Tag: John Sandy Spirit Lake Iowa

02/19/2020 A Voice From the Gallery

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

February 20, 2001

Over the past three years I witnessed many miscarriages of justices and I have not been silent.

I participated in a criminal trial as an alibi witness.  I learned quickly the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution exists only in a museum and it is a bastardised versions of these documents the real world practices.  A prospective juror, a teacher in the Jefferson school district told the defense attorney, “it is up to the defendant to prove himself innocent”, his words, ‘guilty until proven innocent”.  I spend a year and a half fighting for truth, fighting law enforcement and struggling to keep my family whole.  I spent a week in the Woodbury County Courthouse; during that week I watched Iowa DCI Agent Dan Moser (retired)  and  DCI Agent Terry Klooster (Finality Investigations) and the alleged victim’s boyfriend Rod Jones having coffee in the jury room with the jury present.  I waited for the defense attorneys to do something, I waited for Woodbury County Deputy to do something—finally I did something,  The Iowa DCI agents described me as confrontational.  When I was finally allowed in the courtroom, I was subject to a physical search.  Ever have one of those?  Most people have criminal courtroom experience only via entertainment television, so they have no concept of sitting silently, waiting for a jury to deliver a verdict.  The cannot feel every hair on their body stand on end, feel the tentacles of cold despair radiate into their soul, hear the screams of their sister rip across the silence or the intense personal pain emanate in tsunami-like waves from the brother-in-law as he grips their hand while the jury foreman makes the pronouncement “Guilty”!  My nephew was with me that fateful night, yet he was convicted and sentence to life without the possibility of parole at the age of 19 on the anniversary of his parent’s marriage.

I have spent the past year researching law, working for the appeal and waiting through the everlasting nightmare that has become normal life for my family.  I have been in constant contact with my nephew in prison, in each conversation I have with him we discuss the things we did wrong, and the things we did right.  Uppermost in each conversation is that we allowed public opinion to cow us and intimidate us into not fighting as strongly as we should have.  On January 3, 2001, I went to Des Moines to listen to oral arguments in the Iowa Appellate Court for nephew’s appeal.  Imagine your whole life balanced on the best argument your attorney can make in 15 minutes.  On February 7, 2001, we received work the appeal was granted to my nephew so we go back to trial.

During the past three years my attitude has undergone a catharsis.  I will never stand by silently allowing an innocent individual be railroaded by misinformation, untruths, by cowards who let others take blame for their actions or people too lazy to investigate the truth whether it is in Spirit Lake, Iowa or here in Alcester, South Dakota.  To my critics, shame comes from continuing to perpetuate a wrong on a good man when he has been proven innocents.  If divisive means one faction fighting to restore a man’s good name while a second factions continues to perpetuate the wring, Yup we are divided!  If airing the dirty laundry is the only way to clean it, get the clothes-pins ready and the clothes-line wiped down!  I come from a line of fighters, the Magee and Culbertson in the Revolutionary War and the Newtons in both World Wars.  I am confrontational, I am pit-bull tenacious, I am obdurate but I AM NOT a quitter.  To the cowards who mail me the unsigned, anonymous sophomoric drivel, which passes for your opinions of my worth—I decline your invitation.  I am here—- so bring it on!  This one ‘little woman’ who will not only be seen but be heard.  I will no longer silently sit back hoping truth and justice will prevail.  I will fight, annoy, push, shove, bully, harass and antagonize to ensure justice has a chance.  I am more than willing to, as the title of a jazz song suggests, “Face The Music and Dance”!

A look back, still I wait but the storm is indeed building.

 

10/31/2018 A Voice From the Gallery

“Growing up the good guys wore white hats, the bad guys wore black hats and if you told the truth you would always win.”

Oh how I wish I could have always worn those ‘rose-coloured” glasses or at least I could put them back on now from time-to-time.

These past days have had the cumulative effect of out-rage with an unequivocal determination to strike swiftly, surely and finitely to aid and protect a young woman (a relative) from the purely, whack-a-doodle, drug encrusted mind and behavioral accusations of Stephen.

