Dr. Bierenbaum graduated from the Albany Medical College in 1978. UC San Diego Health Physician Network is an alliance of health care providers based in San Diego, Riverside and Imperial counties. Bierenbaum faults the district court for concluding that counsel's efforts to secure her testimony were diligent, and concluding that failure to present her testimony did not prejudice the defense. Dr. Jason Bierenbaum is an oncologist in McKeesport, Pennsylvania and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside and UPMC East. The prosecution would have argued that even if the jury believed Sherman was testifying truthfully about what she heard, her testimony was consistent with the prosecution's theory that Bierenbaum killed his wife in the course of an explosive argument. Late in 1984 or early 1985 Katz told her that she had received a letter from Bierenbaum's psychiatrist warning her that Bierenbaum posed a danger to her, and suggesting that Katz separate from him. O'Malley met with Bierenbaum on the 13th and requested details of the previous weekend. Defense counsel did not call two individuals whom Bierenbaum contends witnessed Katz leaving the apartment and the building in accordance with his narrative of events on July 7, 1985. Her body was never found. The investigation was closed in April 1987. ''He brought us all little vials of grease'' for airplane parts, said Chris Grima, a mechanic whose wife made the pie. Katz was a graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. degree in clinical psychology at Long Island University. Grand Forks, ND 58201 . at 1889. But his exotic skills and civic spirit soon won over the town: he published a bagel recipe in the local newspaper, read Hebrew amid the 20-some congregants of the tiny clapboard synagogue, even flew members of the Rotary Club to Mexico in his twin-engine Comanche to give free medical care to orphans. Bierenbaum gave detailed statements of his activities to both investigating officers in the days following Katz's disappearance. We addressed this point in connection with counsel's mistake in referring to a forensic examination in his opening statement, and found no prejudice. Dr. Robert Bierenbaum . You watch as it literally squeeze[s] the life out of another human being. To satisfy the second part of the Strickland test-prejudice-Bierenbaum must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. Id., 466 U.S. at 694. ''Murderer'' is the word Ms. Katz-Bierenbaum's sister, Alayne Katz, consistently used to describe him. The decision not to do so was a defensible trial strategy. It was consistent with that theory to concede her death on July 7. The decision not to call Alvarez was within the range of acceptable strategic and tactical alternatives. Luciano, 158 F.3d at 660. holds a Master's degree in Epidemiology from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a Doctorate of Osteopathy from the University of New England. This was the same year that a partial female body washed ashore in Staten Island, New York. A few days before she disappeared, Katz told DeCesare that she had met someone in whom she was interested, and she wondered if DeCesare thought it would be all right if she brought him up to the apartment when Bierenbaum wasn't there. Dr. Robert Bierenbaum, then 39, an intense New Yorker with piercing eyes and an in-your-face manner, seemed misplaced amid the brawny and laconic citizenry. In the 15 years since his wife, Gail Katz-Bierenbaum, disappeared, Dr. Bierenbaum remarried, had a baby girl and built a thriving medical practice in Minot, N.D. Katz had an affair with Anthony Segalas, an investment banker, during the summer of 1984 and the spring of 1985. Assistant District Attorney Daniel Bibb said in his summationthat Bierenbaum told proactive and reactive lies, dependingon whether he was speaking before or after someone asked aboutKatz-Bierenbaum. In the hangar where Dr. Bierenbaum's Comanche still sits, Val Friesen was on his back with a wrench and a rag, repairing an airplane wing. He faces 25 years to life and is to be sentenced on Nov. 20. Bierenbaum, 748 N.Y.S.2d at 583-84. Trial Tr. Three times Rowley loaded a bag containing one hundred ten pounds of sand and rice into the plane, flew out over the ocean, and ejected the bag, each time performing a different maneuver to get the bag out of the plane. We therefore conclude that the state courts were fairly alerted to the constitutional claim, Bierenbaum has exhausted his available state remedies with respect to the claim, and we may reach the merits of the claim. The respondents argued this position below, but on further review have withdrawn their argument, agreeing with Bierenbaum that he presented his constitutional claim in his letter brief submitted to the New York Court of Appeals on December 10, 2002. Katz told Feis that she intended to use the letter as leverage in divorce proceedings by threatening to use it to ruin his career. