Monday, March 9, 2015

Statement Analysis Reginald Dobbins' Family

Reginald Dobbins
Courtesy of Aroostook County Jail
Reginald Dobbins 
from Bangornews.com 

Italics are added with emphasis, and Statement Analysis within the article is in bold type.  

HOULTON, Maine — Murder suspect Reginald Dobbins‘ father expressed sadness Saturday at the death of Keith Suitter, a family friend, but said his son is innocent.
“He is very honest. If he did anything,  and they talked very long to him,  he would admit it,” 81-year-old Reginald “Jack” Dobbins said Saturday. “I really haven’t talked to him at length about it, but the last time I spoke to him, he said that there was some misunderstanding, that he did not have anything to do with it.”

Note that the honesty is considered "very" but the sensitivity of it is explained in context:  "he would admit it."  This may be what the subject means in the difference between being "honest" and "very honest"; one that admits, rather than remains silent. 
Next note the word "if" within the father's speech.  This allows for the possibility of his son doing it.  
Next note that he has not "really" talked to his son about it.  This is to say that they have talked about it, but in the subject's language, it was not "really", which would need exploration:  was it not "really" because the conversation was too short?  Or, was there another reason?  Was the son reluctant to talk to the father?
Also note that given the nature of the accusation, it is difficult to think that the topic of whether he did it or not would not be a tangent in conversation.  
First, the father allows for the possibility of the son's involvement.  Next, he makes a statement but then immediately weakens it:  
“He couldn’t even kill an animal, I don’t think,” Jack Dobbins said of his 18-year-old son. “He is really good-natured, has a lot of friends.
In context to killing a human being, the subject says "he couldn't kill an animal" but then adds the weakened, "I think."
Please note that this is not in the usual order. 
"I don't think he could  kill an animal" would be the order most commonly used.  It reduces commitment with "I don't think", allowing for himself, or others, to think differently and change his mind. 
But here, it is added after the assertion. 
This is closer to "self-censoring" or self-correcting language.  
It is a 'second step' away from the affirmation.  
Yet, is there a 'third'?

Note that he adds the word "even" which I did not use in my analysis.  This word, "even"  is used to compare one thing to another.  
Analysis conclusion:  The father has strong doubt over his son's innocence. 
Interviewed while he rifled through his car looking for a letter, the elder Dobbins said he hoped the letter and his son’s prayer book would help the younger Dobbins, known as Reggie, cope with the arrest. 
“He is a very sensitive person and he doesn’t handle stress well and he is so stressed out,” Jack Dobbins, who planned to visit his son this weekend, said. “He was really upset when he heard about it.”
If the subject knows any details of the case, "stressed out" may become part of the reasoning regarding motive and may even speak to the son's mental state.  In wording like this, we sometimes find that instead of a  direct motive, we will have "a misunderstanding" stated, as part of a defense.  This is particularly challenging because the deceased victim must "speak" through evidence, such as the coroner's report and the facts that prosecution can present.  
The accused mental health may be part of this case.  
Reggie Dobbins and a 16-year-old Houlton resident, whose name was not released because of his age, were charged with murder Friday night. They are being held in Aroostook County Jail and will make their first court appearances Monday in Aroostook County Superior Court, state police said.
Police began investigating the case when two women discovered Suitter’s red Ford F-150 pickup truck stuck in a snowbank about half a mile from the victim’s Highland Avenue home on March 1. They contacted Houlton police and, recognizing Suitter’s pickup, the women went to Suitter’s trailer where they found his body.
State police have declined to release more details about the case but said that additional information may be included in court paperwork that will be filed Monday.
Jack Dobbins, who has eight daughters and four sons, said Suitter’s death was “horrible.”
It is sad and horrible that it could happen in Houlton,” Jack Dobbins, who ran a television repair shop in town for many years, said. “There have been very few tragedies like that in the 81 years I have lived here.”
A house painter and handyman, Suitter was known around town for being somewhat reclusive but friendly, residents said. The murder suspect’s sister, Cricket Griffith, said Suitter also was a longtime friend of her mother.
Of his children, Jack Dobbins said “there are four of them for sure that knew him quite well and thought he was a real wonderful person.” Jack Dobbins and Griffith, 27, said they didn’t know of any dispute between Reggie Dobbins and Suitter and were unsure whether the two even knew each other.
The family also said they think police violated their rights when they searched the family home. They accused police of failing to display a search warrant before searching their home Wednesday night. 
State police detectives told Jack Dobbins they could legally search the residence because Reggie Dobbins is on probation with conditions that permit searches, Jack Dobbins said. Griffiths said she didn’t think her brother is on probation but did have bail conditions she believed should have limited the search to his bedroom.
We were treated like nothing we said made any difference,” Jack Dobbins said. “They were gentlemen enough, but I kept saying, ‘you’re not supposed to be in here.’ They forced their way in anyway, walked right in, six of them.”
Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, declined to comment on that allegation.
“Those are investigative details that I am not going to get into,” he said.
State police put the six Griffith and Dobbins family members in a local hotel until Friday. When they returned home, they found a search warrant, dated Friday, on a table inside, Jack Dobbins said. He displayed the warrant briefly but declined to allow it to be copied.
The police also impounded and have yet to return her dog, a German shepherd mix named Sparky, Griffith said.
Griffith said her brother, Reggie, is unemployed and volunteers at the local Unitarian Universalist church and mentored younger teens. His few scrapes with the law forced him to leave Houlton High School and put him on probation, but the charges resulted from largely defensive actions on his part, she said.
A Maine State Bureau of Identification criminal record check Saturday showed that Reggie Dobbins pleaded guilty to several counts of violating the conditions of his release, a misdemeanor, and paid a $100 fine and was jailed for 48 hours. The original charges and the violations of the conditions were not clear in the report.
Houlton police also said Reggie Dobbins was involved in an altercation in September after allegedly hitting a 20-year-old man with a baseball bat during a fight on Court Street. During the incident, the victim reportedly pulled out a knife and Reggie Dobbins hit him, causing him to drop his knife, police said.
The Rev. David Hutchinson, minister of Houlton Unitarian Church, said Reggie Dobbins probably served something like 40 hours of community service at the church in connection with criminal court requirements. Hutchinson said he didn’t know what crime put Reggie Dobbins into the program.
After fulfilling his court requirement, Reggie Dobbins continued to work at the church as a volunteer supervisor of another friend working of a court decree, Hutchinson said.
“Reggie knew his way around our building, and we trusted Reggie to do that work. We have known the family off and on for 10 to 15 years,” Hutchinson said. Whatever problem Dobbins had “didn’t show up in the workplace.
"we" indicates distance here.  He may not be willing to say "I trusted Reggie" because he does not know him, personally, well enough; 
or, because he does not trust him, and wishes to share responsibility.  We do not have to wait long to find out why: 
He was a model worker in that workplace,” Hutchinson added. “If you weren’t aware of his history you wouldn’t know from dealing with him. He was a great guy to talk to. You would never know he had a problem.”
"That" is distancing language, consistent with "we" from above.  Clarity in language explaining the distancing language comes from the final statement in the article below: 