In or around 2012 Andy and his little brother Stephen were shipped to Northwest Iowa (specifically Spirit Lake, Iowa) from Washington state by who I would characterize as Embarrassed Daddy Got Bucks for drug rehabilitation and Margarita Mommy.  Drugs of choice for both these ‘boys’ include; cocaine, heroin, meth and prescription drugs.

On  February 18, 2013, Andy managed a trifecta of improper rear lamp charge, unlawful meds charge in Spirit Lake and the traveling pharmacy of cocaine, meth and marijuana charge in Milford.  After being charged, bed & boarded in Dickinson County Iowa jail, Edward (Ned) Bjornstad appointed defense counsel on  February 21, 2013, and Edward (Ned) Bjornstad withdrew as defense counsel on March 6, 2013, (too much work Ned?)  Upon Ned’s retreat, enter John Lawrence Sandy as defense counsel with an eye to the main chance and in Mr. Sandy’s own words, “I (John Sandy) am only in it for the money…” and who again repeated this mantra in his inadvertent telephone recording as acting mediator for the state of Iowa in the Administrative Judge Susan Ackerman case for which he (John Sandy) received formal censure.

Oh but Stephen stayed behind!  While the dust from Andy’s flight was still floating in the air in March 2013, Stephen was engaging in abuse not only of drugs but accusations of domestic abuse of a roommate and fathered a child on a young woman in June 2013.  Who was Stephen’s attorney representing him on the domestic abuse charge?  Why none other than John Lawrence Sandy!

In 2014 Stephen continued in his pattern of drug abuse and was arrested for simple domestic abuse of a roommate with trial scheduled for April 2014 and a no contact order issued.  Stephen was found not guilty of the abuse of a roommate but there was still the tentative abuse action of the young woman.  However Stephen took the young woman and her baby to Washington, where he, his mother and his father had ‘talks’ with the young woman who was a victim/witness. Define Witness tampering.  After these captive Washington ‘talks’ the young woman withdrew her complaint.

In 2015, Stephen filed an action to establish paternity, custody and visitation for the baby.  The custody/visitation hearing was held March 9, 2015, before Judge Steven J. Andreasen where Stephen testified according to the hearing transcript in answer to the question, “…Have you sought out any sort of anger management treatment?…” Stephen answered, “… No. No. Well, back in fifth grade I did, yeah…”  Later in the transcript where Stephen testified in answer to the question, “…You (Stephen) had indicated in your affidavit that you sought out drug treatment, is that correct?…” and Stephen answered, “…That’s right…”  When Stephen was asked, “…when did you complete that treatment?…” Stephen answered, “…September 2012…I’m trying to–I think September 7th or September 17th…” and to the question put to Stephen, “…Have you had a relapse since then?…” to which Stephen answered (with no objection from his then attorney Amanda Van Wyhe), “…I have two relapses since then…”

As a result of the March 9, 2015, hearing Judge Steven Andreasen awarded Stephen unsupervised visitation with two weeks in the summer with the year old child forcing the young mother to turn her baby over to a drug fiend and I believe the munificent court ordered child support of $42.00 per month!

While that ruling was being challenged, the young woman was forced to drive to Webster city for the weekend exchanges.  Meanwhile Stephen was still using drugs.  On the November 11, 2015, exchange, the young woman demanded Stephen roll up his sleeves to check for new needle marks before she would hand over her baby.  Stephen refused and called 911 at or around 19:31PM for custody exchange assistance.  Three Webster city officers arrived, Phil Queen 19:47 PM, Brandon Pritchard 19:35PM and Captain Tony Janssen 19:34 PM.  The young woman was threatened with arrest if she did not hand the year-old child over.  Scared to death of arrest and possible loss of her baby, she handed the child over without confirming new needle tracks, nor did the Webster City Officers check.

