Mass hysteria and the religious trial of Swami Prakashanand Saraswati

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  • Witherspoon Barbara

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Last modified: 28th Oct 2011

Disclaimer: The article below only touches the surface of the religious trial and persecution of 82 year old Swami Prakashanand Saraswati at the hands of Hays County District Attorney Sherri Tibbe and Hays County Assistant District Attorney Cathy Compton. Swami Prakashanand Saraswati was accused of groping 3 white women, 15 years earlier. The three women, according to Eric Dexheimer of Austin American Statesman, were Kate Tonnessen, Vesla Tonnessen Kazimer and their best friend Shyama Rose. There was no evidence, no investigation, missing testimony, off the wall bail, no supporting witnesses, prosecution arguments based only on the religion of the defendant, conservative small town jury members were carefully instructed to use their “gut feelings” rather than the weight of evidence, demagoguery rather than relevant arguments, proxy allegations of “devil worship”, previous crying wolf to Child Protective Services that were investigated and proven to be false and a District Attorney who built her election campaign on the idea that the sole measure of success is the blind conviction rate rather than the administration of justice (which she said she will achieve by solely bringing cases to trial she knows she can win – she has only brought cases which appeal to popular prejudices).

You need to pursue the “further reading” links at the bottom for indepth analysis into this trial and the two public officials who orchestrated it. Also note that this article is a work-in-progress. Check back in future for extra facts and analysis.

Mass hysteria and the religious trial of Swami Prakashanand Saraswati 

Prakashanand Saraswati
Swami Prakashanand Saraswati

The trial and persecution of Swami Prakashanand Saraswati by Hays County District Attorney and Hays County Assistant District Attorney Cathy Compton had many things in common with other cases, such as the McMartin Preschool trial and the Salem Witch Trials. The one thing it probably didn’t have in common though, was that it was NOT an example of mass hysteria. Everyone associated with the 3 accusing women, the people who knew them best – childhood friends, family members, members of the community ALL admitted that they were “habitual liars”. Even the sister of Kate Tonnessen and Vesla Tonnessen Kazimer, Prabhakari Devi, admitted in sworn testimony that the women had blackmailed their family. Only when their demands were not met, did they make the allegations to “bring down” their church. Not one person stood by those women. They had no witnesses, not even circumstantial witnesses; although, according to Austin Statesman, Kate Tonnessen said that dozens of people saw her being groped by Swami Prakashanand Saraswati as he was eating his dinner. Needless to say, she wouldn’t say who those “dozens of people” were, or why they didn’t show up for trial on the day. The defense had a dozen witnesses give testimony at the trial. They had many more, but District Judge Charles Ramsay prevented any more from coming forward. The defense witnesses didn’t forget to show up on the day like the mysterious “fabulous 40” prosecution witnesses did. 
The women were not even the witnesses of each other and had never even mentioned anything to themselves or anyone else, about being groped for 10+ years, when they all coincidentally, simultaneously came forward in 2007. The women’s testimony to Hays County Sheriff’s Office was the beginning and end of the case. No further investigation was done, WHATSOEVER, although Hays County Sheriff’s Office lied to the public and the media in a 2008 press release, by indicating a 7 month joint investigation by Hays County Sheriff’s Office and Hays County District Attorney’s Office. That press release is available here: http://www.co.hays.tx.us/data/sheriff/0/pdf/Media/4.5.08%20Indecency%20with%20child.pdf
Even the video testimony and its copies were destroyed by both the Hays County Sheriff’s Office AND Hays County District Attorney’s Office. The computers used to copy the video testimony were also thrown out. Go figure.
http://www.sanmarcosrecord.com/local/x1666506520/Evidence-missing-in-trial-of-Hindu-spiritual-leader
Kate Tonnessen, one of the women who accused Swami Prakashanand Saraswati of groping her, had previously cried wolf to Child Protective Services about a minor being groped by another religious leader associated with the Barsana Dham temple. Child Protective Services DID conduct a full and thorough investigation. Child Protective Services concluded that Kate Tonnessen had lied, and they dropped the investigation. Hays County Sheriff’s Office and Hays County District Attorney’s Office conducted no investigation, and therefore probably didn’t know that the Tonnessen sisters had a history of lying and making false allegations. The Austin community knew it, their family knew it, the audience in the court room knew it, Child Protective Services knew it, and Kate Tonnessen, Vesla Tonnessen Kazimer and their best friend Shyama Rose knew it. The idiots at the Hays County Sheriff’s Office and Hays County District Attorney’s Office didn’t seem to know it. Even a haphazard investigation would have shown Hays County Sheriff’s Office and Hays County District Attorney’s Office that the Tonnessen sisters were “habitual liars”, as their own sister admitted in her testimony. So it doesn’t seem to be a case of mass hysteria. If there was hysteria, it was the Austin community’s anger that Hays County Sheriff’s Office and Hays County District Attorney’s Office didn’t do their jobs, didn’t conduct an investigation, destroyed testimony and computers, and lied to the media about a 7 month investigation.
The overwhelming anger of the community is not due to Swami Prakashanand Saraswati not getting a fair trial (the facts say that he didn’t get a fair trial though), it’s that this case ever came to trial in the first place. We are angry that Swami Prakashanand Saraswati was ever brought into a court room. I have been assured by criminal prosecution attorneys, as well as criminal defense, that the case should never ever have been brought from the beginning. There was not an iota of reason or basis for it except for harvesting the souls of Hays County’s Hindu community for Sherri Tibbe’s and Cathy Compton’s brand of Christianity. The prosecution arguments were based solely on the religion of Swami Prakashanand Saraswati.