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Darrel Williams, a prominent eye surgeon and one of Dr. Bierenbaum's closest friends here, recalled of that morning, ''He looked a little haggard and seemed to be rushing around.'' Given that the Appellate Division reviewed the claim that the evidence was legally insufficient to prove that Bierenbaum intended to cause Katz's death, he cannot claim that counsel was ineffective in failing to preserve the issue for appeal. Pro. Indeed, Bierenbaum does not argue to this Court (except parenthetically) that the challenged hearsay declarations were in fact unreliable. 2 reviews. Under the circumstances, it was reasonable for defense counsel not to call Alvarez. United States v. Langella, 776 F.2d 1078, 1083 (2d Cir.1985) (citing Lovasco, 431 U.S. at 790); accord United States v. Cornielle, 171 F.3d 748 (2d Cir.1999). In another conversation Katz told DeCesare that she and Bierenbaum had discussed the Claus von Bulow case, and that Bierenbaum had said the problem with the case was that von Bulow left evidence and that he would leave no evidence. He also was the executive responsible for quality measures and meaningful use. We're a special place where you'll receive the best HIV/AIDS medical care, prevention, and support services available today from experts who are recognized worldwide for their innovative treatment therapies, research, and clinical trials expertise. Dr. Roberta Karnofsky, an anesthesiologist, had a year-long relationship with Bierenbaum beginning in fall 1985, while she was a medical student under his supervision. Dr. Robert Bierenbaum, a former plastic surgeon from New York convicted of murdering his wife in 2000, confessed to killing her and then throwing her body out of an airplane and into the Atlantic ocean after decades of maintaining his innocence. The rule applies with equal force whether the state-law ground is substantive or procedural. Lee v. Kemna, 534 U.S. 362, 375 (2002). Being essentially softhearted, though, he e-mailed Dr. Bierenbaum before the trial to wish him good luck and got a brief response: ''Thanks. vol. N E W Y O R K, Oct. 24, 2000 -- Dr. Robert Bierenbaum, a plastic surgeon who wascharged with killing his wife 15 years ago and dropping her bodyinto the ocean from an airplane, was convicted today ofsecond-degree murder. On direct appeal, Bierenbaum contended that the trial court erroneously admitted videotapes, demonstrating how a pilot can, without assistance, place a flight bag loaded with one hundred ten pounds of weight into a Cessna 172, fly the plane over the ocean and push it out. Ladies and gentlemen, eyeballing the bathtub and walking around the apartment are no substitute for a complete forensic search . Close to midnight that evening Bierenbaum telephoned Dr. Yvette Feis, one of Katz's friends, asking if she knew where Katz was. 9. Is this you? Hirsch also stated that a body could be disarticulated at the joints, a simple process that someone trained in anatomy could accomplish in ten minutes. February 22, 2008. Katz told her about an incident, precipitated by smoking, when Bierenbaum became enraged and attempted to strangle her. ''But he was just like, 'Anything to do to help.' Given that the videotapes were neither speculative nor lacking in foundation, counsel was not ineffective for failing to object to their admission on that basis. Bierenbaum told Karnofsky that the police had asked him if he had removed the apartment rug or had it cleaned, and that he had answered that he had not. Dr. Stephanie Youngblood, a chiropractor who lived with Bierenbaum from 1990 to 1993, testified that Bierenbaum told her that Katz had a drug problem, was having extramarital affairs, and that he felt her death was drug-related: [h]e felt she went to Central Park to hang out with her druggie friends.. Bierenbaum, 44, was charged Tuesday with murdering Katz, loading her body into his twin-engine plane and flying out over the Atlantic to dump her in a watery grave. Please verify insurance information directly with your doctor's office as it may change frequently. ''I have no idea what you've done in the past, you have no idea what I've done,'' Mr. Hussey concluded last week, after the verdict, seated in a restaurant near Minot International Airport, which has one baggage carousel. Some in Minot now think of Dr. Bierenbaum's good works as an effort to expiate guilt. Only later would he learn what had happened. Robert previously worked for MultiCare Health System, an organization with a fast-paced trauma center, four community hospitals, and many neighborhood clinics based in Tacoma, Washington. Pablo Alvarez was employed at the apartment building in 1985. Loma Linda, CA . But last week, a Manhattan jury found Dr. Bierenbaum guilty of killing his first wife and dumping her body from an airplane. The prosecution called Katz's sister