Joan Mellen Speech at AARC Conference

[Peter Lemkin]

Peter: I don't have time to go through this thread again but I recall you posting that you got an email ?? from Joan stating that Walt said- (via email? or phone to Joan) "Ya we knew that" . Meaning he and J "Knew" that Nathan was not certified when he gave his affidavit. Well earlier on facebook someone posted the clip from the Guilty Men (TMWKK) and this was in 2003 Walt Brown talking about Nathan refers to him as A CERTIFIED print expert. So which is it? I know you are not on fb and I don't think Walt is either. But I just wanted to bring this to your attention. And to anyone else's who cares.

Dawn

Interesting. You are right, I don't go on facebook. I also have zero contact with Walt after he suddenly changed his mind that I could get and view some of J's files to he'd never even consider it....all magically without my doing anything in between. As to what Walt was supposed to have said, according to JM, you have it about how I remember it...although I don't know exactly when this was asked and told. Perhaps it is a contradiction - and perhaps it will become more clear when the book is out. Remember, however, that this matter [Darby et al. and the prints] is only a chapter or a few in the book. The exact nature of the rest of the book I'm not aware of fully other than it seems to be focused on things connected to LBJ. It does seem to me that this may be a matter of semantics....that Darby in his prime might have been certified in various organizations, and later only in one or less than earlier due to lapsed certification - hardly a crime or even a great misdeed. Joan seemed to imply that he stated incorrectly in some affidavit as to which organization he was then currently certified in...but I don't know the details and even if true is [to me] much less important than if the prints match or not. Again, I have no proof, but this seems like it could be an innocent mistake or misunderstanding. I also wonder if there was some parallel operation at the time to discredit some persons or some information - just a hunch. There is no doubt that Darby was at one time certified in more than one organization. It seems [according to JM], that at least one of his certifications had not been renewed by the time he did this match. I'm more interested to know if the prints matched and if there was any foul play in this matter. Whether it was the intent or not, it has put a strain on some relationships which is regrettable. The information and the truth, in the end, are the important parts.