Police Atrocity In Kern County

[NPET...@aol.com]

The enclosed file narrates the police prosecution and
destruction of a family in Kern County. California. Please
note that the family only got in trouble when the husband
agreed to act as a character witness for a friend. This
gross human rights viloation should not pass unnoticed.

[Note: This report is a slightly abbreviated and slightly
edited edition of the account of the case written by a
family member. For more information see the book Satan's
Silence by Debbie Nathan and Michael Snedeker published by
Basic Books.]
=0D
A KERN COUNTY NIGHTMARE

A personal story of a family torn apart and imprisoned
on false allegations of child sex abuse in Kern County,
California.

On the morning of April 8th, 1982, at about 7 AM,
Brenda Kniffen looked out her kitchen window to see men
encircling her home, some armed with shotguns. Without
warning there was a burst of commotion as plainclothes
policemen with arrest and search warrants demanded that
Brenda quickly change from her nightclothes. "But what
about my children?" A look of confusion crossed the faces
of the arresting officers, but Deputy Betty Shaneyfelt said,
"Where are your children and just where is your husband
Scott?" The writer, Steve Swenson, from the Bakersfield
Californian newspaper was also present. Brenda was made to
dress as the men looked on. "Hurry up or we'll take you
like you are!"

Six year old Brian Kniffen was asleep on his parents'
bed, since Scott had arisen early for work as usual, and
little Brian had woken to stumble sleepily into his parents'
room. His nine year old brother, Brandon, had spent the
night at a neighbor's home. Brian was now dressed hurriedly
and was torn from Brenda's arms. "What's happening! Mom!
I want my Mommy!" Brenda looked helplessly at her little
boy, "It will be alright, Brian. There's been a mistake.
Just be a good boy and do what these people tell you and
everything will be OK. Mama will be back soon." (This was
the last time Brian saw his mom, until May of 1984.)

There was a search of the entire home and property
underway as Brenda was driven off, still not comprehending
just what was going on. People and imposing officers were
everywhere. Brenda asked why she was being arrested. The
response she received was that she was under arrest for
child endangerment -- no mention of what children or whose
children she had supposedly endangered. The police asked
Brenda to tell them where Brandon was. She explained that
Brandon had spent the night at his friend's home, Steven
Galloway, a deputy sheriff's son, just a few blocks away.
The car with Brain was sent to pick up Brandon. The car in
which Brenda was locked was directed by Brenda to the place
where Scott worked.

At his place of employment, in front of all his co-
workers, Scott was arrested, handcuffed, and put in the car
with Brenda for the ride downtown. (Scott was taken totally
by surprise. He thought the guy saying he was there to
arrest him was just joking. Scott thought it was a prank,
like a singing telegram or something. It wasn't until the
plainclothes policeman put handcuffs on him and he saw
Brenda in the car, that it dawned on him that this was a
real arrest.)

Weeks earlier, it turns out that an acquaintance of the
Kniffens', Alvin McCuan, had told Scott that he was
concerned about what was going on in the McCuan family and
that he may be charged with child endangerment. He asked
Scott if he would be a character witness for him. It was a
casual response to what seemed an innocuous request from a
friend: "Sure, Alvin, if I can be of help. Sure thing."

Deborah McCuan, who had a day care license so she could
stay at home and earn money while she watched her own two
little girls, was arguing with her step-mother. It was
about the claim, months earlier, that Debbies's oldest
daughter, Becky, had made, saying that her Grandpa Rod
Phelps had touched her inappropriately. Becky had been
immediately seen by a family doctor, who said it appeared
that Becky was molested. A police report was filed, but Mr.
Phelps lived outside of Kern County, and no one pressed
charges. No action was taken. But Debbie was advised to
get counseling for Becky and to not leave the children alone
with Grandpa Phelps. Debbie was concerned enough to follow
up by getting counseling for her daughter and kept in
contact with Dixie Magana, one of the founders of the group
"Mothers of Bakersfield" (MOB), who with Jill Haddad, was
later to change the group name to "S.L.A.M. -- Stringer
Legislation Against Molesters".

However, Debbie's step-mother, Mary Ann Barbour, was
enraged by the fact that Becky was molested and felt that
Debbie wasn't doing enough to protect these little step-
granddaughters of hers. She started calling the MOB group,
and found a listening ear to her stories of concern in
spokeswoman, Jill Haddad. But soon Mary Ann Barbour wasn't
getting enough attention with her stories. She started to
believe that Alvin and Debbie were not good parents and that
Debbie should have her day care license revoked. Mary Ann
demanded the Social Services Department look into the
matter. They sent a social worker on a surprise visit to
check it out. This worker reported to Betty Palko and
stated that a few infractions were found, but nothing
serious enough to revoke the day care license. So Betty's
report showed that no major infractions were found and she
did not revoke the license.

Velda Murrillo, of Child Protective Services, was a
close associate of Jill Haddad and was getting both sides of
the story. One side was from Debbie McCuan, calling Dixie
Magana to ask if there was any more she could do to help her
daughter, and the other side from Mary Ann Barbour, calling
Jill Haddad to complain that the County wasn't doing enough
to protect her step-granddaughters. Velda Murrillo started
talking to Mary An Barbour. The case file began to grow and
Velda kept in touch with her good friend and associate,
Carol Darling, also a CPS worker, who had been promoted to
"Child Abuse Coordinator." (Carol was later lauded by
District Attorney Ed Jagels, because of her ability to
create evidence that would hold up in court.)

