The following interview was published today from a noteworthy source. Please take a moment to check it out and be sure to leave a comment.

Children and Car Safety: The Story of Heavenlee

As we expected, things are beginning to gain momentum as we strive to achieve our goal foo better laws to protect our most innocent victims.

Another project designed designed to promote public awareness of the need for child safety seats in in the works. If all goes according to plan, it will be a BIG event!

Stay tuned for more info as it becomes available.

James & Amanda Wallace

All You Need Is Love!

I found myself in a situation yesterday that rarely ever occurs at my house.

I was home alone! For several hours in fact!


With 5 kids and 12 grandkids, it rarely happens that I find myself home alone and so I decided to spend my time in one of several ways.

Usually, I'll watch a movie on DVD or perhaps something on cable. Other times, I choose to listen to one of my many albums. Not CD's mind you, but real vinyl albums.

As I was looking through my DVD's for something to watch, I came across my favorite movie of all time: Yellow Submarine


I found myself looking at the cover and a memory returned to me from last summer.

My daughter had come by and dropped off Heavenlee for a few hours while she ran a few errands. She knew that I wanted to spend more time with Heavenlee and that day seemed like a fine day to accommodate my wishes.

Heavenlee and I spent some time in the kitchen making a batch of cookies (chocolate chip to be precise), then we sat down for a viewing of Yellow Submarine. She had not yet seen it and I was really looking forward to it. I always enjoy showing either my kids or now my grandkids this classic movie. The values of Love, peace, and tolerance reflect directly my own values of life.

Well, we sat there, drinking chocolate milk, eating chocolate chip cookies and having a wonderful time. Every time a song came up, we danced around like boneheads and sang along joyfully. When "All you need is Love" came up, Heavenlee ran around shouting "Love, Love, Love!"

All You Need Is Love!

It is my fondest memory of my time with her and seeing the movie case in front of me, I realized I hadn't watched it since last summer. I also realized that I wouldn't be able to watch it again until I could with Heavenlee.

There will come a day when her and I will sit there in front of the tv screen, singing and laughing about Love as we once did. I look forward to that time!

On a More Personal Note...

I was talking to a close friend yesterday and was relating to him the issues we are dealing with regarding Heavenlee, the law and what-not. He told me that he reads our blog but doesn't see much activity about our daily trials and tribulations; just an occasional posting about Heavenlee's condition.

It occurred to me that with this forum at our disposal and with all that we do on a daily basis, be it just a thought or something more substantial regarding working towards our legislative goals, we should be posting more about our personal daily activities.

As such, I an endeavoring to give all of you who follow our blog a more personal look inside the madness of our lives and what it takes to change a law.

There's more to it than you think.

However, for today, I thought I would share with you something that showed up yesterday in a drawer of photos and stuff.



It's a bit dark but it's a photo of myself with Dorian and Heavenlee last Spring. We took them with us on a Morel Mushroom hunt that day out at the Constipation Club (actually, it's the Conservation Club but my grandkids like it when I call it the Constipation Club).

Anyway, we didn't have much luck, only a few mushrooms were to be found but we had a great time and Heavenlee even found one herself. I cooked it up for her in butter on an old cast iron skillet. She didn't like it much but that didn't really matter to her. We spent a great day together and she had fun, as did we all.

Over the next few months, you can expect to see a more personal side of our lives, so we hope you bear with us and spread the word to anyone who'll listen.

We will not abandon our efforts until the law is changed and we achieve our Justice for Heavenlee!!!

James & Amanda Wallace

The Latest on Heavenlee's Condition

Our son-in-law returned from a visit with Heavenlee at Methodist Hospital where she now resides undergoing rehabilitation. He tells us that she is doing well for her current condition. The Trach tube, which replaced the breathing tube is doing well for her. She has become fairly comfortable with the new means of breathing.

In addition, a flap was installed which allows her to begin the process of relearning how to speak. I look forward to the day when her and I can sing "All You Need Is Love" once more.

We are told she can now eat ice cream. I know for a fact that she loves ice cream and so this is but one small step that can help to make her life a bit more tolerable.

There is some twitching of the nerves which control her arms and legs. We are told this is a good sign but only time will tell how much function she will regain.

