James Arthur Ray Sweat Lodge Trial: Day 27

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I had a feeling yesterday morning that today was going to be another "snow day." And it was... sort of. And not in a good way. Court was canceled today to allow prosecutors an opportunity to prepare a response to a mistrial motion from the defense. This is their second attempt at a mistrial in under a week. What else happened in that time? Hmmm... Oh right. Judge Darrow ruled that he would allow in more testimony regarding prior sweat lodges. The outraged defense team warned at that time that they were planning mistrial motions and prosecutorial misconduct charges. So this isn't a huge surprise.

I'm guessing that this motion pertains to the prosecutorial misconduct to which they alluded last week. According to this motion, prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence from the defense, thus violating Brady. Specifically, they failed to turn over an email containing a preliminary report from an expert named Richard Haddow of the Haddow Environmental Research Organization until last week. The email contained a number of bullet points listing factors contributing to the cause of death in Liz Neuman's case and refers to the two other deaths and illness of others in the same general area of the sweat lodge. Haddow claims that because the rock pit is slightly off center in the sweat lodge and because the sweat lodge is covered with non-breathable materials the moisture and carbon dioxide in that section of the sweat lodge would have been severe.

Says the defense, because they did not have this information before the beginning of the trial, their entire strategy has been impaired. This information would have altered their opening argument and their cross examination of witnesses would have been different. Their contention is that this was a deliberate attempt on the state's part to withhold information damaging to the prosecution.

The general view of the In Session panel, today, is that this is a serious charge from the defense that could very well result in a mistrial with prejudice; meaning there would be no retrial. They do love the drama on In Session. And I'm not always sure they're watching the same trial I am.

I agree that if the defense's argument, as stated in its motion, were true, the prosecution would be very wrong, indeed. I read over the motion last night. It all sounds very damning. Unlike the In Session panel, however, I decided to wait for the response from the prosecution before making any assessment at all. One thing I've learned, after weeks of watching this trial, is that things are almost never the way the defense says they are. Having now downloaded the recently posted response from the prosecution, I find that this pattern seems to be holding. 

The prosecution does concede that they inadvertently failed to forward the email in question until recently. However, the information in the email was redundant. All the elements outlined in the email were already in evidence: the off-center rock pit, the non-breathable covering material, the construction being under Angel Valley's purview, and the buildup of CO² in that section of the sweat lodge. They include, in their 122 page response numerous citations of those elements.

The prosecution also disagrees with both the characterization of Mr. Haddow's email as "an expert witness report" and the contention that it was in any way exculpatory. Rather, they found it to be incriminating which is why they had considered including him as a prosecution witness. They only became aware of Mr. Haddow and his preliminary findings because he had been retained by the Neuman family as part of their civil case against James Ray. That would explain something I found confusing when I first read it. It refers almost entirely to Liz Neuman, with the other deaths and illnesses appearing only tangentially.

When the prosecution considered retaining Mr. Haddow as a prosecution witness, they disclosed his name and contact information to the defense. They later decided that his testimony would have been cumulative, having been well covered by other experts whose findings they had already turned over to the defense. Further, they had misgivings about Mr. Haddow's credentials.

The defense's motion certainly makes it sound like the state retained an expert, decided his findings were exculpatory, buried the findings, and dumped the expert when the defense pushed for full disclosure. That is certainly the ball the folks at In Session have been running with all day. And, once again, the prosecution paints a different picture entirely. An attorney for a decedent's family retained an expert. The prosecution became aware of him and determined his findings to be incriminating and considered including him as a witness for the state. They ultimately decided the information was redundant, a.k.a. cumulative, and removed him from the overlong witness list. They forwarded the email when they deduced just what it was the defense was asking for.

In the response, Bill Hughes also addressed the legal argument for mistrial as a remedy for the Brady violation. He argues that even if the court were to find that the information was exculpatory, it's not a Brady violation because it was disclosed, if in a less than timely manner. And, of course, there was nothing new in it. But even if it were a Brady violation, it would be at the court's discretion to impose sanctions, rather than imperil the Constitutional rights of the victims in this case. The defense has plenty of time to cross examine witnesses on the issue of the building of the sweat lodge because the Hamiltons and Gary Palisch have yet to appear. Debra Mercer has yet to be cross examined. They are also welcome to call Mr. Haddow as a defense witness, should they choose to do so.

I haven't read the entire 122 pages of the prosecution's response with all the attachments but that covers the meat of it and I think it's pretty strong. Tomorrow Judge Darrow will hear arguments and make some ruling, so we shall see.

Also filed late today was a request from the prosecution for the court to compel the defendant to turn over previously requested documents pertaining to all the lawsuits pending against James Ray. Included in that, apparently, is all the information regarding Mr. Haddow, as he was hired by the Neumans. Implied in there, I think, is that the defendant had Mr. Haddow's findings all along because they are part of that civil case.

The Verde Independent has a pretty good write-up on the mistrial motion. Of note, Tom Kelly gave a statement to the press, which is kind of interesting considering that the parties are under a gag order.

Parties in the case are under a gag order prohibiting them from discussing the case with the media. Defense attorney Tom Kelly, though, had this to say: "Our position is set forth in the motion for a mistrial and I'm anxious to see the state's response."

Polk did not respond to a phone call asking for comment.

I don't know that it would be enough of a comment to constitute a breach, but Kelly really seems to enjoy sidling right up to the line, doesn't he?

James Ray Shrugged

Amidst all the go-defense-team-go cheering from the talking heads on In Session today, there were also some devastating reminders of just why it's so important that this case go forward. They played more of Debbie Mercer's disturbing testimony including something I just couldn't do justice to without the visuals. I wasn't able to get a screen capture of this moment from CNN's feed on Friday. Mercer testified to the "motion" she got as her response from James Ray when she told him that three people weren't breathing and she needed to find a phone to call an ambulance. His response was to shrug his shoulders, as the stunned Mercer demonstrated.

Mercer: I looked for Megan and I didn't see her right off so I ran over to where James Ray was sitting. And I told him, went up to him, and said there's three people not breathing. We need to call an ambulance. I need a phone. Um, where's Megan? You know, mid-panic, we need a phone to call an ambulance.

Polk: And did Mr. Ray respond?

Mercer: Yes he did.

Polk: And what did he say?

Mercer: He said, he didn't. [pause] He responded with a ex, a motion, not a word.

So, informed that three people were not breathing, and as people who paid him thousands of dollars were scrambling to save lives, on what Mercer and others have described as looking like a battlefield, James Ray sat in a chair, in the shade, and shrugged his shoulders when told that they needed to call 911.

Is it any surprise that the defense is getting a little desperate at this point?

Also of note, was an interview with Dr. Michael Brannon, a forensic psychologist, who explained why people would have stayed in the sweat lodge on that fateful day. He touched on the Milgram experiment, which I brought up early in the trial to explain the human inclination to be obedient to perceived authority figures. Brannon explained that the same ingredients of an authority figure, other people accepting as okay the requested behavior, and a closed environment, removed from people who might question it. (The painful lesson of Milgram's study: human beings are docile.)

They showed that most painful of testimony from Linda Andresano who wept at her own failure to leave when she realized she was slipping into unconsciousness and decided it was "a good day to die." There has been a lot of such confused testimony from witnesses. Like Dennis Mehravar who could not explain why he would not have saved an incredulous Luis Li even if he'd known he was dying because he was afraid of making James Ray angry. You can see that inner struggle playing out across their faces. They just don't understand why they felt so powerless to act when their lives and the lives of others were in jeopardy. They're still tortured by it. And when pressed by the defense about their own failure to act -- as Lou Caci and Beverley Bunn were -- they break down in tears.

Christi Paul made what I thought was a rather astute observation. Referring to something she learned from the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, she pointed out that "human beings are the only species that will talk ourselves out of an instinct." This is central to Gavin de Becker's work in teaching people about how to recognize the predictors of violent behavior and how to protect themselves. Says de Becker, the reptilian brain has served us throughout our evolution, but we second-guess that fight or flight instinct. It can get us killed.

Brannon addressed this from another angle raising another core principle in mind control research; cognitive dissonance. In Releasing the Bonds, cult survivor and special Steven Hassan explains:

In 1950, psychologist Leon Festinger summarized the basic principle of his cognitive dissonance theory: "If you change a person's behavior, his thoughts and feelings will change to minimize the dissonance." As Festinger described, "dissonance" is the psychological tension that arises when a person's behavior conflicts with his beliefs. Like hunger, this tension is an uncomfortable state that drives people to take measures to reduce it. People prefer that their behavior, thoughts, and emotions be mutually consistent, and can tolerate only a certain amount of discrepancy between these three components of their identities. Psychological research has shown that if any of the three components changes, the other two will shift to reduce the cognitive dissonance.

