Aspies For Freedom

I am the parent of a 19 year old Aspergers son in need of urgent help/advice.

My son was diagnosed when he was 7 and has been in Special Education since. After many years of problems with socialization skills etc., 2 years after my son entered high school , he finally made a few friends.

Unfortunately one of these friends took my son with him on an excursion into some local woods and blew up some tree stumps.

My son, then 17, was charged as an adult with 6 felony counts. My son had no idea at the time that he was doing something wrong.

The fact that he has Aspergers' is not being taken into account and we are not only fighting for his liberty but as my son, daughter and myself are British Citizens & only my husband is American,there is a possibility he could be deported.

Despite a stack of reports dating from 1996 to present day, the Assistant District Attorney in Lincoln County, Oregon told us that 'unless he has donated a kidney, I am not interested in hearing about his problems'.

We left the United Kingdom when my son was 9 and have no family left in the U.K. Although my son has made great progress, he could not possibly survive on his own, in the U.K.

I have fought for my son all of his life and will continue to do so, until there is nothing more I can do.

I am asking anyone and everyone I can find that has a connection with Aspergers/ Autism Spectrum to see if there is any help, advice, publicity or any thing at all that would help.

You can reach me at rosewoodbreeze@yahoo.com

Thank you for all the replies.

No, he had no idea at the time that blowing up tree stumps was a crime. The older boy had purchased gunpowder and when the police searched his house, they found evidence there.
The boy had posted this and other incidents on a site called You Tube. He apparently does this kind of thing a lot.

This was my son's first and only time of involvement.

This was considered to be an act of terrorism, as the tree stumps were in federal woods.
We do have an attorney, who presented the assistant DA with yet another recent psychological report and her reply to him "Save it, unless he has donated a kidney, I am not interested".

We are not looking for charges to be dismissed.
We are looking for his circumstances to be taken into consideration and the charges to be reduced. The other boy, who was 19 at the time, accepted a plea and was convicted of 1 felony charge to be entered as a misdemeanor after 3 years of probation.

Had the deportation issue not arisen we would have accepted that but as he is 19 and the DA has already contacted INS and alerted them, we have to fight this.
We have mortgaged our house up to the hilt and we will do what needs to be done.

Again, thank you for your replies

tlcoopi7 Wrote:

I forgot to mention this, but is your husband the father of your kids? If he is, then your children are also United States citizens by parental citizenship, and if that is the case, you don't have to worry about deportation.

Yes my husband is there Dad. He became a citizen a year ago, previously a British Citizen.
The assistant DA has already alerted INS and as he is 19, he faces deportation if found guilty.

Thank you for your reply, I appreciate your advice.

BobB Wrote:

marieway Wrote:

I am the parent of a 19 year old Aspergers son in need of urgent help/advice.

My son was diagnosed when he was 7 and has been in Special Education since. After many years of problems with socialization skills etc., 2 years after my son entered high school , he finally made a few friends.

Unfortunately one of these friends took my son with him on an excursion into some local woods and blew up some tree stumps.

My son, then 17, was charged as an adult with 6 felony counts. My son had no idea at the time that he was doing something wrong.

The fact that he has Aspergers' is not being taken into account and we are not only fighting for his liberty but as my son, daughter and myself are British Citizens & only my husband is American,there is a possibility he could be deported.

Despite a stack of reports dating from 1996 to present day, the Assistant District Attorney in Lincoln County, Oregon told us that 'unless he has donated a kidney, I am not interested in hearing about his problems'.

We left the United Kingdom when my son was 9 and have no family left in the U.K. Although my son has made great progress, he could not possibly survive on his own, in the U.K.

I have fought for my son all of his life and will continue to do so, until there is nothing more I can do.

I am asking anyone and everyone I can find that has a connection with Aspergers/ Autism Spectrum to see if there is any help, advice, publicity or any thing at all that would help.

You can reach me at rosewoodbreeze@yahoo.com

marieway,
  I'm kinda surprised that your son would be prosecuted for something that seems trivial, to be honest.

  One of the things that the State *has* to prove is 'criminal intent' on your son's part; he has to be a *willing* participant. He *was* there, yes, but if he didn't know it was wrong - for example, he trusted his 'friend' when he said it was ok - that *could* be considered a mitigating factor.

  To digress a bit: is this Assistant DA running for something? A *lot* of the time, junior DA types who are running for a higher position will over-prosecute to prove that they're 'tough on crime'. Some hints that he's going to have a scandal if he prosecutes a disabled kid might be enough to get him to back off.

  Back to the case at hand, why was a 17-year-old kid charged as an *adult*? Blowing up the tree stumps would probably be considered vandalism, but the monetary value of a tree stump is almost *nothing*. The explosives themselves could be grounds for prosecution, but it would appear that the 'friend' was the one who was the most culpable there.

  Incidentally, what was the 'friend' charged with? Your son could easily turn state's evidence on the 'friend' in exchange for getting the charges dropped. One little secret of prosecutors is that a lot of the time, they don't *really* want to take cases like this to trial, but rather, they want one defendant to turn against another. In this case, it would be *very* difficult for the 'friend' to turn against your son, since the 'friend' was the one who convinced your son to go into the woods.

  Also, make sure you get a *good* lawyer; another little secret about prosecutors is that they'd *much* rather go up against a marginally competent Public Defender than a good private practice attorney. Having a good lawyer might even be enough to get things dropped.

