I finally got the investigator working H’s case on the phone today (he had been on vacation last week). He basically told me that unless and until he can get an interview with H in which H tells “his side of the story,” then “there is no victim.” (Yes, he actually said that.)
I tried to explain to him that H has suffered a major brain injury and isn’t currently capable of giving an interview that would be of any real use whatsoever, and he suggested that this scenario means the investigation will likely stall out completely. He also told me he hasn’t spoken with several of the major players in what happened that day, even though we’ve given him lots of information about them and what we think their roles were in H’s injuries, based on the conversations we’ve had with H’s friends.
What about murder victims who can’t tell their side of the story?
I recognize and accept that my son’s involvement with drugs led to him being in a situation where this could happen at all. He bears some responsibility. But this didn’t give others the right to assault him or leave him for dead, unconscious and without sufficient oxygen to his brain. I don’t want these people to do this to someone else’s child who happens to have a drug problem, and who with the right intervention, could recover from that addiction and go on to have a happy, healthy, productive life.
This is beyond frustrating, but I will NOT let the issue drop.
His response to you is appalling. That he hasn't interviewed people that you/H's friends believe were involved is frightening. I understand that the investigation can't be based on info that the victim's mother provides, but those are leads that need to be followed up on, right?
Your blog is a great platform — turn up the pressure and get your local media involved. I'm sure that the investigator will change his tune.
I am so glad you called. I was going to suggest as much when you posted yesterday that you were trying to be patient but knew you had lots going on with H.
This is outrageous. I know you will do everything you can to get this investigation going. Keep us posted.
I like to think that the investigator is about to find out about the power of the internet. Most crime victims' families don't have the platform you do. And now you've just asked a question many people will find concerning. Are the police really saying that, if you assault a person to the point of incapacitating them, but you don't kill them, you can get away with it?
I find that very scary. And something the people of Knoxville are also, is my bet.
This is beyond outrageous. I wish you guys had a lawyer to help you navigate the legal system.
This "investigator" has a supervisor, yes? That's who I would talk to next. And right on up the chain of command until you are satisfied.
I understand your wish to find out who injured your son. I also see how difficult it would be to prosecute without some other kind of physical evidence since your son is not able to describe what happened. Another question is whether the investigation may lead to any criminal charges against H regarding drug buying/selling/possessing? And, whether you want to open this can of worms at this time…
"There is no victim."
wow.
I'm so sorry that you are going through this. I work with sexual assault victims and unfortunately, I see this sort of response all too commonly. Its often routed in victim-blaming, which is absurd. I would go right up the chain of command – go to the investigator's supervisor, to their supervisor, to the chief of police if need be. The other thing, sadly, that works, is to threaten bad publicity – a comment about calling the local media might get someone moving on H's case. All else fails, having an attorney on your side might help.
Once again, keeping you in my thoughts as you go through this difficult time.
Unbelievable!!! I agree with Anon, use the chain of command, and also contact the media about this, just like you said, a murder victim cannot tell his/her side of the story either, and for him not to follow up on the leads you and H's friends provided is just plain lazy in my eyes…
Go get 'em Katie!!!!
Karin
Are you kidding me? Time to contact the media. This is unacceptable.
I'm sure someone in the media will pick this story up. And it's the right thing for them to do. But it's so sad and frustrating that that's what it takes.
"Are the police really saying that, if you assault a person to the point of incapacitating them, but you don’t kill them, you can get away with it?"
Wow. Just wow.
First up the chain, then in a couple of days, the newspaper.
That's just appalling. I'd also like to point out that someone assaulting a drug user won't necessarily *only* assault drug users.
Also, on vacation? Not having someone else persist with the investigation while he was gone? (Although it sounds like he wasn't exactly bestirring himself to make phone calls before).
Horrifying.
I truly hope you can get this transferred to someone else who, you know, gives a shit.
Katie, try the East Tennessee Victim's Rights group. You can reach them at 865.215.3877. You might also try HOPE for victims group at(865)924-3480 . Either of those may have resources to aid you or contacts in law enforcement.
