Two witnesses on Wednesday backed up testimony by 6-year-old Bethany
Christine, who said in court her father had taken her and her two sisters from
Oregon social workers at gunpoint.
Brian and Ruth Christine are accused of taking their three daughters from
state social workers in August 2000 after a birthday visit in Grants Pass. The
parents, both 29, face charges of kidnapping, robbery, custodial interference
and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
|
Ruth
and Brian Christine in court. (KGW Photo) |
Philip Medland, Bethany's grandfather and Ruth Christine's father, said his
granddaughter's testimony on Tuesday matched what she had told him about the
events of last August.
"We were talking about her sitting here in the 'truth chair,"' said
Medland, who with his wife now has custody of the three girls at their dairy
farm in England.
Oregon State Police Detective Dean Perske said the girl's testimony Tuesday
was the "Reader's Digest version" of what she told him in a 45-minute
interview last year.
Prosecutor Rick Wesenberg called the two witnesses to refute the defense's
claim that Bethany had been coached on what to say under oath.
The Christines, through their lawyer, have said they were rescuing their
children from an overzealous state agency.
|
Three
of the Christine daughters. (KGW Photo) |
Authorities took the three daughters from the couple on July 31, 2000 after
authorities decided the girls were malnourished. The couple had been living in a
converted city bus parked near the Grants Pass public library.
On Tuesday, Bethany testified that she saw her father point a gun at state
social workers taking her and her sisters back to a foster home last August.
Wesenberg asked the child if she remembered seeing her father, whom she calls
"Bappa," approach the state van she was riding in after it stopped at
a rest area on Interstate 5.
"Did you see Bappa, what did Bappa do?" Wesenberg asked.
"Pointed the gun at the people," replied Bethany. "He got in
the van."
During cross-examination, Steele asked the little girl if anyone had told her
to say her father had pointed a gun.
"Him," Bethany replied, pointing at Wesenberg.
(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_0508_gunpoint_kidnap_trial.688ebeda.html
Ruth
and Brian Christine in court. (KGW Photo)
Three
of the Christine daughters. (KGW Photo)