Chief among the behaviors to be reconciled by the people at a James Ray seminar is having made huge financial outlay. As Brannon explained, they'd paid a lot of money and invested a lot emotionally in an outcome promised by a charismatic, spiritual leader. That they suppressed their misgivings and brought themselves into alignment with all the elements of Ray's program isn't really surprising at all.

All information on the trial comes from news articles with provided links or live courtroom footage on TruTV's "In Session" or CNN's live feed. All quotes and paraphrased statements that are not linked to a source document are my best attempt to transcribe material from live broadcasts.

Comments on this entry are closed, on this blog. If you wish to comment, please find this and all newer blog entries crossposted on Celestial Reflections.

James Arthur Ray Sweat Lodge Trial: Day 26

Luis Li Attempting Not to Raise the Judge's Ire

The day started with a bit more legal wrangling. I missed most of it due to other pressing news events taking up all the CNN feeds... and of course the Cayce Anthony pretrial hearings. I did catch bits and pieces, however, on In Session. The major concern seemed to be getting on with the limiting instruction so that the jury has some idea in what context to view the testimony of all these ghastly, horrifying, very bad for James Arthur Ray, prior sweat lodges.

Luis Li broke the issue down for Judge Darrow.

Li: I think the jury has to be reminded that the state must prove everything beyond a reasonable doubt. And so this instruction hued very closely to not only rule 404b but to the court's ruling of uh, of February 3rd, 2011. And it's critical that it be given because what's happening is the evidence is getting just so...

Darrow: Just a minute Mr. Li. Thank-you.

Li: Well, it's a good chance for me to use a different word than mushed. The evidence is getting conflated and, and, and, combined into an unidentifiable mess. And it's up to the court t' -- we' -- and what I mean by that your Honor is that, uh

Darrow: Again, I'm thinking about everything that came in the opening and all the other evidence and, and I'm just puzzled by that, but go ahead.

Li: Your honor, I apologize for the characterization if it...

Darrow: No, I see a lot of characterizations in things that get filed and believe me I'm gonna only look at the substance...

Li: And I appreciate that.

Darrow: You can characterize it how you wish.

Li: I appreciate that your honor and I will, I will attempt to characterize it in a way that doesn't raise the court's ire.

Judge Darrow is probably the most laid back, easy-going judge I've ever seen. I keep wanting to compare him to Alan Arkin as the Police Chief in So I Married and Axe Murderer.

Who could forget this sparkling bit of dialog?

Police Chief: I'm too nice?

Tony Giardino: Yeah, you're too nice. Why can't you be like the Captain on "Starsky and Hutch?" You know, when you come in, and you haul me into your office, and you bawl me out because you're sick and tired of defending my screwball antics to the Commissioner? Why can't you do that?

Police Chief: Well, the truth of the matter is, I don't report to a Commissioner. I report to a committee. Some of whom are appointed, some elected, and the rest co-opted on a bi-annual basis. It's a quorum, so to speak.

Tony Giardino: A quorum?!

Police Chief: Yeah.

Tony Giardino: Captain, when I joined the police force, I thought I was going to be Serpico. But instead, I'm like... Fish from Barney Miller.

Police Chief: Hey. Somebody needs a hug!

That's Judge Darrow. And yet, the defense has repeatedly managed to raise his ire. That said, Judge Darrow looked past the defense team's bluster and agreed with the central thrust. He promised to look at both party's suggestions and provide a limiting instruction by the end of the day. And he delivered.

Debra Jean Mercer

Debbie Mercer had never even heard of a sweat lodge before she started volunteering at Angel Valley, where she was asked to help out with James Arthur Ray's in 2007. She subsequently worked at his 2008 and 2009 events as well as numerous other sweat lodge ceremonies there.

Mercer started volunteering her services at Angel Valley as a labor of love for the property. She had been staying in a nearby camping area and she just thought their land needed some help. She pulled weeds and took down extraneous saplings. Later, her husband Ted was hired to work there and she took on housekeeping duties as well. She was never paid for her services.

In describing her landscaping efforts she confirmed prior testimony that she'd been instructed not to use chemical pesticides or herbicides. When she did laundry and kitchen work she was instructed to only use all natural products. Even a rat seen in the kitchen was only supposed to be caught using a live trap. The task was ultimately left to the cat.

Asked when she met James Ray, she explained that she hadn't ever been properly introduced. In fact she'd been instructed not to approach him if she saw him moving around the property. But he did ask her questions on occasion. So it looks like James Ray got the kind of VIP treatment generally accorded to celebrities when he was at Angel Valley.

Her contact with Ray was also extremely perfunctory when she assisted with his sweat lodge events. It really drives home the point of how non-traditional Ray's sweat lodge ceremony was -- if the scorching heat and horrific deaths hadn't fully made that point already. No one knew anyone's names unless they'd known them beforehand. There was no sense of community. And people who had no experience with the native traditions represented were rapidly schooled in the various tasks without really understanding how it all fit together.

The Mercers, who seem like very decent, well-intended folks, had no business keeping the fire or the door, which Debbie ultimately did. Neither of them, to this day, has ever been inside a sweat lodge during ceremony.

Gary Palisch, General Manager of Angel Valley had instructed Mercer in the various tasks associated with getting the rocks from the fire into the sweat lodge. She had not, however, been instructed as to how to attend to people as they left the sweat lodge. She relied on her own common sense to help them cool down with water and beverages.

From that first sweat lodge in 2007, Mercer was pressed into service attending to people in distress. Early in the ceremony, she saw a woman fall on her face as she tried to exit the sweat lodge. Her "beautiful blue eyes" were fluttering, she had chipped a tooth, and was bleeding. She doesn't remember who helped her move the woman but I tend to think it was probably her own husband Ted, and this is probably the tall woman he described. Amayra Hamilton later came and assisted the woman with ice and things to clean her face.

Later a man came out of the sweat lodge asking her to take him to the creek to cool off because he  had a heart condition and "his heart was scaring him." He plowed, barefoot, over rocks, twigs, and other debris to get into the water.

She assisted a great number of people that day by wiping the vomit, mucus, and tears from their faces,  pulling them out of the door, comforting them, getting them towels, and trying to get them to wake up.

Mercer described working with one Dream Team member who was touching points on the arms and hands of an apparently unconscious person. She's doesn't remember how long it was before that person regained consciousness; only her concern over whether they would.

Mercer spoke to Gary Palisch after that event in 2007 about her alarm at the condition people were in. He gave her some answer but what he said we can't know because it's hearsay.

Debbie Mercer continued to assist at other sweat lodges in 2007 at Angel Valley, ultimately acting as  the door keeper at one of them. This she described as holding the energy of the door and opening and closing it at the behest of the pourer leading the ceremony.

She didn't observe any vomiting, falling, running to the river, or fainting at any of the non-James Ray sweat lodges. She did however see one woman crying tears of joy.

Another major difference between Ray's sweats emerged as Mercer described how they disassembled the the moving parts of the structure after every ceremony. One of her tasks was to help fold the blankets and tarps and return them to the pump house for storage. But after a James Arthur Ray sweat lodge ceremony they couldn't put those blankets away immediately. They had to allow an extra day for them to dry out because they were always sodden.

In putting those materials back into the pump house, she testified that she'd never seen any rat poison falling out of tarps.

In 2008 she was demoted again to assistant door keeper for the James Ray sweat lodge cermony. Palisch took over for their celebrity water pourer.

Asked if anyone had drawn her attention at the 2008 event she said it would be hard to choose. There were so many people exhibiting various forms of distress.

One man did leap to mind, however. He had passed out briefly upon exiting the sweat lodge. When he regained consciousness, he'd been hysterical about trying to get his girlfriend out of the sweat lodge. This, I would assume, was the man Ted Mercer had testified about. Together she and her husband had pinned the man to the ground until he had calmed to "a lower level of excitement."

She also saw a young woman whose muscles had cramped up locking her in a fetal position. She did not appear to be in control of her body. Her care was ultimately taken over by a man claiming to be a doctor who took her to the dining hall where there was a bathtub.

Sheila Polk helped her to identify the fetal woman in question, who had also been previously discussed by Ted Mercer, in one of the photos.

