Barisone Trial Starting Monday, 3/28

[Warmblood1]

Agree completely, but I’m trying to be objective and fair.

[Scribbler]

I absolutely would never, because I find criminality really off-putting IRL. But I can see how someone who had a need to rescue could fantasize about saving someone. Years ago a local poet married a bank robber that she met while teaching creative writing in prison. He published a couple of memoirs stayed clean and lived a normal life. Until he didn’t anymore. He started back in drugs, robbed something again and went back to prison for a long time. And he wasn’t young when he finished his first term and became an author. You could totally buy the narrative that youthful mistakes were over and he was in a reflective middle age.

The romantic criminal and the saved sinner are big cultural myths. Robin Hood, The Highway an, etc. Reality isn’t like that.

Also some criminals are very manipulative.

[MorganSercu]

Sure, but isn’t taking into account a pattern of behavior over several decades also objective and fair?

[SpicyPRE]

I can not wrap my mind around a 41 yo needing her father to negotiate where she lives and where her horses will be boarded. WHAT??

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

@Warmblood1

So where LK/RG are getting 50k for a few months of unqualified work, I have no idea.

That was the price MB was going to have to pay to get them to go ahead and leave his property. That’s my theory.

It wasn’t just about weird drama. It wasn’t just about being vindictive. It wasn’t just about some strange fixation LK had with MHG. It wasn’t about LK being unable to find another barn in the area with 5 stalls available for her.

There was also an element of RG wanting to profit from this mess. To the tune of several thousand dollars. And he was going to attempt to cover up the obvious extortion by claiming it was payment for this alleged construction work.

It’s an almost mafia like shakedown attempt… in my humble opinion. MB was going to have to pay protection money to them, or the pain for MB and those he cared about would just go on and on…

[DownYonder]

@Virginia_Horse_Mom

lso, I’m still wondering what RG’s military discharge involved. If he had a substance abuse problem back then (possible), he very easily could have gotten tagged on routine testing. It happens to all sorts of people, all the time. For the average person, it means an Other than honorable, or a dishonorable discharge. Different rules apply to “special people “ - ugggh. Anyways… an OTH or dishonorable discharge would have followed him for the rest of his life, and been a challenge on each and every job application he filled out when he was asked about his military service. He’s have to disclose to each and every prospective employer that he didn’t have an honorable discharge. But working as an unlicensed contractor would be a possibility for someone with that sort of background problem…

I posted this info WAY back on this thread, but it didn’t necessarily have to be a dishonorable discharge. It could have been an administrative discharge such as the one Hunter Biden received when he was bounced out of the Navy for failing a test for cocaine.

See this info from https://lawforveterans.org/work/84-discharge-and-retirement/497-military-discharge

8 Types of Military Discharge

• Honorable Discharge
• General Discharge
• Entry-Level Separation
• Medical Discharge
• Other Than Honorable Discharge
• Bad Conduct Discharge
• Dishonorable Discharge
• Dismissal (Officer Discharge)

Other than Honorable Discharge. This is the 3rd type of administrative discharge and the most undesirable. It is generally used when the service member’s conduct results in punishment for violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Security violations, arrest and conviction by civilian authorities, assault, abuse of authority, and drug violations [bolding is mine] are all examples of the type of conduct warranting an Other Than Honorable discharge.

Having an OTH discharge on their DD-214 means the service member will not be entitled to veteran’s benefits and will not be eligible to reenlist. Although an OTH is considered an administrative rather than a punitive discharge, it may have consequences in civilian life.

The last three types of discharges on the bullet list above are punitive discharges. I think (but am not sure) that they can only be handed down as a result of a court martial.

[Ambitious_Kate]

@Virginia_Horse_Mom

Knowing the bare details of this case so far, knowing that RG was unlicensed and really little more than a general handyman… knowing that he wasn’t working with a crew… I don’t see how 30-50k worth of work was ever gone. It’s a straight up bizarre lie or something sort of delusion… or a coarse attempt on RG’s part to shakedown MB.

He himself disclaimed that premise, when he testified he said specifically that he only did enough work each month to cover the 2500 he owed for that month and no more, whereupon he would stop work, by way of explaining why he didn’t work every day. So he couldn’t have accrued unpaid labor, he said he didn’t work that way. He referred to MB as providing materials, so he wasn’t buying materials either. There was no money owed to him.

[MorganSercu]

Did he even provide his own tools or were those MB’s too?

[Scribbler]

@smoofox

@Davignport

“Taken to the train station”. If only they both could make the trip.

I understand the Yellowstone reference, and IMO that is not appropriate…

@Jealoushe

@Rides_Again

I’m wondering if there was request from her legal representation to suspend her from the forums during the trial as she has proven that she is unable to control her outbursts.

constantly amazed at the importance people think this forum carries

Well, LK obviously thought it was very important to her case… with constant edits, screen captures, deletions, rages at moderators etc.

