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MARIN COUNTY'S NEWS
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(415)868-0502(fax) - P.O. Box 31, Bolinas, CA, 94924
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Felony Kidnapping Charges Against
West Marin Mom Are Dropped
By Jim Scanlon
At a
preliminary hearing on February 10, 2005, visiting judge Winslow Christian
reduced to a Misdemeanor, the Felony charge of violating a consent decree
(278.5 PC) filed in August 2000 against Jonea Rogers who, in desperation, sold
her East Bay condominium, closed her San Rafael hair salon and left her family
and friends in the Bay Area and fled with her three and a half year old
daughter because of her anxiety and fear that Marin's Family Court and Child
Protective Services were unwilling, or unable, to support her in protecting her
daughter.
In his unusual ruling, Judge Christian permitted defense attorney Peter
Goodman to present exculpatory testimony at a preliminary hearing. The
Assistant District Attorney prosecuting the case strenuously objected to the
ruling and the judge's finding, but, at another preliminary hearing on February
22, there was no indication of an appeal which would delay the trial now set
for early May.
Before leaving, Rogers and others had made reports of neglect (an untreated
bruised eye) and suspected child sexual abuse, which were unresolved and
paradoxically may have resulted in a failed attempt to totally remove her
daughter from her custody. (See: "At The End Of Her Rope" and
"Bleak Prospects For Runaway Mom And Daughter," Coastal Post June
& August 2004.)
At the time Rogers went into exile, Marin's Superior
Court was in great disarray due to sustained, outspoken public criticism of Family Law Court and Judge Michael Dufficy who
eventually resigned from Family Law "for health reasons." The
criticism resulted in an failed attempt to recall Dufficy and District Attorney
Paula Kamena.
A Related Case
The complaints against Kamena were largely based on dissatisfaction with her
prosecution and jailing of Carol Mardeusz, a former court reporter, for
allegedly violating a consent decree ordering her to have no contact with her
daughter. Mardeusz was later convicted by a jury in Marin and evaluated in
State Prison, before eventually serving several months in the county jail. She
is still on probation. The father had been given full custody of his daughter
in Sonoma County, without a formal hearing, after a Sonoma judge reviewed a report that
concluded Mardeusz was poisoning the daughter's mind (Parent Alienation
Syndrome) against her father.
The Mardeusz case resurfaced recently when the father of the daughter, now a
teenager, was arrested and charged in Solano County Criminal Court with felony
child abuse of his daughter and another child. Dependency Court proceedings,
which are held in secret to protect the children involved, are also believed to
be taking place in Solano, but a "gag" order is in effect, producing
a total news blackout. This "gag" order, however, does not explain
the total lack of coverage in the local print and broadcast media which covered
the Mardeusz prosecution.(See: Coastal Post, February 2005, "Father
Charged With Felony Child Abuse.")
Prosecutorial Prejudice?
The Mardeusz, Rogers, and a third case, a woman named "V," form a
pattern of Marin County mothers, all forced to personally act as their own
lawyers in divorce proceedings, all being jailed after reporting evidence of
family violence, child abuse and/or child sexual abuse. These women, who never
harmed their children, were not only denied contact with their children, but
maternal family members were, and still are, denied contact. With Rogers and
"V," the Marin District Attorney not only did not investigate the fathers
but placed the children with them while prosecuting the imprisoned mothers for
violating the visitation rights of the fathers.
Rogers was arrested in January 2004 in North Carolina when a neighbor noticed her photo
and her daughter's photo on the Polly Klaas Foundation's Web Site under
"Child Abduction" A Federal Warrant had been sought and obtained by
the District Attorney. She was transported in custody to Marin where she
remained in jail under bail of a half million dollars until it was reduced
(over the objections of the District Attorney's Office) to $150,000 by a
previous visiting judge. She was able to make this greatly reduced bail only
with great difficulty, with the assistance of friends.
Immediately after Roger's arrest in North Carolina, her daughter was placed, without conditions, in the home
of her father by the District Attorney's Office, which then withdrew from the
Family Law aspect of the case, to prosecute the mother in the present criminal
court proceedings. An Assistant District Attorney made the placement plan
based on a determination she made, on her own, without a hearing, that there
was no merit to the mother's concerns about her daughter.
Although parents who abuse and injure their children, or commit other
serious offense, are routinely allowed visits by their children, Roger's
daughter was never allowed to visit her mother who had been her primary parent
for her entire life. No evidence was ever presented that Rogers mistreated her child in any way or
committed an illegal act during her entire life-other than violate Dufficy's
custody visitation decree. Since her release from jail a almost a year ago
she has managed one supervised 45 minute visit.
Kidnapping?
Rogers always had custody of her daughter and part of the reason she left
Marin as she stated in a farewell letter to friends, was that Dufficy ordered
joint custody of her child with her ex-husband despite her concerns, concerns
which were shared by other responsible people, including her pediatrician. News
releases by the District Attorney's Office to the Independent Journal and
communications to the Polly Klaas Foundation and the Police in North Carolina
referred to the case prejudicially as a "kidnapping," although
kidnapping is listed under a different penal code section and involves coercion
by force or fear. Kidnapping is considered along with Arson, Rape, Carjacking,
Robbery, Burglary and Mayhem as an inherently dangerous felony. Violation of a
Consent Decree is what is called in the criminal justice system, a "wobbler,"
that is, a charge that can be filed as a misdemeanor or a felony, a borderline
serious crime.
Penal Code Section 207 defines kidnapping as: "Every person who
forcibly or by any other means of instilling fear, steals or takes or hold,
detains or arrests any person in one county and takes them to another county or
state or country. Punishment is 3-8 years in prison."
A parent whose custody rights were never revoked, who goes into exile with a
child to protect that child-even if found upon thorough examination to be
misguided-is considered a dangerous criminal in Marin County. Referring to this
mother's actions as "kidnapping" and "child abduction," is
not only misleading and unprofessional but is actually delusional and there should
be consequences for this kind of prejudicial behavior.
Several readers have asked the Coastal Post, "How is it possible to
kidnap your own child?"
Not Mentioned.
Although the Coastal Post was not present at the February 10 hearing during
which the bogus kidnapping charge was dismissed, we are reliably informed that
testimony was taken at that hearing which would seem to indicate that there was
substantially more evidence to support Roger's fears of child sexual abuse when
she left. More definite information should be available as the trial proceeds
in criminal court.
If the hearsay information the Coastal Post received regarding the testimony
is correct, it will reflect badly on the police, Child Protective Services, the
District Attorney and Family
Law Court.
The Independent Journal reported on the hearing of February 10, but it is
not known if a reporter was actually present in court. The article (Kidnap
charge reduced to misdemeanor, IJ 2/11/05) mentions testimony as to, "
... the intense pressure Rogers was under from the breakup of her
marriage, her divorce and custody battle" and that "... Rogers had become increasingly frustrated
and was trying to get more custody of her daughter..." and that "...
she distrusted the girl's father and had 'no faith' in the Marin's court
system"
But no mention of her fear of child sexual abuse.