Charges dropped against 3 accused in Victoria Lindsay beating

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Charges have been dropped against Cara Murphy, Stephen Schumaker, and Zachary Ashley. Schumaker and Ashley were originally thought to be lookouts.

A notice for each teenager gave the same explanation: “Further investigation has shown that there is insufficient evidence to proceed with charges against the defendant.”

The article’s author speculates if they’ll testify as witnesses.

And remember kids, just because there is insufficient evidence it doesn’t make then angels.

Comments

53 responses to “Charges dropped against 3 accused in Victoria Lindsay beating”

June 13, 2008

LawAndOrder

Yeah. I was beginning to wonder what they were going to do to prove Stephen was at the incident location. All they had were witness statements on that.

Zachary however was apparently seen and heard on the video warning them to keep the noise down because neighbors were getting suspicious. They should’ve proceeded against him IMO.

Murphy… At the most, her involvement was briefly holding the camera according to Tori’s statement. Some news reports said she was the voice saying “17 seconds left” but that was actually Brittany Mayes who said that, and who held the camera most of the time.

Cara and Zach at the very least were at that house. They need to do the proper thing and cooperate with the prosecutor to testify against their former co-defendants now.

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June 13, 2008

LawAndOrder

According to NBC affiliate WESH of Orlando, Murphy’s attorney, Melodie Lopez, has said that Cara has agreed to testify against the others.

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June 13, 2008

navigator

Excellent!!!

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June 13, 2008

mark

I am so happy that Mickey Mouse is the prosecutor in this case….dropping the case because their is not enough evidence??? What do you have to do….FILM IT!!! oh yea that was done…..I am glad OJ is not for trial in this county

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June 13, 2008

J

And remember kids, just because they say there is *insufficient* evidence does NOT mean there was not *sufficient* evidence from the start that the boys did NOT serve as “lookouts”.

In other words kids, you’ve been fooled again — you see the lesson is law enforcement often lies and they do so with total impunity.

They also lied about Cara from the start — they said she hit and kicked Tori even though Tori in fact testified several times — including under oath — that Cara did NOT hit her at all. The lies started by disrespecting the victim herself.

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June 13, 2008

J

Zach was reportedly sent by his grandma to tell the girls to quiet down or she’ll call the cops. It’s that simple. I bet the video portion of his entrance was not released precisely because it would show he had NO CLUE there was a beating going on. And Tori probably did nothing to let him know. Otherwise the charges would NEVER be dropped.

Once you realize the sheriff lies and lies and lies … a lot more will make sense. Just pay attention to the actual statements of the victim and witnesses, think for yourselves, and do not jump to conclusions.

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June 14, 2008

mark

I’ll be more specific, Cara was in the house. Charges dropped, no probation, slap on the wrist, NOTHING.
She still could have been a witness for the prosecution and put on probation, gone around to tell other kids that “its not worth it” etc…but our society no longer has morals or values.

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June 14, 2008

J

First of all, it was clear from the start, PER VICTIM TESTIMONY, that Cara was INNOCENT of the charges against her.

Second, it is the ADULT rules that allowed her to evade any legal punishment. That&rsquos how adults made the rules for themselves &mdash in fact in most states she could not be convicted of anything for just being there and doing nothing.

I&rsquom not saying that&rsquos right, I&rsquom just saying since people wanted her to be judged as an adult, they get adult results.

I bet had this stayed in juvenile court, she&rsquod get probation for culpable negligence or something like that. There would have been no jury and the judge would find something just to teach her a moral lesson.

If you’d see through all the lying you&rsquod realize there really was no silly conspiracy and Cara had no clue what&rsquos going to happen — all the actions were impromptu.

And for all she knew, Brittiny could have turned on her too. Cara reportedly DID try to help several times, even by physically pulling a girl away from Tori. That was not enough, but it was probably more than many &ldquorespectable&rdquo adults would do in such a situation &mdash and they, unlike a white trash kid, would never get charged with anything.

And finally — Cara willl be publicly recognized and humiliated for many years to come — unlike many thousands of adults who acted no better in similar situations. And she may still get killed, raped or maimed by some lunatic or bully thanks to all the encouragement of violence on the Internet against her that law enforcement and ther media chose to conveniently ignore. I would not trade places with her if you paid me a hundred thousand dollars.

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June 14, 2008

J

More example of stupid adult laws affecting this case:

In Florida there is no such thing as an accessory to a misdemeanor &mdash only to a felony! This is one reason they charged them all with kidnapping, so they can get Mercades who never hit Tori.

