False allegations are commonly used tactics in court to get protection orders and used in criminal complaints to get the ultimate advantage with false arrests and the potential for false imprisonment. Morrison and Ruggeiro, two women, in New Hampshire, made the news when they were caught and punished for false reports and fabricating evidence. Would it ever happen in Delaware, the state where Commissioners, Judges, the Attorney General's office all turn their back on false allegations?
On August 3, 2012 Milford DE police arrested a woman for falsely reporting a sexual assault in a domestic situation. Woman arrested for falsely reporting assault in domestic dispute This was encouraging. At least there was an arrest. The Milford Police did their job. It remains to be seen if the AG's office will do theirs.
Finally, on September 1, 2012 Tiffany Marie Smith, the worst serial false accuser, that I personally know of, was finally arrested. Two proven false reports in 2010 that the Delaware Department of Justice were aware of and ignored but finally the Dover, DE PD did the right thing and took police action on her most recent spate of false reports.
Woman arrested for Falsely Reporting Several Domestic Incidents to Police Complaint Number: 50-12-22517 Date of Incident: 08/31/12 This News Release was entered 09/01/12 by Lieutenant, Alan Rachko and last updated on 09/01/12 Location of Incident: Liberty Court Apts. 1289 Walker Road Dover, DE. Narrative Tiffany Smith 29 reported several domestic related crimes to the Dover Police and Delaware State Police over a period of time in August in which she stated she was victimized by her ex-husband Gordon Smith 47. On August 18 the Dover Police arrested Mr. Smith on several charges relating to a domestic incident. After the arrest Tiffany Smith continued reporting that Mr. Smith was stalking her and on one occasion had physically attacked her. A joint investigation by Dover Police and the Delaware State Police found that Tiffany Smith falsified all the complaints she made against Mr. Smith. Tiffany Smith was arrested on three counts of falsely reporting an Incident and one count of providing a false statement. All charges against Gordon Smith have been dismissed at the request of the Dover Police Department. Crime/Nature Providing a false statement to police Falsely reporting an incident to police (three counts) Defendants Tiffany Smith Gender:F, Age:29 Liberty Court Apts. 1289 Walker road Dover,DE. , Charges: -Providing a false statement to police -Falsely reporting an incident to police (three counts) Bond: $Released $5,000.00 unsecured
Thank you to Dover Police Chief James Hosfelt, Lt. Alan Rachko, Officers Mast and Rich and DSP Sgt. David Weaver.
Tiffany Marie Smith began her criminal false reports with simple lies. Her lies were not investigated by Delaware State Police (DSP) Troop 3 before they ran to the obliging Magistrates at Justice of the Peace Court (JP) and got rubber stamp warrants. Tiffany was thus encouraged by how easy it was to use the police as a tool to harass and cause fear and alarm and financial and emotional damage to Gordon Smith.
It began when she made her first false report and got her second or third protection from abuse order based on lies.
On January 26, 2009 Tiffany reported to DSP that she told Gordon, her estranged husband, not to call "weeks ago". That could have been disproved had DSP lookined at her phone records or Gordon's which showed they were in constant frequent and mutual communication up until the day before she made the false report to police and that he made 12 calls to her in the period she claimed as harassment not twenty something. He had no intent to annoy but was merely trying to reach her when he couldn't get her to see if she and his babies were alright. She stopped answering the phone and reported harassment. He went to family court for the criminal charge expecting his Public Pretender to resolve it in his favor because he was innocent and she had told him when they conferred at her office that they had a good case. Oh, what a babe in the woods he was then. The truly lousy Public Pretender, who had told him they had a good case had not obtained Tiffany's phone records in discovery. That is a screw up of epic proportions that Gordon didn't become aware of until the summer of 2010 when he obtained his case file from the PD's office. Public Pretender Vickie Schreiber told Gordon at the last moment that Commissioner Lou Ann Vari, a Commissioner who had already ruled against him in a previous protection order on allegations that he was innocent of, was going to "slam him" and he should take a pre-adjudication. He said no and left the room. Then went back and made what he called "one of the biggest mistakes of his life" and took the probation before judgment. That decision he regretted as soon as he did it and he made a motion to withdraw it. The motion to withdraw the pre-adjudication was heard by Commissioner Vari who denied him the right to legal counsel. He appealed for Judicial Review and Judge Mardi Pyott, reviewing the questions of law that pro se, inexperienced, naive Gordon used as grounds for his appeal denied it on those grounds. Had he the assistance of legal counsel, he likely would have won the right to trial. Gordon appealed to the Delaware Supreme Court to be able to take this first false report to trial and they sent it back to Superior Court. When heard by Judge Robert Young, DAG Chris Parker (the same Deputy AG that ignored the proven false report of Jan 26 that year) claimed that it was moot and Gordon's record was clear. Since that time Tiffany wrote in a witnessed statement that Gordon didn't commit the crime and she tried to drop the charge. He also has phone records. Gordon filed a complaint against Commissioner Vari for denying him the right to counsel in a criminal case and the Chief Judge responded that the matter is one for appeal not Judicial complaint.
