Hi everyone ~ Thank you so much for your support. I haven't signed in here in quite a while, just too difficult and trying to move on. I am in awe of how many of you are still following the situation ... thank you.
We did go to trial 9/28. Her lawyer was such a jerk and the prosecutor really dropped the ball on a few important pieces of evidence, like the former treasurer calling the cateter asking for $1323 in cash to cover the credit card receipts. (The cateter's business allows us to run credit cards through her business and she even absorbs the processing costs and pays us face value for the purchase) ... which is almost to the dollar of what is missing! And she called and asked her for cash in that amount. And that didn't come out at trial, although it did come out in the preliminary hearing. Very frustrating. Needless to say she was found not guilty. It was pretty devastating. After two days at court I could hardly put two words together to speak for days afterwards. Worst thing is that I am taking college classes and I had a paper due so I had to put my big girl panties on and get back to my life or I'd have failed my class. (Got an A in the class!! Woo hoo! She can't take that from me!) It was sad, I watched her get on the stand and lie through her teeth about things that I did and the caterer did. She even said we left the money on the table and walked away because we were mad at her. That didn't happen!! We would never walk away with the money sitting there. And there are probably 6 people there while we counted the money but everyone had already been released by the court as had I and I was in the courtroom, so they couldn't/didn't recall anyone to dispute that. But she got up there and 'cried and lied'. You could tell she was lying because she would look at the celing or at the floor when she answered. When I answered the questions I looked squarely at the jury! But for some reason there wasn't enough evidence. To add insult to injury her lawyer called me and the cateter 'shoddy women' in the press so for days our faces were rubbed in the mud. I expected the 'justice has been served' foolishness but was very disappointed that he felt he had to resort to name-calling. But there are issues with the school board now and this gal is up for recall. They were actually at my in-laws last night collecting signatures. We send our son there out of district, so we can't vote in the school board issues ... but I fully expect she'll be recalled. I believe she deserves to be. She abused her position on the school board to bully us through the process. The absolute only peace I have as far as the verdict is that her lawyer bill is probably at least $10,000 so when you look at the $1300 we believe she took, she's still in the hole. But people the courtroom were shocked that she got away with it. And from what I hear the people in the community really feel she 'got away with it', that she isn't truly not guilty ... just that the prosecutor didn't prove something enough.
Do I regret my decision? Not for a minute! My bottom line is that I am a mom and I can still tell my son that you always have to do the honest thing, even when it might be hard ... and he knows I have practiced what I preach. I was sick with a bad cold and didn't go to the first meeting after the verdict but the principal and former treasurer showed up in all their glory and tried to take over the annual fundraiser which was approaching. They stated that I should be asked to resign because I called the police. THe new president told them that she had had no one say that if I was involved in the fundraiser they wouldn't participate; however, she had had numerous comments that if the former treasurer was involved they would not participate. Needless to say they were mad. They decided to continue wanting to control the fundraiser auction so I told the president I wouldn't be involved, my husband was concerned that with me as the treasurere they would try to make trouble for me with money so I turned in a letter of resingation. The fundraiser made $10,000 less than we made last year even though at the last minute the former treasurer decided to not show. It didn't matter, the damage was done as the community knew she was involved and she had planned to be there. After the fundraiser the president called and asked me to not resign and I had other calls from community members to not resign. So I guess I'm not going to. And the president had told the board members but had not presented it to the general membership yet so she simply gave me back my letter. We didn't have a November meeting because the school was closed down that week due to the swine flu, so we'll have our annual budget meeting Dec 1 and I'm looking forward to it. I'm going to walk in with my head held high, not looking for a fight, but not walsking away in shame either. If the president and board support my decision to do the honest thing I can handle these other people who aren't honest. Sad thing is we lost the caterer for this year's fundraiser and that hurt the fundraiser overall. They sold 100 fewer tickets and had a lot fewer donors. I didn't personally go, since I was planning to resign at the time ... but I hope the principal will see the error of her ways in getting in the middle of the mess and bad-mouthing such a prominent and respected businesswoman in our community as this caterer is. Who knows. But I have a clear conscience. I know I didn't lie. I know everything I told the prosecutor, judge and the jury was the honest truth to the best of my knowledge. The former treasurer totally bombed a polygraph (they told her if she could pass they'd drop the charges) and I know if I would have been offered one I would have passed it. The truth is a powerful thing. Sad that the prosecutor wasn't better prepared, but it is what it is and it is over. We had the people there to say how much money they counted and we had the deposit that she made that was $1300 less ... but the defense threw so much mud up in the air and the prosecutor didn't have appropriate rebuttal for it, and she could have! If she had only asked us ahead of time who could back up what we said about the processes at the end of the night, that it has always been done this way and this treasurer wouldn't cooperate and to refute that we weren't organized. It is an auction night with 250 women ... and they are shopping! Yes it is busy ... but we have enough people who work it every year and it is organized and everyone knows what their job is ... but the defense threw enough mud in the air and something obviously stuck that the jury couldn't make peace with. And! They didn't even pull her bank records ... in spite of the fact that she told us she made a 'large' deposit to her daycare on the same day as the PTA deposit and she basically dared us to make something out of it ... and I told the police that and the prosecutor that but they didn't pull her records. They said they had no way to prove where the money came from but to me it seems that if she made a $1000 deposit on Wednesday but you pull her daycare records for the previous week and it showed $200 or $300 ... you could definitely ask her where that money came from and put doubt in the jury's mind about her honestly?! But, like I said ... it is what it is ... and it is over so I'm trying to put it behind me and move on. I know I did the right thing. Thank you all for your support and for caring about the outcome. I wish I had better news to share with you, but that's how life goes sometimes I guess. I'm still teaching my son that you always tell the truth. I encourage you all to do the same.
