GUILTY CA - Richard Hamlin for domestic violence, El Dorado Hills, 2005

Sacramento defense attorney Richard W. Hamlin, charged with breaking his wife's ribs, fracturing her nose and torturing her for years, testified Thursday that he held a Bible-study class in his El Dorado Hills home for more than a year.
"I was in men's group Bible study," Hamlin told the El Dorado Superior Court jury that soon will decide the fate of the 45-year-old former Sacramento prosecutor.

In his testimony, which will resume Tuesday, Hamlin denied abusing his wife during their 20-year marriage, accusing her of attacking him on one night with a 3-foot sword that narrowly missed him and left a gaping slice in the couple's bed.

In animated and sometime startling testimony, Hamlin told jurors that his wife was suffering from "flashbacks" because her father had molested her as a child.
He said that through hypnosis, behavior control and the threat of harm, his wife was "predisposed" to further abuse as an adult.

Through "memory sessions" involving the review of family letters and photos, Hamlin said, he and his wife spent hours and sometimes days working on filling gaps of her childhood memories. Susan Hamlin later turned against him and conspired with Satanic cultists, including her father, to murder him as a "Christian trophy," Hamlin contends.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/13958002p-14792348c.html

Really bizzare case. I couldn't find a whole lot on it, but here is a link to an article written by Hamlin detailing the satantic conspiracy aspect:

[font='Trebuchet MS',Arial,sans-serif]
"Two years ago my wife began to reveal a lifetime of child molest, rape, and torture at the hands of Sidney Siemer. She revealed that he continued to sexually abuse her throughout our marriage. She claimed that the method of control he would use to enable him to continue with incestuous sex was through brainwashing, hypnosis, and a complex method of mind control which began at birth and continued for 47 years. My wife finally revealed that our children had been molested and raped by Siemer and that he had my wife participate as well."[/font]

http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=36&contentid=2967&page=2

Maybe it is just me. But I have a lot of difficulty believing anything said by a guy who has beaten his wife. And that he tried to "cure" her through religion and isolation doesn't make him any more believable, IMO.

After Richard W. Hamlin's wife backed out of a plan to murder her husband in a satanic cult ritual, she got him arrested on spousal abuse charges, Hamlin testified this week.
"To go spousal was part of the plan," the Sacramento lawyer said of his wife, Susan Hamlin.
In journals, conversations with others and in a confession to El Dorado County sheriff's detectives, Susan Hamlin admitted to being part of an elaborate satanic plot involving child molestation, incest and prostitution.

But after she recanted her story, she planted a "paper trail," including hiding domestic violence pamphlets in her cookbooks, testified Richard Hamlin, who is facing felony charges of domestic violence, child endangerment and torture.

Three of his four children, ages 10, 13 and 18, told jurors that initially they supported their father because he was beating the "demons out of mommy."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/13985668p-14819216c.html

Jan. 11, 2006- Hamlin guilty of torture
Richard William Hamlin faces a life sentence after his conviction for torture in the Placerville trial that also brought guilty verdicts against the 45-year-old criminal defense attorney for corporal injury to a spouse.

Hamlin, who was acquitted on several other charges including false imprisonment and criminal threats, shook his head from side to side Tuesday after each juror stated “guilty” on the torture charge, the most serious Hamlin allegation he faced.

Jurors said they were deadlocked on three of the 18 felony charges filed against Hamlin.

He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 6.

More: http://www.mtdemocrat.com/articles/2006/01/16/news_stories/g1101_n.txt

GOOD LORD!!!

The only thing worth listening to in this whole stupid crazy trial, are the children. They're the only ones who don't open their mouths and lunacy spills out.

If it weren't for the children saying the father had beaten the mother, I swear, who knows what to believe in this crazy story.

Both of them sound like they have organic brain disorders.

And the father in law, who was claimed by BOTH to have molested and abused the woman, wasn't called as a witness at trial. I'd sure as heck like to hear what he had to say, except maybe when he opens his mouth he's as crazy as that husband and wife are.