For juveniles, aiding or abetting a misdemeanor, especially a beating, should be a major deal and punished accordingly. Instead, Florida lets 999 such kids go without any punishment at all and then decides to make 1 a felon for life &mdash but only because it&rsquos been shown on TV!

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June 14, 2008

navigator

So J, you would rather see that all these little criminals gets off of this crime. You want thenm to just be on probration or juvi. NO… NOWAY… these girls will NEVER learn anything if all they get is a few months probation or sent to juvi which is a joke. Thye need to learn their lesson on this and it also needs to stand as an example to ALL other little criminals out there that society is NOLONGER going to put up with this type of behavior and just blow it off like we have do in the past so many times, so that litte “angles” don’t go to jail. THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY KIDS HAVER NO RESPECT FOR ADULTS OR ATHORITY. Because we have not given them reason for respect… it is imparitive that we do this now or it will be worse, and it will be your kid or mine that ends up on a video of someone getting beatin… or even killed.

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June 14, 2008

mark

Isn’t it ironic how the USA, “home of the free and brave” has one of, if not the highest crime rate in the world!!! That’s right, the world. Please stop comparing FL. to other states. It is now understandable how we got so low. This type of action would never have happened anywhere else, and the punishment…..I would just love to hear comments on this. Think of the bigger picture. We are becoming more and more an embarressment to everyone else.

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June 14, 2008

Trench

It’s because we’ve become a nation of people who abuse that freedom.

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June 14, 2008

mark

Well put Trench.

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June 14, 2008

Trench

I have a gem every now and again.

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June 16, 2008

Crystal

I can tell you charges were dropped on the boys because they weren’t involved, and the prosecutors KNEW that they didn’t have ANYTHING showing that they were!! Thank god that someone has finally used some common sense in this case!! There have been people saying all along the boys weren’t there, maybe that should have been checked into before the sheriffs dept. went on national television with NO PROOF that the boys even knew about it…. tisk tisk PCSD… *** Oh BTW there isn’t a boy ANYWHERE on that video!!! Zach NOR Steven NEVER went over there!!

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June 16, 2008

Crystal

I can tell you charges were dropped on the boys because they weren’t involved, and the prosecutors KNEW that they didn’t have ANYTHING showing that they were!! Thank god that someone has finally used some common sense in this case!! There have been people saying all along the boys weren’t there, maybe that should have been checked into before the sheriffs dept. went on national television with NO PROOF that the boys even knew about it…. tisk tisk PCSD… ** Oh and Zach NEVER went over there either, and was NO WHERE on that video!!!!

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June 16, 2008

Holly

Hmmm J said “Zack was reportedly sent by his Grandmm to tell the girls to quiet down or she’d call the cops” I don’t remember reading ANYWHERE that the boys grandma sent him over to tell them to keep it down? And why in the heck would grandma call the cops if they were being “too loud”? That’s an *excuse* by more than likely a family member! WHO would call the cops on the neighbors kids because they were warned to keep quiet &amp not go to Mercades grandma (their neighbor) to say “hey that kids in their screaming with all those girls”. That doesn’t even make sense &amp the girl who’d dropped off Victoria SAID the girls that were screaming at Victoria “went back with their boyfriends” meaning Zack &amp Steve….. And NO I NEVER heard anyone say that Cara hit &amp kicked Victoria but *just the opposite* beause Victoria gave a statement saying “Mercades &amp Cara did not hit me at all”. Victoria further said that Cara wasn’t saying much &amp she thought Cara felt bad about it. That is in her typed statement. You also say that ” reportedly Cara DID try to help several times, even by physically pulling a girl away from Tori.” I haven’t read or heard that ANYWHERE &amp so where was this “reportedly said? Cara herself never said any such thing during her interview but just the opposit in that she didn’t realize how bad it was. She said she was affraid for her at one point but sees “seen this so often that it just didn’t seem all that bad or worse than what she’d seen” &amp 1 of the news people asked “so you’ve seen people beaten in a house before?” &amp she said no just like at school &amp outside and such. She never said “Oh I tried to help her at one point but I just couldn’t manage to” or “I was trying to help pull people off her but I was afraid. She just sat &amp watched.

