Witness: Reiser was rarely emotional, often arrogant

A witness in the murder trial of Hans Reiser testified that the California-based computer engineer rarely showed emotion in his life, and never seemed distressed, even at the most stressful moments of his life.

Earlier in the trail testimony was offered that Mr. Reiser had Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism. This has been offered to explain his behavior that is seen as eccentric and disconnected.

Reiser is on trial for the murder of his wife, Nina. Nina's body has never been found and there is little forensic evidence linking him to the crime. The defense contends she disappeared, escaping a bad marriage, and leaving behind two children.

The defense called Cimarron Taylor, a friend of Reiser’s for over 20 years, to testify that he was just not the kind of person whose temperate would lead him to kill his wife or anyone else.

Taylor testified the only time he had seen Reiser upset was in 1987. A fellow student at Cal Berkeley once wrote a program that sent 5,000 junk emails to Reiser, causing his computer to shut down.

Reiser confronted the man but, Taylor assured, there was no anger or violence.

I’m shocked by this. Not by the fact that Reiser didn’t deck the guy; I just didn’t know that anyone was sending anybody emails in 1987. I certainly wasn’t.

Stay tuned.

The $1,000,000 Ramp

One area of disability services that we find is lacking is people who are willing to build ramps for people in wheelchairs. It takes a high level of skill to build a safe and attractive ramp, and the profit-margin often makes it difficult to line up contractors who can dedicate themselves to the job.

Apparently, ramp builders should all move to California. Apparently, in California, the cost for a 10 foot ramp can run over $1 million.

San Francisco, California is very forward-thinking when it comes to making the city accessible to people with disabilities. Their commitment extends right to the heart of it all, City Hall, the center of city government.

Over the past 9 years, the city undertook comprehensive renovation of City Hall making sure that the renovation included making hallways, offices and restrooms accessible to people with disabilities. By all accounts they did an excellent job.

In fact, the only place in City Hall that is not accessible to the disabled is the city board president’s podium – a place from which public pronouncements are made during meetings of the city board. One must be able to climb five steps to reach the lofted, hallowed perch.

It was understood that even this podium would someday be made accessible. Someday arrived in 2004 when Michela Alioto-Pier, who uses a wheelchair, joined the board.

The city then started looking into ways to make the podium accessible.

I know that often construction estimates, usually out of a general lack of knowledge of the industry, tend to be costlier than one would initially guess. But no one was quite prepared for this.

• A study to present the board with various options, ranging from lifts to ramps: $98,000

• San Francisco Bureau of Architecture project manager, design and construction fees: $77,000.

• Cost of construction and asbestos removal: $455,000

• Construction scheduling consultant fees: $28,000

• Electrical consultant: $3,500

• Fees for the Bureau of Construction Management to oversee the construction: $68,000.

• Fees for the Department of Technology and Information Services to provide oversight: $12,000.

• Fees and permits: $16,500 – even though it is the city charging itself.

• Upgrade of the sound system, which will have to be changed due to the construction: $300,000.

Total costs: $1,123,000. For a 10 foot ramp. That’s $100,000 per foot.

There has to be a better way. But what people may not understand is that it isn’t really a disability story; it’s a government bureaucracy story. They are spending about $170,000 paying money to the architecture, construction, and technology departments, not to mention the $16,500 it is charging itself to purchase the fees and permits to do the work. That’s ridiculous. But it's the kind of story that will not help enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

But let's face: 1 ten foot ramp shouldn’t cost a million dollars, even if it takes you to the gates of heaven itself.

Witness: Vanishing From Face Of The Earth "No Big Deal"

Defense lawyers in the Hans Reiser murder trial called a private investigator to the stand to testify about how easy it is to travel throughout the world undetected.

His testimony was brought about to the defense theory that Nina Reiser, defendant’s wife, simply vanished, leaving behind a troubled marriage and two children.

Mrs. Reiser has been missing for over a year, and her husband stands accused of her murder.

