(September 21, 2015 at 9:02 pm)lkingpinl Wrote: So I am currently facing a tough decision in life. I think I need to preface this with a little backstory. To save from a TL;DR I will give a cliff's notes version.
I grew up in a terribly abusive home. My mother was diagnosed with MS when I was 5 and was wheelchair bound and in and out of hospitals. After we told my mother about the abuse she moved us in with our grandparents when I was 8. Two weeks before my ninth birthday she died on our back porch in front of us all. Because MS does not move that rapidly an autopsy was done and the coroner found high levels of arsenic. I remember my step father always preparing our dinners. He worked with arsenic as part of his job. His brother was a cop. Long story short he was never convicted of any charges (not even the abuse) because I was too terrified to take the stand.
I received a call yesterday that my mothers homicide case is being reopened and they want my testimony. This was 26 years ago. My dilemma here is I have moved on. I actually faced this man later in my life and got my personal closure and my life has moved on. For my other family members they still demand justice. I don't know if I really want to rehash all of that and relive it again. It cost me years of therapy and night terrors. I don't know if I want to comply and offer it up for my family members chance at justice (not guaranteed) and at what personal expense? I know you guys don't know me aside from posts here and there but I'm I off base with not wanting to do this? I may risk my family members being very hurt. I've tried explaining my position but they think I'm being selfish. I'm not sure.
Look my take on it is - give them a statement on your terms. Being that this was 26 years ago you could easily have false memories about the event, so tell the police you'll make a statement but not answer any questions. Or set the terms your happy with - the police will want to ask questions of course, so you need to decide if you're going to answer them or not before deciding to give a sworn statement. Then if they ever need your testimony in court you can worry about that at a later time - if it ever gets that far (which by the sound of it is unlikely). It could also lead to other things like your uncle being convicted for abusing police powers and perverting the course of justice.
For Religion & Health see:[/b][/size] Williams & Sternthal. (2007). Spirituality, religion and health: Evidence and research directions. Med. J. Aust., 186(10), S47-S50. -LINK
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke