Thanks to recordings, we often are treated to a regular spectacle: cops lying about arrests, their activities, and then lying under oath. While I would like to think that such dishonest activities are limited to the LMJC, in reality, lying has become a way of life for those wearing the blue costume.
In Coral Springs, Florida, two officers lied under oath, not knowing that their activities had been recorded and now are in the court record. Not surprisingly, both cops still are on the force and have faced no legal problems or discipline at all.
Keep in mind that perjury is a felony, something for which regular people go to prison -- unless they are cops or are witnesses whose perjury was suborned by prosecutors. (See Chris Arnt, Len Gregor, Alan Norton, and Buzz Franklin for instructions on how to legally lie under oath.)
The two officers in this story, Nicole Stasnek and Derek Fernandes, both committed perjury (the article has the depositions of each officer, and depositions are taken under oath) and you can see that the officers are lying.
In other words, Stasnek and Fernandes both are felons, a nice word for criminals. They also are cops on duty. I wonder how many other members of the "thin, blue line" also fall into that category.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
It's the accountability, stupid!
It's like the proverbial broken record, and we see it time and time again. Convicted felons being freed because of wrongful convictions brought about by their prosecutors hiding evidence, lying to jurors, suborning perjury, and worse.
This piece on a recent "60 Minutes" should be enough to make anyone's blood boil, as it is abundantly clear that Texas prosecutors knowingly railroaded an innocent man because they wanted to be what the evil Henry Wade described as a "great prosecutor." Wade supposedly declared: "Any prosecutor can convict a guilty man. It takes a great prosecutor to convict and innocent man," and Wade certainly fell into that category.
In the case of Michael Morton, who was wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife while the real killer was free to kill again, the villain in this case is Ken Anderson, now a judge. As seems to be the case in Texas, the worst human being was honored by his prosecutorial peers as "Prosecutor of the Year," which really is a sick joke, except that Chris Arnt also was once given a similar award in Georgia and cited for his high "ethical" standards. Chris Arnt! The man who knowingly suborned perjury and lied to jurors in the Tonya Craft trial.
In other words, if prosecutors choose to honor someone, you can bet that whomever is honored is probably one of the worst human beings on the planet and has committed more felonies than all of the people together he or she has prosecuted. In the "60 Minutes" broadcast, Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project, which battled Texas prosecutors for years just to look at the Morton case file and to have a bloody bandana DNA tested, was careful to say that he did not believe there was an "epidemic" of prosecutorial misconduct.
I would beg to differ. As I see it, there are very few truly honest prosecutors in this country, and the reason is simple: no accountability means that dishonest people will self-select into this line of work. It is that simple. When people are not held responsible for wrongdoing, over time they will engage in wrongdoing.
Very few individuals are able to walk a straight-and-narrow when they don't have to do so. Look at Ken Anderson. After framing Morton, he received the Texas "Prosecutor of the Year" award, and later was elected a judge. His claim that "the system" failed Morton is a real howler, given that Anderson was the system.
No, Anderson decided that Morton was guilty, and he made sure that Morton's attorneys did not see the material he had in his possession that would have raised serious doubts about his guilt. Furthermore, by framing Morton, Anderson ensured that the real killer would go free, and the man committed another murder. So, if there were any justice, Anderson also would have to face justice for being an accomplice to homicide.
Lest anyone think I exaggerate, understand that Anderson was given strong evidence that Morton was not the killer and that a murderous madman was on the loose. Instead of connecting the dots, Anderson decided to try to be a "great prosecutor," and an ignorant Texas jury (Do I repeat myself?) did what most juries do: believe prosecutors no matter how ridiculous their story might be.
As far as I am concerned, Ken Anderson should be thrown into prison and forced to serve 25 years, just as Morton did. Anything less would not be a punishment at all. At the very least, Anderson should be removed as a judge and be stripped of his law license and be forced to serve the people he has so wronged.
The reason people like Ken Anderson engage in criminal behavior is because no matter how outrageous the conduct, prosecutorial immunity protects the worst people among us. When the Founding Fathers set up the United States, it was supposed to have checks and balances, but that was ultimately destroyed, with omnipotent government replacing it.
There is no turning back the clock. A country in which a large number of people can engage in the worst kind of lawbreaking and be immune from legal consequences is a country destined for tyranny. We already have a police state, and I believe things only will get worse. I only hope that decent people can stand up to this onslaught brought on by the Ken Andersons of the world.
This piece on a recent "60 Minutes" should be enough to make anyone's blood boil, as it is abundantly clear that Texas prosecutors knowingly railroaded an innocent man because they wanted to be what the evil Henry Wade described as a "great prosecutor." Wade supposedly declared: "Any prosecutor can convict a guilty man. It takes a great prosecutor to convict and innocent man," and Wade certainly fell into that category.
In the case of Michael Morton, who was wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife while the real killer was free to kill again, the villain in this case is Ken Anderson, now a judge. As seems to be the case in Texas, the worst human being was honored by his prosecutorial peers as "Prosecutor of the Year," which really is a sick joke, except that Chris Arnt also was once given a similar award in Georgia and cited for his high "ethical" standards. Chris Arnt! The man who knowingly suborned perjury and lied to jurors in the Tonya Craft trial.
In other words, if prosecutors choose to honor someone, you can bet that whomever is honored is probably one of the worst human beings on the planet and has committed more felonies than all of the people together he or she has prosecuted. In the "60 Minutes" broadcast, Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project, which battled Texas prosecutors for years just to look at the Morton case file and to have a bloody bandana DNA tested, was careful to say that he did not believe there was an "epidemic" of prosecutorial misconduct.
I would beg to differ. As I see it, there are very few truly honest prosecutors in this country, and the reason is simple: no accountability means that dishonest people will self-select into this line of work. It is that simple. When people are not held responsible for wrongdoing, over time they will engage in wrongdoing.
Very few individuals are able to walk a straight-and-narrow when they don't have to do so. Look at Ken Anderson. After framing Morton, he received the Texas "Prosecutor of the Year" award, and later was elected a judge. His claim that "the system" failed Morton is a real howler, given that Anderson was the system.
