Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Never Forget

(The above picture is of Amit's wife, Deepika, at the children's hospital, where her child now fights for his life).


As this year comes to a close, I look back on 2008 and it makes me sad, angry, regretful, and not quite at a loss for words. Amit Tandon was not the only unfortunate victim of someone else's selfish choices or a judges actions in a travesty of justice...he is one of many...too many...

How many more people have to die? How many more families must suffer this grief? How many more wives, husbands, children, parents, friends, and so on must see their loved ones die and the perpatrators of such crimes essentially go free?

How can a judge, or anyone, in their right mind or heart believe that justice is served when a murderer gets minimal time in jail, if at all, probation, and only loses their driver's license for a year? Where is the punishment? Where is the justice? How many more have to die? Does it take someone famous? Someone in power? the loved one of a judge or legislator? When will the punishment fit the crime? When will the punishment be a deterrant to the behavior? because obviously a moral barometer doesn't work, the punishment does not deter, doing the right thing takes too much time or is inconvenient...What will it take?

I am just one person and my words are just that, words...Troy Hovey and all the other murderers like him continue to kill and walk away (yes, I said murderer...Hovey and the others like him, made choices, choices that resulted in death...not an accident, not an icy spot on the road, not swerving to miss a deer, choices...The choice, to drink and to drive and kill)...Judges continue to allow this to happen...Legislators turn a blind eye to the need for change...and I just don't know what to do anymore...what can we do to make a difference? I talk of taking action but I just don't know what to do. It is an empty false hope to believe that people can make the right choice on their own, for as much as so many people do do the right thing, it only takes one person and one selfish choice, to tear a life from this world and leave a family in grief.

We try to be good, to not wish ill will...but people like Troy Hovey and Judge Glusman, and all the others out there that walk that same path, make that very difficult...we continue to try and move beyond that anger and hurt...it will take a great deal of time...for some...a lifetime...

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Baby Jevesh

Please see my other Blog, "Strength, Love, and Hope" for information on the baby of Amit and Deepika Tandon.

Born 12/09/08 at 0200, doctors found a heart defect. He was taken to the Children's Hospital at Stanford. I will place updates on my other Blog.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Hearsay or Fact...information provided from comments


The following are pieces of information I have gained from various commentary regarding this tragedy. If anyone has further information regarding the validity of these comments, I would be happy to add that information to this blog.


The following pieces of information have NOT been checked for their validity...I will make any corrections I can if provided the proper sources.


*Judge Glusman will be up for reelection in 2010...Keep this case in mind when you go to vote


*Quote: "Studies have shown that a first time DUI conviction does not represent a first time offense. Those who have been convicted of DUI have been guilty of driving while intoxicated 87 times on the average." (Nauseous in Chico)


*http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/about/aboutcjp.htm is a website where one can file complaints regarding judges


*Quote: This killer, Troy Hovey, is already protecting his assests from a potential wrongful death lawsuit. Five days before sentencing Troy's wife filed a declaration of homestead ...(Mark in Oroville) (I believe this is an indication that Hovey is protecting his assests and had/has no intention of helping Deepika Tandon or the baby)


*These are links to two news pieces:




*Quote (dated Oct 27): "Just thought everyone should know that Troy was released from jail on Friday Oct 24th to spend the weekend with his family." (In the middle from the US)


*Quote (dated 10/30): "He is in The Well Ministry, not free. The Well is a live-in rehabilitation center" (In the Middle from the US)


*Quote: "Jodea got himself a DUI too

Case Information Case Number: NCR76180

Case Title: PEOPLE vs. FOSTER, JODEA ALFRED

Case Type: D.U.I. Filing Date: 06/02/97

Disposition Date: 08/23/05 DISMISSED UNDER PC 1203.4/1203.4a 08/23/05 08:29 PETITION TO CHANGE PLEA PER PC 1203.4/1203.4(a)

Disposition Date: 08/23/05 GRANTED HON. ROBERT A GLUSMAN; JUDGE


(info from Chico Native in Boulder City NV)


*Quote: "That's not all. Drunk Troy's drunk attorney was charged again two years later with DUI.

