#15 A letter/motion to the Court of Higher Instance, Thursday December 19, 2002

This is the text of an essay/motion written for the appeals court in Warsaw. It's purpose was to get back my passport and render some clarity. It was first presented on December 19th, 2002 at a session of the appeals court made specifically to hear this request. At that time, the court refused to read it on the grounds that the court date itself was incorrectly made, a mistake on the part of my second attorney Marcin Borus. The essay was later presented to the lower court in December where it was rejected ostensibly for not being written in Polish. It was rewritten and translated and resubmitted to the court. Officially though, it was never read, and was refused as evidence by the court at the time the original verdict was rendered.

I am presenting this note on my own behalf for the following purposes:

1: To be granted the return of my passport and
2: To attempt to add some sense of clarity to the whole of my situation
so far.

This letter will consist of 4 parts.

Part one will concern reasons for the return of my passport.
Part two will talk about the situation of my case
Part thee will talk about my situation in Poland.
Part four will concern my future intentions.

Part 1: Reasons for the return of my passport.

I hear by request that the court grants me the return of my passport
for the following reasons.

1. That my life is highly diminished by my constant forced presence in
Poland . I have no business here, no familial ties and no interest in
remaining . I did however have business of a commercial and personal
nature elsewhere, and my forced stay has prevented me from participation
in these affairs. Also, the incredible loss of income and credit is a
devastating thing to my life. To be held here could very easily be seen
as torture.

2. There was no original decision that the perpetual holding of my
passport was the correct decision. The original decision was to ask for
bail in the amount of 4000pln . I accepted this and was free to leave the
court on my own with the understanding had I had ten days to return
with the money to cover the bail . I did return that following Monday, but
the payment was stopped by the prosecutor who complained to the court
about this, forcing a hearing that was held on the 13th of June.
However, due to a misrepresentation of the existence of that meeting on the
part of the prosecutor, I was not permitted to attend. Had I been allowed
to attend, I am confident that I would have been granted my passports
return and would have been able to continue with my life. The details of
this incident were presented in my large report that was presented to
the courts before the start of my trial.

3. The stress of constant imprisonment here in Poland has caused a huge
strain on my fiancИe, her seven-year-old son and her family as well as
myself. My being kept from her company should be seen as cruel and
unusual punishment. To this end I would like to be able to at least
participate with them in this holiday season.

4. The theatre in Belarus has accepted the Russian language play I had
written, and I wish to go and help in its production and to participate
in the theatre there to best insure its success.

5 . I would like to have the opportunity to revisit with my Belarusian
partners in business there so as to plan for what sorts of future our
original business proposals still might have. As the selling season
(bicycles) must be prepared for in these months, my participation is
critical.

6. A call on my part for a permanent address is both irrelevant and
nonsensical. The word permanent in English has the following dictionary
definition:

per ma nent
adj.

lasting or remaining without essential change: "the universal human
yearning for something permanent, enduring, without shadow of change"
(Willa Cather).
not expected to change in status, condition, or place: a permanent
address; permanent secretary to the president.

As the truth of the situation is that I was only a short term visitor
in Poland and was only here really for the purposes of a brief shopping
trip and to do the work necessary to obtain a new Belarusian visa, to
say that there was such a thing as a "permanent" address would be a lie.
As of this moment, I have never said one single word in this case I
believe in any way to be untrue. unless I have been miscommunication as to
the meaning of this, it is impossible that there could be one . I have
however had a stable residence, and the details of this stay were also
listed in my larger report.

7. As I do have regional interest in the area, I have a great interest
in seeing this case through because of the necessity to obtain my
permits outside of Belarus still exists because of my passport (American) .
In addition, I have a great compensatory interest in this case as well
and must see it through to its conclusion in order to apply for
rectification. So for these reasons, I have great interest in returning.

8. The evidence in this case has become so overwhelming against the
original claim as well as the integrity of the main witness against me,
there should be no longer any cause to hold me here against my will.

9. The objection by the prosecutor (that I have money in my account but
have no one I trust to retrieve it), at least as far as I understand it
to have been translated for me, was based on a statement I never made
and is therefore erroneous. At best the statement sounds like something
I said over seven months ago, in a far different situation.

in addition, because of my forced stay, I have been informed that there
is an issue of visa to be addressed. The only way to be able to do this
is to exit and re-enter again. So, for these reasons, I ask to have my
passport returned on the promise that I will participate in this to its
conclusion, and because I feel I have been remarkably damaged in all of
this, after as well.

Part 2. The situation of my case at the moment.

