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Judy Mikovits has been arrested

Messages
69
On ventura County, 18 November:

International M.E. Association
Whittemores have Dr. Mikovits arrested

http://www.vcsd.org/pr-inmate-list.php

This jail information indicates that she has been charged with:

Level:Felony
Fugitive From Justice

This indicates that they are holding her for extradition to Nevada. These jail records indicate that no bail has been set. She is going to be held without bail until Nov. 22 at 1:30PM when she will have a hearing before Ventura County Superior Court in Room 13.

There is no doubt in my mind that this is the goal of the Whittemores. They are hoping to demoralize Dr. Mikovits and get her to give up research on M.E.

Moderator: content removed.
Wild accusation against the Whittemores, possibly defamatory.

Rule 5. Critiques of individuals or organizations should be done in the spirit of constructive discourse; simply dumping on a person or organization is not conducive to the kind of conversation we strive for.



http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=296455900385991&id=191236810908355
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=249763498415009&id=167610313296995
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
Moderator: quote from moderated post removed.

Wouldnt you too thou if someone was stolen from you which was very valuable and you believed you knew who stole it, report it to police. The police will just follow up reports and take things from there.

No one can be blamed for Mikovits being in jail except whoever the thief is.
 

citybug

Senior Member
Messages
538
Location
NY
Why should you stay in Nevada when you've been abruptly fired? Why don't they share information for the sake of research?
 

Enid

Senior Member
Messages
3,309
Location
UK
By gosh - they are rubbing it in - Felony and Fugitive from Justice - what a dreadful stage to reach. Visions of the whole awfulness dragging on with no further research for us in the meantime (on any side)
 

urbantravels

disjecta membra
Messages
1,333
Location
Los Angeles, CA
Moderator: reference to moderated post removed.

Once people assume that Dr. Mikovits is the person they must be *emotionally* loyal to no matter what, it seems that every new piece of information goes through a filter in which that information only strengthens the idea that she is being unfairly persecuted. I don't follow this logic at all. But it's not logic, it's just overheated emotion. I don't think it does any of us any good to channel our emotions into that kind of thinking.
 

gregf

Senior Member
Messages
144
Location
Sydney Australia
I strongly recomend that no one says anything further about the parties involved.
The PR forum owners can be held responsible legally for libelous comments.
So it is dreadfully unfair to them, when we make such comments.

No one knows who is in the wrong. So if we don't know, then don't say.
 
Messages
20
I have to agree with urbantravels! It seems some are quick to villianize the WPI ...as if their goal is simply to defame and demoralize Mikovits. I think it is important to remember that all this negative attention hurts WPI just as much as Mikovits and I doubt WPI would pursue this lawsuit if it was not important. I personally think it was unfair and a bit self-serving for both WPI and Mikovits (via her lawyer and friend) to make these legal issues so public ..especially on ME/CFS patient forums and blogs ...dragging sick people into their mess and making people feel like they have to choose sides and donate money! I just wish they had considered the effect this was going to have on some ME/CFS people.

The WPI must have presented some compelling evidence to the court in order to get an arrest warrant issued, especially with Mikovits living in another state. If Mikovits does know anything about the missing items, I hope she cooperates with the investigation and lets the court resolve this because otherwise, she will have a very difficult time finding any college or research facility willing to hire her ..with all of this hanging over her head.

It's really quite disgusting that either party let this deteriorate to this level. I just hope Mikovits makes smart decisions.
 

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
and i thought the crick/watson story was exciting....

this will make a great book and movie some day; sadly i won't be around to see it.
 

Ecoclimber

Senior Member
Messages
1,011
FYI I found this on another forum from TooMuch: Mikovits arrest on a felony fugitive warrant is unusual since these type of warrants are executed across other jurisdictional boundaries only if there has been a major felony act committed for a state action. But if the Mikovits was in possession of research material etc on the Fed NIH grant, then a charge could be level that you are transporting stolen goods across state lines and the action is bumped up to the Federal level with the FBI involved. No bail is set on a fugitive warrant for the reason the person was charged with a flight risk crime to avoid prosecution in the first place.

Also this was posted concerning libel and defamation
http://www.defamationlawblog.com/2009/04/articles/damages-1/defamations-greatest-hits/
 

Angela Kennedy

Senior Member
Messages
1,026
Location
Essex, UK
FYI I found this on another forum from TooMuch: Mikovits arrest on a felony fugitive warrant is unusual since these type of warrants are executed across other jurisdictional boundaries only if there has been a major felony act committed for a state action. But if the Mikovits was in possession of research material etc on the Fed NIH grant, then a charge could be level that you are transporting stolen goods across state lines and the action is bumped up to the Federal level with the FBI involved. No bail is set on a fugitive warrant for the reason the person was charged with a flight risk crime to avoid prosecution in the first place.

Also this was posted concerning libel and defamation
http://www.defamationlawblog.com/2009/04/articles/damages-1/defamations-greatest-hits/

Speculation against an innocent woman - let us remember that this experienced scientist is actually innocent at this stage. She has not been charged with anything as yet, may well not be (I'll bet money she never is charged with anything).

The other forum was me/cfs forums, by the way.
 

Cort

Phoenix Rising Founder
Speculation against an innocent woman - let us remember that this experienced scientist is actually innocent at this stage. She has not been charged with anything as yet, may well not be (I'll bet money she never is charged with anything).

The other forum was me/cfs forums, by the way.

She is charged with a felony count of being a fugitive from justice.....apparently (?) because she crossed state borders contrary to an court order.

