Once accused of elder abuse, he fights back

Christopher Bonds will soon have his day in court.

Since June 2008, when he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a 94-year-old relative who suffered from dementia, Bonds has been fighting to clear his name.

Those charges were dropped. The Cook County state's attorney decided not to prosecute because the only witness was Bonds' 6-year old daughter -- and her statements supported her father.

Bonds was a captain in the Illinois Army National Guard when the charges were leveled against him.

I was struck by his circumstances.

Here was a man who took in his wife's 94-year-old aunt (who had meager resources) when other family members, including the woman's own son, wanted to put her in a nursing home.

I also note that Bonds' wife is a social worker and that Bonds had no prior convictions.

Without compelling evidence, it just didn't seem reasonable that either one of them would put their careers in jeopardy by abusing an elderly relative.

According to Bonds, the incident that led to his arrest began when the aunt, Susie Smith, became "agitated" and began "swearing and striking" him in front of his daughter.

In a federal lawsuit Bonds has filed against a detective and the City of Chicago, he admits holding the woman's wrists to calm her down.

When paramedics and two Chicago Police officers arrived, the elderly woman acknowledged "hitting" Bonds, according to the lawsuit.

Because she also complained of "chest pains," she was taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital. During a visit with her son, Smith complained that Bonds was "trying to kill her."

"Obviously, he never did any of this," said Bonds' attorney, Kurt Feuer. "We think the police didn't have probable cause to arrest him. The only evidence they had was the statement of somebody suffering from dementia."

While Bonds was in Arkansas on assignment with the National Guard, his wife called to tell him a detective was looking for him.

"I go to the police station to meet with the detective, and the cops jumped out," Bonds recalled.

"I sat there for 7� hours without a drop of water, and I was in my uniform," Bonds said. "After about 20 hours of being in custody, they finally gave me something to eat."

His bond was set at $50,000.

It didn't matter that Bonds' wife and his daughter told the detective that he never struck or choked the aunt. Or that a home health care giver said she physically examined Smith and that the woman "showed no signs of abuse." Or that the hospital did not report any signs of abuse.

Smith died in October. Bonds' case was dismissed soon after.

Meanwhile, Bonds was barred from being promoted to major in the Illinois National Guard, and his reputation suffered.

"My kids were ridiculed. Their friends saw it in the news and read it in the paper, and it was like: 'Did your dad do this? Does he beat up old ladies?' " Bonds said.

"I knew the people who knew me, knew I did not do anything of the sort, but people who don't know you don't know what to think."

After the charges were dropped, Bonds tried to have the arrest expunged, but the state's attorney objected, and the chief judge denied his request.

He filed a complaint with the Independent Police Review Authority, but no action was taken against the detective.

On Tuesday, the city's attorney advised a federal judge that the city is not willing to settle the lawsuit.

"Apparently, the city isn't settling anything. I would be happy to take Chris' case to trial," his attorney said.

"Here you have a guy taking care of his family and doing everything the right way, and this is what happens to him. It's a damn shame."

A spokeswoman for the city's Law Department said the city continues to "exercise discretion regarding settlements."

"We believe it is important for the morale of police officers that they know we will defend them as aggressively as possible."

But where does common sense -- not to mention fairness -- come in?

A jury is going to take one look at the clean-cut Bonds, review the evidence, and get ticked off that the city wasted its time.

Photo: Christopher Bonds ;

Addendum

Since the presentation of this material at the 18th meeting of the Canadian Society for Vascular Surgery in September 1996, there have been new developments in the indications for carotid endarterectomy for preventing stroke.

The North American Symptomatic Carotid Endarterectomy Trial (NASCET), a 12-year study sponsored by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, examined the benefit of carotid endarterectomy for patients with symptoms of stroke associated with 30% to 39% carotid artery stenosis. In 1991, early data were released regarding the benefit of surgery for patients with 70% to 99% carotid artery stenosis in the prevention of stroke. Since then the study has focussed on carotid endarterectomy for symptomatic patients with moderate (30% to 69% carotid artery stenosis). The results of the final phase of the NASCET were announced at the American Heart Association's 23rd International Joint Conference on Stroke and Cerebral Circulation in February 1998. The results demonstrated that patients with carotid artery stenosis greater than 50% clearly benefit from surgery.

Residents turn to the tap for drinking water

People in Bath are drinking more tap water now than they did 10years ago, a survey has revealed.

Claverton Down-based Wessex Water questioned hundreds of itscustomers and found nearly seven in ten people reckoned they nowdrank more water than they did a decade ago.