Hays County Sherri Tibbe and District Attorney Cathy Compton
Harvesting the souls of Hindus by Hays
County District Attorney’s Office
Even the audience in the courtroom knew that the women were lying under oath and that demagogues Sherri Tibbe and Cathy Compton knew these women were lying. Everyone knew it, and they walked out in protest during the sentencing phase of the trial. On the day of the sentencing phase of the trial, Swami Prakashanand Saraswati was sentenced to 280 years in prison and a $200000 fine. The audience, on hearing this, walked out of the courtroom in disgust and left the 3 women alone with their other halves and with the mentally ill, anti-Hindu “ghost writer” (Rishika XCult, aka. Karen Jonson) who was the sole reporter of the trial. Even the family (parents, brother, sister) couldn’t stand to remain in the courtroom to be disgraced by their family daughters/sisters. Swami Prakashanand Saraswati’s lawyers also walked out. The court room was a veritable ghost town when everyone left. Have you heard of any other trials in which EVERYONE walked out in protest before the trial ended? Think about it very carefully and logically. I have not heard of such a case. What situation would cause everyone to leave?
Unlike other cases of mass hysteria, the media didn’t cover the trial of Swami Prakashanand Saraswati. Only local journalist Eric Dexheimer published articles which were partially or fully ghost written by Karen Jonson (“Rishika XCult)” a Hays County astroturfer and anti-Hindu blogger. Other media outlets republished information from Eric Dexheimer or Karen Jonson. But overall, the media were not interested in the framing of an 82 Hindu religious leader, who had all his defense evidence destroyed by the police and prosecuting District Attorneys Sherri Tibbe and Cathy Compton. The trial of Swami Prakashanand Saraswati can be summarized as: No supporting witnesses + no evidence + previous unrelated allegations to Child Protective Services that were investigated and proven to be untrue + missing tapes + missing computers + corrupted dvd + no investigation whatsoever + off the charts bail + off the charts sentence + prosecution arguments based only on the religion of the defendant + gut feelings + “devil worship” accusations + conservative small town jury + a District Attorney who built her election campaign on the idea that the sole measure of success is the blind conviction rate rather than the administration of justice (which she said she will achieve by solely bringing cases to trial she knows she can win – she has only brought cases which appeal to popular prejudices).
A review of the McMartin daycare trial will certainly help to understand the cultural context of Swami Prakashanand Saraswati’s persecution. Swami Prakashanand Saraswati’s case was not unique. The unique part was that there was NO INVESTIGATION. The McMartin Preschool case had a massive investigation, there were literally hundreds of prosecution witnesses… Swami Prakashanand Saraswati’s trial had NO witnesses other than the Tonnessen sisters and their friend Shyama Rose – they were not even the witnesses of each other. They were unable to answer any questions AND they claimed that there were dozens of witnesses, none of which have ever seen the light of day. They were imaginary witnesses. All of the McMartin daycare defendants were acquitted, years after being falsely convicted.
In fact, Hays County District Attorney Sherri Tibbe and Hays County Assistant District Attorney Cathy Compton also tried to invoke the same sense of paranoia and hysteria of devil worship that swept America in the 70s and 80s. This hysteria and paranoia was the very basis of the McMartin Preschool trial. The same hysteria and paranoia influenced the jury’s verdict in the trial of Swami Prakashanand Saraswati. The trial and persecution unveiled the dark, naked suspicion of small town USA. 
