I am writing on the behalf of Lemoy Andressohn who was accused of manslaughter in 2003 after her five and a half month old child died due to what was later confirmed to be a birth defect. It was claimed that it was the raw vegan diet that caused the untimely death. She was able to have the manslaughter accusation dropped after providing scientific evidence of this birth defect, but was charged with four counts of neglect; the prosecution claiming that her other four children were malnourished. The children were perfectly healthy other than a lack of vitamin D from not drinking cows milk. Lemoy and her husband spent 99 days in prison, (Lemoy continued to be raw in prison) unwilling to settle with the plea offered (forced permanent dietary changes for her children). Although she went to prison, Lemoy's other beautiful, healthy, children who were all raw from birth were forced to eat soybeans for protein while she was in prison. Lemoy has been fighting back for a long time and would most like her name to be cleared. The courts have continued to make her life difficult and are looking for any excuse to send her back to prison. They can't find anything for now. She is optimistic with the new judge handling here case and is fighting for the courts to rule that she did nothing wrong, and to leave her alone once and for all. She is concerned with future ramifications both for herself and children, as well as other raw fooders if she does not clear her name. A suit may eventually follow, however Lemoy is not pursuing that course of action at this time.
Lemoy has used a public defender for her cases in the past. Her most recent case against to prosecution has be denied the use of a public defender, so Lemoy is trying to raise money for the use of a private attorney. She needs 14,500 dollars to do so. I am thinking I might try and sent up an online donation in the near future. Please stay tuned for that. Lemoy sells raw food every Saturday at the Coconut Grove farmers market. She has a great group of kids. I've played football with them! My heart goes out for there cause. Possibly more importantly is our civil liberties being infringed upon.
Here are pictures of the newspaper articles covering the cases and a group picture at the potluck showing our support:







