The Fallen Queen

First off, Michael McClish seems to have been denied an appeal of his murder conviction, or something of that nature; the following was apparently filed 10/30/2014.

NOTE:  If you are a family member or friend of Asha Veil, or someone upset by reading about her death, please proceed with caution into this document.  It has descriptions of her after she was found (not graphic, but enough), and could be very upsetting.

Also, there is a brief part in this document where Asha is reported to have been drinking and flirting a little with McClish and others, etc,. long before the encounter in the Felton Cemetery.  I firmly believe McClish took advantage of Asha in the Felton Cemetery that night and the encounter was NOT consensual.  That she might have flirted with him, hung out, drank with him occasionally (usually with others from work present) beforehand does NOT mean that she was not raped that night.  It only means that she knew her rapist and socialized with him (and others from the market), a very common scenario in sexual assault.

Here is the text of what I found tonight; it is a .pdf:

http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/nonpub/H038137.PDF

Reading this redoubles my effort to make my writing for this book as excellent as I can make it.  I wish with all my heart that I could go back and protect Asha from that evil man, who now and always has the temerity to think he can be acquitted.

Richard, her husband, has a beautiful quote about Asha that I want to use as the title for the section of the book that will describe the trial: "May all armies unite around the fallen queen."  I feel I am, in some way, part of that army as I work on this book and pray McClish never again enters a court of law to appeal this crime or any other.

I wish there were a way I could follow the course of his appeal processes, but seem to be limited to what pops up on the Internet.  I feel vastly ignorant about these things, but suppose I shall get an education about this as I continue to work and write.

It seems feathers are a sign from Asha--at least my heart so wishes to believe it.  Every time I have a difficult day, thinking I am not up to this task, disheartened, feel that the book, even done, won't ever see the light of day, etc, it is becoming invariable that a feather comes into my path, usually immediately (I tend to walk a lot outside when I am feeling insecure like this and, sure, I live in a rural area, but I almost never see feathers around).  One night it happened at my Haitian dance class, where nobody was wearing feathers--it was actually a mourning dove feather, right on the dance floor where it had not been just a few minutes before (I had been stretching near that spot.  I have found four feathers so far, from those moments of doubt and sadness, and have them on my altar along with all my raven feathers (I have a resident raven clan who gifts me with these from time to time).

I don't know if these are touches from the other side, a gentle push to keep going, that she wants me to tell her story, but I believe in these things enough to receive them in gratefulness as a treasure and a blessing.