This is something else.

Better than the Sheriffs race rebel>>

This has all just been an absolute disaster for the Dean family. I'm not happy to see this report on this young lady. I have great sympathy for her, but I never trusted her entire testimony. I also never thought Scott Dean got a fair trial or that his sentence was in any way just. His past made him so unlikeable and there was so much information that was prejudicial and questionable testimony which left only the involved parties knowing the real truth.

I hope they all get second chances for their lives. And I also hope people will take their pain into consideration when making their remarks.

Your last sentence was a good point. There is nothing but sadness in this entire saga. And for some reason, I don't think it's over.

And perhaps their adoptees, or some of them had preexisting problems. I don't know and I don't care to know.

I always felt there was something wrong with this case and although I was not on the jury, I always questioned his guilt. You just never know and if a child is being abused or molested you want the perp to pay but I was not sure about this one at all. The media is often one sided and people already have a preconcieved notion of the truth before trial. My prayers are with this family, all of them.

River, when I read this, I had the feeling that the complaint might have come from home. I am wondering if Mrs. Dean stopped to think about what was going to happen to her before she reported it. Of course, there could also be a lot more going on.

I had a friend who wanted to teach her son a lesson for taking a check out of her purse. That lesson's been going on now for about 7 years in the state penitentiary. It wasn't at all what she had in mind when she made the call.

I am a little confused by your comment on how she helped Dean other than recanting. The court must have believed her first testimony instead of her second one.

I’m still hoping that this story will have a redeeming end for all of them. It’s all heartbreaking to me.

When one enters the judicial system, events slip out of your control, and you are at the mercy of people who don't care for you. They are obliged by their oaths to think of you as a despicable lawbreaker. Your lawyer is your only advocate, and he is usually busy juggling a score of cases.

Sometimes the District Attorney rules that a person caught red-handed did not have “criminal intent” when breaking the law, e.g. Lee Benedict. Sometimes, the initial complainant wishes to recant and withdraw the complaint, but the District Attorney presses ahead to trial full force, e.g. Alvin Mason. Sometimes, even when there was clearly no crime committed, a vicious special prosecutor will proceed to trial for political correctness to please a mob, e.g., George Zimmerman.

I stand with Willow in believing that Scott Dean was given way too harsh a sentence. In fact, I believe (just based on newspaper accounts) that the District Attorney did not prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Even though she first said Dean had done the deeds, this is the daughter who took up for Dean and said the other sister made it up so the whole thing is kind of strange that Renee would now say she stole her jewelry. Here is a quote from the AC:

"Dean’s oldest daughter, Marlin, testified at the hearing that her sister lied by telling a Guatemalan judge that her biological father murdered her brother. Marlin said the false testimony was an attempt by her sister to get her and her family into an orphanage.

At the trial, Theodocion alleged the girl gave false testimony against Dean. Marlin testified then that her sister desperately wanted out of her Harlem home because she didn’t get along with Dean’s wife."

Hopefully, Chronicle editors have assigned this story to a real reporter so we might learn who filed the complaint, what was taken, where did the burglar(ies) take place, and when the events unfolded.

happy, AC usually shuts down the comments when they get grossly out of line and it takes too much time to monitor them. Comments are supposed to be made only about the person featured in the story, not other family members, particularly if they are made in a derogatory manner. This is my understanding from ACS, though I could be mistaken.

I think Scott Dean needs a new trial.
I personally think his first one was tainted by people who didn't care for him. INCLUDING THE JUDGE!
Too much BS in the first one.

I have to give you an amen!