Monroe County Fails to Respond to Legal Pleadings in Fitzpatrick Case

HABEAS CORPUS IGNORED; FEDERAL CHARGES COULD BE PENDING

by Sharon Rondeau

(Oct. 18, 2011) — On October 6, 2011 a Writ of Habeas Corpus was filed with the Monroe County court, located within the Tenth Judicial District of Tennessee, in regard to the incarceration of Walter Francis Fitzpatrick, III.  The court has failed to initiate a review of Fitzpatrick’s imprisonment and has instead deferred to the state attorney general.

A person with knowledge of the action deemed the court’s refusal to act “a blatant denial of due process.”

A letter signed by Judge Carroll L. Ross dated July 1, 2010 and directed to “All Clerks” was presented by the court which stated that “…we were advised that in the future when we receive a Petition for Habeas Corpus a copy should immediately be sent to the state Attorney General’s office…They will prepare an order of Dismissal if the petition doesn’t state a legitimate claim for relief, and, if it does state a claim for relief, they will handle the case for us.”

However, a source assisting with the preparation of the Writ stated that the Monroe County court acted unlawfully by refusing to address the items cited in the Writ.  He told The Post & Email:

When this writ was filed into the court, the Clerk of the Court had a lawful duty to have the Judge sign the writ and order for the writ to issue commanding the sheriff, Bill Bivens (the one who is holding Walt Fitzpatrick unlawfully imprisoned)  to bring Walter Fitzpatrick III and all facts, law and evidence under sworn affidavit supporting the lawful foundation the claim in which they are holding him under.

The Clerk of the Court was supposed to give a copy of the signed order to the server of the document so it could be immediately served on the sheriff for him to bring Walt and the Claim into a Court of Record in three days and either present their evidence for lawful testing or immediately release him.

Instead of getting back a signed order, the clerk gave back a copy of a letter by Judge Caroll Ross that all Habeas petitions were going to the Attorney General for the state of Tennessee.

This is in direct violation of the following Tennessee Statutes:
T.C.A 29-21-108. Duty of court Wrongful failure to grant writ and
T.C.A 29-21-128. Disobedience of writ or order and
T.C.A 29-21-129. Evasion of service and
T.C.A 29-21-116. Defendant’s appearance and return Answer and
T.C.A 29-21-115. Precept

The right of the people to use a writ of habeas corpus is protected in the Tenth Amendment of the US Constitution. We the people as the power holders do not give the right away to the employees to prevent the master of the house from examining the honesty of any legal  process conducted against someone who is imprisoned who appears to be denied his fundamental rights of procedural and substantive due process in law and what appears to be very possibly fraudulent and corrupt circumstances.

Page 1 of the Writ states, in part:

Notice of Entry of Default Judgment for Dishonor by Respondent(s)
Clerk of the Court and Attorney General et al and all others named therein for their failure to answer and cure dishonor of state and federal law and for their failure to evidence a lawful claim regarding original Habeas Corpus petition entered into the Clerk of the Court’s record on October 6, 2011 under cause file # 11366

For failure to state a claim for relief and for failure to respond and rebut claims regarding:
Notice of Objection to irregular on it’s [sic] face Attorney General’s diversion of Habeas Corpus process which is a stipulated to confession of denial of procedural due process protected rights and violations of Art I section 9 of the suspension clause Tenn. State codes regulations and statutes supported by affidavit entered into the Clerk of the Court’s record on October 12, 2011 under cause file # 11366

For failure to respond and Cure :  3 Day Notice to Cure Non response , Notice to cure dishonor and suspension of Habeas process and immediately issue Habeas Writ to bring the prisoner into an open Court of Record within 3 days along with their affidavits of claim curing all material fact omissions demanded and make disclosure of the true nature and cause of his restraint and all counter claims to each point of next’s friend affidavit and for failing to order Walter Fitzpatrick III’s immediate release entered into the Clerk of the Court’s record on October 12, 2011 under cause file # 11366

Fitzpatrick had been jailed on September 23, 2011 following a sentencing hearing regarding a conviction on the charge of resisting arrest.  The conviction arose from his arrest on October 27, 2010 during which four sheriff’s deputies tasered and beat him as well as tore his left ear.

When The Post & Email contacted the jail that evening, we were told that Fitzpatrick was unhurt and medically “fine.”

The charges against Fitzpatrick have been issued by a grand jury for whom no appointing order indicating that he had ever been sworn in can be located by the court clerk, as she indicated in a letter to Fitzpatrick dated September 16, 2011.  The clerk, Martha M. Cook, had previously stated that appointing orders were used in Monroe County, and Fitzpatrick has been able to procure appointing orders from nearby McMinn County, also in the Tenth Judicial District, where the same judges preside.

On the evening of September 23, 2011 following his arrest, Fitzpatrick was transferred for an unknown reason to the Loudon County jail, which reportedly maintains the same poor conditions as the Monroe County jail.

The Post & Email has been told that on September 23, Judge Donald Paul Harris stated to several witnesses who had been in the courtroom that if Fitzpatrick asked to be released from jail, Harris would grant the request.  An individual who visited Fitzpatrick affirmed that in a written statement.  “I sat with Walt this morning for a half-hour or so.  He is in good spirits and supports our latest effort.  He has had an offer from the sentencing judge to adjudicate the sentence in exchange for an admission of error and apology on Walt’s part.  I guess you know what Walt position is on that…This might sound a little harsh, perhaps, but Walt is fully aware of his circumstances and went into his ordeal with that knowledge.  The issue is judicial corruption and its subsets in Monroe County…It is up to the folks on the outside to continue the exposure through litigation and whatever other means they have; otherwise, Walt’s efforts will be wasted.”

The visitor confirmed that Fitzpatrick does not have access to a telephone and is in solitary confinement in Cell 9, contradicting what some of our readers have been told by Monroe County jail officials.  He also stated that letters must have a return address, and certified mail will not be accepted.

Fitzpatrick was scheduled to appear as a witness at the federal trial of Darren Huff today in Knoxville.

A source close to the preparation of the Habeas Corpus Writ stated, “The Writ was put in; they had a duty to open up a court of record to examine the proceedings to see whether they were constitutionally compliant or not.  We gave them three days to do so; they didn’t do it.  We gave them another three days to cure that, and they didn’t do so.  We’re entering a notice of default.  At this point, all we can do is push it to the Tennessee Supreme Court.  If that doesn’t work, then we’ll take other actions.”

The source stated that if Monroe County does not observe constitutional protections, it “loses jurisdiction” over the matter.  “This is a Tenth Amendment constitutional violation (our right by habeas process to forensically audit their adherence to the constitution, law rules and regulations.”