Why You Should Never Use a Court Appointed Attorney

The Los Angeles Police Dept. Works in Coordination with the District Attorney, with Some Crooked Court Appointed Attorneys and the Mental Health Court to Disappear Evidence, Tamper with Evidence, Shut Down Cases, and to Declare Witnesses, Journalists, and Political Activists Mentally Ill in Order to Forcibly Medicate Them with Psych Drugs

My Nightmare Story as to Why You Should Never Use a Court Appointed Attorney

by John Blyth

I really knew things were very wrong when my court appointed attorney became nervous at how incriminating of the police the audio was even after it was obvious to me that people with access to it had tampered with it. I really could not believe what was happening when she began to fight against me to have experts examine the evidence that I knew had been tampered with.

After I won my fight with her to get experts to check the evidence for tampering, she called me three times, trying to get me to change the digital forensics company to one she said a bailiff had given a high recommendation. The implications of her suspicious actions could not be more obvious to me. Never had she shown such interest in my case before and she was really freaking out. At most I had only received one call from her before and I had been frustrated by the very few responses to my efforts to correspond with her through email. I kept getting promises from her that I would get to examine the evidence. I did not have access to any evidence of my case, not even the police report for over six months. The reason for this discrepancy lays entirely with the prosecution and effectively denied me my right to a speedy trial. In my complaint to the judge to have Marla Fox removed from my case, I told the judge about the death threat I had received from a stranger which I am convinced had to do with this case against the LAPD and my writings as a political blogger that expose major crimes as well as incredibly suspicious circumstances that should not be ignored and warrant real investigations. I told the judge how Marla Fox ignored me when I told her about this threat against my life. She piped in with the lie that I had never told her this. There is no way that she could have forgotten this. She was recently assigned to me and I was concerned about her lack of concern. I pressed this point and actually began to tear in front of Marla and was unable to speak for at least a minute before I told Marla about the death threat. In front of the judge, she had to act concerned by such a statement, but when she was alone she treated the mention of the death threat, not with concern, but annoyance. In court, she lied and said I never told her about it.

She also lied about the number of hours she worked with me. Not once did we ever sit together for 3 hours about anything. I also believe she violated attorney client privilege by speaking to the prosecution about what I thought was incorrect about the audio in order to improve its falsification. They used the information I gave her in order to improve the quality of their falsification by removing some blatant incongruencies I had mentioned to her during the first listening, such as background noise from the freeway having been removed.

I did not mention to Marla that a huge section of the audio had been removed until much later because I didn't trust her. The first tape Marla Fox and I listened to together was different from the one she finally delivered to me weeks later and it had been tampered again to a much improved version for the prosecution's case.

I was angry. I wrote her telling her how unhappy I was with her lawyering and asked somewhat rhetorically, "What kind of lawyer argues against his client when he says that evidence he was witness to has been tampered with?" I was going to tell my judge everything the next chance I had.

However, before I could speak with the judge to complain about Marla Fox during my next pre-trial hearing, I met my new lawyer whom I had no idea had been made biased against me due to the outrageous defamation she had made against me without my knowing. My new lawyer, at the recommendation of Marla Fox, sent me for a psychological evaluation. I had no idea that this was a hostile action. It was another set-up.

How I was misled. As a person who suffers sometimes with symptoms of PTSD, whenever I have a chance, I take large breaths and rest my eyes. This is what happened to me at the stop where I was arrested. I mentioned this to my new lawyer Justin Clayton and he suggested that I get diagnosed for it so I can prove it in court. I did not know the hearing was about competency or that the complaint that intercepted my own before being given a chance to complain about Marla's legal malpractice came from Marla herself. Any judge should be very suspicious about the context of events and how the evidence was handled in my trial.

