Trial counsel Robert Donatoni failed to disclose conflict of interest. Trial counsel represented the Pennsylvania state police, who are employed by the commonwealth of Pennsylvania who were prosecuting my son the defendant. This information was only obtained after the trial when we read an article in the local newspaper stating just this.
Trial counsel also failed to disclose the 10,000 dollar referral fee payed to our injury attorney handling my fathers death when tragically killed by a hit and run driver.
Had we been made aware of this we never would have agreed to retrain him. that's a lot of money that we didn't have to throw away on ineffective assistance of counsel for merely being referred to him.
Trial counsel bragged about getting clients off on worse than what my son was accused of ,and he pointed to the wall of articles stating he headed the criminal defense team, bragging about his reputation. He never mentioned the referral fee and again we only found this out through appellate counsel after trial and sentencing were over. this is about as unethical as it gets.
Again we never would have threw away 10,000 on an ineffective assistance for nothing more being referred to us by an attorney who was supposed to be helping us collect on insurance policies.
This was a serious conflict of interest and extremely unethical. How low can you go. Neither deserve to be practicing law.
This was my son and fathers lives we were dealing with.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
UNDERMINED TRUTH DETERMINING PROCESS
Trial counsel, Prosecutor, and Trial Judge so undermined the truth determining process that no reliable adjudication of guilt or innocence could have taken place
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
TRIAL COUNSEL WAS COMPLETELY INEFFECTIVE
Ok now I will cover all grounds raised in petition that pertain to trial counsel Rob Donatoni's ineffective assistance of counsel.
Trial counsel was ineffective for
1.) failure to humanize defendant
2.) failed to disclose conflict of interest
3.) failed to call defense witnesses to rebut or corroborate
4.) failed to call character witnesses
5.) failed to do pretrial discovery
6.) failed to properly cross examine commonwealth witnesses while allowing prosecution to lead
7.) failure to impeach commonwealth witnesses
8.) failure to request corrupt and polluted source charge
9.) allowing introduction of highly prejudicial and bloody, gory, inflammatory photographs and video that served no probative value what so ever
10.) suggesting to jury that defendant was guilty of third degree murder
11.) failing to point out to jury there was no evidence of shared intent
12.) allowing prosecutor to coach witnesses to give perjured testimony
13.) failure to inform jury defendants crimes committed as a juvenile were minor
14.) failure to correct prosecutors suggestion of defective priors
15.) introducing defective priors directing a verdict of guilt, by suggesting incompetent, damaging, false evidence that filled the prosecutors gaps
16.) failure to object to crucial misstatements of evidence made by prosecutor in summation
17. ) failing to object to trial judges confusing, incomplete instruction on robbery, and accomplice co-conspirator charge
18.) incompetent summation
19.) failure to act when circumstances suggested an unseeming desire by trial judge to rush a resolution
20.) failure to move for a mistrial when prosecutor used perjured testimony to obtain a conviction
None of the incompetent tactics could have been the result of any rational or strategic tactical decision by trial counsel, and appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise these issues
Trial counsel was ineffective for
1.) failure to humanize defendant
2.) failed to disclose conflict of interest
3.) failed to call defense witnesses to rebut or corroborate
4.) failed to call character witnesses
5.) failed to do pretrial discovery
6.) failed to properly cross examine commonwealth witnesses while allowing prosecution to lead
7.) failure to impeach commonwealth witnesses
8.) failure to request corrupt and polluted source charge
9.) allowing introduction of highly prejudicial and bloody, gory, inflammatory photographs and video that served no probative value what so ever
10.) suggesting to jury that defendant was guilty of third degree murder
11.) failing to point out to jury there was no evidence of shared intent
12.) allowing prosecutor to coach witnesses to give perjured testimony
13.) failure to inform jury defendants crimes committed as a juvenile were minor
14.) failure to correct prosecutors suggestion of defective priors
15.) introducing defective priors directing a verdict of guilt, by suggesting incompetent, damaging, false evidence that filled the prosecutors gaps
16.) failure to object to crucial misstatements of evidence made by prosecutor in summation
17. ) failing to object to trial judges confusing, incomplete instruction on robbery, and accomplice co-conspirator charge
18.) incompetent summation
19.) failure to act when circumstances suggested an unseeming desire by trial judge to rush a resolution
20.) failure to move for a mistrial when prosecutor used perjured testimony to obtain a conviction
None of the incompetent tactics could have been the result of any rational or strategic tactical decision by trial counsel, and appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise these issues
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
INEFFECTIVE TRIAL COUNSEL FAILED TO HUMANIZE DEFENDENT
The mockery of a trial was held in the Honorable Judge Howard F. Riley's courtroom. Trial Counsel was ineffective for 1.) failing to humanize defendant.
