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Black Hills Peoples News - The 'worst story' we heard
November 8, 2002
Common Sense Justice, the organization which sponsored Amendment A on the ballot on November 5, announced on Halloween night that Mia Goings, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, who lives in Rapid City, has submitted the worst horror story.
In the announcement of the winning entry, Larry Dodge, spokesperson said, "Mia Goings, a mother of three who's been caught up in the machinery that goes into action when charges of child abuse and neglect are levied, best represents (in our opinion) the horror which faces people caught up in the justice system in South Dakota. Here's her story.
I'm for Amendment A because of what happened to me. My name is Mia Goings. I, and my husband Frank, have three beautiful children.
Our middle child, Tanksi, is a wonderful child with special needs. She turned five in custody of the State in a foster-home in Belle Fourche. She and our other two children, Tia, age 3, and Frank, Jr., age 6, were taken from us on September 27, this year. For three weeks our lives have had great holes in them.
You see, my daughter, Tanski, was attending a special education classroom of the Rapid City Area Schools for the past two school years. She became terrified of the bus driver and refused most days to get on the bus. I complained to the school repeatedly, but they did nothing. She was injured on at least two occasions and the school notified me that she had a lump on her head and an injured arm when she got off the bus. She does not communicate easily because of a very severe developmental delay. She expresses her fears and frustrations by having a tantrum. She could only repeat "No Bus" but could not tell anyone why. When she tantrums she she falls easily and that has been documented repeatedly.
My daughter also attends Rural America Initiatives Early Head Start. They also expressed their concern about the bus driver. A staff member wrote that the bus driver did not welcome Tanski with a friendly smile or welcoming greeting. Tanski did not resist getting on any bus, except the one driven by that driver.
On September 27, she refused to get on the bus. She started a tantrum. The bus driver falsely reported that I kicked Tanski and pushed her down when the bus driver refused to take her on the bus. When the driver told me that she would not allow her on the bus I picked her up and set her down outside the bus door. She fell, as she always does when having a tantrum. When she falls she puts her hands out to catch her fall. Her hand had some small scratches from the fall.
When the police and social worker came they reported that Tanski had bruises on her back. The "bruises" on Tanski's back are Mongolian spots, documented in medical records since birth. They also said that our younger daughter had what appeared to be choke marks on her neck. She has maleska warts and had received treatment by a Dr. at Sioux San that Monday.
The treatment put a tincture on the warts that would eventually make them fall off, but by Friday looked like bruises. Both my husband and I told them what the marks were, but they would not listen.
They didn't just charge us with abuse and neglect, they also charged me with felony child abuse, and I was arrested and taken to jail. The caseworker told my son that he could not stay at home because I was being taken to jail for hurting his sisters.
They took the kids to the hospital and found out that we had told the truth, but chose to place them in state custody anyway. The abuse and neglect file number is A02-857. My criminal file number is CR02-4069.
The state offered a plea agreement. If I pleaded guilty to felony abuse they would recommend local jail time. My public defender urged me to accept it because I am Indian and most juries are all white and it is hard to eliminate prejudiced ones. He also said that there was nothing positive in the record about me.
My sister and I asked a private investigator/advocate to assist. She did a report to the court in which she could find nothing negative about me in my past history. Only the false report of the bus driver, which set in motion this nightmare. She reported the plea offer and my attorney's comments, and instead of being pleased that she had done his investigating, he threatened to sue her. He withdrew.
I had a hearing today on the abuse and neglect petition and it was dismissed. I answered the petition myself and sought the return of our children. The A & N petition has been dismissed but the felony abuse charges are still proceeding. Those charges include a no contact order between my special child, Tanski, and me. For three weeks I have been permitted to visit my other two children one-hour a week, but have not seen her. My husband and sister who
do get to see her, tell me that she cries for me during the entire time they see her. It breaks my heart because I wonder if she thinks I have abandoned her.
The children will be returned to our home tomorrow because the foster parents have to be allowed to tell them goodbye and prepare them for the change. Gee, we never got to do that. But because the no-contact order is still in effect, I cannot live at home, I still can see only the other two children and not my special little doll, Tanski. What will Tanski believe when she comes home and I am not there?
The abuse and neglect and the felony abuse process seems to me like a self-propelled steamroller. Once it starts it is difficult to stop. The public defender I had seemed to zealously advocate for the state, instead of me. He urged me to plead to felony abuse and then withdrew when he thought someone had treaded on his turf. But I got a new attorney who seems to sincerely want to help me.
I believe with Amendment A, even though I do not yet know how this will turn out, that I would have a better chance in criminal court. I do even believe that I should have been charged with a crime, and could tell the court or a jury why. Something has to change to give people like me, a passive, quiet member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, a chance in this huge, powerful system.
Mia Goings
Rapid City, SD 57701
The horror story was due by midnight on October 21. The contest sponsors updated the story as follows:
1. On October 23, in the 7th Judicial Circuit Court, Mia accepted an offer to dismiss the felony abuse charges on the basis of a deferred prosecution for six months. The stipulation which allowed the case to be dismissed requires Ms. Goings to complete two parenting programs. She had already signed up for one and paid for it so will be taking three classes on parenting, despite the fact that she has always done everything to help her children. She has documentation of her efforts, commendations for being a model parent and certificates for special training.
2. Mia will also be taking an anger management class. She was evaluated at Behavior Management and the evaluation said she did not exhibit negative anger. She volunteered for the class and it is now part of the stipulated agreement.
3. Also, on October 23, the public defender involved in this case filed a formal complaint with the State Bar of South Dakota seeking to enjoin the special advocate who assisted Ms. Goings from continuing to do the type of work involved in this case.
4. On October 28, Frank Goings was sentenced to five years in prison, with two suspended for his fourth DUI. That means that during this most critical time for her and the children, Mr. Goings' income will not be available to the family. Mr. and Mrs. Goings had alternated shifts so one of them could be home with the children. It was hoped that Mr. Goings might get all but one year suspended and do that time in the Pennington County Jail on work release.
5. Because of the time spent in jail, and the time necessitated by both the Abuse and Neglect petition and the felony abuse charges, both parents have not worked for several weeks. Their van was about to be repossessed.
6. One misstep and her kids can be taken away, and she can be reprosecuted for the felony abuse. The deferred prosecution means that the charges can be refiled with probable cause without allowing her to challenge them.
Dodge summarizes the circumstances, "In Classic witch-hunt fashion, a single untruth accusation set the 'self-propelled steamroller' that Ms. Goings speaks of, in motion, operated by people who have to know that she's actually been sentenced to prison even if the walls aren't visible...In our opionion, Mia is a classic example of someone defined by the courts as guilty until proven innocent."
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