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Allegations Made Against Beauty Queen Determined To Be False

For Immediate Release- September 13, 2007
Please Contact Attorneys Ron Bamieh at (805) 585-3638, Managing Partner with the law firm of Bamieh & Erickson, PLC

Allegations Made Against Beauty Queen Determined To Be False

BAMIEH AND ERICKSON, PLC. was retained by Ms. HILARY NOELLE GUSHWA and her family to conduct an independent investigation regarding allegations which were recently featured in media reports. The allegations make many false claims, the most troubling being that Ms. Gushwa committed some malfeasance when she was named Ms. Ventura County in 2005.

The Bamieh and Erickson, PLC's Investigation of these allegations has revealed the following:

  1. The person primarily behind the disparaging allegations regarding Ms. Gushwa's is Ms. Jackie Youngern. Ms. Youngern is the mother of one of the young ladies Ms. Gushwa defeated in earning her crown as Ms. Ventura County 2005.
  2. Ms. Youngern is employed as an Investigative Assistant with the Ventura County District Attorney's Office. The investigation has revealed evidence that Ms. Youngern has used her position as an Investigative Assistant in the District Attorney's Office improperly. Witness statements obtained by Bamieh and Erickson, PLC have confirmed that Ms. Youngern has used the badge issued to her by the Ventura County District Attorney's Office in an attempt to intimidate witnesses, obtain statements, and solicit clerks at government offices to obtain records.
  3. At the time Ms. Youngern committed these alleged acts the Ventura County District Attorney's Office had no open investigation against Ms. Gushwa. Ventura County District Attorney's Office Policy forbids employees from using their badges to conduct non-sanctioned investigations.
  4. The alleged marriage at issue was annulled by The State of Nevada. The marriage as a matter of law never occurred.
  5. Ms. Gushwa did fill out applications to compete in the Ms. Ventura County 2005 Pageant. This application was completed in August of 2004, long before any alleged marriage took place. Therefore allegations of misrepresentations are false.
  6. No criminal acts were committed by Ms. Gushwa.
  7. A Ventura County Small Claims Court did order Ms. Gushwa to pay over $3,000.00, although the order was made illegally and easily appealed, the order bars any further civil actions against Ms. Gushwa as long as it stands. As a matter of law, Ms. Gushwa cannot be found to owe any further damages as a result of these false and misleading allegations if she chooses not to disturb that court's incorrect ruling.

Ms. Gushwa is the founder and chief fund raiser of a Non Profit Organization called Heart to Heart. The goal of Heart to Heart is to raise money to offset the cost of adding people to National Marrow Donor Program. The possibility of finding potential marrow and blood donors for Leukemia and Lymphoma patients has increased dramatically due to Ms. Gushwa's charitable efforts. Ms. Gushwa has personally raised over $50,000.00 for this cause and 4 matches for Leukemia patients were found due directly to her efforts.

Ms. Gushwa herself also suffers from two severe medical conditions. SupraVentricular Tachycardia and also VasoVagal Syncope. These illnesses cause her heart to beat abnormally fast and cause her to lose consciousness during stressful and high pressured situations. She has battled these conditions her whole life, and if she cannot find a cure for her condition her remarkable life will come to a premature end. The people making these false allegations are aware of her condition, and it appears their actions seeking nominal damages, intend only on increasing Ms. Gushwa's stress.

Ron Bamieh, Managing Partner of Bamieh and Erickson, PLC commented, "When we first began our investigation we were shocked at that the overly competitive world of Beauty pageants would lead people to take the vengeful and dramatic actions that some have in this case. I understand that some people were upset that their daughter lost a pageant, but at some point their actions become ridiculous and inappropriate. To paint this young lady as some type of criminal when she has overcome so much, helped so many, and contributed more then most to our community is the only criminal act I find in this case.

We realize that this case has a great deal of media attention; however at some point it would seem that the real story here is about a young woman who has overcome so much and helped so many. One day, Ms. Gushwa hopes that this attention will lead to more people registering for the National Bone Marrow Donor Program. Perhaps that will be the happy ending to all of this."

Members of the media are invited to Bamieh and Erickson, PLC, at 692 E. Thompson Blvd. Ventura, CA 93001 at 1:30 PM on 9/14/2007. Ms. Gushwa will make a public statement at that time.