Sentence

One year probation our probation will consist of monthly check-in w/ probation, a $40 monthly probation fee, Lloyd has to remain employed, (ie he can't quit and we move, he can't do anything that would cause him to lose his job) he has to fill out travel forms to leave Michigan, he will have to do anger management classes, we had to pay $544 in court fees today. The probation officer did tell us that if there are no probation violations it can possibly be reduced to half the time for good behavior. I think this sums it up; we only got to see the report for a couple minutes.

Ann Arbor news was there again so there should be an article in the paper tomorrow. Lloyd didn't comment but I did. I basically said that many people had good intentions at the park but the reactions resulted in poor choices. We accept responsibility and the consequences for our actions. A year of probation will just be another year of emotional Hell. (We will see if anything close to that is in the article.)

Two points that I find frustrating...

1. Deputy Bourdeau made no victim statement even though she was contacted by probation several times. To me this only further proves my theory that the only people being hurt is our family.
2. When the prosecutor was given the opportunity to comment on the sentence he basically said they were fine with the sentence because it was an unfortunate situation. I believe the prosecutor and Deputy Bourdeau really don't care about the people whose lives they are making a living hell because they just check off the victory box and wash their hands of it all.

P.S. Lloyd and I both agree maybe I should be the one in anger management after all this!! Who would of thought I don't think I even knew what true anger was before.

Official Sentencing

Official Sentencing will be tomorrow Wednesday June 24th at 1:30 p.m. Honorable Archie Brown will take the probation officers recommendation, the lawyers will get to argue why the recommendation is fair or unfair and Judge Brown will make his final decision. This is where all the letters written regarding Lloyd's character are suppose to be taken into consideration. Thank-you to all for the love, support and most of all prayers.

Probation Recommendation

1 year probation with associated costs and fees (about $544)

Sentencing is almost here...

Sentencing will be this Wednesday. We don't really know what will happen.
We have been told 99% sure no more jail time. (They held Lloyd 48 hours back in September.)
Most likely we will have a fine or probation or some combination.
If there is no probation Lloyd can leave Michigan whenever he wants.
If there is probation he has to do some paperwork to get permission to leave.
If there is a fine I don't care how we do it.....
we will find the money to pay it and have this part done.
I feel sick and tired (I'm not really physically sick I just feel that way), Lloyd feels anxious,
the kids are just waiting to fly to Utah on Thursday.
(How nice to have kids with a different perspective on things.)

Police Cruiser Video

The video starts after Lloyd gives me my phone and he yells "Give me my kids!" I did cut one part out where the lunch lady is giving her phone and address. The only other thing happening during that time is you hear Allie crying "That is my dad.." over and over. Keep in mind I have put just over 9 minutes on here and the jury only got to see 2 minutes and 6 seconds. (I'm pretty sure that is the right amount of time.) I will say that watching the video everything seems extremely slow compared to how it felt things happened on September 20th.

In my own words..

I can finally tell this story as I see it. The following is a combination of my memories and the police cruiser video and talking with Lloyd.