No, Anderson decided that Morton was guilty, and he made sure that Morton's attorneys did not see the material he had in his possession that would have raised serious doubts about his guilt. Furthermore, by framing Morton, Anderson ensured that the real killer would go free, and the man committed another murder. So, if there were any justice, Anderson also would have to face justice for being an accomplice to homicide.
Lest anyone think I exaggerate, understand that Anderson was given strong evidence that Morton was not the killer and that a murderous madman was on the loose. Instead of connecting the dots, Anderson decided to try to be a "great prosecutor," and an ignorant Texas jury (Do I repeat myself?) did what most juries do: believe prosecutors no matter how ridiculous their story might be.
As far as I am concerned, Ken Anderson should be thrown into prison and forced to serve 25 years, just as Morton did. Anything less would not be a punishment at all. At the very least, Anderson should be removed as a judge and be stripped of his law license and be forced to serve the people he has so wronged.
The reason people like Ken Anderson engage in criminal behavior is because no matter how outrageous the conduct, prosecutorial immunity protects the worst people among us. When the Founding Fathers set up the United States, it was supposed to have checks and balances, but that was ultimately destroyed, with omnipotent government replacing it.
There is no turning back the clock. A country in which a large number of people can engage in the worst kind of lawbreaking and be immune from legal consequences is a country destined for tyranny. We already have a police state, and I believe things only will get worse. I only hope that decent people can stand up to this onslaught brought on by the Ken Andersons of the world.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Way to go, Norton; you "won" a "victory"
The Times-Free Press today is reporting that James Combs has given a guilty plea of "cruelty to children" in exchange for the office of Mr. Perjury (Buzz Franklin) dropping charges against Mr. Combs of "child molestation." James will serve no time and will be on probation for six years.
The article is self-explanatory and I won't add anything to it except to say that it is utterly clear to anyone (besides officers of Perjury Central, LMJC) that Tim "Dirty" Deal manipulated the boys in the taped interviews to make the accusations against Mr. Combs. Dr. Nancy Aldridge, one of the world's best experts in questioning children about molestation and sexual abuse, was going to testify for the defense that Dirty's questioning was coercive and misleading.
That is not how Alan "I Sold My Soul" Norton puts it. According to the TFP, he claims to "believe the children," but did not want to put them through any more trauma. That is rich; the LMJC coached Sandra Lamb's daughter, the McDonald girl, and Tonya Craft's daughter and had no problem with having them lie on the stand.
No, Norton was able to play on Mr. Comb's real fears that he was walking into a courtroom where none other than Brian House sat as a judge (although the man at best is qualified to change sheets at a roach motel). Knowing House's penchant for trying to rig a trial, Mr. Combs decided not to risk the lies and abuse that surely would follow. I can understand what he did, and I believe fully in his innocence.
Keep in mind that Norton was going to claim that almost as soon as Mr. Combs walked into the classroom as a substitute teacher almost two years ago, he openly began molesting children. Right. And, no, the kids did not get the story straight, but stuff like that does not matter when Mr. Perjury is the DA.
I wish the Combs family well, and I wish nothing but ill for Alan Norton and his career as a professional liar. The LMJC is nothing but a cesspool, a repository for liars, sex perverts, and outright criminals wearing suits, blue costumes, and judges' robes. But, as long as voters in Northwest Georgia are happy with the status quo, nothing is going to change.
So, I guess Norton has "made his bones." Given that the LMJC makes the worst Third World dictatorships look good, I guess it is not hard to win "the big one."
The article is self-explanatory and I won't add anything to it except to say that it is utterly clear to anyone (besides officers of Perjury Central, LMJC) that Tim "Dirty" Deal manipulated the boys in the taped interviews to make the accusations against Mr. Combs. Dr. Nancy Aldridge, one of the world's best experts in questioning children about molestation and sexual abuse, was going to testify for the defense that Dirty's questioning was coercive and misleading.
That is not how Alan "I Sold My Soul" Norton puts it. According to the TFP, he claims to "believe the children," but did not want to put them through any more trauma. That is rich; the LMJC coached Sandra Lamb's daughter, the McDonald girl, and Tonya Craft's daughter and had no problem with having them lie on the stand.
No, Norton was able to play on Mr. Comb's real fears that he was walking into a courtroom where none other than Brian House sat as a judge (although the man at best is qualified to change sheets at a roach motel). Knowing House's penchant for trying to rig a trial, Mr. Combs decided not to risk the lies and abuse that surely would follow. I can understand what he did, and I believe fully in his innocence.
Keep in mind that Norton was going to claim that almost as soon as Mr. Combs walked into the classroom as a substitute teacher almost two years ago, he openly began molesting children. Right. And, no, the kids did not get the story straight, but stuff like that does not matter when Mr. Perjury is the DA.
I wish the Combs family well, and I wish nothing but ill for Alan Norton and his career as a professional liar. The LMJC is nothing but a cesspool, a repository for liars, sex perverts, and outright criminals wearing suits, blue costumes, and judges' robes. But, as long as voters in Northwest Georgia are happy with the status quo, nothing is going to change.
So, I guess Norton has "made his bones." Given that the LMJC makes the worst Third World dictatorships look good, I guess it is not hard to win "the big one."
Sunday, March 18, 2012
An open letter to Alan Norton
This week, the child molestation trial of James Combs is set to begin in Catoosa County, and if what I have seen of the interviews that Tim "Dirty" Deal did with the accusing children, we have another farce on the dishonesty magnitude of Tonya Craft. If there is anything we CAN know before the trial begins, it is that Combs is innocent of the charges and that if you, Mr. Alan Norton, prosecute this case, you will have to suborn perjury to do it.
So, I ask you, sir, the following question: Is it worth it to sell your soul in order to follow Buzz Franklin's orders? Before I go into the Combs case, let me remind you that Buzz already demanded that you suborn perjury in the failed Higgenbottom case in which you were supposed to depend upon a "jailhouse snitch" that you knew from the start was lying.
Do you remember Eric Echols? Yes, you were supposed to lead that trial, too, and you had video evidence of his being assaulted by "Mommie Dearest" Sandra Lamb, who called him a "black bastard" on camera. Yet, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, you were going to try him for felonies you knew he had not committed.