In order to stop the expert evaluation of the evidence proving tampering from reaching the court and being put on permanent record, which would undoubtedly launch an internal affairs investigation, their case against me had to be stopped. As well, the people involved in the conspiracy to frame and cover up their own crimes also had to be concerned about my entering my complaint about the gross malpractice of Marla Fox and whoever she was working with to help tamper with evidence. She and the concerned parties, with whom she had to have been working in the crime of conspiracy, must have decided that they had to figure out a way to stop the inevitable internal investigations from happening. It is clear to me that she and the others, working to cover up these crimes, decided that a preemptive strike was best. By filing charges against me with the claim of mental illness, they knew they could stop the trial from continuing that would expose their deep crimes. I have to say that out of all the injustices I have witnessed in this country, the way the mentally ill are treated in California is absolutely the worst I've seen. Saying that incarcerating people in these mental health facilities and forcibly drugging them is to avoid cruel and unusual punishment is an absolute joke and travesty of justice. A kangaroo court with inferior facilities is the only way to describe it. From what I saw, being declared mentally ill is truly the cruel and unusual punishment in comparison to the punishment of most crimes, especially in comparison to the one I am accused of, misdemeanor DUI.

The way the judge Roberto Longoria treated every single person who was charged with mental illness did not inspire me with hope. It was like a scene from Kafka. No case that appeared before the judge did he seem to be deal with in a manner of a person with an open mind. Guilt was just assumed. So called authorities were never questioned. He encouraged the experts to prescribe drugs, which is not his place. People on the inside looked broken and ravaged as if they hadn't had a good sleep in weeks. They were all begging to get out and not one could catch a break from this judge. By the way he treated the defendants, this judge reminded me of the convicted criminal judge, Mark Ciavarella, who finally got busted and has gone away to jail to serve 28 years in prison after being convicted of receiving kickbacks from the private prison industry for every child he threw behind bars. It is estimated that he ruined the lives of over 2000 people. One of these innocents he jailed finally had gone through so much that he decided that he had had enough and took his own life. The investigation into his death launched the investigation into the judge and his practices that finally put him away. Hundreds of innocents and those with very minor charges spent years in prison because of this judge’s evil greed. I will never forget how the mother of the dead child confronted the judge during his trial.

I very much hope that Roberto Longoria is not getting kickbacks from private treatment centers or for the great number of prescription pills that this court mandates, though, due to his highly unprofessional behavior, I highly suspect that he and all of the others in that courtroom are.

All of the mentally ill in lock-up looked slowed by drugs. None were happy. All were begging to get out. One looked suicidal. My heart went out to one who could not understand why he had been locked up. From watching carefully his interactions with the judge, I couldn't understand it either. He said, "I came to court. I did everything you asked me to. I don't know why I am here. I did everything you asked me to. Can you tell me what I did wrong?" The judge didn't give him a proper answer. He said, "I found that you were incapable of taking care of yourself." He didn't seem psychotic or incapable to me. His heart was broken when he learned it would be 3 more months before he would get out.

The one who looked suicidal was promising not to have another spastic attack if he could just get a good nights sleep. When it came to my turn to defend myself in front of the judge, I was not allowed to speak freely and all my requests were denied: 1. the firing of this new attorney who was blatantly not on my side. (I must mention that it was only when I told her that it was my plan to sue the LAPD for misconduct that she turned evil on me.) 2. Also I was denied my request to have another psychiatrist evaluate me; 3. My request for a continuance so I could return with a private attorney to defend me was denied. 4. My request for a Marsden motion was also denied.

Expedience of the trials and decisions was considerably more important in the eyes of the judge than the lives of any of the people who walked in that courtroom. This judge's consistent insistence on pushing the psychiatrist to prescribe psych meds on me and others made me feel that something very sinister was going on, perhaps kickbacks of some kind.

Things became even more bizarre the way the psychiatrist, Kristen Ochoa, and psychologist, Suzan McEnani, treated me. The way they looked at me was as if they had hit the jackpot. They were walking on air. They were just a little too happy. Why? I sure would like to see their bank accounts to see if they received any unusual monetary payments. During the interview, the psychiatrist Kristen Ochoa, who ruled that I suffered from a mental illness, told me some things I found very inappropriate, things that had nothing to do with the evaluation. First, she asked whether I understood that there was a chance that I could go to jail for the crime I was charged with as if I did not understand the charges against me. This statement by her is patently incorrect. Nobody goes to jail for misdemeanor DUI. This shows that she is the one who does not understand the consequences. In fact, the consequences of being labeled mentally ill are much worse than the consequences for the crime for which I was accused. I would never be incarcerated for my crime, yet I am facing incarceration here in mental competency court if I refuse to do anything the court orders. Because of this fact, it shows that the entire reason for mental competency court’s existence is a falsehood in regards to misdemeanor DUI. The punishment for being declared mentally ill is worse than the punishment for the DUI. Secondly, in the interview, Dr. Kristen Ochoa asked me very pointed questions about my case and what my future plans were that made it seem that the decision to rule against my sanity had already been decided long ago. She told me that my DUI case was going to be made to disappear through statutes of limitation. She started extolling the benefits of a diagnosis of mental illness. She spoke of the financial benefits from the state as well as the many services that could receive. I told her I refuse. I told her a diagnosis of mental illness would discredit all of my writings that I have worked so hard on, but she gave me the diagnosis anyway.