As for you summation of the boys &amp there not being enough evidence and them dropping the charges well not enough evidence does not prove *innocence* it just means there’s not enough evidence to *CONVICT*! And with all the times that you’ve said “If you could see through all the lying” &amp you’re bad mouthing this sherriff I have a good feeling you’re one of the boys family members! Clearly none of them have any respect for ANY LAWS! With the VILE things they say all over their myspace pages &amp the fact that most of them are on PROBATION perhaps the sherriff’s office is tired of seeing these kids all get slaps on the rists for committing HORRIFIC acts! There was not enough evidence in the end to convict OJ of murder &amp yet everyone knows he DID IT! The families of these boys would have everyone believe that Victoria told lies but “just some times” &amp then defend her when they’re saying she was the victim when the video was made public &amp then go on to say that her BEATING was “not a gang beating” but a fight between kids?! Are they KIDDING?! This is so that they can say the “Seriff has it in for these boys” &amp whatever Victoria said that implicated them then suddenly the victim is lying too? So they’re making all the kids a victim of the Sheriff lying, including Victoria &amp the accussed are victims of both the Sheriff &amp Victoria lying and the crappy “adult laws” now? Sounds to me like YOU are one OF those parents with no respect for the lawy &amp feeling it doesn’t pertain to any of you. That is the problem with the kids down there! Look how many of them are in trouble?! They’ve no respect for ANY authority figure or any rules or laws!

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June 16, 2008

Holly

Crystal you said

“I can tell you charges were dropped on the boys because they weren&rsquot involved, and the prosecutors KNEW that they didn&rsquot have ANYTHING showing that they were!!”

Just because the charges were dropped doesn’t mean they’re innocent! not having enough evidence doesn’t make one “not guilty” or aquitted! It just means they don’t have enough evidence. And so are YOU saying that the Sheriff, Victoria AND the girl who drove her home were ALL lying? For all we know those girls had threatened Victoria and could have threatened that Christine girl too because in her sttement she mentioned “their boyfriends meaning Zack &amp Steve.

No where did it ever say that Zack was on that video and so why the big push that “Azck never went over there”? Is that to say that Victoria is a liar? Why would she lie about that? Why pin something on someone who’s completely innocent when she came right out to say that those 2 girls did not hit her? If she was going to be lying then why not just lie ALL the way &amp say they’d all hit her &amp that the boys were THERE in the room! How would you know that they weren’t there are you a relative like Crystal Zack’s sister? From reading Stephens mom’s blog on her myspace Victoria set u the beating herself so she could have them all put away….? LOL Any excuse to try to say “they didn’t do it.” including “they were never there”.

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June 16, 2008

Holly

J

“And remember kids, just because they say there is *insufficient* evidence does NOT mean there was not *sufficient* evidence”

what you need to realize “kid” is that just because there wasn’t “sufficient evidence” doesn’t mean there was not ANY evidence! It just means there was not ENOUGH! Dropped charges do NOT mean “not guilty”!

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June 17, 2008

Crystal

I know they are innocent, because I know both of them!!!! And they aren’t the boyfriends of any of those girls!!!!!!!!!!!! They were neighbors who happened to know two of them!! And I don’t care who said Zach went over there, I KNOW him, and know that he NEVER went over there while it was going on!!!!! He had been over there earlier– not at that time!!! So pretty much the prosecutors have agreed– THERE IS NO EVIDENCE ON THEM AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!

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June 17, 2008

Crystal

Oh and I have seen EVERY piece of evidence in the case, and there isn’t ONE SHRED ON THE BOYS!!!!!!

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June 17, 2008

Holly

1st I didn’t say they were the “boyfriends of those girls” I said the *witness referred to them that way*. And why would Victoria lie about the boys &amp yet state that Mercades &amp Cara didn’t hit her at all? And if she was going to lie about the boys to get them in trouble then why not just say they were in the house the whole time?

And so if you know them this well you must be Zach’s sister Crystal? I can’t imagine any of the families of any of these kids ever admitting to anything. They’ll all just claim they’re missunderstood with people out to “set them up” all their lives and excuse away their barbaric behaviors. It’s very sad.

And the charges being dropped doesn’t say “not guilty” it says the evidence wasn’t strong enough to convict….