Alayne as a rebuttal witness. Courts have also considered the status or relationship to the declarant of the person to whom the statement was made, whether there was a coercive atmosphere, whether it was made in response to questioning and whether the statements reflect an attempt to shift blame or curry favor. at 3107, Oct. 23, 2000. That evening Bierenbaum filed a missing persons report indicating that when Katz was last seen she was wearing pink shorts and a white t-shirt. The passage quoted above demonstrates that the Appellate Division found particularized guarantees of trustworthiness in the challenged statements. amend. See Bierenbaum v. Graham, No. He told the detective assigned to investigate the case that he had last seen his wife on July 7 at approximately 11 a.m., and that she had left the apartment to get some sun in Central Park. In his petition he alleged that he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel, and that admission of numerous hearsay statements violated his Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses against him. Bierenbaum faults defense counsel for failing to impeach Segalas with his prior statements, claiming that this damaged the defense theory that Katz's drug usage and risky behavior may have led to her disappearance. ABC news anchor John Quinones (right) interviews Daniel Bibb, an original prosecutor in the case involving the murder of Gail Katz-Bierenbaum by her husband Dr. Robert Bierenbaum, for a "20/20" tv . Dr. Biernbaum graduated from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1997. Instead the People were allowed to offer such evidence or introduce such evidence solely as probative of or relevant to or to demonstrate defendant[']s intent[-]as they claim[-]to murder Gail Katz Bierenbaum as probative of his identity as the person they claim committed the murder and when they summed up to you and made their arguments, I allowed those arguments on those points. Bierenbaum repeated that he had remained in the apartment all day until 5:30 p.m., when he left for the family party in New Jersey, arriving there at approximately 6:30 p.m. The prosecution successfully argued that counsel had opened the door to allow testimony from Detective Dalsass that Bierenbaum's attorney had prevented the police from conducting a warrantless forensic search of the apartment. All rights reserved. Defense counsel did not object to the instruction or request a stronger one. Bierenbaum's counsel explained that he was concerned that a contemporaneous objection would have prompted the trial court to sum up in favor of the prosecution, in other words, to highlight for the jury the argument that counsel found objectionable. He is a member of the UC San Diego Health Physician Network. Dr. Prothrow-Stith is an internationally recognized public health leader, who since 2008 has advised top-tier healthcare, life sciences, academic and not-for-profit institutions on leadership and . Was she killed by drug dealers? Katz asked Beale if she could move in with her. Detective O'Malley testified that in their first conversation Bierenbaum told him that a doorman named Edgar had seen Katz leave the building on July 7. But last week, a Manhattan jury found Dr. Bierenbaum guilty of killing his first wife and. Robert Bierenbaum (born July 22, 1955) is an American former plastic surgeon and convicted murderer. I, 1881, Oct. 2, 2000. The videotapes were subsequently offered into evidence without objection. Denise Kasenbaum, a friend, testified that Katz had told her there were problems in the marriage, incidents of violence, that Bierenbaum was very controlling, and that she was not happy. In 1999 Bierenbaum was indicted and charged with murder in the second degree in her death. Bierenbaum's petition for a writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court was denied on October 6, 2003. At 4:30 p.m. he was already in New Jersey, flying his rented airplane. About three weeks after Katz disappeared, Bierenbaum began an affair with Karen Caruana, a nurse educator at Maimonides Medical Center where Bierenbaum was a surgical resident. Caruana testified that Bierenbaum told her in August or September that his apartment had been searched and that the police had cleared him. He'd done it in the past. Bierenbaum argues that the Dalsass testimony was inadmissible absent defense counsel's remark, and the prosecution could not therefore have used it in summation. He did not focus on Bierenbaum's having prevented a forensic search. Following the close of evidence, counsel move[d] to dismiss the indictment on the basis that the People have failed to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt and to the legal standard required for the case to go to the jury. Id. We need not address this argument because of our disposition of this issue under Roberts. If you are uninsured or underinsured, or need a referral to a doctor