The Wrong Guy

Jennifer Thompson was a 22 year old college student in North Carolina, described as "the perfect student, perfect daughter, perfect homecoming queen." Her life was forever changed one summer night when a stranger held a knife to her throat and raped her.

She was determined to remember every detail about her assailant so that she could identify her enemy and guarantee imprisonment for the rest of his life. She helped the police develop a drawing. She picked Ronald Cotton out of a lineup. She was calm and confident. The police described her as a perfect witness as this white woman testified against this black man. Although he insisted on his innocence, the power of Jennifer's eyewitness testimony helped to convict him and sentence him to life in prison. She never had a doubt.

A year after his conviction Ronald Cotton met another inmate in the prison kitchen. His name was Bobby Poole and they looked a lot alike. Poole was serving consecutive life sentences for a series of rapes. He bragged to other inmates that Ronald Cotton was serving some of his time because he had assaulted Jennifer Thompson. Cotton got a knife to murder Poole but his father told him not to murder but put his faith in God. He followed his father's advice.

A new trial was ordered for Ronald Cotton. This time they saw both men. This time the jury heard the other side of the story. This time they again convicted him on the basis of Jennifer Thompson' s eyewitness testimony. Again Ronald Cotton was sentenced to serve the rest of his life in prison.

After eleven years Jennifer Thompson had gone on with her life with marriage and children. Then one day the police detective she hadn't seen in years knocked on the door of her Winston-Salem home. He said, "Jennifer, you were wrong." The new technology of DNA analysis conclusively proved that Ronald Cotton was innocent. Her assailant was Bobby Poole after all.

Jennifer Thompson was shocked. How could she have made such a terrible mistake? She had stolen eleven years of a man's life that could never be given back. She agonized over this for two years and then asked to meet with Ronald Cotton and ask for his forgiveness. She prayed for strength to meet the man. They met in a church building in the town where she was raped. Her husband and the pastor waited outside.

Face-to-face for the first time outside a courtroom, Jennifer said, "I'm sorry. If I spent every day for the rest of my life telling you how sorry I am, it wouldn't come close to what I feel."

Calm and quiet, Ronald Cotton finally spoke: "I'm not mad at you. I've never been mad at you. I just want you to have a good life."

They talked for two hours while the pastor and Jennifer's husband anxiously waited outside. When they all stood outside, Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton embraced. They held each other for a long time.

A few days later Jennifer wrote to Bobby Poole in prison. She asked to meet him. She wrote, "I faced you with courage and bravery that July night. You never asked my permission. Now I ask you to face me." She wanted to meet him to tell him that she forgave him for what he did. She reasoned that if Ronald Cotton could forgive her, she could forgive Bobby Poole. He never responded. Poole died of cancer while in prison, early in 2000.

In his book How Small a Whisper, Roger Carswell relates an amazing story of a Christian family's response to tragedy:

In May 1987, 39 American seamen were killed in the Persian Gulf when an Iraqi pilot hit their ship, the USS Stark, with a missile. Newspapers carried a picture of the son of one of these seamen, a shy five-year-old boy, John Kiser. He was standing with his hand on his heart as his father's coffin was loaded onto a plane to take him back to the U.S.A.

His mother said, "I don't have to mourn or wear black, because I know my husband is in heaven. I am happy, because I know he is better off." Later on, she and young John sent a letter and an Arabic New Testament to the pilot of the Iraqi plane, addressed to: "The man who attacked the Stark, Dad's ship, in the hope that it will show that even the son and the wife do not hold any grudge and are at the same time praying for the one who took the life of our father."

$77,615 Bottle Of 224-Year-Old Cognac Shattered By Clumsy Customer

$77,615 Bottle Of 224-Year-Old Cognac Shattered By Clumsy Customer

The highlights.

A regular customer destroys a bottle of Cognac from the year 1788.

$77,615 of liquid runs onto the bar floor.

"Unfortunately for all, the bottle of Clos de Griffier Vieux wasn't insured because it had already been open. But, it seems the clumsy customer, a club regular, has been forgiven. "Accidents happen," Calabrese told The Evening Standard."

Windshield Wipers

One rainy afternoon I was driving along one of the main streets of town, taking those extra precautions necessary when the roads are wet and slick. Suddenly, my son Matthew spoke up from his relaxed position in the front seat.

"Mom, I'm thinking of something."

This announcement usually meant he had been pondering some fact for a while and was now ready to expound all that his seven-year-old mind had discovered. I was eager to hear.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

"The rain," he began, "is like sin and the windshield wipers are like God, wiping our sins away."

After the chill bumps raced up my arms I was able to respond. "That's really good, Matthew."

Then my curiosity broke in. How far would this little boy take this revelation? So I asked... "Do you notice how the rain keeps on coming? What does that tell you?"

 Matthew didn't hesitate one moment with his answer: "We keep on sinning, and God just keeps on forgiving us."

Property Line Fight

There was a dispute which had grown into a lawsuit between two farmers as to just where the line between them was and where a fence should be. Finally one of the farmers sold out, and the purchaser moved in.

Soon he met Farmer Smith, who was agitated and said to his new neighbor, "They tell me you have bought this farm, and I just want to inform you that you have bought a lawsuit."