The young woman received numerous text messages from Stephen.  One of numerous rapid fire messages on November 26, 2015,  at 4:22:29 PM Stephen states, “because of your irresponsibility to let your work know ahead of time which days you have to meet up with me to exchange (baby), and jockeying your schedule to do so …because of your negligence toward the court order, because of your incompetence to be able to follow the judges instructions…mark my words it is only a matter of time before I have primary physical care of (baby)…She belongs with me and not you…not to mention it is a proven fact that daughters do better with their fathers having custody than their mothers (otherwise they become insecure and don’t know how to have a relationship with a man and they don’t know how to treat men because of it…” at 4:22:37 PM Stephen continues, “…And I am not doing this to punish you…I’m doing it because I truly think I am a better parent than you…” at 5:03:19 PM Stephen states, “…So I just want you to know that I am going to be filing the motion and you should probably be hiring your attorney again. I am not scared of you…I have spoken to the Hamilton County sheriff’s deputies who came to the gas station you know the ones who told you to shut up because they saw right thru you, we’ll they have your number and my attorney is going to subpoena an affidavit from them to explain what they were witnessing…I am going to humiliate because the entire Plymouth county courthouse is going to have your number after my attorney gets through with you…”

From 2016-2018 Stephen moved from city to city, state to state to avoid law enforcement, jail and all the while keeping up his litany of verbal and mental abuse using law enforcement as a vise to squeeze compliancy from the young woman.

On or around October 18, 2018, Stephen struck again.  Once again fresh out of drug rehab according to my information and having taken a four year old child to the equivalent of a half-way house for a weekend stay, Stephen involved the Plymouth County Sheriff’s office in his behavioral, mentally aberrant vendetta accusing the young woman of kidnap because the young woman fearful for her safety and the safety of her child refused to give her new address to Stephen.

Deputy Rick Singer called on the young woman, questioned her and threatened her with arrest for kidnapping her own child.  The young woman called me terrified, relating her exchange with Deputy Singer.  On October 23, 2018, I presented myself at the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office to meet with Deputy Singer to confirm he was the officer who spoke with the young woman and issued the arrest threat, to supply him with evidence I had (excerpts of text messages, March 9, 2015, hearing transcript excerpt and a copy of the Duluth Power and Control Wheel) and to discuss future contacts with the young woman.  Deputy Singer and I had a brief unsatisfactory conversation, I left the Sheriff’s office, made a brief stop at the Plymouth County Attorney’s Office and headed home to write a meeting summary which was forwarded to Deputy Singer, Sheriff Van Otterloo and Plymouth County Raymond and appears below:

 

 Vickie A. Larsen

                                                                                                October 23, 2018

PLYMOUTH COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

Plymouth County Deputy Rick W. Singer

451- 14th Avenue N.E.

LeMars, IA  51031

re:  Stephen

Dear Deputy Singer:

This is a confirmation of our face-to-face visit this morning at the Sheriff’s Office in LeMars.

At the commencement of our conversation, I presented you with copies of four documents:  A copy of the Duluth Power and Control Wheel, a copy of selected pages derived from the court transcript of the Monday, March 9, 2015, hearing before the Honorable Steven J. Andreasen, Equity Number DRCV036146  in the Iowa District Court for Plymouth County (pages 1,22-25), and two sections of selected harassing excerpts of telephonic text messages from Stephen (last name blocked) which you ignored throughout the short course of our conversation.

We discussed your threat to arrest Ms. (name blocked)  for kidnapping her minor daughter ostensibly because she failed to give Stephen (last name blocked) her current address, your un-substantiated opinion she lied to about your threat, your misguided belief your expansive knowledge of Iowa Statute would validate your claim, and your belief that your verbal statement you could arrest her for kidnap was not a threat.

Let’s deal with your stance you hold the power to arrest Ms. (name blocked) for kidnapping her own child, simply for not immediately advising Stephen (last name blocked) of her change in address.  I would argue those pesky little precursors of arrest warrant such as proper unbiased investigation and unimpeachable evidence beyond hearsay which lead to probable cause for a bill of indictment which should be provided to the county attorney in form would cramp your style.