September 20, 2008 was a beautiful sunny day. Shortly after 10:00 that morning Lloyd told me our friend needed her daughter’s soccer cleats. I called my friend at 10:15 a.m. to see if she wanted us to meet her at the park on our way out to run some errands. She told me she already stopped by and got the cleats asked if I wanted to drop some kids off to play at the park. I told her I would talk with Lloyd and if we decided to drop kids off I would meet her at the park. We decided to give the kids a choice of 1-going to the park or 2-coming on errands with Mom, Dad and Nora (then 2 months old.) The boys Jackson and Reuben (5 and 3 ½) wanted to go to the park. Allie and Emma wanted to run errands. When we arrived at the park I found my friend had a very short conversation and put the boy’s hands in her hands. I looked at each of them and told them they were with here while we ran errands. Just as we left the park, I called Heidi at 10:40 a.m. I knew she had a busy day so I wanted to see if she needed anything from the stores. I asked her if she saw the boys yet, and she spotted them walking over with my friend. She asked if she was watching them, I told her no. Then Lloyd the girls and I went to Sam’s Club, Meijer, and Target. The entire time we were gone I felt a great sense of urgency to hurry. We arrived back at the park right about 11:50 a.m. I saw Jackson on the play-structure (which is by the parking lot and soccer fields wrap around it.) I got out of the Expedition and grabbed his hand. I said something like let’s go. Then a woman who I didn’t know pulled Jackson away from me and said “Oh no, you are not taking this child you left him here over an hour.” I said I left him with babysitter a friend was watching him. Then a group formed and a lot of yelling of why I was such a horrible mom ensued. A man said, “Look at all these people who care about your kids. Why don’t you care about them?” I continued to tell them I had a friend watching the boys when I realized they weren’t going to believe me I said I would go get my friend. At this point the yelling changed to “There is no babysitter, she is making it up, you go find the babysitter and when you don’t you can explain it to the police!” I knew my friend had two soccer games and wasn’t sure which field she would be at. I ran up a little rise yelling at Lloyd, “Give me my cell phone, they won’t give me my kids.” Lloyd was very upset he gave me my cell phone and I heard him yell, “Give me my kids!” Then I heard someone yell, “You left them here for over an hour!” Lloyd yelled, “We left them here with a friend!” I was trying to call my friend it was 11:52 a.m. and it went to her voice mail. At this time Deputy Katrina Burdeau arrived grabbed Lloyd’s arm and told him to release the child. Lloyd freed himself from her grasp by pulling his arm away. Deputy Burdeau calls this the first assault. She continues to yell for Lloyd to put down his child. Lloyd was so focused on Reuben he didn’t comprehend what she was trying to do. He thought he had a right to get his children back from strangers. I turned and Deputy Katrina Burdeau was standing about 10 feet away from Lloyd with her taser drawn. Lloyd was holding Jackson in front. I thought she was going to shoot even with Jackson there. I ran in-between Deputy Burdeau and Lloyd facing Lloyd I yelled, “Calm down!” Deputy Burdeau told me to step back. I was terrified. I was yelling for my friend. The next thing I knew Lloyd was kneeling with Jackson in his arms. I pleaded with Deputy Burdeau to at least let me have Jackson. Again I was told to step back. It was about 20 seconds from the first command to release Jackson until he was not in Lloyd’s possession. While I was turned around yelling Deputy Burdeau stood over Lloyd and when he stood up she said he shoved her backwards. If there was contact it was because she wanted him to stand-up and was standing over him. I felt sick. I was screaming for my friend. I walked about 10 feet back toward the rise and turned to see Lloyd falling from being tasered. I was screaming and crying “Oh my God! Oh my God!” Then I called my friends cell phone again at 11:53 a.m. screaming and crying “Get to the park! Come to the park! They tasered Lloyd!” as she answered. I then threw myself to the ground screaming and crying. On the cruiser video you here Deputy Burdeau yelling at Allie just after Lloyd was tasered to go to her mom. Then moments later she said “I need to go arrest the Mom.” Another police officer asked her why she was doing that. When she got to me she aggressively said, “Do you have and guns, knives, weapons anything that will hurt me!” I said, “I have my cell phone.” She frisked me said she wasn’t going to cuff “for now” and put me in the back of the police car. I called Lloyd’s parents cell phone at 12:03 p.m. I left a message, “Pray for us, please please pray for us now!” Then I called my mom’s cell phone at 12:05 she answered and I said the same thing in addition I said I couldn’t talk and hung up. My mom called back at 12:06 I said they tasered Lloyd please start praying. I realized that Nora and Emma were still in the Expedition. I knocked on the police cruiser window and was waved off. It makes me sick to think that my baby could have died that day in a hot car if Emma didn’t get her out. Deputy Burdeau came to the cruiser after Emma got Nora out wanting to know how many kids I had. I was so terrified and frustrated. It felt like everyone else had the right to my kids except for Lloyd and I. I sat in the police car crying for what seemed like eternity. On the cruiser video you here another deputy ask Deputy Burdeau if she is going to release Lloyd from the hospital or hold him in jail. (He ended up being held in jail for 48 hours without bond.) When Deputy Burdeau came back she said it didn’t have to be this way then proceeded to asked me a bunch of questions. I was told I had to keep my phone on me because Child Protective services would be coming by that day to interview kids. The only hint of compassion came at the very in of her questioning when she looked at me. I had huge eyes, and I am sure I looked scared to death. She asked me if I was okay. I said I would have lots of help. She told me I could stay in her cruiser as long as I needed to. I said I needed to get to my kids. Then my friend drove my home with the kids.

