Spectral Evidence: The Ramona Case: Incest, Memory, and Truth on Trial in Napa Valley [Hardcover]

Moira Johnston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 26, 1997

Spectral Evidence is the story of the Ramona family of Napa Valley, whose outward appearance of apple-pie all-American success was destroyed by allegations of child sexual abuse brought by the oldest daughter, Holly, her mother, and Holly's therapists against her father, Gary. These allegations were based on memories recovered through the efforts of the therapists, who were subsequently sued by Gary Ramona for malpractice. The book builds with accounts of the not-always-conventional postwar families of Gary and Stephanie Ramona, through Gary's rise to prominence in the wine industry, to the awful day that twenty-year-old Holly was overcome by a vivid recollection of her father in bed with her at age eight. From that point, beginning with a powerfully rendered confrontation between Gary and his wife and daughter, to the dramatic conclusion of the first trial, where malpractice is alleged regarding recovered memory, readers witness a dynamic and emotional family drama.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Gary and Stephanie Ramona were part of a fairly typical, affluent Napa Valley family when Holly, the eldest of their three daughters, "remembered" her father raping her. Though the Ramona family was far from cohesive, Holly's accusations destroyed whatever glue had held them together. The lines were drawn clearly: the women of the family, Stephanie and her three daughters, shut Gary out swiftly and surely. Hoping to win his children back, he fought back the only way he knew how. The lawsuit he brought against Holly's therapist, whom he believed planted Holly's disturbing memories, set a precedent, and it would inevitably affect both the counseling profession and this gentrified community the Ramonas called home.

Spectral Evidence tells the story of a modern-day witch trial, a sad and disturbing battle in which nobody wins. This harrowing account of sheltered elite lives suddenly thrust into a national spotlight raises more questions than it answers. Johnston's approach to the subject is evenhanded: there are no true villains, nor are there heroes. The story is riveting, and Johnston is fair yet passionate. --Lisa Higgins

From Booklist

In 1994, Gary Ramona became the first nonpatient allowed to sue psychotherapists, alleging damage to himself resulting from negligent treatment of his daughter. With emotions running high on both sides of the recovered-memory debate, this was a landmark event, impacting the counseling profession as well as other court cases. Investigative journalist Johnston centers the story of the complicated legal battle following Holly Ramona's accusation of childhood sexual abuse by her father within an exploration of the larger social climate and the latest developments in memory-related scientific research. Johnston crafts a compelling narrative from interviews with family, neighbors, jurors, and scientists, personal observations of the trial, and descriptions from court transcripts and depositions. All sides of the story are presented, revealing the complexities of a situation that pits father against daughter, major insurance money against a single individual, and the experience of clinicians against laboratory research. Asserting her own view without being pedantic, Johnston is meticulous in identifying her sources. Grace Fill

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 440 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (May 26, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395718228
• ISBN-13: 978-0395718223
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,609,698 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful examination of "recovered" nightmares, October 7, 2000

By 

Timothy P. Scanlon (Hyattsville, MDUSA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Spectral Evidence: The Ramona Case: Incest, Memory, And Truth On Trial In Napa Valley (Paperback)

I first learned of this fine volume--named from an expression born during the Salem witch trials--while at a skeptic's meeting the keynote speaker for which had gone through a bogus "therapy" which ended her marriage and nearly her life. The person who told me of the book pointed out that the book's alleged victim, the one who'd "recovered" her memories--one of the turns for the worst of the victim culture--is now a therapist. Why does that not surprise me?

The author, Moira Johnston, did a remarkable job of examining all dimensions of the incident. In fact, her closing chapter lists how she proceeded with the investigation. While reading the text, I felt she was clearly in favor of the alleged culprit, Gary Romano, whose life was forever changed, and nearly destroyed, by the incident. But after reading the technique Johnston employed, I had to reconsider. The case which Mr. Romano had filed against the therapists and the institutions in which the memories were "recovered" provided enough evidence to convince a jury that there had been malpractice, i.e., there was not enough evidence to convince the jury that Romano had raped his daughter Holly, the future therapist--repeatedly according to her between the time she was a toddler until she was about 16--despite her therapists' encouraging her to believe that he had. So the author at best took the same stand as the jury.