I will cover all the grounds raised on the issue of ineffective assistance of trial counsel, but I mention this one first, so everyone has a little understanding of my reason for material posted in archives.
Trial counsel Robert Donatoni was paid very generously for his representation, and he was completely ineffective to say the least.
He did absolutely nothing to humanize the defendant, Brandon Simmers, to the members of the jury.
This alone is grounds for ineffective assistance of trial counsel, unfortunately there are numerous grounds raised in the petition for writ of habeas corpus, and I will provide specific facts supporting all grounds.
Trial counsel failed to inform jury that defendant was the only one who tried to stop the shooting and when he failed, he was the only one to confess to what happened.
Even child molesters are humanized by their trial counsel,, and they are the lowest form of scum to walk the earth, with the exception of the scumbags that allow this to happen
I will cover all the grounds raised on the issue of ineffective assistance of trial counsel, but I mention this one first, so everyone has a little understanding of my reason for material posted in archives.
Trial counsel Robert Donatoni was paid very generously for his representation, and he was completely ineffective to say the least.
He did absolutely nothing to humanize the defendant, Brandon Simmers, to the members of the jury.
This alone is grounds for ineffective assistance of trial counsel, unfortunately there are numerous grounds raised in the petition for writ of habeas corpus, and I will provide specific facts supporting all grounds.
Trial counsel failed to inform jury that defendant was the only one who tried to stop the shooting and when he failed, he was the only one to confess to what happened.
Even child molesters are humanized by their trial counsel,, and they are the lowest form of scum to walk the earth, with the exception of the scumbags that allow this to happen
Thursday, August 7, 2008
I recently received threats for writing this blog. These people also threatened to hurt my son, telling me "you know what happened to Jeffrey Dalmer".
I was told by these people that they know the prison guards, and people inside the prison. Well I want you all to know that my son told me he is not concerned about the threats made towards him, He knows a lot of people after being locked up for ten years, and as far as I am concerned I am not backing down for anyone.
To those of you who made the threats, I have had Technical difficulties , as well as some personal issues to attend to, but I am up and running again, and I will not take orders from scum. If you want to hurt me, come and get me. You know where I am, and I am willing to die for my son.
I was told by these people that they know the prison guards, and people inside the prison. Well I want you all to know that my son told me he is not concerned about the threats made towards him, He knows a lot of people after being locked up for ten years, and as far as I am concerned I am not backing down for anyone.
To those of you who made the threats, I have had Technical difficulties , as well as some personal issues to attend to, but I am up and running again, and I will not take orders from scum. If you want to hurt me, come and get me. You know where I am, and I am willing to die for my son.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
From the beginning
I no sooner started this blog, and I began experiencing technical difficulties. I did receive comments, and I apologize for any confusion I may have caused, I am up and running again and I decided I should start from the beginning,to give everyone a chance to familiarize themselves with this case, assuming of course everyone is interested.
I started this blog for Brandon, my only child. He got caught up in the system when he was very young, and he never got out. He was a good kid. He was quiet, and laid back. He loved animals, and brought home every stray he found.
Regardless he started bagging school when he was only twelve, and Chester County Children's and Youth services stepped in, and removed him from my home.
Brandon didn't care, he hated school. The inner city schools had become so overcrowded, they started busing kids from the projects to the elementary school Brandon attended. and the older kids started threatening to beat him up for his clothing, and shoes.
