It's a dangerous game.

            I just found out how dangerous the game is.  I never set out to beat the system.  I just began acting on my general instincts of right and wrong.  If I was going to lose time with my girls, I didn’t want to pay a crooked lawyer tens of thousands of dollars to do it.  Win or lose, I called the shots and I will never ask what if.  That has been my philosophy and I found out that my strategy couldn’t have been more right.

            I always do research on Dr. Edward J. Connor, of Connor and Associates, PLLC.  I Google his name almost everyday to see if there is any new information on him.  Two weeks ago I found out Dr. Connor’s office was involved in an FBI investigation.  His office manager, Catherine Cahill, pled guilty to unauthorized use of a credit card to the tune of $126,558.13.  This past week I found an Indiana appellate case involving the former Judge in my trial, who recently withdrew from my case, and Dr. Connor.  When I reviewed the appellate case I knew I had to contact the father who was involved immediately. 

            The easiest part of fighting from your back is the thought that you can’t fall down any further.  I have had my girls nearly half the time during the course of this divorce.  If Dr. Connor’s evaluation somehow flew, I didn’t think it would be likely that the Judge would wander too far from the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines.  I thought he would order joint custody or close to equal time; man was I wrong. 

            I spoke with a guy who did everything by the system.  He had a lawyer.  He got his own professional witness to testify in court.  His professional witness testified to the biases of the evaluation conducted by Dr. Connor.  His witness testified to the inconsistencies that existed in the evaluation.  His professional expert was shocked to find out that the Judge didn’t take any of her testimony into account and gave the father less than the minimum time recommended by the State of Indiana because that was Dr. Connor’s recommendation.  What makes this even more disturbing is this was going on at the same time I was trying to get the evaluation case file from Dr. Connor.  On one hand you have a professional expert testifying to the problems in the evaluation, and in another case, I am filing pleading after pleading trying to figure out why the Judge isn’t forcing Dr. Connor to follow the rules and release the case file.  Why isn’t Judge Carl Taul questioning Dr. Connor’s practices?  It’s the Judge’s responsibility maintain control of those operating in his courtroom.  Dr. Connor was being fought from two very different angles; the status-quo legal way and my way.  If the Judge Taul ruled that Dr. Ed Connor’s evaluation was flawed or inadmissible in either case, he would have had a hard time letting it go in the other.  If he threw Dr. Connor out of both trials, the question that arises is how many other evaluations has Dr. Connor done for Judge Carl H. Taul of Ripley County and was Judge Taul aware that the other evaluations may be bogus as well?  Did Judge Taul do the right thing?  No.  He gave a loving father less time with his 8 year old son than recommended by the State of Indiana.  Luckily the father didn’t quit fighting for the right to see his son and the appellate court reversed the trial court’s decision on parenting time and sent it back to the trial court.  Ripley Circuit Court Judge Carl Taul gave me several conflicting reasons why he wouldn’t order the release of Dr. Connor’s case file and was trying to march me to the final hearing.  Judge Taul continued to communicate with Dr. Connor outside the presence of the parties.  Luckily I found the case of Garrard v. Stone less than three weeks before my final hearing and the Judge recused himself after I filed a Motion for a Change of Judge.

            Dr. Connor won’t quit.  He wants to hurt me.  I found out that a guy with a lawyer and a professional expert got less than the minimum time.  What do you think Dr. Connor would have said about me in Court?  Dr. Connor wrote a letter to the Court asking for protection from having to talk to me because I appeared threatening.  He told the Judge that I may suffer from reality distortion.  Dr. Connor told the Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology that I was potentially dangerous.  He told the Board that he had contacted an attorney about filing criminal and civil charges against me.  If I would have had to appear at the final hearing in December, I may have not been able to see my girls at all.  Ask yourself why Dr. Connor is working so hard to stay involved in this case.  He could have easily said that he felt threatened by me so he was withdrawing from the case.  Does he care about the welfare of my kids; probably not because he keeps telling the Judge and the Board how dangerous I may be to him but he has never mentioned that I may a hazard to my children or their mother.  It appears that he wants to hurt me because I continue to demonstrate that he doesn’t follow the law.  The only problem is that the Judge didn’t seem to notice (or care about) what Dr. Connor was trying to do to me.

