PRESS RELEASE
Contact:
Teri Stoddard: 301-801-0608
tstoddard@saveservices.org
WASHINGTON, March 30 / P.R. Newswire / Victim advocacy group Stop Abusive
and Violent Environments (SAVE) has filed a Grievance Complaint with the
Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar, requesting the disbarment of assistant
district attorney Mary Kellett. The Complaint can be seen here:
http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/COMPLA1.pdf
“Thanks to prosecutor Kellett, proven child abusers in Maine know they can
get a free pass by making a claim of rape,” explains Philip W. Cook, SAVE
spokesman. “Mary Kellett has prosecuted many innocent citizens on
allegations of domestic violence and rape. The Board of Overseers of the Bar
needs to disbar prosecutor Kellett immediately.”
The case arose from the accusations of Ligia Filler, a proven child abuser
with a previous criminal charge history. “The children were victims of
violence from their mother,” including hitting her oldest daughter with
spatulas and spoons, according to a December 3, 2009 Ellsworth (Maine)
District Court ruling. One son said that his mother “would hit everyone in
the house. She was a terror to everybody.”
After Ligia’s husband Vladek indicated his plan to leave the marital home
for the safety of the children, Ms. Filler had an apparent mental
break-down, running through the streets partially clothed, screaming death
threats at police officers on the scene.
Ligia made an allegation of marital rape, and within few days prosecutor
Mary Kellett filed charges. No forensic, medical, or other physical evidence
of sexual assault was presented during the trial. Assistant district
attorney Kellett repeatedly sought to bar the introduction of key evidence
that would serve to exonerate the defendant.
Court-appointed attorney Neil Fishman later commented the proceeding was so
flawed that it resembled a “Salem Witch Trial.” On September 9, 2010 the
Maine Supreme Court issued a ruling that found Kellett had “improperly
encouraged the jury to use the absence of evidence regarding the marriage
ending and a child custody dispute…as a reason to reject Filler’s
defense.” The case was remanded for a retrial in May.
More information on the case can be seen at
http://www.saveservices.org/abuse-hysteria-campaign