  Hope that helps!   Smile

  -BobB

Thank you for your reply.
He was charged as an adult because it happened on federal land and it was investigated as an act of terrorism.
The older boy accepted a plea and they waited until my son was 18, then issued the arrest warrant, so despite the fact that he was 17 at the time, this is the way the assistant DA is dealing with it.
My attorney approached her with all our facts and she told him that unless my son had donated a kidney, she was not interested...... Sad

Apparently she is up for re-election this year...
Appreciate the advice/help
Thank you

Korrigan Wrote:

I could be wrong on this one, but would contacting the ACLU or something be an option? The concern in my mind being that if he was 17 at the time but they waited until he was 18 to serve the warrant, that does not magically make him 18 at the time of the incident.

Another option...media coverage?

Thank you for your suggestion. I tried the ACLU but it appears they do not deal with criminal cases. However I have forwarded his details to them.
Yes media coverage is another option. As much as I am reluctant, at this point I will try anything..

honestjohn Wrote:

The patriot act /chickens are coming home to roost. Homeland security turns what would have been a charge of juvenile delinquency into a FEDERAL case. Is it a federal charge, or state charge, or local?? I would say of course, get an attorney, find out what the charge is. (plead it down!, throw yourself on the mercy of the court) Your son may have to take some kind of penalty, but 1st offense "Should" definitely not be jail time... and yes, I would use dimished capacity as an escuse if only to make sure he is not prosecuted as an adult... with the defense being - he did wrong, ignorance is no excuse - now he knows better.. BUT your son can be proven, RIGHT now to be less mature chronologically in the discrimination of who he was hanging out with and then you could MKAE SURE he is not prosecuted as the adult. On paper, the kid he was with may be younger than him .... My brother

GuessWho Wrote:

Maybe also because blowing up tree stumps had the possibility to start a forest fire? The feds are afraid because foreigners are involved.

Yes that is a possibility and I agree that it could have been potentially dangerous.
However that did not happen and to my knowledge you cannot charge someone for what might have happened, only what actually happened.

I am sure that there is fear as we are from a different country. However just because we ar from the United Kingdom it does not make us any more 'dangerous' than a local.

Quote:

People with Aspergers are well capable of understanding consequences such as blowing up tree stumps or throwing rocks.

Some are. Some aren't. Life ain't simple.

Oh, good, another thread disolves into a religious flame war. I hope the mother in question gets the help she needs from a *** good lawyer, now that her thread's been hijacked and beaten to a *** pulp.

"*** 'em" isn't a phrase I associate with Jesus, to be honest. Didn't he go on about tolerance, or kindness, or something like that? I see precious little that that exhibited by the self-identified "Christian" here.

You're the only one turning it into a pissing contest, Thezach... which is a bit sad, since you're pissing into the wind.

But this kid isn't jsut autistic - he's got a brain injury and other issues as well. There's a difference between discrimination and the genuine need to take individual circumstances into account.

(But then, I was party to blowing something up myself many years ago...)

Quote:

I doubt the original poster will return. The damage has been done.

Very, very true. I wonder how many newbies have fled in disgust after having their heads ripped off around here. And I wonder how many parents of newly diagnosed children have wandered in, seen the disgraceful behaviour that goes on around this forum, and been shocked to think that that's all their child has to look forward to. Someone asked why journalists don't come here to do research - what would a journo make of the kind of behaviour on this thread and some of the others we've had recently?

Think about what sort of example you're setting before you indulge in your need to spew bile and vitriol across a public forum. We have not deported ourselves well.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.ht...A960958260

I hope they are lenient on your son....

Can we give Zach a - break?

Very good point, indeed.

And maybe the son is trying to make friends to meet not just his own needs but also because his mom suggested that (because she cares) and there is an element of son-mom relationship in this as well.

This needs to come out in court dammit.

BobB Wrote:

Should the kid have been there when the adult (19 years old) was blowing stuff up? No. But if you're dealing with a lonely kid who's pretty much *never* had any friends, and someone *finally* acts like he's their buddy, the kid is probably going to do what the friend wants, just because the kid *needs* a friend!

  Unfortunately, that *can* overshadow whatever judgement one has...

  The 'friend' had done this before; in fact, he *posted* it on YouTube!

  So it's highly unlikely that the *kid* was involved in the planning, preparation, etc.; this is referred to as 'res gestae' in law. There's little - if any - indication that the kid was knowingly and willfully doing anything that he knew to be wrong. Plus, even though he was present, there's no indication that he was any more than a *spectator* to the act.

  *None* of this really has *anything* to do with the fact that the kid is Aspie.

  To digress a bit, in the middle of Stevie Wonder's "Living For The City", he has a playlet where an innocent black kid steps off the bus in the Big City. At the same time, a drug dealer is running from the cops, sees the kid, gives him a bag full of drugs, and runs off - the kid has *no* idea what's going on - then the cops grab the kid, bust him for possession, and he gets something like 15 years in prison for something that he *didn't do*!

  Same thing here; the kid was a *convenient target*, and the fact that he's not an American citizen - again, *nothing* to do with being Aspie - is what's driving the over-prosecution. The *** is on a *witch-hunt*, and THAT'S why I have issues with the situation, *not* just because the kid is Aspie!

  -BobB

Let's not read too much of "Todd Hall" into this particular young man, OK?  These were different explosives events, different places, different times.

I briefly met Mr. Hall on the Marshall campus at one of the Christian fellowship meetings.  He seemed drunk, but that was only because of the brain injury.  It also shows that we must not jump to conclusions.

But maybe tell the young man out west that when you play with explosives, God knows what can happen, maybe more than you expect.  Maybe splinters could have blasted through the two of them, hurt them, esp. the eyes.  Ouch.  Did they use eye protection?

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