Jacque Waller "Divorce Would Mean My Death"

Earlier in the week Clay Waller currently serving a five year federal sentence for threatening his former sister-in-law on line this past December, was finally charged with the murder of his estranged wife Jacque Waller.  She has been missing since June 1, 2011,  when she was lured to pick-up her son who was in another location, after she and Waller met with an attorney to finalize their divorce.

During the press conference the prosecutor Morley Swingle said they've charged Clay Waller with concealing his wife's body and concealment of a carpet from the hallway of his rental residence found about 100 miles away, with Jacque Waller's blood.  The prosecutor went forward and charged Waller even though her body still has not been found.  She remains a missing person.

In a laptop discovered inside her abandoned car by authorities one day later off I-55 , Jacque maintained a daily  journal.  In one of the entries she wrote. "He, told me that a divorce would mean my death." As in most cases of women who leave their dangerous and toxic environments they feel once gone, and away from the offender he can no longer harm her.  Over time while they become stronger they also gain a false sense safety.  I painfully watched my own mother do this dance once she'd finally moved out and divorced her police officer husband.  My mother was no different than Jacque Waller or the thousands who have been murdered or reported missing through the years. My father had lured my mother over to the former marital home with a bogus excuse that her signature was required on a document before the real estate agent to list the house.  That wasn't true.  But, like Jacque, she was going one last time. And it would be where she'd take her last breath. 

A victim is unable to fathom being told "love you one minute" to "I'll kill you, if you leave."  They just do not believe the person with whom they once loved will take it to the extreme and kill them. 

Prevention is the key for victims of domestic violence, abuse and stalking.  The Scott County K9, a 501C (3) charitable organization would like to bring awareness to the community in hopes of preventing mothers, sisters and victims of domestic violence from being reported missing.  

They are sponsoring events to bring awareness education and a prescription for change in the area of Intimate Partner Violence.  Law enforcement, hospital staff, social workers and those who respond to victims reaching out for service's are encouraged to attend the events listed below.

I hope to see an outpouring from the community in attendance at the events while I am in town.  I'm volunteering my time to train, teach and speak.  It's a  win-win for everyone.  The Scott County K-9 Unit receives all monies collected for tickets and books sold, the community has the opportunity to learn what they can do to prevent their own loved one or co-worker from being a victim and learning the signs and hopefully prevent someone else from being killed or reported missing.  

Help me help your Community to remove the Silence from Behind Closed Doors.

SEMO Search dogs is a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization created by the Scott Co Search and Rescue K9 Unit to help ease the financial burden incurred by search teams and personnel in the Southeast Missouri area. They depend on your donations to search and provide hope for missing loved ones families. 

Schedule of Events:

Saturday, April 28, at 5pm

Buckner's Banquet Room

132 N. Main

Cape Girardeau, MO

Tickets $30 or $250 to sponsor a table for 8, Event is open to the public

For complete details:   FLYERS SEMO SEARCH

Monday, April 30, 7pm

Miner Baptist Church

Miner, MO

FREE and open to the public

For complete details: Miner Baptist Church Event

Tuesday, May 1, 8am

Boothill Counseling

Sikeston, MO

A private presentation and training for counselors and advocates.

The million dollar question; where is Jacque Waller buried?  Clay Waller isn't likely to confess so now it'sup  to law enforcement and the search teams who've logged in thousands of man hours eliminating hundreds of acres of land to find her.  Jacque Waller's case is registered with the CUE center for Missing Person's a National not for profit organization providing Help & Hope to missing families across the county.   The details for the next search is listed below.  If you live in the area, please lend your support:

May 5, 2012 Search Jacque Waller Ground & K-9 Search -

Meeting at 8:00 a.m. at Klaus Park just off I-55 at the main Jackson exit (HWY 34 & I-55). There are approximately 140 acres that need to be searched for law enforcement. Wooded ground and open fields. Will need volunteer ground pounders support to get the ground covered in one day. Also need ATV teams on Sat 05/05 search. Dress appropriately. Bring bug spray, sunscreen you will need it. Folks are needed to help take care of getting volunteers fed lunch, so if you're unable to go on the search and want to help, you are still needed. Water/beverage, food snacks can be dropped off at Mid America Rehab, 3047 William Street, Suite 100, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, 63703, 

if your not in the area and want to help with the search please send a check/M.O. made out to SEMO Search Dogs, Inc. mail to Bobby Sherrill at Mid America Rehab. 

If you can help by contacting restaurants to get food donations for the team, please do and let Bobby or I know. We are anticipating up to 100 searchers Come help and lets get this girl back to her family!
Please go to event page and let us know if your coming and how you can help. Please share with all your friends!
Thank you to all the supporters of Team Jacque
https://www.facebook.com/events/280394132049075/

Susan Murphy Milano is a staff member of the Institute for Relational Harm Reduction and Public Pathology Education as a educator and specialist with intimate partner violence prevention strategies directing prevention for high risk situations and cases.

