Setback or Opportunity?

Last week, we received some news that left us a little more uncertain as to the fate of Rebecca's case.

That news arrived in the form of a transfer of the case from the appeal court and judge that we had worked so hard in providing a comprehensive understanding of the case to a court in a completely different state. The case has been moved from the State of Jalisco to the State of Guanajuato.

This was done, we have been told, due to a serious backlog in the court in Jalisco. The appeal judge we had worked with is now out of the picture. She had stated to Rebecca's sister that she was working many additional hours and was completely overwhelmed. That gave us some insight as to why she said it would be longer getting a verdict to the appeal than we had initially been told and we were just wrapping our minds around that when this new development was passed on to us.

It has been told to me, by a reputable source in Mexico, that "Any documentation that was entered into the file would be transferred to the new court, and any progress on the case or anything done so far by the Jalisco court would be transferred as well. It will be very important for Rebecca's lawyers to request a meeting with the new Judge and secretaries again like they did in Jalisco."

That source is following up and trying to gain more information and we hope to have some better insight soon.

My personal thoughts are that it appears that it is important that some steps be repeated at this point. Rebecca's PD needs to make contact with the appeal judge and secretary in Guanajuato ASAP. It would probably be a good idea for Barbara and Lucy, the personal family friend acting as interpreter, to to an encore performance, as well. Just when we thought there was some daylight...

On a positive note and as a good reason to proceed with retracing efforts, let's assume for the moment that:

1. The court in Guanajuato is open enough that that they will get started reviewing these newly assigned cases right away

2. Rebecca's case, somehow, is on the top of the stack

3. The reviewing appeal judge and secretary of the court, have no awareness or knowledge of Rebecca or Tri West and will view this case with open minds and see it for all of its deficiencies and lack of proof of Rebecca Roth's guilt.

This may be an opportunity for the case to be reviewed and a positive outcome arrived at for Rebecca in a shorter time than was anticipated in Jalisco. It is important that the PD "strikes while the iron is hot" and that Barbara follow up with the personal side of the story to the new judge as soon as possible. That is to take the proactive and positive stance on behalf of Rebecca as opposed to bemoaning another set back and waiting to see what happens.

This was shocking news and it has us all spinning due to the uncertainty that lies ahead, but I tend to want to look at the positive side and I know that retracing positive actions of the past will only be positive going forward. There is no negative to being positive and proactive.

Let's face it, however this turns out, this is the home stretch and the finish line maybe closer than we could imagine. Another rally to the cause may make all the difference. If there is not a positive outcome, we do have the prisoner transfer to fall back on and according to Maureen Franco, that avenue will not be as devastating as was once believed.

On Sunday, Margie Bouhle of The Oregonian in Portland, OR is going to do another installment in her ongoing coverage of this story of a former Portland resident that has been treated unjustly in a country that has diplomatic ties with the US and that the US has left unaided and ignored, despite efforts to call them to action.

When I began my involvement, one of the first things I did was to send this story to ALL of the top 50 circulation newspapers in the US that I found in a Google search for highest circulation. I received exactly ZERO replies or requests for more info. Absolutely NO interest from anyone.

Margie Bouhle at The Oregonian is the only news outlet that has had continuing coverage and we thank her for her interest and tenacity in following this story. Keep an eye on the Internet at Margie Bouhle's Column for that updated article after Sunday.

Our many thanks go out to Margie and The Oregonian.

Please take a moment to contact your own Senators and Representatives in Congress and make them aware of this woman's plight. Find your rep and contact them through THIS LINK.