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June 17, 2008

Crystal

Your right I am Zachs sister. And I know him, I know the type of person he is and we are closer than close. 1- he would not lie to me, and 2- he isn’t the type of person to stand around and let something like that happen.. He has told me if he knew that was going on he would have stopped it!! He did see them arguing outside (from his front yard) but then all the girls went inside (willingly) so he assumed things were cool with them and he and Stevo went to the store. He did see them argue out in the front yard. BUT THAT IS IT!! He didn’t know about any plans to jump her, he didn’t know about anything that went on inside. When all the girls went inside he assumed they were done arguing- and left his house……………………. How is that any dif. from the girl who dropped Victoria off (at the house) and witnessed them arguing out front??? Its not…. If prosecutors would have thought that he and stevo knew or planned this, they would still be charged. Those boys had no idea about what went on in that house!! Maybe Victoria didn’t realize the boys weren’t outside. (although I think she knows she is lying because all three of her police reports say something dif. about the boys!) And she and the girl who dropped her off should have noticed that the boys weren’t there the whole time they were arguing out front. They were back at Zachs at that point! (watching them argue from his front porch..) It’s a lot of Bs really. But I am thankful that the prosecutor was able to see through it!!

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June 17, 2008

LawAndOrder

Crystal:

I seriously doubt that Tori lied about them being there the whole time. Remember, she suffered a concussion and I believe this messed up her memory a bit. She also had no way of knowing that they had left the residence.

I also notice that in her police statement that she said it was Mercades that blocked the door (when in fact it was Hardcastle). This is what is called memory morphing, and it is associated with memory loss.

Thankfully, the police have video record of most of the crime so they do not have to rely completely upon testimony.

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June 17, 2008

Holly

Crystal the difference between the *witness* who’d dropped Victoria off &amp the boys that were there when the *witness left* is that they were *still there*. Are you seriously going to say these young men didn’t know what was happening? Come on honey a huge fight brewing and they didn’t know? With all the screaming and yelling those girls did they didn’t know what was intended?

As for the prosecutor just because she didn’t go after them doesn’t mean that she doesn’t believe they were indeed outside &amp knew what was happening. It just means she knows (like I &amp everyone else knows) that It’s going to be their (Zach &amp Stephen) word against Victoria’s &amp Christine’s. The prosecutor isn’t wasting her time on the boys who didn’t actually assault but is going to zero in on those who commited the actual attack.

Why would Victoria lie about them on 1 aspect &amp then not about the other girls on the other? And again we’re back to blaming the victime?! What the hell is wrong with you people? I don’t care if that girl was using photo shop to cut &amp past the other girls heads on to skanky nude bodies it doesn’t give them card blanch to go beat someone…. &amp so now it’s the sheriff, Victoria AND the witness Christine that are all lying to have gotten the boys in trouble?

When we all heard Stephens drunken angry father on TV saying these were “all trumped up charges by the sheriff” I think for many this spoke volumns. He made this sound as though it were just some fight between 2 kids and that just was not the case but rather this WAS a beating! When an adult tries to trivalize assault &amp battery on someone else’s kids as “just kids stuff” that’s when it says “we’ll come up with any reason to just brush this off &amp get him out of it”. So NOW it does indeed look like there “just wasn’t enough evidence to go after the boys too. Stephens mother makes it just as bad with her wild claims. When there are so many “out there claims” it just takes away the credibility of the people speaking. Mercades mother actually sat &amp watched the video beating while being interviewed ans was saying “see it wasn’t a whole bunch of people but one at a time” meaning she wasn’t ganged up on. This is trivalizing this beating by a GANG of girls &amp these adults loose credibility!

I understand this boy is your brother and we all have a sense of pride and we’ll defend them to our death, HOWEVER standing by them doesn’t mean we should always deny the things they’ve done. You are not alone in the way you feel about your brother nor are the parents of ALL of those kids. As you sit here saying “I know my brother” well it was “brittbabys” mom who told a reporter on camera “she’s really a very nice person”…… I’m sure she has the same kind of pride in her daughter and wants to believe in her, but the fact is her daughter is *on camera* swearing like a sailor &amp beating the hell out of someone who was basically BEGGING her to stop. She was without any mercy &amp yet her mothers words are “she’s really a very nice person” &amp she *believes that*. Nice people don’t have no mercy when a person begs.

The facts that rules and laws do not apply to any of these kids is VERY apparent &amp that is to anyone who’s paid any kind of attention to this case and the group down there. they’ve all gotten new myspace pages and have continued online &amp it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to know this. Is there NO ONE saying to them “hey you need to lay low for a bit” until things calm down? Stephen actually had the house restrictions lessened first before the charges where dropped, so that he could go to work etc. &amp so what does he do but drive on a suspended license? One would think he’d keep it all extremely on the level since he’d just been cut a BREAK! WHERE are his PARENTS saying “keep out of sight &amp don’t get in trouble”? Is that the sheriff once again that’s out to get him “trumping up charges”? To read his mom’s blog as I’m sure you know Victoria has set all this up to put them all away in jail? The comments &amp statements by these adults do not help these kids. That girl laughing in court? Does NOT help them! Has ANYONE told them this?! They need to face what they did &amp just apologize &amp then pay the price for it.