He was asked to explain, and said, "Well, the fence, being located where it is, cheats me out of two feet of my land."

"Then," said the newcomer kindly, "we will move it back four feet."

"No," said Farmer Smith, "that is more than I ask." "But," said the new neighbor, "I would rather have peace with my neighbors than a few feet of earth!"

"Then," said Farmer Smith very quietly, "if that is the way you feel, the fence stays just where it is and the lawsuit is all off."

Bill Bartmann, John Ashcroft, and Forgiveness

In 1997, billionaire Bill Bartmann was named America's 25th richest man.

He was riding the crest of a wave.

Then in 1998 that wave came crashing down.

Bartmann's former business partner committed fraud that sent their company, Commercial Financial Services (CFS), into a tailspin and bankruptcy. Even although the business partner told the prosecutors that he had acted independently and without Bartmann's knowledge, the US Attorney General, John Ashcroft indicted Bill Bartmann on 57 counts of fraud.

His finances in ruins and his reputation now in tatters, Bartmann began the long defense process. The trial took place 5 years later and lasted 2 months.

Bill Bartmann was indicted on 57 federal felony counts in 2002; Attorney General, John Ashcroft alleged that he was guilty of making fake transactions to shell companies in order to falsify his balance sheet.

Bill Bartmann said, “Ashcroft’s action was after two grand juries voted not to indict. I didn’t know if it was a slow new week at the Justice Department or whether he hoped to find the next Enron-type scandal. All I knew was that I faced a cumulative 600 years in prison if convicted.

To make matters worse, the law firm that Bartmann hired to represent him quit on the day the trial was due to start. His request for a period of 2 weeks to appoint new attorneys was denied. So Bartmann represented himself.

The government called 53 witnesses and produced over 1,000 exhibits. Bartmann didn't call a single witness. Nor did he produce any exhibits. However, he did cross-examine one witness - someone from the treasury department.

You see, the whole case turned on a single document and the date on that document. Was the date accurate or had the document been doctored?

Bill maintained that the document had been signed a couple of years earlier before his partner committed the crime. If this was the case this would prove that he had nothing to do with the crimes committed by his partner. The government held the view that the document had been altered.

After 3 days of cross-examining the witness finally revealed that in a report submitted to the Justice Department he had stated the odds were 60 million to one that the document had been tampered with. Bartmann had not seen this report prior to the trial.

When the jury heard this evidence it was a matter of case closed. The jury unanimously acquitted Bill Bartmann of all 57 counts.

Bill Bartmann was a free man but the cost of this trial had been enormous. It had caused the demise of CFS along with the jobs of 3,900 people. And Bartmann had to file for bankruptcy.

So he had much to be bitter, even angry, about. However, he decided to forgive all those who had wronged him. One of the toughest acts of forgiveness was forgiving John Ashcroft - the man who indicted him despite having evidence that proved his innocence.

Bartmann was away giving a speech when he discovered that John Ashcroft was due to be in town the next day as part of his book signing tour. So he decided to stay an extra day so he could meet him in person.

At the book signing, like the others present, Bartmann had to wear a name tag so he wrote on his "Hello my name is Bill".

When it was his turn at the book signing desk John Ashcroft greeted him.

"Bill! Where're you from, Bill."

"Well, Mr Ashcroft, I'm from Tulsa."

"Oh we had a big case there a couple of years ago."

"Yes, I know. It was mine."

Well, as you can imagine, the smile that was on John Ashcroft's face disappeared and he suddenly looked grey. The politician was at a loss for words. Bartmann continued,

"Mr Ashcroft, you knew now as you knew then that I was innocent before you indicted me. And your actions cost 39 hundred people their job, cost me 3.5 billion dollars and cost my family an undue amount of anguish. Mr Ashcroft I came here for one reason."

Tension hung heavy in the air.

He extended his hand and John Ashcroft instinctively took it. Bill Bartmann shook his hand, looked directly into his eyes and said.

"Mr Ashcroft, I forgive you."

With that he turned around and walked away oblivious of Ashcroft's reaction. It didn't matter.

Although, it may not have seemed like it at the time, Bill Bartmann's willingness to forgive those who wronged him actually empowered him to rebuild his life. Instead of being down and out he has gone from strength to strength and is helping even more people.

And then I (Regan) emailed him and asked him these questions:

 First, is the story I found true? 

            Yes, the story is true.

 Second, what did you feel as a result of that experience?

            I felt relieved that I had put that entire chapter behind me with three words - I forgive you.

Third, was it hard to do?

            No, it was not hard.  I knew what would happen when I accomplished it so I was looking forward to it.

And finally, How do you think this experience has changed you?

            Read opening Paragraph of Oswald Chamber's devotional for Nov 5th from "My utmost for his Highest "

November 5^th, My Utmost For His Highest:
“If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a multitude of experiences that are not meant for you at all, they are meant to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what transpires in other souls so that you will never be surprised at what you come across. Oh, I can't deal with that person. Why not? God gave you ample opportunity to soak before Him on that line, and you barged off because it seemed stupid to spend time in that way.”