.The request for all 3 appeals have been denied, by the Virginia Court of Appeals. Her court-appointed attorney  filed twice requests to overturn the conviction,  to the Virginia State Supreme Court. They were turned down as well. Cindy has already had a breakdown, (during her second year of incarceration). She was always a hard, and diligent worker, and worked for many years. Cindy was declared totally disabled, by social  security, before being convicted. It doesn't seem to matter much to those in charge of her in the facilities. I worry about her constantly, because of the state of her emotional and physical health.. I know that Cindy suffers excruciating pain, from severe fibromyalgia, and osteoporosis(is causing her spine to get thin).  Cindy was finally put in a room by herself, and had been placed in the highest category that exempts her from, labor work. BUT a new doctor(a male)has changed the category she was in. AND when she refuses to do work, that she is unable to do...they  add time on her sentence. Her release date was 2011, now it is 2016. While it is still very hard for her at best, with just the confinement, she does the best she can. She is simply is unable to do many kinds of work. She was never a lazy person...has worked hard in her life. She tried work before, scrubbing down toilets and such. They had her doing this hard work, 6 days a week. They now have her working 15 hours a week...but this is still too hard on her health. Is this fair to a disabled person? She has told me she cries herself to sleep, because it causes the pain she lives with to be even worse. She doesn't even get the proper meds to help with the pain. She was to supposed to be monitered closely for 5 years, after Breast Cancer surgery(had this going thru trial, for an invasive 6.9 cm tumor)...she has been checked once, in going on 6 years(next September)of incarceration. One reason is the cancer drug(Tamoxifin)she is on. One interesting note, in regard to the Paxil Cindy was on. It can make a woman 7 times more likely to get breast cancer. Cindy is the 1st female in our family to have cancer, its uncommon in our family. And like I said, Cindy's spine is actually deterioating from the osteo.

I am appalled at ways she has been treated, in jail and in the facility she is in now. She has been treated atrociously so often, during incarceration. Few seem to care how bad her health is, she is just another poor, unhealthy individual, taking up space. Somehow compassion is pretty much lost in these facilities,even by those who oversee inmates. I never knew just how bad this countrie's penal system is, until this happened to Cindy. Much of the time, Cindy often fears for her life. She has been intimidated by younger inmates. She was over and over been placed with violent roommates who not only steal from her, but do things to make life even more miserable for her than it already is, namely terrorize her. She has called me, and our sister in Florida more than once hysterical from the hell she goes thru. I constantly fear for her. Despite the horrible tragedy in our family, Cindy has always been non-violent, always loving and kind to everyone. So far, Cindy has lost just about everything she can lose, except her life. She has lost her freedom,  her marriage(a divorce), and her health. We can only hope that something good happens for her, before she loses her life as well. I am constantly trying to find ways to help her. I have recently sent a letter of complaint to the Department of Justice in Washington(the part that deals with disabled persons).  Have written the facility too. Haven't heard back yet. Will update when I do.

     When she was enroute to the facility where she is, she was forced to urinate all over herself, and was humilitated. She begged to go to a restroom, and was denied this simple request. It is unbelievable she would be denied the proper regard for a normal human function. In my opinion this is inhumane! Cindy has severe, chronic bladder problems, and goes constantly, and drinks enormous amounts of liquids as well. She suffers from chronic, abnormal thirst. It is not known why she has these problems, but they cause her much stress. With all the problems she has, she needs to be in a hospital, not a prison. It is very heartbreaking to know how she has been made to suffer. She also has difficulty with overwhelming grief over what happened to our mother. If I go by Cindy's case, I must say, there is no justice,  there has surely been none for her. This is in a country that prides itself on being just.  I do hope and pray some is yet found for her. What happened to our mother was a sad, horrible tragedy, but so is what has happened to Cindy since then.  I can only pray it gets better for her, before it is too late.

I have learned, since my involvement in Cindy's case, that there are too many innocent people incarcerated, and too many are mistreated WHILE incarcerated. I have heard of unimaginable horrors people  go thru when in jail, and in larger facilities...yet nothing is done to stop the mistreatment. You don't have to be a hardened killer or someone totally incorrigible...all you have to do is to have the misfortune to get involved with the judicial system, and end up in jail/prison. While I realize jail/prison is no vacation resort, there are atrocities being done in many of these places that is beyond belief. These things happen in a country that is supposed to be fair and just with its people. Unfortunately, it is told that Roanoke may be one of those places, where gross mistreatment occurrs to inmates, neglect when sick, beatings, and this is done, referring by those in charge. It seems those in high places more often just close their eyes to it, and do nothing for those being abused, and prefer to believe it does not happen. That doesn't change the fact that it does happen.