Mary Ann decided that she wanted custody of her step-
granddaughters, Becky and Dawn McCuan. She asked for child
endangerment charges to be filed against Debbie and Alvin,
after she learned that they had taken the girls to visit
with the other grandparents, Rod and Linda Phelps. Mary Ann
was becoming more and more agitated and was having problems
in her own home with her husband, Gene Barbour. There were
police reports that Mary Ann was arrested because she became
irrational and threatened Gene with a knife. She spent some
time in a psychiatric ward and said she was upset because of
her step-daughters, which is shown clearly in her medical
files of the time although she denied it later. (She had
experienced a psychotic break a few years earlier, as well.)

There was a hearing in March 1982 at which Becky and
Dawn testified. The children were placed in full time
custody of Mary Ann, with almost daily contact with a
caseworker, Dana Markowitz. But it was Carla Fogel, a new
welfare worker, who had decided after one phone call with
Mary Ann, that Mary Ann had recovered from her recent
"illness".

As the child endangerment charges against Alvin and
Debbie were filed, Debbie argued with Mary Ann. She told
Mary Ann in the heat of anger that these kind of charges
were serious, that Alvin had friends to be character
witnesses for them, and that these friends, Scott and Brenda
Kniffen, would say that she and Alvin were good parents.

The next day, Mary Ann called Dana Markowitz, "You
won't believe what the girls are saying now!" All of a
sudden there was not just the implication that Debbie and
Alvin were not protective parents, but now "There is a group
of people involved in molesting the girls. They are all in
on it!"

A giant child molestation ring was born. Dana called
Velda Murrillo and the girls were picked up and questioned.
Their stories became more and more bizarre. Soon many other
adults were accused of incredible acts against all reason.
The names that now came out, besides Rod and Linda Phelps,
were: Alvin and Debbie, themselves, Alvin's brothers, Larry
and Tommy McCuan, social worker Betty Palko with her
boyfriend Larry Walker (who worked at the railroad with
Alvin), a couple of other unnamed welfare workers, and the
just discussed "character witnesses" Scott and Brenda
Kniffen. Interestingly, Scott and Brenda only knew Alvin
and Debbie in this so called "Ring".

April 6th, 1982, Velda Murrillo and Deputy Betty
Shaneyfelt drove Becky around to the homes of the "suspects"
where she was asked to say where in each home could be found
the evidence of the abuse. (Both Becky and Dawn enjoyed
being praised for each disclosure and soon became expert in
saying what Ms. Murrillo and the other caseworkers,
deputies, and attorneys wanted them to say.) When they got
to the Kniffen residence, Becky said that there would be
pornographic pictures, a movie camera, and other evidence,
including a dildo, in the home.

The family life of Scott and Brenda was very close.
Brenda was a "room mother" at school and was very involved
with the boy's school, sport, and religious activities.
They attended church regularly, and Brenda had weekly Bible
studies classes in their home. Other than Scott's work,
they spent all of their time together. The family liked to
attend Brandon's sports events. They visited regularly with
the extended family. And the children were well liked in
the neighborhood. It was very infrequently that Scott and
Brenda had friends over to visit or play cards or board
games. Scott was an assistant coach for Brandon's baseball
and wrestling teams. Brian was a very precocious and witty
little boy. He idolized his big brother. He was also
something of a "mama's boy" in that he felt so secure in her
love and knew he could cajole her to give him special
attention the youngest child often gets. (Brian says he
remembers playing hide-n-seek, family camping trips, and all
the family activity as being so much fun. But he can't
remember any of the abuse he was repeatedly told he endured
by Carol Darling, Sgt. Fredenburg, and Deputy District
Attorney Andrew Gindes.)

Scott was very proud of his family. He worked hard at
his job, even learning complex leading edge computer
technology, so he could continue to advance. He took pride
in their new home. He worked a lot of overtime, because as
the sole breadwinner, he felt compelled to give his family
the best. His special interest was the restoration of a
1958 Chevy Cameo pickup truck. Brenda's love was totally
centered around her family and her housework. Like her
mother-in-law, she was an immaculate housekeeper. Except
for the bulging closets, which were overflowing with the
children's' toys and clothes, her home was neat and
comfortable. Often when the family visited Grandma and
Grandpa Kniffen, the boys asked to spend Saturday night.
They enjoyed riding the Honda 3-wheelers around the driveway
and playing with the dogs and horses. This was so frequent
that it became commonplace to have their Sunday dinners
together, too.

So it was that without even calling Scott and Brenda to
check out these allegations, and without even knowing about
the loving family that had never been in serious trouble
with the law before and that had no concept of ever harming
any child, the warrants were issued and the raids were
ordered for the early hours of April 8th, 1982. The news
media was alerted beforehand, which was unprecedented, and a
reporter accompanied the plainclothes policemen and deputy
district attorney. Although they knew about the allegations
from April 2, 1982, CPS didn't make any attempt to pick up
or question Brandon and Brian, like they had with Dawn and
Becky! The agenda was for a "highly coordinated event."
There was a predetermined finding of guilt.