Fetal Woman Circled in Pink

She also distinctly remembered an "oriental guy" who didn't know where or who he was. She had approached him because he appeared to need help. She spent about 10 minutes with him saying that he had responded to her, but not logically.

So 2008 was another banner year for James Ray's "pinnacle event" with people throwing up, going fetal, spewing mucus from nose and mouth, becoming incoherent, and passing out.

Mercer clarified that she had indeed taken the pictures after she was done with her duties as assistant door keeper. She confirmed that it would have been about 25-30 minutes after the sweat lodge had ended. She had taken pictures that year because her friend Anita, from Switzerland, wanted to see what "the crazy Americans were doing."

Mercer had been door keeper for at least 3 non-James Ray sweats in 2008. She admitted to taking the occasional cigarette break but never was out of viewing range of the sweat lodge. In a series of very carefully phrased questions, Polk drew her out as to what she'd witnessed at those events.

Before each event, she'd observed that there were fewer people than at any James Ray event. The people all appeared healthy and happy.

During those events participants remained sitting inside, talkative, group oriented, healthy and happy.

After those events they looked about like they did when they went in; healthy and happy.

In 2008 both Mercers were told their services were no longer needed at Angel Valley but they continued to rent a house on the property that was privately owned by someone other than the Hamiltons.

They both assisted in two sweat lodges in 2009. One was for a woman named Healing Wolf. The second was for the infamous James Ray sweat in September of that year. They moved off the property in November of 2009.

In 2009 Debbie Mercer was the official door keeper. Her job was to listen for Ray's instructions to open and close the door and deliver buckets of water and heated rocks.

Mercer described a ladle with a long handle, holding less than a cup of water that other sweat lodge pourers used. Ray didn't want the ladle. He preferred to dump the water directly from the gallon buckets. There were three buckets and she and her daughter Sarah filled them at least twice. At other sweat lodge ceremonies the buckets have never been refilled. (Hence the uniquely sodden blankets and tarps at Ray's sweat lodge.)

About twelve people came out after the first round and Ray invited them to come back in after the rocks were loaded in. One of the women was upset and crying that she was "disappointing James Ray" and should be back inside. She saw two Dream Team members pressing their hands on her back, urging her that she could go back in. At that point Mercer intervened and told them that she didn't want to go in. (This is clearly the woman Fawn Foster also observed.)

She also had to assist many people who would get to door to go back in and collapse.  She would help to drag them away from the door.

She also heard many of Ray's words of "encouragment." She gave a little rundown of those thought-stopping phrases: "stay tough," "stay on the course," "you're not your body," and the ever popular "play full on."

Mercer also described the now well-covered Dennis Mehravar incident in which he screamed repeatedly that he was dying and didn't want to die.

She described Ray as asking her, "Who is that? What's that noise out there?" But Mercer didn't know anyone's name. Someone else explained who it was and she heard Ray call out some more of his encouraging words, including this lovely new wrinkle. To the terrified Dennis Mehravar Ray said, "It's a good day to die."

Mercer was also aware of Lou Caci falling into the pit. She heard many people screaming, "Open the door! Open the door!" She didn't recognize Ray's voice among them.

She described Caci's badly burned and blistered arm as having the "skin coming off." Like Fawn Foster, she disagreed with the officially unofficial nurse that it wasn't good to wrap a bad burn in a towel and concurred with Foster's decision to run for ice and water.

She speculates that ten people were dragged out of the sweat lodge and explained that it could only have been right in front of Ray because he was right by the door.

She also overheard the discussion, such as it was, about Liz Neuman not responding. She couldn't see it but she could point out the direction. She heard that this person, whom she could not name, wasn't doing so well and wasn't responding. Ray responded with words to the effect that "she'd been down the road before," and "she's where she needs to be." She was disturbed but deferred to his authority as the water pourer.

Foster was surprised to hear earlier that day when someone asked Ray what to do if they needed to go to the bathroom, that they should take care of it where they were. She was particularly surprised because it was a new response. Even at a previous Ray sweat lodge in 2007, she had assisted a woman from the sweat lodge to the bathroom. Now Ray was, as previously discussed, telling a man to go ahead and piss and the floor of this very sacred space.

Foster also described seeing James Shore drag one of the unconscious participants to the door. She took that person and dragged them away from the structure. She did not see Shore again until she discovered him in the emptied sweat lodge lying next to Kirby Brown.

Foster sobbed as she recalled pulling apart the back of the sweat lodge -- over Ray's expressed displeasure -- and making the final, gruesome discovery.

My daughter was with me... We lifted up the back of the tarps... We saw two people laying there... They were, their lips were blue and their faces were white. And my daughter said, "Mama they're holding hands." And I said, "I know. We have to get'em out of there." And then I called for help again. Somebody came over to the side and held up the tarps. And Sarah and I pulled them out.

When she screamed for help her husband Ted and "the nurse lady" came to her assistance.

The "nurse lady" said, "She's not breathing!... What do we do?"

What do we do?!!... Said the NURSE?!!

But by then Ted Mercer was there and he told her immediately to call 911.

The "nurse lady" stammered, "Ask Megan. Ask Megan if you can call an ambulance."

Two people, not breathing, and the RN's response was to ask permission from Ray's gal Friday to call 911. Permission!

Nah. These people weren't brainwashed.

But Mercer didn't see Megan and she decided instead to go to the closest phone she could find at her house and call 911. She also grabbed her husband's cell from the house and brought it back to the scene so she could call 911 again with any additional information. In total she made three calls as still more discoveries of seriously ill and injured people continued. Amayra Hamilton made yet another.

Mercer continued to weep as all the 911 calls were played for the jury.

As did I.

Judge Darrow Reads the Limiting Instruction to the Jury

Ladies and Gentlemen I have a special instruction to give you at this time. As I have mentioned, some evidence is relevant only for limited purposes. In the past three days you have heard evidence of circumstances at sweat lodge ceremonies that took place prior to the 2009 sweat lodge ceremony which is the only sweat lodge ceremony that is at issue in this case. You must not consider any of that evidence regarding prior sweat lodge ceremonies if believed to draw any inference regarding Mr. Ray's knowledge of any risk of death in 2009. You also must not consider that evidence regarding prior sweat lodge ceremonies if believed to draw any inference regarding Mr. Ray's intent, character, or conduct, in 2009. You may only consider that evidence for those prior sweat lodge ceremonies if believed as it may relate to whether the physical cause of death of the decedents was heatstroke or some other physical cause.

So that should help the jury keep their abject horror better organized.

All information on the trial comes from news articles with provided links or live courtroom footage on TruTV's "In Session" or CNN's live feed. All quotes and paraphrased statements that are not linked to a source document are my best attempt to transcribe material from live broadcasts.

Comments on this entry are closed, on this blog. If you wish to comment, please find this and all newer blog entries crossposted on Celestial Reflections.

James Arthur Ray Sweat Lodge Trial: Day 25

Luis Li Demonstrates Impressive Printing Skills

Luis Li began his cross examination of Ted Mercer by asking a bunch of questions about the Hamiltons regarding things he wouldn't know anything about. He asked if he knew Angel Valley was registered as a ministry or if he knew that the Hamiltons were ordained ministers in the Order of Melchizedek. Mercer knew they were ordained but didn't know in what. Of course Li's absolute murder of the word Melchizedek probably didn't help. Did Mercer know that Angel Valley has tax exempt status? No.

Then Li asked him if he knew that Angel Valley charged Spiritual Warrior participants who stayed there $1600? He had no idea what they charged. Were they allowed to charge like that as a ministry? Mercer did not know that either.

Wouldn't those be better questions for, I don't know, the Hamiltons? But of course Li's not asking to get answers. He's asking to get that information in front of a jury without qualified answers.

It amuses me that Li is acting like he has sticker shock over the Angel Valley rates when he's representing a client who was charging nearly $10,000 a head... not including room and board.

Li also asked Mercer, who helped with the construction of the sweat lodge, if the Hamiltons had a building permit to put up the kiva. He didn't know that either. I'm going to go way out on a limb and suggest that questions about building permits for structures made out of willow branches and tarps might not go over real well with the average Arizona homesteader. I have no idea what the composition of that jury is but I'm going to speculate anyway.

Li's major point, though,  is that James Ray didn't authorize any of the materials on the giant list. The Hamiltons did that.