Media Link

The media link to the newspaper article is on mlive.com. I don't know if the local new stations ran the story because as far as I know they didn't try to contact us. You can also google Lloyd Brumbaugh and find more media info.

Here is what I posted on mlive.com

I am Emily Brumbaugh. I am surprised that some seem to know the situation better than I do. However, none of that matters now because it is over. There are few things that should be known with regard to this case.

1- My husband’s only INTENT was to get our children back. Think about how you might react if your wife was screaming at you to give her the phone; they won't give me my kids! The police had not arrived at this point. We were frantic! Please, even if you know this could never happen to you, imagine a stranger having your child and your second child being removed farther away from you by another stranger.

2- If you feel the need to debate time lines I would gladly give you my cell phone records and memories of that day. They replay day and night all the time. We were gone 1 hour and 10 minutes.

3- We felt the entire situation needed to be taken into consideration. Were it not for the entire picture we would NEVER have reacted that way. This includes the fact that my husband was trying to get 2 kids, not just one. Lloyd had Jackson and his parental instinct was to get Reuben, not to come into conflict with the officer.

4-The opposing parties involved in court wanted all events leading up to the police arriving to be considered irrelevant. The focus for them was strictly the seconds from the time the Deputy arrived until Lloyd was tasered.

5- We believe the jury tried to be fair based on instructions and the law. They were informed not to take anything else into consideration. Included in that omission was the fact that Lloyd’s intention was to get his children from what we viewed as a dangerous situation.

6- He is convicted of a felony. He could face up to 2 years in prison and/or a $2,000 fine among the many other court fees. These few seconds in our lives will continue to be very expensive.

7- We feel that the law which makes this a felony should be revised. The law considers all very violent offenses against a police officer as well as unintended offenses to be a felony. It doesn't allow for your intentions to be taken into consideration. We would love for the law to be split into two parts. A felony would involve an intentional attack or harming of a police officer . A misdemeanor would include unintended or incidental contact or actions WHERE THE POLICE OFFICER IS NOT HURT ANY WAY.

8-Please learn from our situation. Based on our experience, if a police officer initiates contact, it may be considered an assault if you try to remove yourself from that contact. Basically according to current law, DO NOT TOUCH a police officer EVER! That includes if you have no intention or desire to hurt them. That may be considered an assault if they decide to press charges. Also, if your desire is to rescue your child from a dangerous situation, the police have a right to stop you from doing that. If they tell you to stop and you don't stop dead in your tracks that may be considered resisting and obstructing.

9- For those of you judging our lawyer based on the unflattering picture; he was great and represented us very well. Have you never had a bad picture taken of you?

10- If you believe in a God or any higher power. Please say prayers for all parties involved. There is a power there beyond any human strength. I know at least our family could use prayers. It is very difficult to explain this situation to our children when they think their Dad will be shot and never come home again.

Trial over..Trial just beginning

Trial ended today with a guilty verdict. Apparently it is true if a police officer tells you to jump off a bridge you must do it and do it quickly. We will know more June 24th. Thanks for the prayers.

Trial is 99.9999% a GO!

We are number 1 to go on May 11th. We will be at the Ann Arbor Circuit court Judge Archie Brown. We have to be there at 8:00 a.m. Jury selection should start around 9:00 a.m. at take most of the morning. Testimony should start somewhere around 1:00 or 2:00 ish. Our lawyer is expecting the testimony to go into Tuesday and hopefully be to the jury for deliberation by Tuesday afternoon.

I can't ask anyone to come, but it is an open public court. If you choose to come our lawyer has asked us to please not have any contact with the jury or conversations with anyone regarding the trial. This even includes times when court is at break or anytime during the trial process. (The weather is always a safe subject!) Honestly, we don't want to do anything that could possibly have a mistrial declared.

Legal Updates...

I realize I haven't posted a legal update for a while...
So, here you have the good, bad and ugly.

