Virginia–Background: Conscientious Virginia judge James Michael Shull (pictured below), who smoked out a woman who sought to extend a restraining order based on false charges of domestic violence, was removed from the bench last fall by this Virginia Supreme Court ruling. Not only was Shull railroaded, but he has been the target of widely-disseminated misleading reporting.
To learn more about the case, see my blog posts In Defense of Judge James Michael Shull (Part I), Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, and Part VII, read my co-authored newspaper column defending Shull here, or click here.
The lying mother who cost Judge Shull his career abducted her child from the custody of her ex-husband in February, and her case appeared on America’s Most Wanted. On February 22, Huffman-Giza had been found guilty of welfare fraud and sentenced to prison. However, instead of going to prison, she was given two years supervised probation. From America’s Most Wanted:
“According to police, Brayden was taken by his biological but non-custodial mother, 32-year-old Tammy Huffman-Giza the weekend prior, when Brayden’s father brought the child over to her apartment in Coeburn, Va. for a visit.
“Cops say when the father went to pick up Brayden, the apartment was empty — except for a letter Huffman-Giza allegedly penned before taking off with the child. In the letter, police say Huffman-Giza wrote she had met someone named ‘Richard’ online, and that she’d made plans to go to London, England to meet him. Police have issued a felony warrant for Tammy, charging her with child abduction.”
Huffman-Giza was caught on February 27 and the 8-year-old boy returned. Below is an update from a reader who lives in Wise County, Virginia:
“Glenn–I have just learned that Tammy Huffman-Giza was let out by Wise County, Virginia authorities, ostensibly to get medical treatment. She then absconded from the jurisdiction and is believed to be in Kentucky. They are apparently trying to keep this quiet. However, to let a woman or any prisoner out of jail with her history seems ludicrous.”
Letting her out is not “ludicrous”–it’s the female criminal justice discount. Let’s briefly recap:
She was caught in a bald-faced lie, falsely claiming domestic violence when she had in fact cut herself. None of the parties in the case on any side even disputed that she had lied.
She had attempted to defraud the court in order to deprive a father of his children. None of the parties in the case on any side even disputed that she had tried to defraud the court.
She had a rap sheet as long as your arm, a small part of which is displayed above.
Judge Shull conscientiously did what he needed to do to protect vulnerable children caught in a very difficult situation. Shull was removed anyway by a decision of the Virginia Supreme Court last fall.
Having been let out of a jail sentence, Tammy Huffman-Giza returns the favor by adducting her son, attempting to kidnap him to England. She is caught.
She is let out of jail as a temporary favor to her, and she flees to another state.
This is the woman Judge Shull tried to protect two young children from. This is the woman who cost Judge Shull his career.
I wonder how the Virginia Supreme Court feels about it now?