Legal wranglings in Kyron Horman disappearance continue
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The biological mother of a missing Oregon boy says her civil suit against the boy's stepmother should move forward, despite the stepmother's request for a two-year delay.
Desiree Young says Terri Horman should not be allowed to delay Young's suit by two years.
Horman asked for the delay last month, saying a criminal investigation should conclude before Young's suit goes forward.
Young is seeking $10 million, and wants to force Horman to lead her to her son, Kyron Horman.
Kyron was 7 when he went missing after a June 2010 science fair. Young says Horman knows where to find Kyron or his remains.
Young's attorney, Elden Rosenthal, said in a Thursday filing that there's no Oregon precedent for deciding whether to delay a civil case while a criminal one plays out and notes that Horman has not been indicted.
"The big picture here is this: Kyron Horman has been missing for 26 months," the filing asserts. "Despite a monumental investigative effort by the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, Terri Horman has not been indicted.
"The trail is getting cold. A stay of these civil proceedings would work a hardship, inequity and injustice upon the plaintiff, the public and the court."
The civil lawsuit accuses Horman of kidnapping Kyron, by herself or with help.
Investigators have long focused on Horman, although they have not named her as a suspect or filed criminal charges. In Horman's motion, attorney Peter Bunch wrote that the civil suit seeks facts that could lead to a criminal prosecution.
In a reply brief filed Thursday, Rosenthal says there's no reason to hold off on the civil suit, and denies the case is a "stalking horse" for police to use to pry answers out of Horman.
Civil allegations require a lower standard of proof — a preponderance of evidence — than criminal charges, which must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Horman's motion to delay the civil suit said that compelling her to testify could force her to invoke her constitutional right against self-incrimination, pointing out the weak spots in her case.
"She can defend herself," Young's brief asserts. "If she does not know what happened to Kyron, she can so testify."
Horman asked for and received a delay, or abatement, in her divorce from husband Kaine Horman, Kyron's father.
In Thursday's filing, Rosenthal said the delay in the divorce was granted only five months after Kyron went missing, when there was still a task force dedicated to finding him. The task force has since been put on hiatus.
"The situation is entirely different now," the filing states. It goes on to say that delays could be compromising to the search for Kyron.
Young "fears that the trail is now becoming cold," according to the filing. "Witnesses may die or disappear. Memories may fade. Records may be destroyed or lost. Foggy memories may harden into concrete false memories.
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Reach reporter Nigel Duara on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nigelduara
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
The case should go forward since the defendant can invoke her 5th Amendment right. Â Otherwise, this could be a delay that lasts forever.
I think the stepfather did it...
I believe the biological mother is to blame, she lost her husband and her son to Terri, they both loved her. Revenge is a terrible thing, where is the boy Desiree, did you take him to the lake, is he still there?
 @Fancy Jack Given email allegedly written by Terri that expressed her hatred for Kyron, and given her affair with the landscaper and suggestions that her husband be murdered, as claimed by the landscaper, your belief floats only in cyberspace.
@OMG! Agreed, things were not good in the household, so where were his parents? Mother ? Did she go fishing when Kyron disappeared? Where was his Father? Why was the child in Terri's care? Everybody has an excuse, none are acceptable to me, Desiree has a lot of guilt, my concern is that it is more than just failing as a mother. Everyone here seems to treat Kyron as a liability, Terri's crime seems to be she was the last one to have known contact with Kyron, she dropped him off at the school, so where were Mom and Dad? It appears to me that no one cared about Kyron, hanging banners after the fact does not compensate for indifference before the fact. As for Desiree, I think she protests to much.
 @Fancy Jack You are right.  I was thinking of guilt only in the legal sense.  But you make a very good point about negligence, especially with respect to Kyron's father, who should have recognized the poisoned atmosphere in his own household.  As for Desiree, she failed to act on Kyron's repeated wishes not to return to Portland, and as a result, her conscience is no doubt burdened.  Aside from possibly trying to assuage her own guilt, I think  the civil suit is partly about wishing that Kyron might still be alive, and from that standpoint, I don't think Desiree could ever protest too much.
If Terri is as guilty as she appears, I truly hope that Kyron haunts Terri so badly that she can never find peace until Kyron is brought home.
I do not believe their will ever be justice served,which is so very very sad
If Terry Horman were innocent, she would be doing all she could to help find Kyron. Â It is obvious now she is guilty of his disappearance and his death.... How does she sleep?
I disagree. It seems every time Terri goes out in public or does anything, she has that nutjob Desiree tormenting her. I can't blame her for wanting to keep a low profile.
Give it up Teri, The boy's Mother deserves some peace.
Terri..You know where he is and you do nothing you've got to be soooo tired of looking over your sholder but they will get you.