Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:06] Welcome to the Politics of Justice. It's me, Amy Austin.
[00:00:10] So where we left off last time was at the end of chapter 14 of RANSOMED.
[00:00:18] And, okay, so the last time I recorded, I mentioned the Casey Court origin story.
[00:00:25] Does she have a multiverse? Do I have a multiverse? I have to think about that. Okay. Anyway, so the book that's her origin story is disgraced, which is right here. And then the book I'm dealing with today is Ransom. Look at me. I got the right book set and everything. Super proud of myself.
[00:00:41] So let's get back to it.
[00:00:44] So when I'm going to start with chapter 15, and it's a Claire chapter. The date is November 15, 2023.
[00:00:55] And in this chapter, we start with Claire and.
[00:01:02] Oh, boy. Okay, so it's Claire and Miles are together.
[00:01:07] And Miles's first question is, why did you report a gun? So it's at that point we find out that the way that she got the police to her house so quickly is that she reported that Darius, her baby daddy, had a gun. I will only say this.
[00:01:24] This in every place I've ever lived. The police are slow to respond unless in. Well, slow to respond to personal calls unless the person indicates that there's a gun involved.
[00:01:40] It seems they respond in LA to, like, car theft more than anything else. I mean, literally, somebody got shot, like, not. Not too far from me, probably like a mile away, which is not great recently.
[00:01:51] And there was a response for that. But I've seen huge outsized response for a stolen vehicle, which is just property.
[00:02:03] But when it comes to crimes against people, a little slow in the response. There's even a person running for mayor who's like, when you call 911, if I'm mayor, if somebody's going to answer the phone, I was like, probably not going to vote for you. But that's a laudable goal. Okay. Completely sidetracked. So when Claire tells Miles that the way that she got to the police to respond was by saying that Darius had a gun, even though he didn't have it, Miles is pretty disgusted. I'm just gonna speak for him. It's a Claire chapter, but he acts pretty disgusted.
[00:02:37] And they're at this restaurant, eating. It's called the Inn on Coventry, which I think, well, used to exist. I have no idea what exists in Cleveland anymore.
[00:02:46] But he, if you don't recall, like, previously they did, he tried to break up with her. He's tried a couple of times. We need a break. We need to break up.
[00:02:59] But he. He didn't leave the door open. He was just like, you can call me anytime. And I think that Claire is struggling with that, because after they have this whole conversation about calling her, calling the cops, saying there was a gun, saying that that wasn't true, but she really wanted Darius out because she didn't want it to escalate to any kind of violence where her son was present.
[00:03:24] Miles is like, peace out, right? And Claire is like, let's. Let's go Christmas shopping.
[00:03:33] And the highlight is. Miles looked around as if excuses were as prevalent as sugar packets in this diner. Isn't it a little early? He finally settled on. I gestured out the window. Cleveland had latched onto the holiday season like a drowning man would grab a lifeline. Twinkling lights, faux trees, and heaps of shopping opportunities were everywhere. So she's like, no, I want to, like, go shopping for Luke. I want to get him something special. You know, his dad's in county lockup. Let's do this.
[00:04:00] And Miles is like, no, you know, I don't think it's a good idea.
[00:04:09] And let me say this. Okay. So there was a recent. Oh, Season of Love is Blind, where this half black, half Colombian woman whose name was Brittany, and the thing she was with this guy named devonte, which we're not even getting into. His. His whole thing. He didn't like her. It was clear he didn't like her the last conversation. She's like, we're engaged. He was like, catch you later. Maybe I'll call you.
[00:04:37] And she was. So she had doubled down and was convinced that they were together, even though.
[00:04:44] And he didn't use the words break or break up or any of that, but it was, like, abundantly clear that he did not want to be with her. But I have found that, okay, there's two problems.