Mostly, Li was determined to undo the damage of yesterday's testimony about illness and unconsciousness at earlier James Ray sweat lodges. He started, as Mercer had, with the the tall woman who had fallen, eyes rolling in her head, into the mud. In a rather comical pantomime he attempted to show that falling when you're already sort of crawling of out of a low structure isn't such a big deal. It's not that far to fall. Mercer pointed out that she was quite tall and she "sort of torpedoed" into the ground. Li seemed to find the whole description comical, comparing it to a nose tackle, because, you know, he played a little football.

But did the CPR trained former First Responder think it was life threatening? No. Not life threatening. I expect if he'd thought that he would have taken some action.

Li showed numerous photos, purportedly taken by Debbie Mercer, of shiny, happy people in the mud after the 2008 sweat lodge. Why it was just like the Mud Run at Camp Pendleton. Most of those people were doing fine, he pointed out. Mercer couldn't disagree, saying that some people came out "very empowered" while others... did not.

He also asked about a woman in a pink bathing suit who Mercer said "looked right through you" and didn't know her own name when she came out of the sweat lodge. In retrospect, knowing that Mercer is trained as a First Responder, the importance of statements about people not knowing their own names takes on a whole new layer of meaning. He wasn't just being colorful. That would be a question he'd ask a person in trying to assess their condition. But, he agreed with Li, that she did not require CPR. He didn't think it was life threatening.

No one, Mercer agreed, needed CPR in 2007 or 2008. No one was was "frothing at the mouth." They did, however, exhibit nausea and disorientation, Mercer pointed out. (No worries. Li had made it clear earlier that these are the reasons some people do sweat lodges; throwing up and "altered states." Whew. Covered.)

Li also went to some lengths to prove that Mercer could not have known the temperature in the various lodges because he'd never been in them. (Yes, that's right. The fire keeper has never been on the inside of a sweat lodge. Sigh.) Of course, you'd think that knowing how many stones went into the various ceremonies and that the rocks in 2009 were the hottest ever, he might just have some indication of the heat variation. But never mind.

Li tried to make the point, after showing all the pictures from the 2008 sweat lodge, which was very like the 2007 sweat lodge, that both were very different from the 2009 sweat lodge. This, contended Li, was why Mercer had been so desperate to find a cause for that difference and seized on the construction wood. But Mercer wouldn't play ball.

Li: You'd agree with me that '09 was tragically different.

Mercer: Uh. Somewhat, yes.

Li: Well there, two people passed away.

Mercer: Yeah but the scene was basically the same.

Li: But two people passed away.

Mercer: That's correct.

Li: And then one person passed away later.

Mercer: That's correct.

. . .

Li: Now you, like the detectives on the night of October 8th were, were, searching for what, what it was that killed these folks.

Mercer: Yeah.

Li: Because it was such a surprise to everybody, to you, that these folks died in the sweat lodge.

Mercer: I wouldn't say it was a surprise, but, uh

Li: Then let me rephrase it. Let me rephrase it.

Li was at his strongest, however, when he discussed Mercer's expressed concerns about the fact that he had only used old construction wood in the fire that year, whereas he had previously used a mix of that and natural wood. He had mentioned it to the police and it concerned him. I expect this will be something Michael Hamilton will have to address; what was that wood, was it treated, why did he direct Mercer to use it? Because Ted Mercer has no idea what may or may not have been in that wood.

"That was the only thing that was different and I was still kinda panicky," explained Mercer.

Luis Li's Dramatic Reading of the Diskin Transcript

Later, Li played a recording of Mercer's interview with Det. Diskin that I think was meant to position him as the reigning authority on pressure treated wood. The problem was that he did so by first selectively playing an excerpt of the recording. When Sheila Polk objected to his truncated reading, he insisted that he couldn't really play it again. (???) So instead, he read the transcript aloud. But Polk noticed another problem with Li's oratory skills. He was reading questions as statements.

It's times like these that make me really wonder if Li is a dolt or deliberate manipulator.

Mostly, Li was becoming increasingly frustrated that Mercer wouldn't corroborate his narrative about how Det. Diskin had clued him in on the prosecution's case. He explained how Diskin had told Mercer about the small sections of material detectives had taken as samples from the scene. Mercer had no idea what he was talking about.

Of course Li also brought up Angel Valley's ritual burning of the sweat lodge.

Now here's my question about the Hamilton's destruction of all that evidence. If the police had already released the scene, what court would allow evidence gathered from an unsecured crime scene by the defense or anybody else?

But Diskin had recommended that Mercer get himself a lawyer, even though he assured him that he was in no danger of prosecution. So the fix is in.

Li asked Mercer a number of questions about the mysterious, possible rat poison in the pump house and contends, as the defense has all along, that the paucity of insects in Angel Valley structures must be due to pesticides. Keeping the blankets and tarps in the pump house, vermin must surely be a problem needing a remedy. Aren't there black widows and other such threats. Doesn't Mercer worry about reaching into the blankets and being bitten by a black widow? Well, not really, Mercer explained. He's been by a black widow and it wasn't that big of a deal.

Fair to say that you don't really want to have a black widow colony living in your, in your blankets?

A "colony" of black widows? That would live in piles of blankets? Has Luis Li ever been outside?

While Mercer conceded that it was certainly not desirable to encounter black widows -- or scorpions, for that matter -- the collision of these two men from their very different worlds was positively laughable. It was another of those moments that underscored what a total fish out of water this fancy-pants lawyer from California is. I think it's a fair bet that Luis Li doesn't do a lot of camping.

Li went on to compare areas on the property where there are weeds and the sweat lodge area where there aren't, proving I suppose that some areas are more important to weed than others.

He also set out to prove that there just aren't a lot of insects in common areas like the sweat lodge. Mercer still contends that Angel Valley maintains a policy against spraying anything on the ground.

But isn't there a fire ant problem in the area? Mercer is familiar with fire ants.

Li put several photos of not ants on the viewer.

There were pictures of refuse and leftover beverages and fruit at the comfort station. Where are the ants? Where are the bugs? Li can't find them. And these many pictures, he insisted, were taken 24 hours later.

Day Old Chopped Fruit???

Li seems to think it strains credulity that fruit could sit outside in the desert and not show any evidence of bugs by the following day. What I think strains credulity is that chopped fruit could sit outside in the desert and still look like that 24 hours later.

Were I the prosecutors I'd be investigating the defense's claims of the time line on some of these photos. Frankly, it puts all the pictures of "day old" trash and beverages into question.

I realize that Li is not an outdoorsman but hasn't he ever been to a picnic? No way cut fruit looks like that even several hours after sitting outside, exposed to the open air. Especially in a hot, dry climate.

Still Life With Rat Poison

Li made it very clear, today, that he did not want Mercer to guess, or "assume," about the blankets and tarps. He wasn't working there in 2009. He would not have him speculating about what pesticides may or may not have been used. He's not the landscaper. He can't speak to what might be in the soil.

Li does want him to agree, though, that the "artfully" plated rat poison "has been staged," even though he'd have no real way of knowing. He's also determined to accept Mercer's admitted guess about the granules he saw in the pump house being rat poison. And of course he wants to keep in Mercer's guess, or assumption, when he initially spoke to police, that the wood was the only difference between the 2009 sweat lodge and previous ones and may have been toxic.

So Li is very conditional as to when he'll let Mercer "make an ass of u and me."

Sheila Polk Redirects Ted Mercer

Polk went straight for the easel and had Mercer clarify what about the elements of the sweat lodge structure were the same and which were different over those three years. The frame, of course, was different between 2007 and 2008. Mercer, himself, had participated in rebuilding it. The blankets Mercer still insists were the same; they were stacked in exactly the same order.

The wood was a mixture of construction materials and natural wood in 2008. And, no, he had never gotten sick from burning any of it.

The lack of weed problem in the sweat lodge area was actually due to a weed barrier cloth under a layer of soil in that entire area, Mercer explained.

Polk also asked him again to compare the James Ray sweat lodges and others performed at Angel Valley over 2007, 2008, and 2009.  Had Mercer ever observed combativeness, nausea, rolling eyes, etc., at anyone else's sweat lodges? Well, no.

Polk asked him if he'd ever noticed chemical smells emanating from the blankets or seen any of that rat poison actually falling out of the blankets? No.

Did he ever spray those tarps with anything? Water.

Then Polk launched into the meat of her redirect; the kinds of physical symptoms directly observed by Mercer through the years at James Ray's sweat lodges. 

Gary Palisch, the general manager of Angel Valley and former fire keeper, had explained to Mercer  that they'd see things at a James Ray sweat lodge that you wouldn't see at any other lodges. Indeed.

