Category Archives: Resources

Response to the Nassau County Conviction Integrity Review Report


Advisory Panelist Barry Scheck Calls for Reopening Friedman Case

Head of DA Advisory Panel, Barry Scheck, Urges Court to Hold Full Evidentiary Hearing and Release Grand Jury Minutes and Original Files

Chief Prosecution Witness Ross Goldstein Recants Original Testimony

More than 40 eye-witnesses to Friedman computer classes including now-grown computer students and their parents come forward to state that no abuse took place in the Friedman classes in the 1980s.


Prosecution Masquerading as Investigation: The National Center for Reason and Justice Responds

The National Center for Reason and Justice (website) Responds to The Rice Report, August 2013

A Response from the National Center for Reason and Justice (pdf) to the Nassau County DA’s Conviction Integrity Review Report on Jesse Friedman, plus an Executive Summary (pdf).


Jesse Friedman Sues Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice for Defamation


Destruction of Innocence A White Paper by Emily Horowitz and Gavin de Becker


Cognitive Tunnel Vision Biases and Their Detrimental Affect on Prosecutorial Evidentiary Evaluation


Jesse Friedman Goes to Court to Overturn 1988 Mass Sex Abuse Case with a Mountain of Newly Discovered Evidence of His Innocence


Gary Meyers Interviewed by Detective Hatch and Detective Jones


 

Freedom of Information Law Application

Spring of 2013

While the District Attorney’s internal “conviction review” had been underway for over two years, the Friedman defense team filed a freedom of information law (FOIL) request with the Nassau County District Attorney.  The action was undertaken because the DA insisted upon conducting their review under a cloak of secrecy, refusing to follow “best practices” for conviction review transparency, and refused to even discuss what evidence was being considered for review.   Original FOIL Filing documents

August 2013

Eventually the matter reached Judge F. Dana Winslow who was outraged by the the arrogance of the District Attorney and their lack of transparency upon the conclusion of the conviction review.  After providing the DA ample opportunity to explain their actions Judge Winslow issued a bench Decision and Order (transcript pdf) ordering the DA to turn over “every piece of paper you have generated for People against Friedman”.  — Press report

That Order was immediately stayed pending appeal by the DA’s office to the Appellate Division, Second Department. Sadly, that stay order remained in effect for four and a half years forestalling Friedman’s “Actual Innocence” hearing and his pending Motion for Discovery.

Petitioner’s Reply Memorandum of Law regarding FOIL document disclosure (Read PDF)

September 2013

Friedman Asks Appellate Court to Open Files of Police Investigation (Click to read)

Press Coverage here, and here.

2014

Delays continue while appeal before the Appellate Division remains pending.

February 2015

Oral argument before Appellate Division, Second Department. (press release)

New York Times Editorial

December 2015

Decision from the Appellate Division (two years after initial filing and tens months after oral arguments before the court) which is immediately appealed to the NYS Court of Appeals by the District Attorney.

Motion for Discovery stayed pending resolution of FOIL litigation. (press release)

June 2016

District Attorney files appeal with the New York State Court of Appeals regarding Friedman FOIL request to open case files.  Click to read legal brief or, press coverage.

Friedman’s Actual Innocence hearing continues to be held in abeyance.

Amici Briefs in Support of Friedman’s FOIL Request

October 2017

Oral Arguments before the NYS Court of Appeals video link

November 2017

Decision from the New York State Court of Appeals in the Matter of Friedman v. Rice

Some press explanation of the Decision.  And our press release explaining the Court’s ruling.

The Court overruled the lower court’s decision to consider documents related to “any witness who does not testify at trial” to being “confidential witnesses” and therefore non-disclosable”.  This is a victory for open government but only a partial victory for Jesse Friedman. The Court failed to uphold the blanket “Order to Disclose” and sent the matter back to Nassau County Court for judicial review on a page-by-page basis.

January 2018

After three years of delays Judge Murphy orders DA to turn over FOIL documents to defendant. 

The DA’s Office begins an process of “going though one or two boxes a week” out of approximately 35 files boxes of documents. Submitting letters to the court itemizing which pages they feel are disclosable and which are sealed.  Page, by page, for months at a time, disclosure creeps along.  This is mostly what they disclose.

Advisory Panelist Barry Scheck Calls for Reopening Friedman Case

Urges court to hold full evidentiary hearing and turn over all DA files

Barry Scheck, Head of DA Advisory Panel, Urges Court to Hold Full Evidentiary Hearing and Release Grand Jury Minutes and Original Files

Jesse Friedman Goes to Court to Overturn 1988 Mass Sex Abuse Case with Mountain of Newly Discovered Evidence of His Innocence

Chief Prosecution Witness Ross Goldstein Recants Original Testimony

More than 40 eyewitnesses to Friedman computer classes including now-grown computer students and their parents come forward to state that no abuse took place in the Friedman classes in the 1980s.

