“A victim of crime shall be treated with fairness, compassion and respect by the criminal justice system.” So states the Crime Victims Constitutional Amendment, added to the state of New Jersey constitution in 1991.
New Jersey also has a 14-point Crime Victims Bill of Rights (NJS 52:4B-36), which expands upon the constitutional amendment. Among its provisions, crime victims and witnesses are entitled to:
- Be treated with dignity and compassion by the criminal justice system.
- Be informed about the criminal justice process.
- Have inconveniences associated with participation in the criminal justice process minimized to the fullest extent possible.
The Bill of Rights sounds good, but it hasn’t done much for Trish Rynn, formerly of Ocean City, New Jersey. She was scammed by a seasoned con artist, Dennis SanSeverino, and now feels she is being further victimized by the New Jersey courts. It is a classic case of Legal Abuse Syndrome.
Con artist pleads guilty
Dennis SanSeverino took Rynn’s home, cleaned out her inheritance and left her with credit card debt. Rynn went to the police, and the Cape May County Prosecutor’s office, to its credit, investigated. They determined that the money SanSeverino took from Rynn added up to $318,240. Although he was originally charged with theft by deception, a second-degree crime, he pleaded down to theft by illegal retention, a third-degree crime.
On August 26, 2006, SanSeverino was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay restitution of $275,000. Judge Carmen Alvarez ordered him to pay $1,000 per month for six months, and then increase payment to $2,000 per month. He was barred from entering casinos and ordered to get treatment for gambling addiction.
According to the Press of Atlantic City, SanSeverino’s lawyer requested lower payments, citing his client’s lack of employment. Judge Alvarez didn’t buy it. “I find his unemployment status to also be a con,” she said. “If you violate probation, there’s no question in my mind I will incarcerate you.”
But then SanSeverino was convicted of bouncing two $25,000 checks at an Atlantic City casino and sent to jail. He was sentenced to 270 days, but only served 66 days.
Still, it was enough for the judge to temporarily reduce the monthly restitution. She ordered SanSeverino to pay $6,000 by October 2007.
By the deadline, SanSeverino had paid $5,700, Trish Rynn says. A violation of probation hearing was scheduled for that month, and Rynn, confident that Judge Alvarez would take action, did not attend.
But Judge Alvarez was no longer on the case—she’d been promoted. There was a new judge, Raymond Batten, and the hearing was postponed. And somehow, the nature of the hearing was changed from a violation of probation to a request to reduce restitution.
Lovefraud publishes case study
The victim, Trish Rynn, was understandably upset. She believed SanSeverino was hiding money. After all, a few weeks before pleading guilty in Rynn’s case, the con artist had sold two homes, valued at $865,000, for $45,000. Then, two weeks after being released from jail, he bought them back for $1 each.
SanSeverino’s violation of probation hearing was rescheduled for February 7, 2008. Three days before it, Lovefraud published the True Lovefraud Story about Dennis SanSeverino. It detailed the money the con artist took from Trish Rynn, along with his real estate scams.
After publication of Lovefraud’s story, SanSeverino’s court date was postponed until February 15, 2008. Then the hearing was moved up to February 14, 2008. Rynn not notified—she only found out when she called to verify the date. By that time, it was too late for her to arrange to take the day off from work so she could testify. Rynn requested a postponement.
Hearing moved up again
The violation of probation hearing was rescheduled for March 28, 2008, then moved up to March 26, 2008. Again, Trish Rynn was not notified, and only found out when she called to check a week before the originally scheduled date. She immediately called Cape May County Assistant Prosecutor Meghan Hoerner, who prosecuted the original case against SanSeverino. According to Rynn, Hoerner said the date might change yet again, and that it might be heard by a different judge. The prosecutor promised to call Rynn with updated information. For days, Rynn heard nothing. Then Hoerner left a message the day before the hearing, which Rynn did not receive, stating that it was on.
But Rynn had already called the Cape May County Office of Victim Witness Advocacy at 4 p.m. on March 25, and had already learned that the hearing was indeed scheduled for the next day before a new judge. Rynn immediately called the new judge’s chambers and spoke to his assistant, asking for permission to be heard on the matter. Permission was granted.
