Anand Jon Seeks Justice

India Post News Service

LOS ANGELES: Anand Jon has been in jail now for almost six months. In court on December 6, the Deputy District Attorney made a motion to increase bail. She has made this same motion numerous times in the past. In fact, the current judge in this case pointed that out also: "At least three times in a different court that I can recall and the last hearing in this court. Do you have anything new to argue?" (paraphrased) "Yes, your honor, change of circumstance.

New York has now indicted Anand Jon." (Reader, keep in mind that an indictment in front of a grand jury contains no defense. The prosecution presents their case and is supposed to show exculpatory evidence.

That is, evidence that the prosecution has that supports the other side. In this case, they didn't do that. In fact, they may have done just the opposite and hidden that evidence, those facts, that testimony.) What I've learned from the defense is incredible.

Out of the 40 counts in New York, 30 are duplicates of the other jurisdictions. Repeating, because this is important, 30 out of the 40 counts are the same - that's 75% of the charges against! That's amazing! (...and, surprisingly, not double jeopardy.) Many of these girls have claimed to have been assaulted in multiple states. In fact, one girl is claiming New York, Dallas, TX and Los Angeles, CA. On top of that, multiple infractions in each place.

Think about it, intelligent reader, if you were assaulted one time, just one time, would you go back the next day? and the next? and the next? then travel to different states with your assaulter? Not logical, but the DDA would want you to believe this.

Common sense points to a ridiculous and fictitious story. Now, we can't claim that these girls are lying, however, if they are and are proven in court then perjury is a felony that carries 2, 4 or 6 years per charge or instance. Food for thought. The judge challenged the prosecutor this day.

He grilled her on her motion, why it wasn't different essentially from previous motions. Also, when she stated that he would flee the United States if released on bail the judge jumped all over her for factual basis for that argument. End result, there was none and the DDA had to admit it to the court. She was making a biased statement based on personal opinion and not on fact.

The defense asked the court to abide by its previous ruling and let the amount of bail, $2.095 million remain. (The prosecutor again requested that it be raised to 5.18MM.) The defense discussed the New York complainants and that the prosecutor in LA nor NY would give the names so that they could accurately compare each jurisdiction.

The defense requested that the LA court handle the LA matter, NY the NY matter and TX handle TX. If each jurisdiction was concerned with all the others the bail would increase exponentially in each place and be monstrous as a result.

The judge in this case does not want to lose this case to NY and hinted at a "no bail" solution for LA while waiting for New York to decide its bail. The defense made a plea for the court to maintain the bail at its current level and wait until New York decides during which they promised to not get Anand Jon out during this process.

The predicament that the prosecution has crafted is perilous. It was brought out in court that the ADA from NY came to LA to meet with the DA's office. Then they planned the indictment in such a way as to keep Anand Jon from making bail. In fact, NY has threatened that if he made bail they would hold a second indictment with two more girls waiting in the wings. Isn't this considered a threat? Unfair treatment?

At the very least unlawful? Possibly holding on to two additional complainants just in case the accused legally makes bail? Legally, the 8th Amendment to the US Constitution allows for any person accused of a crime to have a fair and reasonable bail set. In New York, they can set a "no bail" on a person for certain alleged crimes.

The NY prosecutor has threatened to extradite Anand Jon away from LA and remand him in NY (set "no bail"). The LA courts (already through a balance of this process) don't want that to happen. Hence the Catch-22: you can't post bail in LA (as to properly aide in your own defense) if you're immediately going to be sent to NY.

This is unfair and unjust and screams of civil liberty violations. How can a man defend himself if the prosecution collaborates with other jurisdictions to keep him incarcerated? Sanjana Jon made a very strong statement: "As a social activist I have worked in helping women and children. Rape is terrible and any man who actually commits such an act should be punished - but what's worse is to accuse, lie and frame someone of rape or sexual assault.

The people who lie and commit perjury and destroy people's lives should face the same time if not more in prison.

" In the Duke case the three students were found innocent and the DA was charged with prosecutorial misconduct but what happened to the so called victim? Nothing? The legal system should protect innocent people from conspirators who use the system for personal gain.

