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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

James Arthur Ray--The Last Days

Add: This is an extremely popular post (thanks Google!) but there are many more JAR posts, including more current ones, especially the day he was sentenced. Please click on the tags to call up more! (like this open letter to "civil theorists." )  




ADD: Actual sentencing is Friday morning 9 (AZ does not observe Daylight Savings Time). There will be cameras. If you follow on twitter, please understand the trial moves fast and tweets are tiny. The format I use is Name: commentcomment   If you see the colon, that is the person who made the comment, not me.  If I am saying something myself, such as summarizing or describing a witness, I try to make it clear it is my own words. I never editorialize but some twittles seem to think I am the one who makes certain strong statements that may seem annoying or offensive about guilt, innocence, responsibility, etc. Please check for the colon, those statements are from the attorneys or from Witness On Stand (wos).  If I summarize or string 2 tweets together, it is still for attribution to the speaker in the original colon of the series.  

A lot of twittles make comments or questions as I go. I can't always get to them or even see them. But I appreciate the discussion! Keep it coming!  


There's no camera in the courtroom today. But I'm there. Sitting a few feet from the defendant, who will find out his fate in just a few days.

I'm live tweeting testimony and all the courtroom action. 

Follow the action at @CamilleKimball

So far, for days, prosecution has put on case claiming "Mr. Ray showed a pattern of increasing negligence" when it came to safety. The pattern, according to prosecution, played out over the last several years.

Defense team is beginning its case that, to the contrary, Mr. Ray has a pattern of helping people, also over a period of years.

By the way, it's unusual that prosecutors would be able to put on more aggravation witnesses at this time. Polk fought for the right to try again at an aggravation case and it was granted.

Click on the James Ray tag in the cloud to learn more about the case and Arizona laws relating to it.


(click on a title below to buy)
Camille Kimball's books:
**A Sudden Shot** as seen on TV!
Coming soon: Masters of True Crime-Chilling Stories of Murder and the Macabre

Thoughts on this or any article at this site? To the next person whose comment I use for a post I will send a free signed book!  (If you post as "anonymous" for convenience, try to include an identifying website or name in your remark so no one else can claim your prize!)  For an example, please click here.

14 comments:

  1. Thanks for all your info on the sentencing phase. In regard to all the people he helped or stopped from comming suicide, it reminds me of Ann Rule's "This Stranger Beside Me" where she talks of meeting Ted Bundy at a suicide prevention hotline center. After telling about his horrible crimes she says something at the end about the Ted Bundy she knew saving many people...reminds me of the Ray thing. It's not a bank account where you can save up enough credits of good to allow you to walk free for the bad.

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  2. I want to thank you for the twitter updates on the sentencing hearing. reading your tweets is my way of keeping track of what is going on. I have a vested interest because I am Colleen Conaway's sister. For your readers who are interested in what happened to my sister they can read what I uncovered at: http://saltydroid.info/colleens-last-day/#comment-57073 I hope and pray that justice is served...These people who attended the JRI seminars were kind, good-hearted, descent people. People who would help others in any way they could. They were also a bit to trusting of a man who claimed to be more than he was.

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  3. Liz the California kayakerNovember 16, 2011 at 3:58 PM

    RE: your tweets today. When JAR's brother testified, JAR had said "this is the worst thing that ever happened to me".

    IMHO, this is not remorse. Remorse would look like "This is the worst thing I've ever done."

    Remorse is for something you're responsible for, not for something that "happens to you".

    ReplyDelete
  4. @rakuspirit "It's not a bank account where you can save up enough credits of good to allow you to walk free for the bad." What a great line! So true. What an amazing experience Ann Rule had, that resulted Stranger Beside Me.

    ReplyDelete
  5. @Liz the California Kayaker Many people agree with you. I'm not sure anyone disagrees with you, either. On the tweets, I hope everyone understands that most is as close to actual testimony as I can get it. I try to make it clear when I am summarizing or speaking in my own voice. If I tweeted anything about remorse, it originated from someone in the trial, not me.

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  6. @Anon You are so welcome. I'm glad I can perform a service that, in some small, may help grieving families. What generous comments you have for the JRI participants. I'm very sorry for what happened. Thank you so much for being here and for speaking up.

    ReplyDelete
  7. So what was the name of that plastic sweat lodge leader you were promoting as 'authentic' again?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anon Nov 16--I don't know where you got your information but I have never promoted any sweat lodge leader. I have never attended a sweat lodge nor any JRI event. I hope this clears things up for you.

    ReplyDelete
  9. colleens brother in law...first I want to say thank you for keeping us up to date on whats going on in the courthouse, second, on a more personal note I hope you know how much you are helping a very fine family deal with a pretty screwed up situation...I cannot help but feel as if we have been denied justice until now, thank you judge Darrow for allowing colleen to finally have a voice, we were overjoyed when we learned colleens tragic death would be brought to light, it's just too bad it couldn't have been brought before the jury...once again, THANK YOU!!! for helping my family deal with this tragedy....john

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous said...

    So what was the name of that plastic sweat lodge leader you were promoting as 'authentic' again?
    November 16, 2011 7:24 PM

    Listen, they are NAVAJO's and THEIR SW is just as AUTHENTIC as YOURS. THEY make KACHINA DOLLS, A TRADITION OF THE HOPI'S - are THEY *fake* too? GET a grip Asswipe.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dr. Stephenson's scope of practice includes Clinical Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Sean has trained personally under some of the world's top specialists in behavioral modification, such as Tony Robbins and Dr. Matthew James.

    Sean works primarily with two groups of individuals:

    Men who want to increase their self-confidence for the purpose of attracting women, improving their career life, and improving their physical health.

    Women who want to better their self-image for the purpose of reducing their stress, reducing their weight, and releasing limiting thoughts and behaviors.

    from his website: http://timetostand.com/privatesession.htm

    So why does this information scare me?

    Jeanne Barkemeijer de Wit

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous (Jeanne)

    because he's one scary little twerp. Just because he's got a disability and cannot walk doesn't give him the right to be an asshole who cannot be humble.

    Peace

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dear John/Colleen's brother-in-law,

    You do me a great honor. Thank you so much for stopping by here and taking the time to post a comment. I'm very sorry for what happened in your family. We all wonder what would have happened had Colleen been brought to the attention of the jury. I do hope she will get her own day in court.

    Best wishes,

    Camille

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  14. Jeanne,

    Thanks for posting. i must say Dr. Stephenson was a very impressive figure, using nearly every question he was asked on the stand to expound his personal creeds and philosophies. While he aggressively made it clear his philosophy was all about not asking any special favors of life due to his condition, I have to say I find it remarkable that any witness in a court of law would be afforded so much leeway to sermonize on every single question.

    Thanks again, Jeanne

    ReplyDelete