Polk addressed the lovely photos that Li had shown of participants in 2008. Mercer estimated that they would have been taken starting about a half hour after the end of the sweat lodge because that's when Debbie Mercer was done getting people out of the sweat lodge and cooled down a bit at the comfort station and with the hose.

Polk deconstructed the photos, pointing out the many downed people in and amongst the more cheerful participants.

Lady in Pink

She started with the delirious woman in the pink bathing suit. Not only did she not know her own name after the ceremony, Mercer further explained that she still didn't know it 45 minutes later when she was helped to her room. Nor did she know it in the dining hall later that evening. He described her as acting like a 3 year old. The next day, however, he was optimistic because she had regained her ability to "formulate sentences."

But, Polk pointed out, this poor woman could be seen from many angles in the otherwise cheerful photos.

In the Background from the Back

Getting Her Feet Rubbed by Some Helpful Soul

Other photos went from cheery to depressing as Polk zoomed in on the details of incapacitated people.

People Milling About

Detail 1 of People Milling About

Detail 2 of People Milling About

Mercer explained that, yes, both '07 and '08 presented a mix of post sweat lodge experiences; happy and not so happy. And the same could be seen in 2009. Some people came out "very empowered and other people came out on their face"

Foreground Detail of "Empowered" Woman

Background Detail of "Empowered" Woman

To illustrate some of that unhappiness, Mercer shared the story of a man at the 2008 sweat lodge. He had tried to retrieve his girlfriend by opening up the back the sweat lodge. The "James Ray ladies" asked Mercer to help wrestle him to the ground, which he did. Mercer sat on him to keep him down and away from the sweat lodge structure. He kept saying he had to get her out. This went on for a half hour or so. Mercer described him as irate and not in his right mind. A few hours later he didn't remember any of it.


Luis Li was unhappy with Polk's evisceration of his photographic evidence so he gained permission to recross on some of the key issues raised. He and Mercer sparred back and forth as to whether or not he could be certain that his wife didn't start snapping pics until a half hour or so after the end of the sweat lodge. Mercer seems pretty sure. But, Li, contested some of these people looked flushed and red as if they'd just come out of the heat. Or perhaps it was organophosphate poisoning? Red as a beet? Maybe?

Mercer had explained to Sheila Polk that he only saw that flushed appearance after Ray's sweat lodges. Hmmm....

Li also insisted that the hose downs would have stopped by then. But Mercer pointed out that a lot of people were playing with the hoses for a long while afterward. Remember: They were having fun, just like at a Mud Run.

No, the simple truth is that even in 2008 a number of people were incapacitated for quite a while after the sweat lodge had ended.

Ted Mercer was excused subject to recall.

All information on the trial comes from news articles with provided links or live courtroom footage on TruTV's "In Session" or CNN's live feed. All quotes and paraphrased statements that are not linked to a source document are my best attempt to transcribe material from live broadcasts.

Comments on this entry are closed, on this blog. If you wish to comment, please find this and all newer blog entries crossposted on Celestial Reflections.

James Arthur Ray Sweat Lodge Trial: Day 24

James Ray: Hunk or Charlatan? Discuss.

Connie Joy and Lori Lovens are two of the bright, capable survivors of James Ray's self-improvement program who give the lie to stereotypes of Ray's followers as weak, gullible, and desperate. Both have written books sharing what drew them in to Ray's web and the events that caused them both to extricate themselves.

Connie Joy is a veteran of numerous James Arthur Ray events and seminars, including the 2007 sweat lodge. Like many people that year, she was made quite ill by the heat. Even so, it took the discovery that money she and her husband Richard had "invested" in the World Wealth Society all went to lining Ray's pockets, instead of charitable purposes, to finally break from Ray. In this wonderful interview on A Book and a Chat Joy breaks down the realizations she had before and after separating from Ray. I highly recommend taking in this one hour discussion which can still be heard on BlogTalk Radio.

I originally posted on Connie Joy here after hearing her interviewed on In Session. I find her first-hand observations on Ray's machinations to be astute, insightful, and compelling. She speaks from a place of having been immersed in something only to later understand how much she and her husband had manipulated. In this interview she explains how Ray utilizes Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and group hypnosis in his seminars. She and her husband, who have always been cautious and conservative with their money, found themselves very uncharacteristically paying out huge sums to Ray before having their rude awakening.

Joy also discusses in some detail the experience of the 2007 sweat lodge and how that event, while not as hot as 2009, still caused many people to become nauseous, as she did, and even unconscious. She considers some of the participants lucky to be alive after the 2007 event and had deep concerns for the future; concerns that were sadly realized in 2009. She also touches on the earlier death of Colleen Conaway in San Diego.

In this interview Joy also shares about the personal journey of transformation that took her from a conservative Catholic upbringing, through experiences with near death and past lives, and onto the path of a spiritual seeker.

Connie Joy is also scheduled to appear again on In Session tomorrow, April 7, at around 11:35 EDT, 8:35 PDT.


Yesterday on In Session, former member of James Ray's inner circle Lori Lovens was interviewed by Ryan Smith. Loven's described being very drawn in by Ray at a teaser event. She liked his message, his energy, and his hunkiness. From The Labyrinth:

Intelligent. Dynamic. Articulate. The trifecta. The hat trick of the male species. I dabbed at the left corner of my mouth throughout the evening, fearful I might literally be drooling. He is my idea of physical perfection. A solid six feet, broad shoulders, thick chest, short dark hair with just a touch of gray at the temples. Slightly tanned, a healthy tan. Big hands, long arms. The perfect mass of a man, imposing yet approachable. And sexy in a suit. His presence is powerful, radiating an irresistible magnetic force. I suspect that he’s brilliant—it’s important to me that he’s brilliant.

Lovens thought she was attracted to the outward appearances. She came to realize that what she was really drawn to was his exhibition of "power." But over the course of her spiritual journey, Lovens's views on what constituted real power changed. Her ideas about power had been honed by her corporate background. She defined this as a "masculine, controlling, kinda make things happen energy." As she began to redefine power as  "gentler, truly more intuitive, and allowing energy" her attraction to Ray began to dissipate.

Lovens's fondness for Ray really began to deteriorate after she broke her wrist at a Modern Magick seminar. Her sister was also injured receiving a compound fracture in her hand that required surgery. They were attempting, as per Ray's instruction, to break a concrete block with a karate chop. "Not only had I never considered that I wouldn't hurt myself, I'd never considered that the brick wouldn't break. I mean I was that, that convinced of what I could accomplish."

Lovens deduced that Ray's team was "instructed" not to respond. While at least 15 other people were in the ER, Ray and his team were enjoying dinner at a luau. Later, Ray only asked her what she had learned from her experience. He never acknowledged the injuries.

She saw Ray for the next time six months later when she went to his event in Egypt. She tried to have a "heart to heart" with him on the bus ride. Hoping to dispel the tension over her injury, she asked him how he felt about the injuries at Modern Magick. His response was that it was only a "small portion" of the participants who were injured. But there were at least twenty people with broken bones, one of whom was Lou Caci who'd been demonstrating the technique on stage.

Lovens takes issue with the defense's contention that people could have just walked out of the sweat lodge. Ray, she says, is "a master" at putting people into "an altered state of consciousness." He employed a variety of methods like Holotropic Breathwork (in which he is not trained or certified) trance dancing, and other sadly aped shamanic techniques. I would take some issue with her description of altered state of consciousness, but I take her overall point. He deliberately made people disoriented by, among other things, depriving them of food and water and subjecting them to extreme levels of heat exposure. "He used his words as a weapon," said Lovens.

What really resonated for me listening to the Lovens interview was her growing awareness that Ray's whole paradigm was about the application of will and determination. This has been one of my central points about Ray and The Secret from the beginning. The whole paradigm is about ego gratification and getting what you want. As we really open spiritually we find that the truest power is in surrender to something greater. And like Lovens, I began that journey inward after being disillusioned by teachers who flattered my ego and promised great rewards while simultaneously tearing me down and trying to make me dependent on their "teachings."

Sheila Polk Argues for Admission of Prior Sweat Lodge Testimony

After a one day break due to juror #4's illness, the trial started off this morning with bang. Judge Darrow heard over an hour of increasingly heated legal arguments, ultimately ruling that he will allow testimony regarding prior sweat lodges. Testimony will have to be narrowly focused and limited to what people reasonably inferred from their observations. Factored into this decision is the medical testimony that has already been presented about the spectrum of heat exposure. In other words, now that the symptoms of heatstroke have been read into evidence, the proper foundation has been laid for testimony about participants exhibiting various symptoms that are consistent with heat related illness.