The forum is not that important but nevertheless, if the victim is posting during the trial and potentially violating publication bans on the content of sidebars or disallowed evidence, that could be an issue for the forum. Rather than police that my response would be to suspend her for the duration. My guess is the Law Court YouTube feed livechat got a court order to shut down because of a perception the victim was posting in it. Nobody wants a mistrial. COTH obviously tolerated her for several years because she was a victim and perhaps because the topic was high traffic, but I’m sure they’d rather not have a court order to take down a thread because of what the victim was saying.

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

@Ambitious_Kate

He himself disclaimed that premise, when he testified he said specifically that he only did enough work each month to cover the 2500 he owed for that month and no more, whereupon he would stop work, by way of explaining why he didn’t work every day. So he couldn’t have accrued unpaid labor, he said he didn’t work that way. He referred to MB as providing materials, so he wasn’t buying materials either. There was no money owed to him.

Correct. This is what RG said in his testimony last week. But back in August of 2019, LK made statements on FB that she and RG were owed thousands and thousands for work he did. She also posted about it on these forums over the intervening period of time, and I believe attached a value of between 30-50k to RGs work.

That’s where my theory of and attempted shakedown is coming from.

[MHM]

@chancellor2

I thought it was kinda funny when the prosecutor was asking Phillip Dutton why he was taking lessons with Michael Barisone. Why is a 7 time Olympian still taking lessons?
Yes, this trial is definitely giving an interesting perspective into our dressage life

I have a feeling that all the members of the jury are probably going home every night and just doing some combination of shaking their heads and rolling their eyes until they get a migraine headache.

[MHM]

@MorganSercu

Did he even provide his own tools or were those MB’s too?

I believe he said on the stand that at least some of the tools were MB’s.

[MorganSercu]

You’d think he would hold onto the pawn tickets for his tools if that is how he earns his living.

laughs and wipes eyes

[BrendaJane]

My Cousin Vinny - New Suit - Clip #16

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

@DownYonder

I posted this info WAY back on this thread, but it didn’t necessarily have to be a dishonorable discharge. It could have been an administrative discharge such as the one Hunter Biden received when he was bounced out of the Navy for failing a test for cocaine.

I hear you, and it’s a good post. But… Hunter Biden got a different administrative discharge than that which any other sailor or Naval Officer would have gotten for the same offense. I don’t believe it was a full OTH. The investigation into his positive test was handled irregularly as well.

I don’t want to derail this thread… but it is one thing that sets my teeth on edge. It was a big deal to certain folks involved in that situation at that time. Not right.

[DownYonder]

@Sdel

I think that location would be very possible with that small of a gun and an upward trajectory.

An UPWARD trajectory? She placed the gun against her upper chest/shoulder and shot UPWARD? How would that have damaged the breast implant? Or the lower lobe of her lung? And if she did angle the shot upward, she is darned lucky she didn’t get her head in the way.

[MHM]

@Scribbler

But I can see how someone who had a need to rescue could fantasize about saving someone.

OK, granted, this might reflect my own priorities.

But I would advise that person to go down to the local animal shelter and adopt a dog. Or a cat. Or both. Or just volunteer at the shelter if that seems like too much of a commitment. Oy.

[DownYonder]

@Virginia_Horse_Mom

If he was kicked out and had an OTH or a dishonorable discharge on his record… in some circles… it’s a big deal. As I’ve mentioned on other threads though, I’m from a military family… so perhaps I put greater emphasis on this sort of thing than others do. It just means “serious serious dirtbag” to me.

Yes, big deal indeed. And yes, it indicates a serious, serious dirtbag.

Types of offenses that can result in a dishonorable discharge.

• Murder
• Fraud
• Desertion
• Treason
• Espionage
• Sexual assault

Consequences:

• Lose VA benefits
• Lose civilian rights, such as the right to bear arms
• Disqualified from federal employment
• May not qualify for civilian government benefits (unemployment, federal student loans, etc.)

(Not to mention appropriate jail time.)

[Moderator_1]

It is fine to comment on the public testimony in this case. Let’s please avoid leaps to other suppositions beyond those related to events that transpired and are being discussed in the case. We removed a few recent posts.

[StB.YM]

@eggbutt

Regardless what others have said, I think Bilinkas has done an amazing job and was brilliant in having Deniniger handle most of today with the powerfully emotional witnesses.

I haven’t caught up with all the comments yet, but wanted to comment on this before I forget. I completely agree with you on this. I think the Deniniger’s softness when questioning the witnesses, many of whom were emotional, came across very well and predict that it will also play well with the jury.