2011.05.04 Verdict Watch

[Madflava]

If that's true, it may be time for AS to tone it down a bit. She has plenty of experience with volatile divorce situations, and she must know the statistic that the most dangerous time for a woman in the marriage is at the time of separation. If she is writing up separation agreements that are over the top, it's time for her to realize that she is pushing a really big trigger for conflict - which is the very last thing a divorce lawyer should be doing.

Well, I dont know why I would have been told that if it wasnt true. My friend has been a divorce attorney for a long time and knows all the players in the RDU area very well.

I was told Alice always comes out with ridiculous first drafts and then the negotiations start. The sep agreement wasnt worth killing over. Just because they're asking for all that stuff didnt mean she was going to get it. They have guidelines for all that.

 

[5bigfish5]

That's hard to say. She had rekindled contact with a very wealthy guy named Brett that she was seeing in 1999. She talked about living with her sister in Ottawa until she was on her feet. She had asked Brad to purchase an interview outfit for interviews she apparently had set up in Canada, but no information was ever provided about those interviews. My experience with interviews is that they are set up within 7-10 days of the first phone call, but I didn't get the impression that Nancy was attending interviews in that timeline, nor that she had a telephone interview. I did get the impression that Nancy told people what she wanted them to know. For example, she told complete strangers personal details about her marriage, possibly because she wanted them to validate that it was a bad marriage, and possibly because she wanted their sympathy. At the same time, she was probably having a very different type of conversation with her "new guy" Brett. Her parents heard of hardship and in that context they gave her a lot of money. I don't think we'll ever know what direction Nancy really wanted to go, and I'm not convinced that she knew where she wanted to go. We have everything from taking the children and leaving the country to working to staying to contacting a realtor (have to wonder why). We heard from her father that she had asked for a loan to buy Brad's interest in the house, so it may even be possible that her parents were prepared to help her buy a house.

It is also possible that Brad was increasingly giving Nancy uneasy feelings. Julie Jensen confided in her neighbors and left them with the evidence to turn over to LE should anything happen to her, and happen it did! I don't remember her family being aware of her feelings, but that case was a while back. At any rate, thank goodness Brad's version of events isn't our only one, he is a proven liar.

 

[macd]

BC should have gotten a lawyer.

True 'dat.
Had he hired a divorce lawyer then, he probably would not have needed to hire a criminal lawyer later.

 

[Guerrmo]

BBM
How about this scenario then: There is this really neat spot in North Raleigh that I stumbled upon a couple weeks ago. My friends want to go on a picnic. while I remember the general area it is in I can't remember just where I should turn off Millbrook road to get there. I put 27609 into the search bar to bring up the map, and have to zoom and scroll a bit to find the name of the road to turn on to get to the right place.

IMHO BC found that secluded site off Fielding Rd while Nancy was on vacation. when he made up his mind to finally get rid of his wife, he just needed to check the name of that road and double check his lefties and righties.

and I will just leave alone the rest of your post.

What you've suggested is certainly plausible, except that in this case, Fielding Drive is right off the main thoroughfare of Holly Springs Road. It's only a single turn, which may be why the prosecutor didn't posit a theory similar to yours. From what I understand, there was only evidence that BC did a search that returned an area that included Fielding Drive, which he probably would have gotten if he had simply done a search on his own address. If he was really trying to find his way to this specific location, I'm left wondering why he didn't use something more suitable like the "Directions" function in Google Maps or Mapquest. The Google Maps thing certainly raises a few eyebrows, but IMO, it's far from conclusive, and well short of what's needed to convict the guy.

For the record, if I was betting real money on it, I would bet that BC probably killed NC, but I don't believe this beyond a reasoable doubt. I just don't think the prosecutor has proven their case and has essentially fallen short of the standard neccessary to convict BC.

 

[Madflava]

Seriously? So now AS is to blame. Her duty is to get her client the best financial and situational outcome possible...not to worry about how the other spouse deals with the realities of a separation. Every good negotiation starts with a high ball offer. BC should have gotten a lawyer.

I didnt blame her for anything. She was doing her job and that's her style.

I just said that her agreement with Brad was business as usual for her. Just because they were asking for it doesnt mean they were going to get it and had BC even gone in for an initial consultation with a lawyer or done an ounce of research online, he would have known that.

 

[CarolinaTitan]

You should re-read the post I was replying to for the full context, and what I was referring to as disingenuous.