No attempt was made to find or preserve evidence
contrary to the preconceived belief based on the stories of
Dawn and Becky McCuan, at the insistence of a crazed step-
grandmother, Mary Ann Barbour, that a massive child
molestation ring was about to be uncovered. There was the
total belief that Dawn and Becky had been molested by many
adults over a long period of time, that they had been hung
from hooks in the ceiling, beaten with belts, and that they
had been sold to strangers in motels and had been stars in
pornographic movies. All based on the stories of these
children after repeated questioning over many months by many
authority figures.

Who would have believed such escalating and unverified
stories? The Kniffen family was charged at the beginning of
the wave of high profile child abuse cases soon to sweep the
country in the 1980s -- all of them magnets for ambitious
prosecutors. Dorothy Rabinowitz has much documentation
about the very similar Amirault case in Massachusetts which
she related in the Wall Street Journal editorials of January
30, 1995, and March 14, 1995. The Kelly Michaels' New
Jersey case was recently overturned. An article about the
case appeared in the June 1995 issue of Redbook. A San
Diego grand jury made similar findings in the Dale Akiki
case and others.

The fact that Scott and Brenda didn't even know Rod or
Linda Phelps, Tommy McCuan, Larry McCuan, Betty Palko, or
Larry Walker didn't deter the arresting officers from
telling Brenda that there had been a six month investigation
and that she was guilty and that they KNEW she was involved
in a molestation ring. The fact that they didn't know where
Scott even worked or what his work hours were, that the
children had been happy and uncomplaining, good students,
active in sports and friends with a deputy sheriff's son --
didn't even allow for a questioning attitude. The fact that
there were never any rope burns on the children or marks on
the softwood railing where the children were supposedly tied
and beaten or that the sheetrock ceiling didn't have any
hook sufficient to suspend the children as was alleged was
never allowed to be discussed. They were guilty and that
was that!

When Rod and Linda Phelps heard that Alvin and Debbie
were charged with child endangerment, they moved away from
their home in Atascadero in the middle of the night and no
one has heard of them since.

Betty Palko, the social worker who would not revoke
Debbie McCuan's daycare license, and her boyfriend, Larry
Walker, who worked at the railroad with Alvin, were able to
get their case separated from the McCuans and into a
different venue in Ventura County. It was within three days
after their attorney was able to get Mary Ann Barbour's
medical records, that the Kern County DA's office dropped
their case. Mary Ann's medical records were returned to the
hospitals and her file was sealed.

It was after an attorney for the defense was able to
talk to Becky and Dawn, that the girls admitted that they
only said those things about Alvin's brother, Tommy, because
they were told to say them by Mary Ann. After this, the
court would not allow any defense attorney to talk to the
children and would not allow Mary Ann's medical records to
be used.

In fact, the court would not allow the Kniffen defense
to have the family doctor examine the boys. The DA tried to
bring up many prejudicial things, yet they were never
charged in the original complaints! These complaints
presented another large problem for the defense; they never
pin-pointed any exact dates for the alleged molestations.
The particular dates were "on or about January 1, 1980 to
January 1, 1982." The right to establish their whereabouts
on any given date was thus abridged. And when Aunt June was
observing the proceeding, Attorney Andrew Gindes wanted her
removed, because Andy said she looked too much like Grandma
Marilyn Kniffen.

Let if be know that no supporting evidence was ever
found, even after an eight hour search of the Kniffen's
home, i.e. no dirty pictures, no hooks in the ceilings in
the places described by the girls, no movies of any kind, no
snuff films, no movie camera, no dirty magazines, et cetera.
Also no physical trauma was found on the children except the
previous mentioned incident in regard to Becky, who
previously related that NO ONE ELSE BESIDES HER GRANDPA
PHELPS had done these things to her!

The media circus attending this arrest was
unprecedented. The Bakersfield Californian claimed all
sorts of evidence was found. The District Attorney's office
also repeated that there were pictures and proof galore! In
reality, the "evidence" taken from the home of Scott and
Brenda Kniffen was some rope from the camping gear in their
garage, Scott's belts, and some Vaseline that Brenda used to
soothe her hands when housecleaning.

Even after a country wide search and national coverage,
no evidence has ever been found to link Alvin and Debbie or
Scott and Brenda with any pornographic child molestation
"Ring". The pictures reported as proof were never entered
into evidence because there never were any. But since it
was reported almost daily that pictures were found, the
general public believed it and was outraged.

Both Marvin Ferguson and Deputy District Attorney Ed
Jagels were running for the District Attorney position on
the anti-child molester platform. The public voted out Al
Leddy, voted in Ed Jagels, and once again supported their
local District Attorney's office, where just months before
they were so upset with them. Marvin Ferguson became the
judge on the Kniffen/McCuan case. Politics at its best.