or dentist, call our Affordable Health Line at 585-328-7000. See Hemstreet v. Greiner, 491 F.3d 84, 90 (2d Cir.2007). The faculty-student ratio at . Anyone can read what you share. Katz did not keep her regularly scheduled psychotherapy appointment on July 8. Bierenbaum stated that he had come home from work at approximately 5 p.m. on Friday evening, that they went to a movie about 8 p.m. and returned about midnight. Dr. Bierenbaum told locals that he loved his new town for being free of traffic and crime. For more information, All this means that the decision of the district court is properly affirmed. In fact, Bibb said, Bierenbaum knew very well that his wife wasdead. Bierenbaum told Katz's friend Ellen Schwartz that he had spoken with Katz's therapist Dr. Baran, who had told him that Katz was very depressed and she was concerned that Katz might hurt herself. III, 2820, Oct. 12, 2000. Bierenbaum had contacted O'Malley on July 10 to inquire about the progress of the investigation. Bierenbaum does not suggest that counsel should not have stressed the lack of evidence, or should not have mentioned that searches of the apartment, cars and airplane turned up nothing. And as always, patient privacy and confidentiality remain of the utmost importance. The police report also stated that Katz phoned Segalas in June 1985 and asked him to examine some cocaine she had bought, because she thought she had received a short amount. The Appellate Division ruled that the statements bore numerous hallmarks of reliability: She was speaking spontaneously; she repeated the statements separately to various people in her life; her statements about the troubled side of their marriage were a natural consequence of corroborated facts about their marriage; she was, by all indications, in good mental health; there appears no reason for her to have fabricated the matters she discussed at the time of her utterances; and her statements largely concerned private matters that some would be embarrassed or otherwise reluctant to disclose. dr robert bierenbaum medical schoolaiken county sc register of deeds dr robert bierenbaum medical school Bierenbaum said no. 28 U.S.C. ''We're from North Dakota and we trust people,'' said Mike Berg, a retired pharmacist and former head of the Rotary Club, who flew to Mexico with Dr. Bob. He returned from New Jersey at approximately midnight. Few questioned Dr. Bob, as they called him, who was convicted last week of murdering his first wife. '', See the article in its original context from. Katz told her that the night before she took her Graduate Record Exam, Bierenbaum choked her to unconsciousness because she smoked a cigarette. The Disappearance of Gail Katz Bierenbaum. Relevant factors include spontaneity, repetition, the mental state of the declarant, absence of motive to fabricate, unlikelihood of faulty recollection and the degree to which the statement was against the declarant's interest. On Saturday, July 6, 1985, Katz kept a follow-up appointment with her gynecologist, and made a further appointment in December. In discussing the evidence he also stated. 7. She would have had to admit that she did not see Katz leave, nor could she be sure that the door was the exterior door, rather than an interior door. Dr. Baran denied that she'd had such a conversation with Bierenbaum and denied that Katz was suicidal. His wife had decided to leave medicine and begin law school about 200 miles away in Grand Forks, N.D., where she moved, creating a hectic commuter marriage. He described her to the jury as deeply tanned, about five foot one, with a well-developed body. Segalas testified that Katz told him she was in a very unhappy marriage, that she was afraid of her husband and that he had tried to strangle her once. None of the alleged errors, individually or collectively, amount to constitutionally deficient representation. The strategy was a reasonable one, given that the trial court would have provided a limiting instruction along the lines of the one given in the charge. No one in the group would admit to shock when learning of the doctor's past, though the word ''surprise'' brought forth some thoughtful ''mmm-hmms.'' In May 1989 a torso found washed up on a beach in Staten Island was determined by x-ray comparison to be Katz. Feb. 25, 2008). In determining whether prosecution has been unduly delayed, a New York court will balance five factors: (1) the extent of the delay; (2) the reason for the delay; (3) the nature of the underlying charge; (4) whether or not there has been an extended period of pretrial incarceration; and (5) whether or not there is any indication that the defense has been impaired by reason of the delay.. Failure to properly object to the admission of the videotaped demonstration. The Appellate Division rejected these claims and affirmed the conviction on October 22, 2002. Bierenbaum had been out on $500,000 bail. Decker, 