Sylvia is going to be so jealous/Couple sues "Angel the psychic" over false claims

[KatieG]

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2012/06/texas_couple_suing_angel_the_p.php

Texas Couple Sues Angel the Psychic, Belo, the Times and CNN Over False Claims Of a Mass Grave at Their House

Last June, things got pretty busy around Joe Bankson and Gena Charlton's farmhouse in Hardin, what with the Liberty County Sheriff's Office, the FBI, DPS and a half-dozen media outlets stopping by, as you see in the AP video above.

What were they looking for? A mass grave containing 25 to 30 dismembered bodies, of course, which they had on good authority was somewhere on the remote Bankson/Charlton property. Their tipster was a 48-year-old self-proclaimed psychic grandmother who went by the name of "Angel."

more at the link

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Maybe Her Clawiness will be called as an expert witless. :cool:

[fuelair]

Neat and stupid. Kind of thing that keeps my faith in my fellow humans high!!!:eek::eek::rolleyes:

[Metullus]

Texas couple suing "angel" the psychic after her tips led police to search property for 20+ bodies. (http://http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2012/06/texas_couple_suing_angel_the_p.php)

"Angel" reportedly led police to a "mass grave" on the couple's property. Remarkably, a subsequent search by the County Sheriff's Office, the FBI, and DPS turned up nothing.

"I am a reverend," she said. "I am a prophet and I get my information from Jesus and the angels. I told them that I had 32 angels with me and they were giving me the information and then it went from there."

I hope that the search was not solely based on the Reverend Angel's word...

[fuelair]

Texas couple suing "angel" the psychic after her tips led police to search property for 20+ bodies. (http://http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2012/06/texas_couple_suing_angel_the_p.php)

"Angel" reportedly led police to a "mass grave" on the couple's property. Remarkably, a subsequent search by the County Sheriff's Office, the FBI, and DPS turned up nothing.



I hope that the search was not solely based on the Reverend Angel's word...

There is a whole thread on this - and yes, that seems to be all the advice they needed to make themselves laughingstocks and suit targets - really good solid suit targets!!!

[fuelair]

Though it is short, here it is:http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?p=8355923#post8355923

[Metullus]

Thanks, I missed it...

[shemp]

I hope she gets picked clean. The angels never saw that coming!

[Magic 9-Ball]

Maybe she sees into the future. Someone will think that, since the police have already unsuccessfully looked for a mass grave, they will now hide 25 to 30 bodies there. Or perhaps an associate of Angel's will so she can be right.

[calwaterbear]

Police and FBI ought to be sued as well, what a bunch of morons!

[Mike!]

Police and FBI ought to be sued as well, what a bunch of morons!

Well, you know, they had to hurry up and swoop in, just in case, you know? In case they were tipped off by, oh, I don't know, maybe they might have their own psychic or something, you know? And what if they tried to dig up and move a mass grave containing, oh, I don't know, maybe 25 to 30 bodies, like overnight, before the police could send a car by and have a little look see, you know? :rolleyes:

[commandlinegamer]

Texas couple suing "angel" the psychic after her tips led police to search property for 20+ bodies. (http://http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2012/06/texas_couple_suing_angel_the_p.php)

Mangled link fixed.

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2012/06/texas_couple_suing_angel_the_p.php

[KatieG]

I don't understand why they didn't lawyer up after the first encounter. Hopefully, they can sue the pants off "Angel".

[rwguinn]

I don't understand why they didn't lawyer up after the first encounter. Hopefully, they can sue the pants off "Angel".
Well, hell, man.
Jesus done told Angel to tell the po-lice, and you cain't ar-gy with Jesus, 'leastways not the first time...

[Orphia Nay]

A Texas couple who own a ranch that police searched following false information that was provided by a psychic are suing the police and several major news organizations for defamation.

The case began June 6, 2011, when a psychic called police and described a horrific scene of mass murder: dozens of dismembered bodies near a ranch house about an hour outside of Houston, Texas. There were rotting limbs, headless corpses, and, chillingly, many were children in this mass grave they described.

Deputies from the Liberty County Sheriff's office went to investigate but didn’t see anything amiss. After a second call the following day, dozens of officials from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the FBI, and the Texas Rangers were on the scene -- not to mention cadaver dogs, news helicopters, and gawkers. It all turned out to be a false alarm. There were no dead bodies; the psychic was wrong (or lying).

Though the incident became a national embarrassment, the police refused to apologize, saying that procedures were followed and that the severity of the claims warranted an investigation: Whether a tip comes from an ordinary citizen, an anonymous informant, or a self-proclaimed psychic, information about mass murders cannot be ignored.