I am a woman and logically I can not understand how these alleged victims traveled around to different events, "partied", posed for pictures, photo shoots and red carpet events and many have even traveled to India with the family! Does that make any sense after an alleged attack? Out of the innumerable so-called alleged victims there is only one single rape kit which everyone fails to mention came back with no signs of rape or trauma. So on what basis is this innocent man being jailed and not even being given a chance to defend himself?"

Anand Jon: Crucifying the Defendant before Trial

Los Angeles, CA / TEN-Media


The Anand Jon injustice continues. For those of you catching up late, Anand Jon is a celebrity fashion designer. It is alleged that he was inappropriate with some of the models that essentially wanted to "ride his coattails to success [sic] ( New York Times, April 15 2007). His defense team asserts that they are trumped up charges made by "wanna-be's" that are craving publicity, fame and potentially fortune. That may be true as one of the complainants in the case went on television the same day ( May 16, 2007) that the prosecutor relayed in court that "no sexual assault victim craves publicity". So much for that argument. Apparently the DDA has never worked in the entertainment industry (or watched television).

What motivates these young women? There have been many exposes about today's progressive and aggressive culture. (Remember the movies Kids, Cruel Intentions and recently, John Tucker Must Die and even Ugly Betty. All these pieces contained manipulation in today's youth). Look at Myspace. On these networking websites, these teens and young adults try to outdo each other through sex, drugs, violence, etc. Innocence in today's youth has been replaced with manipulation, conniving and blackmail. Lying has gone beyond cheating on the math quiz and has moved to affecting real lives in a real world with real consequences.

This trial has been an example of how the one-sided the criminal legal process is. As us journalists sit in the courtroom and watch this process we are reminded that the beginning of any criminal court proceeding leans toward the prosecution. They call the shots at the start of the process. The defense basically watches from the sidelines, interjecting occasionally. Many of us were looking forward to the preliminary hearing. That is where the defense team would have had the opportunity to cross examine the prosecution's witnesses. However, curiously, the DA's office chose to skip that part of the process. Why? Many of the attorneys contacted mentioned several words when pressed to react to this situation including unethical, suspicious and unscrupulous. Why? "…because it taints the process," said one criminal defense attorney. "a good DA will use the prelim process to strengthen their case. They knock out the weak counts and proceed with strongest. If they skip that process they are worried that the entire case may get dismissed." [which was witnessed firsthand on Sept 26 in another case in front of the same court.] "They are essentially throwing as much at the wall as they can, hoping that something will stick."

Rushing to grand jury produces an indictment. The court proceeding is referred to as the arraignment. One defense attorney stated that the process is so one-sided that "you can indict a ham sandwich". Why? Because there is no cross examination by the defense. The prosecution parades their witnesses in a closed door, secret proceeding in front of the "grand jury" consisting of 23 total. The decision (which is characteristically 99.9% in favour of continuing to the trial) is sealed and released at a later date, thus keeping the defense in the dark.

In this case the prosecution has added 11 new counts (not 57 as TMZ.com, Oct 4, 2007, reported – tmz.com also misrepresented much of what happened in court in that story and sensationalized the balance). Some of these counts are from 2001 and many from the same complainant. What is questionable about this is that only one girl came forward originally to accuse the designer. The rest jumped on the bandwagon after. (Why? See above) That first accuser, according to TMZ, woke up late, took a shower, tried on the designer's clothes, wanted to go to lunch, etc. there were at least 4 witnesses to this, one that they interviewed. A simple call to a rape center or hotline will tell you that this is not the reaction that a rape victim has the next morning. She wants the hell out, not "…good morning, honey, what do you want to do today?"

Referring to the other counts, there are complainants with several identical allegations over a period of time. So are we to believe that if someone is assaulted they continue to be assaulted on different days at different times against their will, if it ever happened at all?

The prosecution would like us to believe that there are now 59 counts meaning 59 individual instances of alleged inappropriateness. And 20 alleged victims? However, when you look closer, you see that many of them are duplicated. (In fact, the prosecution pushed many of the girls to file in Dallas, as stated in the NY Times article referenced above. This was apparently done to increase bail elsewhere as the court has consistently stated that the bail from the Beverly Hills court would not be increased. The court also stated on the record that the defendant is not a flight risk, not a danger to society, and should be allowed to competently defend himself from the outside.)

