NCFM NOTE: With over 30 years law enforcement experience, including working for years as a homicide investigator often on high-profile cases, Mr. Conzachi is well qualified to assert what follows. Unlike other journalists who reported on the case of Darin Haas, Mr. Conzachi spent hours upon hours digging up the truth including the systemic problems of callous omission and outright rejection of the truth within our criminal justice system. Anyone who reads this article should be absolutely incensed at the shameful treatment of Mr. Haas. Here again is another story of an innocent man destroyed by a vindictive woman with the absolute and unwavering help of a system of law that supposedly protects the victim, Mr. Haas. Worse, the woman was well rewarded by the courts for her abuse. Thank you Mr. Conzachi and LTC Darin Haas for standing tall for the truth. Harry Crouch, President NCFM.
How Darin O. Haas Served and Sacrificed ... In his last tour of duty overseas, LTC Haas, while in Afghanistan, worked eighteen to twenty hour days for over four months. He was emotionally drained, suffered daily mortar attacks and traveled over roads with explosive devices while being peppered with small arms fire. Safe back home his wife was having an affair, planning her divorce, and war on LTC Haas. LTC Haas was clueless of the war being waged at him at home.
Think about it. Who would you honor? Who would you reward?
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Army Lieutenant Colonel Darin Haas: Another victim of the politically correct sexual assault, harassment, and domestic violence machine. “Let’s vilify first; facts don’t matter.”
NCFM Advisor Michael Conzachi; a U.S. Army veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division, and retired three decade law enforcement officer, has been digging into the case of Army Lieutenant Colonel Darin Haas; his removal from his post as the head of Fort Campbell’s sexual assault and harassment program, as a result of his arrest for violating a protective order. What he discovered paints a different picture than depicted by the main stream press, and is another in a long list of examples of the abuse of the restraining order process, and the legal, civil, family law, and criminal justice systems that facilitate and allow it to happen.
Many of the readers of NCFM and other sites have read about or heard of the case of Army Lieutenant Colonel Darin Haas. Previous reports revealed that LTC Haas was the Commanding Officer of Fort Campbell Kentucky’s Sexual Harassment and Assault Response Program (SHARP), who was relieved of his position due to arrests of stalking and restraining order violations.
There is more to this story than what has been portrayed in the mainstream media, who jumped on this story, and projected an image that the U.S. Army is a bastion of testosterone fueled males who are doing nothing more than lurking the bushes, with the intent of jumping on the first two legged, or four legged species of the female variety who happen to walk by. And, oh my gosh, ya see, ya see, we told you.
Yes sir-eee, here we go again; out of control Army guys, just waiting to commit violent acts of rape, abuse, stalking and other heinous crimes against women. Let’s kick them out of their jobs, let’s throw them in the Brig, let’s trash their names and reputations, just on the unproven word of an angry, delusional, philandering ex, and her less than ethical lawyer who see’s nothing but dollar signs and misery.
Well, hold on to your horses, because a whole lot of facts seemed to have been missing. Sadly, most news outlets have followed what we have seen so many times before and have repeated ad nausea. The basic principle of facts, evidence, and fact checking seems to be void when reporting on cases of domestic violence, stalking, and restraining order related issues, especially in the military. That doesn’t matter because whatever the disturbed female, or her facilitator lawyer says is fact in their eyes. No further inquiry, fact checking or investigation is needed to really find out what happened.
What was not reported in the various AP articles and local news media outlets are the facts of what had occurred. This is another, in a seemingly endless stream of cases in which the basic concept of responsible journalism is void. This, and subsequent articles will reveal the truth of all of the circumstances of what happened in the case of LTC Haas. Let’s start with what most news outlets have missed.
Darin Haas enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves in July of 1988 and then attended Bowling Green State University in Ohio where he obtained a degree in Secondary Education with minors in History, Political Science, and Geography. He graduated at the end of the school year in 1994 and entered the U.S. Army as a Commissioned Officer specializing in Personnel Operations. He married Alissa Owen in the Spring of 1996 and had three children. As is usually the case, the marriage seemed just as normal as any other. There were a number of military assignments and posts, as there are in any other military career.
Darin Haas eventually reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and had served two tours of duty in Iraq prior to being deployed to the Kandahar region of Afghanistan in May of 2010. While deployed, he learned through a family member that his wife was having an affair with a married high school baseball coach, but still had to remain in a combat area for another five months with this knowledge.