     Such abuse of power by those in charge, should not be tolerated, but it goes unnoticed, and those who do these things continue to get by with their wrongdoing. Why? Because they know they can. Noone wants to believe a complaining inmate. Cindy has told guards about some of the bad deeds done to her. BUT some of them actually side with the vicious inmates who torment Cindy. Too often, what those like Cindy say means nothing. Many are treated worse than most people treat their animals. And some inmates who really are violent, and insensitive, are allowed to get by with intimidating and terrorizing others(like Cindy)who are not. It is said that some individuals even commit suicide to get out of the horrible things they go thru in jails, and penal systems around this country. In most facilities they are denied any kind of adequate medical care, , medication, or dental care etc. That doesn't make this country's judicial system seem very caring, does it? People, this inhumane treatment is happening in this country! It made the news when it was the Iraqui's, but it happens to citizens in this country too! I would urge you to join some of the groups who are trying to bring about change, thru legislators, congressman, and senators. One such group is Patrick's crusade, if you would like to check it out. Va cure is another for the state Cindy and I are in. There are others to be found on the internet. Because of what has happened to Cindy, I have become more involved in some myself. At my age and health, I can't physically go out and do anything, but I can do what I am doing, write emails and sign petitions with those who are trying to make change. 

One bit of news. Women's Entertainment Network television channel, is bringing on a new program called, "Women Behind Bars". This program will profile some women who are incarcerated. Cindy is supposed to be one of them. As far as I know, Cindy's story aired March 18nth 2008.  The programs has aired a few times since. There are many who see Cindy's plight as very sad. I hear from a lot of people who saw it. One lady said she even cried because Cindy's story was so sad.

 If perhaps you can help Cindy in any way, with legal, or medical info,  please email me, nomi1938@yahoo.com. It will be greatly appreciated. Here is the link to an interesting article, about the sick "justice" system in this country, by John Paul Roberts.

