Just when the Tonya Craft case cannot get more outrageous, Judge Brian House pulls yet another stunt that is off-the-charts. Today, House has cited Ms. Craft's parents and a friend for contempt of court because they had pro-Tonya bumper stickers.
Earlier, House had declared in his gag order that no one be permitted to park in the courthouse square with a pro-Tonya sticker, and while I think that is outrageous, at least people were willing to abide by the rule. However, House sent his minions outside the square into church parking lots and elsewhere, and that is where the "offending" cars were parked. Not only did he cite the people above for contempt, but he fined the defense $300.
I hate to say this, but House does not have the legal authority to violate his own gag order, nor does he have the legal authority to go to the parking lot of the House of God and establish a dictatorship there. Nor does he have the authority and the right to declare the First Amendment null and void just because he does not want people proclaiming the obvious -- that Tonya Craft is innocent of these ridiculous and dishonest charges -- on their automobiles. It absolutely is clear that he is pulling every stunt possible to rig this trial, and there is only one cure for this kind of disease: disbarment. (I will deal with disbarment for prosecutor Chris Arnt and House in a future post.)
To make matters even worse, House put the lives of everyone in that packed courtroom in danger on Tuesday when he ordered the doors of the courtroom to be locked. That's right, House violated the law by doing so, and I am sure that the Fire Marshal of Catoosa County would not approve of such a move.
Yet, will House be cited for anything? I doubt it. If that is the kind of justice the people of Catoosa County want, then they will receive more than they ever wanted, trust me.
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6 comments:
Thank you,thank you,thank you!! For giving our friend's horror a voice louder that we where able to scream.
I have been hearing about prosecution having a "secret weapon" that will "put the nail in Tonya's coffin"; wouldn't they have had to give "secret weapon" along with discovery even in Catoosa County Georgia?
A prosecutor does not have a "secret weapon," period, and especially this one. Do you remember Mike Nifong? He and his supporters kept claiming that he had "secret evidence," including testimony from a lacrosse player who was going to turn state's evidence.
None of that was true. When a prosecutor claims he has a "secret weapon," he is lying. I repeat, the guy is lying.
I have been following the Christian-Newsom torture-murder trials in Knoxville TN and am planning to attend some of the fourth trial next month. The judge in those trials has not acted like this judge. If anything, Judge Baumgartner goes out of his way to be fair to the defense. In the second trial, he even mildly chastised the victim's families for saying something outside the courtroom. Judge Baumgartner has also selected Nashville (as in the first trial) for the next jury pool.
I am skeptical of these child-abuse witch hunts. When it happens, it will usually be inside a family. I hope Tonya Craft will be found not guilty.
The Knoxville torture-murders are a REAL crime that actually happened.
Letter From Tennessee
This is ludicrous, but not surprising in this joke of a judicial system. For the record that is my Church parking lot and I am deeply offended that he did that. Where is the right to free speech? He is trampling all over her family and friends rights!!
Letter From Tennessee,
If a judge wants a criminal conviction to keep that criminal off the streets, they will eliminate any & all the possible reasons for appeal that could possibly put that criminal back on the street sooner.
A fair trial is a good start to acheiving such a goal.
ok... so WHY did the judge order the doors to be locked? are we certain they were locked in a manner that prevented anyone inside the courtroom from getting out? if that is the caae, wouldn't there certainly be something the defense atty could do about that? like violate the gag order, get on camera, get thrown in jail or whatever?? because I just can't quite believe any judge could actually get away with that... even this one.
and what a bunch of crap that he can have citations issued for bumper stickers on cars in a church parking lot.... etc etc
I'd actually be interested in seeing a photograph of this Wilson woman. Why is it ok to put pictures of Tonya Craft leaving the courtroom all over TV/ newspaper? I had the same problem with the Duke lacrosse kids- why was it ok to have their pictures all over national television, but the privacy of the liar was protected? I knew from day 1 there was something wrong there... and I kept thinking, what if she's lying?
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