Yeah; that’s right, a little fact, described and detailed in court records, verified by other sources of information obtained via subpoena, that Miss Alissa was doing it with the guy she conveniently hired to teach her son baseball while her husband was in a war zone. She hired Mr. Walls in June of 2010, less than 3 weeks after her husband deployed. Did I mention that he was an assistant baseball coach at the school Miss Alissa taught at…a little fact that seemed to be elusive to the mainstream news media.
Let’s just think about that for a moment. There are other stories out there with military members deployed in combat zones and operations, with the knowledge of their significant others being involved in extra-marital affairs, and still yet, they perform their duties in an honorable and professional manner. We never hear about those, nor do we hear of the incidents of suicide of military members when there is an ugly divorce as part of the equation.
I don’t know about you, but I’m really getting ill hearing this drivel about how all of these military members, especially men, returning from deployment; return with dangerous levels of PTSD, who end up homeless on the streets as drug addicts and alcoholics. Some do and that is very sad, and our responsibility as a nation demands that we do a better job. The majority handle it with maturity and professionalism, with clearly defined separations between their responsibilities as a soldier, and the re-entry into mainstream society. When the mainstream news media wolves catch wind of a case like this, most report what fits into the extremist feminist agenda, and the long trail of damage and destruction, via the family court picks-up speed.
Having this knowledge for five months, LTC Haas was not able to return home until such time as the passing of his mother due to a long term illness. Even with this knowledge, he performed his duties in an exemplary manner. He returned to the states in February of 2011, to bury his mother, and within hours of their departure for the funeral, when LTC Haas had not even been home for twenty-four hours, Alissa Owen told him that she wanted a divorce. The only logical assessment that can be derived from this statement and its timing is that LTC Haas’ soon to be ex-wife demonstrated a level of callousness that is simply unspeakable. Her demonstration of a lack of empathy is indicative, that it is void from her DNA.
Alissa filed for divorce in March of 2011, which was finally granted in December of 2011. Then, the furtherance of the plan was put into motion. In an attempt to obtain full custody of their three children, Alissa Owen petitioned for and obtained a TEMPORARY, not permanent restraining order in October of 2012. She claimed that text messages from Darin were threatening; a fact later ruled on by a judge hearing the matter, were not threatening; nor were they immediate.
What was also missing in the earlier news reports was that the text messages in question occurred in November of 2011, a month before the divorce was finalized, and after Alissa convinced Darin to complete an agreement where he took over $590,000.00 worth of debt to her $16,000.00; where she received between $24,000.00 and $25,000.00 of the marital equity to his $12,000.00; where he did not take any of her retirement, but he gave her 25% of his; but she didn’t say anything about text messages, or think they were threatening until almost a year later.
In order not to demonstrate the level of bias and one sided reporting that LTC Haas received, the emails sent by LTC Haas, BEFORE the finalization of their divorce, but after Alissa got HER settlement were indeed, by his own admission, insulting, but not threatening as she had claimed. She invited him to her home with the kids for Thanksgiving a week after he apologized and they had put that night behind them. The very next day, Alissa, her mother and the kids went to Darin’s house for a Thanksgiving meal; a month later she invited Darin to Christmas with her family and their kids where Alissa and Darin exchanged gifts…is any of this the behavior of a woman that “felt threatened?” Back to the issue of the text messages though; can you blame him or any other male, whether he is in the military or not for being angry and sending very insulting texts?
Take a look at the facts. He’s in a combat zone; Afghanistan; basically a toilet of planet Earth, and finds out that his wife is banging her son’s baseball coach who is one of her coworkers as they are both teachers in the local school district. She tells him that she wants a divorce an hour and a half prior to leaving for his mother’s funeral; she gets him to agree to a settlement that is very lopsided in her favor by leading him on about them getting back together (he has this legally on tape); then after they send the agreement to the lawyers, she backs out saying that she does not want him back because she is in love with Walls…who is still married with kids by the way.
Duh, what guy wouldn’t be pissed? Is it me, or am I missing something? Not only that Miss Alissa decided she wanted Darin out of her life, but she wanted Darin out the life of their kids as well; another fact missed in the mainstream media reports but extensively covered and documented in the court records. Not only was he denied contact with his kids for nearly two months, but Miss Alissa had plenty of time to work on the minds of those young kids, taking them to events with the married coach; kind of like, “here’s your new Daddy, the old one was bad and Mommy made sure he went away.”