It was a travesty of justice not just that he was denied counsel but he was not told that he could take the case to Superior Court and get a Judge and jury. It was a travesty of justice because PD Schreiber had not obtained a copy of Tiffany's phone records which did not, could not, have had the number of calls that she alleged came from Gordon's phone number. Gordon was afraid that Commissioner Vari, biased against him, and would in fact "slam him" though he was innocent. He was afraid that he would leave the courtroom, that day, in handcuffs and go directly to jail. He has a number of solid grounds for appeal and no way would he have been found guilty by a jury of his peers. He has no conviction but had to suffer the degradation of dealing with the Delaware probation department which cost him two good paying jobs and that's another story for another day.
During the summer of 2009, Gordon became an activist. He was shocked at the ease with which justice could be perverted in family court. Welcome to the real world Mr. Smith. To be fair only personal experience or that of someone you know introduces most people to the reality that family court is broken.
It was almost a year later, on January 11, 2010, that Tiffany called 911 and made her second false report. She reported that Gordon crouched by her car in the parking lot and that he she was frightened. The reality was that she had come in a friend's car and arrived before Gordon. He didn't know what car was hers and had gone outside, after meeting her at a fast food restaurant to play with his son. He went to the parking lot to wait for his ride and when he went back in she told him she had called the police. 911 on speed dial
January 13, 2010 Tiffany made her third false report when she called Delaware State Police Troop 3 and reported that a call had been placed by Gordon that he did not place. She showed Delaware State Police, Corporal Adrian Owens, an incoming call in her call log from a blocked number and played a voice mail allegedly from Gordon. He never found out if it was someone else's voice or if Tiffany fabricated evidence by recording a prior message and playing it back into a new message to frame him. He had witnesses that he was ill that morning and absolutely did not take any incoming calls or make any outgoing calls and wasn't in possession of his phone. That case never went anywhere because he was arrested for violating the ex-parte protection order (PFA) when he had not been served the order and didn't know it existed. It was supposedly a "clerical error" that he was entered into the criminal information system as having been served. Gordon was arrested and taken to Vaughn state prison for twenty hours despite being bailed out within about an hour of his incarceration in prison and despite family court employees realizing the error and trying to get him released. The record was expunged but the nightmarish experience can not be expunged from his mind and the experience left him scarred for life.
January, 26, 2010 Tiffany made her fourth false police report with another false allegation based on a call from a blocked number. This time Capitol Police didn't hear the voice mail allegedly left by Gordon but based the charge on the phone log of when the call was received. This was the first proven false report because at the time Tiffany called herself or had someone call from a blocked number, Gordon was in the courthouse, the Kent Family Court, on video surveillance, in a room full of other Respondents, under the watchful eyes of court employees, Bailiffs and Capitol Police. He was not on a phone at the time Tiffany Smith received a call from a blocked number. That is a dead bang a false report to police. DAG Christopher Parker did not drop the charge until the day of trail. It's amazing that the fact that video proved Gordon was innocent didn't deter Parker's prosecution of the case. However; Tiffany had moved to GA and didn't come back to testify to her false report, although she is no stranger to perjury (Felony perjury, more felony perjury , even more felony perjury, there is further perjury in the transcripts but it would take too much space to include it all here) Tiffany knew by then that Gordon had been at the courthouse and could prove he didn't call anyone at the time she had a call from a unknown (blocked) number that she said was from him. Parker did not have Tiffany charged with a false report. How could he have been oblivious to the obvious? That makes him less smart than Tiffany. Parker fined Tiffany $50 for failing to show up for court to testify.