Sadly, victims who are seen to have had a role in their own harm tend to get left behind in the justice system. The groups above might be able to prevent that.
The first few hours and days after a crime are so very important for interviewing potential witnesses, etc. It is appalling that contacts you provided were apparently not even checked. It is certainly time to go to the supervisor and above. Maybe contact the PR for the PD and get info on contacts to be made further up the chain of command. You know at this point I would just be tempted to go to the chief and explain the situation and ask for his help. He should be there for you before the crime trail gets too diluted.
Ummm, I may know nothing about law enforcement, but I know that what he told you is a load of crap. Come on! You're right–many victims can't tell their side of the story. Good for you for pushing. I will be praying for a quick resolution.
Call his supervisor AND the East Tennessee Victim’s Rights group AND HOPE. There is no excuse for this. None.
I would not, however, get the media involved at this time. The media card is the one of the stongest cards in your hand. Hold it until you run out of other options. I guess I don't need to tell you that documenting the failures of the system on up the line (if that is what you continue to run into) will make your story even more powerful and more likely to get results.
Why is it shocking to everyone.
I live in a city and this is the reality about the limited resources in a criminal justice system.
I don't know the deatails of the crime, but the assailants are not considered a threat to the rest of the community when it involves drug dealers /drug users assaulting each other, or murdering each other.
Katie,
I know you are very frustrated but these are unscrupulous, dangerous people H chose to be involved with. How do you know they won't blame H for starting the fight if they are ever caught? Please be very, very careful as H is his best witness. It is possible these thugs might try to cause harm to your family or to H to quiet him.
Strongly consider contacting the major networks with your story. Nightline…Oprah… Today show. I believe the exposure would prompt a more thorough investigation from the authorities in your area. I also believe it is a story the media would want to tell as your son is young, talented and educated. It does sound like the investigator you spoke with is not doing his job and either lazy or expressing his own conscious/unconscious bias against "drug addicts." At this point you have nothing to loose by going to the media. A month has passed, it will be exhausting for your family to do all of the work to travel up the chain of command. Let them scramble to show your community what they are doing to protect all citizens living in their jurisdiction. Also, I just want to applaud your public admission of your son's addiction. Addiction is a family disease and when one person is active, it affects all family members. I will pray for your son's healing and I do believe that all you are doing for him will help him to heal.
No, it isn't appalling, nor is it outrageous…it is *reality*, the reality of law enforcement who unfortunately deal with situations like these every single day, day in, day out, with limited resources and even more limited funds and a drug epidemic that is matched only by the violence that seems to go hand in hand with it.
So don't be so quick to jump on the cops here. They aren't the bad guys.
I'm being harsh, I am speaking from experience here. One of the cases I worked, I will never forget: three men murdered four men for 500 pounds of marijuana. Keep in mind, the seven men were in the same drug gang. They had spent the day together getting high and having fun on the streets of Phoenix. Somehow, some way, things soured and it turned terribly violent. Arrests were made eventually because a living witness was found. This living witness continued in the drug world and eventually disappeared into Mexico. The three perpetrators, who we KNOW for an ABSOLUTE FACT killed these four men, were released back on the streets due to lack of evidence. We know they did it…we just couldn't prove it.
I won't say that I understand how you feel, because I don't. I just hope that you can find some semblance of peace somehow outside of the law enforcement realm, because I fear that you will never get the justice you are seeking. 99% of the time, it just doesn't work that way. Especially when it comes to drug abusers and dealers.
p.s. Any green, just-graduated-out-of-Podunk-law-school public defender making $21,000 per year would make mincemeat out of your son on the witness stand, even if he still had all of his mental faculties. (What if H were deemed unfit to testify? What then? He's now considered a snitch in the drug community and is now forever at risk, not to mention the rest of your family…don't sacrifice THEIR safety for your outrage!) There are just so many terrible variables here, Katie. PLEASE, I URGE YOU to concentrate your energies elsewhere. And I am so, so sorry that you have to deal with this.
Please be gentle.