Mr. Norton, what is it about the LMJC that leads someone to sell his soul? What is it about the influence of Buzz Franklin and Chris Arnt and Len Gregor and Tim Deal and Phil Summers and Brian House that would lead a man to knowingly suborn perjured testimony?
I have no idea of you believe in God, Mr. Norton, but prosecutors who lie to juries and coach witnesses to lie are not going to be entering the Pearly Gates, sir. I hate to tell you, but the Georgia State Bar does not control the entry roster for Heaven, and while they have your back in Atlanta when it comes to committing felonies while acting as an officer of the court, God is not particularly impressed with the state of "justice" in Georgia and is likely to mete out some justice of His own.
Is it really worth it to work for these people, sir? I can tell you that they would sell you down the river with smiles on their faces if they thought they could get away with it. I also know enough about one of your LMJC colleagues to know that you don't want to leave him alone with either your wife or your daughter (should you have either or both). True, those who are employed by the LMJC are permitted to commit sexual assault and worse and not face any prosecution or even arrest, but nonetheless I doubt you would be much pleased if one of those LMJC employees were to do such a number on one of your family members.
You really do have a choice; you can get out, resign, leave the LMJC altogether. I have no idea if you have a conscience or even one shred of decency in you, but if the answer to either is "yes," then you cannot afford to stay a minute longer in that employ unless you want your final dwelling place to be Hell itself.
Even if you have a conscience, the people who are your LMJC colleagues do not. When Len Gregor managed to bamboozle a jury to convict Brad Wade -- whom all of you know was and is innocent of the charges against him -- do you think the man lost a minute of sleep? When Chris Arnt, Gregor, and House were having secret (and illegal) meetings to plan how they would try to railroad Tonya Craft into prison, do you think any of them were concerned that they were breaking the law and engaging in the worst kind of unethical conduct?
When Arnt lied to jurors in the Tonya Craft closing arguments in which he made an open and obvious dishonest statement about the testimony of Dr. Nancy Fajman, do you think it bothered him even a whit that he was lying? When Brian House desperately was trying to keep Craft's lawyers at bay by granting 90 percent of the prosecution's objections during the trial, do you think he worried that maybe the appellate courts would criticize him?
Let me be honest (since no one else in the LMJC seems to want to tell the truth). You can work in this job for a long as you want, and you can lie, coach others to lie under oath, help convict innocent people, and generally live a life of crime, and nothing will happen to you. That's right, nothing. No one from the State of Georgia will intervene, and the U.S. Department of Justice will whistle right past you, no matter how egregious your conduct.
But if you stay in that office as a prosecutor, you will be selling your soul and destroying whatever conscience you might have, and a man without a conscience is nothing more than a psychopath. I hate to say it, but you already work with sociopaths and their influence upon you only can make things worse.
Let me ask you this question: If you had a relative or loved one on trial, would you want to see Chris Arnt and the prosecutor, Brian House in the judge's seat, and Tim Deal testifying on the stand? Could you trust any of them? If the answer to any of these questions is "no," then you also have to understand that every day you work among these people brings you one step closer to Hell.
Yes, leaving a job and one's home is difficult, especially in this time of an uncertain economy. Having to earn a living as a private attorney can be unsettling and there is no guarantee of a regular paycheck as there is when you are in Buzz's employ.
However, if you continue to stay, you will be destroyed from within. You will have to sell your soul and one day the Devil himself will come to collect.
It is too late for Arnt, Gregor, Buzz, Deal, and House. They are beyond hope and beyond redemption. Pharaoh after the Ninth Plague had a softer heart than do these men. I hope it is not too later for you, but you need to ask yourself if you spent all of those tough years in law school so that you could take orders from some of the most unethical and dishonest people on this planet.
Gregor once wrote on a blog that he went to law school so that he could be a prosecutor and be (in his words) "the man." I have no idea if the guy is a "man" at all; I do know he is a bully, a coward, and a liar, and while he apparently thought his bombast and bullying during the Craft trial was impressing the jurors, it turned out that they thought he was a bully and a creep.
Why would you work with someone like that? You don't have to do it, and you do not have to hang around so that you can share a condo in Hell with "the man."
Indeed, if you resign and leave the employ of the LMJC, you really will be a man because you will have done something that people like Buzz, Gregor, Deal, House, and Arnt are not capable of doing: engage in an act of real integrity.
So, I ask you, sir, the following question: Is it worth it to sell your soul in order to follow Buzz Franklin's orders? Before I go into the Combs case, let me remind you that Buzz already demanded that you suborn perjury in the failed Higgenbottom case in which you were supposed to depend upon a "jailhouse snitch" that you knew from the start was lying.
Do you remember Eric Echols? Yes, you were supposed to lead that trial, too, and you had video evidence of his being assaulted by "Mommie Dearest" Sandra Lamb, who called him a "black bastard" on camera. Yet, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, you were going to try him for felonies you knew he had not committed.
Mr. Norton, what is it about the LMJC that leads someone to sell his soul? What is it about the influence of Buzz Franklin and Chris Arnt and Len Gregor and Tim Deal and Phil Summers and Brian House that would lead a man to knowingly suborn perjured testimony?
I have no idea of you believe in God, Mr. Norton, but prosecutors who lie to juries and coach witnesses to lie are not going to be entering the Pearly Gates, sir. I hate to tell you, but the Georgia State Bar does not control the entry roster for Heaven, and while they have your back in Atlanta when it comes to committing felonies while acting as an officer of the court, God is not particularly impressed with the state of "justice" in Georgia and is likely to mete out some justice of His own.
Is it really worth it to work for these people, sir? I can tell you that they would sell you down the river with smiles on their faces if they thought they could get away with it. I also know enough about one of your LMJC colleagues to know that you don't want to leave him alone with either your wife or your daughter (should you have either or both). True, those who are employed by the LMJC are permitted to commit sexual assault and worse and not face any prosecution or even arrest, but nonetheless I doubt you would be much pleased if one of those LMJC employees were to do such a number on one of your family members.
You really do have a choice; you can get out, resign, leave the LMJC altogether. I have no idea if you have a conscience or even one shred of decency in you, but if the answer to either is "yes," then you cannot afford to stay a minute longer in that employ unless you want your final dwelling place to be Hell itself.