Testimony has been offered indicating Mr. Reiser has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism.

Warren Levicoff, a witness for the defense, said it is possible to buy forged passports for about $10,000 in the United States. He also said people seeking new passports who are citizens of a different country can simply walk across the Canadian or Mexico border and go to that country's embassy and pick up new papers.

At one point, Levicoff, who often works on cases involving people who have skipped bail and went abroad, agreed with defense attorney William Du Bois' assertion that it is was "not a big deal" to travel around the world undetected by authorities.

There was also some indication from Mr. Reiser’s attorney that Mr. Reiser may take the stand in his own defense.

I’ve seen him interviewed. I would advise against it.

At least this witness didn't do any pushups.

Eccentric Genius with Aspergers On Trial For Murdering His Russian Bride

Lately I’ve been learning about a high-profile trial out the state of California where a successful computer engineer, Hans Reiser, is on trial for the murder of his wife Nina. Nina Reiser has been missing for over a year and is now presumed dead.

It is the sort of trial that serves as the origin for the “only in California” sentiment that arises from time to time.

Among the evidence that has come out at trial is the speculation that Hans Reiser has Aspergers Syndrome, a form of autism. This has been used in an attempt to explain Mr. Reiser’s behavior that has been viewed as, to put it generously, atypical of someone who is innocent of the murder of his wife. His defense team portrayed him, due to Aspergers, as someone who is “strange and socially inept,” but innocent of the charges.

He is also viewed as a genius in computer engineering. He developed a highly regarded method of storing files on computers, a presentation of which is available on YouTube (video link). [About one minute into the video, he explains that he is going to “discuss how unifying namespaces improves closure within the OS.” If that doesn’t make sense to you, which it doesn’t to me, there’s little need to watch the video.]

He does appear, upon hearing him interviewed, to be eccentric.

Mrs. Reiser was a 31-year old physician, born in Russia, who was the mother of Hans’ two children. She met Mr. Reiser in Russia, where he went in order to find a bride. Nina was serving as a language interpreter for one of the potential brides; Hans fell for the interpreter instead.

She married him when she was five months pregnant in a bizarre wedding ceremony that involved walking through an outdoor labyrinth and having his best friend dress in drag and serve as the Maid of Honor. The evidence showed that she later had an affair with her Maid of Honor, despite the fact that he was into bizarre sexual practices and had extensive experience working as a male prostitute.

One tends not to see these sets of facts at trials held in Wapakoneta.

Some of the evidence against Reiser stems from the obvious fact that there was tension in the relationship stemming from a pending divorce. Hans did some strange things, like making a rare stop at the elementary school prior to Nina’s disappearance, and changing the emergency contact person for his children from her to him. He tried to elude police when they were attempting to pull him over, at which point the police found the carpet in his car to be wet and the driver’s seat to be missing. These sorts of facts keep defense lawyers gainfully employed.

The defense part of the trial began last week. A psychiatrist, Beverly Parr, who had known Reiser since childhood, testified that he had Asperger’s Syndrome, which gives him impaired social skills and tends to make him fixate on things.

Reiser’s father, Ramon, then testified in explanation of Hans' behavior, that he told Hans to elude anyone following him, as the father warned him he was in danger from “Russian mafia groups in California,” or “the techno-geek S&M crowd.”

Several of Ramon's responses were stricken from the record, at which point he apologized to the judge for his meandering answers which stemmed, at least in his opinion, from the fact that ten years ago he himself had been hit by a bus.

The father testified that his family, in their spendthrift manner, often drove cars with seats that were removed.

He then took advantage of a scheduled recess by dropping down in open court and doing one-armed pushups.

Absolutely no credibility problem there.

There is almost no hard evidence linking Hans to the crime. No body, no forensics. And those who know him and are willing to speak publicly defend him, such as this comment from the YouTube video…

I've known Hans and his family for more than 20 years. I've have never seen or heard of a single act that would allow me to believe he could be guilty of anything like this. (One) should not be so simple to assume that eccentric brilliance equals guilt.

