What Would Judge Judy Do?

A film crew from Belgium is in the area interviewing (or trying to interview) various players in the Defonseca Hoax. On Sunday they were here in Gloucester to film interviews with Jane Daniel and her attorney Joseph M. Orlando. Monday they were headed to Wolf Hollow in Ipswich to interview the owners there who had been entirely taken in by Misha Defonseca. Joanie Soffron, the owner of Wolf Hollow, I am told was in tears when she found out the truth about the hoax. She was devastated that this woman had lied to her.

Last night another journalist from France arrived. She is interviewing several people involved in uncovering the hoax. I have been invited to have dinner with her this evening. The European press, I hear, is in a rage over this entire story. That’s somewhat gratifying because so far the American press has been somewhat oblivious. I can’t figure out if we are so accustomed to being scammed by authors like James Frey and Margaret Setzer that hoaxes don’t interest us or that we are so accustomed to corruption that it has become no big deal.

There has been outrage. Karen Schulman, the woman who took the Defonseca’s into her home for 2 years when she heard Misha’s tale of woe about being swindled by her publisher, has started her own blog --- Silence Equals Permission. She was so angered by the deception she is asking others to share their stories through her blog. It remains to be seen if anyone will.

The forensic genealogist who discovered Defonseca’s deception has created a financial profile of the Defonsecas during the years they were crying about being financially wiped out by their publisher --- all from public records. According to the profile the Defonsecas had hundreds of thousands of dollars going through their accounts at this time. She has also sent me a copy of a letter that was circulated by a synagogue to its members telling them about how Daniel (named in the letter) had defrauded Misha and begging them for financial support for her. Many, many people responded.

And there is still the matter of the $33 million dollar judgment against Jane Daniel handed down by the Massachusetts court. So this has me wondering about how Judge Judy would look at all of this. I don’t see her program often but I like her. She’s good at cutting through the crap. I admire that in a person --- especially a judge. So here is the situation as I see it.

1.)The court found Daniel guilty of failing to adequately promote the book even though she managed to get Defonseca a shot at the Oprah show. The Oprah people halted their plans because Misha was so hostile and uncooperative but still the court said Jane failed to promote her. What would Judge Judy do?

2.)The court found Daniel guilty of withholding funds due Defonseca thus causing her to lose her home, become destitute and eat dog food yet bank records of the period show that Defonseca’s home was already being foreclosed upon before she even met Daniel. Mount Ivy’s accounts were frozen by the court and the money ultimately went to Defonseca. Bank records also indicate that the Defonsecas had hundreds of thousands of dollars going through their accounts at this period and they paid cash for two new cars and a new home at this time. What would Judge Judy do?

3.)The court found Daniel guilty of “deceptive business practices” yet Daniel turned over all her financial records to the court for examination during the trial. Daniel engaged a prestigious literary firm, Palmer & Dodge, to promote the book, yet Defonseca refused to cooperate with speaking schedules and set up her own speaking dates without telling her publisher. And, above all, Defonseca signed a statement saying she swore everything in her book was true and of her own experience, knowing full well SHE WAS NOT EVEN JEWISH --- let alone a Holocaust survivor! What would Judge Judy do?

Well, Judge Judy, if you are out there and want to weigh in your good common sense would be welcome. In the meantime the foreign correspondents continue to arrive and anyone who wants to have their say is invited to participate in Karen Schulman’s blog.

Thanks for reading.