No more advocacy
For some reason, this seemed to infuriate Assistant Prosecutor Meghan Hoerner. The day of the hearing, right before Rynn was to leave for the two-hour drive to Cape May Court House, she received an irate phone call from Hoerner. Because Rynn had spoken to the judge, the assistant prosecutor said, the case would not be heard. It would be rescheduled—perhaps for April 30, 2008.
Furthermore, Rynn says Hoerner told her that she could no longer speak to the Office of Victim Witness Advocacy. She would be advised of the new court date by mail. Rynn was actually glad to hear this, because she’d never received any notification by mail.
The next day, Rynn called the Office of Victim Witness Advocacy to confirm the new hearing date. According to the its website, the services provided by office include “information on the status and disposition of the case in which you are involved.” But sure enough, the advocates refused to speak to her.
Notification did not arrive in the mail. And while the hearing date kept changing, Rynn was receiving a pittance of restitution from Dennis SanSeverino. Instead of paying $2,000 per month as originally ordered, the con artist was paying just $100—when he got around to paying at all.
Letter campaign
Disappointed and angry, Rynn sent a 12-page letter to the New Jersey Attorney General, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, the Cape May County Prosecutor, various New Jersey legislators, women’s advocacy organizations and media outlets. She told the entire story, including the fact that Assistant Cape May County Prosecutor Meghan Hoerner instructed the Office of Victim Witness Advocacy not to speak to her.
“The defendant, Dennis SanSeverino, has managed to play with our legal system because he can,” Rynn wrote. “And quite frankly, I no longer want to hear people within the system say that it is a ‘failed system’ and ‘it is what it is.’ That is having no integrity. Taking the loser’s way out—we need to fight for our rights! ”¦ While the prosecutor’s office gets their win and Dennis SanSeverino gets his win, the victim is the loser! That is just not acceptable to me and should be the same for all of you whom I am addressing here. For the whole of America! Our legal system has no integrity because the leaders within our system are out of integrity!”
Rynn got some responses. One northern New Jersey legislator called her and asked her why she didn’t get a lawyer. (Hello? Because she had no money!) A representative of New Jersey Senator Jeff Van Drew, who represents Cape May County, called and said the senator would send a letter to the attorney general on Rynn’s behalf. He would also look into sponsoring legislation.
Passing bad checks
In mid-April, Rynn checked blog comments related to the 2006 news story about Dennis SanSeverino’s sentencing. Much to her surprise, she found a comment from “MPM” in Sewell, New Jersey. “Dennis is a new tenant of mine and always behind in rent. Any suggestions?” MPM wrote.
Rynn posted information about SanSeverino’s upcoming violation of probation hearing. Then MPM wrote, “He also wrote a check with NSF – Fidelity Investments.”
The check had apparently been drawn on the investment account that SanSeverino had conned from Rynn. He’d wiped out the account years earlier, so it seemed that SanSeverino knowingly passed a bad check. Which is illegal.
Rynn called the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office and asked to speak to the investigator who originally worked on the case. She wanted to inform him about the bad check. The investigator had previously told Rynn that SanSeverino was seen in the Harrah’s casino in Chester, Pennsylvania.
By going into the casino, SanSeverino violated the terms of his probation. And by passing a bad check, he committed a crime, which also violated his probation. Maybe this, Rynn thought while she waited on hold, would be enough to get SanSeverino put in jail.
The receptionist came back on the phone and said that, per instructions from Meghan Hoerner, the investigator would not speak to her.
The landlord, in the meantime, will be in court on May 1, 2008, to begin eviction proceedings against Dennis SanSeverino and the woman with whom he is living.
Nothing left to lose
So Rynn has continued to write letters. She sent them to the investigator, Judge Raymond Batten and yes, Meghan Hoerner.
“I don’t understand why they’re keeping information from me, not letting me speak to anyone and hiding court dates from me,” Rynn said to Lovefraud. “I should have a right to know. I think it’s just terrible.
