I didn't update yesterday because there wasn't much to update with.  Today, however....is another story.

 

On Thursday, the State finished up with their witnesses, first reviewing Dale Neumann's police interview with a police captain/lead investigator.  Neumann states things on the video such as "The Lord is in control; He can heal and he can raise the dead too.", "Our confidence is not in medicine, our confidence is not in doctors, our confidence is in the Lord and Him only.", and when asked on the video if he believes Kara can come back from the dead, Neumann responds "yes".  Dale's mother then takes the stand and tells that she urged the family to take Kara to the hospital; she said that she raised Dale as Christian, but can't believe what happened because she could never watch any of her own children die.  After the lunch break, another pediatrician testified to Kara's condition, saying she was very emaciated and wasted.  He also said that the Neumann family didn't ask why Kara died, which he remembers as unusual.

 

The defense is now able to call their witnesses.  The first is a customer of the Neumann's former business - a coffee shop.  The woman claims to have seen Kara at the business the Thursday before she died (on a Sunday) and she was perky, cheerful, chipper, and smiling.

 

Today - Thursday morning - the defense's next witness is Dale's uncle, who was also at the coffee shop on Thursday before Kara died.  He also testifies that she seemed busy and energetic.  An acquaintence of the family who was involved in their bible groups testified that he saw Kara six days before she died and she seemed normal, yet had dark circles under her eyes.  Another family friend and bible group attendee testified.  She stated that Kara seemed normal in the last few weeks of her life, but on the day Kara died, she went to their house because she sensed something was wrong.  She prayed with the family; she also testified to Dale's great faith and confidence that his daughter would get better.  When the friend left the house, she said she had a feeling of peace and felt Kara would be fine.

 

Then, the defense's final witness took the stand - Dale Neumann himself.  The following is directly from WSAW.com and their live blogging where I've been getting my information.  I didn't feel I could adequately sum up what he said, so I'm posting it as the news reporter blogged it.  Except for some of my comments in italics and I bolded a couple things.

 

2:08 PM: Defense calls Dale Neumann to the stand...he's carrying his bible.

 

2:10 PM: Neumann says time of recorded police interview was one of the most difficult times of his life.

 

2:14 PM: Neumann says, "Dale Neumann is dead and Jesus Christ is now in me. I am his."

 

2:23 PM: Neumann testifies as a young man he wasn't content, had a great job, had money, was travelling, was also cursing and drinking too much.

 

2:28 PM: Neumann screams in court, "God! If there's a God, show me a better way!" He's referring to why he became born again.

 

2:33 PM: Neumann screams again, "God we're so blind!!!" He's referring to his conversion to his new faith back in 1982.

 

2:42 PM: Neuman: "I physically felt something fall off of me when I came out of the water." After his born again baptism.

 

2:48 PM: Neumann: "Holy spirit spoke to me and said, are you willing to suffer for me? Yeah Lord I'm willing." Says he was called to ministry.

 

3:02 PM: Neumann is reading scriptures..it's like he's preaching to the jury.

 

3:13 PM: Neumann: I've seen cancers fall off in meetings, have seen physical healings in meetings I've attended.

 

3:18 PM: Neumann says Jesus never went to a doctor.

That's cuz he's Jesus!!  Duh!!

 

3:21 PM: Neumann is again reading from scriptures to explain why he believes God directed him not to seek traditional medical treatment.

 

3:42 PM: Neumann testifies in every instance Jesus healed, he never directed anybody to go to the doctor.

Is this because Jesus was the one healing?!?!

 

4:15 PM: Dale testifies that in the months prior to her death, there were no signs of diabetes or illness.

 

4:17 PM: Dale testifies that Saturday morning back in March of 2008 was the first time he noticed any signs.

 

4:37 PM: Dale testifies that on Sunday morning... he thought Kara improved, thinking whatever this is will "burn" out of Kara.

Let me tell you, the only thing burning at any point was that girl's thirst because her blood sugar was so incredibly high!  If diabetes just "burned" out by prayer, mine would have gone away years ago!!