Reggie Dobbins’ arrest on a murder charge is shocking, Griffith said.
He is such a loving uncle. He plays with my son all the time,” Griffith said. “He is very loving and nurturing. I could not see my brother like that.”
Here the distancing language is explained:  
I have watched him grow up as a kid,” Hutchinson said. “You just hate to see this sort of thing happen. It is complicated by all sort of factors. He is a great kid in my relation with him and as a minister, but I never had a chance to sit down and work with him and see what his problems were and how to better manage them.”

Not having the chance to sit down (body positioning) and work with him reveals why the lack of commitment and closeness is seen in the statements above. 
He cannot say "I trusted him" but only "we", sharing responsibility, and here the minister explains why:  he did not know him. In these statements we have both distance and the reason for distance explained in context.  
Note also the word "with" between people denotes distance.  

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

surely there is much more to this story than statements to analyse


Appx. 60 years difference between father and son. Not surprising he wouldn't know his son.

Baseball bat against knife.Stuff happens. Use of "we" when speaking of community service would be expected as no one person took responsibility for him and was allowed to serve in a group.

But, why on earth a painter he did not know? Looking for cash? (why not steal the truck?) Chemicals?(Why crash the truck)

Killing a stranger is odd when nothing is taken.

Anonymous said...

Acne looks severe- like steroid acne. I'd want to learn more about his being "stressed out."

Father said "he said that there was some misunderstanding"

Not "a" misunderstanding. So how much misunderstanding?

"“Reggie knew his way around our building"

And

"“He was a model worker in that workplace,”

Why the focus on building and place?

trustmeigetit said...





I always see comments like “I really haven’t talked to him at length about it” as big red flags in cases like this.



To me, had he said was not allowed to talk to him long… that would make sense, but when you have a serious crime and you didn’t really talk to them much about it, I see red flags!



To me, if my child was being questioned, I would be in his face asking… or better yet… demanding answers. I would not just let it go. This is serious. It’s not like you asking about their date and the kid just didn’t want to talk about
it. Murder charges are serious and I would demand answers.



It reminds me of how Gerry and Kate Mccann and Lisa Bradly didn’t really ask the other kids if they saw or heard anything. That screams guilt. PERIOD. If your other kids heard or saw something that could help… if your child was really kidnapped you would not
just let it go. You would be desperate for anything that may bring your child home.


Dad is not telling us the truth.

Anonymous said...

Reggie was allowed to kill baby kittens as a small child.....I suppose it was a way to keep him occupied and solve the recurring problem of "what do we do with all these kittens my cat just had again"