Judge Darrow made a similar ruling on the first day of the trial, when the prosecution argued that the previously excluded testimony be admitted if it went to the issue of causation. He has been handling these decisions on a case by case basis and has already allowed, for example, testimony from Jennifer Haley as to why after 2007, she never wanted to be inside a sweat lodge again.

Despite the consistency with the prior ruling and despite the fact that Judge Darrow had already specified that his decision on testimony regarding prior illness was pending foundational medical testimony, the defense appeared to be gobsmacked. Luis Li responded with a very public meltdown. He argued that the prosecution can't be trusted to stay within the limitations set by the court and that they will invite all sorts of extraneous emotionalism about "forty people dying" and Daniel P. with his "brain boiling." Here Li is conflating his charge of prosecutorial excess with witness statements that appear in police interviews. Judge Darrow conceded that should such drama erupt it would risk a mistrial.

Because of past excesses of the "boiling brains" variety, Li announced that the defense will be issuing a bench memorandum claiming prosecutorial misconduct. Further, he alerted Judge Darrow, they will be seeking a mistrial.

I find it curious that the defense has been moved to such outrage over a decision that Judge Darrow has been telegraphing for weeks. They were clearly panicking over what scheduled witness Ted Mercer, and other Angel Valley staff members set to testify in the coming days, will be able to testify to having witnessed. One must assume that they were either in total denial or that this was so much grandstanding.

Li started his argument today by insisting that in a witness interview Ted Mercer had made clear that he couldn't state with any certainty what went on with the sweat lodge coverings because he'd only worked at Angel Valley for two days in 2009. Sheila Polk argued that Mercer's foundation on those questions went to the weight rather than the admissibility of that testimony. From there it moved to the ongoing debate about just what witnesses like Mercer could testify about. As these arguments went on, Li went from fairly well-reasoned argument into his more typical hands on hips posture of whining incomprehension. And, for good measure, he threw in one of the defense's characteristically distorted readings of prior testimony.

In this case, it was Dr. Lyon's testimony, which he described as concluding with only 51% certainty that the deaths were caused by heatstroke. This he now characterizes as Dr. Lyon not having been able to say beyond a reasonable doubt that it was heatstroke. This is, of course, wildly inaccurate. What Dr. Lyon said was that he was at least 51% certain that it was heatstroke which is the recognized legal standard for medical certainty. Is Li being ignorant here or disingenuous? It's hard to say.

For all the defense's machinations today, be they honest or otherwise, they were dealt a serious blow. They have tried mightily to keep the prior sweat lodges hidden from the jury because they are really bad for Ray's defense. As stated above, Connie Joy was one of a number of people to become violently ill in 2007. And it didn't get any better in 2008. The last thing the defense team wanted was Ted Mercer, who was there for both prior events, to testify to what he saw with his own lyin' eyes.

As court resumed, Mercer's testimony was delayed further by the hastily prepared (???) mistrial motion. Judge Darrow rather predictably denied it.

Next, Tom Kelly moved for a stay in the jury trial. He argued that the defense was not prepared because they'd never seen this decision coming. They would need time to get their ducks in a row and rethink their strategy. Denied.

Li and Kelly made numerous statements about needing to consider their legal options. Will they file a special action; appeal Judge Darrow's decision to a higher court and force a mistrial? They waved the threat in front of Judge Darrow's nose right up until he called the evening recess over Li's pleas to continue.

I'm struck by the demeanor of the Judge Darrow, Sheila Polk, and Bill Hughes in response to the defense's threats. They seem completely unconcerned. Either they are all very good actors or they're not taking the defense's prospects very seriously. I also noted Truc Do's affect as this was going on. She looked defeated before arguments even started this morning. Did she know the writing was on the wall? Does she simply know the law better than Li and Kelly combined? That seems likely. Or is it just that she's feeling under the weather? Hard to say.

Ted Mercer

Sheila Polk was extremely cautious in her questioning of Ted Mercer, reminding the not courtroom savvy witness to answer yes/no questions with a simple yes or a no.  But it quickly became apparent why the defense was so determined to block the man's recollections of prior events. His recall of 2009 alone was quite damning.

Mercer's work history at Angel Valley was spotty but he had rented a house on the property even when he was not working there and maintained a relationship with owners Michael and Amayra Hamilton.

While Mercer could not testify with absolute certainty on the care, maintenance, and consistent use of the sweat lodge coverings, he quickly established that there was a clear plan and rules for their use. As Fawn Foster had testified, they were stored in the pump house between uses.  He also testified that it was not customary for the staff to use a lot of pesticides around the property.

Mercer had done a fair bit of construction at Angel Valley including Teepees that had been erected for one of Ray's Spiritual Warrior events. More importantly he had assisted in the building of the sweat lodge structure when it was remade in 2008. He testified that the project was overseen by David Singing Bear as discussed here.

Mercer also established himself as thoroughly unqualified to build a sweat lodge or work as the fire keeper. He had no experience doing either before coming to Angel Valley. But under the direction of Singing Bear he helped gather willow branches and bind them with hemp twine for the newly expanded structure, which was designed specifically for Spiritual Warrior 2008.

Mercer described how the structure was then covered with layers of blankets, then tarps, then the later addition of a "rubber deal." That's the brown, shiny covering visible in photos. He believes that was added to Ray's sweat lodge ceremony in 2008, but not used in 2007.

It was about then that Li snapped again and requested time to voir dire the witness. He did so, in order to establish that Mercer was not employed for all of 2009. He'd only worked there on the two days that there were sweat lodges but for the remaining "270 odd days" he was not employed there. So as near as I can tell, a Luis Li year has 272 odd days, as opposed to the more customary 365. I don't know quite how he meant that... Anyway, it was something of a muddle, but he did establish that Mercer could not testify to personal knowledge of the exact provenance of the blankets and tarps. It was abruptly ended by Judge Darrow when it started to wander completely afield into equally unanswerable questions of rat poison.

After Polk returned to direct questioning, she also established that the rat poison repeatedly referenced as being in the pump house, probably originated with statements from Mercer. Upon questioning it also became clear that he had only "assumed" that some blue and white granules near small holes in the walls, for wiring, were rat poison. He doesn't actually know it to be rat poison.

Mercer also testified to his evolving role as assistant fire keeper and later fire keeper for the sweat lodge. He explained how it was his job to "hold the energy" of the fire. He testified that they never used the same rocks twice, taking lava rocks from the creek, heating them for the sweat lodges and later using them to build a wall.

He also explained the use of the mysterious wood. The construction wood was also used in 2008, though not as as much as in 2009. He does not actually know if it's pressed or treated. He only knows that it was construction material they were trying to get rid of.

Mercer, himself, was "practically in the fire" when he was getting the stones in and out; about a half an hour total. He was also near the fire for the entire time. He did not get ill.

It was after a lunch break that Mercer's testimony really got interesting, as he began to testify about previous sweat lodges; Ray's and others.

In 2007, Mercer had observed a tall woman exiting the sweat lodge with her eyes rolling up in her head before she collapsed onto the dirty ground. He dragged her over onto a tarp.

He also described three women who had come out of the sweat lodge who stared right through him. They didn't even know their own names, said Mercer. 

In that year, he estimated about ten people needed assistance after exiting the sweat lodge.

In 2008, he saw a woman come out with severe muscle cramps. She'd remained locked in a fetal position for half an hour to fourty-five minutes.

In both 2007 and 2008 he saw numerous people vomiting and collapsing.

Mercer also explained, as others have, that the water pourer is the leader of the sweat lodge and determines everything from how many rocks go in to how long the door remains open.

He explained that the heat in the sweat lodge is determined by how many heated rocks are used and how hot they are. He admitted that he wasn't as good at getting them hot in the beginning but had gotten really good at heating them by 2009. That was also the year that Ray had requested the most rocks, asking for 100 rocks to be prepared for use. In 2007 and 2008 he'd only asked for 80. He'd also asked Mercer to report to the group that rocks and the fire were the hottest they'd ever been in that year.

As a point of comparison, Polk also carefully questioned Mercer about other sweat lodges in the years he'd been assisting them at Angel Valley. The average number of rocks requested by other sweat lodge leaders was 24. The highest number, other than Ray's 80-100, had been 30.

The other sweat lodges also ran for about half the time of Ray's; usually 4 rounds and an hour or so.