It had gotten so bad he refused to wear a coat to school. This was in the early 90's and kids were getting killed for the clothes they wore.
On one particular day, Brandon was jumped by three older boys, and dragged into the bathroom, where he was beaten severely for the dollar fifty I had given him for lunch money.
When I arrived to pick him up from school His face was so swollen, and bloody I didn't even recognize him, I was hysterical.
The school principal assured me she would handle things, but this was no comfort to my son. He did not feel safe and he refused to go.
Well Chester County Children and Youth Services placed him in Children's home in York where I only recently found out he was assaulted.
He was only there for a couple of days before they moved him without my knowledge
When Children services moved him it was a Holiday weekend, and as I stated it was without my knowledge. I only found this out when I called the shelter to find out if they were having regular visiting during the holiday. I was told my son had been moved to an undisclosed location, and they could not give me any further information.
This was on a Friday, and when I called Children's Services I was told his caseworker Doreen had left for the day and wouldn't return until after the Holiday on Tuesday. They also told me they couldn't give me any further information. for four days.
I was wild, I had no idea where my son was and no way of finding out. I remembered where Doreen said she lived and I found her number in the book. I called her at home asking her to call me and tell me where my son was she never did.
I didn't sleep for four days worrying about my son's whereabouts, and I continued to leave messages on Doreen's answering machine. I never threatened her, but I told her she would have no peace until she told me where my son was.
She didn't care about him, he was no more than a case number to her.
She pressed charges against me for harassment by communication and I plead guilty and I am now a convicted felon.
They had moved him into a foster home which was a three bedroom trailer where he slept on the floor due to the fact that there were five other foster children there, four boys and one girl, and needless to say the young girl needed to sleep in a separate room.
After being there approximately three weeks, and still not attending school, he was moved to an adult detox facility, although he was given several random drug tests, all of which were negative. While in the facility they wanted to administer lithium to him, but I refused to sign papers giving them permission to do so.
I was told his treatment would not begin until I agreed to allow them to drug him, and until treatment was complete he would not be released.
I was not about to let them drug my son, He was removed from my home for bagging school yet they were doing nothing to provide him with an education, and now they wanted to drug him.
So I took matters into my own hands, and kidnapped him, and went into hiding for four weeks, until he got antsy, and decided to sneak out of the house where we were staying.
He was picked up by the police, and I had no choice but to turn myself in.
Due to the publicity surrounding the case the Judge agreed that he would not be given any drugs. He was however returned to the detox facility for a short period of time, and then released into the home quest program.
From there he was placed on the wagon train in vision quest, where they traveled with horse drawn covered wagons cross country. It wasn't long before he along with three other boys ran away, and broke into a store, and stole one pack of cigarettes, and a lighter valued at three dollars and forty two cents. They tried to steal the owners truck but were unsuccessful and they were caught, and returned to the wagon train.
By now Brandon was sixteen, and although he was removed from my home for nothing more than skipping school, he received absolutely no education other than street smarts while in Chester County Children and Youth Services custody. He could barely read or write.
He was smoking now, and one of the boys gave him a jailhouse style tattoo. These programs were nothing more than a way for Children and Youth services to collect money for the children who were placed in their custody.
The only way I could get him released from their custody was to have him adjudicated delinquent. It was not something I wanted to do but they were ruining his life, and I had to get him away from them, so with no other choice, I did just that.
He was then placed into a program called ARC in Chambersburg. I only wish I would have done it sooner. He was writing me letters within a couple of months, and while his spelling left a little to be desired his penmanship was beautiful, and within six months he had prepared for and taken his GED. He was participating in track and field events and he got several first place ribbons.
Just before turning nineteen he was finally being released. His counselor Steve really liked him. He thought he was a really good kid and had a lot of potential.He was concerned about him returning home, and asked him to come and stay with him at his home, and attend Stevens Trade School in Lancaster.
Brandon had been in lock up since he was twelve and he did not want to do this. He was anxious to get home, and see his girlfriend and two year old daughter who was born while he was in the ARC program.