Is anyone starting to see the light here? Is there any person who wears a black robe for a living or any legislator who was elected to write and propose laws that protect all members of the public, especially kids, aware of what is going on in the real world; how it actually plays out in our courts?
Consequently, LTC Haas’s experience with Parental Alienation is very real and ongoing, and his civil rights and due process were tossed out the window, all based on the unverified word of an angry ex and a lawyer whose legal practices and ethics are in serious question in this case.
With Alissa filing a petition for a temporary order of protection and getting one, LTC Haas was not granted a hearing to decide whether this first restraining order petition had any merit for a period of NINE (9) months (7 at the time of his arrest in May). That is not a typo. Does anyone see a problem with basic due process? The harmful effect on the kids and absence of due process are just a few of the most disturbing facts missed by mainstream media reporting.
When the hearing finally arrived, a hearing that Alissa and her attorney fought hard to delay again for a surgery that Alissa conveniently scheduled to interfere with the court date, a judge ruled that there was no merit to the initial petition and vacated the temporary order. In the meantime, LTC Haas was denied contact with his kids for nearly two months. More months of agony; the loss of his kids, and the very familiar pattern and practice that we have seen time and again on the systematic alienation of the kids; in which is still ongoing, and LTC Haas is still in a repair mode.
When we see these kinds of outlandish abuses of the restraining order/order of protection system, a common denominator is always present; this is also a situation which we have heard more times than we would like. There is ALWAYS some demonstrated level of a high conflict personality and the demonstration of a host of personality disorders on the part of false accusers. Same old, same old; yet our family and civil courts encourage and reward this nonsense, with no sanctions even when the fraud and perjury have been discovered.
The other part is that there is always some compromise or manipulation, either in the legal profession, family court, or criminal justice apparatus. If you get past the standard, expedient and politically correct regurgitation of mainstream media, and actually do some investigative journalism, more of the facts and truth are revealed. Once again, as we have seen so many times, another manipulation and exploitation of the restraining order / order of protection system rears its ugly head; and yet once again, another man is raked over the coals because of it.
Sadly, in the majority of the politically correct feminist cowering journalistic world, only those facts that fit your agenda are reported and repeated; but in the process, the professional reputation and career of a 20 plus year, highly decorated and dedicated military man is thrown to the wolves. “Hang him from the yard-arm, make him walk the plank, put him in front of the firing squad” they say. Then all of a sudden; the facts; oops my bad, let’s just move on. Sorry, “No Bueno,” this is “FUBAR.”
During the time period in which the temporary restraining order was in place, LTC Haas was subjected to two arrests for various alleged restraining order and stalking violations that ultimately resulted in his removal from his position. It’s the classic tale of an angry vindictive and personality disordered spouse, trying to get full custody of the kids and whatever assets her ex-husband has left; in order to basically walk away with everything. It’s not enough just to end the marriage; but she has to inflict as much emotional turmoil and abuse, professional damage, and financial devastation as is humanly possible in the wake of her extramarital affair.
These types of things can only happen when there is some ethical or illegal issue at hand with our legislatures, legal profession or criminal justice system, and contrary to it being rare, is as common as sewage. In the legal profession category, Ms. Owen’s success in delaying a hearing on the merits of the temporary restraining order for nine months can be partially attributed to her attorney, Mark Olson of Clarksville Tennessee. What kind of due process is this? Various Internet attorney-rating sites rank this man at the low end of the ethical totem pole; with a few ranking him in the next best thing to sliced bread category. Presumably, those high ratings came from those he pleased with what appear to be, at least in this case, his less than ethical legal practices.
Digging further into this debacle, we bring our attention to the practices of the Clarksville Tennessee Police Department. In a legally obtained audio recording, obtained by LTC Haas, Clarksville Police Department Captain Scott Thornton stated that they do no investigation; pursuant to state law when investigating violations of protective orders; they simply take the word of the petitioner when they make a claim of a violation and obtain an arrest warrant; from there, they just let the judge figure it out.