 

4:55 PM: Dale testifies that he did not think she would die if they didn't take her to a doctor... he says death wasn't even on his mind.

But in the future, should you get to be a free man, if your kids get sick - what will you do?  Pray or take them to a doctor?

 

5:06 PM: Dale says when asked if there is anything else he would like the jury to know, "Why would I in a moment of crisis, go to anyone" but the Lord.

 

5:05 PM: Dale cries while reading Scripture

 

5:12 PM: Dale testifies that he has no trust in man.

 

5:44 PM: Dale testifies that losing his daugher was very hard.

But not compared to that police interview which was "one of the hardest days of your life"??

 

5:49 PM: Dale is off the stand.

 

6:10 PM: Defense rests.

 

I was able to see a short video clip on the news tonight from part of his testimony.  All I could think was....OMG.  He looked like a crazed maniac, and he would have been better off pleaing not guilty by reason of mental defect - he would have had me convinced for sure!  In watching Leilani's testimony (video clips) and him on the stand, I can say that while they both seem like whack jobs, she was far more composed.  He came off like a total lunatic.  If you go to WSAW.com, you may be able to find a clip.  There might be one floating around on the Associated Press, but I'm not sure.  All I know is that I was blown away, and if I were a juror, I would have had to surpress laughter. 

 

From what I understand, closing arguments are tomorrow morning, and there could be a verdict as early as tomorrow afternoon!  So for those of you who are sick of hearing about this, it's almost over.  Until sentencing, that is!  And appeal courts.  I didn't blog nearly as much during Leilani's trial, and I wish I had - but I was finishing up school and graduating, so this time around I wanted to follow this thing "right".  Here's hoping a guilty verdict is to follow!

So it's the day after the guilty verdict comes in for the mother who prayed over her dying daughter rather than getting her medical treatment.  The family has said even knowing what they know now, they would do the same thing again.  How nice.  There was just some more news coverage that I have to share, simply because if I don't I'm gonna be pissy all night.

 

The mother - Leilani - released a statement to her stepfather, who read it on camera.  It went on about how God is helping her to get through and the family is staying strong and not letting the decision made yesterday change their attitude, etc.  If it were anything else, I would say good for them.  It's great for people to turn to God to help them get through difficult times.  I did after a family death last summer.  It actually helped.  Anyway, the news reporter then went on to remind everyone that the family is going to launch an investigation into the DA's office about mishandling of the case.  This time, however, they also said that the JUDGE is going to be investigated as well!!!!  I can't believe this!  On what grounds? 

 

Ok, so I didn't take advantage of the fact that it was open court and I could have sat in on some of this - in 2 hour increments, unless I parked across the street in the Mall's parking and paid for however long I was there.  The security was upped and they were patrolling the parking lots to actually make sure people obeyed the 2 hour limit.  But, I didn't go and sit in court.  So I can't say I was there to see any inappropriate actions by the judge.  However, I have been in his courtroom before, under different circumstances.  I can say he's not exactly the most pleasant person, but he's not going to blatantly disregard the law and ethical guidelines with such a high profile case!  To do something like that is like career suicide.  Like I said in my previous blog on the topic, I think the way jury selection went, they were very thorough in selection and did things they don't normally do, and took extra time in seeing the jury was impartial.  But again, just my two cents since I wasn't there.

 

And lastly, the news reporter shared that they interviewed community members to get their thoughts on the verdict.  So they shared two people's opinions.  Both people supported the family, and not the verdict.  One of the women said she didn't think she'd get through raising her children without prayer.  Well, um...yeah!  How else do you get through teen years without committing a crime?  Besides, there's a difference between prayer and prayer as a form of getting rid of a physical illness, or thinking prayer will bring your dead child back to life.  I know I'm biased, and I know there has been a TON of negative media on this....but wouldn't it be more fair to show public opinion on BOTH sides?  I mean, unless there were people sharing their support of the verdict and condemnation of the family but they did so in a way that couldn't be shared on tv.  If you know what I mean ;)

 

I still have to wonder about how all of this....the investigations the family is promising, and the media attention from her trial and verdict.....will affect her husband's trial.  One thing I'm sure of is that there will be many long, drawn out appeals, on her part, if not her husbands.  Kind of like their daughter's death.  Ironic, eh?