False police report number five was July 16, 2010. Tiffany called Delaware State Police (DSP) Troop 3 and reported Gordon had called her and she had told him not to call but he had been making numerous calls and sending text messages. They got a warrant for phone harassment without even doing anything that remotely resembled an investigation. Obviously they did not check her phone log because he hadn't called or sent her text messages in weeks. Maybe they did check her phone logs and she had done "a Morrison"., but she's not that smart to do a Morrison and why bother when it's so easy to ring up good old Troop 3 and have them whip out a warrant for her. Gordon had not talked to her since June 28, when she had him come over to babysit the boys, for her to have the opportunity to tell him not to call. DSP called him after getting the warrant to tell him he was wanted for arrest. Gordon told them he made one phone call and there was no PFA prohibiting him from calling the custodial parent of his little boys. He told DSP that he was on his way to GA and would come in to be arrested on the warrant after he got back to Delaware.
July 22, 2010, Tiffany had gotten an ex-parte PFA after the July 16 phone call and warrant. Gordon was in GA and didn't know about a PFA. He had not been served yet. That day he went to Wal-Mart and picked up money sent by moneygram from FLAIR: Family Law Advocates Initiating Reform to cover expenses and got a ride with two other guys going to Washington, DC to attend the annual Family Preservation Festival.
Tiffany calls her buddies at DSP Troop 3 and shows them a letter that she said she found on her porch. She didn't know, what DSP T3 knew, that Gordon was in GA. The letter said "Bitch you filed a PFA, I'm going to f**king kill you and the boys" (In court she testified it said "my boys", further attempting to frame Gordon). The DSP knew Gordon didn't write the letter and did not apply for a warrant for Gordon's arrest. They also didn't investigate it as a false report. Only a few people in the Kent family court and whoever Tiffany told knew that there was any ex-parte PFA and who would go to Tiffany's residence, up the long driveway where Tiffany's parents, two sisters, four grandparents, an Aunt and a cousin live and place such a note on her porch?
Attempt to frame w fabricated physical evidence That was false report number six.
August 9, 2010 Tiffany calls DSP Troop 3 at 1:02PM an reports that she just saw Gordon and his friend Catherine Gibson at her home in Hartly, DE at 1 o'clock. DSP get a warrant for violation of a protection order. Gordon arrested at which time his friend produced a receipt signed by her and time stamped 12:41 that shows they were in Camden, DE. The fast food restaurant they ate at is 28 minutes from Tiffany's house per Google maps. second proven false report Taco Bell False report number seven and it's a proven false report because the physical evidence of the receipt with the corroborating surveillance video contradict the report. Tiffany was not arrested for this well documented false report. It would have been a slam dunk conviction. She and her sister Morgan Evans and then boyfriend Bill Merson proven to have lied to DSP and in court testimony. That is a false report, criminal solicitation and conspiracy for Tiffany. Conspiracy None of the perpetrators were arrested for conspiracy, false report, accessory to a crime or felony perjury.
August 12, 2010 Tiffany sees Gordon and Catherine at Walgreen's. She and her then boyfriend, Bill who lied about the August 9 incident, go to Dover PD and report that Gordon saw them driving by and followed them on foot to Walgreen's and then he and Catherine followed them in a car when they left the store. DPD gets a warrant for felony stalking and violation of a PFA. Gordon is arrested. In reality Gordon was meeting Catherine at Walgreen's, where she wanted to stop to make a purchase. He was surprised to see Tiffany come up the aisle. Gordon and Catherine went directly to the Dover campus of Wilmington University where Catherine had to submit a form before 5 PM. They were there at 4:45 and transmitted a fax at 4:50. Gordon didn't see Tiffany's car in the parking lot when he got there and in fact she. apparently, was in her boyfriend's truck which he had never seen up to that day. That was false report number eight.
False report number nine was about a month later in September, 2010. Tiffany reported to police that on June 25 Gordon sexually assaulted her. The officer investigates and calls Gordon. He determines that there is no probable cause. He does not arrest Tiffany for filing a false report.
(Note: Tiffany alleged that she was assaulted on June 30 and reported that to DSP but did not allege to them that Gordon committed the crime. She said her assailant was unknown to her and wearing black sneakers. That was reported June 30 as having occurred at about 9-9:30 PM. DSP questioned Gordon as part of the investigation on July 2 at about 11/11:30 AM and Gordon had a solid alibi. DSP never asked Gordon for DNA. During family court proceedings Tiffany inferred that Gordon was a suspect and by September, 2010 in a PFA hearing was directly alleging that Gordon was a suspect and by August 2012 was alleging, in family court, that Gordon was the attacker. It remains to be seen if there ever was an attacker or an attack. Was that a failed attempt to frame Gordon Smith? Was that a completely false report? We might never know the truth.)