Let’s think about that for a moment. Basic common sense law enforcement investigative protocol is non-existent and not necessary only when investigating claims by restraining order petitioners, of violations, and rather than actually making a determination that a crime actually occurred, the Clarksville Police Department just gets an arrest warrant, arrests the alleged violator, and lets a judge decide later if there is any merit to the claims of violation. There is something missing here; it’s a little thing called probable cause. Cops are trained, expected, and paid to exercise good judgment; to adhere to legal standards and the constitution. Why do alleged domestic violence laws and alleged protective order violations, and affidavits for arrest warrants allow for less proof, less evidence, and less probable cause than a parking ticket?
Some other interesting things have been discovered in this inquiry. It has been widely publicized that the Clarksville Police Department has been the recipient of a variety of state and federal grants, specifically for domestic violence issues. One of the questions that need to be answered here is why the Clarksville PD obtained two separate arrest warrants for each of two separate incidents. This begs an answer to the question: Are statistics or numbers are being inflated; or are the books being “cooked” for the purposes of grant reporting?
Anyone employed in law enforcement for more than five minutes knows full well that any arrest warrant can contain more than one violation. If these numbers and statistics are not being truthfully reported to the state and the U.S. Department of Justice, then that would, and should warrant an audit for the improper use and reporting of domestic violence related offenses. Is there some type of fraud going on here with Clarksville PD and their reporting procedures?
At some point, and in some manner; questions posed to the Clarksville Police Department, and we’ll see what type of response they provide.
The bottom line through all of this though, is that once LTC Haas’ attorney, Ms. Stacey Turner of Clarksville Tennessee was able to finally get a hearing on both the ex-parte (temporary) order of protection, and the manufactured and suspiciously investigated criminal charges; the temporary order of protection was vacated, and the criminal charges were dismissed.
Ms. Turner was quoted in several articles in which she stated that this is nothing more than a vindictive ex who has abused the process and used an order of protection to gain a tactical advantage in divorce matters. In fact, there has been additional litigation filed by Miss Alissa in order to try and extort another quarter mil out of the Colonel. That case is still pending and we will learn and report additional facts as they are learned.
What we all have to remember, as with most visitors to this site, is that we have yet another, in a long list of examples of restraining order abuse where there is no valid reason for obtaining an order in the first place. Since virtually any woman who wants one will get one for any reason, and the normal belief and reaction of those who don’t know just how out of control this process is; is that there must have been some good reason for it. The truth is that the protective order process in all states, especially in contentious divorces, is done primarily for tactical and retaliatory purposes.
Since definitions of what constitutes intimate partner violence keep getting watered down to the point where virtually anything; hogging the TV remote; not taking out the trash; asking your wife not to run up the credit cards; leaving the toilet seat up that causes stress; just about any marital discord or maladjustment is considered violence, and worthy of a protective order.
Sadly, there are too few judges in the country, and they probably can be counted on one hand, who see through some of these frivolous petitions. We hear the old story over and over again how the judges are looking out; “for the best interests of the children” and “to err on the side of caution.” Those familiar with this abuse know that these lame statements, are just that; lame statements.
No judge in this country wants to be the one who does not issue a restraining order to a woman, and then have that one in a million chance that the estranged ex goes back and commits an act of violence. He knows that his name will be on the national nightly news and his career is over. In their mind, it is better to violate the civil rights, due process, and disrupt the lives of a million men rather than take that chance. However, in this case a judge did not even issue the order of protection, it was a magistrate. Again, as soon as a judge reviewed it in court…NINE MONTHS LATER, it was vacated and found to be without merit.
It is estimated that over 1 million restraining orders are issued against men every year in this country where there is no allegation of intimate partner violence or threat of violence, but because a woman claimed her feelings were hurt or emotional needs were not met. In this case, it’s been screwing around with a married man while my husband is deployed because my needs were not being met; I hate my soon to be ex and have a grease ball lawyer who knows how to manipulate the system, I want more money, and I want to erase my kid’s father from their lives. Sounds good to me, here’s your restraining order ma’am says a judge. Oh yeah, you say he violated it, no problem, we’ll get warrants and haul him off to jail. You don’t have any evidence that he violated it, again, no problem; we’ll arrest him anyway and let the judge figure it out later even if it takes months, that should teach the SOB not to abuse you.