“I care about what’s right, and I feel that the things I’ve pieced together make me sure something is wrong,” she continued. “I’m just going to tell it like it is and let the cards fall where they may. I have nothing to lose. I’ve lost already.”
Dennis SanSeverino’s violation of probation hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, April 30 at 1:30 p.m. in the Cape May County courthouse. At least, it is for now.
A request for comment sent via e-mail to the Cape May County Prosecutor, Robert Taylor, received no response.
I think the things we have observed from these people are unbelieveable and dangerous to society. It is dangerous to yourself and others to play their game…..but you can rise above their game and hold people accountable for their positions in life…..and the beauty of that is that when we hold professionals accountable for their profession…..that the most wonderful thing happens….empowerment and strenght…the visual is like when a merky muddy pond gets the sunlight at spring and life rises from it and produces “pods” and “flowers” of glory! When we bring light and truth into a situation that is what happens…..and the sociopath looses!
I have learned that the key is to rise above the sociopathic game….look for the support of professionals and hold strong and hold everyone accountable….when you do that don’t feel like you are making people look bad….in holding each other accountable you actually are a tool of growth….and in the end is the exquisite result of “flower”…..I know I have told you all I am a massage therapist….and in the study of Aromatherapy….the flower is the highest note…..all plants and their parts have notes…and they all have healing properties….the roots are the low notes, the stems are the middle notes…..just like musical notes…and the flowers are the highest notes…..the rose is the highest note flower known to mankind….it is related to the spirit and creates balance……so when I hold someone accountable it is out of love for them…..I imagine them as a beautiful flower! And it makes sense to me…to do that and when they become that flower everyone is happier…and the sociopath doesn’t gain any power…..and I believe on some level the socipath heals…..the sociopaths damage is like a spider web…a friend of mine just gave me this visual….and I will share it with you…..spider webs are ichy, freaky and ugly….but they are actually intricate and beautifully designed….but they have a begining and an end….and when you find the end of the string and pull the whole web unwinds…..and beautiful landscape behind it is revealed. It’s just a visual but it’s a nice one.
It is so interesting to me that the psychopath con-man (woman) even when they are caught (like my Trojan Horse P who is in prison now) they still don’t “give up”—they come up with lie after lie to “explain” and “justify” their behavior. Just like Josef was “trying to save his daughter from drugs” by locking her in a dungeon for 24 years—what a wonderful caring parent he was for doing that! (Puke) Dr. Hare says that the different aspects of their brain don’t “get it” that the lie they are telling is PATENTLY FALSE and that NO one would believe it–yet they tell it over and over, completely unaware that they are not convincing. ????????
To us, it doesn’t make sense because even if we were telling a lie, when “evidence” that we were lying was in front of us would STOP lying, because we could see that NO ONE would believe us in light of the evidence. They aren’t able to comprehend that somehow. It isn’t just a dumb vs smart thing, it is somehow they can’t “see”–they are “blind”to that logic for some reason.
Sometimes in court, their “logic” wins–look at the OJ case—no one now believes he was innocent, yet his convoluted “logic” presented in court by attorneys, along with the other evidence—didn’t sway the jury at the time, and he got off.
Sometimes we “win” and are able to hold someone accountable for their behavior, sometimes not. But I believe in justice above the “law of the land” and I think that justice will be meeted out–maybe not in this life time even, but I think it will be meeted out by a higher judge than the Supreme Court of any land.
I WANT THE EXECUTOR TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR WHAT HE HAS DONE TO BOTH MY FAMILY AND MYSELF, TRICKING MY LATE FATHER AS HE DID, INTO THINKING THE EXECUTOR WAS HIS BEST FRIEND, BUDDY, PAL, ETC., ETC., ETC., THEN AFTER HE DIED, TREATING ME AS THOUGH I WAS SOMETHING HE HAD JUST STEPPED IN, TO SCRAPE OFF HIS SHOE, MY FATHER TRUSTED THIS MAN WITH EVERYTHING HE HAD, AND HE WAS BETRAYED IN THE CRUELLEST WAY IMAGINABLE, I WANT THIS MAN TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE, TO ADMIT WHAT HE HAS DONE, AND PAY THE PRICE, NOT JUST A SWEET LITTLE ROOM WITH BARS ON, BUT FINANCIALLY AS WELL!!!!