Sadly, as mentioned before, we are not allowed to see her. This was not unexpected as the mother has sole custody at this point and refusing us permission to visit Heavenlee is the mother's only means of control. The one who suffers the most is Heavenlee, who we know from our conversations with her father misses us terribly. We miss her as well and pray for her daily.

It seems sad that someone would deny Heavenlee the Love and affection that we have for her. As we have stated before, we firmly believe that Love is a healing power and we hope that the mother would understand Heavenlee's need for as much Love as possible.
Time and justice will tell.

Per Ardua Ad Alta!

James & Amanda Wallace

What is the value of a single word?

Last week, I found myself sitting across from several legal folks who know much more about the law than I do.

I had asked for this meeting in order to better understand why the driver of the vehicle in which Heavenlee had been improperly secured in was immune to more serious charges resulting from the accident of Dec. 13, 2009 in which our beloved granddaughter was critically inured.

This is what current Indiana Law states:

The Indiana law of Neglect of a Dependent is the criminal law equivalent of Child Endangerment/Reckless Endangerment. One of the subsections of that law reads “A person having the care of a dependent, whether assumed voluntarily or because of a legal obligation, who knowingly or intentionally (1) places the dependent in a situation that endangers (my emphasis) the dependent’s life or health, commits neglect of a dependent, a Class D felony.”

Since the accident was not the driver of Heavenlee's vehicles' fault, and due to the fact that the driver had attempted to secure Heavenlee in a standard seat-belt restraint, even though this was not the proper action, it was an attempt to secure her safety and therefor did NOT "knowingly or intentionally (1) places the dependent in a situation that endangers (my emphasis) the dependent’s life or health."

The only other law that is relevant to this issue is that of Criminal Recklessness. It reads “a person who recklessly commits an act that inflicts serious bodily injury upon another person commits criminal recklessness, a Class D felony.”

Again, the conduct by Heavenlee’s driver of that car did not inflict the injury upon her. So this charge would not apply to the driver.

It comes down to this...

The actions of the driver did not cause Heavenlee's injuries. Her injuries were the result of the driver's actions, not the cause.

It all comes down to a single word... Cause or Result.

This difference is reflected in the fact that the driver face only a $25.00 fine rather than more serious charges.

That is the value of a single word!

The law, as it now reads, depends on actions which cause injuries to a dependent, rather than actions which result in injuries to a dependent.

As such, a single word now places us in the position of having to address that missing word and update the current law in order to reflect our concern for child safety.

We now focus our attentions on developing new legislation which will require more stringent punishments for offenders where injuries to dependents occur as a result of non-compliance with the law.

Again, we ask that each of you reading this please contact the following state senators and representatives and convey to them your opinion about this matter.

Senator Timothy Skinner(D)
District #: 038 Staff Contact: Brent Stinson
Phone: 800-382-9467
Address:
200 W. Washington St
Indianapolis, IN 46204
email: s38@iga.in.gov  
Representative Clyde Kersey(D)
District #: 043 Staff Contact: Christina Cesnik
Phone: 800-382-9842
Address:
200 W. Washington St
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Email: h43@in.gov

Please refer to this specific posting when addressing your concerns to them.

Thank you and God bless each one of you.

James & Amanda Wallace

We are beginning to see a disturbing trend here as we respond to comments and clarify our position regarding Heavenlee's situation.

The situation seems to be de-evolving into a tit-for-tat, he said-she said, this & that type of dialogue which really serves no purpose other than to inflame emotions and distract from the overall goal of developing a new law which will bridge the gap now present in our current law as it relates to child endangerment and neglect. In addition, those types of comments are merely unsubstantiated claims which could be echoed by ourselves.

We choose not to engage in this type of dialogue.

We will, therefore, finish up our comments with this posting and return to a more focused goal of achieving new legislation.

It has been suggested that we are stating that the mother of Heavenlee purposely chose not to secure Heavenlee in a proper child safety seat.

Do we feel this is true? Of course not...

To suggest such a thing is just plain silly. We are certain that the mother loves Heavenlee as much as we do.

We would agree with the family however that it is more likely that the driver of the vehicle in which Heavenlee was riding were, in fact, just ignorant of the need to secure Heavenlee more correctly than was done. This fact is supported by the ISP Accident Report, which states that the mother was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.