Coincidentally, Mercer also never witnessed any illness or injury at those other sweat lodges.

Mercer also corroborated a lot of the testimony we've already heard. He was aware of Lou Caci burning his arm. He heard poor Dennis Mehravar screaming that he was "dying." And he heard Ray call over to him that he wasn't dying. So I think we can all be very clear about how responsible James Ray was when faced with the possibility of someone's death.

Another interesting point of comparison between the three years that Mercer had assisted with Ray's sweat lodges was that in 2009 Ray's "encouragement" was "louder" and "longer" than in those two previous years.

Mercer testified that he was not trained in any safety plan but he was made aware that a member of the Dream Team was a nurse. He says they spoke briefly... about the weather.

Mercer also testified to the pandemonium that broke out at the end of the ceremony; people crawling out, red faced, lying in the dirt.

At this point, Mercer went into action, above and beyond his role as fire keeper. It turns out that Mercer is also trained as Emergency Responder Instructor -- something he learned in his capacity as a scuba diver. It was interesting to see the change in his demeanor as he described how he addressed the immediate health concerns he witnessed. He seemed a lot more confident in his knowledge of emergency care than in sweat lodge building or fire keeping. He looked at James Shore and Kirby Brown, saw that they had no vital signs, and immediately told his wife to call 911. He estimated that it was about another half hour before the ambulances began to arrive.

So Ted Mercer is yet another person not paid tens of thousands of dollars who, none the less, rushed to the assistance of people in major distress.

Tom McFeeley who lost his cousin Kirby Brown to James Ray's 2009 sweat lodge posted the following on Twitter:

All information on the trial comes from news articles with provided links or live courtroom footage on TruTV's "In Session" or CNN's live feed. All quotes and paraphrased statements that are not linked to a source document are my best attempt to transcribe material from live broadcasts.

Comments on this entry are closed, on this blog. If you wish to comment, please find this and all newer blog entries crossposted on Celestial Reflections.

Mr. Deity Explains the Barbecue

My daughter has been coming home with concerns about heaven and hell. The things kids pick up on the streets these days. You try to protect them from dangerous ideas but, honestly, it gets more and more challenging all the time.

Comments on this entry are closed, on this blog. If you wish to comment, please find this and all newer blog entries crossposted on Celestial Reflections.

James Arthur Ray Sweat Lodge Trial: Day 23

Fawn Foster

The day started with more legal wrangling. with Tom Kelly looking like the cat who'd swallowed the canary through most of it. He got little to no resistance to his request to use the prior acts of today's witness for impeachment purposes. Judge Darrow excluded an old DUI and one other, but he was left with a couple of felony convictions he could work with. He looked cheerful and even engaged in a little friendly banter with Bill Hughes.

Prosecutor Sheila Polk quickly seized the high ground, however, by starting her direct examination laying out the witness's convictions for false reporting to police and drug paraphernalia. And witness, Fawn Foster, completely seized the day by being forthright, honest, and humble about her own history. Going to prison was the "biggest blessing that ever happened," she said. She had left prison with "a new attitude, a new set of teeth, and just a whole new life." She owes her sobriety to the criminal justice system and she's been clean and sober since 2006.

It's hard to impeach someone who is as open as Fawn Foster. And there is just no artifice to this woman.

Foster is an employee of Angel Valley Ranch and brims with affection and gratitude for her opportunity to clean toilets, kill weeds, and work in the kitchen. In 2008, her stepson was working there as a chef and called her in when they were short-staffed. She has been there ever since.

When Angel Valley hosted James Ray's Spiritual Warrior retreat of 2009, one of Foster's responsibilities was putting together the comfort station outside the sweat lodge with chopped watermelon, oranges, electrolyte beverages, and lemon water. After she had set up the table, she decided to stay put and observe. "Because my gut told me to," she explained.

When participants burned their recapitulation journals, she tamped out the windblown bits of burning paper. When people staggered out of the sweltering lodge, she helped them cool down with fruit and water from the hose.

She had concerns early on when she witnessed a woman in a white bathing suit who had left after the second round clearly at odds with the idea of going back into the sweat lodge. She had approached the door but couldn't make herself go through it. She'd approach and back up and approach and back up. She heard people inside the lodge "encouraging" her by telling her that she was "more than her body." Then she saw two members of the Dream Team try to push her in. At that point, the fire keeper's wife, Debbie Mercer intervened and told the Dream Team members that they just couldn't do that. The woman left the area and never came back.

She was also present when Lou Caci fell into the hot rocks and crawled out of the tent, his arm covered with giant blisters. She took a golf cart back to the kitchen and got a bucket filled with ice and water for him to bath his arm in. Caci appeared to be in shock. "He wasn't coherent. He couldn't tell me who he was." But he kept insisted he was "fine."

Caci later thanked her for telling him to go back in. She hadn't.

Foster, who has done many sweats in the past had quickly become skeptical of the way this was being run and her skepticism grew as it evolved. At one point she saw 18 heated rocks moved in through the door at once. This seemed like an "astronomical amount" to her. She assumed that this was Ray's decision because he was the leader of the sweat and that's how it's done.

She found it strange that people were encouraged not leave and to come back in if they had. She heard Ray and many echoing voices telling people they were "more than their bodies."

She also witnessed the Dennis Mehravar incident and was very concerned that a man was screaming about how he was going to die. And she heard James Ray from inside the structure saying, "You're not gonna die. You're gonna be okay."

"Did there come a time when you became concerned?" Polk asked.

"Many times," Foster replied. Her concern only grew as things escalated.

At one point she heard from inside the sweat lodge, "There's three people down back here."

She heard Ray reply, "Are they breathing?" She did not hear the reply but Ray said to leave them where they were. She assumed they must have been alright because she couldn't fathom that the leader of the sweat would not have taken action if there was a serious problem.

Through the last round she heard more of Ray telling them that they would be alright. They weren't their bodies and "they would be shamans at this point."

But when the flap opened for the final time it quickly became apparent that they weren't alright. Ray was one of the first people out and he put his arms in the air and asked to be hosed down. Other people didn't. They were all collapsing to the ground.

Then she heard her friend Debbie Mercer shouting that there were still three people inside and asking to open up the back of the lodge. Ray protested saying it would be "sacreligious," but he relented.

Ray, still calm, cool and collected was praising Dennis Mehravar for finishing out the sweat lodge. But all around her people were collapsed on the ground in varying states of distress. Foster is one of those who describes people foaming at the mouth. Some were screaming. Some weren't moving. And James Shore was completely blue while Kirby Brown's lips were blue.

She pulled blankets off the structure to wrap people in and tried to lend aid and comfort.

As she heard the sirens of ambulances approaching, she heard James Ray tell everyone who could walk to return to their rooms and clear the area. She didn't see anyone leave, though. Many of them probably couldn't.

Fawn Foster still becomes emotional when she talks about the aftermath of the sweat lodge. She was "devastated" and "in total disbelief." She described holding an emotionally shaken Sarah Mercer -- the fire keeper's daughter -- through the night; both of them shaken to their core.

She continued to choke back tears as she described the dismantling of the sweat lodge structure.

It is my belief that when a law has been desecrated that it needs to come down in a sacred way. It should never be used again.

Foster describes herself as one quarter Cherokee and one quarter Sioux. Her heritage, she says, matters to her and this is part of why she believed the lodge must be disassembled as it had been assembled -- piece by piece and by hand.

Here she is referring to the ceremonial destruction of the sweat lodge that has become a bone of contention for the defense. It is their belief that the Hamiltons were simply destroying evidence. But they had waited for the police to release the area after taking what evidence they believed necessary.

Further questions about the lodge structure brought a lengthy sidebar. Polk wants Foster to testify to her experience with other sweat lodge ceremonies held in the same structure. It is the prosecution's contention that the lack of incident at other ceremonies proves that it is only Ray's sweats that cause illness, injury, and death. But there is some confusion as to whether or not all the coverings are the same. Photos of a prior sweat lodge look different. Although Judge Darrow doesn't hold to Kelly's preferred standard of the exact same materials in the exact same configuration -- something I expect is impossible -- he does think they look different enough to merit further foundational testimony before Foster can testify on the issue. So she may have to return to testify after the Hamiltons and Mercers have laid more foundation for those questions.

Foster was able to testify to some of the details on the sweat lodge and where the materials are stored and how. It is part of her job to fold the blankets and put them in the pump house between uses.

