A House Divided

A House Divided 1994 Jun 26 By Katy Butler Los Angeles Times

On May 13, Ramona won the public war but lost his most important private battle. The jury, in a complex 10-to-2 decision, ruled that Holly's memories were probably false. Her therapists, they said, had not implanted them but had reinforced them. But they awarded Ramona only $475,000-far less than the $8 million he had sought, less than the $1 million he had spent on the trial....

But the jury verdict was ambiguous. Said jury foreman Thomas Dudum: "We all got rather disturbed when Mr. Ramona captured the headlines by claiming a victory of sorts, when we knew the case did not prove that he did not do it. I want to make it clear that we did not believe, as Gary indicates, that these therapists gave Holly a wonder drug and implanted these memories. It was an uneasy decision and there were a lot of unanswered questions." On one point, Dudum was unequivocal: "It was apparent from the beginning that Mr. Ramona was a wonderful salesman for Mondavi, and he was selling us a story," he said, referring to the improbably idyllic life Ramona had described. "A lot of it was very difficult to swallow, and we were not fooled for a minute by his convenient act of tearing up."

As for the people who Ramona said mattered most-his ex-wife and three daughters-the verdict convinced them of nothing but the injustice of the legal system. "I don't think he should have gotten a penny for raping his own daughter," said Stephanie, weeping, outside the courtroom after the verdict. "You don't know what I know. You don't know what my children know. Nobody gets it."....

AFTER THE VERDICT, GARY Ramona felt vindicated. He says he's ready to turn his attention to his new business, which imports wines from Chile and is a marketing consultant for small wineries. He says he hopes that someday his daughters will understand that he never did what he was accused of. http://www.katybutler.com/publications/latimes/index_files/latimes_clashmem_mixmessages.htm