Now onto your crystal ball opinion Ms (name blocked) lied about your explicit threat of arrest for kidnapping which meandered from she outright lied about  what you said about her arrest, to she misunderstood your intent when you told her you could arrest her for kidnapping, to your contention I misunderstood what she told me and finally all the way downstream by the end of your explanation and justification of your admitted comment to Ms. (name blocked) to you quoting your belief of what Iowa Statute says.  Deputy Singer, I do believe you are standing on the wrong side of the bench, it is way above your pay grade to interpret the law.

Finally I want to touch on another facet of our short conversation.  Specifically Deputy Singer, the flawed opinion you voiced concerning your threat to Ms. (name blocked), your error in opinion and legal fact you made on August 4, 2015, when you violated a citizen’s Fourth Amendment assurance and yesterday you erred again when you opined an admitted, still ‘using’ drug addict with ‘anger issues’ going back to the fifth grade to which he testified on March 9, 2015, (a copy of which testimony I provided to you) has the right to possess a hand gun.  Deputy Singer, you castigated Ms. (name blocked) for her fears for her life and her child by way of your threat to arrest her.  Tell me Deputy Singer would you willingly provide your address to an anger irrational, known drug addict with a handgun?  Would you let him know where you live with your family?

I offer an observation, while the author of the August 14, 2015, article I read concerning your Fourth Amendment violation and abridgement of open carry rule opined, “…Deputy Singer has qualified immunity…and he is ignorant of the law…”, I disagree with the ‘qualified immunity’ in that it plays semantics with the clarity of the law and he creates an oxymoron with the addendum of  Deputy Singer’s Ignorantia juris non excusal(ignorance of the law excuses not  or ignorantia legis neminem excusat (ignorance of the law excuses no one) ignorance of the law which is No Excuse.  Plymouth  County Deputy Rick W. Singer is no more above the laws of our land than any other citizen.  Conversely above most others, he has an oath sworn duty to KNOW those laws!

Finally I will leave you with this observation Deputy Singer while you appear to have skated on the Fourth Amendment violation, I will not allow you or the state Iowa to sacrifice another Iowa child or mother on the altars of stupidity, willful ignorance and incompetence.  I will not stand silently by for a recurrence of Shelby Duis.  I am

sincerely yours,

Vickie A. Larsen

 

 

 

 

 

09/02/2016 A Voice From the Gallery

Johnny's pants

This is dedicated to John L. Sandy (Spirit Lake) and his February 18, 2004, sworn deposition in Dickinson County (Iowa) , #PCCV 021330, with appearances by Mr. Lonnie B. Saunders, Assistant Dickinson County Attorney and Mr. Michael J. Jacobsma, Attorney for the defendant.

        I quote to Johnny:

“…What infernal serpent

Has lent you his forked tongue?

From what pit of foul deceit

Are all these whoppers sprung?

 

Deceiver, dissembler

Your trousers are alight

From what pole or gallows

Do they dangle in the night?”*

 

*referenced to an 1810 Poem by English writer William Blake but I cannot authenticate it as a William Blake work.

                                                                                                                           Vickie A. Larsen

08/25/2016 A Voice From the Gallery

  • John L. Sandy, Spirit Lake, IA, attorney and arbitrator states in a recorded telephone conversation with a friend concerning his ‘arbitration’ of Administrative Judge Susan Ackerman,

“…It went perfectly well for me. I get paid…in fact, I got paid to drive three and a half hours this morning that I didn’t drive…” *

*Heitshusen, Sonya, “Attorney Caught on Tape Raises Ethical Questions“, whotv.com, May 19, 2016, pages 1 & 2, Web, August 17, 2016.

  • John L. Sandy, Spirit Lake, IA, attorney states in a February 18, 2004, sworn deposition in the PCR action in the Iowa District Court for Dickinson County, State of Iowa vs. Lincoln Duane Belken, PCCV021330, page 27.

Question:  Assistant Dickinson County Attorney Lonnie B. Saunders asks,

“And does that refresh your memory about the colloquy that Mr. Miller had with Ms. Rossiter?”