Even if you have a conscience, the people who are your LMJC colleagues do not. When Len Gregor managed to bamboozle a jury to convict Brad Wade -- whom all of you know was and is innocent of the charges against him -- do you think the man lost a minute of sleep? When Chris Arnt, Gregor, and House were having secret (and illegal) meetings to plan how they would try to railroad Tonya Craft into prison, do you think any of them were concerned that they were breaking the law and engaging in the worst kind of unethical conduct?
When Arnt lied to jurors in the Tonya Craft closing arguments in which he made an open and obvious dishonest statement about the testimony of Dr. Nancy Fajman, do you think it bothered him even a whit that he was lying? When Brian House desperately was trying to keep Craft's lawyers at bay by granting 90 percent of the prosecution's objections during the trial, do you think he worried that maybe the appellate courts would criticize him?
Let me be honest (since no one else in the LMJC seems to want to tell the truth). You can work in this job for a long as you want, and you can lie, coach others to lie under oath, help convict innocent people, and generally live a life of crime, and nothing will happen to you. That's right, nothing. No one from the State of Georgia will intervene, and the U.S. Department of Justice will whistle right past you, no matter how egregious your conduct.
But if you stay in that office as a prosecutor, you will be selling your soul and destroying whatever conscience you might have, and a man without a conscience is nothing more than a psychopath. I hate to say it, but you already work with sociopaths and their influence upon you only can make things worse.
Let me ask you this question: If you had a relative or loved one on trial, would you want to see Chris Arnt and the prosecutor, Brian House in the judge's seat, and Tim Deal testifying on the stand? Could you trust any of them? If the answer to any of these questions is "no," then you also have to understand that every day you work among these people brings you one step closer to Hell.
Yes, leaving a job and one's home is difficult, especially in this time of an uncertain economy. Having to earn a living as a private attorney can be unsettling and there is no guarantee of a regular paycheck as there is when you are in Buzz's employ.
However, if you continue to stay, you will be destroyed from within. You will have to sell your soul and one day the Devil himself will come to collect.
It is too late for Arnt, Gregor, Buzz, Deal, and House. They are beyond hope and beyond redemption. Pharaoh after the Ninth Plague had a softer heart than do these men. I hope it is not too later for you, but you need to ask yourself if you spent all of those tough years in law school so that you could take orders from some of the most unethical and dishonest people on this planet.
Gregor once wrote on a blog that he went to law school so that he could be a prosecutor and be (in his words) "the man." I have no idea if the guy is a "man" at all; I do know he is a bully, a coward, and a liar, and while he apparently thought his bombast and bullying during the Craft trial was impressing the jurors, it turned out that they thought he was a bully and a creep.
Why would you work with someone like that? You don't have to do it, and you do not have to hang around so that you can share a condo in Hell with "the man."
Indeed, if you resign and leave the employ of the LMJC, you really will be a man because you will have done something that people like Buzz, Gregor, Deal, House, and Arnt are not capable of doing: engage in an act of real integrity.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Virginia DA sets example for Franklin, Arnt, Gregor, and Norton: He resigns
Every once in a while, water flows uphill, Hell freezes over, and the Falcons make it to the Super Bowl. Yes, a prosecutor in Virginia resigned after a federal judge overturned a murder conviction his office won by using the ubiquitous "jailhouse snitch" for "key testimony."
There really is nothing more insidious in a court of law than a prosecutor using testimony that he or she knows is perjured. Granted, this is something that prosecutors in the LMJC use all the time, which is why I believe they are utterly despicable people.
During Tonya Craft's trial, Chris Arnt suborned perjury right and left, with the crowning act being the subornation of Joal Henke's "I just remembered" claim that Tonya and Jennifer Sullivan had engaged in sexual acts together. Interestingly, Judge Brian House would not permit Sullivan to appear as a defense witness in order to deny the allegations. (House was trying to rig the proceedings, and I guess he figured that one more lie would not hurt anything.)
Likewise, Alan Norton was going to use a "jailhouse snitch" in trying to get a wrongful conviction against Dale Higgenbottom, only to find out that the "snitch" had written a letter contradicting everything Norton was going to have him say on the stand. You see, once Norton realized that such a letter existed and once House realized that he could not keep that letter from being entered as evidence without placing his own judgeship in danger, Norton had no choice but to drop the charges.
Now, was Norton aware that his beloved "snitch" had made such comments? Probably, but there just is something about the printed word that will put the fear of God into someone who is trying to pretend such words don't exist.
I know nothing about Gary Close, the prosecutor who resigned, but at least the man is stepping down after being excoriated by a judge. However, in the LMJC, which makes the worst Third World "justice" systems look good by comparison, judges and prosecutors are incapable of shame and even when they are caught with their hands in the cookie jar, they scream, shout, and claim that there isn't a cookie jar in sight.
There really is nothing more insidious in a court of law than a prosecutor using testimony that he or she knows is perjured. Granted, this is something that prosecutors in the LMJC use all the time, which is why I believe they are utterly despicable people.
During Tonya Craft's trial, Chris Arnt suborned perjury right and left, with the crowning act being the subornation of Joal Henke's "I just remembered" claim that Tonya and Jennifer Sullivan had engaged in sexual acts together. Interestingly, Judge Brian House would not permit Sullivan to appear as a defense witness in order to deny the allegations. (House was trying to rig the proceedings, and I guess he figured that one more lie would not hurt anything.)
Likewise, Alan Norton was going to use a "jailhouse snitch" in trying to get a wrongful conviction against Dale Higgenbottom, only to find out that the "snitch" had written a letter contradicting everything Norton was going to have him say on the stand. You see, once Norton realized that such a letter existed and once House realized that he could not keep that letter from being entered as evidence without placing his own judgeship in danger, Norton had no choice but to drop the charges.
Now, was Norton aware that his beloved "snitch" had made such comments? Probably, but there just is something about the printed word that will put the fear of God into someone who is trying to pretend such words don't exist.