In front of the judge, when I tried to present irrefutable evidence that there is a history of the LAPD tampering with evidence against me, my court appointed mental health attorney of mine Colleen Chikahisa --whom I first met that day whose job is supposed to defend me-- acted extremely inappropriately by making extremely inappropriate and childish comments.

Why would she yell out in court that she agreed with the evaluation against me? Her job description is that she is supposed to be on my side. How can this person be allowed to keep her job when all of her actions are blatantly opposite to the job description? I mentioned to her that she was supposed to be on my side. She made it clear that she didn't care and in the louder range of her voice assured the whole courtroom that she agreed with my diagnosis that I was crazy.

I assume that the reason mental health courts were established was to help those who are sick, so how can it be that abusive behavior that will only aggravate mental illness is allowed in this person and not disciplined?

In what I can only assume was an effort to demoralize and demean me or was perhaps more likely an effort to provoke me to act in a way that could be misinterpreted, my court appointed attorney announced to the whole courtroom "NOBODY believes you!" This scurrilous uncaring attack meant to destroy one's sense of belonging was targeted at me. Me, the person whom they accused of being so mentally ill that that they suspended my trial was being treated as no person, especially one with a mental illness, should ever be treated. Me, a person supposedly so mentally ill that the court found it incumbent on itself to remove all of my civil rights and force into medical treatment was now being treated in a way that no person should be expected to endure, especially a person supposedly suffering from mental illness. The question is, how can this cruel person be allowed to act in a way so blatantly intended to inflict mental injury on people already suffering from mentally injury? How can she be allowed to act this way when her job description is to protect her client? Why on earth would it be so important to her to try to humiliate me again and again?

When I learned that it was the plan to stop my DUI case with these allegations of mental illness, I went to speak to my last lawyer. He didn't understand that I would not be coming back. He went to talk to my new lawyer to say that it was never the intention to have me committed and then stop the case. This iniquitous creature was only too delighted to inform him that I was not coming back and said with glee, "He is ours now and there is nothing you can do about it."

As the mental health court knows in 95d, I showed up two times before when the court was not ready for me, so I had to go home and come back for a third time. On this third occasion, I met my new volatile court appointed attorney Collen Chikahisa for the very first time. Because I was misled into believing I was being sent to a psychiatrist to prove I had PTSD to back up a point in my case, I did not know the gravity of the upcoming interview or who the person was that was responsible for the psychiatric test. I answered the questions as I did with little concern after having my morning marijuana stress treatment. Perhaps, this was not taken into consideration. However, I don’t think that it would have mattered. The decision about my sanity had been made before I had my first evaluation. I and most others believe that these actions taken against me are a highly unusual and cruel form of punishment that is based on an evaluation that was highly unprofessional for its brevity, highly unusual because it happened at a crucial time in my case where I proved tampering, and highly unusual for the complete lack of due diligence exerted that would require any person, no matter of what high ranking, accreditation, or degree would, to verify facts before making such a decision to override anyone’s constitutional rights. It is the worst kind of corruption that sends a person to sanity court for reporting about real crime. The thoroughly crooked police and thoroughly crooked justice system would rather claim I am crazy rather than give me the common human courtesy to investigate my claims that are easily discoverable.

I am an artistic type of person. In healthy societies, the fact that artists are different from the rest of the population is celebrated. When it is not, it is usually a sign of decay and of an increasingly autocratic and kleptocratic state that has given up its respect for equal rights and its very own constitution. States that begin to deny these rights have historically shown to be in decline and near their end. What is being attempted against me is the worst kind of defamation against someone with a strong mind. It is an incredible violation of my constitutional rights and the rights of many others who have to be in similar situations. Everybody who is not connected to the corrupting system feels this way.