Friendship’s Burden

 

People aren’t worth the time it takes

to get to know them.

And before you are familiar,

before good chance has been given,

they are gone.

 

They judge you and decide on one small fault

or another’s opinion.

 

Prove me wrong.

Prove to me that people are worth knowing.

Show me the time it takes, is to be taken

and appreciated.

That it will be rewarded and thanked.

 

That people are not only in your arms

so that they may be free again.

That they can have mind enough

not to leave you so fast and strong.

 

Show me you will listen, and care.

Prove to me that people have that ability

To not jump on one belief

And ruin your idea forever.

 

Let me see that the price payed

Is a fair value.

 

I have the riches

but the product has never

expressed its quality,

and has only ever left me

with ends

of which nothing can result.

I have talked about love a lot. But what is it? Do I even know what it is? I talked to a friend, and he says I don't. He says I can't feel love. He says I can't know what it is, because of my age. I have to say I completely disagree with this. I felt it was almost insulting to hear him say that. I know I'm probably doing to get mixed responses on this one, from people who share his belief, and people who agree with me.

I just don't think you can truly put an age on love. He says if you don't know what it is, you can't feel it. I don't think feelings are like that. Something can make you angry, and even if you don't know the word that means angry, or understand what it means to be angry, you can still be angry. We can have feelings and not know what they are. That's my opinion.

And love, I feel I know it very well. Too well, if that's possible. I have been in love a few times, and I don't doubt that it was love that I was and am feeling right now. People describe love in different ways, and have different definitions, and I think that's fine, but for someone to tell me that I can't feel love, when I feel it so strongly... I just don't know what to say to them.

Who can tell another person what they can or cannot feel? We aren't them, we can't know, and I don't think we should judge. Now I know I probably sound pretty nieve, and maybe I am. I won't deny it's possible. However, I believe in love, and I believe that I am in love. I don't see how he can deny that.

I believe that love is to care for someone immensely, obviously. I  think that is the basis. And we could define love, but everyone who's felt it knows what it is, and those who haven't, don't.

Love is a feeling. A very strong feeling. I am in love. I have loved someone for over two years now. I am quite certain of that. I have felt it so strongly it sometimes makes me dizzy, it makes me do crazy things. Anyone whos read my blog all along knows this.

I don't think someone should tell me what I can and can't feel.

In the Philippines,
Ex-Judge Consults
Three Wee Friends

MANILA, Philippines -- As a trial-court judge, Florentino V. Floro Jr. acknowledged that he regularly sought the counsel of three elves only he could see. The Supreme Court deemed him unfit to serve and fired him last year.

Case closed? Not in the Philippines, where vampires are said to prey on unwary travelers and wealthy politicians consult fortune tellers and card readers. Mr. Floro, 54 years old, has become a media celebrity. He is now wielding his new clout to campaign for the return of his job -- and exact vengeance on the Supreme Court.

Helping him, he says, are his three invisible companions. "Angel" is the neutral force, he says. "Armand" is a benign influence. "Luis," whom Mr. Floro describes as the "king of kings," is an avenger.

Mr. Floro has become a regular on Philippine television. Often he is asked to make predictions with the help of his invisible friends. "They say your show will be taken off the air if you don't feature me more often," was Mr. Floro's reply to one interviewer.

The day after Mr. Floro's first appearance on television last year, hundreds of people turned up at his house in a dusty Manila suburb hoping he could use his supernatural powers to heal their illnesses. Now Mr. Floro, who travels by bus, is regularly recognized on the street.

The Supreme Court says its medical clinic determined that Mr. Floro was suffering from psychosis. Even so, a series of disturbing incidents appear to have the nation's top jurists rattled. According to local newspaper reports, a mysterious fire in January destroyed the Supreme Court's crest in its session hall, and a number of members of the court and their close family members have developed serious illnesses or have fallen victim to car accidents.

