|
After the shock effect started to wear off I became even more angry at the corrupt Blair Court system and was determined to rescue my daughter from the clutches of the court from hell. Realizing that I was set adrift in a legal nightmare with no one running to assist me, I decided that I would appeal Judge Hiram Carpenter’s abusive and destructive July 14, 2000, custody order in the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Accordingly I filed a Notice of Appeal. I believed that once the Superior Court reviewed the record it would have reversed Judge Carpenter’s order that was built on extreme bias and fraud. I was confident that the record, if left intact, as presented in the trial court was 99% favorable to me gaining full custody of my daughter and would have removed her from the bondage and physical and emotional abuse Judge Carpenter condemned her to. My next order of business was to direct the court stenographers to produce the transcripts. As more fully described in my story I was literally overcome with terror as I soon discovered that Mr. Carpenter was altering the hearing transcripts to falsify and fashion a record supportive of his horrific custody order. I couldn’t fathom how the legal system would stoop this low to hurt people, most especially knowing they were destroying an innocent child.
|
|
In my attempts to get the trial court record corrected for my appeal I filed a petition to correct the record and requested that the audio tapes of the hearing be disclosed to accurately accommodate the corrections of the trial court record. Since it was Judge Carpenter who criminally altered the record he quickly ordered that my request for correction be denied. (see law and article regarding disclosure of court audio tapes) Attempting to overcome Judge Carpenter’s ruling designed to keep his crimes covered up I immediately filed a second appeal to Superior Court challenging his order that denied me the legal right prescribed in appellate procedure to correct the record to reflect the witnesses real testimony. Subsequently I received an order from Superior Court merging the two appeals that were now to be argued conjointly.
|
|
Because of the complexity of my case and the rampant and viscous criminal conduct that was taking place throughout it, I knew that I didn’t have the legal expertise or practical experience needed to unravel the whole corrupt mess, let alone file an effective legal brief for the appellate court. As I wrote in the my private criminal complaint) I only made an appointment for consultation with Attorney Anthony Zanoni. At first I thought this was a young aggressive lawyer who wasn’t afraid to take on the system. I developed this thinking through news articles in the Altoona Mirror concerning Mr. Zanoni's courtroom theatrics and escapades . None-the less I was particularly relieved when Attorney Zanoni told me that he would take my case through the appeal process. He told me later that he based his decision after learning about the role that the now infamous Dr. Baker had played in causing me all this trouble.
|
|
I still remember leaving Attorney Zanoni’s office that day feeling that the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders and that things were finally going to change, most importantly I would be reunited with my daughter, and justice would be forthcoming. For some reason as the deadline drew closer for filing the brief I developed an uneasy feeling that something wasn’t right. It is just one of those human senses that come instinctively when going through horrendous trials and tribulations. The energetic enthusiasm that Attorney Zanoni displayed during the initial consultation was waning. On April 19, 2001, my suspicions were confirmed when Attorney Zanoni asked me to meet with him to discuss my brief for Superior Court due to be filed in just three days. At that time he asked if I would be willing to drop the appeal in exchange for him securing a similar custody agreement of my daughter that I previously had before Judge Carpenter’s order. As it turned out I agreed to Mr. Zanoni’s conditions only because I wanted to be reunited with my daughter before she became estranged from me with the passing of time. When I asked him to file a withdrawal of my appeal Attorney Zanoni told me that no further action will be taken in Superior Court and I should just ignore any notification from the court and the appeal will automatically be dropped from the docket.
|
|
Once I agreed to drop the appeal by his recommendation Attorney Zanoni said he would contact the guardian ad litem (Beverly Mears) immediately to make arrangements to reestablish the custody of my daughter. Attorney Zanoni told me that by late May or early June 2001, I would again have custody of my daughter equivalent to what I had before Judge Carpenter’s order. Subsequently I received a letter dated May 10, 2001, from Attorney Zanoni outlining Beverly Mears proposal for resumption of joint custody. To consummate the agreement Beverly Mears was requiring me to schedule two supervised visits. If all went well she would file for reinstatement of my custody schedule immediately. Making the whole deal sound easy Attorney Zanoni was explicit that no hearings would be necessary since a judge will simply sign off.
|
|
On June 16, 2001, Attorney Zanoni was sent a letter by Beverly Mears, Esq. stating that she had contacted Janice Meadows of the Blair County Custody Office to schedule the two supervised visits. Inflaming an already tense situation attorney Zanoni was advised that no supervised visits could be scheduled until August 3, 2001. Again my suspicions arose that this alleged arrangement fell apart and was beginning to look like a deliberate stall to put more distance between me and my daughter.
|
|
On August 2, 2001, I had my first supervised visit with my daughter. Before the visit commenced Attorney Zanoni advised Sandy Fluke that we are going to do these two times and we will be petitioning for custody modification. Even though it was over a year since I had seen my daughter I found our relationship and emotional bond was intact and the visit went better than I had expected. (see the supervised visit feedback form 1)
|
|
|
|
|
|