[00:04:57] Men don't want to be bad guys or want to be nice guys. So they, like, do a lot of things to not say they're breaking up. But on the other hand, there's some women who are delusional. So we have some guy who doesn't really quite want to say that he's done, and a woman who's clinging on to the idea that he didn't say, we're done, and it just makes for a whole lot of mess. So at this point, he's like, we can't get together. And he's like, we broke up. And she's like, you mean the talk we had a couple of weeks ago? She's like, we're good together. We're good for Each other. Couples have a bump in the road. Relationships need work. All the platitud and stuff that you hear people say.
[00:05:36] And she says all that to him, and he's like, you know what?
[00:05:40] We're really on a break. We've really broken up. And she latches onto the idea that he has an interest in somebody else. And he doesn't deny it, but he just says, we're not dating. He's like, I gotta go to work.
[00:05:53] And even though it's a Saturday.
[00:05:55] And he's like, peace out.
[00:05:57] And Claire says, the last line is, I was pretty sure I was suddenly single and Lucas was without a father figure again.
[00:06:06] So, I mean, sadly, she's shopping for this ideal relationship that's gonna, like, sort of make up for what she perceives as mistakes she made in her life.
[00:06:15] And Miles is declining to fill that space for her. We move on to chapter 16. It is the same day. It's November 15, 2003, and we're here from Miles point of view. So he's like, I hadn't planned to go to work until he gave that excuse from Claire, but he doesn't want to, like, be a liar. So he literally goes to work. And, you know, while on his way to work, Lou Valspino calls, and he is like, where have you been? And Miles is like, it's Saturday.
[00:06:48] And so Valdospino, when he gets to work, is sitting in his office chair. And it's kind of funny because he's like, I don't know how the FBI, who have a set at the time, a separate. Have separate offices. I think now they're in the same building. But I've been to the FBI office in Cleveland when I was practicing, and it was like its own separate little thing, separate from the federal courthouse, which is its own separate thing. But they built a huge building, and now I think everybody's in the same building. But so Lou is in his chair, spinning around. He's like, the guy doesn't have a key how to get in, and decides not to really ask that question, because who does?
[00:07:22] So Lou is like, I think, you know, he's asking, what has Miles made of the case yet? And other than that one visit with that girl, I think her name was Tracy. Miles hasn't really done a lot.
[00:07:38] And in Miles asked the question, which is actually the salient question, which is why the county is not prosecuting this.
[00:07:50] No offense to, like, the delineation between, like, state and federal. But, like, usually, like, usually crimes of this nature, corruption, not corruption, necessarily, but like, like sexual assault and things like that are like 95% state prosecutions. They can be federal. If you, like kidnap somebody and take them across state lines, you're like trafficking and stuff like that. But to be frank, most cases aren't that complex. They're just like on the ground, local crime.
[00:08:27] I mean, there are the people who run a crime syndicate, but they're few and far between and actually don't get prosecuted that often.
[00:08:37] So he's like, you know, why don't you just do a state prosecution? Why are you, the FBI, who is deeply, at this point, this is 2003, deeply entrenched in counterterrorism? Why aren't you managing like that? And why are you like, dipped down and like this, like, judge who may be like, abusing people.
[00:09:01] And he was like, it's a no go. He's like, nobody is willing to prosecute it.
[00:09:08] And Miles is like, you know, he has that moment where he's like this.
[00:09:16] He's like, this is going to be hard. He says, this case is going to be full of sad stories that didn't mount to evidence in court. I could tell that's the highlight. And the note is, oh, there's so many cases like this that never get prosecuted, which is true. I mean, and we'll discuss this a little later in the chapter. But prosecutorial discretion is a whole thing.
[00:09:36] So, you know, so he's like, what is going on?
[00:09:40] And so Lou says when a single family controls the biggest counties, prosecutors and the bci, which is the Bureau of Criminal Investigation for the state of Ohio, and a few hundred litigants, there are always whispers. First, it was from sore losers from elections, people claiming corruption. So basically there was a whisperer network around this judge and this family about corruption. And that is one thing. And corruption is usually like a federal thing. And it's like a deep, like, it's a. It's hard to get people out here to talk about corruption because most likely they were involved, which is how corruption works.
[00:10:17] So he's like, that's a no go.