Enough bizarre things have happened that in July, the Supreme Court issued an en banc resolution asking Mr. Floro to desist in his threats of "ungodly reprisal." The Supreme Court's spokesman declined to elaborate.

Mr. Floro says he is not suffering from psychosis, and that he's not to blame for the incidents. He points the finger squarely at "king of kings" elf Luis, who Mr. Floro says is bent on cleaning up what he says is the Philippines' corrupt legal system.

Mr. Floro says he never consulted the invisible elves over judicial decisions and the fact that he puts faith in them should make no difference to his career. "It shouldn't matter what I believe in, whether it's Jesus, Muhammad, or Luis, Armand and Angel," he says in an interview.

The Philippines has a long history of mixing organized religion with a deep belief in the supernatural. During the 1950s and 1960s, when the Southeast Asian nation was already an independent republic, the Central Intelligence Agency stoked fears of vampires and ghouls to help its preferred candidates win elections.

The elf, or "duwende," is one of a rich pantheon of supernatural beings that predate the Philippines' colonization by Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century. Many Filipinos make pilgrimages to Mount Banahaw, just south of Manila, which is reputedly the country's capital for elves and other beings.

Jaime Licauco, who teaches parapsychology at San Beda College in Manila, testified on behalf of Mr. Floro in a 2001 hearing. He argued Mr. Floro is mentally fit and argues the former judge's beliefs aren't so unusual in the Philippine context.

Like many others in the Philippines, Mr. Floro says he himself is a Roman Catholic, and once studied to be a priest. He recalls that he wasn't convinced that serving the church was necessarily the best way to serve other Filipinos. He says he thought he could improve more people's lives if he became a lawyer, and he handily passed the bar exams.

Mr. Floro says he first realized he had the power to perceive Armand, Angel and Luis in 1986. In 1998, he applied to switch from being a lawyer to becoming a judge. He passed a mandatory psychiatric evaluation applied to all prospective judges and was sworn in as a regional trial-court judge in November of that year, handling both civil and criminal cases in Malabon, a district in greater Manila.

In 1999, Mr. Floro invited officials from the Supreme Court's administration unit to inspect his small courtroom. What they found unnerved them, and the Supreme Court convened a hearing to determine whether Mr. Floro should be removed from the bench.

According to Supreme Court papers, the court investigators presenting evidence at the hearing said they found Mr. Floro wearing blue robes instead of the normal black. Mr. Floro's own witnesses testified that he wore black on Fridays to "recharge his psychic powers."

The court investigators also reported that Mr. Floro began court proceedings with readings from the Book of Revelation and conducted hands-on psychic healing sessions for members of the public in his chambers during recesses. The investigators said Mr. Floro would sometimes enter a trance to write his rulings.

During the hearing, Mr. Floro revealed his contact with his elves. He also shared with the judges that Luis predicted that then-Philippine President Joseph Estrada would be ousted from office; Mr. Estrada was forced from power by a popular revolt two years later in 2001 and was sentenced last week to life in prison for corruption.

In March 2006, after lengthy delays, the Supreme Court finally dismissed Mr. Floro from the court service, largely because of his belief in the supernatural. Even though Mr. Floro says the elves played no part in his judicial decisions, the Supreme Court justices said his broad faith in mysticism and supernatural phenomena had affected his work. "Lest we be misconstrued, we do not denigrate such a belief system," Associate Justice Minita Chico-Nazario wrote in the Supreme Court's verdict. "However, such beliefs, especially since Judge Floro acted on them, are at odds with the critical and impartial thinking required of a judge under our judicial system."

Mr. Floro dissents. He has filed three appeals of the Supreme Court's decision since then and is continuing his campaign on local television and on the Internet. The Supreme Court hasn't reversed any of his decisions after suspending and later removing him from the bench.

Write to James Hookway at james.hookway@awsj.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118999288641229392.html?mod=psp_free_today