I wanted him to stay with Steve but I couldn't blame him for wanting to come home. After all he had been away for almost seven years.
So he came home. He looked up friends he met in lock up with Children's services and shortly after he started smoking crack.
It wasn't long before he was addicted and started stealing from me and my family to support his out of control habit.
My sister found a rehab up state that was willing to take him, but he was eighteen, and he refused to go. Because it wasn't court ordered, there was nothing we could do.
We tried tough love, and told him either go into rehab, or get out. He was gone three days when an unidentified body of a man was found shot to death in Downingtown.
I was sick when I heard the news. I hadn't heard from Brandon, and I was so afraid it was him.
I called his girlfriend Tammy to see if she had talked to him, and she assured me she had. It was long after that the mans body was Identified as
Daniel Hesse of Delaware a truck driver for Exxon Mobil.
The following day my son contacted my niece and her boyfriend and told them his friend Duffy was the one who shot this man during a robbery, and that he was there, and witnessed it.
Brandon was suicidal at this time, he had never seen anyone murdered and although he tried unsuccessfully to stop the shooting, he blamed himself, and wished it were him that took the bullet. He said he had to tell someone, that he kept seeing it over and over again in his mind.
My niece, her boyfriend, and my mother went to the state police and gave them the information they needed to make an arrest, and eventually a conviction.
The DA withheld this information at the trial and Brandon's trial counsel who was ineffective never brought it out either.
Brandon never received a fair trial, and he was denied his due process rights, due to ineffective assistance of counsel, and prosecutorial misconduct. He was denied all of his state appeals, and he filed a handwritten petition for writ of habeas corpus in federal court, but he was time barred. This was his last chance at receiving a fair trial and I will provide documentation proving all of this in this blog.
I started this blog for Brandon, my only child. He got caught up in the system when he was very young, and he never got out. He was a good kid. He was quiet, and laid back. He loved animals, and brought home every stray he found.
Regardless he started bagging school when he was only twelve, and Chester County Children's and Youth services stepped in, and removed him from my home.
Brandon didn't care, he hated school. The inner city schools had become so overcrowded, they started busing kids from the projects to the elementary school Brandon attended. and the older kids started threatening to beat him up for his clothing, and shoes.
It had gotten so bad he refused to wear a coat to school. This was in the early 90's and kids were getting killed for the clothes they wore.
On one particular day, Brandon was jumped by three older boys, and dragged into the bathroom, where he was beaten severely for the dollar fifty I had given him for lunch money.
When I arrived to pick him up from school His face was so swollen, and bloody I didn't even recognize him, I was hysterical.
The school principal assured me she would handle things, but this was no comfort to my son. He did not feel safe and he refused to go.
Well Chester County Children and Youth Services placed him in Children's home in York where I only recently found out he was assaulted.
He was only there for a couple of days before they moved him without my knowledge
When Children services moved him it was a Holiday weekend, and as I stated it was without my knowledge. I only found this out when I called the shelter to find out if they were having regular visiting during the holiday. I was told my son had been moved to an undisclosed location, and they could not give me any further information.
This was on a Friday, and when I called Children's Services I was told his caseworker Doreen had left for the day and wouldn't return until after the Holiday on Tuesday. They also told me they couldn't give me any further information. for four days.
I was wild, I had no idea where my son was and no way of finding out. I remembered where Doreen said she lived and I found her number in the book. I called her at home asking her to call me and tell me where my son was she never did.
I didn't sleep for four days worrying about my son's whereabouts, and I continued to leave messages on Doreen's answering machine. I never threatened her, but I told her she would have no peace until she told me where my son was.
She didn't care about him, he was no more than a case number to her.
She pressed charges against me for harassment by communication and I plead guilty and I am now a convicted felon.
They had moved him into a foster home which was a three bedroom trailer where he slept on the floor due to the fact that there were five other foster children there, four boys and one girl, and needless to say the young girl needed to sleep in a separate room.