However, the survey suggested almost three-quarters of thosetaking part were still not drinking enough.

The World Health Organisation recommends that women should drink2.2 litres of water a day while men should drink 2.9 litres -although it says the amount varies depending on factors such asclimate, activity level and diet.

Wessex Water spokeswoman Clare-Marie Dobing said: "It isencouraging …

Ask the Fool

What goes the term "split-adjusted" mean?

-- V.T., Bellingham, Wash.

It reflects a stock price that has been changed to account forstock splits that have occurred over time.

Consider Coca-Cola. It went public in 1919 at $40 per share andhas split its stock 10 times since then. Its stock price hasrecently been trading for around $50 per share. So have the sharesappreciated by only $10 since 1919? Far from it. Remember theeffects of splitting. With each split, you end up with more shares,worth proportionately less. (A 2-for-1 split, for example, gives youtwice as many shares, each worth half as much.) One 1919 $40 sharehas now become 4,608 shares. If the stock had never split, eachshare would be worth more than $180,000 dollars and few people couldafford to buy even one!

You'll see the term "split-adjusted" when reviewing historicalstock prices. For example, in August 1970, Coke's stock price wasroughly 55 cents, split-adjusted. The price was actually around $72per share then, but to compare it with today's price, you need toadjust the price for splits that occurred between then and now. Thatway, you can tell at a glance that Coke's shares haven't fallen from$72 to $50 since 1970, but instead have risen from the equivalent of55 cents to $50 a ninetyfold increase.

What does it mean when a stock is "oversold"?

-- L.R., Newark, N.J.

The term suggests that too many people have been selling it,sending the share price lower than it perhaps should be.

Siblings should stay together

This dynamic sister and brother need a loving, adoptive home oftheir own.

Becky, 11, is a pleasant, cheerful girl who is well-mannered andcooperative. Although she's quiet around strangers, she becomestalkative and giggly in a comfortable situation.

Becky is at the age where she's concerned about her appearance.She loves trendy clothing and accessories and likes to shop.

Becky has a learning disability. She attends a fifth-gradeclasses, but her math and reading skills are at a fourth-grade level.

Becky enjoys making meals and likes helping her foster mother inthe kitchen. She likes to read.

Derek, 8, is an affectionate child who likes to give hugs andkisses.

When Derek first came into his foster home, he rarely smiled orcried. When he was upset, he'd throw a temper tantrum. Recently,his behavior at home has improved greatly. He minds his fosterparents. However, he still has some problems making friends.

At school, Derek has been moved from a behavior disorderclassroom to a regular first-grade classroom with a teacher's aide.

"The children need a structured but flexible adoptive home,"Becky and Derek's caseworker said. "These children need to know theyare never going to have to move again."

The children must be adopted together.

If you would like to adopt any waiting child, please call theAdoption Information Center of Illinois at (800) 572-2390.

Heat, chemical spill lead to rush hour meltdown

Another frazzling day of heat Wednesday started by sockingcommuters with even more agony--an accident under the 47th Streetviaduct on the Dan Ryan Expy. that tied up traffic for hours.

The accident also hospitalized 17 emergency workers when theytackled a chemical hot spot created when a hazardous yellow powder--azodicarbonamide--spilled from a truck that turned over about 6:45a.m.

The driver said he had been trying to dodge a car that suddenlychanged lanes. That …

Editorial.(Editorial)

As a multi-disciplinary journal, Australian Aboriginal Studies is a forum for papers that consider and discuss a broad range of often interrelated topics and issues. In this non-thematic edition, they are distributed across health, psychology, sport, linguistics, information technology, art history, archaeology, heritage, mediation and anthropology.

The first paper, by Peter Sutton, examines the similarities and differences between older customary mediator roles and those of the modern native title process. Sutton's paper, 'Mediating conflict in the age of native title', draws upon historical and contemporary accounts and analyses, as well as personal observation, to consider various roles and processes within Indigenous conflict management, and also how non-Indigenous people have been brought into these arenas. His observations about differences that may occur between Indigenous and non-Indigenous mediation styles is informative in the current native title era; for example, in the 'Right People for Country' project in the Victorian Native Title Settlement Framework.

Sutton's paper contributes to a growing body of work on Indigenous mediation and the recognition of its importance in the contemporary context. For example, 2009 saw the completion of the Indigenous Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management Case Study Project, which was partly undertaken by AIATSIS. The findings of this project are documented in 'Solid Work You Mob Are Doing': Case studies in Indigenous dispute resolution & conflict management in Australia (available from the Institute …