July 28, 2012 Tiffany files false police report number ten to Dover PD that she called Gordon and he said that he would f**king kill her. Based solely on her statement the Dover PD gets a warrant and Gordon is arrested for terroristic threatening.
August 13, 2012 Tiffany files a false police report number eleven to Dover PD that Gordon left a threatening note at her residence. (Sound familiar?) The officer finds her statement inconsistent and not credible. Gordon is not arrested. The officer goes to the DAG and tells him that he suspects this is a false report. The DAG tells him to wait until evidence is returned from the State Bureau of Investigation before getting a warrant for Tiffany's arrest.
August 18, 2012 Tiffany files a false police report number twelve to Dover PD that Gordon left more threatening notes. Gordon is arrested. Conferring with the officer that took the report on Aug 13 an investigation begins and this is one of the crimes for which Tiffany is charged. Tiffany is charged with that false report on September 1 and the charges against Gordon are dropped.
August 24, 2012 Tiffany files a false report number thirteen to DSP Troop 3 that she was at an eating establishment and Gordon left another threatening note. Gordon has a solid alibi and DSP begins investigation of a false report.
August 28, 2012 Tiffany files a false report number fourteen to DSP Troop 3 that Gordon physically assaulted her. She suffered some injury and went to the emergency room at the local hospital. Gordon is arrested at gunpoint but not charged when DSP discovers Gordon has an alibi. This is investigated as a false report. Tiffany is charged with making a false statement to police in an investigation.
January 2009 1 false report
January 2010 3 false reports
July 16, 2010-September 2010 5 false reports
July 28, 2012-August 28, 2010 5 false reports
Now that Tiffany has been arrested and charged with three counts of filing false reports and a false statement to police, will she stop?
Will the Delaware Department of Justice do the right thing as the New Hampshire prosecutors did in Ruggeiro and Morrison and throw the book at her and send her to jail? Will she finally be arrested for the false reports of January 26 and August 9 of 2010 which are proven by the physical evidence of family court video and the receipts and video (immortalized in the DSP investigation documents) false reports?
This is not just a woman who lies about incidents which never happened. This is a woman who fabricates evidence that on the surface, barring contradictory physical evidence, establishes probable cause for arrest and could cause a false conviction. This is a woman who has been proven to conspire with others to lie to police and testify falsely to frame an innocent person for crimes he did not commit. This is a woman who will sustain the pain and disfigurement of physical injury to falsify evidence in conjunction with a false report.
This is a very dangerous woman.
Maybe justice is coming. We will see.
Update September 18, 2012
Justice remains elusive in Delaware.
After the decisive action of the Dover Police, the Delaware State Police have still not arrested the perpetrators of the false report to police, harassment, criminal conspiracy, accessory before the fact, felony perjury, ( Physical evidence contradicts false report ) from August 9, 2010. The Kent County Family Court has not dismissed the PFA on the non-custodial parent who was the victim of the false reports to police, that were the basis of Commissioner Lou Ann Vari granting a protection order against him. Kent County Family Court Commissioners apparently do not think that the custodial parent who filed numerous false police reports and injured herself to frame the custodial parent is a danger to herself or her children. Ex-parte petitions have been denied to allow the non-custodial parent to even see his children, which is contempt of court under the recently misguided protection order. The children remain in the custody of a dangerously disturbed woman. Hearings were set but postponed because the woman can't be found to serve notice of the hearings. Maybe the Commissioners should read this: Restraining order helps mom murder children They think that they can hide behind judicial immunity should anything happen to those little children. They are wrong and I hope that the occasion to prove this to them never arises. Lip service aside, actions speak louder than words. They are not interested in the welfare and safety of the children. They are not interested in the fact that they have been played for fools by a pathological liar for the past 4 years. They are not interested in the children's right to have a relationship with their father and the fact that the mother is a parental alienator who has used the courts to facilitate the alienation. They are not interested in justice. Delaware Family Court remains the Worst in the First and I think Kent County Family Court is vying for the top spot out of the three counties.
