Melinda Martin is named in the James Arthur Ray white papers. The documents were prepared by Ray’s legal council and states that Martin is wanting money from Ray. We asked Melinda if it was true. Here’s what she said.
- Melinda Martin did ask JRI to provide her an attorney. JRI never responded.
- Megan Fredrickson filed a worker’s compensation claim for Melinda Martin without Martin’s knowledge. Martin learned of this when contacted for an interview about her disability. Martin declined Worker’s Compensation. Martin does not have a worker’s compensation lawyer.
- Martin has not requested monetary compensation from JRI.
- Martin has not received compensation from any of the news interviews where she has appeared.
- Melinda Martin was trained in CPR.
As James Ray’s possible indictment looms near and the Death Ray Defense unfolds, I’m amazed by my naivety. I’m in my late 40s and still feel our legal system should be about what’s right and the truth and not some Golden Rule of Justice (he with the Gold gets the justice).
My wife Amy Hall worked for James Ray for almost 2 years. Like so many people, she wanted to believe that James Arthur Ray was a man who practiced what he preached. Amy worked for Ray to help people have a better and more fulfilled life. After James Ray killed 4 people during his self-help seminars, she realized that all he cared about was making money. Amy is questioning everything about what happened and why it happened. Amy is especially angry as she watches James Ray working so hard to cover his own ass instead of “transforming the planet” as he claimed he wanted to do.
At this time, Amy is not accepting any media requests.
My personal note on the matter. If these deaths were really an accident, why is James Arthur Ray acting so much like John Gotti? According to the twitter quotebots: James Arthur Ray is credited with saying “The content of your thoughts and personal beliefs can be proven by a single indicator – your current results.” Mr Ray, based on your current results, your thoughts and personal beliefs all point to the fact that you know your actions directly caused the deaths of 4 people and the deaths were not accidental.
Terry Hall
Mr Clean
Overall I didn’t think the “whitepapers” were that bad :: given that they were written by a criminal attorney in defense of super-dang-guilty client. But the shots at Melinda were total bullshit. “Here’s what you get for talking” intimidation tactics.
Ghetto!
Hey Droid, I just read your markup of the James Ray white papers. Nicely done.
http://saltydroid.info/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/WhiteWash-Paper.pdf
Terry, as a former employee also, I am struggling with why more people who attended the event aren’t coming forward and DEMANDING justice. We are not privy to all the evidence, statements, etc and it may be that some people have done so. But, there have been too many statements made by the “sheeple” about how James was not responsible and how even though he intimidated them to act recklessly, they did so of their own volition. In addition to the apparent “mis-statements” about Melinda Martin, there were other untrue statements made in the white papers. For example, in the rendition about Colleen Conaway, the attorneys say that no one from JRI knew of her whereabouts but it has been recently reported that Greg Hartle not only witnessed the tragedy, he twittered about it and has since had his tweets removed. Even though statements are being made by Arizona prosecutors that this would be a difficult case to take to a jury, I am still hanging on to my belief that James will be made to answer for his actions this time.
Hi Hope, I trust you’re doing well. Ray’s letters to the Yavapai County Attorney are prime examples of our legal system at work. A system where each side gets to state their side of the story. A mentor of mine once shared the story about how a good criminal attorney was his client. The attorney was bragging one night that if he has a client who is innocent, he will have a judge hear the trial with out a jury. But, if the client is guilty they have a jury trial. If indicted, I wonder which James Ray will request?
What are you guys going to do if he doesn’t get charged for anything? This blog would have been a waste of time. Why do you continue to follow this stuff? If you and your wife hate James that much, why not rid yourself of him? Instead you follow it 24/7 like you have no other stories to tell! You won’t have anything left after it’s all cleared up.
