AMARILLO, TEXAS -- Jim Allen was on a mission trip to Haiti to help children affected by the earthquake. Now his new legal team is on a mission asking the judge in Haiti to dismiss all charges, and bring Jim home immediately. Kelly Shackelford, is chief counsel for the Dallas based, non-profit, Liberty Legal Institute.
They've hired Jim a new lawyer in Haiti named Louis Gary Lissade, a former Haitian minister of justice. He's well connected, and appears to be well on his way to ending this nightmare for the Allen family.
"We wanted to make sure jim had the best, and certainly we've seen quick action from the very beginning. We had been waiting for 12 to 13 days, Lisa (his wife) had, To hear from Jim and not having been able to talk with him. Literally within hours after hiring our Haitian Attorney on the case she was on the phone with Jim," said Shackelford.
The U.S. government has also released their first positive statement, according to the Washington DC based website, the ''Daily Caller''.
"It's good because the us government really hasn't been saying much. Now they say they've investigated and looked into all of this and say that there clearly wasn't any sort of bad intent on behalf of the American Missionaries. Those who know Jim, knew that about him, but it's nice to hear about the others too, and that our government knows that they were going down there to help people," continued Shackelford.
According to Liberty Legal, the Haitian government has also released a statement that agrees with the U.S. assessment of the case. Shackelford said, "Our attorney feels very confident in Haiti that we should be able to get these charges dismissed. Whether it's one day, or two days, as quick as possible. Certainly that's what we're shootin' for."