She also testified about what pesticides she's used, how she's used them, and where they were found. There are rats and ants that need to be gotten rid of. The products themselves sound fairly innocuous and minimally used. She uses her bare hands when she puts out the ant poison and rat biscuits.

She also described some of her landscaping duties which include killing pulling weeds and killing some of the with saltwater.

These are duties she only acquired in 2010 so she can't speak to how these duties were handled the previous year.

Kelly Cross Examines Foster

Tom Kelly has an anger problem and he looks like someone who knows it. He attacks, retreats a little, then ingratiates. His demeanor with Melinda Mullin was a case in point. Like a battering husband with a bouquet of flowers, he tried to ameliorate the damage of their "little fight" the day before.

Fawn Foster's hackles were raised early in his cross examination, before he'd even gotten noticeably aggressive or mentioned her criminal history. She regarded him with the wary look of someone who's dealt with predators before and whose internal warning system had kicked in.

He started off simply with questions about the poisons, the water on the property, and so on. She explained that she had never had a problem.

And what about the wood used in the fires that day. She had not gotten ill even though she had spent more time by the fires themselves than participants had. But Kelly pointed out, she was in the open air; not an enclosed structure filled with steam.

They had a chat about all the critters in Arizona and how they had to be controlled. He asked about the products used. And what about that garden? Surely they had to control insects there. No, Foster explained. It's an organic garden. Kelly seemed incredulous at the notion. But don't bugs eat the vegetables? They eat what they want, she explained.

Kelly abruptly changed gears. He reminded her that she's a convicted felon with a prison record. She has a tenth grade education and a GED. It's been difficult to secure employment, hasn't it. And her job history is kitchen work and day labor. She explained that she's had her own house cleaning business for thirty years.

But, yes, working at Angel Valley is definitely the best job she's ever had, she agreed. She's even worked way up from "kitchen work" to her current "status" and is even named on the web site, Kelly pointed out.

It would be hard to miss the disdain Kelly has for the menial labor she's done her entire life and the contention that this is the first time she's ever had "status."

She'd like to keep this job, wouldn't she. "If the Lord wants me there, absolutely yes sir," she replied.

The implication is obvious. Angel Valley is struggling as a result of this fiasco and, obviously, Foster is protecting the Hamiltons with her testimony.

Kelly began an assault on her testimony by listing the many things she didn't mention in prior interviews with police. Not because of anything contradictory, mind you. Just that some of what she said today hadn't come up in prior interviews. The only contradiction was a misstatement about the time of the ceremony from her police interview that night. She was in shock, she reminded Kelly.

He asked her about things like poisons and treated wood, none of which she has any real knowledge about.

There were moments of bizarre hilarity involving Kelly's attempts to calculate distance to demonstrate that she could not have heard Ray as clearly as she contends. What occurred to me during this presentation was the memory of a time I was taken in by a short change artist. I was teenager working at the Dairy Queen. He took me for thirty bucks.

Upon return from a break Kelly launched into questions about her Native American lineage and whether that is why she doesn't believe in charging for sweat lodge ceremony. She's not in agreement with James Ray International charging for a sweat lodge is she.

"I'm not in agreement with anybody charging money for a sweat lodge. Has nothing to do with him, personally," said Foster.

Kelly asked her about the number of rocks removed from the pit of the sweat lodge. When they were disassembling the lodge she counted 53 rocks being removed. I need to repeat that. There were 53 heated rocks in the sweat lodge ceremony.

Kelly then launched into a series of questions about whether or not she was aware of police removing various items from the property; pesticides, wood, the food, etc. She does not know. This, of course, gives the impression that these things were not done.

Kelly also asked her about a Dream Team member named Mark Rock and how long he lived there in 2010. She thinks it was about a month. Kelly thinks it was about half a year. I expect there will be more to come on Mark Rock.

Unsurprisingly, Kelly asked for more details about the dismantling and burning of the sweat lodge structure. She explained that it was all burned except for the plastic tarps which were disposed of elsewhere.

Was she aware that the anniversary ceremony at Angel Valley offered to those with pending lawsuits if they dropped those suits? She had no idea.

When Kelly moved on to the sweat lodge and its aftermath, he triesd many times to get her to say that there more people than just Ray and a couple of those closest to him who looked okay. But, no, she insisted the rest dropped like flies.

As she recounted the events for the second time in one day, she again dissolved into tears.

Of course it probably didn't help that he'd asked her about the two totally incapacitated people she saw by saying, "And you didn't help them?"

She explained that she was helping people in other areas because they were laying everywhere.

As she struggled to compose herself, Kelly sounded, for a moment, concerned for her well-being. "You okay?" he asked gently

But no. It's another tactic.

"It's been a year and a half since this happened, correct?... And you seem to be pretty upset. Is that affecting your ability to remember what happened?"

It's just Kelly trying to exploit what he believes is a discrepancy in her testimony. She'd told Det. Diskin that there were three people removed unconscious from the tent. Now she seems to remember only two. But as she'd already explained, she only had a clear view of two. She knew there was a third. It's just more of Kelly getting basic facts wrong and attacking people for his own confusion.

He tried to open up more room between her previous testimony and the present by saying that she was saying that James Ray never helped anyone. No, she explained. Her testimony is that she never witnessed him helping anyone.

But Kelly protested. Didn't she say in a police interview that if anyone said Ray had helped anyone, they'd be a "bald faced liar."

Yes, she'd said it. "I was also very angry."

So was she calling Dr. Jeanne Armstrong a bald faced liar?

Once again, I'm at a loss to understand Kelly's strategy. Far from impeaching this woman's testimony, he's unnecessarily read into the record that Ray looked to her, as he did to many witnesses, like he was doing nothing. And he's read into the record her outrage over that fact. And now he has her on record, as the gracious person she is, willing to accept that her perceptions were colored by her anger at the time.

Tom Kelly has a real problem with coming off far worse than the witnesses he tries to impugn.

Polk Redirects Foster

On redirect, Sheila Polk gave Foster an opportunity to clarify her outrage at Ray on the day of the sweat lodge.

At that time I was very, very angry because I saw James Ray go into the tarps and then disappear and I never saw him again. And my heart just couldn't understand why. Why somebody would walk away from that. And if he did go back. Awesome. Great. But I can't say he did 'cause I did not witness that. I did not see it.

Had Kelly never brought her previous testimony up, he would not have had such powerful statements on the record. Instead, he opened up room for someone to give powerful, emotional testimony about Ray's lack of leadership when people were struggling and dying.

What Kelly doesn't seem to grasp is that having a witness here or there testify that they saw him do something doesn't help Ray. If that many people didn't see him doing anything but standing around and attending to his own needs, he can't have done much. That's a big problem for any leader and it comes down to, among other things, symbolism. This is the difference between Reagan's famous photo op pitching sand bags around a Louisiana flood and George W. Bush's photo op flying over one. Appearances matter in a leader. Reagan at least knew how to look busy. If Ray had pitched in in a visible way, there would not be witness after witness testifying that he was useless in a crisis.

Polk also untangled the tape measure fiasco and got clarity from Foster about how far she believes she was from Ray and how clearly she could hear him.

What did she hear him say? Foster racked her brain and restated all the things about them being strong, that they could make it, that they were not their bodies, and that they could push through this. And then she accessed another memory. One far more shocking than she seems realize as she says it.

I could hear him sayin' at some point that he was the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, and he was God, uh..

Kelly fairly whispered the word, "Object."

When Judge Darrow asked for grounds, there was silence, and then a stammered request to approach the bench.

After the sidebar, Polk quickly finished her questions and Kelly was offered an opportunity to cross examine the witness again.

What followed was a reiteration of the police interviews, and earlier testimony in which Foster had never mentioned Ray's Alpha - Omega speech. "No sir, I did not," she said in each case.

Kelly: On August 13, 2002, you were convicted of lying to a law enforcement officer.

Polk: This goes beyond the scope.

Foster: Yes sir, I was.

. . .

Kelly: On March 18, 2005, you were convicted of lying to a law enforcement officer.

Foster: Yes sir, I was, as I stated to begin with.

Kelly: Thank-you.

Judge Darrow rejected the jury's questions at his discretion.

Fawn Foster was excused subject to recall.

Tom Kelly rushed quickly from the court, the smile long gone from his face.

All information on the trial comes from news articles with provided links or live courtroom footage on TruTV's "In Session" or CNN's live feed. All quotes and paraphrased statements that are not linked to a source document are my best attempt to transcribe material from live broadcasts.

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