[00:10:21] He said, but they did have a genuine whistleblower who was somebody who had worked for the judge. And she came to the FBI and said, I saw the judge exchange favors for favorable. Exchange sexual favors for a favorable ruling.
[00:10:38] And Miles is like, go with that, go with that. And he's like, Valdespino's like, again, the family is deeply entrenched in the politics and the prosecutor, the various prosecutors, prosecutors offices in the state.
[00:11:00] And even though the Brodies have Left like the county in terms of prosecutor, the new person who's actually Laurie Pope won't do that because like, I mean, look, you know, She just got this job and we'll deal with Lori Pope a whole lot later, but she just got this job.
[00:11:21] And the first thing, unless there's like some outcry new prosecutors, the first thing they do is not gun for the previous prosecutor.
[00:11:31] They gotta mind their P's and Q's for a while. So at this point they have a conversation about prosecutorial discretion.
[00:11:38] And the highlight is so Miles's prosecutorial discretion. Right. And Val Dispino nodded. Of course, prosecutors didn't go after every defendant that crossed their path. Some weren't worth the time or the money or the aggravation. Some were better off being chased by the feds or being deported by immigration.
[00:11:55] A good prosecutor saved their time and resources for the worst of the worst and whomever would bolster their reputation.
[00:12:01] Whether it was low level drug dealers to prove they were tough on crime or taking down a major kingpin, imposing for the cameras with stacks of monies and tons of weapons, each did what they needed to do to prolong their political career. They all came up for re election and or were gutting for higher office.
[00:12:17] And public opinion was important.
[00:12:19] And I'm going to tell you like if you are a prosecutor, clearly you run around saying you're tough on crime and you usually need some kind of like evidence of that. So if you have like I like prosecuted like 15,000 low level drug dealers, which was popular like in an era maybe still, but maybe not so much, then people are like, oh, you're tough on crime. You know, I saw you like with a swath of people in handcuffs or I saw you with the gun, guns and the drugs and the porn usually.
[00:12:52] And all of that gives you like a tough on crime coming to potential voters or citizens. And you're like, I prosecuted this complex corruption case and we have like rooted out corruption from the county, which doesn't really touch most people, is not sexy and doesn't garner vote. So with that like political background, Valdispino is having a hard time.
[00:13:20] So he's like, Miles is like, what do you want me to do? And because if, if you're not going to just arrest the guy for sexual assault because if in the woman Tracy like clearly was not able to consent. So children can't consent, people who have mental disabilities can't consent. There's a lot of people who can't consent to sex.
[00:13:42] And so it's like, what we call, like, it's a strict liability crime.
[00:13:49] And since you can't consent, the only order of proof is that whether or not they had.
[00:13:56] Whether or not there was sexual contact. And, like, it's a straight.
[00:14:01] It's an easy prosecution.
[00:14:04] But given the family's prominence, that's not something that Valdis Fino is willing to do. So he's like, you've got to find a federal crime. So Miles is like, great.
[00:14:20] So then he's like, what are you doing? He's like, I'm in title 18. And title 18 is the crime section of the US Code. Previously, he was in Ohio revised codes 29, which is the Ohio criminal. And so he's like, valtospino goes to lunch. He's like, I'll be back.
[00:14:45] And so Miles, like, didn't go to lunch.
[00:14:48] And he sees Valentino like, rubbing, like, mustard from the corner of his mouth. And he's like, okay, well, this guy.
[00:14:53] And he was like, okay, look, I looked in title 18. He's like, maybe under the Color of Law, which is actually the original title for Ransomed, but he's like, well, what's under color of law? And it's like, if you deprive a person of their rights under color of law, they're guilty of a federal crime.
[00:15:12] And he refers to this case from Texas from 1983 that I actually remember from law school. I don't know what the reason was. We learned it. Maybe we learned it from Under Color of Law, actually. I don't know. But it's this case, and actually this. It's a thing that happens, unfortunately. So basically the highlight is a couple of border patrol guards were required to have sex with them to get into the country. I wondered if this is the case Chasm and talking about. Damn Claire and everybody else from distracting me from this getting judge. Even Brody was moving to the top of my priority list fast.