If you did read it, then you are agreeing that facts such as: no contact with lawyer in 3 months, couples plans for 7/12, witnesses who testified they seemed fine/normal, etc.. should be ignored because they don't fit the State's case.

I don't understand why so many people are hung up on the pause in lawyer contact. They were trying to get a Green Card for her. Separation and Divorce proceedings do not help you accomplish that.

 

[gracielee]

I think you see domestic violence because you want to see it. This is as much of "divorce" issue as it is a domestic violence issue. I worked in family law and this is tame compared to some of the things I've seen. Forwarding emails, limiting money, emotional abuse in front of children, this is unfortunately not that uncommon. Please point out testimony or some sort of evidence that he behaved like this before the divorce started to come about in the winter of 2008.

CONTROL is a basic of DV. Nancy wanted her green card since 2001. She did not want to come back to N.C. way back then. Brad has hindered her from getting that green card/freedom, the whole time she was here.

Nancy Cooper is DEAD. Hard to deny that. And regardless of what he prosectuion did or didn't *prove*, far more people believe Brad to be factually GUILTY. They may not believe it's been proven beyond a reasonable doubt, but they believe him to be guilty. IIRC, even NCSU stated he 'thought brad probably did it'. The end result of domestic abuse/DV is death.

 

[jrb0124]

I don't understand why so many people are hung up on the pause in lawyer contact. They were trying to get a Green Card for her. Separation and Divorce proceedings do not help you accomplish that.

Then why take a $7,500 retainer to draft a separation agreement?

 

[Palomine]

Seriously? So now AS is to blame. Her duty is to get her client the best financial and situational outcome possible...not to worry about how the other spouse deals with the realities of a separation. Every good negotiation starts with a high ball offer. BC should have gotten a lawyer.

he looked up the lawyers he has now and the phone book was opened that page..so I think he lawyered up

 

[3doglady]

Then why take a $7,500 retainer to draft a separation agreement?

Didn't that take place before BC took his daughter's passport?

 

[gracielee]

Again, that went to money though. They set a budget for the party and she went way over the budget.

Again with the 'she'. Brad chose the pony party, but he didn't want to have to pay for the other kids ponies. Do your children attend the birthday parties of their friends/classmates? Do you PAY for the pony rides/pool fees/bounce houses/gym fees, or what ever the latest kids party craze is? If your child is invited to a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party, do you expect to have to pay for your child to attend? When one throws a party, like brad chose to throw a pony party, then the 'throw-ee' pays for the other kids to attend, not the other way around. Nancy didn't 'go way over the budget', she merely told Brad, the invited children do NOT pay their own way to attend our child's birthday party. That's not the way it's done. If my grandson is having a pizza party, we certainly don't expect the other mom's to pay for their kids pizza, do you?

 

[BrownRice]

I'm only on page 4 or 5 so far (yall are a chatty group today), but I just wanted to state I believe NC could have been killed by BC but not have been a victim of domestic abuse (while she was living). If he killed her, I think he'd had enough of her (and she of him) and lashed out. Simple like that. I didn't really find him that controlling (she came and went as she pleased and had plenty of money). Sure, she didn't have credit cards and extra money (to over spend like she had in the past), but she had enough.

So, I don't understand the whole domestic abuse angle of this. There is no evidence she was abused (outside of the murder). Obviously murder is the ultimate abuse, but I just don't think she was a victim PRIOR to that.

 

[Grammy Jean]

What you've suggested is certainly plausible, except that in this case, Fielding Drive is right off the main thoroughfare of Holly Springs Road. It's only a single turn, which may be why the prosecutor didn't posit a theory similar to yours. From what I understand, there was only evidence that BC did a search that returned an area that included Fielding Drive, which he probably would have gotten if he had simply done a search on his own address. If he was really trying to find his way to this specific location, I'm left wondering why he didn't use something more suitable like the "Directions" function in Google Maps or Mapquest. The Google Maps thing certainly raises a few eyebrows, but IMO, it's far from conclusive, and well short of what's needed to convict the guy.

For the record, if I was betting real money on it, I would bet that BC probably killed NC, but I don't believe this beyond a reasoable doubt. I just don't think the prosecutor has proven their case and has essentially fallen short of the standard neccessary to convict BC.

He also goggled his zip code to check weather, so it appears that is a habit of his. I am betting he had driven or biked by the Fielding Drive area more than once and knew the directions well, I believe right before lunch he was anxiously visualizing his plans for the evening in his head and just wanted a quick peek at the area he would be visiting early the next morning. It begins and ends at Fielding Drive for me I could never hare Reasonable doubt with that in evidence!