            The evaluation report recommended that I seek Cognitive Behavioral Therapy “as it relates to parenting.”  My treating therapist and medical doctor for ADHD didn’t even know what that meant.  If the guy who had a lawyer and an expert got a raw deal in court, could you imagine what the self represented dad who won’t keep his mouth shut would have gotten?

            Judge Carl H. Taul of the Ripley Circuit Court gave numerous conflicting answers as to why Dr. Connor didn’t have to release the evaluation case file and failed to hold Dr. Connor accountable for misleading the Court and the parties of the child custody evaluation.  My former attorney, Thomas Blondell of Zerbe, Garner, Miller and Blondell, kept saying “I don’t know if it’s a bad evaluation.  I’m not a psychologist.”  Mr. Blondell charged me several thousand dollars for listening to me and then fired me citing “communication problems” when it came time to question Dr. Connor.  Dr. Connor said I wasn’t entitled to the evaluation case file because I was representing myself and then said that it was against the law for him to release the case file to me.  The Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology ruled that there were no apparent violations of law in my 237 page complaint against Dr. Connor and declined to even investigate it.  The Assistant Attorney General of Kentucky, Mark Brengelman, tried to convince me to only deal with his office and to not contact the Board directly.  Now Mr. Brengelman deletes my emails before he reads them because I have asked too many questions. 

            I may have re-written the rules of thinking outside of the box.  How do you think you battle powerful entities that don’t follow the rules?  You make up your own.  I got the Judge to remove himself from the case and then I subpoenaed him to appear to testify at the final hearing.  I requested a copy of Dr. Connor’s response to my complaint that I filed with the Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology.  No one had ever done this and I could see why the Board could just sweep the problem under the rug.  The Deputy Attorney General of Indiana file a motion to quash (throw out) the subpoena of Judge Taul because I didn’t tender the required fees for the expense relating to appearing for a subpoena and they claimed that the Court speaks from the Court’s orders and the court record so the Judge doesn’t have to appear.  I filed a response stating there is no official record or order explaining what was said between Judge Taul and Dr. Connor when they decided to communicate outside the presence of the parties and the Indiana Judicial Code of Conduct states that a judge is not allowed to accept compensation or reimbursement for expenses if it gives the appearance of judicial impropriety.  (I keep thinking about Rodney Dangerfield in Caddyshack handing the guy a wad of cash and saying “keep it fair, keep it fair.”)  I may be subpoenaing the whole Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology to testify what laws Dr. Connor is allowed to break when conducting child custody evaluations.

            All of these “officials” are backtracking.  I backtrack all of the time when I am putting my daughters’ toys together.  I get cocky and think I am above the instructions and before long I am backtracking because I have extra parts; but failing to follow the instructions is not against the law.  These officials are backtracking, not to correct errors or missed observations, but to cover themselves for failing to do their jobs in the first place.  What do the actions of all of these “officials” have in common; they all seem to have an interest in making sure Dr. Connor doesn’t fall.  They also seem to take offense to all of the problems I caused.  Sorry that I forgot to be intimidated.

            Tell me what you think.  Dr. Connor said he found my writings to be confusing and difficult to follow.  Dr. Connor told the Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology that he had a “two very large binders” full of documentation that supports his opinions of me but he didn’t provide them to the Board.  Dr. Connor’s office manager was investigated by the FBI for making $126,558 worth of unauthorized charges with Dr. Connor’s corporate credit card.  Catherine Cahill pled guilty in a U.S. District Court, and somehow it gets released to the media around 6 PM on a Friday evening where it would receive the least amount of coverage and was limited to a few local news websites.  If a server from Applebee’s were to steal a few hundred dollars by taking unauthorized tips from the customer’s credit cards, there would be a week long exposé.  I have someone on a Yahoo business listing review site personally attacking me for “nitpicking” Dr. Connor.  Personally I think it is Dr. Connor.  Something ain’t right folks.