I know nothing about Gary Close, the prosecutor who resigned, but at least the man is stepping down after being excoriated by a judge. However, in the LMJC, which makes the worst Third World "justice" systems look good by comparison, judges and prosecutors are incapable of shame and even when they are caught with their hands in the cookie jar, they scream, shout, and claim that there isn't a cookie jar in sight.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
The LMJC Perjury Machine
It supposedly is a crime in the State of Georgia for a prosecutor to knowingly suborn perjured testimony, but laws don't matter in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, especially when one it its prosecutors is committing the crime. And while the latest news from the LMJC -- that Buzz Franklin's office is dropping charges against Dale Higgenbottom for an alleged 19-year-old murder.
I never thought the charges made sense, but the kicker is seen in the following paragraph:
Now, Norton was slick enough to know that the letter utterly discredited his beloved witness and he was not stupid enough to put Morgan on the stand, where he would have been shredded on cross-examination. Wrote Norton:
Here is the problem, dear readers. Norton and Franklin knew all along that Morgan was unreliable and that his testimony would be total perjury, but until they saw the letter, they figured that a jury just might believe him. Unfortunately, that was not the only aspect of the prosecution that was questionable, but it clearly was the most illegal.
Morgan was someone whose testimony was for sale, and throughout the country, prosecutors every day use the proverbial "jailhouse snitch" to gain wrongful convictions. While I cannot vouch for the details of what happened in Catoosa County, I can tell readers what often happens.
Police put someone in a cell with a person who just has been arrested (and the police don't have any good evidence but want SOMETHING). The "snitch" has been fed details of the crime (or alleged crime), details that only someone close to the action can know.
In return for either money or a reduced sentence, the "snitch" then testifies that the accused "confessed" the crime to him in great detail. The noted attorney Harvey Silverglate told me that when one of his clients is arrested, he tries to get him out of jail immediately because of the "jailhouse snitch" problem.
I don't know if this happened in the Higgenbottom case, but I can tell you that the whole thing reeks of it. I have my doubts that Morgan is regarded as truthful by anyone, and especially the LMJC officers of the court. However, a guy like Morgan is USEFUL because he can deliver goods for prosecutors who might have no evidence or, worse, actually have someone charged who is innocent.
Norton and Franklin knew exactly what they had in Morgan. I don't know the details of the letter, but I cannot imagine that they were unaware of it before going to the grand jury. Maybe they were and maybe they really believed Higgenbottom murdered a baby, but when they have to rely on forensic evidence that conveniently was changed along with a "jailhouse snitch," one has to wonder if these people have any integrity at all.
I never thought the charges made sense, but the kicker is seen in the following paragraph:
Prosecutors' key witness was William Morgan, an inmate who had told investigators that Higgenbottom had confessed to the murder while in jail. But the evidence filed in court on Feb. 28 showed Morgan had written a letter to Higgenbottom's family in 2007, saying he could "clear [Higgenbottom] of the [murder] charges" if they would pay his bail money to free him from jail.Understand that Morgan was going to give the classic "jailhouse snitch" testimony, and I can guarantee you -- gurantee you -- that Higgenbottom never "confessed" anything to Morgan. What was going on was that Morgan was playing the "jumping on the bus" game in which he was offered something if he gave the testimony that prosecutor Alan Norton wanted to hear.
Now, Norton was slick enough to know that the letter utterly discredited his beloved witness and he was not stupid enough to put Morgan on the stand, where he would have been shredded on cross-examination. Wrote Norton:
"If the letters had come to light prior to the indictment in this case, it is unlikely this case would have been presented to the Catoosa County grand jury."And Buzz followed with:
"Clearly, we couldn't rely on his credibility."Uh, no sh*t, Sherlock.
Here is the problem, dear readers. Norton and Franklin knew all along that Morgan was unreliable and that his testimony would be total perjury, but until they saw the letter, they figured that a jury just might believe him. Unfortunately, that was not the only aspect of the prosecution that was questionable, but it clearly was the most illegal.
Morgan was someone whose testimony was for sale, and throughout the country, prosecutors every day use the proverbial "jailhouse snitch" to gain wrongful convictions. While I cannot vouch for the details of what happened in Catoosa County, I can tell readers what often happens.
Police put someone in a cell with a person who just has been arrested (and the police don't have any good evidence but want SOMETHING). The "snitch" has been fed details of the crime (or alleged crime), details that only someone close to the action can know.
In return for either money or a reduced sentence, the "snitch" then testifies that the accused "confessed" the crime to him in great detail. The noted attorney Harvey Silverglate told me that when one of his clients is arrested, he tries to get him out of jail immediately because of the "jailhouse snitch" problem.
I don't know if this happened in the Higgenbottom case, but I can tell you that the whole thing reeks of it. I have my doubts that Morgan is regarded as truthful by anyone, and especially the LMJC officers of the court. However, a guy like Morgan is USEFUL because he can deliver goods for prosecutors who might have no evidence or, worse, actually have someone charged who is innocent.
Norton and Franklin knew exactly what they had in Morgan. I don't know the details of the letter, but I cannot imagine that they were unaware of it before going to the grand jury. Maybe they were and maybe they really believed Higgenbottom murdered a baby, but when they have to rely on forensic evidence that conveniently was changed along with a "jailhouse snitch," one has to wonder if these people have any integrity at all.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
The LMJC and the Culture of Legal Corruption
When my family moved to Lookout Mountain in 1964, I must admit that parts of the region known as Northwest Georgia were reminiscent of places I have seen in Third World countries. Until moving there, I never had seen tarpaper shacks, children at school with what seemed to be permanently dirty faces, and general, grinding poverty.
Much has changed in that region since then. While there still are poor people, the poverty I saw hardly is widespread anymore, and in many ways, the region can be a pleasant place in which to live. Unfortunately, its legal climate is still stuck in 1964, a time when it was de facto legal in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit for a white man to murder a black man.
My father brought us down to the LMJC when Covenant College moved from St. Louis to the old Castle in the Clouds, and at Covenant, which is located in Dade County, black students were told in no uncertain terms that they were NOT to be seen walking south of the college's property, and especially along Highway 157. In fact, over the years, a number of black students did receive death threats from the good people residing in the LMJC, but no one was killed. I'm sure that had someone killed one of Covenant's black students, he would not have been charged or prosecuted.