Now the couple that owns the ranch are suing

http://news.discovery.com/human/psychic-hoax-mass-grave-120612.html

I wish the ranch owners the very best of luck in their case.

[DallasDad]

I hope the ranch owners get some satisfaction, but I can't really blame the police for investigating. For all they knew, the person calling was a psychopath who'd buried bodies at the ranch. (Although I could wish they'd been a lot more reasonable about how they investigated.)

The culpable party is the soi disant psychic.

[Marduk]

previous thread
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=237585&highlight=dismembered+bodies
:p

[Orphia Nay]

I hope the ranch owners get some satisfaction, but I can't really blame the police for investigating. For all they knew, the person calling was a psychopath who'd buried bodies at the ranch. (Although I could wish they'd been a lot more reasonable about how they investigated.)

Like investigating the psychic's place.

The culpable party is the soi disant psychic.

Yes, I'd like to see the psychic sued.

[Krikkiter]

I hope the ranch owners get some satisfaction, but I can't really blame the police for investigating. For all they knew, the person calling was a psychopath who'd buried bodies at the ranch. (Although I could wish they'd been a lot more reasonable about how they investigated.)

The culpable party is the soi disant psychic.

In the first instance, maybe - they could have spoken in person with the individual making the claim and asked on what basis the claim was being made. But twice? And the second time in that way? No.

Agreed though. The psychic should pay for any costs incurred by the police as well as being prosecuted.

[Orphia Nay]

previous thread
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=237585&highlight=dismembered+bodies
:p

Thanks. :p

Mods, please merge.

[BStrong]

My guess is that they have no recourse against the agency involved, but they might have a chance in civil court against the woo workers.

[Bell]

Yes, the police did what they had to do. The range owners should sue the psychic and the police should charge the psychic with making a false report.

[Graham2001]

Good luck to them, sadly if they do go after the psychic, the psychic will claim they are bankrupt...

[Careyp74]

Yes, the police did what they had to do. The range owners should sue the psychic and the police should charge the psychic with making a false report.

Any chance in the county and federal agencies recovering the tax dollars wasted on this investigation?

[Greedo]

One has to wonder what was/is going through the head of that "psychic".

I mean, if it had been purely made up, the psychic would have been willingly accepting defeat and the inevitable ridicule.

The only other possibility is mental illness.

[George152]

One has to wonder what was/is going through the head of that "psychic".

I mean, if it had been purely made up, the psychic would have been willingly accepting defeat and the inevitable ridicule.

The only other possibility is mental illness.

Or the 'psychic' is a vindictive little nutter who wanted to get at the people on the ranch

[catsmate1]

I hope the ranch owners get some satisfaction, but I can't really blame the police for investigating. For all they knew, the person calling was a psychopath who'd buried bodies at the ranch.

Yes, the police did what they had to do. The range owners should sue the psychic and the police should charge the psychic with making a false report.
No. The police did not have to act on the report of a loon; there was patently insufficient grounds for their action.
Since when is a report from an obviously delusional person (who stated that she got her information "from Jesus and the angels") sufficient grounds for this search? Any LEA stupid enough to do this deserves severe penalties, as does whichever cretin authorised a search on such non-existent justification.

[Bell]

No. The police did not have to act on the report of a loon; there was patently insufficient grounds for their action.
Since when is a report from an obviously delusional person (who stated that she got her information "from Jesus and the angels") sufficient grounds for this search? Any LEA stupid enough to do this deserves severe penalties, as does whichever cretin authorised a search on such non-existent justification.

Someone claiming to have received information from Jesus and angels does not exclude that person from actual knowledge of a crime.

Maybe the amount of law enforcement officers sent to the scene was over the top, but they still did the right thing investigating the report.

[catsmate1]

Someone claiming to have received information from Jesus and angels does not exclude that person from actual knowledge of a crime.
She claimed them as the source of her information.

[ddt]

Yes, the police did what they had to do. The range owners should sue the psychic and the police should charge the psychic with making a false report.
And the DA should do his best to lock her up for the maximum possible time. Then at least, she can't repeat such a stunt.

Someone claiming to have received information from Jesus and angels does not exclude that person from actual knowledge of a crime.

Maybe the amount of law enforcement officers sent to the scene was over the top, but they still did the right thing investigating the report.
Only on the say-so of a psychic (Jesus & angels told her) turn the whole ranch upside down seems to me wholly unwarranted. The police severely dropped the ball there, IMHO.