Case Number: NCR83699

Case Title: PEOPLE vs. FOSTER, JODEA ALFRED

Case Type: D.U.I. W/PRIORS Filing Date: 09/08/99

Disposition Date: 08/23/05 DISMISSED UNDER PC 1203.4/1203.4a


(from Mark in Oroville)


*Quote: " used to live in the Chico area and spent most of my young life there. I read this article the other day and was shocked. Today I was reading my local news and found a story that is very similar except when I came to the sentence handed down. This is what Mr. Hovey should have been sentenced to not the joke of a sentence he received. Here is a link to the article. You can also view it by going to azcentral.com and it will probably be on the home page.http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/2008/11/06/20081106cr-sentencing1107.html People who make the decision to get in a car with alcohol in their system, drive and kill someone, deserve to be punished severly. "
(from Officer Out of State, Gilbert AZ)


*Quote: "20,000 people die every year from drunk drivers. These numbers are so high because of loser judges like Robert Glusman. I'm sure if Troy Hovey murdered your wife, sister, brother, daughter or son you would get the seriousness of Judge Robert Glusman's lack of professional duty and the seriousness of this news blog topic" (Rachels Uncle from El Monte, CA)


*Hovey only received 180 days in jail...he spent less than that in jail and was let out early to go to the Well for rehab...he was out of jail before the baby was born


*Troy Hovey only received three years probation


*Troy Hovey only lost his license for ONE YEAR


*There are "victim-less" crimes that receive harsher punishment than the murder (yes I am choosing the word murder) of Amit Tandon


*The death of Amit Tandon was not an accident...accident implies no one was at fault....Troy Hovey CHOSE to drink to excess, CHOSE not to get a safe ride home, CHOSE to get behind the wheel while THREE times the legal limit, CHOSE to speed at almost TWICE the legal speed limit, CHOSE to talk on the cell phone while driving drunk, DROVE the wrong way on 99...he chose to put other lives at risk...he made those choices willingly...He originally tried to plead Not Guilty!




Saturday, November 1, 2008

A few ways to help make a Difference...Please Help



Here are emails and media links...help make a difference...send letters, comments, whatever you can...express your feelings about the travesty of justice...A drunk driver, Troy Hovey, drove at three times the legal alchol limit, at 80 mph (twice the legal posted limit), on a phone, the wrongway on the highway...the result...the tragic death of Amit Tandon, 32, husband and father-to-be...

Don't just shake your head and say "what a shame", "how tragic"...Please...Take A stand! Make a Difference...



On August 6th, Amit Tandon was the victim of someone else's selfish reckless choices...on a different night it might be you or someone you love...




(See bottom for email list all together, ready to paste into your “To:” section of your email).

Today Show: today@msnbc.com

MSNBC: letters@msnbc.com

Nightly News with Brian Williams: Nightly@NBC.com

Dateline NBC: Dateline@NBCUNI.com

CNN IReport (set up an account and upload your own story): http://www.cnn.com/ireport/

CNN and Headline News News Tips: http://www.cnn.com/feedback/tips/newstips.html

CNN and Headline News News Story Idea: http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form11b.html?1
CNN News feedback page with links for each show (send letter/request for investigation) to each relevant show: http://www.cnn.com/feedback/cnntv/

Headline News feedback page with links for each show (send letter/request for investigation) to each relevant show: http://www.cnn.com/feedback/hdlns/

USA Today (Select News Category, then Story Suggestion): http://feedbackforms.usatoday.com/marketing/feedback/feedback-online.aspx?type=12

Fox News UReport (Upload your story): http://www.foxnews.com/us/ureport/index.html

Fox News (including links to separate shows/hosts): http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77538,00.html

Chico News CBS Channel 12 (website): http://www.khsltv.com/

Kelly Saam of Channel 12 news: ksaam@khsltv.com

Chico Channel 12 News Center (email): news@khsltv.com

Chico Channel 24 News Center (website – other info is the same as channel 12): http://www.knvn.com/

Governor’s Office: http://gov.ca.gov/interact#contact

Assemblyman Rick Keene (responsible for north state including Chico area: http://legplcms01.lc.ca.gov/PublicLCMS/ContactPopup.aspx?district=AD03