During the mental evaluations, I interviewed my interviewers in return and I found found that both Kristen and Suzan are incredibly uninformed with current events, how to determine evidence through statistics, or anything about black history in America. I am sure they never even heard of the condition called Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome or understand what the AIDS crisis did to the gay community. I am black and gay and neither of these women are qualified to evaluate me. These white women know nothing about my unique identity or what I have been privy to. There was nothing thorough about the eight-minute evaluations I was given. None of the questions asked me were psychological in nature, but were only pointed questions about my case and what my intentions were about by trying to collect discovery. I felt hostility when I admitted that my intent was to sue for the LAPD for their beating me and for all of the other misconduct that happened in my case. Again and again, the judge repeated that my evaluators were not evaluating my court case, but were evaluating me. I was asked no questions about myself. There were no questions psychological in nature. They only asked me details about my case and what my intentions are.

I am an academic. I have been published in the NY Times. I am an intellectual that other intellectuals celebrate. This DUI arrest has been successful in keeping me from starting my non-profit as well as my bbq business. Before my DUI, I was in the middle of starting a promising non-profit against corruption in business, media, and the government. This judgment against my sanity stinks to high heaven of deep corruption.

This is a judgment against someone that we must note was beaten by police who thought they could cover up their crimes, crimes proven by expert forensics analysts. All of the results were about to be released in my trial when the trial was oh so suddenly, and for the police, so conveniently shut down. My correspondences with Marla Fox prove a timeline of extremely inferior legal aid that was intentional and as well extremely questionable incidents of behavior that requires a formal and thorough investigation of probable criminal behavior. My accusations against her came first, and you will find that there is much more proof supporting my allegations against her than her allegations against me. Her allegations against me are retaliatory and desperate acts to shut down a trial that I was going to win as well as expose a whole lot of deep corruption. These correspondences need to be examined before any diagnosis about my sanity can be made.

My allegations against her should be considered in a manner at least as strongly as her allegations against me. I have not been given equal protection. I was beaten. I am the victim here and by being labeled in this way, I am being further victimized and justice is being obstructed. Any person looking into this case will immediately see a court that has run amuck, one that regularly violates Americans’ human and constitutional rights. .

My new court appointed attorney for mental competency, Colleen Chikahisa, behaved unprofessionally and with immediate bias towards me. When I heard her speaking to the judge about incarcerating me, I could not believe my ears. I felt like I had to get a witness to this behavior, so after the interviews, I ran home in order to call a real lawyer for advice and friends and family to be by my side. When I was not back before lunch break, which was taken early, she took the fact that I said I got back before twelve, but very close to twelve, as some kind of issue to attack me on. I quote her here, “We are going to wrap things up before twelve.” She may have said more than that, like “Be back before 11:30,” but I did not hear it because I needed to find someone to talk to. You would think that someone would be more understanding seeing that this was the third time I had been to that court and they had not been ready for me. There is a big issue here of a double standards and inappropriate behavior. At one point, like a mean middle schooler, Coleen Chikahisa yelled out to be well heard, "NOBODY believes you!" If it weren't so childishly mean, perhaps I would have felt hurt. I think she was surprised that I didn't shrink, but was emboldened. I told her, "Yes, they do!"

As a trial, not only were the strident, unapologetic, and bullying behaviors that led to Chikahisa publically denouncing me in court not fair, appropriate, or acceptable behavior, but my psychological evaluators were out of line as well. They could not possibly perform proper evaluations in the ridiculously short amount of time that I was evaluated. During the interview, Kristen Ochoa let me know that the reason I was being committed was to make my case disappear by letting statutes of limitation to expire. “You know,” she said, “your case might just disappear because of statutes of limitation.” And like a car salesman, she went so far to try to sell me about the many benefits of being declared mentally ill by extolling both the financial benefits and all the different services someone declared mentally ill receives.

