Submitted by: Walter F Fitzgerald
HAND-PICKED GRAND JURY FOREMAN
To: Mae Beavers <sen.mae.beavers@capitol.tn.gov>
Cc: Walter Fitzpatrick III <jaghunter1@gmail.com>
Hello
Sen. Beavers, I have contacted you before regarding long-standing grand
jury foremen in Tennessee in concert with Walter Francis Fitzpatrick,
III, who has been reporting on Tennessee grand jury corruption for more
than four years as he has watched it unfold.
Some of what we have reported was validated in reports at The Chattanooga Times Free Press in August 2012: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/aug/14/grand-jurors-claim-improper-influence-mcminn-case/
Some background:
On December 7, 2011,
Fitzpatrick observed Tenth Judicial District Criminal Court Judge Amy
Reedy hand-picking grand jurors for the 2012 term in open court. When
he found documentary evidence of the crime in the lower courtroom prior
to leaving, he picked it up and mailed it to me so that it could be
reported in the press, which it was (third article attached). No one
ever refuted my reports stating that Reedy had broken the law. As you
know, Tennessee Code Annotated states that all jurors must be chosen by
random, automated means and cannot serve consecutive terms (TCA
22-2-314).
Fitzpatrick was arrested for taking the papers and convicted of
"tampering with government records" on December 3, 2012. However,
during the trial, his defense attorney, Van Irion, was not allowed to
present his case, in violation of Article I, Section 9 of the Tennessee
Constitution.
Assistant District Attorney General Paul D. Rush, who was accused of
undue influence on the McMinn County grand jury in a series published in
The Chattanooga Times Free Press, impugned my integrity and that of
Fitzpatrick during the trial but has been cited
himself for ethics violations by the Tennessee Supreme Court: http://www.thepostemail.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/30-SEPTEMBER-PAUL-RUSH-GUILTY-OF-ETHICS-VIOLATIONS.pdf
http://timesfreepress.com/news/2013/sep/24/10th-judicial-district-prosecutor-paul-rush-faces/?news
The case went to appeal, and a hearing was held on November 20,
2013, at which time Fitzpatrick learned that Deputy Attorney General for
the Criminal Justice Division Kyle Hixson had filed a retort brief
contending that the grand jury foreman is not and never has been a
juror. However, Tennessee code mandates that he or she must be a
juror. This conflict remains unresolved, and grand jury foremen
continue to be "picked" by the judges without any type of known vetting
process.
http://beforeitsnews.com/opinion-conservative/2013/11/blockbuster-exclusive-state-of-tennessee-grand-jury-foremen-are-not-jurors-by-post-s-sharon-rondeau-2761858.html
When federal grand juries are convened, a foreman is chosen from among
the grand jurors, not brought in from the outside. When the grand
jury's term ends, the foreman leaves along with the rest of the jurors.
In Tennessee, the foremen are retained for years and sometimes decades.
Hand-picking
of foremen goes on all over the state, including in Sullivan County,
whose jury coordinator I interviewed earlier this month (see
attachment).
One foreman in Davidson County was found to have been a convicted
felon, with all of the cases over which he presided requiring review.
The story was widely reported by the AP and The New York Times: http://news.yahoo.com/nashville-da-says-grand-jury-foreman-felon-165624594.html
Another story from last year appears to imply that long-serving and repeated service of grand jury foremen is perfectly fine: http://www.tennessean.com/article/20130818/NEWS/307310189/Need-grand-jury-foreman-Stan-Fossick-your-man
Now Fitzpatrick has found that a "grand jury foreman" in his
third year under Reedy is an active member of the Tennessee Bar
Association, with an interest in the field of "criminal prosecution."
Please see articles attached.
CDR Fitzpatrick and I have researched the statutes very carefully,
and they are clear that there must be 13 grand jury members, all chosen
at random, from which a foreman is chosen to take on additional
responsibilities. The foreman cannot be "hired" by a judge and then
placed into the grand jury, because that mixes the state's interests
with those of citizens who are expected to be objectively inquiring into
evidence of crime and corruption, including on the part of government
officials.
On Tuesday, evidence of criminality Fitzpatrick brought to the new
grand jury was not presented because of their foreman gate-guard,
Jeffrey Cunningham, who is now actively obstructing justice as well as
aiding and abetting ongoing crimes.
The Deputy Attorney General is wrong, the judges are wrong, and
Jeffrey Cunningham is wrong. He does not belong in a grand jury, and
the judges have no right, nor are they authorized by law, to choose
their own "advocate" to then unduly influence the grand jury members to
obtain the desired results. Moreover, in an earlier case against
Fitzpatrick from 2010, an indictment issued by the Monroe County grand
jury referred to then-foreman Gary Pettway as "a juror."
The state cannot have it both ways. There is no better example of
undue "command" influence on the part of judges and their lackey
"foremen." Instead of serving the people, the grand juries have become
tools of corrupt courts, and specifically, judges.
Could the legislature issue clarification on current statutes in
regard to how grand juries should be constructed? Specific laws are
found in TCA Chapters 22 and 40, among others.
Please feel free to share this information with your colleagues.
Sharon Rondeau, Editor
The Post & Email
www.thepostemail.com
P.O. Box 195
Stafford Springs, CT 06076
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