Answer: John Sandy states, “Yeah. Because I was kind of a smart ass and I jumped in…”

  • John L. Sandy, Spirit Lake, IA, attorney/ arbitrator states in his “Arbitrator’s Decision”, e-filed on May 27, 2016, PERB NO. 15-GA165. State No. 15-0347, AFSCME No. 124655, page 7,

” …First and foremost in that grievant has a greater duty as a legal professional. That as a legal professional their standard of conduct is held to a higher standard…”

  • John L. Sandy, Spirit Lake, IA, attorney/ arbitrator states in his “Arbitrator’s Decision”, e-filed on May 27, 2016, PERB No. 15-GA165, State No. 15-0347, AFSCME No. 124655, page 8,

“Grievant when sworn into the Iowa Bar realized that her behavior would be held to a higher standard of conduct. It is a responsibility we pledge when undertaking our duties. The State of Iowa has the right to demand that its staff…meets or exceeds these standards.”

  • It appears Mr. John L. Sandy admonishes Administrative Judge Susan Ackerman to do as he says not as he practices. Where Mr. Sandy, was your professionalism and professional duty when you treated the defense of your client Lincoln Belken as cavalierly as you admit in your February 19, 2004, PCCV021330 deposition,

“Yeah, I was kind of a smart ass…”

  • It appears to me John L. Sandy has established a pattern of behavior which defies the cannons of ethics. Iowa has it’s very own set, I believe based upon the American Bar Association Cannons of Professional Ethics. I mean really, really? Sandy states he was,

“kind of a smart ass…”

In front of a prospective juror, during voir dire AND the prospective juror appears to be predisposed against his client AND the prospective juror is actually seated. Who in Hades was John Sandy working for? I mean I know he was soaking both the family and the state for money in his so-called defense of Lincoln Belken, although it appears his logic was—Hey I m getting paid however I do the job! Gosh that sounds familiar. Oh yeah I       remember now, it was his recorded telephone conversation with a friend,

“I got paid to drive three and a half hours this morning that I didn’t drive…”*

*Heitshusen, Sonya, “Attorney caught on Tape Raises Ethical Questions”, whotv.com, May 19, 2016, pages 1&2, Web, August 17, 2016.

So who is the ‘friend’ this little rooster was crowing to?

I call for a thorough investigation of John L. Sandy, and ultimately the permanent revocation of his law license!

Vickie A. Larsen

08/22/2016 A Voice From the Gallery

John L. Sandy, Spirit Lake, IA, attorney and arbitrator in recorded telephone conversation with a friend concerning his ‘arbitration’ of Administrative Judge Susan Ackerman states,

“…It went perfectly well for me. I get paid…in fact, I got paid to drive three and a half hours this morning that I didn’t drive…” 

Heitshusen, Sonya, “Attorney Caught on Tape Raises Ethical Questions“, whotv.com, May 19, 2016, pages 1 & 2, Web, August 17, 2016.

        The family of Lincoln D. Belken knows all-too-well the ‘money-oriented ethics’ and mediocre to abysmally poor legal skills of John L. Sandy of Spirit Lake, IA. We know all-too-well John L. Sandy’s failure to adequately represent his innocent client. The family knows John L. Sandy threw his client Lincoln D. Belken under the proverbial prison bus. Through Sandy’s courtroom incompetence or perhaps something more sinister, he ensured all alibi witnesses were discredited by not allowing them to testify to the truth.

            More to Come

Vickie A. Larsen

So who was the friend John Sandy was talking to?

04/19/2016 A Voice from the Gallery

No One Told Me!

by Vickie Larsen

February 2003 

Dedicated to Lincoln, that someday you will be free!

 

All through my youth

I was taught

never tell a lie, always tell the truth

but no one told me others would not

and

no one told Me!

 

Early on, much to my dismay

telling the truth was not accepted

It was not okay

and I was rejected

and

no one told Me!