This was a time when the Dade County portion of Sand Mountain had a sign that declared: "N*gger, don't let the sun set on you here." The people there meant every word, and I still would caution any black person from venturing up there without an armed escort. That was the kind of place the LMJC was then, and while I don't see the same overt racism that once characterized the place, the area's "justice" system is racist, as Len Gregor proved during the Tonya Craft trial, when he lied to jurors, telling them that Ms. Craft has slept with a black man.
Now, for the most part, I do consider many of the people living in the LMJC to be honest, or at least decently honest. Unfortunately, they put up with a culture of corruption that exists with police, prosecutors, and, yes, judges.
To be fair, the LMJC hardly stands alone. My friends from Texas tell me horror tales of Williamson County police, courts, and prosecutors, and K.C. Johnson has a great post on his blog about the legal corruption that permeates Durham County, North Carolina. Interestingly, in many ways, the corruption of the LMCJ and Durham County seems to be similar.
What makes this point even more interesting is that demographically and politically, the two places hardly could be more different. The LMJC is overwhelmingly white and politically conservative. The most prominent college in that district, Covenant College, is both theologically and socially conservative. The region abounds with "Bible-believing" churches and I would venture to say that a large portion of the population claims to be "saved."
Durham County, on the other hand, is dominated by the hard left, including a coalition of blacks and activists associated with Duke University. Duke would be the antithesis of Covenant, its student body dominated by "hookup" culture, and the university does everything it can to promote gratuitous sex by handing out condoms everywhere and promoting disgusting things like the "Sex Workers Show" on campus. The university there is not "liberal" by any means; no, it is hard left, and though it is tied to the United Methodist Church, the university itself is virulently hostile to anything that might smack of Christianity.
Yet, when it comes to issues of justice, these communities are mirror images of each other. Durham was made infamous by its attempt to railroad three Duke University lacrosse players into prison for allegedly raping a black stripper, Crystal Mangum. As the case wore on, it became clear that the prosecutor, Michael Nifong, was lying and hiding exculpatory evidence, even while he rode the case to electoral victory, as the black voters of that county demanded a trial (and one person told Newsweek that it did not matter if the players were guilty, as they should be convicted solely because they were white).
The North Carolina State Bar intervened, and ultimately the charges were investigated by special prosecutors employed by North Carolina's attorney general. After a thorough investigation, the AG declared the players to be "innocent" and told the media that Nifong was a "rogue prosecutor." Later in 2007, the State Bar stripped Nifong of his law license, and he was removed as Durham County's AD.
Just five years later, Nifong's successor, Tracey Cline, a black woman who was second chair in the lacrosse case (and who lied about her involvement in it -- lying is part of the legal culture in that county), was removed from her office because of inflammatory statements she made in publicly attacking the senior judge in that county. (The judge also is black.) So, twice in five years, Durham County has seen its top prosecutors removed forcibly from office for misconduct.
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So, why would I compare the LMJC to Durham, despite all of its cultural and racial differences? Like Durham, the prosecutors in the LMJC have a sorry history of withholding evidence and fabricating documents. Unlike Durham, there is no state bar and apparently no judicial or legal apparatus at all in the State of Georgia that effectively deals with prosecutorial misconduct.
However, like Durham, the LMJC has a policy of taking sex cases to trial no matter what the evidence might be. And like Durham, prosecutors in the LMJC always take the side of an accuser in a sex crime, no matter how specious the evidence actually might be, and like Nifong, LMJC prosecutors, once they latch onto a sex case, take a "win at all costs" mentality that throws justice out the window.
It was not just the Craft case. Brad Wade sits in prison and the case that Len Gregor brought against him was so dishonest and so bogus that it is hard to believe he was convicted of child molestation. The reason is one more strike against the LMJC: defense attorneys in that district know that their job is to offer up defendants to the altar of conviction.
Now, when someone is charged with a crime in the LMJC, that person faces a terrible dilemma: hire a local attorney (which prosecutors and judges prefer) and automatically get convicted, or hire someone outside the LMJC who will be roundly attacked by prosecutors, sneered at by judges, yet might be willing to put up a real defense. In the Craft case, prosecutors Chris Arnt and Len Gregor routinely launched verbal attacks against Tonya's defense team, made snide remarks, tried to disrupt defense attorneys while they were questioning witnesses, yet "judge" Brian House not only ignored the misconduct of the prosecutors, but actually teamed up with them in an attempt to rig a conviction.
(While I know there are some attorneys in the LMJC who have integrity, nonetheless the judges and Buzz Franklin and his minions have made it absolutely clear that an aggressive defense is not permitted -- even while prosecutors are permitted to run wild. The one exception is Bobby Lee Cook, who is permitted to win once in a while.)
The jurors in the Craft case did something that neither House nor the prosecutors ever could imagine them doing: demonstrate integrity. The shocked, ashen look on House's face when the verdict was being read spoke volumes to the integrity or the lack thereof of the people in the LMJC who are in positions of authority.
You see, if there is one thing that I believe characterizes the LMJC is the belief of the principals in that district who really seem to believe that they ARE the law, and that they are entitled to do whatever they damn well please. Anyone who followed the Duke Lacrosse Case can attest to the arrogance of prosecutor Mike Nifong and everyone else in the Durham "justice" system. Like Buzz Franklin, Arnt and Gregor, Nifong knew that his authority alone could force a bogus case to trial, and he also believed that a Durham jury would be craven enough to convict the players despite the fact that Nifong had no evidence -- and he knew he had no evidence, which is why he continuously lied to judges throughout the proceedings.
Likewise, House teamed with Arnt, Gregor, and Tim Deal not only to help Deal commit a felony (fabricating a document during the trial in order to fill a huge hole in the evidence), but also meeting secretly with the prosecutors in order to further their strategy. Observers at the hearings before the trial began told me that House was utterly hostile to ANY attorney for Craft that did not come from the LMJC and that he routinely and automatically ruled against the defense no matter how ridiculous the prosecution's position might have been.
The trial itself was a farce, but the difference -- and this was a huge difference -- was that the jurors did not take the bait from House and the prosecutors and act in a hostile manner toward the defense. House, Arnt, and Gregor believed that the jurors automatically would discount EVERYTHING the defense did because neither they nor their expert witnesses were from the LMJC, but that is not what happened. Instead, the jurors acted like people who wanted to do justice, and did not act like House, Arnt, and Gregor.