912 N.E.2d at 1043 (quoting People v. Taranovich, 335 N.E.2d 303, 306 (N.Y.1975)). It follows that the state court's rejection of Bierenbaum's ineffective assistance of counsel claim was not an unreasonable application of the Strickland standard. vol. In this vital role, Biernbaum will oversee Trillium Health's expansion as we provide new services, barrier-free access to medical care . I, 6. Bierenbaum argues that even if it were within the range of reasonable strategic choices to concede that Katz was dead, it was not reasonable to concede that she died on the Sunday she disappeared. Dr. Robert Biernbaum is a Emergency Medicine Physician in Victor, NY. Katz also told Kasenbaum that she had gotten a letter from Bierenbaum's psychiatrist. He described going to work Saturday morning, leaving the hospital and visiting his father, returning home around noon to go out to eat and do some shopping with his wife, including buying bras at a lingerie store and cat food at a pet supply store. Had the defense gotten Segalas to admit that he and Katz used cocaine on several occasions, the defense suggestion that she may have been killed by drug dealers would still have been plagued by lack of evidence, as the state court noted. Prior to MultiCare, Biernbaum was Rochester Regional Health System's chief architect for all Epic solutions and in charge of informatics for five hospitals and more than 100 ambulatory sites. The evidence at trial was set forth in detail in the district court's February 25, 2008 opinion, and we recount below only the evidence necessary to resolve the issues presented on appeal. Janet and the baby are fine. Dalsass testified that Bierenbaum's attorney gave permission for the police to conduct a limited search for items that might help to identify Katz. 2005 - 2023 WebMD LLC. Bierenbaum was charged with murder in the second degree in an indictment returned December 8, 1999. He was awaiting trial at his parents' home in East Orange, N.J., while his wife and daughter were in Pittsburgh. He didn't stop when he knew she was unconscious. Leave to appeal to the New York Court of Appeals was denied on March 10, 2003. Think about him standing over Gail Katz as she feels and he watches the life ebbing from her body. This was not the first time Bierenbaum had choked her, but it was the first time that she lost consciousness. Assuming that Katz's statements were admitted for the truth of the matters asserted,2 they meet the Roberts standard for admissibility. This conclusion was neither contrary to nor an unreasonable application of the Supreme Court's Confrontation Clause precedent in 2002 and 2003. Katz recounted an incident when Bierenbaum discovered her smoking a cigarette, got very angry, came at her and choked her. When O'Malley asked him why he waited until the evening of the following day to report Katz missing, Bierenbaum stated that he felt she would return, and when she didn't friends advised him to notify the police. is dean and Professor of Medicine for the College of Medicine at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. ''Going to other states and acting like you're innocent? TermsPrivacyDisclaimerCookiesDo Not Sell My Information, Begin typing to search, use arrow keys to navigate, use enter to select, Stay up-to-date with FindLaw's newsletter for legal professionals. After an eight-day trial by jury in October 2000 before the Honorable Leslie Crocker Snyder in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, the jury returned a verdict of guilty to the charge. He told O'Malley that Katz was depressed and suicidal. In 1998 the investigation was reopened, and the body was exhumed and determined by DNA comparison not to be Katz. ''. Given that the testimony was independently admissible, and the trial court gave a curative instruction in connection with the improper closing argument, defense counsel's mistaken reference to a forensic search did not open the door to prejudicial comments. 1200 S Columbia Rd, Grand Forks, ND, 58201. A state court decision involves an unreasonable application of clearly established Supreme Court precedent if it correctly identifies the governing legal principle but unreasonably applies or unreasonably refuses to extend that principle to the facts of a particular case. One of his duties was to relieve the doorman at lunchtime. These included Ellen Schwartz, Francesca Beale, Katz's therapist Dr. Sybil Baran, Anthony Segalas and Kenneth Feiner. IV, 3194, 3227-28. It is not offered for such a purpose and it must not be considered by you for such a purpose. [Bierenbaum] tells Karen Caruana, You know the cops searched my apartment. Ive waited a very,very long time for this day. Throughout the search for Gail Katz-Bierenbaum, her family said they found her husband decidedly unhelpful. At the close of its opinion, the Appellate Division disposed of the arguments it did not address as follows: We have examined defendant's remaining contentions and find them unavailing. Bierenbaum, 748 N.Y.S.2d at 589. