Update: Went to court Wednesday for Norm Ryan’s case. Nothing to report since it was moved to yet another date: Dec. 11 and 12. We’ll keep you posted.
Kelly and I sat in the last row, a few feet behind Norm Ryan inside a Shasta County courtroom Tuesday morning. We’ve covered the story this far. We plan to stick with it.
You’ve read here on Food for Thought: A News Cafe about the police investigation that led to Ryan’s hearing. Before that, you read other stories about Ryan’s time at Haven Humane Society where he was its CEO for about one year, and about what many people claim was a deterioration in the shelter’s quality. Finally, a month ago you read about the email in which Ryan and his wife claimed his innocence to me.
Tuesday, Kelly and I were joined by scores of other folks, curious or supportive or ordered there on various charges, the details of which we couldn’t hear since everything happened quickly and quietly.
What we lacked in sound we were rewarded with sight. Courtrooms are great people-watching places, for sure.
A young, pregnant woman wore thick fuzzy pink slippers. A nearby guy with buzzed, dark hair had a scar on his skull that made me wonder how he survived whatever caused it.
If appearing in a courtroom isn’t a reason to dress up, I don’t know what is. We saw lots of jeans, T-shirts, flip flops and tennis shoes. Lots of long faces and serious expressions.
That’s why, generally speaking, it was easy to pick out the attorneys from their clients. Except when it came to Norm Ryan (and a few others), dressed in their Sunday best. Norm, in his suit and tie, could have passed as an attorney, too.
Nothing much to report about Norm Ryan’s preliminary hearing, which literally lasted seconds. It was continued until Oct. 15 because John Kucera, Ryan’s attorney, will be busy with another trial. Plus, he needed time to request additional items from the prosecution.
The most interesting part of the morning happened after the hearing, outside the courtroom. Kelly and I had a chance to meet and talk with Ryan, for the first time in person. (Email was our previous form of communication.)
Ryan said he couldn’t speak about his case, of course. But he did have a few things to get off his chest and clarify regarding statements said and written about him, both here and other places.
1. Ryan said he’s never owned an Armani suit.
2. He was bothered that some people criticized him as “showy” when he spoke Chinese to a Chinese waitress in a restaurant, yet nobody cared when he spoke Dutch to an animal shelter donor or sign language to a deaf person.
3. Ryan said he never had a picture of Snoop Dog in his wallet. He said the whole reference to Snoop Dog was a joke, based upon an acquaintance many years ago with Snoop Dog. Ryan said his family rented a house that didn’t allow dogs, so when it came time to have his photo with an animal, as is typical of Haven staffers, Ryan referred to Snoop Dog. “It’s as if everybody’s looking to be offended,” he said.
4. Finally, his biggest complaint was that the information being spread about him is not based upon facts, but character assassinations.
Asked for his take on his current situation, Ryan summed it up in two words and one shrug.
“It stinks.”
Note: We’ll keep you posted as we learn more about Ryan’s case. In the meantime, I have not forgotten the rest of the Haven Humane Society story. Stay tuned.
