Friday, June 12, 2015
Saturday, March 14, 2015
A successful turnout!
Hello all,
We feel blessed to be able to say that while James was in fact sentenced on March 4th, we had a very successful day! I'm going to include an email from one of James' supporters to give you the feel of how the day played out:
Hi all, Thank you for your prayers. As briefly as I can tell you, the judge denied our attorney's request to allow him to contact and ask the jurors what made them believe Jamie was guilty. Therefore, he went ahead with the sentencing. Being convicted of those two charges, I believe, carried a mandatory "Life" sentence. However, the judge did say, he could be eligible for parole in 7 years. (That sure beats "Life without parole," which was also an option) The attorney explained to us later that, realistically, parole boards always deny the first couple of requests a prisoner submits. If that happens, he could possibly be released in 9 years or so. The hearing was set for 8:30 am so we had invited as many of us as could come, to show up outside (and across the large courtyard from) the Pomona courthouse at 7:30 am, wearing white shirts to signify our belief in his innocence, for the purpose of singing some worship songs, praying for Jamie, and to take a group photo on an phone so it could be shown to Jamie by his attorney, to encourage Jamie that he's not standing alone in this fight. His sister had gotten buttons made with our motto, "I Stand With James". We all put one on. I had been praying beforehand that God would cover the gathering with His calm and He did. And when they opened the doors to allow his supporters into the courtroom, Jamie was sitting up ahead of us, with his back to us. When he heard us begin filing in, he turned his head around to see who all was there. It was such a blessing to me to see the sheer expression of blessing on his face as he kept watching, and watching, and watching, and watching, as this group of his supporters filed in and filled up the entire section. After the hearing, the attorney was able to show Jamie the Phone photo of the larger group that had assembled earlier outside. He said Jamie cried when he saw it. Given all the horrible realities that have come down on Jamie, and knowing that sentencing was hanging out there to land another heavy blow on him (and us), I couldn't see any way that Jamie could experience any happiness or positive feelings on this, his day of sentencing--on this, his 29th birthday. But, I am so grateful to share with you I do believe God did it! He planted the idea two weeks ago, we moved on it, and He brought us all together to physically and spiritually stand with Jamie. And in doing so, God gave all of us the priceless gift of being a part of His blessing to Jamie; a very special, very huge blessing on this, his 29th birthday. Thanks to each of you for your prayers. Please keep praying. This will be a long battle. Thank you God for all you did today to encourage Jamie, and to encourage all of us as well. OK, there you have my "brief" version of today's events. Love, Anonymous
Thank you to the lovely person that wrote this note of support for James. As you can see, he was not alone that day. We all gathered around him in prayer and solidarity to show him our love and devotion. Wearing white, the buttons and our 'I STAND WITH JAMES HIGBEE' positive signs made an impact even without words. I would like to say THANK YOU to everyone that showed up that day and continues to show up! Thank you to those that pray for him, that send him letters and packages/books. As his sister, I know the person he is and his innocence is clear, however even when I begin to tell strangers about the circumstances, they don't question me. It makes my heart swell with gratitude to know that James is so deeply believed in. Thank you to Chloe for bringing your angelic presence and voice to lead us in prayer and song for James.
When we gathered into the court room Katy was able to give her 'victim impact speech,' which was rather brutal to hear as none of it was truth. We kept calm and maintained composure through the outright lies but it was certainly not easy. I can only imagine how James must have felt. He has lost significant weight on his already lean frame due to stress and the lack of healthy food at county so please pray for him.
The judge sentenced James to life with the possibility of parole in 7 years, but also recommended that our attorneys file the appeal immediately and the bailiff was appalled by the outcome of the entire trial, which speaks volumes, in my opinion. We believe that these lies were perpetuated by fear to take the focus off of Devin's fall in Solvang and being bumped around on rides at Disneyland while in the care of the Adams family. When CPS and the detectives got involved Devin's mothers tune instantly changed to ''James is a loving father that would never ever hurt his child,'' to him ''being a monster and deliberately hurting Devin.'' Quite possibly because she was a suspect herself. It is likely that the entire family knows of James' innocence but had to make up some story so that they didn't risk all of this turning on them. They continue to perpetuate hate and negativity through blogs, social media and other sources. And I truly feel sorry for those that blindly believe them as they likely have not heard the whole truth or even half of it. With that said we are still fighting and will continue until this is rectified. James' innocence goes without saying and we are right there with him every step of the way.