The boys, Brandon, age 9, and Brian, age 6, were taken
to Shalimar Children's Center. They were questioned
together and then separately. Only after being told by
Carol Darling and Velda Murrillo that it was already known
what had happened to them and that the other brother had
already told the "truth", and after it was explained to them
the reasons children were brought to the facility, were they
shown anatomically correct dolls and asked to validate the
theory so they could "help their parents". To clarify the
issues, the boys were told that "a penis goes in mouths and
butts." The boys said, in later years, that they were
questioned all day and asked the same questions "over and
over until we answered their way". The records show they
were questioned repeatedly and were later let out to play in
the yard with a group of other children who had also been
picked up in the sweep.

It was at one of these play times that Brandon was
approached by another child, Lisa McCuan, who asked him if
he knew why they were in that place and if any of the things
the caseworkers were saying were true. Brandon's response
was that nothing had ever happened, but he thought that if
they said what the people wanted him to say, they would get
to go home with their Mom and Dad. (The boys were never
told by anyone on the prosecution side that Scott and Brenda
faced prison terms. The boys actually thought that even
after the trial, since they had done what these people had
told them to do, they would get to go home with their
parents.)

Scott was taken in handcuffs to make his statement to
the police. He was asked to confess to molesting Becky and
Dawn, but his protestations of innocence were met with deaf
ears. He was only given a fifteen minute "interview", but
his statement was definite: "I didn't molest anybody.
Search all you want. There is no evidence, because it never
happened!" Scott has said that he knew that a mistake had
been made, that he thought that as soon as their family had
been checked out, that he would be free to go. He believed
that the court system was fair and that innocent people
could not be convicted, since both sides were supposed to be
searching for the truth. He trusted the system to correct
itself.

Brenda's arresting officer took her to Policeman
Crafton's desk and was told to "get that slime out of here."
She was then taken to an interrogation room. She couldn't
believe what was happening and said, "Just ask my boys.
They will tell you. I don't even know what some of those
words means and I know my boys don't know what it means."
Brenda was of the same opinion as Scott, that innocent
people would not be prosecuted, that a mistake had been
made, and that she would soon be home with her husband and
her children. Brenda's whole life was torn from her and she
couldn't fathom why this was happening.

The time interviewing Scott and Brenda totaled less
than one hour. No one from the District Attorney's office,
the Sheriff's office, or CPS ever tried to talk to them
again.

Bail was set at $100,000.00. Dick and Marilyn Kniffen,
Scott's parents, were called and they rushed down to the
police station. As they waited for Scott and Brenda to be
released, Deputy Betty Shaneyfelt came striding down the
hall waving papers above her head, exclaiming: "More charges
against the Kniffens!" These were the charges based on the
phone call re: Carol Darling's interview notes with Brandon
and Brian. All of a sudden, Scott and Brenda were now
charged not only with molesting Dawn and Becky McCuan, but
with the same charges against their own sons! The bail on
these charges was an additional $100,000.00. (The "Darling
Report" was not actually written until days later and
submitted as a statement of disclosure, describing long
narrations of abuse, and given to the Sheriff's Dept.)

Since Velda Murrillo had suggested Brian say that Scott
had gotten into a fight with Grandpa Dick Kniffen, it was
then that Dick and Marilyn's home was searched. Obviously,
since they couldn't find any damning evidence at Scott's
house, they were going to try his parents' home and office.
It was without hesitation that Dick and Marilyn told the
officers to go ahead and search. Again, there was no
evidence.

After being booked into jail, Brenda was terrified and
hid under her cot. She was afraid to eat. She was trying
desperately to understand how this mistake could have been
made. Since the news media was hot, Brenda was singled out
for much abuse in jail. The inmates threw burning trash and
even feces through the bars at her. The guards left her
cell door unlocked and a group of other inmates came in and
beat her up very badly, including breaking her nose. Dick
and Marilyn tried to get Scott and Brenda released on Good
Friday, but it wasn't until Easter Sunday, April 11th, (Dick
Kniffen's birthday) that they were able to get Scott and
Brenda out of jail. Scott and Brenda were afraid to return
home, since their address at 7000 Crestwood Street in
Oildale had been reported in the newspaper. They stayed at
Dick and Marilyn's home.

A court order was issued that no one except the
prosecution was to talk to Brandon or Brian about the case
and, because some members of the welfare department were
also accused, the District Attorney's Office took official
custody of the boys. This action was, also, unprecedented
and politically motivated. (The number of "interviews"
escalated into the hundreds of times by caseworkers, police,
CPS "therapists", and the DA's office -- all bent on getting
a conviction.)

Even though the children were repeatedly questioned, no
audio record of the boys was released with the exception of
one audio tape made by Sgt. Fredenburg with Brandon and
Brian on April 13, 1982. But it is clear just how the boys
came to say what the prosecution wanted. The interrogations
of Brandon and Brian on April 13, 1982, after being
separated from everyone and everything they had known and
loved, were based on repeated questions, refusal to accept
any denial, and reports written on a one word affirmation
after repeated denials. (Brian was asked some 485 questions
in less that 60 minutes of tape play-back time. Brians
interrogators told him what they thought 103 times and
Brian's initial "No" answers were not accepted 138 times.
This accounts for Brians 241 one word answers being turned
into "Yes".)