I do understand what you are saying to me. And so perhaps Zach was actually trying to give comfort to Victoria when she read it wrong when he’d “hugged her” &amp she felt “he knew what was going to happen”. Perhaps he DID know what was going to happen and that was his way of saying “I still love you” &amp having empathy for someone about to have her head handed to her. I think the lact of accountability in all of this just makes it so much worse!

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June 17, 2008

Holly

lawandorder what makes you think that we just haven’t seen that piece of the clip yet where it’s Mercadies that blocks the door? From what I understood this attack went on for 1/2 hr. and we saw what 9 mins. of a tape? We never saw how Victoria ended up on the couch curled in a ball etc. I’m sure you’re correct in that there are parts she’s not remembering but in what we saw a lot of what we saw was exact to what she said. She’d gone into the living room asking for a cell phone of someone else &amp was told no while they were texting someone (the boys outside?) &amp then Britt got into it etc. etc. It was pretty much right on. I thought that perhaps all the blows to her head &amp her head slamming up against the wall left her with the concussion and foggy so that the sequence of things weren’t right in order. That would leave the time that Mercades blocked the door a different time. She’d gone back in to get her things &amp had been dragged back in by Brittini &amp repremanded that she’d left Mercades stuff a mess in the closet &amp this is where the eventual “after the beating photo” took place. And the photo just like Victoria said was there. I think she just had some of the things that happened out of sequence and of course not all of the pieces of video have been released to the public. I imagine they have the text messages and the myspace stuff and we haven’t seen any of that. What’s also interesting is that Victoria’s parents haven’t said not 1 cross word publically against these kids but they don’t think twice to paint Victoria some kind of harlet. It’s very sad.

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June 17, 2008

mark

Your right Holly, it is sad. Where are the parents and true parenting??
And Crystal…c’mon..They weren’t there?? I said it before and i’ll say it again….any man (boy) who could stand by and do nothing while a girl is beaten silly is not a man. They are something else, but certainly not a man.

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June 18, 2008

Crystal

See thats just it, my brother WAS NOT THERE, and didn’t know about it!! HE LEFT HIS HOUSE, and if the sheriffs dept wouldn’t have waited 10 days to go and try and get the video, he would have proof!!! He and Stevo left Zachs house (when they saw all the girls go inside willingly) the boys left Zachs house and went to the local convient store. They told the cops that- and yet the detective waited 10 days to try and go get the video (knowing damn well that they get recorded over after 7 days!!) and yeah in Victorias police reports #1 says she is pretty sure Zach watched.. #2 says Zach drove her and dropped her off!! # 3 says she seen Zach get into Stevos car and drive off…… Those are completley dif. sceneros… How could she have mistaken so much- but yet be so sure those boys were there the whole time? Ok maybe lets give her the benefit of the doubt, maybe she doesn’t truly remember because she had been attacked (there is no doubt in my mind about that) but if she didn’t truly remember she shouldn’t try to fabricate it either. Now don’t get me wrong I think what those girls did was stupid- and wrong in a lot of ways- but I KNOW that my brother didn’t know about that. He knew the girls didn’t like each other– but when he saw them all go inside that house (not yelling anymore) he assumed they were all cool now. And left… That isn’t against any law!! AT ALL!!!! HE WAS NOT AT THAT HOUSE AND DAMN SURE DIDN’T STAND OUTSIDE THE DOOR!!!!!!!!!!!

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June 18, 2008

Crystal

oh and I have seen ALL the evidence even what hasn’t been released to the public! Trust me neither of the boys are on ANY of it!! none of the text messages, none of the video, none of the myspace bashing messages, NONE OF IT!!!!!! The ONLY person saying the boys were there is Victoria, and she has 3 dif. versions of their involvement… Reliable lol…..

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June 18, 2008

Holly

sigh yes and she’s the one who “set the boys up?” LOL why would she do that? &amp if she wanted to then why not have them in the house? doesn’t make sense.

Once again when you are bashing the victim &amp have no accountability you loose *credibility*.

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June 18, 2008

Crystal

I am not “bashing” the victim. I am simply telling you what all 3 of her police reports say. She is the one who makes them sound ridiculous….