Judge Roberto Longoria was just as much a bully as my court appointed attorney. Both act so outrageously strident, it is obvious that they feel above having to work in a courteous, professional, and truly fair manner. The way they acted was so shocking to me it seemed sociopathic. Enclosed is an article about the kind of behaviors that are being perpetrated on me that in a court of law are highly illegal. Those transcripts of my being in Roberto Longoria’s court must be reviewed. They enjoyed insulting me and striking me down before I could speak. They enjoyed threatening me with jail if I ever spoke out of turn. It is judges like this that give reason for the presence of cameras in every courtroom. As well, I believe that there were major problems with how the evaluations were carried out. Things were said to me that were very unprofessional and I much would have preferred that the interviews had been taken while I was on the stand so they could be made public and recorded for posterity. This would have protected me much more than some unrecorded secret meeting that is completely relied on the honesty and expert opinion of one person.

Everybody who comes into that courtroom soon realizes how incredibly miserable it is. The problem is that it is not because of the presence of the mentally ill, but by a judge and his buddy court appointed attorney who no doubt much enjoy making people feel more miserable than they already do. Watching these two in action causes anyone to question who really are the people in the courtroom who are the mentally ill. All workers of all sorts need some checks and balances and need to be reminded about the real reason they are there. All people are obligated to obey the rules that ensure both dignity and fairness for all involved.

As a teacher, too often I would encounter other teachers who were no longer happy to come to work everyday. Many of those teachers, who have reached a level of seniority where they never can be fired, often lose interest in their jobs and begin enjoying playing power dynamics over others because of what I assume is boredom and the feeling that they are better than other people. Those workers who are no longer evaluated and have no one to answer to begin to act anyway they feel at the moment and can do so, because no matter what they do anymore, they know there will never be consequences for their actions. Sadly, too many people develop this malaise when they are unchecked and unobserved. Those who are bored with themselves at work who also may have a somewhat narcissistic nature can begin to see people as interchangeable and can even go so far to make the people over whom they hold positions of power believe that the people they serve are there for their personal entertainment. This is how the bullying starts that can develop into something worse.

It is my opinion and the opinion of my supporters that these two are over the top. The people in this courtroom have grown to enjoy bullying and sadism. In my opinion, both the judge and the court appointed attorney who was assigned to me should be forced to take classes and be counseled in sensitivity training. If anybody needs sensitivity, it is the mentally ill. There is no doubt in my mind that these two love to display their power over others, and it makes a particularly unpleasant experience for all involved. Judge Roberto Longoria warned me again and again that if he deemed that anything I was doing was not absolutely cooperative, I would be incarcerated. For this reason, when he would interrupt me, it forced me to bite my tongue so much I could not make any points whatsoever.

Judge Roberto Longoria and his friend Colleen Chikahisa love to belittle and literally put the fear of God in people for absolutely no good reason whatsoever. I never should have been threatened with jail. I did nothing to deserve being threatened like that. It is my opinion that their outrageous behavior over absolutely powerless people causes them a sick form of entertainment. It is obvious that they enjoy insulting and displaying their power over others when there is no good reason to. There is no reason for this kind of behavior other than the enjoyment of sadism. Both Roberto Longoria and Colleen Chikahisa feel above rules and above proper courteous behavior to their fellow man. They have found ways to pretend they are following proper procedure, but it is in name only. I asked the judge for a Marsden motion, but was denied. If I remember correctly, I believe he is supposed to give me one. One can see that it has been a long time since this judge has followed proper procedure. He gives not one person time enough to make a proper argument that would give them proper access to the court or enough time one needs to defend himself, get a good question in, or make a proper presentation of evidence. The method the judge uses to shut people down before words are even able to come out of their mouths is to repeat and repeat again the phrase, "The evaluations evaluate you and not your trial." By spouting out the same legal phrase over and over again, he is able to interrupt people before a defendant can even get a sentence started. He treats this like it is some unbeatable argument that can't be countered. I wanted to tell him that if that argument were true, why were most of the questions used in my evaluation about my trial? I believe if one looks at the transcripts of my sanity trial, one would find that the judge threatened me with jail at least five times and absolutely for no good reason.

The judge's reasoning that these evaluations had nothing to do with the facts of my trial is completely false and disingenuous. Both evaluators never asked me about my personal life, my friends, my dreams, my interests, my feelings about violence, or about my perspective of society. They asked me if I ever had any trauma in childhood. Yes. So what? They asked me if I was depressed or if I have ever been depressed. I said no. There is a big difference between depression and sadness; sadness is caused by reasons one can determine, but depression is sadness for no identifiable reason at all. Before I was sent for psychiatric evaluation when I was still demanding for expert forensics on the evidence, Marla Fox asked me out of the blue, “Have you ever been depressed, John?” I thought the question so strange, I posted it on Facebook. It is now obvious that she had long been planning to try to have me committed. In my life, I have been sad, but not depressed ever. It is important not to confuse the two.