Scott and Brenda were railroaded based on the premise
that children don't lie about sexual abuse UNLESS THEY DON'T
DISCLOSE that abuse has occurred! The reports written by
Carol Darling and Sgt. Fredenburg never included how the
boys repeatedly denied anything had happened. The reports
did not include how Brian missed his Mommy, or how he
volunteered that he trusted his Grandma and Grandpa Kniffen
and would like to live with them "for a while" if he
couldn't live with his parents. But most importantly, these
reports didn't say anywhere that Brian said, "I don't know
about the dirty pictures. My Mom and Dad didn't do it!"

These fabricated reports became the foundation for all
accusations against Scott and Brenda. The actual tape was
not given to the defense until much later and defense
Attorney Michael Sprague never had it transcribed! Scott
and Brenda did not get good legal representation.

The two girls, Becky and Dawn, were again released into
the custody of Mary Ann Barbour not long after the "Ring"
was arrested. Just as she had hoped. The last anyone knew,
they live with her still.

There was always the question of why and how this case
could have exploded like it did and why were innocent people
being made scapegoats. But more importantly, when it comes
to a question of child molestation, why are people
considered guilty until proven innocent?

Brenda's parent were divorced and her mother had no
money to help. Her mother, Corene, did take one opportunity
to ask Brandon if any of the charges were true while on the
first supervised visit with her grandson and Georgia Herald,
a specially assigned caseworker, in a playground at the
swingset. Brandon answered that "No. None of those things
ever happened." But when this was revealed to the court,
Corene was immediately arrested for discussing the case with
Brandon. She was not permitted to be a witness in the case,
and it was Scott's parents who had to bail her out of jail.
She was not allowed visits until years later.

Brenda's dad believed what was written in the
newspapers and, based on what the boys actually testified to
in court, thought Scott and Brenda were guilty. That is,
until he was present when Brian recanted. Brian told how he
was prompted to say what he testified and promised he could
be with his parents. Both boys have said that they cried
when put on the stand. The prosecution said it was because
they were afraid of their parents, but the boys say that it
was because they knew they were lying and felt compelled to
do it, because they truly believed they could go home after
they did.

Dick Kniffen, CPA, and father of Scott had served on a
Grand Jury in the past and saw how in this case normal
procedures were not being followed. He wrote to the
Attorney General and asked for an investigation of
prosecution misconduct. His plea was rebuffed.

A private investigator was hired by Scott Kniffen
parents on November 4, 1984. The private investigator,
Denver Dunn from Visalia, was able to piece together the
behind the scenes drama. He has worked tirelessly for all
of these years to try to get the facts out, to assist in
every way possible to help the various attorneys understand
the complexity of the case, and to support the Kniffen
family, who have been so emotionally damaged and hurting.
He has written a time line of events showing the steps that
led to this brutal and draining experience of abuse of power
aimed at innocent people for political gain. He continues
to watch the events unfolding to this day. He has tried to
get people to see the similarity to so many of the false
accusation cases recently depicted in national media. For
his efforts, he has been virtually black-balled in his
profession for not being "politically correct".

Denver Dunn's investigation showed that the DA's office
was playing politics after being on the "hot seat" with the
public with respect to their handling of the torture/murder
case of 14 year old Dana Butler. The public was picketing
because a former police commissioner, Glenn Fitts, was not
arrested, even though there was evidence that blood and hair
samples could be traced back to his bathroom. Dana Butler's
partially clad body was found dumped along a frontage road
on the north side of Harrell Highway near Bakersfield. She
had died from two deep stab wounds in the chest and 30 to 40
superficial stab wounds. The DA's office needed a diversion
to rally public opinion back and Mary Ann Barbour proved to
be the ticket.

At the trial, Dr. Bruce Woodling claimed his "wink
response", where he touched the child's anus with a swab and
inserted a moistened 10cc glass test tube to view the anal
canal, was an indisputable sign of sodomy. Although Dr.
Woodling said his test was based on work done by Dr. Paul,
Dr. Paul came from England to dispute Woodling's findings.
The prosecution objected to allowing the defense to have the
boys examined by their family doctor and the Judge supported
the prosecution in all areas. In court, prosecuting
attorney Andrew Gindes was all "fire and brimstone". He had
the nick-name "Mad Dog" from his peers. he claimed that
anyone defending Scott and Brenda must also be child
molesters and part of this "Ring". He reasoned that no hard
evidence was found because Dick Kniffen had taken it to the
dump. It was pointed out, however, that Dick Kniffen had
just recovered from surgery at that time and was incapable
of hauling anything anywhere. The prosecution misconduct
was rampant.

When Attorney Gindes stated that the children's'
knowledge of sexual matters was beyond their years, it must
be noted that it was Gindes himself who went out and bought
at least one dildo and had it in his office to show Brandon
and Brian. He asked Brian to draw a picture of one and then
entered a dildo into "example" evidence in court, after
passing it through the hands of the jury. And remember, it
was Carol Darling and Velda Murrillo who showed the boys
anatomically correct dolls, explained the body parts, and
drew stick figures. Velda even helped Brian draw pictures
of naked ladies for her. (Interestingly, however, is the
fact that when Brian was first asked about a dildo in court,
he thought the question was about Play Doh.)