Apparently, they just didn't know any better. We can accept that and that is why we are engaged with C.H.A.N.C.E.S. For Youth in developing greater educational programs and outreach designed to educate people about the need for more vigilance in protecting our most innocent citizens in Indiana.

Our one concern is that if the mother, as a result of not wearing a seat belt, had been killed in the accident, this would have denied Heavenlee the love of her mother and we would never want that. Heavenlee deserves all the love she can get, be it from the mother and her family, or from her father and his family, including us.

We firmly believe in the healing power of Love and hope that everyone agrees with us that Heavenlee should be surrounded by Love... and not Hate or anger.

Secondly, it has also been suggested that we have no connection with Heavenlee and that we were not present during her newborn stage.

That too is just plain silly. We actually knew the mother during her pregnancy and subsequent birth of Heavenlee. Shortly after her birth and knowing that Dane, Heavenlee's father was to be wed to our daughter Jamie, we gladly accepted Heavenlee into our family without reservation. She instantly became our granddaughter, one of 12 and no finer granddaughter could we have asked for.

We do not use the term "step" when referring to any of our children or grandchildren. We find that word offensive and discriminatory. We do not label our family members with irrelevant titles. For us, we love all our family as one.

After all, The Beatles said it best... "All you need is Love!"

Having cleared the decks, so to speak, of our responses to concerns from others, we now preclude ourselves from any further discourse that does not further the cause we advocate. We are certain others will continue to do so and that is their prerogative. After all, it's a free country and we support free speech.

Scientia est Vox!

James & Amanda Wallace

Accident or Choice!

I thought I would take moment to address an issue which has surfaced in postings on our Facebook page; Justice for Heavenlee!!!

To begin with, numerous people have commented to us privately regarding our decision to allow unlimited postings on the Justice for Heavenlee!!! Facebook page.
If you take the time to read through all the comments, you'll notice a number of postings from both the mother of Heavenlee, as well as other family members.

We are firm believers in free speech and we welcome their comments as it allows them to speak their minds and give us a glimpse into the mindset of those who do not see this situation as we do.
Everyone posting an opposing opinion makes it very clear that this situation was an accident. In fact, most make it a point of capitalizing the word ACCIDENT in order to emphasize their position.

Having read the accident report from the Indiana Sate Police; having talked to Indiana State Trooper Finney (the responding officer who filled out the report) and members of Station 8 who were the primary emergency responders responsible for rescue operations at the scene of the crash; having seen the crash scene photos; having talked to legal folks who are familiar with the legal aspects of this situation, I can definitively state one unquestionable fact.

The car crash which Heavenlee-Angle Johns was involved in was an accident! Pure and simple. Automobile accidents happen all the time. I, myself, have lost a number of family and friends to automobile accidents.

However, having read the accident report from the Indiana Sate Police; having talked to Indiana State Trooper Finney (the responding officer who filled out the report) and members of Station 8 who were the primary emergency responders responsible for rescue operations at the scene of the crash; having seen the crash scene photos; I can definitively state one unquestionable fact.

Heavenlee-Angel Johns was not restrained in a proper, state-mandated child safety seat, despite the fact that the law; IC 9-19-11-2 requires that any child under 8 years of age must be restrained in the correct child restraint system or the driver is guilty of a class D traffic infraction and thus subject to a $25.00 fine. Any child less than 8 years old but over 70 pounds may be restrained in a booster seat and therefor satisfy the law.

Heavenlee was 5 years old and weighed 35 pounds at the time of the crash.
Had she been properly restrained, her injuries would have been far less severe, resulting in only some bruising or perhaps a few lacerations. The fractured cervical vertebrae and spinal cord injuries resulted directly from the blunt force trauma encountered due to her upper body not being properly restrained and impacting the seat as she reacted to the basic Laws of Physics. This analysis is based upon detailed research from both NASCAR and NASA, as wellas JAMA.
As parents of 5 children and grandparents of 12 grandchildren, we couldn't imagine ever going anywhere in a car with our children or grandchildren and not ensuring their safety to the best of our ability.
Someday, this may happen again to some other family and when it does, the actions we take now will ensure that someone is held responsible and justice is served on behalf of the injured/killed child who trusted someone to protect them from harm.

God bless all of you reading this!

James & Amanda Wallace