Additional Background

The False Memory Foundation Home Page: A treasure trove of information covering every aspect of these conditions. Case studies, FAQ, book reviews, monthly newsletter, hypnosis, multiple-personality disorder, and much more.


Elizabeth Loftus is a Professor or Law, Criminology , Psychology and Social Behavior at the University of California, Irvine, and University of Washington. Professor Loftus has published dozen’s of articles on this subject.


Professor Loftus’ book The Myth of Repressed Memory, has been described by the The Washington Post Book World as, “[A] thoughtful, scholarly book…concerned with exposing the damage caused by, and the falsity of, the practice of recovered-memory therapy.” The New York Times Book Review said, “The descriptions…of the ‘therapeutic’ practices by which memories are recovered are a frightening indictment of at least some members of the burgeoning therapy industry.”


Satan’s Silence, The Making of a Modern American Witch Hunt by Debbie Nathan and Michael Snedeker.

 

Contact

Anyone wishing to contact Jesse Friedman’s legal defense team, inquiries for additional information; legal questions; case updates; or wishing to contact Jesse:

The Law Office of Ronald Kuby.

Contact Jesse Friedman directly: jesse@freejesse.net

Press inquiries, contact Lonnie Soury.

Judicial Complaint and Defamation Suit Against District Attorney

Jesse Friedman’s Judicial Complaint Against Judge Boklan

Here is the Judicial Conduct Complaint presented by Jesse Friedman which was filed against judge Abbey Boklan in April 2004.


Defamation Suit Against DA Kathleen Rice

September 20, 2013

The Notice of Claim (pdf) is filed. Seven pages, plus 30 pages of attached exhibits.

June 19, 2014

The filing of the complete Complaint (pdf) 16 pages (plus 84 pages of attached exhibits).

April 1, 2015

An Appeal in Defamation Case is filed (pdf) 17 pages.

The defamation suit is eventually dismissed in summary judgement by the appeals court. 

There is sufficient proof in demonstrating that standing up to power (even against insurmountable odds) is essential for persevering any rights for the citizens.  Shortly after wrongfully convicting me a second time, DA Kathleen Rice went on to become Congresswoman Kathleen Rice, and most likely is on her way to even greater influence and unchecked power.


 

San Diego Presentation 1990

Child Pornography and Extrafamilial Child Sex Abuse

Sandra Kaplan, M.D., David Pelcovitz, Ph.D., Carol Samit, C.S.W.
Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, North Shore University Hospital, Cornell University Medical College

Detective Sergeant Frances M. Galasso, Nassau County New York Police Department

CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AND EXTRAFAMILIAL CHILD SEX ABUSE

S. Kaplan, M.D., D. Pelcovitz, Ph.D., C. Samit, C.S.W., F. Galasso, Det. Sgt.

Although extrafamilial sexual abuse of children is widely recognized as a major problem there is a paucity of mental health literature in this area. This symposium will provide a review of the existing literature on child pornography and extrafamilial sex abuse with a specific focus on clinical treatment of child victims and their parents as well as legal aspects relevant to child victim and their parents. The presenters have collaborated in the individual and group treatment of victims of one of the largest child pornography and sex abuse cases in the United States. This case which has been recently successfully prosecuted involved hundreds of children in an upper socioeconomic suburban area. The presentations will address the individual treatment of these children, group therapy of the children and their parents and use of hypnosis in the treatment of dissociation in victim. Relevant legal issues including reliability of children as witnesses and the role of clinicians in preparing children for testimony will also be presented. All presentations will address both general clinical and research issues regarding child pornography and extrafamilial sex abuse using specific illustrations from the case described above.

The presentations of this symposium will include: Overview of Child Pornography and Child Sexual Abuse; Group Therapy for Victims of Child Pornography and Extrafamilial Sexual Abuse; Group Treatment of Parents of Child Pornography and Extrafamilial Sexual Abuse Victims; Dissociation and Sexual Abuse in Children and Adolescents; Legal Proceedings of Child Pornography and Extrafamilial Child Sexual Abuse.

OVERVIEW OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AND CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

PRESENTATION I

SANDRA KAPLAN, M.D.

Although extrafamilial sexual abuse of children is widely recognized as a major problem there is a paucity of mental health literature in this area. This symposium will provide a review of the existing literature on child pornography and extrafamilial sex abuse with a specific focus on clinical treatment of child victims and their parents as well as legal aspects relevant to child psychiatrists. The presenters have collaborated in the individual and group treatment of victims of one of the largest child pornography and sex abuse cases in the United States. This case which has been recently successfully prosecuted involved hundreds of children in an upper socioeconomic suburban area. The presentations will address the individual treatment of these children, group therapy of the children and their parents and use of hypnosis in the treatment of dissociation in victims. Relevant legal issues including reliability of children as witnesses and the role of psychiatrists in preparing children for testimony will also be presented. All presentations will address both general clinical and research issues regarding child pornography and extrafamilial sex abuse using specific illustrations from the case described above.

