NO MENTION OF TIME, PLACE, CIRCUMSTANCES, OR CRIMES COMMITTED
by Sharon Rondeau
(May 23, 2014) — On Friday afternoon, CDR Walter Francis Fitzpatrick, III (Ret.) went to the McMinn County, TN courthouse to obtain a copy of a Bill of Particulars mandated to have been produced by the close of business so that his attorney, Van Irion, could prepare a defense.
A trial had been scheduled for next week, but without the state’s details of the charges, Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood was forced to reschedule it to June 23.
The accuser is former grand jury foreman; CEO and president of Athens Federal Community Bank; licensed attorney and Tennessee Bar Association member Jeffrey L. Cunningham.
Cunningham was chosen as foreman by Judge Amy Reedy, who, like all judges in the Tenth Judicial District, chooses the foreman by a secret vetting method.
The presentments issued by the McMinn County grand jury state that Fitzpatrick began his alleged criminal conduct in January 2012, but Fitzpatrick was not acquainted with Cunningham at that time. He first met Cunningham in November of that year when attempting to present evidence of crimes involving Cunningham to the McMinn County grand jury.
Fitzpatrick had sought to inform the grand jury that its foreman “is not a juror,” as stated by the Tennessee Attorney General last September in a court brief.
Tennessee law requires that jurors be chosen by “automated means” to prevent the possibility of human intervention or “prejudice” against any person. However, for decades, judges in Tennessee have chosen individuals at will to serve as grand jury foremen as employees who wield considerable influence over the grand jury members, who are not made aware that their foreman is actually a court employee.
On a total of seven occasions, Cunningham blocked Fitzpatrick’s attempted submissions to the grand jury. On the sixth occasion on February 18, Cunningham threatened Fitzpatrick with arrest should he return to the courthouse.
Fitzpatrick then filed a request for a restraining order against Cunningham which was denied by two different judges, the second of whom was Blackwood, on March 17.
Blackwood had presided over another case of Fitzpatrick’s in 2010 and denied him his constitutional right to an attorney. He also denied Fitzpatrick’s challenge that Angela Davis was not qualified to serve as foreman for the day on which indictments were issued against him because she had served on a jury in 2009. Blackwood contended that there was “no proof” that the same “Angela Davis” had served two consecutive terms in violation of state law, but the court maintains paper records and would have been able to verify it.
On March 18, Fitzpatrick was charged with three felonies and a misdemeanor on March 18, 2014: harassment, stalking, aggravated perjury and extortion. He was arrested by McMinn County sheriff’s deputies at approximately 12:20 p.m. EDT, just minutes after Reedy appointed a new foreman, Thomas Balkom.
At a hearing on Monday, Irion asked the prosecutor, Wayne Carter, for a Bill of Particulars. Carter stated that his schedule had not allowed him to interview Cunningham to explain why it had not then been prepared.
At approximately 3:45 p.m. EDT, Fitzpatrick arrived at the courthouse, believing that another 75 minutes remained to the court’s word day. However, he was informed by clerk Sherry Anderson that the courthouse would close at 4:00. Anderson gave the two-page document to Fitzpatrick, revealing that it had been received approximately 30 minutes before.
The Bill of Particulars makes no reference to “Count 1” of the grand jury presentment.
Fitzpatrick first became aware of systemic corruption in the Tenth Judicial District court system in late 2009, when he learned that then-Monroe County grand jury foreman Gary Pettway had occupied his position for at least 20 years. Later, Fitzpatrick discovered that Pettway had worked in the position for 28 years without an appointing order or any proof that he had ever been vetted or sworn in.
Carter has asked that Fitzpatrick receive “enhanced punishment” as a result of his allegedly being a “career criminal.” Fitzpatrick has been arrested seven times within the district after exposing rigged grand juries, trial juries, a fraudulent signature on charging documents, and bias on the part of the judges.
Sharon, thank you for covering all this for Walt and helping Veterans. There is a sub-culture hatred for Veterans and it shows in these public trustee criminals that are all about the money and the power. There was a message in the movie Rambo and this entire scenario has been that with Walt peacefully trying to serve criminal presentments and the rest is history. There has never been any threat or any violence, only attempts to follow the law and the Constitution. These people are the same Democrats we have running rampant over our Constitution in Washington, DC. There will be a price to pay for what they have done and what they are doing, they think they are bigger than God, their lessons will come in due time. We have never seen the level of government criminal activity that has been shown since 2008 when Pelosi and Biden falsified Obama’s Constitutional Eligibility. Where is our “Judiciary” who took an oath to uphold our Constitution?