Another one bites the dust…….
Robyn Kathleen Gevas, 38, pleaded no contest on Jan. 21 to voluntary manslaughter and admitted using a knife to kill Callie Joshua Evans Jr., 62.
A no-contest plea has the same effect as a guilty plea at sentencing. In exchange for her plea, the Napa County District Attorney’s Office dropped a murder charge. Continue reading
Doug Stekkinger
A 48-year-old Santa Barbara man who punched a 71-year-old man during an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting will be sentenced to up to nine years in state prison on Friday.
Doug Stekkinger was found guilty of three felony charges including elder abuse, assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury, and battery with serious bodily injury. Stekkinger was also convicted of a special allegation that he inflicted great bodily injury on someone 70 years of age or older, which would significantly increase the sentence.
On April 12, 2012, Stekkinger attended an AA meeting at the Veteran’s Memorial Building with his dog, Blue. A confrontation between the older man and Stekkinger ensued about whether or not dogs were allowed inside during meetings. Stekkinger subsequently punched the victim in the face, shattering his cheekbone in three places.
According to a statement from the DA’s Office, the “victim put his hand on Stekkinger’s shoulder and attempted to counsel him that dogs were not permitted on the premise during meetings.” Stekkinger plead not guilty to all felony counts, claiming he acted in self-defense and that the man grabbed his neck before he punched him. The case went to trial, which lasted three days. AA Daytona Beach Meetings Holly Hill, Port Orange and Daytona.
“This is a travesty — one punch,” said Ted Stekkinger, Doug’s older brother in November. “AA is supposed to be a place for serenity.” He said his brother has lived in Santa Barbara for about 25 years and had been “straightening himself out.”
“If someone grabs you, what do you do?” Ted went on. “Stop and ask to see their ID? ‘Oh, you’re 69, I can punch you.’ Or, ‘Oh, you’re 70, I can’t punch you,” added Ted, who is a retired police officer. Deland Drug Court Michael Jewell and Judge Will AA Meetings.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, Stekkinger has an additional conviction on his record, but prosecutors wouldn’t go into detail on the previous case. Recent police reports indicate Stekkinger was also arrested for misdemeanor sexual battery on October 8 after detectives obtained an arrest warrant for him after he allegedly grabbed the buttocks of a 23-year-old woman at a beer festival in late September. He has been in custody since his November assault conviction. Holly Hill Commissioners problems.
http://www.independent.com/news/2014/feb/13/man-be-sentenced-punching-elderly-victim/
AA should’ve been challenged and quashed before it got off the ground! Better late than never though.
(NEWSER) – A slew of new books is challenging the 75-year “hegemony” of Alcoholics Anonymous, and Maia Szalavitz at Pacific Standard thinks it’s about time. Over the decades, it’s become nearly an accepted truth in this country that AA is the one and only path to sobriety. And sure, the 12-step program that demands participants surrender to a “higher power” is the right path for some, but it is most definitely not the right path for everyone. “For what other medical condition does 90 percent of the treatment consist of meetings and prayer?” asks Szalavitz. Daytona AA and NA meetings Holly Hill Florida.
Indeed, one of the problems with AA’s “non-medical and moralistic” approach “is that addiction continues to be seen by many people as a moral failing rather than a disease.” Another? One of the biggest studies of recovery found that the vast majority of addicts kick their habit “without any treatment—professional or self-help—regardless of whether the drug involved is alcohol, crack, methamphetamine, heroin, or cigarettes,” writes Szalavitz. That’s something our booming rehab culture isn’t eager to spread around. Click for the full column, which includes a list of the recent books taking on AA. NA Daytona Beach.
http://www.newser.com/story/182123/its-time-we-challenged-alcoholics-anonymous.html
Alcoholics Anonymous fails another celebrity- Philip Seymour Hoffman is now dead after the 12 steps filled his head that he had a disease and a ton of other Bill W. Mantra.
By Jana Winter
Celebrities including Annie Leibovitz and Bobby Canavale paid their respects, as O’Donnell made preparations to hold a private wake and funeral this week.
A few blocks away from O’Donnell’s house, and a few blocks further from where Hoffman died, sits the 50 Perry St Workshop, which hosts AA and NA meetings, many of which Hoffman attended. Daytona NA and AA Meetings in Port Orange and Daytona Beach.
In fact, an AA member told FOX411 he spotted Hoffman at a meeting just about a week before the actor died. The source told us the actor came to an 8:30 p.m. meeting and didn’t appear to be drunk or high.
“[Hoffman told the group] ‘I’m doing OK. Little situation in life. Life still shows up,” the source recalled.
Eddie Donohoe, 58, said he used to see the star at meetings as well.
“He used to come to meetings, I guess he was trying,” Donohoe said. “Usually people don’t come to meetings if they pick up, because people will know if they’re high.”
Donohoe, who said he was in meetings with Hoffman at least a dozen times, said the actor seemed like a nice guy when he came to the center.
“He was regular guy, he was polite and well dressed, very sociable with people,” he said. “He would come in daytime or evening. Last time I saw couple months ago. People surrounded him. He had his own clique.”
Donohoe said you don’t have to say anything in the meetings, but Hoffman would often speak to the group. Smart Recovery online meetings for courts and probation.
“He would speak. Sometimes he would share. He might raise his hand and say something, what he was going through that day,” Donohoe said.
Hoffman’s death hit the group hard, according to Donohoe.
“Everybody [at the meeting] was sad about him dying,” he said.
Hoffman, 46, was found dead in his apartment Sunday of an apparent heroin overdose.