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. By last December, the life he had built was over. holds a Master's degree in Epidemiology from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a Doctorate of Osteopathy from the University of New England. USC's Keck School of Medicine and UCI's Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences . Bibb said one lie was that after Katz-Bierenbaum disappeared, aprivate investigator told the cosmetic surgeon that his wife was awaitress at a seaside resort in California. His specialties include Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine. 5. Dr. Kenneth Feiner developed a romantic relationship with Katz in the months prior to her disappearance. A petitioner has fairly presented his claim only if he has informed the state court of both the factual and the legal premises of the claim he asserts in federal court. Jones v. Keane, 329 F.3d 290, 294-95 (2d Cir.2003) (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Dorsey v. Kelly, 112 F.3d 50, 52 (2d Cir.1997)). Please verify insurance information directly with your doctor's office as it may change frequently. asked Stephanie, a bookkeeper in town who was treated by Dr. Bob and who asked that her last name not be used. He has 26 years of experience. He completed his Residency in Emergency Medicine from Genesys Regional Medical Center. He did not see her return. The Appellate Division found the error unpreserved, and declined to review it. Jason Bierenbaum, MD, is a medical oncologist and hematologist at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. The Appellate Division concluded that the trial court's cautionary instructions about the prior assault evidence were legally satisfactory and adequately protected Bierenbaum's right to a fair trial. The sufficiency of the evidence, however, is not before us. Many of our partners in care are also providing services on site, just as they did before. Im very relieved, said Alayne Katz. At that time the police had not searched his apartment or car. . art. Anthony Segalas testified at trial that he and Katz used cocaine together twice. Under New York law, the prosecution must establish good cause for extended delay, but a determination made in good faith to delay prosecution for sufficient reasons will not deprive defendant of due process even though there may be some prejudice to defendant. People v. Decker, 912 N.E.2d 1041, 1042 (N.Y.2009); see N.Y. Const. Robert Bierenbaum, a former plastic surgeon who was convicted of murdering his wife in 2000, finally confessed to killing her and throwing her body out of an airplane after more than three decades of maintaining his innocence. Looking back, people see sinister clues in the fact that his socks were mismatched, his airplane a mess. She also told DeCesare that she thought she was being followed. In July, early in the investigation, Dalsass asked Bierenbaum if he could look around the apartment. Kasenbaum testified that Katz told her she was having an affair with a colleague at a hospital where she was interning. Thus, Bierenbaum's challenge to the admission of Katz's statements must be evaluated under Roberts. Dr. Bob Robert "Bob" Bierenbaum loved planes from the moment he came to understand what one was. Dalsass contacted several individuals whose names he had obtained from Bierenbaum or Katz's family who might have information about Katz. N E W Y O R K, Oct. 24, 2000 -- Dr. Robert Bierenbaum, a plastic surgeon who wascharged with killing his wife 15 years ago and dropping her bodyinto the ocean from an airplane, was convicted today ofsecond-degree murder. We're a community of medical and social service professionals who meet patients and clients in a healing and affirming environment where they can feel supported, cared for, and cared about. Robert Biernbaum Do 259 Monroe Ave, Rochester, NY, 14607 8 other locations (585) 754-7858 Overview Locations OVERVIEW Dr. Biernbaum graduated from the University of New England College of. At the close of the prosecution's case, defense counsel move[d] for a trial order of dismissal of the single count of the indictment because the People failed to establish every element of the crime charged[,] and this case particularly in its circumstantial nature is insufficient to go forward for a jury resolution. Trial Tr. He received a medical degree at Eastern Virginia Medical . The same compassionate staff continues to provide personalized service in the same warm, caring atmosphere you have come to expect. . Dr. Charles Hirsch, Chief Medical Examiner for New York City, testified that prior to the onset of rigor mortis, a dead body is pliable. The body of a woman five feet three inches tall, weighing about one hundred ten pounds could be folded and tied into a package about thirty-six inches long.