It’s amazing how you put your wife out there. “she’s not taking interviews at this time”…I call bullshit! If the right amount of money came in, you’d be all over an interview. What’s funny is that you have three people (Amy, hope and Melinda) coming out about how they are former employees and basically bash the company. Why arent the rest of his employees coming out? If his company was THAT bad….wouldn’t they be saying something as well?
@melanie thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your comments.
You call bullshit on a topic you know nothing about. I can not speak for Hope or Melinda, but I can share with you why Amy is speaking out. She has seen too many people hurt financially, emotionally and physically by the self-help and personal transformation industry. When a guru’s profits and personal wealth take front seat to the safety and well being of their clients, something has to change. Amy wants to make sure change happens and Seminars and Coaches are regulated.
As far as hating James Arthur Ray, we do not hate him only his results. Ray is on his path, but happens to be the seminar schmuck who killed 4 people during his seminars. Amy worked for said schmuck when this happened. She quit the day after JRI informed the staff they would be doing business as usual. Amy has seen behind the Wizard’s Curtain and personally experienced JRI’s business, systems and did 3 of their programs. Amy wants to make sure the curtain is removed so customers can know what they are buying from a seminar companies or coaches.
Amy knew both Liz & Kirby and she took their deaths personally. Amy is also a very compassionate mother and grandmother who is outraged at the actions of James Ray which left 3 young children fatherless. Amy is committed that children never lose a parent in the name of self-help or personal transformation ever again.
I can not speak as to why other JRI employees are not saying anything. I personally know that in the “confidentiality agreement” that JRI claims Amy signed there is a “$100,000 liquidated damages” clause which stipulates that at their discretion JRI can demand $100,000 for divulging any information they feel damages JAR. This may be the reason for their silence.
You ask what we will do if JAR is not indicted. That’s easy, keep the unfair business practices of the seminar industry in the foreground and chipping away at seminar regulation.
We personally feel that seminars and coaching can be beneficial. Our personal agenda is seminar and coaching reform to legitimize what seminars offer with full disclosure for seminar methods and techniques as well as guru credentials.
James is that You?
@Melanie
I was not a follower of James Ray, but I did read some of his books and listened to his audio offerings. I had heard he was really good, so I gave it a try. After a fair amount of time, I stopped reading his emails and listening to his teleconference calls or audio interviews because the guy just was too “plastic” for me. I mean really, how many times does a person have to hear ” going three-for-three” before they say, got it.
When I heard about the deaths in Sedona, I was deeply saddened. It became very clear to me that James Ray was not qualified to take those people into that sweat lodge and do the things he was doing. And so many people looked the other way because James really was very good at puffing up a rather weak resume.
The “Death Lodge White Papers” do a really good job of contrasting his actual training background with the hype. The attorneys intentionally used James Ray’s actual training–(AA degree, worked for AT&T, consultant, no religious training, blah, blah)to make him look ordinary. But if you replay one of the many videos on YouTube and hear James tell it, he was God’s gift to corporate America. (Oh, and did you know he was on Oprah and Larry King?)
Therein lies the problem. No credentials. James took people into situations that compromises their safety. Not just their physical safety, their emotional safety. For example, I was struck by the fact that in the sheriff’s documents are discussions of someone at the event who revealed a childhood trauma and had some worry about that information being revealed. That poor woman, the details are publicly available now because James Ray refuses to take responsibility.
Think about that for a moment, @Melanie. James Ray’s actions to date forced the sheriff to have to release those documents. James was the one who wanted to play full on in the public media by hiring (and firing) Howard Bragman (spokesman to the stars). And I won’t even go on about the cowardice it showed that James hightailed it out of Arizona leaving his bags behind.
So @Melanie, you can talk smack but those of us who want to see some regulation rely on people like Terry and Amy dedicating time to getting the facts out on the table. Otherwise, unregulated schmoes like James Ray will continue to sell self-help seminars for which they are not qualified to teach.
@TSarten very nicely put. Amy & I thank you for your acknowledgment. We never thought we would be wanting self-help industry regulation when assisting for Landmark Education Seminars in Newport Beach. Heck most of our wedding guests were the who’s who of the NPB center.
