[Tlc] TLC-Roxanna Brown

[justinm at ucr.edu]

Very good idea.
justin

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
3046 INTN
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu


---- Original message ----
>Date: Thu, 15 May 2008 09:50:48 -0700
>From: "Judith Henchy" <judithh at u.washington.edu>  
>Subject: Re: [Tlc] TLC-Roxanna Brown  
>To: <justinm at ucr.edu>, <tlc at lists.ucr.edu>, "mchale" <mchale at gwu.edu>
>Cc: "William Lavely" <lavely at u.washington.edu>, "Charles F KEYES" <keyes at u.washington.edu>
>
>Justin,
>
>There has been a lot of sympathy and outrage expressed on the Vietnams 
>Studies list also.  Shawn is on that list but I notice that he has not yet 
>posted his comments to it; can I suggest that we coordinate this approach to 
>AAS through both country groups?
>
>Best
>
>Judith
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: <justinm at ucr.edu>
>To: <tlc at lists.ucr.edu>
>Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 9:38 PM
>Subject: [Tlc] TLC-Roxanna Brown
>
>
>> As per Shawn McHale's suggestion below, would any more senior and 
>> experienced members of the AAS want to assist me and the TLC work with the 
>> AAS leadership in calling for an investigation into Roxanna Brown's 
>> passing? She was a very important scholar and by all accounts a wonderful 
>> human being.
>> Sincerely,
>> justin
>>
>>
>> Dear list,
>>
>> This news, plus the news that Roxama Brown died in a Seattle prison, are 
>> an outrage.
>>
>> I did not  know Roxanna Brown at all. And one should perhaps not jump to 
>> conclusions that individuals must be innocent. Sadly, a brother of mine 
>> has had encounters with the US Justice system and its use of conspiracy 
>> statutes  that make me highly suspicious of it.
>>
>> It is telling that one of the stories on the arrest said the following: 
>> "An affidavit filed in the case said the gallery's owners, Jonathan and 
>> Cari Markell, used Brown's electronic signature several times to falsify 
>> appraisal forms. In one case, an appraisal for items to be donated to the 
>> Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena claims Brown had inspected the items.
>>
>> The couple have not been charged. They have previously declined to comment 
>> about the investigation to The Associated Press. Jonathan Markell did not 
>> immediately respond to an e-mail sent to him Monday."
>>
>> This, and other information suggests that the government was putting forth 
>> a case based on conspiracy statutes (conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 
>> conspiracy to defraud). Conspiracy statutes allow one to pull in a wide 
>> range of individuals, from the inadvertently involved (e.g. a person 
>> driving a car who transports drugs unwittingly) to the kingpins. The 
>> government then tries to get individals to inform on one another as part 
>> of a plea bargain. Some of them lie through their teeth.
>>
>> If Roxanna Brown allowed her electronic signature to be set up on as 
>> computer at a gallery, and if the gallery owner then abused this trust 
>> used the signature, Roxana Brown  would be liable. And could be charged. 
>> In other words, one does not have to commit wire fraud oneself to be 
>> charged with it.
>>
>> May I suggest that the leadership of the TLC group ask Michael Paschal and 
>> the leadership of the Association of Asian Studies to press for an 
>> excplanation of the death of this scholar?
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>>
>>
>> Shawn McHale
>> Associate Professor of History and International Affairs
>> George Washington University
>> Washington, DC 20052 USA
>> (on leave, 2007-08, at Vietnam National University --
>> Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
>>
>>
>> ______________
>> Dr. Justin McDaniel
>> Dept. of Religious Studies
>> 3046 INTN
>> University of California, Riverside
>> Riverside, CA 92521
>> 951-827-4530
>> justinm at ucr.edu
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Tlc at lists.ucr.edu
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>> 
>