The husband sounds like quite a good storyteller - he almost managed to make something up that was wild enough that he could get away with some pretty severe abuse! And he picked someone vulnerable enough that she couldn't defend herself properly. Good thing the kids were able to come out of the spell enough to testify.

Here is Richard's side of the story: http://geocities.com/richardwhamlin/

Also of note is Ted Gunderson's involvement as the private investigator.

Richard's response to the jury's verdict:

Vindication and heartbreak. Those are the two emotions I felt as a jury announced its verdicts on Tuesday, January 10. 2006. Vindication: I know that many of you must wonder what vindication can come from hearing verdicts that include a guilty verdict to torture which carries a life term. However the verdicts that were returned cleared me of committing the specific act of violence that my former wife claimed and upheld my wife's first claim to the police that the serious injuries inflicted upon her were done by an associate of her father, Dr. Sidney Siemer. Further, the inconsistent findings, guilty as to torture but not guilty of every count which constitutes the basis for torture, leaves me with a very compelling argument to the have the torture verdict set aside.

I cannot explain what it feels like to have another make false claims against you. For two years I have had to read that I attacked my wife with a sword, that I broke her ribs and nose and that I slept with her by my side while I held a loaded handgun. These were just a few of the lies that Susan Hamlin put forth to avoid prosecution of her and her father, Sidney Siemer, for multiple counts of child molestation.

After, the verdicts of January 10, 2006 I can stand up knowing that a jury has cleared me of those claims.

During my trial I faced 18 counts, 6 enhancements and 3 misdemeanor lesser offenses. The Grand Jury that indicted me charged me with the most serious offense of Torture, penal code 206, and then filed the remaining counts and enhancements as offenses which constitute the basis for torture.

Please see link for entire article.

Edited by DP due to copyright infringement.

Bottom line: What was this guy convicted of? Has he been sentenced yet?? :waitasec:

THese two both sound like fruit loops.

Neither of them needs to have custody of a child.

Whats scary is that this guy was a lawyer so he functioned in the real world like a normal proffessional adult.

Shame on those who ridicule this woman.I watched the 20/20 program with interviews with Richard and Susan Hamlin and the children,I came here to see if there was a thread on the case.I am disappointed in the negative posts I read against Susan Hamlin,she and the children are victims of Richard's abuse.This aired in 2007.He was sentenced to life and as of 2013 lost all appeals.Susan is helping families of domestic violence.

I know this thread is 9 yrs. old but these comments will be around for her children to see.

cuffem said:

Shame on those who ridicule this woman.I watched the 20/20 program with interviews with Richard and Susan Hamlin and the children,I came here to see if there was a thread on the case.I am disappointed in the negative posts I read against Susan Hamlin,she and the children are victims of Richard's abuse.This aired in 2007.He was sentenced to life and as of 2013 lost all appeals.Susan is helping families of domestic violence.

I know this thread is 9 yrs. old but these comments will be around for her children to see.

Click to expand...

This case is not about domestic violence at all. Domestic violence was the cover story they used to convict RH and put him away. The ONLY reason Richard Hamlin got a life sentence is because he went after Dr. Siemer and tried to expose what Siemer was a part of. This case touches on something much bigger that few even know about.

I can understand some people just looking at the surface and being confused, but this case goes much deeper and deserves more consideration than it has gotten here.

If anyone wants to look past the domestic violence claims to what this case is really about, be aware that three people were assisting Richard Hamlin into looking into Dr. Siemer: Gary Webb, Ted Gunderson, and Michael Riconosciuto. Webb was soon murdered (made to look like a suicide). Riconosciuto was already in prison on false drug charges, and Gunderson, a former FBI agent, was smeared. You need to look beyond the cover story to what lies beneath if you want to understand.

A man is behind bars for life for trying to expose the truth. You should care about that.