Update

I know that many of you have been checking daily to see if there are any updates. Well here it is. We are still waiting for the Tribunal to make a decision on Shohn's case. The paperwork was submitted to the Tribunal on April 19th. The process could take up to six months. There is a new Amparo law that states that if the case has blatant errors, the Tribunal may move the case to the front of the line. As you all know there are blatant errors, so we are praying that it will get moved to the front soon. Also, Gustavo De La Rosa is going to try to put some pressure on the court to hear the case earlier. We still need to keep the signatures going on the Petition.

Kevin is in the middle of drafting a letter in response to Congressman Reyes's letter. He should finish it this weekend.

At this time, we just need to be in prayer that the Tribunal will see the case quickly. Everyday that Shohn is there is a day that he cannot get back in his life. He has missed so much with his family. Every holiday is such an empty day in our hearts because he is not there with us. Shohn can't recover the days that the Mexican army has taken from him, but he will begin to live his life again when he is released. We plan to make every day count. You never know when something can happen and cause you life to change in the blink of an eye. I know God has a plan for Shohn and for our entire family. We are continuing to follow his lead and know that Shohn will be home soon. Shohn's birthday is May 7th and Randi's is May 8th. It looks as though once again he will be spending his birthday in Cereso. What a tragedy.

Thanks to all who have prayed and posted the petition link. We could not have done this without all of you. Also, to all those who have donated again we say Thank You. Some have donated their time, some have donated money, and some have donated goods and services. Again we can never say Thank You enough. You have blessed our family in ways you will never know. We could not have made this last 17 months without all of the support we have received. God has shown us our true extended family and it is enormous.

The online petition that so many of you have signed is nearing the half way point of our initial goal of 5,000. We have just about 2300 signatures. We would like you to continue to promote it with your neighbors, co workers, friends, and faith communities.
Also, if you can, please write a letter to the editor of your local paper. Calls to your local TV station to ask them to cover the story and developments are very important right now.
We are about to enter a very important phase, where Shohn's attorney will present the case for a Tribunal review, 3 judges will look at the case and the Constitutional Appeal for the violation of individual guarantees and the right to due process and consider the all important perspective of the presumption of innocence. Three federal circuit court judges will actually have to ponder the facts and evidence, review the testimony of his absolutely impartial witnesses, and consider Shohn's case from the perspective of the Presumption of Innocence, which includes and implies the factor and consideration of reasonable doubt. This, in fact, represents a quantum leap towards democracy in Mexico.
Mexican law begins with the presumption of guilt. There is a well know expression in Mexico -For my friends, whatever they want, for the rest, the Law- Any and everyone charged, or not even charged but detained while charges are being considered, can be held in secret detention (arraigo) or prison for years, because they have been declared probably guilty without a hearing before any investigation or a case is presented, regardless of circumstances. The names of the officials, investigators, or others involved with are kept secret in many cases. We do not know the name of the person (military legal staff) who actually drafted the initial charges against Shohn. The two soldiers who signed it do not know his name, either, according to their testimony. Those two soldiers would not even look Shohn in the eye, their heads were bowed down, as he questioned them about why they assaulted him, stole his cash, wedding ring, cell phone, and other work related articles in the truck, then took him to be tortured, and then dropped him off with charges of being in possession of two suitcases of marjuana. His truck, supposedly 'secured' by the federal police in their own parking lot, was returned months later, missing the stereo, lights, spare tire, battery, set of subwoofers, amplifier and a Dodge Ram emblem.

Submission of Paperwork

Please pray that today will be the day that the paperwork can be finished. Shohn is getting a little antsy and is hopeful that a transfer will not come down with his name on it. When the Amparo paperwork is filed then they will not transfer him. The papers are just a few hours away from being finished. Pray that God will open up those hours today and allow the final paperwork to be submitted. We have to continue to move forward and keep this in the limelight. For those who do not know about transfers, that means that they could transfer him to another prison in Mexico. If this happens we cannot get food to him, clean clothes, and other necessities of daily living. This would put a huge burden on our family. We want to keep him in Juarez. Thanks to all for your continued support. And once again thanks for the donations that are coming in. We are overwhelmed by all the support we are receiving. Tammy

Donations

This is a very hard post for me to write, but we are at the end of our resources for money. We are going to have to pay some court filing fees in the next couple of days and we would love to have enough donations to help pay the fees. If 100 people would give 10 dollars we would be able to pay those fees. We have tried to this point not to ask for any donations, but it seems as though we are going to need a little bit of help. Thanks so much for the donations that we got today and the ones that have already come in. All you have to do is click the donate button on the left. Thanks again for all the prayers and signatures. Tammy and Kevin

A Debt of Gratitude

We can never express how much everyone's outpouring of love and compassion to our family means to us. Thank you so much for your money donations, your printing donations, and all your time that you have dedicated to this cause. We are just overwhelmed. We hope someday to get to meet everyone of you that have had an impact on our son's life. Thanks again. Kevin and Tammy and all our family.

Story

Here is a one-on-one interview with Shohn on ABC-7. http://www.kvia.com/video/27474346/index.html

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2011/0401/UN-questions-Mexican-Army-s-role-in-drug-war Here is an article that came out today about the UN requesting the Mexican army to withdraw from the streets.

Thank You

Thank you to all who have signed the petition and donated money to this cause. We are so appreciative for all the help from everyone. We can truly see how God is working in this case. It is amazing to see how far reaching all of the signatures are. I don't think we have one single state that is not represented. Thanks again to everyone. We cannot begin to thank everyone enough. Love Tammy and Kevin