As my Uncle Senior Pastor Scott Brewer recently said, "I cannot wait for the day that James walks through my congregation doors a free man! And he will!''
Hi all, Thank you for your prayers. As briefly as I can tell you, the judge denied our attorney's request to allow him to contact and ask the jurors what made them believe Jamie was guilty. Therefore, he went ahead with the sentencing. Being convicted of those two charges, I believe, carried a mandatory "Life" sentence. However, the judge did say, he could be eligible for parole in 7 years. (That sure beats "Life without parole," which was also an option) The attorney explained to us later that, realistically, parole boards always deny the first couple of requests a prisoner submits. If that happens, he could possibly be released in 9 years or so. The hearing was set for 8:30 am so we had invited as many of us as could come, to show up outside (and across the large courtyard from) the Pomona courthouse at 7:30 am, wearing white shirts to signify our belief in his innocence, for the purpose of singing some worship songs, praying for Jamie, and to take a group photo on an phone so it could be shown to Jamie by his attorney, to encourage Jamie that he's not standing alone in this fight. His sister had gotten buttons made with our motto, "I Stand With James". We all put one on. I had been praying beforehand that God would cover the gathering with His calm and He did. And when they opened the doors to allow his supporters into the courtroom, Jamie was sitting up ahead of us, with his back to us. When he heard us begin filing in, he turned his head around to see who all was there. It was such a blessing to me to see the sheer expression of blessing on his face as he kept watching, and watching, and watching, and watching, as this group of his supporters filed in and filled up the entire section. After the hearing, the attorney was able to show Jamie the Phone photo of the larger group that had assembled earlier outside. He said Jamie cried when he saw it. Given all the horrible realities that have come down on Jamie, and knowing that sentencing was hanging out there to land another heavy blow on him (and us), I couldn't see any way that Jamie could experience any happiness or positive feelings on this, his day of sentencing--on this, his 29th birthday. But, I am so grateful to share with you I do believe God did it! He planted the idea two weeks ago, we moved on it, and He brought us all together to physically and spiritually stand with Jamie. And in doing so, God gave all of us the priceless gift of being a part of His blessing to Jamie; a very special, very huge blessing on this, his 29th birthday. Thanks to each of you for your prayers. Please keep praying. This will be a long battle. Thank you God for all you did today to encourage Jamie, and to encourage all of us as well. OK, there you have my "brief" version of today's events. Love, Anonymous
Thank you to the lovely person that wrote this note of support for James. As you can see, he was not alone that day. We all gathered around him in prayer and solidarity to show him our love and devotion. Wearing white, the buttons and our 'I STAND WITH JAMES HIGBEE' positive signs made an impact even without words. I would like to say THANK YOU to everyone that showed up that day and continues to show up! Thank you to those that pray for him, that send him letters and packages/books. As his sister, I know the person he is and his innocence is clear, however even when I begin to tell strangers about the circumstances, they don't question me. It makes my heart swell with gratitude to know that James is so deeply believed in. Thank you to Chloe for bringing your angelic presence and voice to lead us in prayer and song for James.
When we gathered into the court room Katy was able to give her 'victim impact speech,' which was rather brutal to hear as none of it was truth. We kept calm and maintained composure through the outright lies but it was certainly not easy. I can only imagine how James must have felt. He has lost significant weight on his already lean frame due to stress and the lack of healthy food at county so please pray for him.
The judge sentenced James to life with the possibility of parole in 7 years, but also recommended that our attorneys file the appeal immediately and the bailiff was appalled by the outcome of the entire trial, which speaks volumes, in my opinion. We believe that these lies were perpetuated by fear to take the focus off of Devin's fall in Solvang and being bumped around on rides at Disneyland while in the care of the Adams family. When CPS and the detectives got involved Devin's mothers tune instantly changed to ''James is a loving father that would never ever hurt his child,'' to him ''being a monster and deliberately hurting Devin.'' Quite possibly because she was a suspect herself. It is likely that the entire family knows of James' innocence but had to make up some story so that they didn't risk all of this turning on them. They continue to perpetuate hate and negativity through blogs, social media and other sources. And I truly feel sorry for those that blindly believe them as they likely have not heard the whole truth or even half of it. With that said we are still fighting and will continue until this is rectified. James' innocence goes without saying and we are right there with him every step of the way.
