Evidence or not, they were going to do their best to put her away for life. Anne Rule might have inflamed the case with her book Small Sacrifices and her theory of the crime, but in reality, the case of Diane Downs was no small sacrifice. ..maybe it was lack of Internet and cellies *shrug)..years later, my Co worker at burger King (I was 16)told me about the small sacrifices movie she watched the night before. The Cinemaholic reports that Steve was often known for being immature and irresponsible, something that didn't see their rekindled relationship get off to the best start. I try to bring up the elements that were totally ignored. Foote refused 30 to 50 reports by detectives of sightings or leads about the shooter but admitted reports from people in Arizona willing to badmouth Diane. This blogger thinks that if you had bothered reading the blogs that you just mentioned, you would know that I do not call anyone innocent. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Diane followed the detectives to their car. The reason she is likely locked up is because she was diagnosed with narcissistic, histrionic and anti social personality disorder, that makes her a very dangerous person (especially since she is a murderer). It always feels like punishment at all costs. I can only imagine to absolute horror of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca during their horrific murders. In the blog, there is a link on the subject of bipolar people who tend to laugh at the wrong time. She was no mother of the year, I will grant them that, but a trial is supposed to be based on evidence. He still shouldnt have been allowed to adopt them while the appeals process was ongoing, if he had any role in those cases. My problem with the circumstances surrounding the crimes against these innocent children is that they were twisted by the media. I know better now than to accept blindly the truth presented to us on a silver platter by the media and the judicial system. If he was getting too close to the witness emotionally he should have stepped away from the case. How could Christie say anything but the things they told her to say with that kind of influence? She managed to jump in the car after getting shot in the arm. then later you ask how diane didnt have any blood splatter on her when she was inside the car when she shot her kids??? There was a lot of evidence pointing at OJ. My website is in the process of being migrated so it has no photos. He knows as he was in court and must have photos. She was no mother of the year and in the car when the kids got shot. Great blog post, thank you. Its tiresome. The tape is real and probably not admissible, but it seems to indicate that her testimony was coerced. She even provided the police with her own sketch. The jurors had doubts. She had been the bread winner for most of her marriage, and never wavered in her desire to bring financial stability to her family. It will likely take place very early in the war when John is young. Doing it without witnesses when she was so sick is underhanded. And some are even contradictory: shes mentally ill, but also not mentally ill; the site owner wants to focus on pure facts, yet ignore other facts; things happened in court, but those are irrelevant to what else what also happened in court, etc. No one bothered with these details so I did. That wasn't all that stood in their way, as Diane eventually ran away from home. My comment wont change their opinion on the barbarity of the American legal system, media influences and Ann Rules input. It wasnt simply her demeanor that got her convicted. They never found the gun and she showed no signs of having fired one. Everything I outlined should be public knowledge. Diane Downs' ex husband, Steve Downs, lost a lot in May 1983 when his ex wife shot their three children, following their divorce in 1980. Clickhere to read about faulty ballistics. It wasnt until Prosecutor Hugi said Dr. Jamison had labeled Diane a deviant sociopath that Mr. And the state refusing to turn them over to the defense? All of it is explained in the blog you didnt bother reading. I am sorry but I got to laugh a little. After parting ways, the couple would soon meet again in Arizona which would end up in them reigniting and reconnecting their fling. I remember when Diane shot her kids and there are some facts Id like to correct from your blog. After all, Cheryl Downs is basically serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole for her mothers crime. rudy francisco rifle analysis / ford employee profit sharing 2022 / why didn't steve downs get custody. No conflict of interest from a prosecutor adopting a defendants children 2 years after the fact? I agree that the phone call from Angel was totally inappropriate. It was all about Charlene wanting KnickKnick ~wanting Dianeand Diane wanting a return to the peace she had before Knick asked his wife for a divorce. Andthe DA adopted her other two children. The fruit of this abduction was the May 23, 1983, videotape re-enactment staged by Detective Tracy in which Diane is clearly hysterical. Rule made up stories to sell books and the rights to a movie. While that makes her technically eligible for parole at some point (in her case 2009) it does not actually mean she has an end date or a release date. So she warns her to stay away. She did not fit in and was now anxious to assert her independence and live her own life. Her persona allowed them to build this ironclad narrative when in fact, it was far from definite. It opened a huge can of worms regarding the real identity of the heart full of lies in this case. She had not fired a gun. No matter how much Ive read, or how many of her constant at the time interviews I watch on YouTube, the things that come from her brain to her mouth never cease to amaze me. Sonny arrives at his restaurant and gives Dex, who is there, the night off. The BBC weather presenter, 60 . I lived through the media coverage. She talked to Diane for 15 minutes, there was thebizarre and partialOprah interview that was basically a lets bash Diane event and she wrote to Diane in jail to ask her what she thought of Hugi adopting her children. As she walked away, Detective Welch called after her, If you dont testify against Steve, youre going to lose everything. Diane turned back to say, Show me proof, and walked away. It seems that everyone commenting just knows shes guilty, like you say. Further: Wonder about Justice in Nation with world wide highest prisoner rate. I have plans to go hunting with the husband of one of the alternates.. When a white attractive woman like Diane Downs appears on the scene while displaying seemingly unpleasant characteristics as a mother and a personality disorder, there is no telling what the media will do with the story. The trial was a whole miscarriage, that seems undeniable. Ms. Downs makes every effort to avoid emotional stimuli in order to reduce the demands made on her. And if she did it, she has served her time without displaying any violent tendencies whatsoever. You