Bring Johari Home!

Hello Friends! Our friend Candace Driver (Versher) needs our help. Between the HNHS Sisterhood, Friends and Clients of Clayton, Family and Friends, we know we can make this goal! We must act fast, funds are needed by Sept. 30th. If you know Candace and Clayton personally, a letter as a character reference is also much needed as well as a donation. Please read below: Hello Friends and Family: On August 29th, our daughter Johari was hurt during an accidental fall in our home. She had three fractures: her head, her ribs, and her leg. We’ve been assured she will be ok and has no long term damage. She, in fact, is doing well and only has a splint on her leg. She eats like a full grown adult, she still looks you straight in the face, she smiles from time to time now that she’s almost 2 months old. She poots and poops like a pro and I don’t know whether this is normal, but rather enjoys having her diaper changed. On August 30th, Clayton was detained by East Point Police department on suspicion of child abuse. I was also removed from the hospital by security, falsely accused of threatening a social worker. Department of Family and Children Services, affectionately known as DFaCS, took Johari into custody August 31st. We are now subject to 2 hour supervised visits 2-3 times per week. Our baby is in a foster home 30 miles away. Yesterday we had a 2 hour visit at a Chick-Fil-A. We get 2 extra visits because I breastfeed. I’m writing to you because my husband is innocent. He LOVES Johari to pieces and would never purposefully harm her. He is devastated that this accident has been characterized as abuse, that his daughter was hurt, that he can’t see her face every day. We’re both afraid the police will show up to arrest him, especially since social workers at the hospital have expressed outrage that he is not currently incarcerated. We need legal representation. We are not sure how well we will be defended with a court appointed attorney. We've been quoted $3500 plus $250/hour for a lawyer who offered to only defend Candace. We were quoted $7500 as a start by someone else who also told us that was just the beginning and that this could run us upwards of $10,000. All the advice we've gotten from lawyers on the prosecutorial side have indicated we have an uphill battle and need GOOD representation. We just can't afford that. We need help. Our next date court date is October 2, the trial date is Novemeber 7. We're probably behind on this, but our funds just aren't there for a lawyer. If you can spare anything at all, no matter how small, we'd put it to good use. We need a lot of help. I've already asked for character witness letters, which should also help us while we look for legal representation. We'd be grateful for any and all help we can get. Thank you.