As my Uncle Senior Pastor Scott Brewer recently said, "I cannot wait for the day that James walks through my congregation doors a free man! And he will!''
Friday, February 27, 2015
I STAND WITH JAMES
Hi All,
I'm Rebecca (James Higbees sister) and I keep the blog updated. Please feel free to find me on Facebook (Rebecca Joens) if you'd like to support Jamie and the matters regarding his innocence. I have events going on my Facebook page. We welcome all to contribute with your time and prayer.
We are sad to say that the verdict came down in favor of the prosecution the week prior to Thanksgiving, on November 17th, 2014 to be exact. Needless to say, this was a huge shock to us, as many friends and family attended trial daily and felt that James' innocence went without saying. Unfortunately, as a result, we have lost most of our faith in the judicial system. Many cried, including Jamie's male attorneys, who strongly believe in his innocence and are now working on his behalf, filing for motions to overturn the verdict, notice of motion to file an appeal and the like.
We are unable to reconcile this in many ways, but the following is a brief synopsis of how we think this came to be, particularly for those who are new to James' situation: We know that from the get-go this was a "witch hunt," so to speak. The detective did a biased investigation, or lack thereof, as we think that she may have personally known the prosecution's side. We know that the prosecution's side , the DA and Devin's mother, her family, etc., lied on the stand, even perjuring themselves. Theatrics were demonstrated to achieve their goal, which was to deflect from the injury that occurred on their watch in Solvang and Disneyland. This came down to politics and a win for the DA, versus the truth. We honestly believed that in order to convict someone you had to have evidence, but that is absolutely not the case as we are a glaring example of. All you need is an injured child and people that are willing to lie for self-preservation. We believe that after four weeks of trial, an exhausted jury only deliberated for one hour and based their decision on raw emotion rather than on evidentiary and medical fact.
Innocent people do go to prison. It happens all the time, and it happened to our family. It is a travesty, but we keep moving forward everyday. ALL involved who know James, including his legal team and expert witnesses know that his innocence goes without saying. And, in fact, there are mountains of glaring evidence to the contrary. Via esteemed experts from Cedars-Sinai ''It is impossible that this injury was sustained on James watch, in twenty-five minutes, due to the timing and nature of the injury.'' More than likely it was sustained during the four days that he was with the Adams family, i.e., he stood up, fell from his stroller to the ground and landed on concrete in Solvang. This was further complicated with bumping his fragile head on multiple rides at Disneyland. However, here we are four years later and over $200,000 in legal fees, our inability to have our beloved Devin as part of our family. And now our James sits in prison as an innocent man who has lost his freedom and his child, but not his strength of character and/or fortitude.
Although we are all traumatized, we have joined hands as a united force. We have not given up! We will leave no stone unturned. We have hundreds that believe in James and give energy and prayer for him daily. This includes, friends, family, our respective communities, and our entire church family of Archibald Ranch Community Church. We even have the forces of Harvest praying for us! We feel blessed to have this outpouring of strength and support on behalf of James.
The connections that we have are certainly not a coincidence. We are in touch with Amy Friedman, prominent author along with being the founder of POPS, which stands for Pain of the Prison System. She has put us in touch with the State Inspector General, along with a sincerely kind and helpful man, Franky Carrillo, who was exonerated by the Innocence Project after twenty years in prison. And, we are in talks with the Innocence Project and Innocence Matters. We are working towards establishing a non-profit organization. As well, Deborah is in touch with ACLU. We are advocating for inmate conditions to be improved with the help of the ACLU, who won a settlement against the LA County Sheriffs' Department in November of 2014.
As always, Jamie continues to walk through this with grace and dignity. He is a huge support for other inmates in creating art for them, their children and their families. He's going to school to further his education while an inmate and intends to work to occupy his time. He's also begun channeling his talent of writing and telling his story through that medium. We can never know why bad things happen to good people but as cliche as it sounds, we all truly believe that James is there right now for a reason. God is using him to touch the lives of others with his compassion, wisdom and perseverance. Anyone that knows Jamie knows that he can bring light to the darkest of places.