need real evidence in court. Was that Annes fault as well? I research cases that in my opinion, were poorly tried. No worries. Not meaning to sound disrespectful, but you seem to be doing what you accuse Ann Rule of doing. Something that would never stand in court now. If you had commented on one of the elements contained in the blog, it might have been enlightening. Shes guilty. Not speculative? It simply states the facts of the case. Two jurors had voted that Diane was not guilty of attempted murder or first-degree assault, but endedup voting to convict her of murder. They now have social media arenas reminiscent of the Romans cheering at the sight of a thumb down meaning there will be a bloodshed. Within three weeks, Diane had lost custody of her remaining wounded children and had become the number one suspect in the eyes of the police department and District Attorneys office. Strangely enough, a woman who was seen for 8 months by a psychologist and declared to be in shock and suffering from a mood disorder, would now be assessed by the State hired psychiatrist to confirm the label Hugi conveniently made up during trial. And she would have been under supervision. They rarely are, especially in the US. She has done her time in prison and I hope that she gets the chance to get out and spend time with her mother and siblings. According to your own experience Lori, dont they try to give grandparents custody or at least access in cases comparable to this one? Theres a lot to be said here, still. Agreed. This was very stressful. No. Or maybe an upvote/downvote arrow for each. The fact that she drove there and it saved the life of two of her children should give anyone pause. If the police department had done their job properly, I would not have written this blog, no matter the outcome. Judges are subject to certain ethical standards and have a duty to be impartial. DA Pat Horton declared early in the game to the local paper that the search for the bearded stranger was not very high on their priority list.. The fact that the DA adopted the children, since it was after the trial, is more of a gray area. I hope they have. This is to avoid the conflict of interest that we read about above. answer the question why didn't steve downs get custody, which will help you get the most accurate answer. TIL On May 19, 1983, Diane Downs shot her three children and drove them at 5-7 mph to the hospital. This does not make her innocent. The character of the accused is not the main ingredient, especially that in this case, there was a lot of bashing going on in the media and in court. Robert and Diane even decided toget matching rose tattoos, but as soon as the ink on her tattoo was dry, he refused to get his done. ?.the fact you are ignoring something SO OBVIOUS is a red flag. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPLkIcSzftE&ab_channel=DianeDownsArchives. I tried to contact you by email but my email wouldnt acknowledge you email address. My question is: why is she still locked up? Common sense will tell this Court, when Diane accidently slammed her mangled arm into the steering wheel of Detective Tracys car, it was ANYTHING but a laughing matter. I agree that the verdict may have been very different. The states own witness, Dr. George Suckow and Dr. Polly Jamison denounced Prosecutor Hugis practice as improper and unethical (Appendix 101 and 104). She was a first time offender who has shown no violent tendencies and is afflicted with a mental illness. They sure forgot to tell us about her pulse racing during these sessions. By the way, that interview with Christie by a biased advocate named Angel borders on abusive. John Kitzhaber, Governor of Oregon It was one of the most disturbing stories I've watched. My opinion of why Mr. Hugi adopted Christie and Danny was to seal their lips. It probably was not salacious enough for her readers that she polled online to establish if there was enough interest in the story to fill her pockets with a definite blockbuster. What matters to me is that her rights were trampled during her trial. Lise do you know if the kids have ever reached out to the grandparents/family in the last few years? The role of Diane Downs was played by none other than Farrah Fawcett and her lover was played by Ryan ONeal who had been Farrahs love interest in real life. Wow. They were in a group home and he was getting unsupervised visitation with them. But why was the judge in family court hopping over to criminal court? You left and you and Diane Downs spent an evening at a motel? In fact, Diane had consulted a psychologist after the tragedy and after months of consultation, she was never diagnosed as a sociopath. (He WAS shot in the back remember). Yes, I had filed for divorce and then I canceled it. I guess he did not want too many people to know about the improprieties that happened in his courtroom: I guess? If she did have memories of the actual shooting, that would be very rare. Yet in their mind, she was already guilty. The fact that she took the kids to the nearest hospital, andtwo of them survived kind offlies in the face of their murder at all costs theory. Regina, I love your comment! It really doesnt matter that much of the trial and due process was faulty, because its so obvious that Diane is the one who did it and that justice was served. I found nothing. Diane Downs is guilty beyond any doubt and I do not believe that her daughter was coached. After graduation, Steven joined the Navy and Diane was sent to Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College where she failed miserably at remaining pure and chaste, not unlike most girls of her generation who rejected their strict religious upbringing. Most people described Dianes injury as minor or superficial but in reality, it was a very serious injury. If Oregonians were not all convinced at first, the media and the crown made sure they would be. It sounds pretty fair to me. Considering the circumstances, it is difficult not to be a bit cynical about this grand gesture: relevance? I asked her brother James an answer to your question. Therefore, my understanding is that the original sentence is deemed indefinite with parole hearings every 10 years. This reminds me of what a jail counselor named Rachel Roth said at the trial of Debra Milke Its my opinion that this young woman has been judged in a way that signifies something to do with how we view women in our society. I read the letter they sent to the Downs when they were fighting to see their grandchildren. So not addressing the content of the blog and rambling about everything else while asking for a disclaimer is nailing it? So she could not have shot her kids at the distance determined by the state unless she changed her clothing and it did not come up at trial. I will change it. Did CK shoot at car when DD drove away? It was also said at trial that the shooter would have been left handed, which was not the case for Diane. The judge instructed them to continue on to force a verdict. 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