years in federal prison. His surrender date is October 1, 2013. His restitution and forfeiture is $4,473,531.30.

I have decided I no longer want to think about this man anymore; I feel the pain of his family especially his son who spoke at sentencing and I believe they are sorry for what happened to the homeowners. At this time I am finished with Mr. Daniel. I will continue to pray for him and his family and I wish him peace in and out of prison.

The next federal case is for the disbarred attorney Avalon Betts-Gaston who has hired a new attorney (Jennifer Bonjean of Bonjean Law Group, PLLC 142 Joralemon Street Suite 5A Brooklyn, NY 11201). There is a status hearing scheduled for August 7, 2013 8:45am. Hopefully this can go to trial soon and we the victims can move on; wouldn't it be wonderful if she just "woman up" and make a deal? Oh well, I pray for her also.

Status Hearing

The first status hearing regarding the criminal case was held regarding the attorney and loan officer charged in the IJCN Investments (In Jesus Christ's Name) and I found it interesting. The court system appears to offer the defendants plenty of time to prepare their defense and I guess that might be the right way to go but I wonder about the plaintiffs views on the length of time it takes from beginning to end for a case. (For those who don't know about this the indictment it is public record and can be found at: http://206.18.146.25/rfcViewFile/11cr502.1.pdf )

As I am not a lawyer I find myself constantly looking up what is said or done.  The problem is as things are not written for the non-attorney it can be a little daunting but never the less I want to understand so if it’s not in the Black’s Law Dictionary I Google and attempt to understand. The judge scheduled a second status hearing for November 4, 2011 room 2303. The judge said that the defendants did not have to be present for the status hearing which got me to wondering just what a status hearing was. I found a couple definitions:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090102112442AARLIDz 

“The Status Hearing is an informal discussion between the Judge, the prosecution and the defendant about the case. After considering the case against you, you can decide whether to change your plea or to continue with your not guilty plea.

At a Status Hearing you:

* have the chance to discuss the charges against you, with the Police Prosecutor and the   Judge, including anything you may disagree with.
* learn what the Police say has happened and why they think you are guilty.
* can ask questions about anything you don’t understand.
What can happen at a Status Hearing?

* The charges may be changed or withdrawn.
* You can change your plea.
* You can ask the Judge what the likely sentence would be (e.g. fine, community work, prison). Note: this will be an indication only and is not binding on another Judge at a later time.
* You can decide to continue to plead not guilty. The case will then be adjourned for a defended hearing.
* You do not have to tell anyone about your defense, unless you choose to do so.

If you change your plea to guilty:

* You may be sentenced at the Status Hearing or you may have to come back to Court on another day for sentencing, if the Judge needs more information, such as a pre-sentence report.

If you still want to defend your case (plead not guilty):

* The case will be adjourned to a defended hearing, where a Judge will hear your case and decide whether you are guilty or not guilty.”

AZ Law Help http://www.azlawhelp.org/viewquestions.cfm?sc=36&mc=5&qid=408

Question: What is a status hearing and how does it work in Superior Court?

Answer: "A status hearing can serve a wide variety of functions at the discretion of the trial judge, and you will be hard-pressed to find a concrete definition anywhere in the family law rules or Arizona statutes. I also do not doubt that the practice widely varies from county to county, and your question did not indicate where you live.

In general, however (and I do mean *in general*), status hearings do not involve testimony from the parties, or the offering of evidence through witnesses or exhibits. They are relatively quick hearings, designed to give the judge some idea of what is going on in the case, and how much time she should allocate for the trial. It is also an opportune time for the court to enter temporary orders upon which the parties have *agreed*. (If they haven't agreed, then the court should not enter orders over objection until it can hear evidence.)

The closest parallel to "status hearings" that one can find in the family law rules is a resolution management conference (RMC). Unfortunately, RMC's are administered with great inconsistency as well, which makes it difficult for me to give you a square answer. Every judge seems to have a different idea of what an RMC is for. For this reason (and others too), your best course of action may be simply to call the judge's chambers right away, and just ask the judicial assistant what exactly the court intends to accomplish at the status hearing, and whether you should be prepared to testify or present witnesses/exhibits. Furthermore, the court will often provide hints (or even clear statements) about the purpose of the hearing in the typed minute entry that scheduled the event in the first place. So make sure to read that carefully, too!”

Or:

“A status hearing is held when there is a case preparing for trial. The judge holds the hearing with the all parties. It is determined if the case will proceed to trial.”

Now after all of that I got the impression this is a way for the judge to be sure both attorneys for the prosecution and defense have dotted their I’s and crossed their T’s before proceeding. If there are any lawyers reading this I would be curious if the descriptions given above are exact? (Just so that we are clear anyone but the lawyer indicted feel free to respond. smile)