It was towards the end of the trial that Andy Gindes
claimed that he had proof that, while Scott and Brenda were
out on bail, they had molested their niece, Misty Smith.
Scott and Brenda were again arrested and Misty was put into
a foster home. The one local daily newspaper, the
Bakersfield Californian, called the new case Kniffen II.
Attorney Andrew Gindes told reporters that he wanted to have
this additional trial just in case the first one didn't
result in a conviction and to show that "molesters" should
not be allowed out on bail, so that they could continue to
harm children. Of course, this tactic was successful in
creating a new wave of indignation from the public that
believed that people could not be charged with things they
had not done.

The new "evidence" was the statements supposedly made
by Misty, that she was hung on a hook in the living room of
Scott and Brenda's home and, while wildly kicking her legs,
Scott was supposed to have been able to have full
intercourse with her while he was standing on the top a tall
ladder and did not touch her with his hands!

Interestingly, Brandon, Brain, Becky, Dawn, and Misty's
brother, Mike, were all supposed to have been hanging from
hooks in the same room while this was going on! Common
sense shows that after Scott and Brenda were arrested on
April 8th, 1982, Brandon, Brian, Becky and Dawn were in
protective custody and THE PHYSICAL ACT WAS AN
IMPOSSIBILITY! Nephew Mike would not be coerced into saying
any of what his sister had "reported" was at all true. In
fact, he said Misty was lying and ran away in an attempt to
return home! (It was very sad that Misty lost her right to
be with her family, because Kniffen II was quietly dropped
later, and no one told Misty. She could have asked to go
home, but she was "preserved" as a potential witness for the
prosecution.)

In spite of all the rhetoric, Scott and Brenda remained
steadfast in their belief that innocent people would not, in
fact could not, be found guilty, since they trusted the
system. It was such a total shock that Brenda fainted in
the courtroom when pronounced guilty.

After what was the longest case in Kern County history
to that time, Scott and Brenda were given 240 years each.
The total time for the four defendants was 1000 years.
Scott was sent to San Quentin, where he kept himself out of
the prison population by refusing to leave his cell. He
knew that accused child molesters were singled out and often
killed in prison, because they are considered "the lowest of
the low." Scott said the food was very poor and always
cold. He had been a vegetarian and now he had to check his
food for spit, foreign objects, and even feces.

At a suggestion from the private investigator, Scott
and Brenda took polygraph tests, which they passed with
flying colors. These tests were not allowed as defense,
however, since the test was not done with the approval of
the State Attorney General's Office.

Deputy District Attorney Andrew Gindes continued to go
out of his way to pick up Brandon and Brian from their
various foster homes to do review and what he called
"Homework", which was telling them over and over about the
abuse they had supposedly received. He continued this even
years after the trial was over. Gindes would take Brandon
to a lake for hours at a time. Gindes even made a special
trip to see if he could get Brandon to say his parents were
involved in Satanic sacrifices. (After Velda Murrillo of
CPS came back from a three day seminar in Carson City,
Nevada, and told all about how she had heard that "Satanic
Abuse" was sweeping the country.)

Even though grandparents and extended family were
willing and able to have custody of the boys, Andrew Gindes
fought against it at every turn, implying that all the
extended family were to be considered suspect. He demanded
that Dick and Marilyn have psychological testing and
counseling done. Gindes was very upset when the findings of
the independent testing by Sherry Skidmore, Ph.D., and
private counseling proved that Dick and Marilyn were of the
highest caliber of people.

Gindes attended custody hearings years after the trial
was over. Scott's brother and sister-in-law wrote to the
court about being considered as a possible placement for
Brandon and Brian. In 1981, they had adopted older "special
needs" siblings and knew the extent of counseling and care
children needed when taken from their birth family. Gindes
read their letter to the court and responded that "They
adopted children that had been abused, so they could molest
them, too!" He felt he could say ANYTHING in court with
impunity merely to get his way because of his position in
the DA's office.

Basically, the entire Kniffen family and all relatives
were threatened with charges being made against them if they
declared Scott and Brenda were innocent. In fact, Grant
Kniffen, Scott's cousin was arrested and held for a time,
but was released. Grant's parents, Bill and Margaret
Kniffen, cut off all contact with Dick and Marilyn Kniffen
and came to say they thought Scott and Brenda were guilty,
to be out from under suspicion in the community. The
burden of fear, shame, hurt, accusation, character
assassination, guilt by association and concern for their
livelihoods created a pall over the town, and especially the
Kniffen family. The devastation was complete. A deadly
sense of imperil seized all who came in contact.

In 1985, after so many other "sex ring cases" were
developed by the same CPS workers and District Attorney's
Office, the Attorney General of California finally was
compelled to investigate the procedures for questioning the
children - especially in light of the fact that Becky and
Dawn McCuan had led the FBI on a "dig" in Atascadero (across
the street from where Rod and Linda Phelps had lived) after
allegations of Satanic murders came up in group "therapy".
The District Attorney even admitted that these stories were
made up. Later, Judge Baca said he was concerned for anyone
imprisoned based on the testimony of these children.

On July 1, 1986, in another "sex ring" case, concerning
another alleged child victim, Michael Nokes, Judge Baca
spoke the following on record: "I personally have never had
any contact with the investigation that is being done by the
Attorney General, but it's my fervent hope that those people
will look into this and have looked into this to the extent
that they will uncover this unfeeling --- the people who
have traumatized these children are the people who have made
the children virtual prisoners and brainwashed them the way
they have."