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All of this raises a question as to why this kind of legal corruption exists in the LMJC. Why are police and prosecutors permitted to literally commit felonies in broad daylight, yet nothing is done? Why the silence from the media and the other gatekeepers, and especially the churches and the largest and most influential "gatekeeper" in the LMJC, Covenant College?
Other than one pastor, no one in a position of influence has spoken out about the massive lawbreaking, lying, and misconduct that has become the very trademark of the LMJC. During the Craft trial, no one from Covenant demonstrated a whit of concern as to what was happening, and at least one administrator there is friends with Holly Kittle, who to me represents everything that is wrong with the LMJC.
(Covenant says that it is "reclaiming the world for Jesus Christ," but the one part of the world that matters -- its own backyard -- apparently is off-limits when it comes to "reclaiming" for Christ. As I see it, the people there believe that legal trouble is for "other people," and if by chance someone from Covenant were to be falsely accused, most likely the administration and faculty there would do what evangelical Christians usually seem to do when one of their own is in crisis: shoot their wounded and move along.)
In the end, we see small, dishonest people gaining enormous amounts of power and authority, and they use it like a club against the innocent. Tonya Craft, Brad Wade, and James Combs can tell you that when it comes to dishonesty, no one does it better than the police, judges and prosecutors of the LMJC. Perhaps in my lifetime, someone, somewhere in a position of authority in Northwest Georgia will do what is right, but I have my doubts.
Much has changed in that region since then. While there still are poor people, the poverty I saw hardly is widespread anymore, and in many ways, the region can be a pleasant place in which to live. Unfortunately, its legal climate is still stuck in 1964, a time when it was de facto legal in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit for a white man to murder a black man.
My father brought us down to the LMJC when Covenant College moved from St. Louis to the old Castle in the Clouds, and at Covenant, which is located in Dade County, black students were told in no uncertain terms that they were NOT to be seen walking south of the college's property, and especially along Highway 157. In fact, over the years, a number of black students did receive death threats from the good people residing in the LMJC, but no one was killed. I'm sure that had someone killed one of Covenant's black students, he would not have been charged or prosecuted.
This was a time when the Dade County portion of Sand Mountain had a sign that declared: "N*gger, don't let the sun set on you here." The people there meant every word, and I still would caution any black person from venturing up there without an armed escort. That was the kind of place the LMJC was then, and while I don't see the same overt racism that once characterized the place, the area's "justice" system is racist, as Len Gregor proved during the Tonya Craft trial, when he lied to jurors, telling them that Ms. Craft has slept with a black man.
Now, for the most part, I do consider many of the people living in the LMJC to be honest, or at least decently honest. Unfortunately, they put up with a culture of corruption that exists with police, prosecutors, and, yes, judges.
To be fair, the LMJC hardly stands alone. My friends from Texas tell me horror tales of Williamson County police, courts, and prosecutors, and K.C. Johnson has a great post on his blog about the legal corruption that permeates Durham County, North Carolina. Interestingly, in many ways, the corruption of the LMCJ and Durham County seems to be similar.
What makes this point even more interesting is that demographically and politically, the two places hardly could be more different. The LMJC is overwhelmingly white and politically conservative. The most prominent college in that district, Covenant College, is both theologically and socially conservative. The region abounds with "Bible-believing" churches and I would venture to say that a large portion of the population claims to be "saved."
Durham County, on the other hand, is dominated by the hard left, including a coalition of blacks and activists associated with Duke University. Duke would be the antithesis of Covenant, its student body dominated by "hookup" culture, and the university does everything it can to promote gratuitous sex by handing out condoms everywhere and promoting disgusting things like the "Sex Workers Show" on campus. The university there is not "liberal" by any means; no, it is hard left, and though it is tied to the United Methodist Church, the university itself is virulently hostile to anything that might smack of Christianity.
Yet, when it comes to issues of justice, these communities are mirror images of each other. Durham was made infamous by its attempt to railroad three Duke University lacrosse players into prison for allegedly raping a black stripper, Crystal Mangum. As the case wore on, it became clear that the prosecutor, Michael Nifong, was lying and hiding exculpatory evidence, even while he rode the case to electoral victory, as the black voters of that county demanded a trial (and one person told Newsweek that it did not matter if the players were guilty, as they should be convicted solely because they were white).
The North Carolina State Bar intervened, and ultimately the charges were investigated by special prosecutors employed by North Carolina's attorney general. After a thorough investigation, the AG declared the players to be "innocent" and told the media that Nifong was a "rogue prosecutor." Later in 2007, the State Bar stripped Nifong of his law license, and he was removed as Durham County's AD.
Just five years later, Nifong's successor, Tracey Cline, a black woman who was second chair in the lacrosse case (and who lied about her involvement in it -- lying is part of the legal culture in that county), was removed from her office because of inflammatory statements she made in publicly attacking the senior judge in that county. (The judge also is black.) So, twice in five years, Durham County has seen its top prosecutors removed forcibly from office for misconduct.
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So, why would I compare the LMJC to Durham, despite all of its cultural and racial differences? Like Durham, the prosecutors in the LMJC have a sorry history of withholding evidence and fabricating documents. Unlike Durham, there is no state bar and apparently no judicial or legal apparatus at all in the State of Georgia that effectively deals with prosecutorial misconduct.
However, like Durham, the LMJC has a policy of taking sex cases to trial no matter what the evidence might be. And like Durham, prosecutors in the LMJC always take the side of an accuser in a sex crime, no matter how specious the evidence actually might be, and like Nifong, LMJC prosecutors, once they latch onto a sex case, take a "win at all costs" mentality that throws justice out the window.
It was not just the Craft case. Brad Wade sits in prison and the case that Len Gregor brought against him was so dishonest and so bogus that it is hard to believe he was convicted of child molestation. The reason is one more strike against the LMJC: defense attorneys in that district know that their job is to offer up defendants to the altar of conviction.
