It's Abuse

Two nights ago it dawned on me how to describe my 1,014 days of experience with the NYS Crime Victims Board:

Abuse.

I've been lied to, I've been strung along, I've dealt with ridiculously long delays, I've seen astonishing ignorance of the laws on compensation, I've experienced this state agency violating my basic legal rights under their regulations, and I've kept track as they ignored witnesses to crimes and then lied and said there was no crime, so no compensation.

It changes your life. It's worse than dealing with criminals and law enforcement. The Crime Victims Board is supposed to be there for crime victims, and it's one big fat lie. But they keep stringing you along, and you go along, because there are crimes and witnesses and evidence of crime, and of course they know that. Two years ago, the witnesses wrote to the CVB about the crimes -- and the CVB totally ignored them, then lied and said no crime. Since the stalking crimes continued, I could file a new application. This time, I had all my ducks in order, and kept every single record, and made sure I could tell the story of how they screwed up.

On Tuesday, the day after the CVB denied me my basic legal right to ask questions at my own appeal hearing, told me to stay out of my own appeal hearing....... I had a sudden realization that this is abuse. Abusers lie and abuse power and manipulate and try to control every single thing. It's systemic with the CVB. They do whatever they want to do, violating personal rights and the law, just like abusers do.

A thousand days of abuse.

It Keeps Getting Worse

The NYS Crime Victims Board really fucked up my application for compensation, so I asked for reconsideration last July 2009. Then I was strung along for six months, providing the info I was asked for, but not hearing anything from CVB Chairwoman Tina Stanford. Then, on December 18, 2009, she offered to meet to resolve it. Then she very abruptly sent a letter that I got on Christmas Eve saying she could not reconsider her decision. No meeting was ever held.

Then in February 2010, there was a conference call, which was led by Stanford's lawyer. I learned a great deal more about CVB dysfunction. Nothing came of that.

So, I had an appeal hearing on Monday, March 22, 2010 -- supposedly. Actually, I went for my appeal hearing, and then I was excluded from my appeal hearing. They told me to sit in an office at the far end of the hallway, and I could not see who was being brought into the hearing -- my hearing, where I have the legal right to ask questions and hear what is said.

Once again, the NYS Crime Victims Board flagrantly breaks the law.

When I got a chance to go into the hearing room for my hearing, it was just for me to speak (no opportunity to question anyone else, ie. the cops). And it was all done on video. See, in Albany, you talk to a television. In the other CVB offices, your hearing is with real live board members at the hearing. There isn't anything in the CVB regulations that permits this unequal treatment of crime victims.

And this is what's hard about the video: there is a delay. You keep feeling like the board member who asked you a question won't let you start speaking, and won't let you finish your thought. You can't make out their faces.

And then it was all over. I was told I was done, time to move on, more people to hear from.... and I was told to leave.

Again, this is MY hearing, my APPEAL hearing, and I have a right to make my case, and question witnesses and hear what they say. It's a basic fundamental right.

As soon as I arrived for my hearing, I knew things were not being done right, so I asked to speak to a CVB lawyer. I was told to wait. It was never addressed. No CVB lawyer, no one addressed it.

So, after the hearing, I called Ms. Stanford and complained. Her secretary said to write a letter, so within an hour I was back at the CVB office delivering a letter.

This was more than 48 hours ago, and I have not heard from Ms. Stanford.

I can really hardly believe this awful dreadful experience, like it's all a bad dream I can't wake up from. I wonder how many crime victims in New York are being screwed like this.

Fiduciary Duty to Tell Lies

At the recent conference call that I mentioned, the general counsel of the NYS Crime Victims Board said they have a "fiduciary duty to NY".

He has a fiduciary duty to tell lies, from what I heard on the telephone.

If we had this....
If we only knew this then....
If we had that... earlier....

All of it happened, you had what you needed, you knew it already, and it happened, but you folks like lying better.

I am grateful that an investigator told me to document everything. It seems that keeping records is the only thing I can do.

The Crime Victims Board has big problems seeing reality and reading the law. It is so totally dysfunctional.

Pressuring Domestic Violence Victims to Drop Charges

The NY State Police has been accused of trying to interfere in a domestic violence case brought against an aide to Gov. Paterson. The domestic violence happened in NYC, and the NYPD has jurisdiction, not the NYSP. But the governor's aide asked the NYSP to help him out and call the woman who made the allegations.

In the past few weeks, this story has taken many turns. The commissioner of the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services, Denise O'Donnell resigned, saying she was misled by the head of the NYSP, Harry Corbitt, about its involvement in this case.

Now the Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating. The New York Times is reporting today that Gov. Paterson had asked two state workers to also call the woman. When the domestic violence victim was in court, she complained about being harassed by the NYSP.

This whole story is outrageous. More to come.