I have a lot of questions and it's ok if you don't want to answer them, but were H.'s friends eyewitnesses to what happened? Were there any eyewitnesses you know of?
That investigator was full of you-know-what. When my brother was assaulted and lay comatose and fighting for his life in the neuro-trauma intensive care unit, they were out and investigating and finding the guy who did it. They had an arrest in less than 24 hours even though they knew it was drug related. The charges were raised to 2nd degree murder when the machines were cut off and he was allowed to pass on.
However, this is where it got ugly. I can't get into specifics but I will tell you that the justice system is far more interested in getting drug convictions than they are assault or even murder. You see, there's a profit motive there. Jurisdictions get federal grant money for drug convictions. Assault and murder, not so much, so they don't care. They really do. not. care.
As another commenter urges, I too would caution you to seriously consider whether you want to push this thing very far. It can cause you far more grief and pain than just letting it go. Trust me on this – 15 years and I am still far more hurt and enraged by what the justice system did and did not do than what the actual murderer did.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)
Reading some of these comments brought this quote to mind. How sad that we've abdicated control of our streets, our communities, our lives to the criminals. I understand how tempting it is to just lick your wounds and remain silent, but sometime, someone needs to make a stand. Someone needs to say, "This isn't okay." Sure, there can be repercussions, but imagine the repercussions if chaos is allowed to reign. Where will we all hide?
I about can't believe what I'm reading here. Some of you really think a mother whose son almost died should just suck it up and accept that he doesn't deserve justice? That the police can only really be bothered with doing their jobs for people who deserve it?
Well, then, we are all in a heap of trouble because we all have some reason the cops shouldn't bother with us–skirt too short, seemed too gay, what did he expect being in that part of town?, etc.
The point was not to remain silent, but to be aware that possession of Schedule 11 drugs can be deemed to be a felony under TN law. The presumption is that the assault happened during a drug deal gone bad. Can the assault be separated from the fact that a criminal drug activity was entered into by H?
Maybe it can, but that is the caution.
Uneffinbelievable. My heart aches for you right now and I am so pissed at the "system". What an effin joke. Your son's assailants deserve punishment. And the state that your son is in makes that point even clearer. I am thinking of your family every day. And I have a meeting later today to help start up a state-wide initiative here for addiction interventions. I will think of your family as I work to spear head this so that more families can be saved the horrible traumas that come with addiction.
Robbie's comments bring to mind a comment from Broadcast News, a movie of many years ago….."I am made as h— and I am not going to take it anymore."
When I was teaching in the inner city there were two freshman (so 14 years old) who were both pregnant and the father was a guy in the 'community' who was in his 30s. I was talking to the police officer and a principal in the school and asking why they did not pick this guy up for at the minimum charge of having sex with a minor and they both shrugged me off and gave me some lame 'how do we prove it' kind of response. Basically, the attitude was the girls would get pregnant anyway so why bother with this guy. It made me so mad. I understand that the police force is WAY under funded and that the money isn't there to pursue justice for every member of society but this doesn't make it right by any means. So, if you are poor and live in a bad neighborhood too bad even though you are a child we won't protect you.
I understand where the 'reality of things' comments are coming from believe me but I don't think you or H deserve such a brush off. Maybe there isn't a chance for justice but you have to believe the police at least care about it and pursue the issue to the best of their abilities. Not talking to some of the witnesses involved is not right. And saying to a mother that there is 'not a victim' is beyond ridiculous not to mention just extremely insensitive.
I am so angry for you on this. This assault was a horrible, violent crime that has permanently injured your son and you deserve respect and you deserve justice.
This is not surprising but it IS appalling.
No one understood us when we explained we couldn't get the stranger who assaulted us convicted of the crime. Yes he was arrested that night but they only charged him with drunkenness. We actually WERE able to give a statement and it didn't matter. We also we NOT using, selling, or associated with drugs. We were innocent citizens walking alone in a garage who were assaulted by a stranger.
The KPD's police report was so inaccurate, it was embarrassing. They constantly confused my husband and me (which really should be easy to differentiate) and whose injuries where whose. They also listed it as a domestic case even though we insisted over and over again we had never met the person and had no idea who he was.