Social & Domestic Issues American Justice: You're Guilty When Charged by Paul Craig Roberts Posted Dec 23, 2005 Text Size:  S   M   L printer-friendly email to a friend respond to this article Darfur vs. Vermont    Debunking Militant Feminist Orthodoxy    Darwinist Ideologues Are on the Run    Abortion Causes Massive Mental Health Problems for Women    March for Life: We Win, They Lose    While enjoying the Christmas season in the comfort of your home, take a minute to say a prayer for the wrongfully convicted. American prisons are full of wrongfully convicted persons. Many were coerced into admitting to crimes they did not commit by prosecutors' threats to pile on more charges. Others were convicted by false testimony from criminals bribed by prosecutors, who exchanged dropped charges or reduced sentences for false testimony against defendants. Not all the wrongfully convicted are poor. Some are wealthy and prominent people targeted by corrupt prosecutors seeking a celebrity case in order to boost their careers. Until it happens to them or to a member of their family, Americans are clueless as to the corruption in the criminal justice (sic) system. Most prosecutors are focused on their conviction rates, and judges are focused on clearing their court dockets. Defendants are processed accordingly, not in terms of guilt or innocence. "Law and order conservatives" wrongly believe that the justice (sic) system is run by liberal judges who turn the criminals loose. In actual fact, the system is so loaded against a defendant that very few people, including the totally innocent, dare to risk a trial. Almost all (95 percent to 97 percent) felony indictments are settled by a coerced plea. By withholding exculpatory evidence, suborning perjury, fabricating evidence and lying to jurors, prosecutors have made the risks of a trial too great even for the innocent. Consequently, the prosecutors' cases and police evidence are almost never tested in court. Defendants are simply intimidated into self-incrimination rather than risk the terrors of trial. According to Yale University law professor John Langbein, "The parallels between the modern American plea bargaining system and the ancient system of judicial torture are many and chilling." Just as the person on the rack admitted to guilt in order to stop the pain, the present day defendant succumbs to psychological torture and cops a plea, whether he is innocent or guilty, in order to avoid ever more charges. Michael Tonry, director of Cambridge University's Institute of Criminology, reports that the United States has a higher percentage of its population in prison than any country on earth, including dictatorships, tyrannies and China. The U.S. incarceration rate is up to 12 times higher than that of European countries. Unless you believe Americans are 12 times more criminally inclined than Europeans, why is one of every 80 Americans (not counting children and the elderly) locked away from family, friends, career and life? Part of the answer is the private prison industry, which requires inmates to fuel the profits of investors. Another part of the answer is career-driven prosecutors who want convictions at all costs. Yet another is the failure of judges to rein in prosecutorial abuses. Another part of the answer is the hostility of Americans to defendants and indifference to their innocence or guilt. The U.S. invasion of Iraq has brought the breakdown in American moral fiber to the fore. The horrific tortures and abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, the public justifications of torture by the president and vice president of the United States, and the CIA kidnappings and torture of detainees in secret prisons put the American "liberators" in the same camp as Saddam Hussein. It is ironic that mistreatment of Iraqis is one of the justifications that Bush uses for overthrowing Saddam. In his book, "Constitutional Chaos: What Happens When the Government Breaks Its Own Laws," Judge Andrew P. Napolitano reports on cases of torture, psychological abuse and frame-ups that he discovered as presiding judge. I have reported a number of wrongful convictions. Anytime a new offense is created, the word goes out to "produce convictions." Over a decade ago, William R. Strong Jr. was made a victim of Virginia's new wife rape law. Strong discovered his wife in an affair with her boyfriend and was about to serve her with divorce papers. She found out and struck first, accusing him of rape. Strong has been trying to get a DNA test for many years, confident that the semen in the perk test is that of the lover of his unfaithful wife, but Virginia's criminal justice (sic) system is unresponsive. Another innocent victim of Virginia justice (sic) is Chris Gaynor. Gaynor took his skateboard team to a competition. When one of the kids tried to buy drugs, Gaynor threatened to tell his parents. To pre-empt Gaynor, the kid accused him of sexual abuse. There was no evidence against Gaynor, and the entire team knew the real story. However, Gaynor was framed by a corrupt prosecutor, reportedly a man-hating lesbian, with the connivance of a corrupt judge, who intimidated Gaynor's young witnesses by jailing one of them without cause. Gaynor's innocence was of less importance to the criminal justice (sic) system than a desire to increase convictions for child sex abuse. In America, defendants are no longer innocent until they are proven guilty. They are guilty the minute they are charged, and the system works to process the guilty, not to determine innocence or guilt. Americans in their ignorance and gullibility think that only the guilty would enter a guilty plea. This is the uninformed opinion of the naive who have never experienced the terror and psychological torture of the U.S. criminal justice (sic) system. Mr. Roberts was associate editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page from 1978 to 1980, and from 1981 to 1982, he was assistant secretary of the treasury for economic policy. Here is more proof of the horrors that exist in prisons across the country: http://www.geocities.com/prisonmurder/ Please note: If anyone would care to write to Cindy to help and encourage her...please email me at Nomi1938@yahoo.com and I will give you her address. BUT only those who have empathy for her. She needs encouragement, not to be subjected to any cruelty by anyone.

I am going to send the petitions, to send to Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, along with a request for a Pardon. His office wrote and suggested she send a request for a Pardon, so I am trying to get that all together.  We will ask for a pardon, or a reprieve for time served, which  is now over 4 years(now in the fifth). So when I send the petitions, I will also send the Pardon request. I will update this site as new things come about in her case. Here is the link. The second Petition is a new one, please sign it too, if you willl:

http://www.petitiononline.com/qd8d1919/petition.html

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/1954

One last note: I want to thank my online friend Tonya. Without her kind help, this website would have never come about.  I am deeply indebted to her for all she has done.

A lot of you have asked for Cindy's address to write to her, with a word of encouragement. I would also like to say, Cindy is indigent. If you might want to send a bit of money(made out to her, with her ID #)to help her get essentials, it would be greatly appreciated. It must be a money order...will not accept checks, or cash. She appreciates any kind jestures she receives. I send money every month, but(I am on Social Security)its never enough to help much....Warm Regards....Nomi 

Cindy Countess(#333161)......C/O FCCW, POB 1000....Bldg 5 D/102....Troy, Va....22974.