            I continue to post this information on my blog to get the word out and to help people who have been victimized by Dr. Connor.  Please pass this story on as I hope somebody with some kind of authority will have the nerve to do something about it.  People want to point fingers at deadbeat dads yet no one cares about the dads who fight tooth and nail just to have an equal part of their children’s lives.  Where is Oprah, Dr. Phil, Ellen, Glenn Sacks, or Alec Baldwin when you need them?  What about Hannity, Michael Savage, or Bill O’Reilly?  Where’s Mike Wallace, Steve Kroft, Leslie Stahl and the rest of the 60 Minutes gang?  How come the “voice of the common man”, Willie Cunningham of 700 WLW, hasn’t come to the rescue?  If someone talks to President Obama, tell him I’m trying to make the world a better place by fighting for change in the family court system.  I wonder what Barack Obama would do if Michelle tried to take Malia and Sasha away from him.  If you see President Obama, tell him I love my daughters just as much as he loves his.  It would be great to see someone dive in and stop evil people like Dr. Edward J Connor Psy. D. but I think I’d better keep working until the cavalry arrives.  Thanks for stopping by. 

For more information visit www.dadsfamilycourtexperience.com

Dr. Edward J. Connor's Criminal Office Manager

To all of the people who thought my story was outrageous, this may top everything http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20090321/NEWS0107/903210412/. 

This is the story how Dr. Edward J. Connor’s office manager, Catherine Cahill, pled guilty to unauthorized use of a corporate credit card.  The FBI reported the charges totaled $126,558.  The report didn’t say if Catherine Cahill used a credit card belonging to Connor and Associates or if she was stealing from someone else.

What’s next?  A scandalous sex-triangle?  Laboratory experiments on prison inmates?  Nothing would surprise me.  Did the Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology not investigate my complaint because there was an ongoing investigation of Catherine Cahill, the office manager of Connor and Associates?  Maybe the government came after her because she was going to go public with Dr. Connor’s actions.  (That’s a joke.  I’m not that paranoid, but at this point it seems anything is possible.)

I’d provide some commentary but I really don’t know what else to say.  If you don't know the story of my adventures with Dr. Connor, learn more at www.dadsfamilycourtexperience.com.    

Dan vs the State of Kentucky (and they just spotted me 30 points)

I found out today what I hoped wouldn’t be true.  The Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology is corrupt.  I’m not saying that every member of the Board is aware of malicious conduct, but they are part of it. 

I wrote in my last blog that the Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology was going to review whether or not to reconsider my 237 page complaint.  I thought it was worth the trip to Frankfort, KY, in an attempt to keep them honest.  I have been trying to get a copy of Dr. Edward J. Connor’s case file for the child custody evaluation he performed since March 6, 2008.  I am entitled to the case file from the custody evaluation under Kentucky Revised Statute 403.300.  The case file is considered a health record which I am entitled to by law.  I drove all the way to Frankfort, KY to find out that Richard (Applegate, I believe) stated that he reviewed my request to reconsider the complaint and recommended that there wasn’t any reason to reconsider it.  He also said that there was no new evidence to support the complaint.  The Board voted unanimously to not reconsider my complaint.  Game over; thanks for playing… right?  Not so fast.

I wasn’t mad.  I was frustrated because I felt that I had to go up against the Kentucky Psych Board now.  I didn’t storm out.  (I did hold a small sign on my lap for a short time that read KRS 403.300.  That’s the Kentucky law that says I’m entitled to the case file.)  I just sat there.  At one point the assistant attorney general’s boss, I’m still trying to figure out who he is, asked me if I was there to represent another psychologist.  I guess if I act like it long enough people may just assume that I am an attorney.  I wasn’t just going to walk out of the meeting room because I didn’t want to take the chance of missing something.  The Board had to go into “executive session” so I had to leave the room for a little while because whatever they were going to talk about was supposed to be double top secret or something.

