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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend October 8, 2005 Ashland man called to testify in new abuse trial By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune An Ashland man who last month led a convoy of volunteers into the Hurricane Katrina disaster zone has been ordered to return within three weeks or face hefty court fines. Judge Allan Coon of Josephine County Circuit Court on Friday ordered Phillip Linsday’s return to recount events surrounding the rape seven years ago of seven of his adopted children. Attorneys for the children’s abuser — Ryan Smith — are calling in Linsday; his wife, Shelley; two adult daughters and an adult son for questioning as Smith seeks a new trial. But Shelley Linsday said she doesn’t know when her husband will be back from Mississippi with six of their children, who went on the family’s relief mission. "Phil is going to be there as long as he’s needed," Linsday said. "We had important work to do." The Linsdays could each be fined up to $500 for every day they remain in contempt of court. Phillip Linsday and the couple’s two grown daughters refused to answer attorneys’ questions during an August deposition because Smith was seated at a table across from them, even though he wasn’t supposed to be present, the Linsdays’ attorney, Steven Pickens, told Coon on Friday. Advertisement "We’ve done everything they’ve asked us to do up until this point," Shelley Linsday said outside the courtroom. "... We’re done." Smith was 14 when he was convicted in February 1999 of a dozen counts of rape, sodomy and sex abuse. The case was tried without a jury before Jackson County Juvenile Court Judge Mark Schiveley, who found Smith guilty of molesting the seven children — then ranging in age from 7 to 12 — at their elementary school and home over a period of two years. The victims all are developmentally delayed or have been diagnosed with behavioral problems. Smith was the Linsdays’ next-door neighbor. Smith is now seeking a new trial through Oregon’s post-conviction relief process on the premise that his attorney, Carl Caplan, provided ineffective counsel. The Oregon Court of Appeals in 2002 upheld Smith’s conviction. The state’s Supreme Court declined to hear an additional appeal. Smith remains incarcerated in the Rogue Valley Youth Correctional Facility in Grants Pass. He is set for release when he turns 25 but could have been out sooner if he had undergone treatment and polygraph tests, said Karen Loomis, who prosecuted the 1999 criminal case against Smith in Jackson County. Loomis called the most recent development in Smith’s case "a shame." While Oregon law shields crime victims from speaking to defense attorneys before a criminal trial, post- conviction relief — a civil remedy — offers no such protection, forcing victims years later to relive trauma. "Once it’s all over, they’re cast out there with the wolves," Pickens said of his clients. Smith’s post-conviction relief trial is scheduled for Oct. 26. Coon said Friday that the Linsday’s contempt hearing likely would be held on that date. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Website Templates www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Helzberg Diamonds Distance Education Computer Security Casino Gambling Sites Website Hosting Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation Online Pharmacy Memory Foam Mattress Diamonds Online Poker Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Reservationstogo Hotel Reservations w2 forms Mortgage Calculator Free Home-Loan Referrals Online Casino News Rogue Valley Blogs Natto Kinase Nattokinase Advertisement s