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June 18, 2008

Crystal

and your damn right me nor my brother will be accountable for something I nor he was involved in! And if it were you, accused of something (that you know for damn sure you weren’t involved in) and something so heinous (with no evidence) I bet you wouldn’t be taking accountability for it either.

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June 18, 2008

Crystal

And I never said she “set the boys up” I said how is it possible for her to know whats going on outside when she is inside getting attacked… And if she was sure about what happened why do all 3 of her police reports say something different?

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June 18, 2008

Holly

LOL Crystal both of the boys families act as though this were all just some big set up. There is 1 reasoning after another so if 1 excuse doesn’t work another will. “they were at the store &amp not there” &amp “the sheriff trumped up all these charges &amp this wasn’t any gang attack” &amp “Victoria is lying &amp trying to set them up so she could have them all locked up in jail”. I didn’t say it was YOU I said the families have said this. you’re part of the families and so the lose of credibility will extend to you…. The idea that Victoria has “set them up” and planned the attack &amp beating herself is ridiculas…. but none the less Stephens mother has this in her blog on myspace! It’s one thing after another &amp now you’re sitting here saying they had no clue what was happening? The WITNESS SAW them there when the girls were SCREAMING at Victoria &amp you’re going to say they had no idea what was happening? come on… The differene between the witness Christine &amp the boys seeing the yelling &amp screaming is that they boys where atually there with the girls who beat her and were talking to them the witness Christine had not.

From the *witness Christine’s sworn statement* that was transcribed from audio “She was concerned about (inaudible) Mercades (inaudible), so she asked me to wait a few minutes when we got there and so I waited, and, about five minutes, and Victoria came back out and she was crying and she had all of her things and said that she had kicked her out. And right before Victoria got in the car, when we were going to leave, the Mercades girl and 2 of her friends came outside and started yelling at Victoria and they were cussing at her and calling her very crude names. And, they went back with their boyfriends. And, she was just asking them to let her come back for a few hours, just to find a place to go because she didn’t have a cell phone, And so, after about 20 minutes of them yelling and screaming &amp cussing at her, I got out of my car and told them that I didn’t want to listen them, lis, I didn’t want to listen to them yeall at her for another hour. Just let her come inside and use the telephone &amp (inaudible) &amp call some people. And the Mercades girls said fine I don’t care, just come inside Victoria, so she went inside &amp I left. &amp then, I guess, we found out the next day that they had beaten her up. She was in the hospital.”

Those boys were standing there with those girls just prior to them going back in and had to have known what was going to happen. they were in a place to hear them speaking….

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June 18, 2008

Holly

Crystal “She is the one who makes them sound ridiculous&hellip.”

this is bashing the victim…… her 3 police reports. you mean the reports from right after she’d had her head beat to the point of a concussion? You mean the statement she made after being trapped in a house &amp then a car with girls she wasn’t sure wasn’t going to kill her? You don’t think she was perhaps so scared that her first statement was “blurry for her”? come on are you serious? And THIS is the lack of empathy that lends to your lack of credibility &amp yes it is bashing the victim…… like she’s just making the whole thing up. We all saw this beating &amp it was real. Your brother &amp his friend Stephen are friends with the girls who beat her &amp later gave them rides home &amp were standing there just prior to them all going inside to beat Victoria (now that her ride was gone and there was no way for her to ride away fast in a car) and you’re saying they had NO CLUE what was going to happen? You can’t possibly be this nieve. And I don’t care how many different ways Victoria’s statement went there is a *witness* that puts your bother standing with the attackers just prior to them attacking. They knew what was happening. Not having proof to proscecute doesn’t mean “innocent”.

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June 18, 2008

Holly

from an article in “The Ledger” And I quote…..

“Included in the documents is a report by sheriff’s Detective Ricky Newman who wrote that Schumaker changed his story when the tape recorder was turned on during an interview.

Newman wrote that Schumaker admitted previously in an untaped interview to overhearing the girls planning to jump Lindsay and posting the video on MySpace and YouTube.

The detective also wrote that Schumaker told him Ashley warned the girls to quiet down because neighbors were getting suspicious.

Schumaker said in his taped statement that he and Ashley saw the girls arguing outside the house while sitting on a nearby porch.

Schumaker said he and Ashley went to a gas station and came back. “Then I don’t know what the heck happened inside the house,” he said.

Newman attempted to get a copy of a surveillance video from the gas station, but the footage from that night had been recorded over, reports state.”

