Update

Its been awhile,
This week brought to a close the trafficking and rape case. We had
closing arguments on Monday. They lasted until about 6 p.m. On Tuesday
the three judges deliberated from 9-1:30 and reached our verdict. We found
the defendants guilty on all but one count of rape. One defendant was
found guilty of two counts of trafficking in persons, one of two counts of
rape, facilitating prostituition and two counts of trafficking and the
third the same with two counts of falsifying documents. In a nut shell,
they lured two teenage girls here from Albania with promises of either love
or a job, raped them and forced them into prostitution. Each of the
defendants denied any responsibility. One of the girls gave three
statements to the police and prosecutor before trial and then retracted
them all at trial, insisting she is engaged to one of the defendants. The
local judge on the panel was most helpful in sorting out some ot the issues
regarding local customs.
On Wednesday I read out the verdict and sentence in open court. We
gave two of the defendants 12 years in prisona and one 10. The procedure
is for the court and everyone in the courtroom to stand during the reading
of the verdict and then for the presiding judge to explain the verdict.
Attached is my explanation.
I'm down to two months to go and I know it will go fast. Next week
and for a couple weeks after I'm on a panel in a murder case. I'm not the
presiding judge so it will be much less stressful.
Last weekend I drove to Thessaloniki, Greece with three other people.
I stayed in a Hyatt Regency. It was deluxe. We went down on Friday night
and back on Sunday. Going through two borders, Greece and Macedonia takes
time so it took about 5 hours to get there. The city is on the coast and
has a beautiful harbor. Saturday I walked and looked at ancient ruins,
churches, markets, and museums. In the afternoon I laid by the pool and in
the evening we found a Cuban restaurant. On Sunday I did nothing and we
left to return at 3:30. I really missed all of you.
Today I have to finish writing a verdict in this rape and trafficking
case. Procedure here requires a long detailed examination of each
witnesses testimony and why we believed or didn't believe him or her. So I
retract the first sentence of this email, it ain't over yet.
I sent Cindy flowers for our anniversary, but forgot she would be in
Baltimore. I hope there not just stems when she sees them.

Love Dad, Opa, Larry

BelleandSebationXMas

On December 18, 2002, Belle & Sebastian joined up with John Peel, legendary BBC broadcaster whom passed away last October, to record a special Christmas session. The setlist included some classic B&S tracks (Step Into My Office, Baby, Jonathan David, Photo Jenny, If You Find Yourself Caught In Love, The Boy With The Arab Strap, Get Me Away From Here, & I'm Dying) and several Christmas selections: Oh Come All Ye Faithful, Christmas Time Is Here, Santa Claus (The Sonics), Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto (James Brown), Silent Night, O Little Town Of Bethlehem, Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me (Elvis Presley), O Come O Come Emmanuel, I Took Some Time For Christmas, & The Twelve Days of Christmas. The password to the rar files is rya.


part 1
part 2
part 3

Missing Summerfest

Its seems the weekend in Ankeny was the all time best attended. With family and friends of every generation. Plus from as far away as Georgia, Kansas and Tennessee. Cindy has kept me well informed. I thank each of you for pitching in to do all the jobs I'm neglecting while I'm on my adventure. Jolene send me the name of your relatives and where they reside. Kosovo is a never ending amazement. One day this week I drove to Pristina and back for a hearing. The roads are full of tractors, horses and combines as the wheat harvest is going on. The fields are also full of men, women and children cutting and raking hay with a scythe and hand rakes. Loads of hay on any kind of cart you can imagine are on the roads. The weather has been mild with warm days and cool nights here in Prizren. It has rained every few days to keep the heat down.

The emails I receive from everyone along with the internet keep me in touch with whats important to me.

Larry

Enverated Site

Moving operations to this blog site. For those looking for updates on the Judges adventures in Eastern Europe, I will attempt to play catchup to all my recent slacking!

Here is recent post:

June 28th

Back at my desk about 3:30 today after interrogating another
witnesses in Pristina.

In my email was the following:
"Please come to our office to sign your request for extension.
Thanks a lot"

What do I have to do to convice the UN I won't be here after the end
of September?
I met with the presiding judge in the big war crimes case and he told
me to not bother to attend the pretrial conference and go to Bondsteel(US Army Base)
He's been to Bondsteel for the 4th party and says don't miss it. He's from
Muaritaus. They have an election on Sunday. If it goes his way he expects
to be named the UN ambassador.
I'll go to the ceremony at 9:30 a.m. on the 4th
I talked to Anu again today. Sharon has announced a September 30th
departure date. I better drop her a note. They have interviewed and are
deciding on a replacement for Janet today. Geri is also leaving. Three
out of five will be gone when I return.
I just edited the minutes of the first day of our murder trial. June
21. They are really bad. I mean difficult to read and bear little
resemblence to the testimony that was given. Names are all wrong and place
names are all muddled. We have to do this after every court session. The
judge has to sign them. I have pretty good notes so I think they now
somewhat reflect what was said.
It was with great pride that I heard Sue is in graduate school and
Audrey is out. Kudos.