We'll find out.

Amy Baker Avoids Prosecution in Kentucky

Amy Baker, the evil third wheel in the tragic Marcus Fiesel saga, will avoid prosecution for her crimes by the state of Kentucky.

The live-in girlfriend of, at various times, both David and Liz Carroll, cut a deal with prosecutors to assist them in solving the mystery of the heinous death of Marcus Fiesel, a three-year old boy with autism.

The Carrolls were found guilty of murder, having tied up young Marcus in his crib and stuffed the crib in the closet while all three left for a family reunion weekend in Kentucky.

Baker assisted the Carrolls in the disposal of Marcus’ body and, at least initially, assisted them in perpetrating a hoax that Marcus had disappeared in a city park.

Baker was given immunity from prosecution for assisting in the investigation and for agreeing to testify in Liz Carroll’s murder trial. After Liz Carroll’s guilty verdict, David Carroll quickly followed with a guilty plea.

Following the trial, charges of tampering with evidence were filed in Kentucky against Baker, much to the surprise of Ohio officials. Some of the remains of Marcus’ body had been thrown in the Ohio River, which is under control by the state of Kentucky.

The Kentucky prosecutor, John Estill led Ms. Baker and her attorneys to believe that the immunity deal offered her would be honored in Kentucky. He did so by giving out legalese:

Estill denied (agreeing to immunity), and said he never gave a clear answer on his intentions with the Amy Baker case.

“I said for sure we won’t do anything to interfere with David Carroll’s case,” Estill said at the Nov. 8 (Ohio) immunity hearing.

“A clear answer would have been ‘I will not prosecute.’ I did not say that,” he stated.

How very lawyerly of you. Ms. Baker’s attorney, Ray Bogucki, said Ms. Baker shouldn’t be penalized for an intentionally misleading promise from the prosecutor. Ultimately, the judge in Kentucky agreed and dismissed all charges against Ms. Baker.

She is a free woman, and I believe the judge made the right decision. But Amy Baker will always be guilty. She played a role in the mistreatment and horrifying abuse of a young human being which led to his slow and painful death. I would hope there is no true and lasting freedom here on earth from that.

Goodwill of NW Ohio, Dell Announce Recycling Effort

Goodwill of Northwest Ohio looks to be the first Ohio Goodwill out of the gate in the area of scrap recycling of computers.

They have announced a partnership with Dell Computers to act as a drop-off point for Ohioans who wish to “recycle” their old computers. This is a program that is being looked at by many Goodwill agencies across Ohio, including the one here in Columbus.

Here at Assistive Technology of Ohio, we also run a “refurbishing” or “recycling” program, but there are very real differences between the two.

In Goodwill’s program, they are not necessarily looking to recycle computers as computers. They are looking to hire people with disabilities to deconstruct the computer, breaking it down into parts, which are then sold to the public.

In many instances, the parts are sold in bulk as scraps of plastic, glass, and metal. There does not appear to be any attempt at this point to resell the parts as computer parts, i.e., reselling the modems as modems or motherboards as motherboards.

In our program, we accept donated computers (Pentium III or higher), refurbish them, and make them available to Ohioans with disabilities for $50.

They both sound like great programs – one provides jobs for people with disabilities, the other provides computers.

Keira Knightley - A Movie Star Overcomes A Learning Disability

Keira Knightley, star of Atonement, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Pride & Prejudice, has been talking openly about her battle as a young child with dyslexia.

Keira comes from British acting royalty; her father is British actor Will Knightley and her mother Scottish playwright Sharman MacDonald.

When Ms. Knightley was 6 years old, she was diagnosed with dyslexia. Despite her affluent and educated parents, she was unable to read, write, or even successfully identify the letters of the alphabet.

She also desperately wanted to perform on stage; to act, like her parents. It was obvious to her parents that academic struggles and a desire to be a thespian were incompatible. But they needed a carrot, something to drive young Ms. Knightley to work to overcome her disability.