The DDA, in an apparent "act of desperation" (again, the "throwing everything against the wall" theory or piling on charges so that the case looks bleak - to the defendant, the media and to the public) added more counts / charges from 2001. Are we expected to believe that all of this happened in different jurisdictions for years, without a single complaint filed? What about friends, family or counselors? If these alleged allegations apparently began in 2001, does it seem likely that no one ever complained?

Are we to believe that all these girls were assaulted by a man who lists his address on his website? And invites people into his living and working space? And lives 5 blocks away from the Beverly Hills police station?

Are we to believe that none of these complainants knew how to dial 911? Or knock on a neighbor's door? It would seem that they didn't need to because no crime was committed.

We are smarter then this. We have to be. Stop being spoon-fed. Start questioning. Look at it logically and objectively. I invite everyone out there to do there own due diligence and investigative probing. Don't take things at face value.

We've all watched enough television to realize that reality reflects television just as television reflects reality. I believe that it's ingrained in the minds of today's youngsters. They forget that there is a reality that is a consequence of one's actions. Instead of crucifying a person in the press, media, publications, etc. we should support the truth and hold the prosecution to the highest order of integrity.

There have been too many people in the system that has been proven innocent too late (mostly due to DNA evidence. An innocent man spending one day incarcerated should not be tolerated ( i.e. the Duke Rape case).) In this case, there is something suspicious going on and it is our job as journalists to search for the truth and report it objectively.

All of us know Anand has been framed. He is to undergo trial for crimes he never committed. Being an Indian citizen entangled in a hostile system , helpless, and only two women, his mother and sister, who are leaving no stone unturned in a tremendous effort to save him, the government and people of India should intercede to ensure that Anand's case is re-investigated. There are doubts that the entire case is a conspiracy to destroy an Indian designer who was into big times in US of America. Racial discrimination is also evident in this episode. The case has to be re-investigated in the light of these aspects to clear all suspicion and to ensure that Anand gets justice.

To remain silent now is to give our assent to tyranny, brutality, untruth and miscarriage of justice. As citizens of India, we should persude our Government to act and also remind the Government and people of USA that the freedom and democratic values they proclaim to the world are at stake in this matter.

Let us discuss between us what we can and must do in this matter. Time is running out and Anand, his mother and his sister need all the support, help and succour we can offer.
One of the biggest fashion designer in NEw YORK ... worked his ass out to Reach thr , minted money , made millions , but today 45 cases against him ... just because he is an indian who made big out there ..... well well well 15 unknown woman coming up and puttin these shitty allegations on him and amercian government is so dumb that they cannot figure out that where were all these woman for 5 years , how can they even register such case .... well all you people reading this might be wondering how come i am writing all this because i know ANand bhaiya personally and the only way to get him out of this is all of us being together for him when he needs us the most ................. tHE choICE iS uP tO u , as i say there is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path - GAURAV ANIRUDH GARG

DDA admits no violence, weapons, injuries in Anand Jon Case

India Post News Service

LOS ANGELES: The crowd inside the courtroom went beyond just friends and family. The Anand Jon bail hearing on Wednesday, Nov 7 included community leaders, celebrities, activists, fashion and entertainment insiders, and of course journalists.

The air was heavy with anticipation. The judge seemed in a decent mood. He acknowledged receipt of all the motions filed by prosecution and defense. [Note: At the last hearing on the 25th of Oct the defense gave the DDA 6 days to respond to its motion and the DDA complained about lack of time. This hearing, Nov 7, the DDA gave the defense the response on Nov 5th – 1 day to write it up and submit to the judge.

If the defense requested additional time it would just mean more time in jail for Anand Jon. Notice this "strategy" by the prosecution to keep the defendant incarcerated.] Again, the DDA claims to not have seen the defense response briefing. The judge gives her time to review. The defense makes a statement. The prosecution makes a statement.

The prosecution is pushing for over $5MM bail in this case. The prosecution made statements such as "he is a sexual predator. He is a serial rapist." What happened to alleged and accused? Earlier this year, a judge in Nebraska refused to let the prosecution use the terms sexual assault, rape, victim, etc. during the course of events and trial because "that was what we are here to decide."

Well, isn’t that what we are here to decide? Think of it personally. If your child is up on even a simple charge of stealing from a store, should the DDA stand up and brand him or her a thief in and out of the courtroom? What is the result if later surveillance tapes show that a shelf was bumped into and something fell into your kid’s bag accidentally?