 A national trainer to law enforcement, training officers, prosecutors, judges, legislators, social service providers, healthcare professionals, victim advocates and the faith based community and author.. In partnership with Management Resources Ltd. of New York addressing prevention and solutions within the community to the workplace. Host of The Susan Murphy Milano Show,"Time'sUp!" . She is a regular contributor to the nationally syndicated "The Roth Show" with Dr Laurie Roth and a co-host onCrime Wire. Online contributions: Forbes : Crime, She Writes providing commentary about the hottest topics on crime, justice, and law from a woman’s perspective, as well as Time's Up! a blog which searches for solutions (SOS) for victims of crime Susan is also the daughter of a Chicago Violent Crimes detective who murdered her mother before committing suicide.  www.documenttheabuse.com

Introducing Simply the Best : "Document the Abuse"

Today, we announce our new site www.documenttheabuse.com.  A place for prosecutors, law enforcement, social service agencies, human resource managers, workplace violence security experts, insurance carrier's, health care providers, faith based organizations and those directly in the process of divorce, affected by domestic violence and stalking by someone with whom they are in a relationship.

If you are in law enforcement the information and training provided on the Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit is a supportive component in addition to what you already are doing on the job as it is valuable tool that is saving lives.  For the first time when a potential victim prepares the "EAA" you will know and have at your fingertips information that includes the offender.  As are aware this is very important when a person in your district is reported missing or becomes a fatality.  You will have the victims words in a notarized, witnessed and taped statement already in your hand ready to meet with the prosecutor or district attorney for a solid case.

For those who enter the courthouses assigned to work the domestic violence and trial calenders the "EAA" has a number of benefits for a successful prosecution.  This includes cases where you have no body, but you do have enough evidence. Or in cases where the alleged defendant at pretrial claims crime of passion, unhinged, accident or self-defense, if the victim prepared the Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit prior to their death, its game on as a prosecutor for a winning victory and game over for the defense in court.

Case concerning the right to confront and prove intent to prevent the witness from testifying

Giles v. California, 554 U.S. 353 (2008)

Facts of the Case

When Dwayne Giles was tried in state court for the murder of his ex- girlfriend, he claimed self-defense. Giles stated that he had heard her vow to hurt him and a friend, and that she had previously shot a man and threatened people with knives. The prosecution then introduced evidence of a conversation between Giles' ex-girlfriend and police in which she claimed that he had assaulted her and threatened to kill her. The district court eventually convicted Giles of murder.

On appeal, Giles argued that use of the police conversation violated his Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses against him, namely, his deceased ex- girlfriend.

The California Supreme Court held that Giles had waived this right because he was the cause of his ex-girlfriend's absence. Although this exclusion was justified under common law rules of "forfeiture by wrongdoing", the Supreme Court had greatly constrained the admissibility of such evidence in its 2004 holding in Crawford v. Washington. Crawford essentially wiped out the admissibility of such out-of-court statements unless the testimony could be subject to cross-examination at trial, an option that would be impossible under these circumstances. This case gives the Court an opportunity to expand on its decision in Crawford and to apply it to a situation where the wrongdoing that kept the witness from appearing in court was not motivated by a desire to prevent the witness' testimony.

Question
Are a criminal defendant's rights under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment violated when the common law "forfeiture by wrongdoing" doctrine is applied to allow out-of-court statements made by a witness, absent due to the defendant's own conduct, into evidence without giving defendant an opportunity to cross-examine the absent witness?

Conclusion
Yes. In a 6-3 decision, the Court held that the forfeiture by wrongdoing exception only applies to situations where the defendant causes the witness' absence with the intention of preventing that witness from testifying at trial. Without this intention, any act by the defendant making the witness unavailable does not waive that defendant's Sixth Amendment right to confront and cross-examine the witness, and therefore any out-of-court statements made by the witness are inadmissible as evidence. Justice Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a concurring opinion stressing his belief that statements such as those made by the witness in this case should not implicate the Confrontation Clause at all because the police questioning was not a "formalized dialogue." Justice Samuel Alito also wrote a concurring opinion suggesting that the witness' statements, in his view, did not fall within the Confrontation Clause but noting that neither party had made this argument before the Court. Justice David Souter, joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, concurred in all parts of the majority opinion except one section denouncing the dissenting argument. Justice Souter stated that he did not find the dissent as wrongheaded as the majority suggested.

The dissent, written by Justice Stephen Breyer and joined by Justices John Paul Stevens and Anthony Kennedy, argued that a defendant loses his right to confrontation when he makes a witness unavailable due to his own wrongdoing, even if he did not act with the specific intention of preventing her from testifying at trial.