In the case of Lieutenant Colonel Darin Haas, he too is THE victim, a victim of a vindictive ex, her shady lawyer, and an inept and indifferent criminal justice apparatus who don’t feel the need to verify any information before obtaining an arrest warrant; and conveniently seem to forget the constitution and due process, but only in cases of alleged intimate partner violence or alleged violations of protective orders. He is another in a long line of victims in this deeply entrenched hysteria and myth of “man bad – woman good” mentality that permeates all aspects of our society. He is a victim of a very powerful court process that requires no proof or evidence, that can strip him of his kids, his career, his livelihood, his dignity, his reputation, and with some men, their sanity. Is there anyone; with a microgram of common sense, decency, and honesty that doesn’t see a problem with that?
Basic foundational common sense law enforcement investigative protocol would suggest that at least a reasonable level of care would be employed before getting an arrest warrant, especially in this case since the order was temporary and there had been no hearing to determine if the original petition was valid in the first place.
Apparently in the Clarksville Tennessee, all you need is a phone call from the female petitioner; no proof, no verification, no evidence, and voila, arrest warrant in hand.
Just think about that for a moment, if ANY other crime was investigated and pursued in the same manner? How would we as a society react? What if your neighbor just called the police, told them you vandalized their car, or threw a brick through their window, and the police just went out and got an arrest warrant? Does anyone see a problem with that?
It took nine months and the diligent work of a very competent attorney to arrive at the truth; to erase and remove this nonsense. In the meantime, Lieutenant Colonel Haas was removed from a prestigious position, was vilified in the press, had his professional and personal reputation tarnished, has endured financial hardship, and the worst part is that his kids experienced a level of emotional and psychological abuse cause by their mother that he is still working to undo. No one in the mainstream press decided all of those other little factors were necessary to report; they are just little annoyances to those with an agenda.
For all of those who yell and scream about a so called alleged epidemic of sexual assault and harassment in our military, and how it is always ignored by commanders, I would say that you are either being dishonest, delusional, untruthful, have ideological or political hidden agendas, or all of the above. When you get away from the extremist rhetoric and the twisted contrived statistics that are evident in this case, as indicated by official and public records, the truth is that there is no epidemic of sexual assault and harassment in the military, and no epidemic of ignoring or mishandling complaints. Here is the perfect example of let’s punish and vilify first, the facts, evidence, and circumstances don’t matter, and neither does the manipulation of the system for tactical advantage.
As a patriotic American and very proud Army veteran, all I can say to Lieutenant Colonel Haas is; “I’m sorry for what has happened to you; I am saddened that a defender of our freedom was not afforded due process as outlined in the very same Constitution that you took an oath, and were willing to give your life to defend.” “I am sorry for the traumatic experience that your kids, who you love dearly, had to endure, and who will be forever affected.” “I am sorry for the irresponsibility of the press; for the rush to judgment to remove you from your post, and for the incompetence and indifference, and possibly the discrimination and corruption of the legal, criminal, and family law systems.”
There will be more to report on this story, and more questions will be asked. Whether we get answers is still yet to be determined. There are more pigs at the trough feeding on Mr. Haas. Stay tuned, and rest assured that the truth and the facts will be presented here.
Read more about this case:
I know Darin personally. You couldn’t ask for a kinder, more gentler husband and father. I took care of his three children and loved them like they were my own. We were all close and such good friends. I was so hurt by all of this. Darin is a very good man. When all of this happened, I was devastated. This really was out of character for her. I’m not really sure what happened. Alissa does not want me to be with the children. I took care of them for four years. They loved me very much. I don’t see them anymore, but I love them and Darin just as much as ever. As I read this, I am disappointed all over again. Alissa was my best friend but turned her back on me too with no explanation. I think I am better off. Who needs friends like that.
It sickens me how women and men can lie, cheat, and purposely hurt the one they committed their life to, and what’s worse using their children as pawns.
Those of you who don’t know Darin, he’s a wonderful human being with a huge heart. His love for his family and country is great. Anyone who knows him knows that. His kids are amazing. I hope they are surviving all of this and doing well.
I am a woman, and I too believe you guys get a raw deal way too often. I’m praying for all of you.
I just met ANOTHER LTC-Silver Star Marine, with very similar story, hope to get to you. I too, an E-7 returned from KOSOVO after a 17 month deployment and ramp-up only to be mauled by my wife-at that time, IN FRONT of my 4 and 14 yr old boys, then arrested with NO investigation and 7 years later trying to sue. I am 61. We need to sue the crts with class action for 1 Billion and keep suing until they get the message.