Posted by Tess on 10/14/08 4:42pm
Msg #267312

This is a perfect example of how doing something you know is

wrong, can come back to haunt you!

http://crime.freedomblogging.com/2008/10/08/yacht-case-notary-said-she-lied-because-she-was-scared/1075/

Yacht case notary said she lied because she was scared
October 8th, 2008, 4:45 pm · 10 Comments · posted by Larry Welborn
A notary testified Wednesday that she repeatedly lied to detectives about falsely claiming she witnessed a Newport Beach couple sign sales documents to their yacht because she was scared that she and her family would be killed.


Kathleen Harris told a jury that she agreed to backdate sales documents signed by Thomas and Jackie Hawks in November 2004 after she was given a wad of $100 bills by Skylar Deleon, a former child actor who is now on trial for murdering the Hawkses and a third man.

Harris said that by the time she realized that the couple was missing and presumed dead, she had been told by a friend that Deleon was a professional killer with connections to the Mexican Mafia.

“I wanted to tell the truth, but I was scared for my life,” Harris told the jury. “I was going to do whatever I had to do for me and my family not to be killed.”

She said she was told to stick to a story that she witnessed the Hawkses signing sales documents for their yacht, the Well Deserved, in Newport Beach on Nov. 15, 2004 — the day they disappeared.

But in reality, Harris never met the Hawkses, and notarized the documents in a hotel room on Nov. 22, 2004 –- a week after Deleon and his henchmen allegedly forced Thomas and Jackie Hawks to sign the sales documents before tying them to an anchor and throwing them overboard.

Harris, who is no longer a notary, stuck to story for five or six interviews with detectives until she finally got up the nerve to tell the truth.

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 10/14/08 5:20pm
Msg #267315

Wow....

I've been hearing about this story for years now.

So the notary agreed to not only backdate but also did it without the signers present -- because somebody handed her a bunch of money?

Here's a big clue, if someone is handing you a wad of $100 bills to do something you're not supposed to do, it's usually because that person is up to no good.

From the ABC.com story about this: ( http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/Story?id=5986734&page=2 )

"I really didn't know it was going to be fraudulent," Harris said of the documents she notarized."


How could she NOT know that? She backdated documents and didn't identify the signers.

She only became "scared for her life" after she followed up with the guy to tell him she wasn't comfortable with what she did.

I guess she's lucky she got immunity from prosecution. It's VERY good that she in no longer a notary.

Reply by Tess on 10/14/08 5:26pm
Msg #267318

He (Skylar)worked for Ditech!

John Jr. ended up in California, had several bit parts on the "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" television show and changed his name to Skylar Deleon. He got a job with the mortgage lender Ditech and married Jennifer Henderson.

Reply by Jack Tri on 10/14/08 9:40pm
Msg #267350

Re: This is a perfect example of how doing something you kno

California Notary books says if anybody forcing you to do a notary They say you should do it and then contact Police officers and report it.

Reply by PAW on 10/15/08 7:56am
Msg #267357

You don't "do a notary"!

A notary is a person. A notary does a notarization, which is the act.

Reply by 101livescan on 10/15/08 8:35am
Msg #267359

What a horrible story. No wonder just about everyone needs to be live scanned these days. Yacht brokers now are required to be live scanned. This John F. Kennedy actually had a job as a maintenance man in Long Beach, even with a long and sorted list of felonies on his record. Unbelievable. Mr. DeLeon, and his accomplices, should meet the same fate as the victims, not spend their lives in jail! Well, he found someone young and dumb enough to notarize these documents without the Hawkses PERSONALLY APPEARING and proving their identity to her, the officiating notary. How does one live with themselves after this tragic event.

Reply by MW/VA on 10/15/08 9:51am
Msg #267361

Wow, what a story. Notary or not, if a person fears for their life it is coercion & not a free & willful act. There was a very clear threat here.

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 10/15/08 10:50am
Msg #267370

The first time wasn't under pressure, though....

The first time she did it for the cash ($2000). It was only afterward that she called the guy and said she wasn't comfortable with it that he threatened her and her family.

Oh, and she also destroyed her journal to cover it up.

It was this case that helped to partially push through some of the 2008 changes in CA notary laws.

Reply by 101livescan on 10/15/08 5:29pm
Msg #267415

Re: The first time wasn't under pressure, though....

Destroying the journal is only part of the crime....the fact that she affixed her notary seal to a document where the signers did not personally appear is so much bigger. Once the document is reviewed by someone in authority, of course, they then know who to contact to subpoena the journal to see who really signed the journal and if it matches the signature on the documents.

So, who's signatures are actually in the journal? Probably Mr. and/or Mrs. DeLeon, or the accountant? who looks like a bouncer, strong arm, kinda Guido like.

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 10/15/08 7:13pm
Msg #267428

Re: The first time wasn't under pressure, though....

Oh, I know... I mentioned the improper notarial act in an earlier message.

From what I understand of the case the couple *did* sign the paperwork, while under gunpoint out in the middle of the ocean. After signing the papers, these men killed the couple and tossed them overboard.

It was only after returning, and a week(?) after the couple disappeared did the criminals find the notary. The notary performed the first illegal act for the cash...and was not under duress. It was afterward that she started becoming scared...destroyed her journal, lied to investigators, etc.

I dunno... I think she should be punished, too. Obviously not as harshly as the murderers....but she should have known from the first moment that she was breaking the law.

Reply by 101livescan on 10/16/08 9:05am
Msg #267450

Re: The first time wasn't under pressure, though....

When the investigators knew they were being given the run around by this little gal notary, they likely decided to let it run its course and break her down eventually. It's the court that will collect her notary seal, the SOS voiding her commission, she would not longer be bondable FOR ANYTHING! if the SOS and the public defender decide to prosecute her. She was aiding and abetting the Deleon's and their accomplices. The fundamental PERSONALLY APPEARED BEFORE ME AND PROVED THEIR IDENTITY TO ME (in those days, PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE WAS ACCEPTABLE), but I'm sure she had no Drivers Licenses at the time of the signing, she just stamped and signed the acknowledgments. This guy Deleon, weird as he is, and totally wacked, probably was extraordinarily charming and non threatening, and HAD A WAD OF CASH!

Like I said, FUNDAMENTAL, COMMON SENSE, this notary was not executing her basic duties as a notary, to prevent ID fraud perpetration. GREED was the motivation. The most I ever made with one client was $375, it took an hour and a half, three loans, in this economy just a few months ago. I can see where someone's head might be turned by a wad of cash, but just imagine all the agony and sleepless nights this notary has endured while she began to be investigated and brought in for questioning.

I'd rather be duking it out here on this very uneven playing field we're all sharing today than to be sitting in jail for any amount of time, or to have my commission voided. If you review the penalties and fines this little gal could be subject to, in addition to her reputation being flawed for a very long time....would you hire this person? to work in your company, your home, even volunteer her time? Her character is definitely questionable and judgment is flawed.