Our Justice Delayed Truly Is Justice Denied
On Oct. 14, 1995, my oldest son, Jeff, then 35, and his brother had been to see a blues band and were coming home when another vehicle, making an illegal turn, almost hit their car.
Some words were thrown about and the four occupants of the other car followed my sons, who turned into a brightly lit parking lot, hoping the others would go away. But they didn’t.
As a result, Jeff was the victim of a violent assault that has left him permanently brain-damaged. He will, in all probability, spend his remaining 30 or 40 years in a nursing home.
He has a tube for feeding, a shunt to drain excess spinal fluid in his brain and a medicine pump implanted in his stomach.
He cannot walk. He barely has speech and the left side of his body is useless.
Before the assault, he was productive, physically active, happy and a loving and much-loved member of our family. He now spends his time in a wheelchair or in bed.
The suspects were arrested about a year and a half ago. They have admitted to being there and have been out of jail for most of that time. They waived their right to a speedy trial, so they have not yet had to answer to the charges.
We, the family of the victim, have not had any peace or a happy day since the assault. We have had every motion denied us. We are on our third prosecutor and the trial has been postponed about six times. I have lost track.
Where is justice for my son? Or for me and my family? There is none.
The criminals get the justice; the victim and his family get the shaft.
The incident has been called first-degree assault. To me, his mother, and to his daughter, brothers and extended family, it is much worse than assault. The assailants have taken our Jeff away and left us with a son, father, brother, who can never again enjoy even the simplest pleasures. Our only wish is that some day those responsible will be held accountable for what they have done to my son and to all who love him.
Maybe then our rage and despair can be alleviated. It can never, ever, be banished because every day of my life, my son is a reminder of what has been taken from me.
I always believed in our system of justice. I believe no more. If justice is finally done for Jeff and our family, maybe I will again believe.
MEMO: Your Turn is a feature of the Wednesday and Saturday Opinion pages. To submit a Your Turn column for consideration, contact Rebecca Nappi at 459-5496 or Doug Floyd at 459-5466 or write Your Turn, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615.