Since the beginning of this case I have maintained that there was great
falsehood in the claims against me made by the policeman Zareba . I
have stated and maintained that his story of the incident was at best,
simply false, but more likely that it was closer to impossible science
fiction then it was fact . I believe that all of the evidence so far
presented in court echo this.

as of this moment in the courts proceedings we have heard from both of
Zareba's witnesses to the following end:

1. That Zareba sold a car to a man based upon a false pretext that the
car had only a small amount of damage and was as well damaged (his
story) by some assailant. That the truth of the situation seems to be that
Zareba had in fact drove his car into a tree previously, causing
substantial damages to the frame and chassis. This information makes him a
liar to this man as well as to the courts in his claim as to the previous
damages to his car. This was the testimony of the witness, and that
(probably in response to reading my report) the car was indeed in
substantially poor condition due to things that I never had any connection to
whatsoever.

2. The other witness refused to participate and went home. In addition
to this, during his testimonies Zareba has made the following
statements clearly refuting his own previous statements:

1. That he was in fact never hit at the KSP,
2 . I never hit his car with my bike intentionally at all,
3. That he acknowledges that during the instance when we were together,
that I was indeed pointing my finger at him, which, considering the
whole of the situation, would seem to clearly indicate that I was talking
to him about his actions, and not behaving in a disturbed manor.
4. That he greatly exaggerated any real damages to his face or mouth.
This was also shown to be false by the reports from the doctors.

These things, combined with his previous changes of story would seem to
say that he indeed was working not from any clear memory of events, but
from a desire to produce something that resembles a tellable story for
the purposes of defending himself from prosecution . I believe those
actions would be considered illegal in any country in the world. In
addition to this, I have planned for my defense proofs of the impossibility
of the supposed first move I made cutting in front of Zareba's car
before the stop as well as my bike behavior while "between the cars" (his
story). I intend to show proof that it is physically impossibility that
a rider (especially myself) could even do these things because of the
type of bike that I was riding and still ride to this day. And, also
that the physical properties of the place of the event make Zareba's
stories even more unbelievable. And in addition to this, there will be
witnesses as to what my bike is and why these "statements" are impossible,
as well as about my personal skills and knowledge as a biker.

So, I believe it has become quite apparent that there is no real
evidence against me in this case. There are no witnesses, and the only person
making any claims against me, has admitted specifically to lying about
the very events that have led to my being taken into custody in the
first case, over seven months ago.

Part 3: My situation in Poland.

Before being taken into custody, I was in Poland for only nine days. my
only purpose was to come and to do some shopping, secure a loan for the
purposes of helping the establishment of a small bike concern in
Belarus and to get a new visa, necessary for an American citizen in order to
visit . I maintain, as I have for all of the nine months that I have
done nothing wrong in Poland. This applies to the time before the
"incident" as well as after. however, it is solely and specifically because I
have been held here against my will that I have refused to establish
any business ties in the country . I have made some friends, and I hope
to continue socially with them after this is mercifully over, but in
terms of maintaining my life, I have accomplished nothing here but the
accumulation of debt I did not have before coming . It is also of no small
point that it is illegal for me to legitimately work here in Poland.
And though there may b room for some casual work ( I have assisted some
friends with their bikes with advice and with bike work, as well as
given some private English lessons), there is no real business for me here.
And because of the coercive nature of my relationship with Poland, I
plan none.

So my stay in Poland has been simply expensive and uncomfortable for
me. for the first two months after I was attacked by Zareba in his car, I
had no knowledge whatsoever as to why I was actually being accused . It
was only after two months here that I was allowed to see hat exactly
was said about me. After reading what Zareba has actually accused me of,
and seeing the simple unbelievability of the claims, I was compelled to
write and produce several papers concerning my situation as well as the
impossibility of the statements against me . In addition to this, I
collected many letters of recommendation as well as letters confirming my
business and personal attachments abroad as well as those concerning my
character. but my lawyer refused to submit these for me or even tell me
what I could possibly do with this information and the prosecutor
simply refused to accept them. After my first attorney directly contradicted
my request that a complaint about the evidence not be made (see my
large report) I asked that he be removed from my case. Those papers were
written at great expense of time and money by myself as well as several
people who gave time and skill in translating these papers so that they
could be in polish for submission to the courts. because I had to
defend my staying at the hostel for several months, and had done so
specifically because of the prosecutor's attitude toward me, I stayed there far
longer than is in any way normal for myself or that institution. The
stay was distracting and uncomfortable because of the lack of privacy and
transient nature of the clientele. And in addition to this, I had my
IBM laptop(valued at a little more than $2000) stolen from me while I
slept. And in addition to this, the police, when called after hearing my
name, refused to come to the scene.