We hope you take the time and visit our new site.  If you have questions or would like to set up a training, have us attend your conference - email us at documenttheabuse@gmail.com

New Tool Provides Victims of Domestic Violence a Voice in the Courtroom- Series Part 2

What is the Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit?

The Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit is documentation and information coming directly from the victim as it relates to domestic violence and stalking, providing the offender’s description, identity, behavior, and possible motivation.

In the past, victim’s voices were silenced. If the victim was missing or dead, testimony given on her behalf by others who knew of the violence, knew about threats made against her, or knew of possible motives for her murder, have been dismissed as hearsay. Now, with the Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit, the victim will have documented her abuse through video and other legal procedures that will allow it to be used in court as her words, should she disappear or be murdered.”

Hearsay is an out of court statement "offered for the truth of the matter asserted" and not subject to cross-examination, typically because the declarant or speaker is unavailable. This is important as it applies directly to women ending a relationship like Jacque Waller, Kelly Rothwell, Hope Meeks and others who have never been seen or heard from again and are currently missing. And she (the victim) is not "available." Such statements are deemed unreliable because of the obvious fact that they can easily be fabricated and can not be tested through cross examination.

One basic way to get around hearsay is to seek admission, not for the truth of the statement itself, but for another highly relevant purpose. For example, let's say I am charged with intentionally shooting my daughter's boyfriend (which is not beyond realm of reason) while the two of them are harmlessly playing tie-up. Prior to bursting in the room and firing, I was told by her ex-boyfriend that the new guy was in the process of raping her. My defense is not intentional murder, but rather manslaughter because I believed the ex who has fled to Costa Rica and is unavailable at trial. Here I would offer his statement of rape, not because it was true, but because of the effect it had on my mental state, a very relevant fact in the case. Again, I am not offering it for its truth and therefore, whether it was fabricated is not in issue. Whether the statement was made and whether my response was reasonable (based upon my credibility) can all be determined by the trier of fact at trial because I, not the ex would be subject to cross.

In any event, statements can be admissible solely for their impact upon the listener (if relevant in a case) and not for the truth of the statement.

Exceptions, which have literally swallowed up the general rule. Since the beginning of time, Courts have recognized certain fact patterns that contain such inherent elements of reliability so as to overcome the need for cross. All of this is based upon a notion of getting all relevant information to the jury subject to a prejudice to the defendant analysis -for the State this stuff is worth fighting over, it usually means "game over" for the defendant. Certain fact patterns below have crystallized into exceptions.

Dying Declaration- declarant unavailable says just before dying to witness "Mr. X shot me." Aadmissible based upon the notion that people who are dying do not typically have a motive to lie.Witness will testify as to demeanor of declarant.

Excited Utterrance-declarant screams "the plane is going to crash into the house" and witness doesn't see the plane. Here admission based on fact that when people are experiencing a startling event under stress they don't have time to fabricate.

Present sense Impression - same as above, except witness also experience the same event as the declarant and the declarant's statement is relevant.

The one used the most by prosecutor's and the one that is highly relevant for a person ending their relationship who has vanished is a "Statement Against Interest." For example if I told you that I did "dope and shit" the statment would be admissable based on the theory that people do not make up highly negative evidence against themselves, especially facts that would subject them to criminal prosecution.

This procedure currently provided in the book Time's Up has the capability of providing vital information that could aid in a suspect’s arrest and provide a solid criminal case for prosecutors.

Part 1 http://murphymilanojournal.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-tool-provides-victims-of-domestic.html

WGN - http://www.wgntv.com/news/coverstory/wgntv-evidentiary-abuse-affidavit-new-tool-gives-abused-women-a-voice-in-courtroom-20111109,0,2614298.story

Example of the video affidavit:

Susan Murphy Milano is a staff member of the Institute for Relational Harm Reduction and Public Pathology Education as a educator and specialist with intimate partner violence prevention strategies directing prevention for high risk situations and cases.

Online contributions: Forbes : Crime, She Writes providing commentary about the hottest topics on crime, justice, and law from a woman’s perspective, as well as Time's Up! a blog which searches for solutions (SOS) for victims of crime.

Radio Shows: Susan is the host of The Susan Murphy Milano Show, "Time's Up!" . She is a regular contributor to the nationally syndicated "The Roth Show" with Dr Laurie Roth and a co-host on Crime Wire.


Books: Time's Up: A Guide on How to Leave and Survive Abusive and Stalking Relationships,Moving out, Moving on, and Defending Out Lives

www.imaginepublicity.com

To schedule Susan Murphy Milano for your next event, seminar, or workshop, please contact ImaginePublicity:  Phone: 843.808.0859   Email:  contact@imaginepublicity.com