Mandy Smith
Appearances
Criminal
The Petition
Madison was, the thing that I remember being really concerned about with her is that she seemed numb. That she would tell her story and it was almost like it was on autopilot and there weren't any emotions involved. And that worried me.
Criminal
The Petition
I sent Justin Boardman a quick Facebook message after hearing him. I didn't ask him really any questions. I just told him that he had made me feel like I wasn't crazy for feeling the over the last several months.
Criminal
The Petition
The grand jury law in Kansas states that you can petition to have evidence heard in a case and let a jury of your peers decide if there is enough evidence to bring charges forward. And it is kind of a backdoor through the justice system and a way around the prosecutor.
Criminal
The Petition
A lot of people would disclose incidents that they had been through to us, which caught me by surprise. I don't know that I expected to become that soft landing spot for people, but I was more than happy to do that. A few people were kind of rude about it. Usually men, they would be a little bit defensive and
Criminal
The Petition
And I do specifically remember one woman telling me, if you weren't snatched by somebody that you don't know, then it wasn't right.
Criminal
The Petition
So we were driving all over our county, all over this county, to get people to sign it for us.
Criminal
The Petition
The petition was denied because they'd missed one detail. Because I didn't sign every single sheet of the petition. Just a technicality. Absolute technicality. So what did that mean? It meant we had to start all over again.
Criminal
The Petition
I remember Madison and I Sitting there at our breakfast table one evening and just messaging people that we didn't know that had signed the original petition.
Criminal
The Petition
It was devastating. I remember asking questions as quick as my head would spin. Who did this to you? What happened? When was this? Are you okay? What do I need to do? I didn't even know where to begin.
Criminal
The Petition
I think it was difficult for Madison to tell us what had happened and that... the sex had started out consensually. I think she wanted us to not think less of her, um, for being sexually active, which we never would have. But, you know, sometimes those are conversations that are difficult to have with your parents, especially when you're a freshman in college. um,
Criminal
The Petition
Then to have to keep telling the story of what happened over and over again to the different, you know, the different agencies, the different people with her parents there. I can't quite imagine how difficult that must have been for her.