So, on the advice of a friend who was an apprentice lawyer that I was
now able to speak to a judge directly without the interference of my
lawyer or the prosecutor, I produced what I hoped would be a large and
comprehensive document as to my situation. This document, complete with
evidence verifying all that I was claiming ran some 92 pages. but still
there has been no genuine response . In addition to this, information
that I believed was made quite clear in that document as to the role that
Mr. Twadowski might play in this case (as well as the truth concerning
the situation of the first hearing concerning the return of my passport
on June), were patently ignored.

I am now hearing rumors of mistrial, I am now in need of yet a third
lawyer (because of a refusal on his part to consult with me about actions
concerning my case, making deals without my consent, and allowing an
air of "social unacceptability" to be claimed against me). And, I am
forced once again to try and defend myself against hat has really become a
rather endless and false issue . I wish to resume my life . I have done
absolutely nothing wrong in Poland, though I myself have been attacked
on your streets, falsely accused and held for a forced stay of over
seven months . I want to go home, and I wish to proceed in my case against
Mr. Zareba as well as the procedures necessary for receiving full and
adequate compensation for what has happened.

Part 4: My future intentions.

At this moment I have a play that I have written that is beginning
production in Belarus . I have a bike shop there I wish to try and get open
and partners there I with to do business with . In addition to this, I
have other interests elsewhere that I would like to attend to,
specifically that I have a quite satisfactory relationship with a woman in
Belarus that I wish to continue . It was this relationship, along with my
familial history that led me to return to Belarus and to decide to
participate there . In addition to this, I have several other projects I
would like to pursue as well as finding compensation for the enormous
losses of this case. These losses include:

1. About $6000 in loans intended for a bike business in Belarus and the
production of a play there, all of which are now simply lost in the
expense of have to live here.
2. A laptop notebook worth about $2000, stolen from me from a place I
was required to live in because of the prosecutors demanding to show
something like a regular residence and my need to tell the truth.
3. The loss of income on my part for seven months. my standard income,
though varied could be described as being between $100 and $200 a day.
And though I with all knowledge of the reality of the situation could
not have expected this from Belarus, I could have (and needed to) do
business with other places in Europe as well where this sort of income
could have been possible.
2. The loss of my contribution in the household where I live in Belarus
for seven months. This has been the greatest tragedy in this because
not only was I not able to be with my loved one, but a male role model
was removed from her house and along with this any sense of hope that
would come along with such a situation. letters as to my relationship and
my living situation were included in my report.)
3.the loss of income of my partners, investors and translators in
Belarus based upon the expectation (my word that it would be so) of these
business ventures . I would easily to have expected something at least
akin to a double or triple normal salary. And, I have been informed that
a new bike dealer in Belarus, working in a market I personally created,
was producing an income of several hundred dollars a day in the peak of
the season. There is no reason to expect that that was not ours if I
had not been pulled from participation . In addition, there is the loss,
simply of my time, and a summer season, which I had prepped for two
months. This of course led to the allowance of others to fill the market
gap I created while I was there.
4.the loss of the money by my investors because the business did not
begin . In addition, there would have been a certain expectation of
profit. because of my being held, as of this moment, this all was a dead
loss.
5. The loss of face on my part to the investors, my friends, my
partners, my translators and my family . I have no idea of the financial value
of this because it completely encompasses my credit and ability to do
business. This bond of trust was something I have worked years to build.
6 . I have never paid the people who helped me to write the report
which no one seems to care to read, because there has never been any money
to do so...so they lost money too, which must be repaid...

and what may be the worst of all is the loss of hope that I suppose I
was bringing to a group of people who not only make only about $80 a
month (!!!!) but whom I love, live with and feel a great attachment to .
It was a privilege to be there, and my connection to that country is one
I feel great pride in.

So in conclusion I would like to restate these few items:

I would like the return of my passport for the purposes of trying to
reassemble the ruins of my life.
I will return for the remaining sessions of this trial because I have
great interest both financial and moral in its outcome.
I have a life outside of Poland and o have been forced to stay here was
an enormous burden, both morally and financially to myself and to my
people. The only thing left of the original claim against me is the word
of a man who has now admitted that he has lied in court several times,
and against whom I have the greatest desire to see face justice. There
are no other witnesses, and his statements concerning my actions or any
damages have now been shown as either greatly exaggerated or false . I
would think that this above all else should be making clear all of my
original claims as to the truth of the situation.

Adam Goodman

December 18. 2002