The 1985-86 $500,000.00 John Van de Kamp Attorney
General's Report indicated that there were twenty three
major procedural errors in the Kern County departments in
their handling of these cases. Unfortunately, they did not
remember that Dick Kniffen had requested this investigation
three years earlier. Although cases were reviewed the
Kniffen/McCuan case was not addressed in the report, even
though the same DA's office, Sheriff's Department, CPS
workers, and especially the McCuan girls were the reasons
why the investigation was demanded. Representatives from
the Attorney General's office told P.I. Denver Dunn that,
since the Kniffen/McCuan case was already tried, it was not
going to be reopened. Period. They were only looking at
cases from 1985 on, even if the procedures and most
officials were identical.

In the Bakersfield Californian newspaper on September
30, 1986, it was quoted: "Carleen Radanovich, the foreman
of the 1985-86 Grand Jury which asked for the Attorney
General's review, said she didn't feel the report went far
enough in addressing the Jury's concerns about children
being removed from their parents. She said the Jury's
investigation showed prosecutors and social workers helped
prolong efforts to reunite family members. The tone of the
report comes across as an acceptable diplomatic response to
a Jury's concerns, when in fact all concerns are not
voiced." Recently Carleen said that at the time of the
Grand Jury she had asked the Attorney General's office to
turn over information on all the sex-ring cases from 1982 -
1985, but the Attorney General's office refused. Later,
when requested again, the Attorney General said her time as
foreman was up. She always wanted all of the cases looked
into.

On May 31, 1989, the following (in part) by Jay
Matthews appeared in the Washington Post: "In California, A
Question of Abuse" "But the attorney general's report on
Bakersfield paints a picture of what has to be considered
one of the clumsiest and most destructive child abuse
investigations in American history."

"Glenn Cole, a retired accountant who led the county
grand jury from 1983 to 1985, said he believes "innocent
people are in jail right today" because children were
questioned to the point where they could not tell truth from
fiction." "I try to put it out of my mind," Cole said, "but
I get very emotional about it."

When the 1986-1987 Kern Grand Jury was sworn in, Andrew
Gindes wife, Anita Gindes, was a member of that panel. In
the August 3, 1986, edition of the Bakersfield Californian
the article read:

"Jurors are charged with investigating the powers and
duties of public offices and study possible offenses by
public officials. The jury is empowered to hand down felony
indictments of officials who commit crimes." But now that
Anita Gindes was on the next Grand Jury, all investigations
of the sex-ring cases stopped.

Someday the silence must be broken. Remember, what
goes around comes around. To change the adage slightly,
"Time wounds all heels."

But the wounds of the children and the families damaged
by these false accusations will never be completely healed,
nor their lives restored. Scott and Brenda have now been
imprisoned since May, 1984. They have not been able to talk
to each other on the phone or to see each other, except once
briefly at their appeal hearing. While in jail in
Bakersfield for this hearing, Scott was very badly handled
by the guards. The guards pushed and shoved him up against
the walls with his arms behind him in cuffs, so he couldn't
stop his fall. He was threatened verbally and, in his
concern for his life, Scott lost ten pounds in one week, due
to the stress.

Brenda is currently in the Women's prison in Frontera,
California. Scott is in a "protective custody unit' at
Corcoran, California. The unit includes Alvin McCuan,
Sirhan Sirhan, who has taken to harassing Scott, and Charles
Manson, who once requested Scott as his cellmate.

The saga is not over yet. Even though both of the boys
have come forward and have said that nothing ever happened,
that they were led to say what they testified, and that the
reports didn't show how they denied ever being molested,
Scott and Brenda are still facing hundreds of years in
prison.

Grandma Marilyn and Grandpa Dick Kniffen quit counting
after expenses climbed to over a half of a million dollars.
They talked with many attorneys. They tried to get good
media coverage through the TV show 60 minutes, but were told
the case was too complex to fit in a 20 minute segment.
There was an award winning article written by Mike Trihy,
called Stolen Innocence, which favored the defense up to a
point, but Mike said his article was edited. Their guilt
was still assumed.

Scott's parents, also, never gave up trying to have
visitation with Brandon and Brian. They obeyed the court
order to not discuss the case with the boys, even though it
was hard to do. They were not going to jeopardize the hard
fought for "privilege" of having visits with their
grandsons. Andrew Gindes kept telling the courts that
nobody from the family wanted the boys, but that was never
true. Finally when Brian was 13 or 14, the court said that
he could live with his grandparents, Dick and Marilyn
Kniffen.

After court appointed appellate attorneys for each
defendant had been on the case for awhile, there were
multiple delays. One attorney was disbarred, one was taken
off the case for failure to work on it, one died of AIDS,
and one was mugged and killed. Finally, in 1990, the very
similar Pitts case was reversed based on gross prosecution
misconduct by the same prosecuting attorney, Andrew Gindes.
Scott's attorney, Kyle Gee, had been working on showing how
unreliable Dr. Bruce Woodling's testimony was. It was
thought Kniffen/McCuan would have a chance at reversal, too.

