How can a good mother, innocent of any crime have one of her 3 children taken by the state, without a hearing and handed over to a deadbeat dad, living outside the state of Oregon then be prosecuted for trying to protect her daughter? 

Read on, this is a true story.

In 1996, Michelle Turner took her 4-year-old daughter to Kaiser for a medical examination for suspected sexual abuse by a third party babysitter. 

An additional two examinations, one by Emanuel Hospital and one by Kaiser Hospital, were completed without evidence of sexual abuse. 

Cares Northwest subsequently performed an objective medical evaluation without any evidence of sexual abuse, yet wanted to perform another examination videotaping her daughter who was 4 years old at the time.

Because Cares would not allow Michelle to be present and allow her to protect her small child from unnecessary trauma associated with such an examination, and the trauma caused by previous examinations, Michelle cancelled the appointment. 

Four hours later, on June 4th, 1996, two Oregon State Detectives, Ken Poggi, and John Minnis (who is currently an Oregon State Senator) along with two Portland City Police Officers, and Shirley Vollmueller from Children Services Division arrived at the residence of Michelle Turner and her 3 children. 

Without warrant, they forcibly entered the residence and took Michelle’s daughter Britany Buhr. They additionally violently assaulted and handcuffed Michelle and drove her up the street where she was interrogated, while handcuffed, by Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Rodney Hopkinson on a cellular phone sitting in the back of the police car.

After the interrogation she was released and had to walk the seven blocks to her home.

After a 10 month’s juvenile investigation, she was being falsely charged with medical neglect and failure to protect. The juvenile petition was dismissed but Judge Dale Koch- relying on the false information in the juvenile petition- gave custody of her daughter to the father, Granger Buhr living outside the state, whom had not been providing support for his daughter or pursuing visitation. 

Since Britany’s abduction, she and her mother, and 2 brothers have suffered severe emotional trauma.  A lawsuit was filed against the perpetrators charging trespass, assault, battery, kidnapping, conspiracy, and outrageous conduct.

A week later after the lawsuit was filed in 1997, District Attorney Rodney Hopkinson filed charges against Michelle for civil Harassment of Detective Ken Poggi. 

She was found guilty by judge Mary Overgaard for striking officer Poggi. 

What Judge Overgaard ignored was the fact that Michelle inadvertently struck Poggi as she was being violently thrown to the ground. She was thrown to the ground because she was adamantly protesting the state taking Britany without cause or warrant. 

A year later, Michelle got her day in court only to have her civil lawsuit whittled down to simple assault against police officers Poggi and Christensen. 

Michelle, without funds, was forced to represent herself against 4 attorneys for 3 days only to have the judge limit the jury to simple assault. 

Because Judge Amiton limited the evidence the jury could hear, the jury ruled in favor of the state. 

Granger Buhr was alienating his daughter Britany from her mother and her two brothers, and because of the emotional trauma Britany was suffering, Michelle, in December of 2000,took all her children to live in Alaska. 

On January 19,2001 Michelle was arrested in Alaska for custodial interference and jailed. She was in held in state prison in Alaska for 86 days, then transported, shackled hand and feet, by U.S Marshalls in their own jet to Seattle Washington where she was held in federal prison for 7 days. 

She was then transported again, shackled hand and feet, by U.S Marshall van to Portland Oregon. She was held in the Multnomah county jail for another 42 days before finally being bailed out for two thousand dollars posted by her sister. 

In apparent retaliation for Michelle fighting the system, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office was prosecuting her for custodial interference, a class B felony, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The District Attorney offered, as a plea bargain, 18 months in state prison even though under state sentencing guidelines the maximum sentence in her case would be 90 days in jail. 

When Michelle was brought before Judge Robert P. Jones on June 8, 2001, he ordered her to have no contact with her daughter Britany since she was a victim in the pending case.

Except for groundless conviction by Judge Overgaard no court has ever established that Michelle has broken any laws, abused any of her children or even lived in a dirty house, the state continues to punish and destroy her family in an attempt to break her will and hide all the illegal tactics and conspiracy of the state agencies involved including SOSCF, Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, the state police and the Portland Police. 

On October, 4th, 2002 she was forced into a plea bargain of no contest because Judge Janice Wilson would only allow in evidence the day of December, 25th, 2000 and nothing prior or after that date.  Judge Janice Wilson believes that is a fair trail. 

Michelle's sentencing was 90 days in the Multnomah County Restitution Center and 5 years probation. 

She still has a no contact order to see or call her daughter Britany to this day.