[00:15:47] And so Valspino's like, well, what would have happened if they hadn't consented to have sex with these guards? And they're like, they would have been turned away.
[00:15:55] And it's just that if somebody uses their position of authority and deprives people of the right to, like, not have sex and autonomy, then it is a violation of, you know, the United States criminal laws. How often people get prosecuted for things like that? That's a different question.
[00:16:13] So he. So they're. They've latched on to sort of a theory of the crime. And then the issue is whether or not Miles is going to, like, Run that up the flagpole. Because while the office was interested in it and sort of assigned him to the issue becomes whether or not it's worth hanging his hat or going out on a limb for these women in order to prosecute this judge.
[00:16:43] So we move into chapter 17, which is another Miles chapter, but now it's December 18, 2003. So we're like a month and a few days later and it's Val Despino again who like, he goes to work, he's about to get out of the elevator on his floor, and Val Despino shoves him back in and he's like, we're gonna go, we're gonna go meet somebody.
[00:17:04] So basically in the time Lou found a.
[00:17:09] Another victim. And at this point it's a woman named Kiana who we had met in the, the first chapter, I think when Claire goes to that first meeting at her job where she counsels women on the weekends about their children being caught up in the juvenile justice system.
[00:17:28] And so Kiana like now has her child back. They go visit her and she's like, she is cagey. She is cagey because her, her, the reason her, her child got caught up in county custody is that her boyfriend at the time, he may still be her boyfriend, that's a whole different conversation. But her boyfriend at the time was like, she calls slinging, but basically selling drugs. And after the tough on crime laws came to effect in the mid to late 90s, one of the things that happened is if people, if one person in a house, especially if they're in public housing, was accused of a crime, they were evicted and everybody else in that in the residence lost their housing. Whether or not they were involved in the crime, it's pretty harsh in my opinion. But that was probably still is. I don't think about this much, but that was the law of the land at the time. And so when her boyfriend was arrested for drug dealing, they were evicted. And because she was like temporarily homeless, because eviction does that to you. They took her child. They took her child for two reasons. One was that. But the other was that.
[00:18:51] And this was a thing that happened a lot.
[00:18:54] Children were taken.
[00:18:56] And it was assumed that if their mother was involved with somebody who was involved in the drug trade, then their mother had put them in a bad situation and therefore was not like adequately parenting, which to some extent is true, but to some extent, not every woman knows what every man is involved with.
[00:19:17] I mean, I have friends who like you, ask what their dad does and it's.
[00:19:21] They don't know. And it's.
[00:19:24] Especially when their dad, like, runs a business or runs a cash business and nobody knows what they do.
[00:19:30] And it's like the mafia wives, like, at some point, you may have, like, a sense that what they're doing is not on the up and up, but I don't know what.
[00:19:40] How it's a responsibility of somebody else to take them out of life or crime or go find somewhere else to live. And all of these things that they assume like a good wife or a good mother would do, but there are no social supports for that kind of thing, so they're in her place. She basically admits two things that she.
[00:20:02] That, a. That the kid is with her, with her ex or with. With his father, which is probably a violation of the parenting plan or whatever was put into place for her to get her son back. But other things she admits is that she was able to get her son back by doing a single sexual favor for the judge.
[00:20:25] And she's a little. I don't want to say glib about it, but she's like, it's no different than what other people have asked for her over her lifetime. And it's. It's just the way it is. Which is, you know, one of those sad but true things, I guess.
[00:20:43] So knowing that, like, Miles is a little more jazzed up, and he says, like, his last line is, and like, this is Kiana. She's like, she. And I don't know, whoever's with her mother, grandmother, some other woman, they look a little. They share a look, and she said, look, she's that. I made sure he signed the papers before I pulled down my pants. And Miles thinks I'd had. I'd heard bad, worse and despicable during my years on the forest. But I couldn't help shifting in my chair. There appeared to be no end to human depravity. I wanted to get this guy more than I had ever wanted anything. Valo and I locked eyes. This time, his unspoken message was 100% clear. He laid out the evidence. The rest was up to me.