Good Friday CPS (child protective services) came for a friendly visit. They have been ordered to finish the case. Normal procedure is to talk to the kids at school the come for an unscheduled visit. The blessing is that the worker called me the day before said he just needed to check the box. He was very nice but I hate the fact CPS was in my home. He said in a few years I would laugh about this, I'm not so sure about that! He also said we wouldn't see them again. Thank Heavens!!

Last week I became aware the prosecution began doing interviews of witnesses. Interesting as far as I know they haven't been able to get amazing dirt on us.

For now we are still #1 for May 11 (Happy Mother's day to me) When I pulled the Judges schedule they only have one other civil case listed after ours, however they do have that case listed for the rest of the week on the schedule. I don't know why. My understanding is that criminal in custody go first, then criminal then civil.

I know lots of fun ahead!!

Grrrr!!!!!

We will now wait for May 11th.
We should be first in line.
Today we were bumped by
a double trial
with life in prison on the line.
I have to admit they deserve a
fair trial.
I am just frustrated.
Maybe I will take a
full summer vacation
back west!!!

Officially Served!!

Today at 4:30 p.m.
I was served my Subpoena
To report to court tomorrow
at 8:00 a.m.
The prosecuting attorney summoned me.
Do they think I will be helping their side???
I did learn I will be paid.
Who said nothing good would come from this,
I'm sure they pay well.. hahahahaha
We are now #3 for a jury trial.



Last night at the temple I realized I was repeating
a very short prayer of....
please bless the trial will start (in pleading tone)
Today I realized I sure hope
Heavenly Father doesn't think
I would like a new trial.
He knows the intent of my heart.
Right?

The day is set....well kinda

February 23
Hopefully....
We are the 5th case set for jury duty on this day.
Which means???
The four cases before us have to be resolved for our trial to start.
Or???
We will be rescheduled for another date..possibly into April.
For now...
We have to assume our trial will begin on the 23rd.
This means....
Being ready to select a jury and start trial that day.
P.S.
I will be sequestered with the other witnesses
or in other words sent to the hall for the trial.
P.S.P.
Please Say Prayers
That the trial will begin A.S.A.P.
That all witnesses will be able to think clearly.
That all witnesses will be able to understand and answer the Lawyers questions.
That the Lawyers will ask fair questions that will lead to the truth and understanding.
That the Judge and Jury will be able to hear and discern the truth.

I do have other wishes
I don't think they would fall under righteous desires
or they might not be the Lord's will
so I won't ask for them. :)

Another day at court....

We are scheduled to be at the Circuit Court again today at 1:00 pm.
Judge Brown is still the judge and will be through trial.
We are #5 in line for a jury trial on the 23rd.
That means that 4 other cases have to settle
before we can start our trial.
If you want to pray for something....
Pray that the cases before us settle so we really can start
the trial on the 23rd.

I'll let you know if anything amazing happens.

If you want to know...

Final Pre-trial: February 11th 1:30 Ann Arbor Circuit Court
This is where we will say we are ready for trial.
Trial: February 23rd Jury Selection then trial
Bob says to plan on a week long trial.

If you want to know..

We are scheduled to be in Ann Arbor Circuit court December 3 at 1:30 p.m.
There is also a possibility we will be back in court a week later on December 10th.
Our Judge is Honorable Archie Brown our lawyer says he is fair.

Update

We finally got the transcript from the pre-trial hearing.
The pre-trial has been postponed from November 19th until December 3rd.
If patience is a virtue...then I will be a virtuous woman when we get through this!

Media Links...not for feel good reading

Judge orders father in Ypsilanti Township Taser incident to stand trial
Father Stunned By Taser Will Stand Trial
Father Stunned With Taser

Losing the Battle to Win the War

We had our pre-trial hearing today. Two things had to be proved: 1 That a crime (resisting, obstructing or assaulting a police officer) was committed and 2 That Lloyd was potentially the person who committed the crime. This does not have to be without a doubt and what the police officer says could be enough. The police officer involved was the only witness called today. Based on her testimony the judge ruled to "bound" Lloyd over. This means we will go to pre-trial on Nov. 19 at 1:00 p.m. Our lawyer was able to cross-examine the police officer and we feel there were some inaccuracies in the testimony when compared with the police cruzer video and the police report. Also, Ann Arbor News, was there today with a camera. I'm assuming a story will be running in tomorrows paper.