A deal was struck. Keira could get an agent to seek out work for her, if she agreed to work with special tutors to help her overcome her problems. And, as part of the deal, she must work very hard; without excellent grades, there would be no acting for her.

She took the deal, she began working to overcome her dyslexia, and she succeeded, both in academics and in the world of acting. Well done, both by her and her parents. A lesson or sorts, perhaps, for parents of children with learning disabilities; and for parents whose children wish to perform at a young age.

Something you may not know: In the 1999 movie, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Natalie Portman played the role of Padima. In the court that followed her around, there was a decoy that looked just like her, that traveled with her for security reasons. Until today, I assumed that the look-alike was again Natalie Portman, appearing on the same screen at the same time in a different costume. Indeed it was not Ms. Portman at all; it was Keira Knightley, chosen for the role because of her uncanny resemblance to Ms. Portman. The parents of both actresses had difficulty telling them apart in full costume on the set.

Keira Knightley appears to be a well-grounded, articulate, professional whose career is soaring. Judging by this clip alone, it is difficult to see her ever having a problem understanding the written word. Enjoy.

Deputy Dumps Paralyzed Man From Chair

Amazing story out of Florida. A Deputy in the Hillsborough County sheriff's office was booking a gentleman who had turned himself in for the charges of fleeing the scene, eluding law enforcement, and blocking an intersection.

The gentleman, Brian Sterner, is a paraplegic, having injured his back while wrestling in 1994.

According to Sterner, Deputy Charlotte Jones asked him to stand up to be searched. When he stated the obvious - that he was unable to comply with such as request - she proceeds to unceremoniously dump him on the hard floor. She then searches him while he's lying on his back. She, with assistance from others, then awkwardly put him back in his chair.

The higher ups at the department are not amused.

On Tuesday, Chief Deputy Jose Docobo spoke to the media about the incident. He said after looking at the video himself, he was astonished.

"I was appalled," said Docobo. "Obviously the actions are indefensible at every level."

The chief deputy is not just going after the offending deputy - he's is holding everyone who was in the area responsible.

While an investigation into the incident is still to come, Docobo said he feels all those involved in the incident should be held responsible for their actions—or their lack of actions. The video shows several people in the room at the time of the incident, and none of them came to Sterner's aide.

"Certainly all the personnel are entitled to due process under the law, but I can tell you that based on what I saw, anything short of dismissal would be inappropriate," said Docobo.

TyKiah Wright To Appear on the Montel Williams Show

TyKiah Wright of Dayton is appearing on the nationally televised Montel Williams show to air February 22^nd.

Ms. Wright is the president of WrightChoice, a non-profit organization that helps set up internship opportunities for students with disabilities.

TyKiah was chosen to appear on the show by Charming Shoppes, Inc., described as “a leading multi-channel specialty apparel retailer and parent company of Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherines Plus Sizes, and Petite Sophisticate.”

TyKiah is in the running for a $20,000 grant to help fund her activities.

She also wins a dream vacation to Walt Disney World as part of their Year of a Million Dreams celebration.

Seeing that the vacation is for FOUR people, and that Ms. Wright is only ONE person, I would like to take this opportunity to point out that TyKiah is an outstanding, compassionate, caring, giving, kind and, perhaps most urgently, generous human being.

Congratulations to TyKiah. Check your local listings.

Findlay Courier Offers Suggestions on Excessive Handicapped Placards

The Findlay Courier has weighed in on the issue of the explosion of handicapped placards in the state of Ohio.

They referenced an Associated Press report stating that the Ohio Governor’s Council on People with Disabilities is looking into ways to curb the abuse.

In the meantime, the Courier offered the following suggestions, while arguably taking a shot at obese people:

-- Limit each person to one placard, period. It’s not that much trouble to carry the card with you from vehicle to vehicle. Those who use placards and handicap spaces without a handicapped person in the vehicle should face steeper fines -- say, $1,000.