Now, when someone is charged with a crime in the LMJC, that person faces a terrible dilemma: hire a local attorney (which prosecutors and judges prefer) and automatically get convicted, or hire someone outside the LMJC who will be roundly attacked by prosecutors, sneered at by judges, yet might be willing to put up a real defense. In the Craft case, prosecutors Chris Arnt and Len Gregor routinely launched verbal attacks against Tonya's defense team, made snide remarks, tried to disrupt defense attorneys while they were questioning witnesses, yet "judge" Brian House not only ignored the misconduct of the prosecutors, but actually teamed up with them in an attempt to rig a conviction.
(While I know there are some attorneys in the LMJC who have integrity, nonetheless the judges and Buzz Franklin and his minions have made it absolutely clear that an aggressive defense is not permitted -- even while prosecutors are permitted to run wild. The one exception is Bobby Lee Cook, who is permitted to win once in a while.)
The jurors in the Craft case did something that neither House nor the prosecutors ever could imagine them doing: demonstrate integrity. The shocked, ashen look on House's face when the verdict was being read spoke volumes to the integrity or the lack thereof of the people in the LMJC who are in positions of authority.
You see, if there is one thing that I believe characterizes the LMJC is the belief of the principals in that district who really seem to believe that they ARE the law, and that they are entitled to do whatever they damn well please. Anyone who followed the Duke Lacrosse Case can attest to the arrogance of prosecutor Mike Nifong and everyone else in the Durham "justice" system. Like Buzz Franklin, Arnt and Gregor, Nifong knew that his authority alone could force a bogus case to trial, and he also believed that a Durham jury would be craven enough to convict the players despite the fact that Nifong had no evidence -- and he knew he had no evidence, which is why he continuously lied to judges throughout the proceedings.
Likewise, House teamed with Arnt, Gregor, and Tim Deal not only to help Deal commit a felony (fabricating a document during the trial in order to fill a huge hole in the evidence), but also meeting secretly with the prosecutors in order to further their strategy. Observers at the hearings before the trial began told me that House was utterly hostile to ANY attorney for Craft that did not come from the LMJC and that he routinely and automatically ruled against the defense no matter how ridiculous the prosecution's position might have been.
The trial itself was a farce, but the difference -- and this was a huge difference -- was that the jurors did not take the bait from House and the prosecutors and act in a hostile manner toward the defense. House, Arnt, and Gregor believed that the jurors automatically would discount EVERYTHING the defense did because neither they nor their expert witnesses were from the LMJC, but that is not what happened. Instead, the jurors acted like people who wanted to do justice, and did not act like House, Arnt, and Gregor.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
All of this raises a question as to why this kind of legal corruption exists in the LMJC. Why are police and prosecutors permitted to literally commit felonies in broad daylight, yet nothing is done? Why the silence from the media and the other gatekeepers, and especially the churches and the largest and most influential "gatekeeper" in the LMJC, Covenant College?
Other than one pastor, no one in a position of influence has spoken out about the massive lawbreaking, lying, and misconduct that has become the very trademark of the LMJC. During the Craft trial, no one from Covenant demonstrated a whit of concern as to what was happening, and at least one administrator there is friends with Holly Kittle, who to me represents everything that is wrong with the LMJC.
(Covenant says that it is "reclaiming the world for Jesus Christ," but the one part of the world that matters -- its own backyard -- apparently is off-limits when it comes to "reclaiming" for Christ. As I see it, the people there believe that legal trouble is for "other people," and if by chance someone from Covenant were to be falsely accused, most likely the administration and faculty there would do what evangelical Christians usually seem to do when one of their own is in crisis: shoot their wounded and move along.)
In the end, we see small, dishonest people gaining enormous amounts of power and authority, and they use it like a club against the innocent. Tonya Craft, Brad Wade, and James Combs can tell you that when it comes to dishonesty, no one does it better than the police, judges and prosecutors of the LMJC. Perhaps in my lifetime, someone, somewhere in a position of authority in Northwest Georgia will do what is right, but I have my doubts.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Will Buzz prosecute REAL child molesters? Probably not.
The LMJC is a study in the worst kind of "justice" there is: the innocent are prosecuted and convicted, while people who obviously are guilty get a free pass. We see yet another example in the following story in which a Catoosa County deputy was fired for having a "relationship" with an underage female:
During the Tonya Craft trial, lawbreaking at every official level occurred, and now we see official lawbreaking continuing. Yet, if you are in the "right" group in the LMJC, you can break the law and get away with it. And this is not the first time a deputy in the LMJC has been able to get away with acts that result in prison for those not wearing the proper LMJC costumes.
So, my advice to men who have a fetish for young girls is that they first get hired in the LMJC, and then what previously was against the law suddenly will become legal. That is the law in Northwest Georgia, unfortunately.
A Catoosa County deputy has been fired for having relations with a juvenile girl.Well, it sounds serious, right? Except read the following line:
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the matter, did not return phone calls seeking more information.
District attorney Herbert "Buzz" Franklin said the deputy had a relationship with a juvenile female.
"Subsequent to the completion of the investigation the case ... a decision will be made as to whether or not charges will be filed," the district attorney said. "(GBI) special agent James Harris is the case agent for the investigation."
“Deputy Stephen Crossen was terminated yesterday for violating departmental policy,” sheriff Phil Summers said in a news release Thursday. “Mr. Crossen has been employed by the Sheriff’s Office for approximately 5½ years.
“Apparently misinformation has been provided to news sources and I felt it was important to correct this information,” the sheriff said. “Mr. Crossen was not arrested and to my knowledge, an arrest is not imminent."There you have it, folks. A deputy in the LMJC engages in the very least a technical form of "child molestation" and who knows what else, and there is no arrest, nothing. To be honest, I am even surprised the Sheriff Phil Summers fired him, given that one of his employees, Det. Tim Deal, fabricated a document during a trial, something that everyone, including Summers, knew was happening.
During the Tonya Craft trial, lawbreaking at every official level occurred, and now we see official lawbreaking continuing. Yet, if you are in the "right" group in the LMJC, you can break the law and get away with it. And this is not the first time a deputy in the LMJC has been able to get away with acts that result in prison for those not wearing the proper LMJC costumes.
So, my advice to men who have a fetish for young girls is that they first get hired in the LMJC, and then what previously was against the law suddenly will become legal. That is the law in Northwest Georgia, unfortunately.
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