A young girl with a life so full of promise, this is a picture of Cindy Countess, when she was a student in junior high school. At the time this picture was taken, Cindy had so many hopes and dreams of her future.  Life has taken some cruel turns for this lovely girl,  There are more pictures throughout this site, we want you to meet and love Cindy as we do.  We want you to know her, and we would like for you to have the courage to speak up on her behalf.  

At the age of 53, she is incarcerated in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  The charge?  Second degree murder, it is our sincere belief that this woman suffers from severe mental issues.  Issues which helped to contribute to the crime for which she has been accused and convicted. 

The death of this woman's mother was a tragic consequence of a series of events, poor medication management, "caregiver burnout", and various other factors. One of the medications involved in this trial is a drug called "Paxil".  There has been great controversy about this drug and some of other drugs in the same category. There have been other horror stories similar to Cindy's. This drug has been linked to suicide/homicide. There are many stories at the Paxil Database website. . There is also lots of information , at the website of Dr. Peter Breggin, who is an expert on anti-depressant drugs, and their effects..http://www.breggin.com/,is his website.   Dr Ann Blake-Tracy is also an expert who has said, this drug stays in a person's body, many months after it is no longer taken. You can find more information by her...at the http://p201.ezboard.com/bpaxildatabase website. She has a radio show(about anti-depressants), and has written numbers of books on the dangers of anti-depressant drugs. She has compared the effect of these drugs(such as Paxil)to LSD.  She has said..these drugs can cause a person to "act out their worst nightmare", and have few memories of it(as with Cindy). It can cause amnesia, complete memory loss, as to what has occurred . Yet she is being treated as someone who knows exactly what occurred. Is that justice? 

A horrible thing did happen that evening in Roanoke, VA. The defendant in this case does not have any memory of the events of the fatal night. Any memories she has are small snippets, not enough to tell a story. It seems that many of the events were supplied in a "fill in the blanks" sort of way by the prosecution, police, witnesses for the prosecution, and amazingly even the judge.  There was no jury only one judge to weigh this evidence.  The medical examiner testified he saw no pattern of abuse of her mother. This was an instance of one particular episode, that occured that fatal night. We believe that she was unjustly convicted, and that her defense may even have been mismanaged. You must admit when a person is facing a 40 year prison sentence, they deserve a vigorous defense (even if they are public defenders, which was what the Commonwealth of VA provided for Cindy).  These attorney's were no match for the fiery young female prosecutor...who crucified Cindy on the stand.The defendant in this case was advised by her legal counsel to waive her right to a jury trial. In her confused, medicated and depressed condition she was a "lamb being led to the slaughter", as she stood before a Commonwealth Judge.  He delivered his version of "justice for Cindy".  Guilty, accompanied by a totally cruel admonishment to an already broken and mentally confused woman.  Her pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears. 

It is our contention that the possibility is quite real that Cindy was not competent at the time some of these crucial decisions were made. Decisions that a defendant is required to make. Very little investigative time was put into the planning of her defense.We believe she was not competent at the time of the "alleged murder", nor after.  Simply stated she was not able to adequately assist in her own defense, she was accused of something she has no memory of.  The police did not perform any toxicology tests on Cindy at the time of her arrest, she was questioned while she was intoxicated under the influence of a powerful antidepressant,  and faintly smelled of alcohol,  the crime scene was compromised by a brother (of the defendant) who claimed he was the one who "discovered" the mother's body. 

The evidence at face value could look quite damning if you did not take the time to know Cindy.  Cindy was always a warm, loving, and caring person, who would go out of her way to help others, who needed her. She is not a willful murderer, she has never shown a propensity towards violence.  She loved and cared for her difficult mother for years when only one of her other siblings would help.  The sibling who wants to help Cindy, the only sibling that EVER helped Cindy to care for their mother is Nomi(her oldest sister).  Her's is a desperation for help for her sister who is very ill, and growing more so as the lonely, confusing and horrific days in prison go by. 

We believe in the power of people when they unite to help someone who needs them.  Cindy desperately needs help, and it's help that her sister cannot financially afford. We are hoping that by contacting different organizations and governmental officials in the Commonwealth of Virginia, we can generate some interest and mercy on behalf of this extremely ill woman.  Cindy is losing hope each day she languishes in a cell waiting for the justice that was denied her. The time in a women's prison  is causing her to lose hope, now that all the appeals have been exhausted. In the prison system she is not getting the psychiatric care that she needs.  Not to mention the horrors of what prison life is doing to her emotional well-being, which was pretty poor to begin with.  

 We will try to give each of you a clearer perspective of Cindy.  Please keep your minds open there are some horrific aspects to this case, a story that is unusual, but compelling.  The abuse that Cindy is suffering right now is inhumane.  We hope you will find room in your heart to reach out to help her in anyway possible.  Cindy is not a "monster". She is just someone who is ill, and whose life has broken completely down, and who needs help. Nothing can ever prepare you for a tragedy such as this. This was a double tragedy, involving the death of her mother, but for Cindy as well. It seemed the court accepted that what happened to her mother was a tragedy...but failed to see that it is a tragedy for Cindy as well. Cindy was ill then, and is even more ill now. Cindy grieves all the time over what happened, altho she has no memory of the fatal night. She can't even get away from her overwhelming grief. Torturing Cindy will not bring back her mother, and she has suffered enough. That is why the petition has been created, to get help for her, before her poor health and grief destroy her, that is the purpose of this website.

   Please take a moment and sign Cindy's guestbook:

To view Cindy's Guestbook please follow this link:

http://www.guestcity.com/cgi-bin/sign.cgi?book=Nomi1938

http://www.guestcity.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi?book=Nomi1938

TO SIGN A PETITION TO SEND TO THE GOVERNOR OF VA,  FIND LINK ON LAST PAGE OF THIS SITE . Please do sign!!!

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