And so they’re ALL LYING?

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June 18, 2008

mark

Hey Holly,

You forgot one thing….who’s car did everyone else climb into after the attack?….I understand it was a white SUV. It drove past Victoria and someone yelled something at her.
Crystal, was that your family or brothers car?

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June 18, 2008

Holly

yes actually I had forgotten that. I thought I’d read in one of the statements who she thought that was but even Victoria was uncertain of who it was.

I just think that it’s really nieve to think that those young men were sitting on a porch or where ever they were when those girls walk back over to them as they’re still yelling at Victoria and yet the boys weren’t hearing other things that weren’t yelled out? And Stephen changed his statement as well when the tape started rolling &amp I imagine that was because they’d all had the time to get their stories on target with each other.

I would imagine Victoria was so upset that she’d not know which end is up giving that first statement.

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June 18, 2008

mark

I so agree, I honestly thought they jumped into the car with the two boys…thats why I thought they were guilty. But, I could be mistaken.

I understand Crystal standing up for her brother, I guess it ruins her reputaion as well. I mean, for the longest while…its going to be “aren’t you the sister of that guy that…” then as our memories fade, and it always does, we’ll remember the name, but won’t remember why.Its so sad. I wonder, is she a younger sister or older?

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June 18, 2008

navigator

Victoria’s statement actually says… “April Cooper and Kayla Hassle,Stevo and Zach jump in his car and, and drove off I guess. I don’t know where they went” it was a white explorer and then when she was dropped off at CVS a white Explorer drove by and a girl yelled something out the window at her but she couln’t tell what was said.

It really makes me mad because the victim statments that I have read basically say the same thing, they are NOT all different except more in detail. The first statment was March 31st,which was hand written and the the other ( there is only 2 by Tori) was done on the 2nd of April, more detailed and recorded. So what is Crystal talking about… they DO not contradict each other in anyway.

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June 19, 2008

mark

exactly…..

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June 19, 2008

Crystal

I’m done arguing with you people whose opinions DON’T MATTER!! You can think what you want- we know the truth, and apparently the prosecutors agree….. THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS! PEACE BITCHES!!! Me and my family will have a nice life— k thanks…. XOXOXOXO crystal…

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June 19, 2008

Holly

Mark I think it’s natural to defend ones spouse, sibling, kid or even a friend. We identify ourselves with them as part of “who we are”. No one wants to think of their brother as being one who lacks conviction or is less than he could be.

Navigator that was the very impression I’d gotten with Victoria’s sttements which I was unable to just find when I was answering here yesterday. And like you I’d thought there was just 2 statements unless people are counting the 911 call? I still think that at the start Victoria had to have been some what blurry with having been hit so many times &amp the adrenaline running so high with that feeling of being “under attack” you know? You see the statement she makes when “a gril yelled something at her but she didn’t know what”. Clearly she knew the person or the person knew her &amp yet she wasn’t able to make the connection in her mind &amp I think that’s because the threat of attack was already just letting go &amp her focus was on her “rescue about to show up.” The mind’s a pretty interesting thing when it’s protecting us. 🙂 I thought she’d been remembering pretty well and again from what we’ve seen of the tapes most all is right on &amp I think what she’s said that we haven’t seen yet is just out of sequence. But I agree that I didn’t think she contradicted things she’s said.

Frankly I think the defense must have had too much to drink or something when it was said THEY were the ones who’d wanted the 2nd video released because they wanted to see the inconsistancies in Victoria’s statements? What we all got to see was her explaining herself to someone &amp in essence apologizing because she’d acted “stupid &amp I’ve grown up since then” &amp they laced into her anyway?! As she wa getting hit over &amp over on the bed her head keeps hitting the wall &amp many say they can actually *hear this* where I see it &amp I’m sure as the one who’s head was hitting the wall as she got hit it felt as though her head were being “slammed into the wall”. And I think this is the discrepencey the defence is referring to? I think they had to be out of their minds to try to release that video to get sympathy for their clients or paint Victoria as the liar?

I WISH the victims FAMILIES would STOP trying to explain this all away as it being Victoria just being a liar?! As thought she beat herself on tape? It’s nuts?!

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June 19, 2008

Holly

LOL Crystal us “BITCHES!!!”? wow there comes that *nasty* *badass* *inyourface* attitude that we’ve all been speaking of that seems to be the norm for the area? LOL I guess I should be careful of WHAT I say……?