This is probably the most important part of this letter. Forcible medication. The judge said a series of extremely outrageous things about me, unbelievable defamation about me that offends me greatly. The judge declared that I needed to be medicated or, in the future, I would “become a danger to society.” I am a researcher and academic. I know about psychology. I know very well that there is no study to prove this and probably hundreds that say the opposite about the chance of my becoming violent and a danger to society. I am a follower of Jesus Christ and his Golden Rule. It means everything to me. MLK and Ghandi are my personal heroes. I am 46 years old and have no history of violence or anything on my record whatsoever. Statistics show that anyone my age is very unlikely to become violent and, as they become older, the chances of violence get lower and lower. I have to say that there is something very wrong with that judge and that courtroom. The players in there are a disgrace to the American constitution and even the human race for the absence of humanity in which they treat people. I have no record, yet I am being treated like I do. What is happening to me is political persecution. I am always trying to improve myself as a person. I always try my best to be honest to myself so I can better be truthful to others. There is no way that I would become a danger to society.

During my evaluation, the vast majority of the questions were yes and no about my criminal trial for DUI. Why was the judge putting out false premises in order to lead the psychiatrists? He didn't observe the evaluations. If you review the transcripts, I believe the judge threatened me five times with throwing me in prison. I did nothing to deserve it. The behavior of the judge and the attorney were scarily belligerent. Colleen Chikahisa bragged that nobody can do anything about what happens in that courtroom. She was defiant, completely without fear of repercussions. She acted against me like I had done something to her from the instant I met her. When asked for her contact information, she refused to give it. At this moment, I have asked Suzan McEnany bunches of times for the contact info of both Dr. Kristen Ochoa and Colleen Chikahisa and also for a copy of their psychological evaluation against me so that I can give it to my real psychiatrist. None of my requests, which I have a legal right to, have been answered or granted. From the beginning, Colleen Chikahisa was not afraid to reveal that she was not on my side at all. How is that possible when she is the one assigned to me and is supposed to be protecting me?

My chances to speak to the judge were extremely limited and he did not allow me to put up any proper explanation or any kind of defense. There were very few chances that I was allowed to speak to the judge, yet "my attorney" was allowed to interrupt me at the only point I was allowed to present some of the evidence of police tampering against me. He looked at it, seemed interested in it at first, but appeared to remember he was not there to aid my case in any way. It was a ticket that I already had dealt with 14 years ago whose date had been changed and then intentionally put back in the system to cause me worse problems than what the ticket originally was. She yelled out that It was stupid to show that I had had a warrant out for my arrest. That was a straight out fallacy. The ticket was too old when it was reintroduced in the system to go to warrant, but because of the constant threat by the judge that he would immediately incarcerate me if I spoke out of turn or showed “any resistance whatsoever”, I felt I could not safely respond in any reasonable way. The ticket never went to warrant, but because it was there in my record again, I had to deal with the ticket again after the DUI arrest in order to receive any court appointed legal services. It was an ordeal.

I really have to thank my mother for showing up. If she hadn't shown, I believe the judge would have locked me up and had me chemically lobotomized because I am seen as a political leader, and if I were successful with my case, it would mean a big lawsuit against the LAPD. Officers came in the courtroom ready to lock me up when I had done nothing to provoke the judge. It was obvious that he had called the officers to lock me up, but changed his mind because my mother was watching.

Please, Share!!!!!

Help Me Drain the Swamp

Let's Get Back to Goodness

Monday, June 19 at 9 a.m.

Show them they can't treat people this way.

Los Angeles Metropolitan Court House
1945 S. Hill St
Los Angeles, CA 90007

Just south of Washington Blvd., between Olive and Hill St.

6th Floor, Room 95D Judge Longoria

Party afterwards because it is my birthday too and to appreciate all of the people for their support.

A major announcement will be made that day.

Call if you would like to help in any way.

310 597 2980