COME ON, do you think I’m a sucker?  Executive session my arse.  Do you know how many suspicious and/or unethical things have happened during this whole ordeal with the custody evaluator?  IT’S MY JOB TO HEAR WHAT HAPPENS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS.  Mark Brengelman, Assistant Attorney General and Counsel to the Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology, sounded like the apocalypse was upon them.  He told the Board that I threatened to subpoena them to the final hearing in my divorce.  He kept saying that he didn’t want to see this happen because he couldn’t represent them in Indiana because he wasn’t licensed to practice law in Indiana.  He told the Board to contact him immediately if they receive a subpoena.  He told the board that this was a very unusual situation.  I never considered myself to be a usual guy.  If you look up “thinking outside of the box” you may see my picture.

I have to tell you that it was rather hard to keep from smiling when Mr. Brengelman let me back into the room.  He was very nice.  At the end of the meeting he told me that he would be with me in a minute because he said that I had wanted to meet with him.  Gee, that’s funny; I never requested to talk to him.

Mr. Brengelman was super nice to me.  He said that his office would be happy to provide me with any documentation I needed and they would prepare it so it would be worthy to submit to court.  I told Mr. Brengelman that I still had some concerns that the Board ruled that there were no apparent violations in my complaint.  KRS 403.300 states that I am entitled to the custody evaluation case file.  Dr. Connor’s contract says I am entitled to the case file.  Dr. Connor still hasn’t provided me with a copy of the case file and the Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology still doesn’t see any “apparent violations”?  Mr. Brengelman said he couldn’t speak for the Board but kept trying to shake my hand and make some kind of deal that I would only talk to his office.  Mr. Brengelman gave me the old “we’re just trying to help you out” bit.  He also suggested that I get an attorney to deal with the matter.  I’m sure he’d like that.  Attorneys don’t subpoena judges, entire psychological boards, and try to hold people to a level of accountability.  I did get to tell Mr. Brengelman that I wasn’t lawyer or psychologist but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once.  I love that one.  He just looked at me with a stone face and said that he had seen the commercial. 

Something occurred to me.  I sent a letter to Mr. Brengelman a couple of weeks ago with copies of altered health records that came from Dr. Connor’s office.  I received a letter from Mr. Brengelman confirming that he received my correspondence and that the Board was going to review reopening my complaint during their March 2, 2009 meeting.  When they brought up my complaint they said that there was no new evidence.  What happened to my altered health record?  Mr. Brengelman was responsible for supplying the Board with additional evidence and he was responsible for telling the Board in a closed session that I had threatened to subpoena the whole Board and he would not be able to represent them.  This was after the Board voted against reopening my complaint upon the advice of “Richard” and Mr. Brengelman.  Good call counselor.  It’s good advice to keep the Board from having any further contact with me.  It doesn’t do anything to protect the public, but it’s a good strategy to keep the Board safe; at least in theory because I’m sure he didn’t count on anyone else knowing what went on in the secret meeting.

What is in Dr. Edward J. Connor’s case file?  What has this guy done?  I’ve had an attorney, a judge, a psychologist, the Assistant Attorney General of Kentucky, and the entire Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology work hard to keep this guy safe.  I will give the benefit of the doubt to a few of the Board members because if the person “reviewing” the complaint says the complaint is not worth investigating, why would they question their colleague.  Unfortunately this does not excuse the board members from any potential liability for their colleagues’ actions.  Unfortunately for them, I’m not planning on only communicating with Mr. Brengelman’s office, and I am not getting a lawyer right now.

People, I can’t make this stuff up.  The people I’m going up against have close to a hundred years of college education more than me and they’re the ones stuck in a corner.  “The big bad unrepresented dad is going to get us.  Oh the humanity!”  I guess they shouldn’t have picked on the kid with an Associates Degree in General Studies.  If anyone from the Board reads this, I hope you understand that your legal counsel may have counseled you into a hole.  If you are reading this Mr. Mark Brengelman, Assistant Attorney General for the State of Kentucky, could you please explain to my readers why your office condones health care providers refusing to provide people with their health records as required by law?  Readers, your families will be safe with me.