In this example, it was clearly a mistake, but what if the prosecution had already branded the child a thief, burglar, robber, degenerate, delinquent, etc. Innocent until proven otherwise. That is supposed to be the law of the land. Let’s face it; this is not a perfect society. But for the prosecution to call him a serial rapist and a sexual predator is an obvious tactic of brainwashing the public into accepting those statements as the gospel truth - a serious miscarriage of justice.

It appears that the prosecution is trying to influence the future jury even before the trial has begun…of course, the mainstream media is gullibly lapping up all that is fed to them by the prosecution and this in turn plays a major role in this drama of misinformation misguidance.

An important point during the proceedings - The judge asked the prosecution several questions: were there any weapons used? No. Was there any physical force? No. Were there any bodily injuries? No. The judge also asked if he had made all court appearances and ever refused appearance. Again, the answer was "no". So, Anand Jon had made all court appearances fully knowing the additional counts and charges; he never refused to appear and only wants a chance to prove his innocence.

This is a simple case of he-said / she-said (although I notice (as reported by TMZ) that there were witnesses present when some of these alleged assaults occurred). There is no smoking gun from what we’ve heard so far. And there’s been a civil suit filed already. This is clearly suspicious. Not only is it suspicious it is almost hilarious!

This so-called ‘victim’ goes public on prime time TV with a media attention-hungry attorney and tries to cut a sorry figure wailing and whining about what happened to her. Their appearance on Channel 13 news featured her trying to "cry" without shedding a single tear! The judge said that he will only rule on the "new" counts that were added to the grand jury indictment and not touch what the previous court kept level.

What surprised many in the courtroom was a realization that the prosecution can pad charges. In other words, if I’m alleged of assaulting you by touched your left and right arm, those can be considered two charges, not just one charge of assault. This is indicative to what some of the charges are in this case. A prosecutorial trick that serves to increase bail higher than it probably should be. The other court saw this happening and refused to let the DDA succeed.

That’s why the prosecution rushed to grand jury, skipping over preliminary hearing that would have allowed defense cross-examination and possibly dismissed counts. There was disappointment that this court didn’t notice the same. Consequently the judge increased bail to $2.095MM. This should outrage the community. As Anand Jon sits in jail, the family works hard to come up with money and collateral. They have amassed some, but much more is now needed.

The family wouldn’t (or couldn’t on advice of counsel) go into details on the financing. But $2 million is a lot for anyone in this country, especially a first generation family. And this is where the community comes in. First of all, the fact that the bail amount is so high has outraged the community. "Even the most hardened and vicious killers don’t end up with this kind of bail," says a clearly frustrated and angry Saab Singh Bhullar, President of the Walnut gurdwara committee.

And this is where the community comes in…folks this is the same Anand Jon that made you proud and yes the very same Anand Jon that you never tired of praising and claiming him as your own. Today he needs you…he needs your help to get out of jail and prove his innocence.

We all sign checks for mainstream politicians at fundraisers to help them in their election bid….it’s a different matter that its money down the drain because once the politician pockets your check, he’s gone….he does not even remember your name or your face; and neither does he want to. Well it’s a different matter that some of us are naïve and stupid enough to actually believe that our contribution is going to help us in any way.

This is the time that we all need to rally together for Anand. There are many issues related to the bail that have to be addressed on a war footing ….please remember that Anand cannot prove his innocence sitting behind bars. We have to get him out and that can only be done if we all come together and bail him out. As for the skeptics and the naysayers…Anand Jon does not appear to be a flight risk. The judges in multiple courts have agreed.

In fact, in order to keep the bail as low as possible the defense requested a monitoring bracelet. However, bail was still raised. "He could have taken off the first time he was bailed out. He was free and had his passport with him but to him the honorable way was to face the allegations and prove his innocence," said a lady who declined to identify herself. "

First of all this is a case involving a high profile celebrity and this time when he is bailed out he will probably be fitted with a monitoring device to keep track of his whereabouts," she added. SupportAnandJon@gmail.com is monitored by the family and can be contacted to help. There is a support Anand Jon petition on www.epetition.com – search for Anand Jon. Everyone reading this should at the very least sign that petition.