An Open Letter to Alvin G. Goldstein, PHD

Forgive me for stating the obvious, but I rarely write blog posts. Every now and again something comes up that prompts me to put in the time and effort needed to construct something in a longer form.  This is one of those occasions.  I recently came upon a website that contains information that I believe to be both factually inaccurate and misleading.  It paints a picture of a man wrongly accused and victimized by the police, his attorney and the court system.  The man in question is Jerry Lynn Parker.  Mr. Parker was convicted of the 1970 murder of both my grandmother (Hazel Marie Kimberlin) and my uncle (Michael Wayne Kimberlin) who was only eleven at the time.  An abstract of that case can be found in the appeal judgment issued by the Missouri Supreme Court. While he maintained his innocence for many years, he has since admitted to these senseless slayings.  While out on parol, Mr. Parker was arrested and convicted of the molestation of three young girls (aged 10, 11 and 13).  In my opinion, Mr. Parker is a predator and a danger to society.

What follows is an email response of the contents of the page EYEWITNESS ERROR --AGAIN.  This has been sent to Dr. Goldstein in an attempt to have him either remove the page in question or, at the very least, update it for accuracy and completeness of the story of Jerry Parker.  Please note that the statements here are my opinions and should be read as such.  If there are inaccuracies, please feel free to bring them to my attention in the comments.

Dr. Goldstein,

I am writing to you with regards to your website relating the case of Jerry Lynn Parker.  As I understand, I am a bit late in getting this email to you as my father has already sent you a rather emotional response.  You should know that while seeing your site brought forward feelings of anguish and anger for him, there is no hate involved...only the pain that accompanies the loss of a parent and a sibling.  I wish that I would have gotten the chance to send my correspondence in advance of his email, as I should like to address some of your points and I fear that you are unlikely to be receptive now that you have already heard from our family.  Nonetheless, I shall attempt to persuade you against using Mr. Parker as an example for your campaign against eyewitness testimony.  As you now know, Jerry Parker murdered both my grandmother and my young uncle.  This took place before I was born.  While it saddens and frustrates me that he took away my opportunity to know them both, I also do not have the acute sense of loss that my father and aunts must have.  As such, I am able to view your arguments with a bit more detachment. I also attended the trial of Mr. Parker that concluded in his conviction for the molestation of the three young girls.  So, I have a perspective that you could not possibly attain from examining court documents.

I am curious. Have ever seen a picture of Mr. Parker that was not a mug shot?  I can tell you that when the trial occurred, Mr. Parker did not have the pronounced double chin that you point to as a discrepancy between the description from the girls and the mug shots on your page. His appearance in the mug shots is largely a result of Mr. Parker pulling his head back, creating the exaggerated appearance of a double chin.  This can be plainly seen in the side-view photo on your site. The assertion that he had "fatty tumors" may be true, however he is clearly attempting to make them more prominent in the photo. Furthermore, Jerry Parker was thin at the time.  This means that the girls' assertion that the man that accosted them was less "chunky" than the man in the initial photo line up appeared was accurate.  He does appear to be carrying more weight in that picture.

As for the questions regarding the differences in the cars described by the girls, I am sure that you are aware that young girls this age are not likely to be able to identify the make and/or model of a car on sight.  I am 32 years old and I am not capable of doing this without seeing it on the rear of the vehicle.  The same is true for the gun identification.  No eleven or thirteen year old girl could be expected to tell the make and caliber of a weapon.  These girls were young and frightened.  They endured a horrendous event that they likely barely understood.  To expect that their testimony would be iron clad and completely without inconsistency is simply not reasonable.

You also raise questions about the defense attorney's refusal to call witnesses that would profess to his being elsewhere at the time.  If you spoke to his attorney, you would probably be aware that these witnesses were not called because they were deemed to be a liability to Mr. Parker's case rather than a help.  Mr. Parker never took the stand to defend himself either.

It is clear from your site that a good deal of the information that you have was given to you by Mr. Parker directly.  You would be wise to view his stories and claims with a grain or two of salt.  I am a skeptic by nature.  I tend to desire a higher level of proof for claims of any kind in order to be swayed.  As such, I understand the problems inherent in eyewitness identification.  So, I am sympathetic with the desire to see convictions made on the basis of physical evidence.  Therefore, I will not attempt to further argue Parker's guilt in this case.  What I will say is that Mr. Parker is not an innocent victim of poor police procedure, improper defense, etc.  He is a predator.  As for his "refusal" to attend parole hearings,because of his desire to maintain his innocence, he must have had a change in conviction.  He attended his hearing in 2008 and is going to be having another hearing in January.  He also maintained his innocence in the 1970 murders until he confessed it to a bailiff during the trail involving these girls.  Yet he did not hesitate to attend the hearings that set him free to inflict harm on the innocent again.  Mr. Parker likes attention.  During the trail for this most recent crimes he would wave and sneer at our family.  He made lewd gestures toward my older cousin while leaving the courthouse.  He was snide and arrogant in demeanor throughout the trial. For years he sent Christmas cards to my family members, pouring salt in the already painful wounds that he had inflicted.  He has brought a number of law suits against the state and employees of the state on a variety of grounds, many of which are frivolous.  All of these cases have been dismissed.  Mr. Parker is no innocent man and is by no means a victim nor a model for your cause. I would request that you build your case against eyewitness testimony on a different case and leave Mr. Parker to his own faculties.

Also, I would like to say that your use of quotations around the words crime and victim is in poor taste.  These young girls were victims of a horrible crime, whether you believe that Jerry Parker was the perpetrator of that crime or not.  They were deeply affected by these events and in at least one case it led a family to be torn apart. This was not something in the imagination of some silly little girls. At the very least, please treat the events with the respect and gravity that they deserve and tell Mr. Parker's complete story.

Very sincerely yours,
-Michael Kimberlin

In addition to this email, I sent a request to Dan Rastatter regarding his abstract based on Dr. Goldstein's write up of the Parker case found on the Victims of the State website.  That email was as follows:

Mr. Rastatter,

I am writing you with regards to Jerry Lynn Parker.  You have him listed on your Victims of the State website with regards to his conviction on charges relating to the molestation of three young girls.  Your site led me to the source of your information, one Dr. Goldstein.  I have written Dr. Goldstein in an attempt to persuade him that Mr. Parker is by no means an innocent man.  I am including that correspondence below.  I should also like to request that you give your abstract of the case a second look and consider its removal from your site.

I appreciate your consideration and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,
-Michael Kimberlin

As of the time of this post, I have not received a response from either individual.