What is the WPI to do if they believe Dr. Mikovits has taken a substantial amount of information on CFS patients that they need to continue their work? They have certainly asked for it back and Dr. Mikovits has not and apparently will not (if she has it) give it back. The only recourse they have at that point is the legal system.

Dr. Mikovits can't do anything with that data at this point because she has no resources; ie is not affiliated with an organization that can fund that expensive kind of work - so having it out of the WPI's possession is just slowing work down.

But really if you had notebooks and flash drives wouldn't you just copy them and then give them back? If she has them -why doesn't she just do that? Then you have the data you want and the lawsuit goes away. It seems so simple.....
 

Angela Kennedy

Senior Member
Messages
1,026
Location
Essex, UK
She is charged with a felony count of being a fugitive from justice.....apparently (?) because she crossed state borders contrary to an court order.

What is the WPI to do if they believe Dr. Mikovits has taken a substantial amount of information on CFS patients that they need to continue their work? They have certainly asked for it back and Dr. Mikovits has not and apparently will not (if she has it) give it back. The only recourse they have at that point is the legal system.

Dr. Mikovits can't do anything with that data at this point because she has no resources; ie is not affiliated with an organization that can fund that expensive kind of work - so having it out of the WPI's possession is just slowing work down.

But really if you had notebooks and flash drives wouldn't you just copy them and then give them back? If she has them -why doesn't she just do that? Then you have the data you want and the lawsuit goes away. It seems so simple.....

Again. Mere speculation against this scientist. Dr Mikovits is thankfully innocent until proven guilty, and it is clear her arrest is merely that, an arrest, without any crime having been established as being committed.

That this scientist is being held somewhere, possibly in an orange overall, probably with ACTUAL criminals, over the weekend, is, on the other hand, horrific. It shows how dangerous it is to be a supporter of this community - though that is no fault of sufferers, who are largely extremely supportive of this scientist.

I'm posting an account of what was done to myself and Jane Bryant in 2005 (though it is not a complete account of what was done to me during that episode), because it has specific similarities with what is being done to Judy Mikovits here: mainly, abuse of power and 'friendly fire', and how easily people innocent of any crime (as we clearly were) can nevertheless find themselves the subject of unwelcome police attention.

This level of attack on supporters to the ME community does show how in the grip of aggressive oppressive forces this community is.


http://www.theoneclickgroup.co.uk/docume...0STORY.pdf
 
Messages
69
There's one thing worth if Mikovits is who has the data: at least is someone that knows what to do with it. If were any other person just will drop the computers to the trash and remain there for years, being the work really lost.

Anyway I think that if Mikovits has the data she could just make a copy for herself and leave the original in the institute, in case she hadn't noticed.

Anyway, if the author of the subtraction is found, there will be consequences.
 

Cort

Phoenix Rising Founder
I mean if you want the data and they want the data - and you have a lawsuit pending that charges punitive damages - meaning that you could be financially hurt badly - why not just copy the friggin notebooks and flash drives?

If Dr. Mikovits has those materials then there's only two reasons that I can think of she wouldn't just copy them and turn them over - a) she's so mad that she doesn't want THEM to have them 2) there's something on them or in her personal notebooks that she doesn't want the WPI to see.

What else is there? Can anybody else think of anything?

The idea that someone else took the records just does not pan out in my opinion. The records have been sitting there apparently for years and then the day she is fired they just happen to disappear (????). The data disappearance must be connected in one way or another with her termination. It's just too implausible otherwise.

Honestly, if the data doesn't show up in the next couple of weeks - my guess is that all those records on CFS patients and XMRV data are gone for good....
 

Cort

Phoenix Rising Founder
Again. Mere speculation against this scientist. Dr Mikovits is thankfully innocent until proven guilty, and it is clear her arrest is merely that, an arrest, without any crime having been established as being committed.

That this scientist is being held somewhere, possibly in an orange overall, probably with ACTUAL criminals, over the weekend, is, on the other hand, horrific. It shows how dangerous it is to be a supporter of this community - though that is no fault of sufferers, who are largely extremely supportive of this scientist.

I'm posting an account of what was done to myself and Jane Bryant in 2005 (though it is not a complete account of what was done to me during that episode), because it has specific similarities with what is being done to Judy Mikovits here: mainly, abuse of power and 'friendly fire', and how easily people innocent of any crime (as we clearly were) can nevertheless find themselves the subject of unwelcome police attention.

This level of attack on supporters to the ME community does show how in the grip of aggressive oppressive forces this community is.


http://www.theoneclickgroup.co.uk/docume...0STORY.pdf

I agree that jail is ugly - a very unpleasant place to be but I don't think of this as an attack on the ME/CFS community. I see it as a huge disagreement WITHIN the ME/CFS community. This is between the Whittemores and Dr. Mikovits -I don't see any outside oppressors - just a big problem between two important members of the ME/CFS community.

I couldn't get that link to work by the way.
 

Cort

Phoenix Rising Founder
There's one thing worth if Mikovits is who has the data: at least is someone that knows what to do with it. If were any other person just will drop the computers to the trash and remain there for years, being the work really lost.

Anyway I think that if Mikovits has the data she could just make a copy for herself and leave the original in the institute, in case she hadn't noticed.

Anyway, if the author of the subtraction is found, there will be consequences.

Yes, she knows what to do with it; the problem, though, is that she doesn't have the resources to do anything with it - so it might as well be lost. This is a important issue- the WPI appears to be claiming that they can't continue their work on CFS without this data. Dr. Mikovits is out of a job and has no lab to work out of - so what is she going to do with it? I can't think of anything.

So - the CFS community is 'out' in several ways; not only does it look rather dysfunctional at this point (lol) but it sounds like at least some work has stopped at the WPI.