 

As I took the oath to tell the truth

and as I was questioned, my thoughts returned

to the lessons learned in my youth

that the truth could be spurned

and

no one told Me!

 

“Where truth lies, Justice will follow”, the prosecutor cried,

but truth he would not allow

and on that day when Justice died

I took a vow

and

no one told Me!

 

Each day of the last four* years

that I have fought

through heartbreak and tears

to free a young man wrongly convicted and restore the Justice we sought

and

no one told Me!

 

How incredibly hard would it be

to tell the truth

and not set him free

and

no one told me,

no one ever told me!

 

 

*It is now seventeen years and I am still fighting to free an innocent man!

12/31/2015 A Voice from the Gallery

A Voice from the Gallery

12/31/2015

To sum up my 2015 writing endeavor, I started writing “A view from the Gallery” as an opinion letter to the Alcester Union-Hudsonite under the ownership of Paul Buum after reading the following quotation:

 “I always wondered why somebody didn’t do something about that, then I realized                                   I AM SOMEBODY!”

             When new owner Shane Hill took over the Alcester Union-Hudsonite, judged me, finding me too critical of the Alcester city council, decided to censure Freedom of Speech by declining any future articles from me preferring instead sugary, non-controversial, stars-in-your-eyes happy news and having been advised by a member of the community that I really should run my letters-to-the-editor through my pastor for acceptability, I decided emulate Martin Luther continuing to use his solution of asking questions and running propositions for debate. While my queries can never equal Luther’s queries, it is my sincere hope that I can elicit change in our local government with my own version of 95 Theses. I started my website “avoicefromthegallery.com” to bypass Mr. Hill’s censure in order to provide full disclosure of the antics of the Alcester City Council to the people of Alcester. So I dedicate this quote to the Mayor of Alcester, the Alcester City Council Mr. Shane Hill-publisher and of course that illustrious community member so well versed in Luther’s 95 Theses and who recommended I drag my LCMS pastor into the middle of a political critique.

 “If you have no critics, you’ll likely have no success.”

(Malcolm X)

I would like to make another dedication, since I appear to-be-on-a-roll:

“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know”            William Wilberforce

          The above is dedicated to the Honorable Duane E. Hoffmeyer, and the Honorable Steven J. Andreasen who decreed a young mother must make her baby daughter available for visitation without supervision or drug testing to a self-proclaimed opiate, drug addict, which admission was made in Plymouth County Iowa court under oath in August of 2015. One has to wonder did these ole’ boys hear of the Dickinson County Iowa case of the death Shelby Duis on January 4, 2000, and the question of the boyfriend’s alleged abuse of little Shelby. The mother who went to jail because she did not ‘protect her child’. What was the system doing to protect the child?

It appears the system still has not changed because SR, the 27 year old drug addict who lives in an $850.00 per month condo in Iowa City (utilities extra); leases a late model car; fuel for car; allegedly attended University of Iowa at Iowa City; SR, the 27 year old drug addict who is successfully unemployed; the 27 year old drug addict who reluctantly pays just $42.50 per month child support. Where does SR get the money to pay for all this??? Enabler Daddy Financial Advisor? Or is he selling?

Court Ordered visitation allowed SR, the self-proclaimed drug addict to take the child out of Iowa to visit SR’s father who is a Washington financial advisor. When Mom cannot contact SR, receives no answer or call back- finally calls Daddy Financial Advisor who tells her that SR went to the hospital and is in rehab again, but Daddy Financial Advisor failed to let baby’s Mom know until she called them. Really?? Mom is in Iowa, going to school, working a full time job to pay the bills, worrying about her darling baby daughter who is in Washington with junkie dad and enabling Daddy Financial Advisor and we still do not know if or when Baby will be coming home to her Mommy.

Mom, her family and I have taken pains to inform law enforcement of the on-going drug use and problem of SR. The court heard the admission of SR’s drug use for their own ears, it is in the record, yet the court failed to protect this child. To these entities I repeat: You were warned and you chose to look the other way, you can never say you did not know!!  I will be there to remind you.