Personal journal entry from 18 November 2008.
I began my day with an interesting phone call from a Portland police detective. Apparently Catherine Lynne Carter has accused me of felony burglary, and the good detective would like me to consent to a DNA swab and a polygraph. I pause to savor the richness of my situation.
A woman whom I have not spoken with in years, whom has accused me of various misdeeds before the court system and presumably lied about me in other contexts as well. Now, having seen some misfortune, she wants to blame that on me as well. Her guilty conscience tells her that she deserves to be punished, and she wants to believe she is important enough that I would bother. I tell the nice detective that I would be delighted to help his investigation if and when his complainant agrees to vacate the bogus order and charges she has made against me. He says he does not want to be made a pawn and I suggest that he talk to Cate Carter about that. I am not presently inclined to assist Ms. Carter’s abuse of the court system, up to and including false felony claims.
The detective suggested that perhaps some sort of mediation and bond would be a way for us to put this behind us, and I ask him if he would like to arrange it. He declines and I tell him that I’ll get back to him this week.
I contact a criminal lawyer and ask him what is the best way to proceed. For a just man the world is all the weapon he needs, and Carter’s self-centered love of her privilege and property shall work on her in ways I could never hope to.
Personal journal entry from 20 November 2008
Recollection of phone conversation with detective Dan Andrew of PPB southeast precinct.
On or about 4:45 pm on Monday afternoon, 17 November 2008, I received a voicemail message from someone identifying himself as detective Andrew of the Portland Police Bureau. I was driving and tried to do an automatic call-back from my cell phone, but there was no return number. Listening to the number again, I tried to memorize it and dial it back but apparently misheard the number and so reached a voicemail number that had not been set up. After coming to a stop (later that afternoon or the next morning) I listened to the message again and phoned with my contact information to (503) 823-5031.
At approximately 8:50-8:55 on Tuesday morning, 18 November 2008, I received another phone call from a man who identified himself as detective Dan Andrew of PPB southeast precinct, who advised me that I was the primary suspect in a residential burglary involving Catherine Carter. My memory is that he said the burglary had occurred in southwest Portland, and that Carter had named me as the primary suspect based on a comment I had posted to Kevin Balmer’s Tribe.net blog on or about 11:40am on Sunday, 21 September 2008, the entire content of which read “You have nine days to help save approximately $10,000. Please do so.” This comment at http://people.tribe.net/heaveekevee/blog/7d2f3ec0-9cfe-4154-9c09-7f25d644cf38 was allegedly conveyed to Ms. Carter, whom interpreted it as a “veiled threat.” The detective advised me that the burglary had taken place at approximately the time indicated and that approximately $10,000 worth of property was taken, including jewelry and things that had belonged to her deceased mother. The detective then asked me to explain the comment.
I explained that the comment was a reference to a civil case I was bringing against Ms. Carter and that the $10,000 was the estimated cost to both parties of the case that I anticipated proceeding with at the end of September, 2008. I expressed my regret that Ms. Carter had been victimized, noting that the death of her mother was the single central event of Carter’s life, but that I knew nothing of the burglary, had not spoken with Carter for more than ten years and did not have any idea where she lived or worked. The detective asked me if I would be willing to submit to a DNA swab and a polygraph in relation to the case and I laughed at him, indicating that I thought Ms. Carter was crazy and that I had no interest in assisting her in any way so long as the civil matter between us was unsettled.
Detective Andrew said that there seemed to be some sort of odd issue between Carter and myself, which I confirmed, explaining that she has claimed that I wanted to kill her and has twice subpoenaed me with suits seeking a restraining order. Andrew said that this seemed odd, given that the relationship was not even a marriage and that both of us had “moved on with our lives,” noting that I seemed to be doing well and that I did not match the normal profile of a burglar. I confirmed that I had indeed moved on and was doing well, with my own business and a solid relationship of approximately seven years in duration. Andrew asked if my current partner lived with me and I confirmed that she did, asking her (she was in the room) what year she had moved in, 2002 or 2003? Our recollection was that my partner Anja had lived with me in Vancouver for at least five years, and that this was one of the reasons that I felt Carter was not mentally well.
Andrew began to question me about the nature of my relationship with Carter and why she would think I would want to burgle her residence. I explained that her charges against me made me look “like a wife-beater” and damaged my career choices, given that my vocational degrees were in criminal justice and public-school teaching, both of which involved background checks. Andrew expressed that Carter was also concerned that I had posted about her past drug history on the Internet and that this showed up well in Google searches into her, suggesting that it might be possible for the five of us (Andrew, Carter, myself and our lawyers) for mediation. I laughed again and told him that this was an innovative application of community policing, and that I would be open to such a meeting if he would like to arrange it. He indicated that it would be odd for him to suggest such a meeting as a condition of my cooperation, and I told him that I would contact my attorney about possibly arranging such a meeting and the possibilities for my future cooperation in this criminal case. I laughed again and suggested that this was probably more interesting than other cases, and Andrew said that it was just more complicated, but that he would like to eliminate me as a suspect, since he assumed that Carter was the “random victim” of a burglary by “some tweaker” and that he didn’t “give a rat’s ass” about our relationship. I told him that I would discuss the matter with my attorney and have someone get back to him, before the call ended amicably.
My recollection is that the entire conversation lasted approximately 20-30 minutes, because I left the house as I had planned to at the time of the call, and was approximately that late to my first appointment at [client name redacted] in southwest Portland.
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16:21 @ Java House
Had a sobering conversation with my criminal attorney, Bear Wilner-Nugent, this morning. He advised me that even spurious charges could be a pain, as they could create a warrant and as much as two weeks in jail while I worked to post bond. I laughed but have to admit that yes, I am smart and confident and believe I am in the right: a dangerous combination. I agreed to keep my mouth shut and not even to give much information to Anja. Bear met with me and sent a letter to Callahan, offering to meet in regards to the matter.
16:27
Just got a quick three-minute phone call from Bear saying that the detective had returned his call and asserted that he did not have enough evidence to charge. Bear volunteered that we had no interest in giving him any more evidence, and noted that a polygraph would be inadmissible and the detective claimed that he was currently awaiting a return call from Carter about the case. Whether Andrew really is interested in helping to arrange a meeting or mediation I have no idea, but we’ve done our due diligence and Bear has started the meter. If there are calls and negotiations from Callahan, he’ll let me know, but for now it sounds as if nothing else shall follow. What a fucking pain in the ass and semi-unwelcome bit of excitement. In our conversation this morning Bear indicated that it would not surprise him if CLC was the sort of person who would blame me for any misfortune, and sympathetically noted that she definitely seemed a bit obsessed. On the theory that all action is communication, I’m hoping that her mention of me was some sort of subconscious reaching out, which indicates a willingness to rationally engage. It is not the way to bet, I know, but a girl can dream, eh? What a waste of brain cycles.
I am glad she is not dead, nor that this call from a detective was to identify [another former friend recently in crisis].
