Okay, this is my take on what happened this morning.

            For those who don’t follow the soap opera that is my life, Patricia was scheduled to be in court this morning on a hearing to dismiss the pending probation violation charges against her and, if agreed, discharge her from probation and set her free.

            Joline Gutierrez Krueger, a columnist from the Journal emailed me on Friday and informed me of Patricia’s third marriage in October to one, Ray Lopez Jr. The Journal then ran a story which focused on our son Glen on the front page of Mondays’ paper.

            This led to a Monday morning phone call with Natalie Swaby from KOAT Channel 7 and an interview which ran Monday night and Tuesday morning.

            All of this building to the probable release from prison of Patricia at a hearing this morning.

            I show up a little late and find Rod Green already in the courtroom along with a reporter from KOB Channel 4. Joline showed up a few minutes later.

            I identified Patricia’s latest husband in the row behind me as it seemed he knew everyone in the room, not a big surprise considering his criminal background.

            I caught up with Rod Green a little bit, he covered Patricia’s sentencing in 2005, and told him I was betting even odds that the hearing would be postponed. I based my conclusion on two points. First, there have been at least five postponements for every hearing over the last year and a half. Second, I thought the other parties involved (DA, Public Defender, and Judge) might prefer to wait until the cameras were not in the courtroom.

            A little before nine, Patricia’s attorney came out of the back of the courtroom with another individual I did not know. He proceeded to talk to Patricia in an animated manner. Patricia gave a hand signal to Lopez and he left the courtroom.

            The judge’s bailiff approached the media and asked if they were here for anything other then Patricia Long, when told no, she informed them the hearing had just been cancelled and reset for sometime in January.

            We started out of the courtroom when the unknown individual called my name and asked to talk to me. He is the new ADA assigned to the case, John Sugg.

            Mr. Sugg informed me that the hearing had been canceled because the DA disagreed with the defense’s attorney position that Patricia was not dangerous. This determination, under New Mexico statute, is critical as I discuss in a previous blog (“Dismal Dismissal”). When the judge heard this he cancelled the hearing because it could last a couple of hours or half a day.

            Mr. Sugg further informed me that the DA had pressed for Patricia to be sent to the State Hospital for a 60 day evaluation as outlined in the Statute. The judge did not agree to this until a determination about danger was made.

            Finally, Mr. Sugg stated this case presented real issues because of the combination of Patricia’s intelligence combined with her mental illness. They simply had no idea what to do with her.

            Welcome to our world Mr. Sugg.

            I then did interviews with the reporters and left the courthouse, making the calls and texts I must each time this happens.

            I appreciate the District Attorney’s office stepping up and trying to provide the judge with the information to make a decision.

            I am sure Judge Murdoch snorts every time he sees me on the news saying that I am putting the life of my family in his hands. He snorts because I am sure he does not appreciate the presence and focus of the media on his decision and believes I use the media in attempts to influence his decisions.

            Judge, I would if I had any idea what the hell should be done.

            Honestly, Judge, you are the only one who can make the decision. I have a fifteen year history of making bad decisions about Patricia and the decision I might make in this case is a personal one based on my selfish desires and what I believe is in the best interest of my children.

            Yet, I reserve the right as a citizen to raise as much hell as I can and draw as much attention to this case as I can. I do not need to justify this to anyone other then my children.

            Some of the media seemed to think I had a solution, that I had an outcome I thought possible. I am sorry, there is no good outcome. We crossed that bridge years ago.

            It will be seven years in February. Montie is twelve, Jessica is fifteen, and Glen is nineteen. I can not tell you how proud I am of how they rose above this mess.

            I can not fault any decision Judge Murdoch makes and every decision he has made in this case has been the proper one. I voted to retain only two judges, Murdoch and John Romero.

            Having said this, there is no doubt in my mind that the deal the parties had made collapsed under the recent media attention. That if it had not been for this attention, right or wrong, Patricia would be out of prison today.

            This was not my intent. My Blog is called Consequences. I simply wanted to remind the parties that their actions had consequences to my children, myself, and even Patricia.

            I got the chance to tell Cassidy how often her music seems to reach out from Manhattan and help me. The one that nails this is “Dog and Pony” show. This song is on my MySpace profile (http://www.myspace.com/dadonfire).