These boys have not been proven “innocent” but rather there is/was a lack of evedence to prosecute &amp now they along with Cara can be put on the stand *under oath* and made to testify as to why the girls would be wanting to beat up Tori and what was happening online etc. etc. The prosecutor sees the boys as a means to help convict the others! LOL And convincing them she/he’s on their side now they’re friendly with her……….

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June 19, 2008

navigator

Crystal, I guess when facts are in your face you have nothing left to say…

“I&rsquom done arguing with you people whose opinions DON&rsquoT MATTER!! You can think what you want- we know the truth, and apparently the prosecutors agree&hellip.. THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS! PEACE BITCHES!!! Me and my family will have a nice life&mdash k thanks&hellip. XOXOXOXO crystal&hellip”

LOL… and proud to be one… at least I am not considered white trash!

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June 19, 2008

mark

“THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS! PEACE BITCHES!!! Me and my family will have a nice life&mdash k thanks&hellip. XOXOXOXO crystal&hellip”

Does anyone else see the irony in this???

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June 21, 2008

Holly

Mark yes the irony is there though i think at the reading of her post I wasn’t all that surprised. Again The irony is there just reading all of their myspace pages. Everything I’ve pointed out in the way of attitudes etc. can be seen right on their myspace pages. Rather than *see* what someone is saying to them and/or see the reality &amp/or the truth it’s easier to just go back to a place where no one can comment to the contrary to them &amp say “he is innocent and F off to the non believers”. Of course the vulgarity is just as I’d originally said and it’s as thought they are ALL teenagers without the ability to communicate anger &amp frustration without using the F bomb in every part of a sentence they can think of? It’s just beyound me that they’ve all let down all these kids SO much &amp rather than start to straighten themselves out &amp start facing their part in things they just deny, deny deny &amp continue with this angry, ignorant attitudes that they pass on to their offspring. Again the running thought process is “they’re judt kids &amp it was just a fight” &amp “that horrible police department has it in for them” &amp “the victim is a liar &amp making it up too” &amp apparently so are ALL the witnesses.

See these attitudes are held by the other kids too and so this is where the charges where dropped in reality to get these kids to open up about what happened. If they’re not under charges they can say “yes I heard them say……” I think the prosecution was real smart in this move really. Now there’s 3 of their peers that can &amp will say what happened because they’re no longer afraid of being punished. And so even the attitude of “she talked trash &amp had it coming” can come out in court where as prior to this they’d all say “no I didn’t hear/see any of that”. Get it?

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June 21, 2008

LawAndOrder

Looks like Hardcastle was on probation for something. The court just scheduled a hearing relating to her probation.

06/19/2008 06/26/08 08:30 AM F4 HRG ON MODIF PROB/NTA
06/19/2008 NOTICE OF HEARING FILED
06/19/2008 PRETRIAL RELEASE MOTION

06/26/2008 08:30:00 SPOTO, KEITH -NJ HEARING ON MODIFICATION OF PROBATION/NTA BARTOW : PATRUCCO ,VINCENT J TWYFORD ,WILLIAM JOHN

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June 21, 2008

navigator

Told ya! J was all up in arms saying I lied about Hardcastle and Cooper being on Probation… 1 down, 1 to go… No J, if your still able to READ these post… I am NOT a liar!

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August 17, 2008

Mindy

I always felt–from the day the story broke–that those two boys were way less culpable than the beaters and abusers inside the home.

And as far as the US having the highest crime rate, that is the price you pay, the tradeoff, for living in freedom.

I am old enough to remember the spate of plane hijackings in the seventies. Know why they never, and I mean NEVER, hijacked a Russian plane? Because they knew the Russians would kill the hijackers, passengers, pilots, stewardesses….and anybody on the tarmac who had the misfortune of being in the way.

We live in the greatest country in the world. Freedom is not free, and crime is part of the price for it.

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September 29, 2008

Thomas

Crystal, you are a stupid cunt. You are defending these assholes as though you have something personal at stake, here. Which one of them are you fucking?

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April 12, 2009

No comment

I know for a fact that steve-o was at the store getting cigs and when he got back they asked for a ride home and steve-o gave them one. That does not mean he was there. Steve-o HATES when boys hit girls. He CANNOT stand it. Before you run your mouth, get the true story. Thanks.

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June 13, 2009

Chuck D.

Interesting, considering Schumaker’s original statement indicated he knew the girls were plotting the beating:
http://www.theledger.com/article/20080423/NEWS/80…

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