-- Increase the number of handicap parking spaces. Do some research and calculate how many more spaces are needed in light of the huge increase in use.

-- Tighten the standards for placard issuance, particularly the one about walking 200 feet without stopping to rest. Any seriously overweight person can fit into that category, but without an accompanying heart condition, many of these might actually benefit from a little extra exercise.

Let’s go through these one by one.

1. The rules state that a person with a disability “is entitled to request one additional placard,” given at the discretion of the Registrar. I don’t see how the “one additional” placard rule could lead to 16 people in Ohio having 10 or more. But I’m sure that people could give a compelling argument about needing to have more than one.

2. I don’t think increasing the number of spots solves the problem. It may exacerbate it. If one has to walk even farther because of the increase in handicapped parking spaces, more people may ask for placards.

3. Changing the guidelines would likely not have any impact. Doctors issue the documentation for the permits; doctors like to be helpful to their patients. I can’t see any doctor making a stand and saying, “No, I won’t write you a script” for something as trivial as a parking pass. This is not SSDI; it’s a parking placard.

I’m sure the obese readers of the Courier appreciated the late jab. Maybe they will take the paper up on their suggestion by parking at the Courier, walking the 200 feet for “a little extra exercise,”, and canceling their subscriptions.

In case you were wondering

In case you were wondering why I haven't posted in almost a week, I was at the annual Assistive Technology Industry Association conference in Orlando.

It was a terrific conference, highlighted by the interaction with the vendors of all the lastest AT products. Great stuff.

While it was 16 degrees with a -5 wind chill here in Ohio, I was looking at this...

Of course, I hardly glanced at it on the way to my next disability-related, information-filled, conference session.

The Hunt Is On For Disability Parking Spots

How many people with disabilities are there in the state of Ohio? That is not nearly as easy a question as you might think.

The most widely used definition of disability, that spelled out in the Americans with Disabilities Act, there are an estimated 1.6 million Ohioans with disabilities.

It is difficult to know the real number for certainty, for a variety of reasons. The most consistent survey of disability issues is the March Supplement of the Current Population Survey, measured (obviously) each March, by the Department of Labor. The problem with this survey, however, is also its strength: it has used the same definition of disability for the past 25 years, pre-dating the ADA. Its definition varies from the wording of the ADA, making estimates according to ADA guidelines problematic.

Another problem is that many people who meet the definition of disability do not "self-identify" as a person with a disability.

Apparently this hesitancy does not extend to handicapped parking placards. According to the Plain Dealer, there are 1.2 million handicapped placards across the state. But remember, the 1.6 million figure includes not only children (who don't drive), but also includes people with disabilities that do not affect ambulation, such as those who are deaf, or have mental retardation or mental illness.

Over 800,000 people have more than 1 placard. 3,500 people have at least 5; 16 people have 10 or more. The number of placards have nearly doubled since 2000.

This may be due to a number of factors: the aging "Baby Boomer" population, an increased knowledge of the program, among others. Or, as some disability groups suggest, people who don't really need the placard are applying for it.

There are the usual sightings of non-disabled people parking in handicapped spots. The law has a specific definition of who is eligible :

People qualify if they cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to rest; cannot move about without the aid of a device such as a wheelchair, prosthetic or cane; or have limited mobility due to arthritic, neurological or orthopedic conditions.

The benefit also extends to people inflicted with lung disease or cardiac conditions that limit physical activity; those who use portable oxygen; and the blind.

And Mary Butler, the disability advocate from the DD Council, LEAP, and the Ohio SILC, is quoted :

Butler, 64, of Elyria, said her van usually ends up in the far reaches of a parking lot, taking up two spaces to allow room to use the side-loading wheelchair lift. Then she rolls across the pavement, passes the filled handicapped-parking spots and enters the store.

"It's no use to get mad about it," Butler said. "You just hope the people using them really need them."