 

[cityslick]

Again with the 'she'. Brad chose the pony party, but he didn't want to have to pay for the other kids ponies. Do your children attend the birthday parties of their friends/classmates? Do you PAY for the pony rides/pool fees/bounce houses/gym fees, or what ever the latest kids party craze is? If your child is invited to a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party, do you expect to have to pay for your child to attend? When one throws a party, like brad chose to throw a pony party, then the 'throw-ee' pays for the other kids to attend, not the other way around. Nancy didn't 'go way over the budget', she merely told Brad, the invited children do NOT pay their own way to attend our child's birthday party. That's not the way it's done. If my grandson is having a pizza party, we certainly don't expect the other mom's to pay for their kids pizza, do you?

There something about this I don't understand either. If he couldn't afford this kind of a party, why have it then? Throw a party that's cheaper and if you really want to give your kid a pony ride, do it seperate with just the child. Was it testified that this was only BC's idea?

 

[CarolinaTitan]

What you've suggested is certainly plausible, except that in this case, Fielding Drive is right off the main thoroughfare of Holly Springs Road. It's only a single turn, which may be why the prosecutor didn't posit a theory similar to yours. From what I understand, there was only evidence that BC did a search that returned an area that included Fielding Drive, which he probably would have gotten if he had simply done a search on his own address. If he was really trying to find his way to this specific location, I'm left wondering why he didn't use something more suitable like the "Directions" function in Google Maps or Mapquest. The Google Maps thing certainly raises a few eyebrows, but IMO, it's far from conclusive, and well short of what's needed to convict the guy.

For the record, if I was betting real money on it, I would bet that BC probably killed NC, but I don't believe this beyond a reasoable doubt. I just don't think the prosecutor has proven their case and has essentially fallen short of the standard neccessary to convict BC.

It's only 1.6 miles from his house off a major road. Do you need discrete directions in your immediate vicinity that you've been living in for 7 years?

 

[RaleighNative]

If that's true, it may be time for AS to tone it down a bit. She has plenty of experience with volatile divorce situations, and she must know the statistic that the most dangerous time for a woman in the marriage is at the time of separation. If she is writing up separation agreements that are over the top, it's time for her to realize that she is pushing a really big trigger for conflict - which is the very last thing a divorce lawyer should be doing.

From the evidence/documents/testimony in this trial, I came to the opinion that AS is the stereotypical money-hungry divorce lawyer. By initiating a ridiculous first draft, AS was ensuring ugliness and a lot of back-and-forth between the divorcing spouses...thus ensuring a steady line of income for herself from any divorce between BC and NC.

I don't think AS had any interest in advising her client to work it out amicably for the sake of her family and children. AS wanted the max amount of billable hours possible. JMO.

 

[Guerrmo]

He also goggled his zip code to check weather, so it appears that is a habit of his. I am betting he had driven or biked by the Fielding Drive area more than once and knew the directions well, I believe right before lunch he was anxiously visualizing his plans for the evening in his head and just wanted a quick peek at the area he would be visiting early the next morning. It begins and ends at Fielding Drive for me I could never hare Reasonable doubt with that in evidence!

Sounds reasonable, but probably still needs help from something else, physical evidence, more CE, etc... What are you trying to say in your last sentence, "It begins and ends at Fielding Drive for me I could never hare Reasonable doubt with that in evidence"?

 

[gracielee]

LOL

every time I see it I think "if the wind changes you'll stay like that" lol

The first time I saw it, I thought,' my goodness, that certainly is one angry poster'. :great: Then I thought, 'I don't think I'd post such an unflattering photo of myself here.' And finally, after seeing in numerous times, the light bulb in my head snapped on! :floorlaugh:

 

[jrb0124]

Didn't that take place before BC took his daughter's passport?

precipitated by NC hiding both passports.

 

[CarolinaTitan]

Then why take a $7,500 retainer to draft a separation agreement?

They were going to get separated and divorced. If you read the separation agreement, she would have gone back to Canada (because no green card)and he would have to Fly up every other weekend to see the girls...or fly them and NC down if he couldn't fly up. Easily another $1000 per month in expense on top of $2000+ Child Support and then Alimony. Clearly, BC was looking for alternatives to that and getting her a Green Card, staying here and having joint custody would have cut that bill in half. Unfortunately, he decided to go with Plan C.....