Not only did Hays County try to invoke the same sense of paranoia and hysteria against devil worship that swept America in the 70s and 80s, they actually made proxy allegations that Swami Prakashanand Saraswati and his supporters are full blown “devil worshipers”. The similarity between the words “Hindu” and “Voodoo” accentuated this connection in the minds of the small town jury.
Alot of effort was put into harvesting witnesses. Kate Tonnessen and Karen Jonson tried to contact, or did contact former members of the Barsana Dham temple to come forward and make allegations. I have spoken to several former members of the temple, one of whom is a former teacher who Kate Tonnessen contacted. Needless to say, not one person wanted anything to do with them. Everyone she spoke to, knew she was lying. Below, execution of Joan of Arc from a movie [Embedding disabled, so please watch on youtube]
The Trial of Joan of Arc, which took place before an English-backed church court in Rouen, France in the first half of the year 1431 was, in the minds of many people, one of the most significant and moving trials ever conducted in human history. In the minds of many more people, that honor now goes to the religious trial of Swami Prakashanand Saraswati in Hays County. Below, scenes from the many movies made about Joan of Arc.
Swami Prakashanand Saraswati volunteered for, and passed a polygraph test but it was not admissible in Texas courts. Texas news stations asked for, and received a full copy of the polygraph test and results and it was widely reported in the Austin media and shown to the public. KXAN was one news station which ran a story on it, and which reported the results of the polygraph test. You can watch it on LiveLeak. Many people who initially jumped on the bandwagon of accusation changed their opinion after hearing that Swami Prakashanand, himself, volunteered for this. Swami Prakashanand Saraswati’s willingness to take a polygraph test, and his passing of the test, helped to pacify the public and the media, and quash the impending mass hysteria which trials like this often inspire. Watch the KXAN report here:
Please distribute these factual essays about the trial to anyone who is interested: 
6 Stages of Reaction to Sherri Tibbe & Cathy Compton’s Religious Persecution of Swami Prakashanand Saraswati6 Stages of Reaction to Sherri Tibbe & Cathy Compton’s Religious Persecution of Swami Prakashanand Saraswati 
Indepth analysis of the trial and persecution of Swami Prakashanand Saraswati by Sherri Tibbe and Cathy Compton 
Faces of Deceit: Hays County District Attorney Sherri Tibbe and Cathy Compton destroyed video testimony to convict the innocent Swami Prakashanand Saraswati 
Youtube video summary 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dz1hFscrMQ

Finally, please join the ever growing army of supporters of Swami Prakashanand Saraswati on facebook. We are people who are tired of racism, tired of abuse of the US justice system, tired of out of control District Attorneys who have to answer to no one, tired of small town Sheriff’s who can destroy evidence without accountability. Please support this cause.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Swami-Prakashanand-Saraswati-The-Real-Story/165863336800139

Copyrighted text and pictures are provided under Fair Use provisions to facilitate education and further research into corrupt Government officials, District Attorney Sherri Tibbe and Chief Assistant District Attorney Cathy Compton.