However, the Judges on Appeal were not the same as on
the Pitts case. Judge Ardiaz immediately told the defense
attorneys that no judicial notice of the Pitts case would be
taken and that, since defense evidence was not submitted in
proper written form, the oral arguments were not going to be
considered either. What a tragedy! Why couldn't the
findings from the Attorney General Van de Kamp report
showing all the procedural errors be allowed as part of the
defense? Many points were considered "harmless errors."
Only a few blatant errors were recognized, mainly the
removal of sentences for charges never made. The court did
invite another appeal based on a writ of habeas corpus, if
sufficient documentation on the unreliability of Dr.
Woodling's "wink test" could be produced. However, Scott
and Brenda's attorneys would not continue to defend them as
court appointed attorneys after this appeal.

So on their first appeal in 1991, Scott's sentence was
only reduced to 161 years and Brenda's to 151 years. Sadly,
both Grandma and Grandpa Kniffen died in July 1992. It is
said that they died of broken hearts. Their dream of having
their family going on a camping trip together to a lake in
the Sierras, like they had done so many summers before when
the boys were little, is lost. They aren't here now to
visit Scott and Brenda, to encourage and support them, to
write daily letters, to see their grandchildren grow into
adulthood, or to see justice prevail.

Brandon is now 23, recently discharged from the
Marines. Brian is 20 and living on his own. Both Brian and
Brandon visited their mother on Christmas 1994, which was
the first time Brenda had seen her two boys together since
their brief visit before going to prison in 1984.

Early in 1995 Brenda requested a family visit and was
told, that since she still insisted that she was innocent,
she must be "in denial", and therefore a family visit with
her now adult sons was not advisable. She was basically
told that if she would admit her guilt, then she could have
the visit. Since then, all family visits for women
prisoners convicted of certain crimes, regardless of their
status as a model prisoner, like Brenda, have been canceled.

Scott had a family visit with his brother and sister on
April 29 - May 1, 1995, but this may be another privilege
removed, due to politics. According to "experts", people
convicted of certain crimes don't deserve to have family
visits, even though these visits are predicated on exemplary
behavior and paid for out of the prisoner's fund. (The
court disagreed, however, and there is an unheeded
injunction against removing family visits for any prisoner
with good behavior.)

Dorothy Rabinowitz stated in her Wall Street Journal
article: "That the wave of spectacular child-abuse trials
emerged in the 1980's is no accident. The passage in 1979
of the Mondale Act ensured a huge increase of funds for
child protection agencies and abuse investigators. With the
outpouring of government money came a huge increase in
agencies and staffs, which in turn beget investigations and
accusations of child sex abuse on a grand scale. An
industry had been born."

In this case and in others similar, when the people
involved indicate that they are imprisoned unjustly, the
prosecuting attorneys respond by saying that, since there
was a conviction, they must be guilty! When the prisoners
reply that the complaining witnesses have recanted, the
prosecuting attorneys say the children were pressured by
family. When will the court see that it is the prosecution
that worked at the "preserving of witnesses" to cover their
backside?

In 1992 Scott's brother, Richard, took up the cause to
get Scott and Brenda free. Richard requested Denver Dunn
help them engage the services of Michael Snedeker as yet
another attorney on this case.

Attorney Snedeker was supplied much of the data in
archive boxes of information gathered over the years by Dick
and Marilyn Kniffen and Denver Dunn. Even though he was
currently working on a very similar Kern County case
representing Donna Sue Hubbard, he called Denver to exclaim,
"I didn't know a lot of this was going on back then!"

Attorney Michael Snedeker's book, co-authored by Debbie
Nathan, about many of these false accusation cases, includes
much of the missing information about those, like the
Kniffens, who are considered guilty until proven innocent.
Debbie Nathan worked for five years to get the courts to see
that a daycare worker, Kelly Michaels, was also railroaded
to prison. The book is called Satan's Silence and published
by Basic Books.

When first brought into court, Scott quoted from the
Bible regarding "how it would be better for anyone who
touches these little ones, that a millstone be tied about
his neck and he be cast to the bottom of the sea." Then he
said, "We would never molest children, because it is against
the laws of God. We love our children. We have never
touched these children." In a letter dated 2-3-1991, Scott
wrote, "It has been a huge test for my family and loved ones
in many ways: physically, mentally, spiritually,
financially, etc. The ones I'm most concerned with are the
children. God willing the truth will prevail and we can put
all of this behind us to live and serve God in more
productive ways. We certainly appreciate your prayers and
love. God bless you always."

The accused in the Pitts case, the Nokes/Gonzales case,
the McMartin case, the Donna Sue Hubbard case, and Dale
Akiki are all vindicated. Now is the time for the Kniffen
family to be reunited. Now is the time to correct the
system and stop the fear. Heroes are needed to stop the
delays of release of Scott and Brenda. Attorneys can only
do so much.

Support:

Kniffen Defense Committee
HC 38, Box 2252B
Livingston, MT 59047

Justice Committee
2737 28th Street
San Diego, CA 92104

Write your support:

Scott Kniffen C98891
HU 4A4R-55L
P.O. Box 3476
Corcoran, CA 93212

Brenda Kniffen W21184
HB 708U
California Institute For Women
Frontera, CA 91720