They clearly did NOT care about protecting anyone, even though they knew, and told us(!) the offender was a constant threat and had several assault charges against him. We also had to deal with the arresting officer being on vacation and couldn't get anyone to call us back. His supervisor didn't care either. I called for three months (and stopped by, and scheduled appointments) . I maybe spoke to a person five times.
It makes me sick to my stomach as I write this. This isn't about me or my family, but just knowing it's happening AGAIN to someone I love and admire kills me.
The Knoxville Police Department is a JOKE and I dare anyone to try to convince me otherwise. Ugh, Katie, I'm soooo sorry. I wish there was anything I could do to help.
I work closely with police detectives (I'm a municipal social worker) and I strongly recommend that you contact the captain that supervises the detective assigned to H's case. If you don't get satisfaction from that your next move should be to contact the chief of police. And if you still don't see movement on H's case then you need to contact the Town Manager or mayor of the town/city in which the crime took place. I would also encourage you not to hesitate contacting the selectmen or other elected officials in the town/city. Like any profession, there are crappy detectives who for whatever reason (laziness, prejudice) don't do their jobs appropriately. Those at higher levels will respond to you if you make enough noise (or, if they are good at what they do, if you just bring H's case to their attention). It is unacceptable to say there is no victim in this case. I would be sure to share that statement with the detective's superiors.
I would escalate. I would also try to find out who the victim's advocate in the department/city is. They often times can help you figure out how to deal with the bureaucracy.
I am shocked by this. I cannot believe it. This cannot be how police investigations work (or don't work.) I think this sounds incredibly unprofessional and uncaring.
WHAT?!?!? that truly makes me sick, HOW DARE HE!!!!!!!!
katie, that is absolutely horrifying!!! first of all, addiction is a disease, and is no different than any other disease. and the fact that they said they, "can't interview H and get his side of the story"-WHAT?!?! like you said, is that the excuse they give when a victim dies? i just don't understand that. i agree, contact the victims rights group!
There's a reason why cases on the criminal docket are called Doe vs. STATE even when there's only one victim, even when that victim is addled. This is a crime against all of us, and therefore it is absolutely incumbent for the Knoxville Police to follow suit.
Can this be a task for your brother with his legal acumen?
H. deserves every defense on his behalf, and ours, too.
Put your complaints in writing. I would both email and send them by paper copy. That way you have a record. If you can afford it, get a private detective.
Specifically ask to have a different detective assigned to your case. There is no use trying to work with this guy. He has shown his true colors.
I just found your blog and I am sorry for your troubles. My daughter was beat up and dragged into an alley over drugs. She managed to escape but it might not have ended the way it did.
I have dealt with cops who were horrible and others that made me cry they were so kind. Usually the kind ones have seen this kind of trouble in their own family or friends.
I second locating a victims advocate.
I'm going to guess that your city/county/state has a victim's rights unit who can contact the investigator on your behalf, and/or possibly a victim's rights law that you can invoke to pressure the investigators to actually work the case. You could also ask to speak to the investigator's supervisor, or contact your local political representative.
This seems to be an attitude that is shared by the justice system here in Knoxville. My daughter was sexually assaulted 3 years ago and it took KPD 2 MONTHS to pick him up even though we had his name and address and the fact he went to the same school and had classes with her. Mind you this happened out of school, but the school would not remove him from her bus or her classes, WE had to. Then our "lawyer", whom I refuse to this day to pay a dime to, made matters worse by making the "judge" mad. Our day in court came and this so called "judge" told this kids mother that, b/c their family were Hurricane Katrina Refugees, if she removed him from our state that TN would not spend the resources to have him arrested and brought back for trial and sentencing. She agreed to leave the state and the judge dropped the charges. After that I have sworn that if anything ever happens to one of my family members I will not involve the police, I will handle it myself. It was wrong in her case and it is wrong in yours. I hope eventually you get someone to listen to you and they do catch these dirtballs and put them away. I hope your son makes a miraculous recovery, and I wish you the best for your one on the way.