But the seminar industry is out of control and unwilling to self-regulate. The lure & promise of a share of the $11,000,000 a year in an industry where you get to make up your own rules attract people like James Ray who slam together products and seminars for the sake of having more to sell. Short cuts are being taken that endanger people emotionally and physically.
I’ve compared James Ray to a repeat drunk driving offender which I still hold as valid. But consider if James Ray was the Jump Master of a parachuting school with the same safety record of injuries and deaths. He would be shut down and most likely criminally charged by statute.
James Ray, like most Seminar Gurus consider their waivers of liability as their “Get out of Jail Free Card”. But here is the difference, signing a waiver of liability for a parachuting class is a larger assumption of presumed risk than a 5 day seminar/spiritual retreat which “may include” a sweat lodge (2 hours @ 100+ degrees). It is not reasonable to assume his customers had any clue as to the risks he asked them to assume.
@Terry – If your wife didn’t like the company, why didn’t she quit when she first started? That’s what smart people do, isn’t it? If you don’t like an environment from the get-go, you get out of it. You don’t stay there. What made her stay there? that’s what I don’t get.
I find it hilarious that you decided give out James’ email address. How good did that make you feel? Just like your wife receiving threats from ex-employees, think about the messages that James got. I’m sure his were worse than what your wife got. Do you guys feel vindicated when something bad happens to people? Especially James? I guess you don’t care who you’re hurting unless it isn’t you or your wife.
How do you feel about the people who are supporting him?
@Melanie – I’m glad I’ve made you laugh.
As I have said many times, I have no negative feelings or ill will toward James Ray, his followers or former employees. Ray just happens to be the seminar schmuck who killed 4 people. If Ray or anyone else for that matter is “hurt” by my words, then I suggest he/she/they “Get Over It” (and yes I am waving 3 fingers at the screen).
The only people I want to see vindicated in this matter are the families of those who died.
Regarding Amy’s tenure @JRI, all I can say is she did what was right for her to do until James Ray and JRI crossed the line with their lack of humanity and human decency. Most people can and do put up with a lot of shit in the work place and stick it out for their own personal reasons. I feel this is what Amy did right up to the time she realized the true nature of the company and man she worked for. It’s one thing to not issue refunds but it’s quite another thing to kill 4 customers and continue to do business as usual. That was the line for Amy.
@Terry – you guys make it seem like he killed these people on purpose. That’s what’s confusing to me. And for your wife to call the police because she thought they were going to burn all of the stuff related to Spiritual Warrior….what the hell? I mean seriously, I doubt people working at that office would have done that. Did they ask her to do that? Um, I doubt it. And you talk about the employees signing NDA’s. Didn’t your wife sign one and aren’t you worried that you guys could get sued for the $100,000? I mean you already got a cease and desist letter.
@Melanie – if James Ray killed his customers on purpose, the investigation would be for murder and not negligent homicide.
Regarding your other questions, I will not answer those here.
Hi Terry
I was just at the Salty Droid site and Injun Samuri had a post regarding the Federal Charges against James Ray filed by the Lakota!!!
http://www.sedona.biz/LAKOTA-LAWSUIT-SWEAT-LODGE.pdf
I suppose under the Treaty of Laramie, if the Lakota find him guilty, they could put him to death – being a separate sovereign government interested in prosecuting him for his crimes and all ….
The ABC program Mind Games, about James Arthur Ray, completely missed the MOST IMPORTANT aspects of this James Arthur Ray Sedona case and that is:
The Construction of the Sweat Lodge
They never even mentioned it!
So, what if they interviewed experts in the construction of sweat lodges and asked them about the construction of the sweat lodge at the Sedona Warrior Workshop? What if the experts TRUTHFULLY told ABC that sweat lodges are supposed to be covered with breathable material. What if the experts had said that a sweat lodge covered in waterproof tarps, like the one in Sedona, could indeed be dangerous enough to cause serious injury or even DEATH!!!