Child pornography is a multi‑faceted, international, multimillion dollar business. More than 260 different varieties of pornographic publications have been produced. (Pierce, 1984). It is estimated that between 300,000 to 600,000 children below the age of sixteen are involved nationwide in child pornography activities, (Pierce, 1984). Depiction of sexual activity between adults and children is thought to account for approximately 7% of the total pornographic industry in the United States (House of Representative Hearing, 1977, cited in Pierce).

The United States is the world’s leading consumer of child pornography materials. Customs officials have evidence that approximately 20,000 known Americans (97% of whom are male) are buying child pornography material, either from domestic or foreign (Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark) distributors (Thorton, Washington Post, 1986). Domestic materials are typically produced by amateurs, foreign production is commercially produced in a more sophisticated way. (American Medical Association, 1987).

The typology of child pornography will be presented and the mental health literature will be reviewed. The psychological consequences have been reported by Burgess (1984) in her study of sixty‑two children involved in sex rings, that those involved in child pornography as part of the abuse had more negative symptoms than those who were abused but not subject to child pornography.

CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AND EXTRAFAMILIAL SEX ABUSE
Group Therapy and Hypnosis for Victim of Child Pornography and Extrafamilial Sexual Abuse

PRESENTATION II

David Pelcovitz, Ph.D.

Group treatment for victims of sex abuse is widely thought to be the treatment of choice for this population. Forseth and Brown (1981) report that in their survey of 36 incest‑treatment programs, group therapy was most often cited as the preferred treatment modality. The advantages of group treatment include a lessening of the feeling of stigmatization and difference which is one of the most damaging sequence of sexual abuse, a decrease in feelings of social isolation which is also reported by many victim and the beneficial effects of learning that their experiences were no so “horrible” that they permanently have to be kept secret. In light of the above, it is surprising that the literature on group treatment of victims of sex abuse there is no reference to the unique treatment needs of boys abused by perpetrators outside of their family.

In light of the paucity of data on group therapy for this population, we attempted to empirically measure the effectiveness of groups we offered to these victims.

Fifteen victim of a child pornography and sex abuse ring which victimized children attending an after‑school program were seen in once weekly focused group therapy sessions for six months. The victimization of the children included repeated sodomy, oral sex and numerous sexual games. The abuse was recorded by the perpetrators on videotape, and numerous photographs. All members of the group were administered the Child Behavior Checklist, Youth Self‑Report, Area of Change Questionnaire, and a structured interview designed by Pynoos and Eth to assess changes in children’s behavior as a result of the trauma. The results of these questionnaires pre and post group interviews are not yet analyzed but will be reported at the time of the symposium.

Short‑term focused group therapy sessions were offered on a once a week basis for ten sessions. The focus of the sessions was similar to what is described in the group therapy literature on incest victims but a number of themes emerged which were unique to this type of abuse. Themes consistent with what is reported in the group treatment of incest included:

(1) Stigmatization: The children reported feeling permanently damaged and different from their peers as a result of the abuse. Some of the children reported being teased and called“gay” by peers who discovered they were abused. A number of the children expressed a hope that their future wives and children never find out about their victimization;

(2) Guilt: A number of the children were embarrassed to discuss their feelings about being abused because of fear that the abuse would be viewed as their fault. In spite of repeated assurance by family members and therapists that they were not to blame, these feelings persisted. A major source of guilt was not having told their parents about the abuse because of their believing the perpetrators’ threats.

(3) Trust: Many of the children expressed continuing difficulty trusting adults outside of their family-‑particularly teachers. Unlike children in incest families, there was no evidence that this lack of trust was also directed towards parents. However, several children expressed concern regarding their parents [sic] failure to protect them from the abuse;

(4) Anger: As is the case with groups of incest victim, perhaps the most frequently expressed feeling in our groups was that of anger at the perpetrator. On the evening following the conviction of the man they felt was the most sadistic perpetrator of abuse, the boys had a party to celebrate the event. Vivid fantasies of torturing the perpetrators were often expressed.

(5) Powerlessness: This theme emerged repeatedly particularly in the dreams reported by these youngsters: One child reported dreaming repeatedly of being trapped and unable to get help, “I tried to scream for help but nothing came out”;

(6) Sexuality: The children had considerable difficulty discussing the effects the abuse had on their sexual functioning. The consensus of most of the children was that since the abuse was done by men and not women, it was not really sex, and they were, therefore, still virgins. A group which discussed the children’s knowledge of sexual matters, revealed many misconceptions about sex, as well as a high level of anxiety about discussing the impact which their abuse might have on future sexual functioning.