Anneka,
I have no doubt that you want this man held accountable for what you perceive he has done to you.
The only way for you to accomplish this though is to CALMLY form a plan, seek assistance–legal help, and/or a therapist that can help you. If he had defrauded you illegally, you could possibly approach the PROSECUTOR (I’m not sure where you live or what that legal title would be in your area, but in the US the prosecutor is the person who represents the STATE against a criminal. Even if you can’t get him prosecuted, possibly the law would allow you to have ANOTHER executor appointed. Even in cases where the person who is the executor is not doing badly (and I am not saying that is the case where you are concerned) JUST BECAUSE THE EXECUTOR is hated by the person whose money they are managing, sometimes they will let someone ELSE be the executor. THEN he would NOT be in control of your money and you could deal with an HONEST executor, prove you don’t need an executor etc.
Not knowing what the terms of your dad’s will etc. it is possible that even if you were the smartest sanest person in the world it could still be controlled by SOMEONE else, not you, if that was the way your dad set it up for someone else to control it there might not be anything you could do about someone controlling it, but maybe at least you could get an honest person to do so.
Yes, I realize you are angry, frustrated and think this man is out to get you, but only if you overcome this anger ruling you, only if you make a calm plan and execute it, can you succeed in getting your father’s money out of this man’s hands.
I know that right now that is not what you FEEL—you want to strike out at him, but striking out in blind anger will not accomplish your purpose.
Posting here may allow you to vent your anger, and that is okay, but as long as you let the anger against him rule your emotions, you are spinning your wheels and accomplishing noting. There is no way that we can help you except by listening to your ventilations, but that doesn’t accomplish anything. We cannot do it for you. YOU must be the one to make a plan and carry it out. To seek the resources that ARE avaliable and stop focusing on the things that are NOT possible.
We have all had great problems with psychopaths–we’ve all had to face what we felt like were “impossible” tasks–we found support here, but in the end, WE had to SAVE OURSELVES.
Good luck to you.
Oxdrover,
It is NOT in the will to put me in a mental home and have me killed while I am there, this happened the first time, true!
“but only if you overcome this anger ruling you, only if you make a calm plan and execute it, can you succeed in getting your father’s money out of this man’s hands.”
I am trying everything I can think of, to get the money away from him, no luck yet, I tried TWICE, to get my story out there, and BOTH TIMES, he made the authors who were doing it for me, give up, BEFORE anything got off the ground.
“but as long as you let the anger against him rule your emotions, you are spinning your wheels and accomplishing noting.”
I sent the first part of my story, (which is too long to post here, I can, if requested to,) to our Parliament, and hope they can come up with something for me, I could not think of anything else to do.
“Posting here may allow you to vent your anger, and that is okay”
Thanks a million, good to know that, I also blast my blogger as well, I sent the url for it in another post here, it IS good, as you say, but pointless, as it just VENTS the anger, but nothing more.
Thanks for the wish of luck, my friend, I have a feeling I will need it!
TrishNJ
“a friend of mine just gave me this visual”.and I will share it with you”..spider webs are ichy, freaky and ugly”.but they are actually intricate and beautifully designed”.but they have a begining and an end”.and when you find the end of the string and pull the whole web unwinds”..and beautiful landscape behind it is revealed. It’s just a visual but it’s a nice one.”
It is, really beautiful, I wish I could think of a visualisation like that.
Anneka,
you need not get angry at any one of us….we have all been victims of a sociopath or psychopath….it is only natural and proper for us to not trust people anymore….in fact people need to earn your trust…..boundaries are necessary….we are here for your support….but you are the only one who can get out of this….and although we learn the manipulative game of the opponent…..we must rise above it…..because if we don’t than they win and we become like them!!! You must use your intelligence and conjure up your strength and “be” in a place that you understand what is going on here and you fight with that intellect and strength. Noone needs to know you are writing a book….but how good would it be if you became a manipulator….just like him! Be strong, be possitive and think before you act.
I think this is a good time to end this discussion.