After being there approximately three weeks, and still not attending school, he was moved to an adult detox facility, although he was given several random drug tests, all of which were negative. While in the facility they wanted to administer lithium to him, but I refused to sign papers giving them permission to do so.
I was told his treatment would not begin until I agreed to allow them to drug him, and until treatment was complete he would not be released.
I was not about to let them drug my son, He was removed from my home for bagging school yet they were doing nothing to provide him with an education, and now they wanted to drug him.
So I took matters into my own hands, and kidnapped him, and went into hiding for four weeks, until he got antsy, and decided to sneak out of the house where we were staying.
He was picked up by the police, and I had no choice but to turn myself in.
Due to the publicity surrounding the case the Judge agreed that he would not be given any drugs. He was however returned to the detox facility for a short period of time, and then released into the home quest program.
From there he was placed on the wagon train in vision quest, where they traveled with horse drawn covered wagons cross country. It wasn't long before he along with three other boys ran away, and broke into a store, and stole one pack of cigarettes, and a lighter valued at three dollars and forty two cents. They tried to steal the owners truck but were unsuccessful and they were caught, and returned to the wagon train.
By now Brandon was sixteen, and although he was removed from my home for nothing more than skipping school, he received absolutely no education other than street smarts while in Chester County Children and Youth Services custody. He could barely read or write.
He was smoking now, and one of the boys gave him a jailhouse style tattoo. These programs were nothing more than a way for Children and Youth services to collect money for the children who were placed in their custody.
The only way I could get him released from their custody was to have him adjudicated delinquent. It was not something I wanted to do but they were ruining his life, and I had to get him away from them, so with no other choice, I did just that.
He was then placed into a program called ARC in Chambersburg. I only wish I would have done it sooner. He was writing me letters within a couple of months, and while his spelling left a little to be desired his penmanship was beautiful, and within six months he had prepared for and taken his GED. He was participating in track and field events and he got several first place ribbons.
Just before turning nineteen he was finally being released. His counselor Steve really liked him. He thought he was a really good kid and had a lot of potential.He was concerned about him returning home, and asked him to come and stay with him at his home, and attend Stevens Trade School in Lancaster.
Brandon had been in lock up since he was twelve and he did not want to do this. He was anxious to get home, and see his girlfriend and two year old daughter who was born while he was in the ARC program.
I wanted him to stay with Steve but I couldn't blame him for wanting to come home. After all he had been away for almost seven years.
So he came home. He looked up friends he met in lock up with Children's services and shortly after he started smoking crack.
It wasn't long before he was addicted and started stealing from me and my family to support his out of control habit.
My sister found a rehab up state that was willing to take him, but he was eighteen, and he refused to go. Because it wasn't court ordered, there was nothing we could do.
We tried tough love, and told him either go into rehab, or get out. He was gone three days when an unidentified body of a man was found shot to death in Downingtown.
I was sick when I heard the news. I hadn't heard from Brandon, and I was so afraid it was him.
I called his girlfriend Tammy to see if she had talked to him, and she assured me she had. It was long after that the mans body was Identified as
Daniel Hesse of Delaware a truck driver for Exxon Mobil.
The following day my son contacted my niece and her boyfriend and told them his friend Duffy was the one who shot this man during a robbery, and that he was there, and witnessed it.
Brandon was suicidal at this time, he had never seen anyone murdered and although he tried unsuccessfully to stop the shooting, he blamed himself, and wished it were him that took the bullet. He said he had to tell someone, that he kept seeing it over and over again in his mind.
My niece, her boyfriend, and my mother went to the state police and gave them the information they needed to make an arrest, and eventually a conviction.
The DA withheld this information at the trial and Brandon's trial counsel who was ineffective never brought it out either.
Brandon never received a fair trial, and he was denied his due process rights, due to ineffective assistance of counsel, and prosecutorial misconduct. He was denied all of his state appeals, and he filed a handwritten petition for writ of habeas corpus in federal court, but he was time barred. This was his last chance at receiving a fair trial and I will provide documentation proving all of this in this blog.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
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