Senator Sam Aanestad: http://cssrc.us/web/4/contact_us.aspx

Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa: http://republican.assembly.ca.gov/members/a2/index.aspx?page=Contact

MADD: http://www.madd.org/

Send to your favorite or not so favorite TV personalities – Oprah, Ellen, Rachel Ray, anyone and everyone who can help…get the story out, please...don’t wait until this kind of tragedy touches your life…Make a Difference, Today…

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Link to blogs and other reports regarding this travesty:

http://unclesagainstdrunkdrivers.blogspot.com/2008/10/judge-robert-glusman-favors-drunk.html (a father who lost his 18 year old niece to a drunk driver comments on the case of Troy Hovey in the death of Amit Tandon)

IReport regarding this travesty: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-116393

Link to Chico Enterprise Record article (with a comment section):
http://www.chicoer.com/ci_10731922?source=most_viewed

Link to Oroville Mercury (Different comment section for same article: http://www.orovillemr.com/ci_10731838?source=most_viewed

***Make a complaint regarding Judicial Performance (Judge Glusman was the judge for the sentencing of Troy Hovey): http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/about/aboutcjp.htm

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Emails:

today@msnbc.com, letters@msnbc.com, Nightly@NBC.com, Dateline@NBCUNI.com,
Feedback@foxnews.com, Fncspecials@foxnews.com, Foxreport@foxnews.com, Atlarge@foxnews.com, Hannity@foxnews.com, Ontherecord@foxnews.com, Redeye@foxnews.com, Oreilly@foxnews.com, Cavuto@foxnews.com





Friday, October 17, 2008

Drunk Driver, Troy Hovey, Kills 32 year old husband and father-to-be, Amit Tandon...Killer gets Probation!



This is my first blog so I apologize if I fail to follow some sort of particular etiquette.

The topic I am writing on is something I feel Very Strongly About. A man, Troy Hovey, took a life, that of Amit Tandon, husband and father to be (pictured), and for Hovey's crimes, he will receive probation...Please, if you are reading this, don't stay silent, don't just shake your head and say what a shame...Do Something! Say Something! Write letters, send emails, contact the governor, senators, assemblyman, Take Action! Make a Difference!

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On August 6th, 2008, Troy Hovey, a 36 year old from Chico, California, drank to excess, resulting in a blood alcohol content three times the legal limit. Mr. Hovey got behind the wheel of his vehicle and drove at speeds in excess of almost twice the legal speed limit, crashing through a sign and continuing to drive north in the south bound lane of highway 99 at the north end of Chico. Amit Tandon was returning home after a day of work, selling his delicious Indian food to hungry patrons in the north state. Troy Hovey hit Amit Tandon head-on, Mr. Tandon was pronounced dead at the scene, Mr. Hovey walked away with minor injuries.

On October 15, Troy Hovey was scheduled for sentencing after first pleading not guilty, then changing his plea to no contest. Troy Hovey, for his crimes, in what is being seen by many as a travesty of justice, was sentenced to three years probation and 180 days in jail (of which approximately 60 days have been served) with an opportunity for early release into an alcohol treatment program. Citizens of Chico and throughout northern California are outraged, disgusted, shocked, and saddened by the inequity of Troy Hovey's punishment to the crime he committed.

There are no words to express the suffering that Troy Hovey has brought to the lives of so many through the death of Amit Tandon, some have even called Mr. Hovey a murderer. Troy Hovey may not have been legally labeled a murderer, but his actions are considered by many to be just that, murder.