[00:21:28] So now, like, after a month, you know, Valdispino's like, I know the first. Like, he knows about the first witness. And she was like, a little loosey goosey because she's incompetent. But the second witness is fully confident, and then it's up to Miles to get this judge.
[00:21:45] Still doesn't make it any easier.
[00:21:48] Anyway, we moved on to chapter 18, and we have another Claire chapter. Poor Claire. I feel for her.
[00:21:55] So in this Chapter the first thing you know is Claire is calling Miles, because Claire, she is still under the illusion delusion that she can have this man back.
[00:22:08] And so she calls him, and she was like, hey, can you come watch my kid? And he's like, why are you calling me? And she. She's like, in her head, she, like, if she can just get him to play the father and see her and her mother role, then he's going to, like, come back and want to be an instant family.
[00:22:28] But he points out that she has, like, a woman in the neighborhood, Carletta, who watches her son, and that he should do that. And he finally says, claire, this has to stop. And he basically says, it's done. And he's like, don't call me ever again. So he finally does the thing that he should have done a bit and cuts her off. And it's.
[00:22:52] You know, I'm a little sad for Claire because she really had hope. But she goes to work, and it's at that point where she really clamps down on the women. And she's like, look, I have heard rumors that you all are discussing that if you give this judge what he wants, you're going to get your kid back. That is not how the law works. That is not how the system works. Don't buy into the rumors.
[00:23:16] And the women are like, you don't know. And she's like, I do know. I'm an attorney. Don't buy into the rumors.
[00:23:24] And at the end of the meeting, like, even she sees Kiana, whose kid is out in the car by himself, which is, you know, problematic, but whatever.
[00:23:33] And she's like, is this true? And Kiana's like, it is.
[00:23:41] And she's like, but you got to stop saying that because it can't be true. And Kiana's like, you know, believe what you're going to believe, but, you know, I'm going to go on about my life.
[00:23:53] And at the end of that, she gets home and her phone rings, and she's like. Claire's like, this women are too much. Like, she, you know, she's driving over home trying to figure out, like, how she's gonna, like, route this, like, rumor out of the things and get them on the straight and narrow so they can do what needs to be done to get their kids back.
[00:24:14] And so she's. She gets home, the phone rings, and she thinks it's Miles, and she's, like, pretty excited that, like, maybe they can get back together.
[00:24:23] And she answers formally because she doesn't want Miles to think that she was sitting by the phone waiting for him. So she's like Claire Henshaw.
[00:24:31] And then the voice says, just the woman I wanted to speak with. The old man's voice sounded both familiar and out of context at the same time. Quote Judge Eamon Brody here. He said, in one instant, I knew Rhonda hadn't been lying.
[00:24:46] I believe we have something in common, he says.
[00:24:49] So at that point, you know, the stakes are raised. She, in a single instant realizes that the women probably haven't lied, that she filed this action in court, and then her son is going to be subject to the same system, and that Miles is not coming back. To be frank, that's a lot.
[00:25:12] So I'm going to end here at the end of chapter 18. We got through four chapters today. I'm so proud.
[00:25:18] And I will say that what's so interesting about rereading this is that I'm falling in love with this book all over again.
[00:25:24] I was thinking about it when I was looking at the chapters before I started recording and I wrote the book in 2009, 2010, more or less. I know there was a start pregnancy, baby finish, but my son is 16 now, so not recently.
[00:25:44] But I like more about the book than I remember and I really appreciate the dive into ways in which everybody comes together to try to make this man pay for crimes in a system that is extremely difficult to navigate, especially when the potential defendant has such great privilege.
[00:26:11] And with that, I will see you if you like what you see, feel free to like subscribe, Share if you have Hypes hype the video and I will talk to you soon. With a new episode of the Politics of Justice, this has been Amy Austin, Sa.