The story was not atypical of recovered memory cases. A young woman suffering from her own problems, in this case bulimia, went to a therapist. Johnston provides a thorough background by showing that of the 46,000 of the type of therapist Holly was seeing, half of them were in California. (The requirements expected of that sort of therapist were comical at that time too!) They therefore, she surmises, had to develop a niche for themselves. The "recovered memory" niche was just becoming popular. One such case had convicted a father--also in California--not long before this trial of having killed his daughter's friend a couple of decades before. The ostensible evidence of this crime was memories which the daugther allegedly "recovered" while she was under the care of another therapist. (That case was later overturned. But not to get sidetracked...) Holly couldn't understand what was going on with her, and her therapist helped her "recover" memories of having been repeatedly sexually abused by her father. After Holly insisted that she partake of the "truth serum" sodium amytal, and her therapist(s) encouraged her to believe what she "remembered" while blitzed on that stuff, she confronted her father with the "facts." He was caught totally off guard and, to make a long story short, lost is wife, his job, and nearly everything as a consequence.

Ramona wanted to file suit against the therapists but his attorneys insisted that (1) no such case had ever been filed by someone not directly affected by a therapist's malpractice (i.e., patient/client)and (2) Holly's therapy records, probably the prime evidence, could not be used as evidence as they're strictly confidential. When Holly eventually filed criminal charges against him, those files could be opened, and the case began, setting a precedent for malpractice against "mental health professionals."

At the same time this memory recovery fad was picking up steam, scientists were studying memory, but that was still pretty much confined to the Ivory Tower. There were "true believers" in the recovered memory concept, among them Holly and her mother Stephanie. There were, however, scholars who refuted the concepts. And they became some of Romano's key witnesses, challenging the claims of Holly's therapists whose livings depended on their encouraging the ill-founded concept.

The trial itself was a sideshow. Between discussion of Gary Romano's sexual idiosyncrasies--personal details that would embarass anyone not truly insane--and Stephanie's claims that were transparently false, even jury members began to wonder where the justice system was headed.

The verdict: The therapists were guilty of malpractice. However the benefits to Gary were few. He'd been making upwards of $500,000 a year on the job he lost--partly because of the gossip following the allegation, according to one element of the case. He was awarded the equivalent of one year's salary. Nonetheless, Romano felt vindicated. He HAD set a precedent; the recovered memory "movement" was given a profound setback (followed by many since the book's publication).

I have to hand it to Johnston. While she did, at least inferrably, side with the jury, she did include other sides of the story. Her investigative technique included conversations with all parties including defense attorneys and Holly and Stephanie and their allies. And her eye for detail is remarkable, from the mannerisms of the witnesses and their potential influence on the jury and the audience to the clothing chosen by each.

And, after her detailed description of what happened--this isn't a short read but full of relevant detail--she includes a chapter on what continues to happen with the "recovered memory" nonsense. She included pieces from prestigious law journals, written by, for example, feminist ideologues who feel the Romano verdict was more evidence of patriarchal lack of concern for women's well-being--and those of other feminists who remind their fellow attorneys that a concern for the rights of the accused needs to overshadow ideological shading.

In short, it's a fine book that I solidly recommend to anyone who's been accused of anything based on something as shady as "recovered memory," anyone who knows anyone who has, or anyone who will be. And that means just about all of us. So it may be time to consider the punishment, not just fines, for unethical "mental health professionals," prosecutors, and law enforcement quacks who capitalize off of bogus concepts such as "recovered memory."

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic, October 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Spectral Evidence: The Ramona Case: Incest, Memory, and Truth on Trial in Napa Valley (Hardcover)

Destined to be a "classic" of all the books on the memory wars. The author masterfully recounts a tragic case of alleged incest by a father against his daughter, and captivates and educates the reader. This book excellently reounts the family's background, the therapy and the confrontation, the science and the theories and counter-theories involved, and the court case and its aftermath. This is a must read for anyone interested in false and recovered memories, and the legal cases spawned by the same.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very disturbing indictment of reality., July 31, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spectral Evidence: The Ramona Case: Incest, Memory, and Truth on Trial in Napa Valley (Hardcover)

What and how do we really remember? Is memory ever really "the truth"? And why are all these people remembering things that supposedly never happened, yet are willing to destroy their lives in the process of asserting their perception of reality? Although this book has more questions than answers, it is very thought provoking and enlightening.