Opinion Piece By Donna Westfall – February 11, 2017 – My husband and I spent the last few nights watching the OJ “Juice” Simpson trial produced by John Travolta on Netflix.  It brought back memories of the Trial of the Century along with learning things we had never paid attention to before like all of the in-fighting going on with OJ’s Dream Team, or that lead prosecutor, Marcia Clark told Chris Darden NOT to have OJ try on the glove.

Next to murder, sexual child abuse comes high on my list of most despicable crimes. Like the McMartin Preschool sexual abuse scandal where even if you’re innocent, you’ve lost everything while those responsible for their actions like the DA’s office, the police, the psychologists and the social workers lose nothing. (Refer to “When a child’s lie lands a parent in prison,” published on January 17, 2017.)

I believe our current District Attorney, Dale Trigg has done a fine job in convicting child molesters/abusers since he took office.  It’s too bad that his office inherited the Ranger case because he was Bryan’s Ranger’s Public Defender for a short time before being elected. He cannot be involved with the case due to this conflict of interest and therein enters the California State Attorney General’s office in the form of Joyce Blair email address: Joyce.Blair@doj.ca.gov, in the event you feel compelled to send her a message by the time you finish this series.

Here’s the crux of today’s article. What would you do if you knew someone in jail was completely innocent of the charges?

Would you allow our local corrupt system of justice to wield their ugly power over their lives and sit back and do and say nothing?

I have no issue with Judge McElfresh.  As far as I can tell, he is doing a fine job and following the law. I do have issues with the other Judges. And I have issues with Psychologist, Dr. Tod Roy’s pronouncements that Judy Ranger was not a good parent stand as truth when we witnessed his quasi illegal doings on the 2014-2015 Grand Jury that nearly got the County and the Solid Waste Authority Board sued when Mary Wilson presented evidence that Tod Roy lied. Also, did you know a police report was made by one of the jurors against him? He has since moved out of Del Norte County with every indication that he is in Tucson, Arizona. So, not only did he leave the county, he left the state.

I’ve known Judy Ranger for the past four years.  I met her in the law library of the court house.  When I first met her she was dressed like a hippie or someone connected to an Amish-like community in her colorful long dress and headscarf. She has worked for me off and on since that time.  I’ve found her to be soft spoken, very truthful, modest, hospitable, a great cook, a good conscientious worker, generous, loving, able to maintain her humor against all odds AND deeply grieving over the loss of her family.

She stands firm in her Christian beliefs.  I have witnessed her strong convictions when I attended the meeting with Los Angeles Detectives that flew in last year specifically to ask her to return to the LA area to be available to testify  in a case against a serial rapist/killer. As uncomfortable as that was for Judy to have to take the stand once again and face that monster, she was ready and willing to do it. This woman is no push over.

Now let’s look at the Attorney Generals Motion in Limine filed November 8, 2016: statements based on Dr. Tod Roy’s findings that lead to Judy Rangers parental rights being taken away.

People’s Motions in Limine People v. Ranger, page 3, lines page 12, lines 4-8:

• “In the course of hundreds of jail calls and visits between Judy and defendant, a pictures of Judy emerges that would make anyone feel sorry for her and is entirely consistent with Dr. Roy’s evaluation of her as suffering from major depression from unresolved long term complicated Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Dependent Personality Disorder.  The calls and jail visits demonstrate that she is a person who is barely able to get through everyday life.”

In response, Attorney William B. Cater, acting in his capacity as public defender for Bryan Ranger and has handled over 100 sex abuse cases filed this with Superior Court on November 10, 2016:

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The prosecution has submitted as a “Motion in Limine” a statement of facts that appears to be an attempt to influence the court and create bias before the trial begins.  The undersigned will attempt to headlight some of the misrepresentations.

Let me begin by saying that the People’s statement of facts is merely a list of conclusions that they hope to prove at trial.

It is stated by conclusionary language that Mr. Ranger essentially forced his own form of religion upon his family and quotes Bible verses as support (page 2, Line 7-9, footnote 2) without mention of the source of this information.

At Page 2 line 16-19, there is a claim that the children were constantly hit, slapped and beaten but they can only name one occasion that the eldest daughter (name deleted) had a superficial bruise.  Nowhere in the discovery provided is there any reports of injuries to the children that any mandatory reporters to take any action what-so-ever.

On Page 3 at Line 15-17 there is a quote from a Dr. Roy, hired and paid for by Child Welfare Services, that makes conclusions about Mr. Ranger’s wife, Judy.  What is not mentioned about Mr. Ranger’s wife is that Dr. Roy became annoyed with Judy Ranger and completed the MMPI text for her.  It is also not mentioned that Dr. Roy, in his report, gave an unsolicited opinion of what he thought about people who were Fundamentalist in their religious beliefs.

Yes, the family went on a retreat when it was believed the Rapture would come. They went as a family to pray and basked in the beauty of nature around the cabin they had rented.  The rapture did not happen and they went home.

The Ranger’s were a large and growing family and sometimes they had difficulty finding housing.  Eventually they rented a house on Creekside in Crescent City and that is where the drama begins.

The claims of misconduct on Page 5 under headline “SHOWER/PRIVACY,WORK, FOOD” are matters to present to the jury and for them to access any truth or significance and lack thereof.  The “Facts” as alleged by the prosecution are not true and accurate.  They are the reason we have trials.  The same goes for the “facts” on Page 6 lines 11-14.

We next move on to “Cracks in the Defendant’s Stronghold” where it is claimed that (name deleted) convinced her father to allow the older children to go to school rather than to continue home schooling.

The three older girls started somewhat slowly but soon they all advanced and thrived.  (Name deleted) eventually became the valedictorian and gave a speech praising her family and her Christian upbringing.

It should be noted that the whole time the girls attended school, not one teacher or other mandatory reporter made any complaint or report about the girls possibly being mistreated at home.  Obviously, the Defendant knew that if there were abuse evidence, it would likely be discovered.

At some point in time, after moving into the Creekside house, (name deleted) began an infatuation with the son of the landlord’s (names deleted).  Their son, (name deleted) was a forty-plus-year-old, who lived in a small apartment over the garage on the Creekside property. (Name deleted) infatuation is evidenced by nearly countless mentions of (name deleted) in (name deleted) diaries at the time.  (This relationship will be described in a separate motion to admit the alleged victim’s prior sexual acts, to be filed under seal).

Under the heading, Sexual Abuse, on Page 7, the prosecution fails to mention that none of the children mentioned any sexual abuse.  Those allegations did not come to light for almost one year.  (name deleted) has recanted all the allegations he made in the past.

All of the allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced after (name deleted) had numerous unsupervised contact visits with her siblings.

The claims about (name deleted) problems should be addressed to the court.  They go back 3 years.  It is suggested that the court hear what she has to say either in open court or in camera, before determining if she can testify.  It should be noted here, that (name deleted) has more than once recanted or attempted to recant her stories as to the allegation of “Forfeiture by Wrong-doing” the undersigned requests a hearing about the Evidence Code Section # 1390.  Especially the Court should bear what supporting evidence there is to the list of claims made on page 17, Lines 10-27.  The undersigned cannot find in the 7,000 plus pages of discovery, the report by Dr. McKellar.

To those who believe the Rangers are innocent, this shows the extent to which the system can go in oppressing and destroying families.