Troy Hovey stole the life of a man considered to be extremely talented, magnetic, charismatic, full of life, and a wonderful husband to his wife of seven months, Deepika. Amit Tandon was only 32 years old. He was a son, a brother, an uncle, a cousin, a friend, a husband, and in December, he would have been a father to his son. Amit was a successful community member and business man who made Chico a better place. Everyone who met him was better for having him in their lives. He was Deepika's love, her life, her partner, her friend, he was her perfection. Deepika must now face the rest of her life without him by her side. She must try and keep the business running without his help, his knowledge, his life. She must raise her child without him. Amit's son will never get to know the joy of having a father, never get to be held, comforted, taught, teased, and loved by his father. Amit's parents will never get to see their son become a father, to see him grow old, to see the success that Amit was achieving. Amit's niece and nephew will never get to see their beloved uncle ever again, to know him, to have his love in their lives. Amit's brother will never get to tease him, learn from him, to be with him. The community of Chico has lost an upstanding member of the community who touched so many lives. Amit was loved from Chico, to Redding, to Red Bluff, to Sacramento, to San Jose, To Truckee, to Stockton, to Paradise, to Oroville, to Malaysia, to Dubai, to India…Around the world, we have felt this loss.

Can one even imagine, even begin to imagine what the pain of such a loss can bring? On Monday, August 4th, Amit found out that he was going to be father to a baby boy। On Wednesday, August 6th, Amit worked in the kitchen to prepare for the markets he would be having that day and for the rest of the week, never knowing the tragedy that would unfold. Imagine for a moment that you were in Deepika's place that night…There are no words to express the devastation, horror, trauma that one feels in that moment as the heart is torn from your chest and ripped apart, that your body screams out from the devastation, to pray to god that this is not happening, to beg that it is not true, to hope that it is all a nightmare and that they are wrong, it was someone else, that Amit would come walking through the door at any moment…but he didn't, he won't, he never will।

Troy Hovey is, for all intents and purposes, a murderer. When Troy Hovey chose to consume excess alcohol, chose not to call his wife for a sober ride home, chose not to ask or call a friend for a ride home, chose not to ask a bar patron to give him a ride home, chose not to call a taxi, chose to get behind the wheel of his vehicle, chose to drive drunk at three times the legal Blood Alcohol Content level, chose to drive at speeds that were almost twice the legal posted speed limit (through a school zone), chose to speak on a telephone while under the influence and speeding, Troy Hovey, chose to commit murder.

Troy Hovey is selfish, reckless, and without care. Deepika Tandon must suffer for the rest of her life to not have her husband, the love of her life, by her side. Amit Tandon's child will never get to know his father. All of those who knew Amit Tandon must suffer this loss. Troy Hovey should have been punished to the fullest extent of the law because he chose to take a life. Troy Hovey should be punished for the rest of his life…as everyone affected by the actions of Troy Hovey must suffer for the rest of theirs. Yes, Mr. Hovey may indeed have an alcohol problem, one for which he has been unsuccessful in treating, however, a long prison term and treatment while in prison would have been more fitting. Yes, Mr. Hovey has a family, but what of the family of Amit Tandon, his wife, his unborn child, his parents, brother, niece, nephew, what of them?

The hearts of those from communities near and far to Chico go out to Amit Tandon's family and all that cared for Amit. This is a double tragedy - the loss of Amit Tandon and the failure of our court system to punish those guilty of such a heinous crime. There are no excuses for the actions of Troy Hovey. There are hundreds of people, likely more, in this world, that suffer from alcoholism and drink to excess, and that though their actions may exhibit poor judgment and demonstrate an addiction that warrants treatment, never engage in actions that would result in the death of another human being. This may be the first recorded offense for Mr. Hovey, however, that does not mean that Mr. Hovey has not put lives at risk before or that he may not do so again...

On August 6th, 2008, it was Amit Tandon that fell victim to the careless, selfish choice of another person, it could have been you or one of your loved ones, on a different night it still may be…

Some of the above comments and thoughts were respectfully borrowed from the statement that Deepika Tandon had read in court that not all were fortunate to hear, she was eloquent; it was heart wrenching; and though many may have heard the words of this widow, not all listened.

I am attaching the link to the article regarding the results of the sentencing: http://www.chicoer.com/ci_10731922?source=most_viewed

You may also google search for the cached articles regarding this case.

Also see news media coverage: Deepika Interview http://www.knvn.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=7a58d611-d2ca-4d9c-8745-bccb5c7dffb1

Public Baby Shower http://www.knvn.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=8278571f-6153-4324-8390-f67db4c116ae