On March 4th, prior to his sentencing hearing, we will be at Pomona courthouse at 7:30 a.m. in prayer and solidarity for James. This also happens to be his 29th birthday. We are hoping for a large turn out and all support would be appreciated. Let's show all that there is no monopoly on the judicial system and/or God and that we believe in James' innocence. We, as a family, humbly thank each of you for your ongoing love and support. Romans 12:19 - Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but [rather] give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance [is] mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
We are unable to reconcile this in many ways, but the following is a brief synopsis of how we think this came to be, particularly for those who are new to James' situation: We know that from the get-go this was a "witch hunt," so to speak. The detective did a biased investigation, or lack thereof, as we think that she may have personally known the prosecution's side. We know that the prosecution's side , the DA and Devin's mother, her family, etc., lied on the stand, even perjuring themselves. Theatrics were demonstrated to achieve their goal, which was to deflect from the injury that occurred on their watch in Solvang and Disneyland. This came down to politics and a win for the DA, versus the truth. We honestly believed that in order to convict someone you had to have evidence, but that is absolutely not the case as we are a glaring example of. All you need is an injured child and people that are willing to lie for self-preservation. We believe that after four weeks of trial, an exhausted jury only deliberated for one hour and based their decision on raw emotion rather than on evidentiary and medical fact.
Innocent people do go to prison. It happens all the time, and it happened to our family. It is a travesty, but we keep moving forward everyday. ALL involved who know James, including his legal team and expert witnesses know that his innocence goes without saying. And, in fact, there are mountains of glaring evidence to the contrary. Via esteemed experts from Cedars-Sinai ''It is impossible that this injury was sustained on James watch, in twenty-five minutes, due to the timing and nature of the injury.'' More than likely it was sustained during the four days that he was with the Adams family, i.e., he stood up, fell from his stroller to the ground and landed on concrete in Solvang. This was further complicated with bumping his fragile head on multiple rides at Disneyland. However, here we are four years later and over $200,000 in legal fees, our inability to have our beloved Devin as part of our family. And now our James sits in prison as an innocent man who has lost his freedom and his child, but not his strength of character and/or fortitude.
Although we are all traumatized, we have joined hands as a united force. We have not given up! We will leave no stone unturned. We have hundreds that believe in James and give energy and prayer for him daily. This includes, friends, family, our respective communities, and our entire church family of Archibald Ranch Community Church. We even have the forces of Harvest praying for us! We feel blessed to have this outpouring of strength and support on behalf of James.
The connections that we have are certainly not a coincidence. We are in touch with Amy Friedman, prominent author along with being the founder of POPS, which stands for Pain of the Prison System. She has put us in touch with the State Inspector General, along with a sincerely kind and helpful man, Franky Carrillo, who was exonerated by the Innocence Project after twenty years in prison. And, we are in talks with the Innocence Project and Innocence Matters. We are working towards establishing a non-profit organization. As well, Deborah is in touch with ACLU. We are advocating for inmate conditions to be improved with the help of the ACLU, who won a settlement against the LA County Sheriffs' Department in November of 2014.
As always, Jamie continues to walk through this with grace and dignity. He is a huge support for other inmates in creating art for them, their children and their families. He's going to school to further his education while an inmate and intends to work to occupy his time. He's also begun channeling his talent of writing and telling his story through that medium. We can never know why bad things happen to good people but as cliche as it sounds, we all truly believe that James is there right now for a reason. God is using him to touch the lives of others with his compassion, wisdom and perseverance. Anyone that knows Jamie knows that he can bring light to the darkest of places.
On March 4th, prior to his sentencing hearing, we will be at Pomona courthouse at 7:30 a.m. in prayer and solidarity for James. This also happens to be his 29th birthday. We are hoping for a large turn out and all support would be appreciated. Let's show all that there is no monopoly on the judicial system and/or God and that we believe in James' innocence. We, as a family, humbly thank each of you for your ongoing love and support. Romans 12:19 - Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but [rather] give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance [is] mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
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