Then ABC would have logically asked: “Who built that sweat lodge?” From then on you would find out who the real culprits in this matter actually are and that is: Angel Valley!
Angel Valley built a dangerously unsafe sweat lodge
and if that wasn’t bad enough
Before the James Arthur Ray trial began Angel Valley DESTROYED EXHIBIT ‘A’ IN THE CASE. Obviously, Angel Valley is doing it’s best to destroy all evidence that would implicate them in this matter.
If James Arthur Ray was caught destroying that sweat lodge before his trial we wouldn’t have heard the end of it! The media would have been all over him and he would probably still be in jail for attempting to destroy exhibit ‘A’ in the manslaughter case.
How would you have felt if ABC investigated this MOST IMPORTANT aspect to the James Arthur Ray Sedona tragedy?
Probably very different indeed!
Obviously, the ABC Mind Games program is biased. It was made to serve a hidden agenda. That’s why they never bothered to investigate into the construction of the sweat lodge
Chances are NOT A SINGLE NATIVE AMERICAN who conducts sweat lodge ceremonies would publicly state that a sweat lodge covered with non-breathable, waterproof tarps was safe. NOT SO MUCH AS ONE NATIVE AMERICAN SWEAT LODGE LEADER IN THE WHOLE BLOODY WORLD!!!
ABC was obviously determined that the whole world view James Arthur Ray as guilty NO MATTER WHAT THE TRUTH MAY BE and they ‘back-engineered’ the program to serve this hidden agenda
SHAME ON YOU, ABC!!!
YOU ARE GUILTY AS HELL!!!
FIRST YOU MUST DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THAT SWEAT LODGE WAS A DEATH TRAP. Then you can deal with James Arthur Ray. If sweat lodge building experts agree that the sweat lodge was dangerously built and could indeed cause severe injury or death you need go no further to find your true culprits in this case and that is: Angel Valley. You will indeed find that Angel Valley built a DEATH TRAP and they DESTROYED EXHIBIT ‘A’ in this case before it went to trial. That says everything! What would you say if the police caught James Arthur Ray destroying exhibit ‘A’ in his manslaughter case before it went to trial, eh?
Then we have the situation of a man who came out of the Angel Valley Death Trap supposedly screaming, “I DON’T WANT TO DIE!!! I DON’T WANT TO DIE!!!” If that wasn’t warning enough to the rest I don’t know how much more warning anyone would need. That sure would have snapped me out of any trance I may have been in and I would strongly be considering whether or not I would want to TAKE MY CHANCES and go back into the Angel Valley Death Trap. If I chose to go back in after seeing that man screaming that he did not want to die…well…I have no one else to blame but myself if I eventually become injured. Plain and simple ‘are you smarter than a fifth grader’ logic. If you’re not smarter than a fifth grader you would ignore a man screaming he didn’t want to die and go back into the sweat lodge and take your chances.
It is MY OPINION that James Arthur Ray was ignorant as to just how dangerous a sweat lodge holding about 60 could be. Angel Valley must have assured Mr Ray that such a sweat lodge would be no problem to build and it would be safe or else James Arthur Ray would not have paid them to build it. Mr Ray blindly trusted Angel Valley to be experts in these matters. This is where James Arthur Ray made his big mistake. Angel Valley should have told Mr Ray that they would NEVER build such a sweat lodge because it was extremely dangerous to do so. They should have told Mr Ray that they also would not allow ANYONE to build such a dangerous sweat lodge on THEIR PROPERTY, for liability reasons. Yes, Mr Ray was indeed ignorant to blindly trust Angel Valley when they told him they could safely build a sweat lodge that can hold 60 people. It was indeed blind ignorant trust in Angel Valley that led to the tragedy in Sedona’s Angel Valley