Several issues which emerged in the group were unique to this type of victimization. Pornography: The children almost universally denied being upset by the idea that pictures of their victimization are being circulated. An interesting adaptation to the permanent record of their abuse was a belief that since several years have elapsed since the photographs and videotapes were made, they now look so different that they have a new appearance and identity from that seen on the pornographic material.

Dissociation: Of the 15 children seen in the two groups, six children had no memories of being victimized even though members witnessed their abuse. A technique that was useful in helping these children remembering was having all group members draw pictures of the room where they were victimized and speak about their memories of the classes using the pictures as visual aid. With the help of this technique, two group members who had amnesia for the abuse, remembered most of the detail of their victimization. Two of the remaining four have had vague but not detailed memories and the remaining two continue to not remember their abuse. The group was also helpful in that those children who remembered, who initially had dissociated, were able to reassure those with amnesia that the process of remembering would not be painful (the children had been told by detectives who questioned them that when they remembered it would be traumatic). Family Issues: Many of the victims harbored anger at their parents for urging them to continue attending classes. Although it was apparent that most parents encouraged their children to discuss the abuse, almost all of the group members reported that they were only comfortable discussing their topic in the safety of the group and not with their parents.

In summary, group treatment for male victims of child pornography and extrafamilial sex abuse appears to be very helpful in providing a forum for discussion of memories and feelings related to the victimization, lessening feelings of stigmatizationand damage,, and lessening feelings of isolation and powerlessness. The group also proved to be a helpful modality for helping those children who repressed their memories of the abuse to remember what had happened to them

A number of workers in recent years have pointed to a link between physical and sexual abuse in early life and the subsequent development of dissociative disorders, particularly multiple personality disorder (Putnam, 1985; Braum & Sachs, 1985). Most of the existing studies on this issue have been based on retrospective studies of adult patients with multiple personality disorder, although the findings of a correlation have been quite consistent and etiologically suggestive. A critical review of this literature will evaluate the empirical evidence and theoretical formulations for the emergence of dissociation as a psychopathologically over-determined response to physical and sexual abuse during childhood and adolescence.

Supportive evidence for the above includes a recent study by Finer (Ph.D. dissertation), which compared the dissociative propensity of abused children with that of a control group. Finer found higher dissociation scores in the abused group on two independent measures, one of which was a standard measure of hypnotizabilty. The findings and implications of this study will be discussed.

Finally, treatment implications of the above findings will be addressed. This will include a review of the literature on the use of hypnosis with physically and sexually abused children as well as those with dissociative disorders. Our own clinical experience in this area will be reviewed, together with suggested guidelines for further study. 

CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AND EXTRAFAMILIAL SEX ABUSE
(Group treatment of parents of child pornography and of extrafamilial sexual abuse victims.)

PRESENTATION III

Carol Samit, C.S.W.

The majority of the literature on the treatment of child sexual abuse focuses on the treatment of incest. Few articles describe the group treatment of extrafamilial sexual abuse and those are limited to the treatment of child victim. Reference has been made to the need to help parents cope with extrafamilial molestation, but there is nothing written about group treatment for parents whose children are these victims.

In a clinical presentation, we will describe the process and the themes in the group treatment of parents whose latency age children were molested while attending an after‑school program.

Like their children, these parents feel victimized, stigmatized and betrayed. The symptomology of the parents often paralleled their children. Among their symptom were feelings of sadness, feelings of failure (as a parent), fear that something bad will happen to them in the future and general feelings of depression and anxiety. In addition, feelings of self‑blame and guilt and a wish for retribution and need to be validated were expressed. Individual and couple issues emerged as therapy progressed. The boys’ own ongoing group process as well as for group sessions, were strongly influenced by community response to the sexual abuse, media coverage and the impacting legal systems.

Counter-transferential issues of working with a non‑pathological parent group, therapists living in the same community, sharing a similar SES background and common value base will be discussed. The stages of group process will be examined as they apply to other groups of this type. 

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AND EXTRAFAMILIAL CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

PRESENTATION IV

Detective Sergeant Frances M. Galasso, Nassau County, New York Police Department

Federal and State laws regarding child pornography and extrafamilial child sexual abuse and investigation and prosecution procedures will be presented. Legal obligations of child and adolescent psychiatrists will be discussed.

Court proceedings and child victims as witnesses will also be reviewed. The law enforcement and judicial proceedings of the case involving all of the presenters will be utilized to illustrate this presentation. Child and adolescent psychiatric collaboration with law enforcement in these cases will be emphasized.