JURORS ASK FOR EVIDENCE AND INVITE HIM TO RETURN
by William Windsor, blogging at Lawless America, ©2011
(Aug. 19, 2011) — William M. Windsor entered the Fulton County Georgia Grand Jury Room on August 19, 2011 at about 11:30.
I was in there for about 30 minutes. It didn’t go as I had planned, and it was NOT the wonderful experience I expected it to be.
BUT, I have been invited back next week to bring a 20-page document that takes them through what happened as well as the precise evidence….
So, I guess I should look on the bright side. I GOT BEFORE THEM. I AM INVITED BACK.
The Past Week
I worked night and day preparing information for today. One of the many people who called with advice suggested that I preent each Grand Juror with a binder so they would have everything in front of them. So, I prepared 26 binders — 23 Grand Jurors and three alternates. I didn’t finish them until 9:30 this morning, just in the nick of time to hop in the car and get to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office by 10 am.
Each binder had 23 tabs, and in the back of the binder was a CD-ROM with all the relevant evidence. The Microsoft Word files for each tabbed section were on the CD as well, and all evidence was hyperlinked. So, if they want to see a document, all it took was a click. I made it as simple as humanly possible.
I had to quit answering the phone by Wednesday. The phone was ringing off the hook, and I knew it would be an all-out effort to do what I wanted to do. My apologies to the many people who could not reach me. I will play back the messages and return calls as soon as I can.
I did re-write my presentation significantly from what I delivered on the TV Show last Sunday. I changed it so that the binder was the focal point, and I referred them to the appropriate tabs throughout the talk.
My sweet wife helped me prepare the dividers and do the velo-binding.
Today
I managed only three hours of sleep last night as the binding took a lot longer than I had hoped.
I arrived at 10 am and carried my big box of binders in. I was greeted by Sabrina, a sweet lady from Fulton County who is a victim of judicial corruption. She had brought her affidavit to me.
I went to sign in at the reception desk, and I was told to come on in, and Naomi Fudge buzzed me in past the locked door. I put my name on a list as directed and sat down as directed.
Scott Hintz arrived a little later. Scott is a big-time victim of judicial corruption. He took this photo of me INSIDE the Grand Jury area.
A lot of people passed by me INSIDE the District Attorney’s Office…people who have seen me OUTSIDE with my sign for the past two months. A few of them had kind words.
At about 11:30, an Assistant District Attorney waved to me to come in. He did not introduce himself. He told me I would not be allowed to distrubute my binders. %^$#!@@&&!! I suspected he was Waverly Settles, the ADA who presents all the indictment charges to the grand juries, and I verified that when someone called him Mr. Settles.
I was asked to sit at small table facing the jurors, who were seated in four tiers of seats. The Foreman, Steve Broadbent, and three others were seated at a table similar to mine across the room.
Mr. Settles began by saying I didn’t have the right to be there, but the DA and Mrs. Keel were “doing me a favor to allow me to speak for five minutes.” He said that I don’t have the right to speak to the Grand Jury. He told the Grand Jurors that the correct procedure is to get elected officials to sign a petition that goes to the Cheif Judge and then a decision is made whether to impanel a special grand jury.
When he came up for air, I said, “Respectfully, what you have just said is incorrect. In Tab 3 of these binders, the statutes are provided, and it is clear that the Grand Jurors have a duty to investigate any crimes that come to your attention…and that has now happened.” I explained that there is a procedure for a petition, but none of the Fulton County elected officials have extended the courtesy of a response. Mr. Settles then had he binders passed out as he knew it would be wrong to hide them since I said they contained proof.
At that point, the Foreman spoke. Mr. Broadbent said that he could find no evidence in the information that I provided to him, and he said I have no credibility. He says that I have claimed to have been the President of Goldman Sachs and CEO of Bain Capital. He said he checked, and neither of those statements was true. He was as rude as a human can be. He asked me to take 30 seconds and explain what I had evidence of.
I had to start by saying to him that I have never in my life claimed to have been the President of Goldman Sachs or the CEO of Bain Capital. I told him that my bio said I was President of a Goldman Sachs Company and CEO of a Bain Capital company. (Both Goldman and Bain own hundreds of companies.)
The page from my letters to the Grand Jury of of July 19 and August 5 actually state very clearly:
“From 1992 to 1996, I was President of Advanstar Expositions, a company owned at the time by Goldman Sachs. Advanstar was one of the largest producers of trade shows and conferences in the world. From 1996 to 2001, I was CEO of 1st Communications, a company owned by Bain Capital, Triumph Capital Group, and me.”
That could not be any clearer! This was also provided on Page 1 of Tab 2 of the binder. Broadbent just grunted. It was clear to me that his role was to attempt to discredit me and turn the Grand Jurors against me. He was negative and disruptive throughout.
I spoke for less than 30 seconds of my planned presentation when jurors started raising their hands or just speaking. I stopped and responded to questions and comments and was never able to give my carefully-prepared and timed presentation.
As I responded to some questions, I saw what I thought were favorable reactions on about 1/3 of the faces. 1/3 never spoke or reacted, and I’d guess 1/3 were openly negative toward me.
One man said if I can prove to him that Judge Orinda D. Evans did what I said, he believes they must pursue it and 60 Minutes should do a story. He mentioned several pages in my binder and asked that I return with a slam bam thank you ma’am, just-the-facts narrative of no more than 20 pages with the evidence to prove things. Several other jurors asked for that as well, and I told them I would be happy to. I explained that all I had been asked to do today was to come and present a short overview and bring evidence, which I had done.
The woman seated closest to me was the most negative. She said she refused to believe that judges are not honest, or words to that effect. She said that I file frivolous lawsuits. When she managed to come up for air, I asked who told her that I file frivolous lawsuits because it is absolutely false. She looked toward Broadbent and stuttered without giving a response. Broadbent jumped in and said something to try to change the subject, and Mr. Settles then asked me something about the lawsuits that I had filed, and I told him that his statement was nor true. He backed right down.
At this point, it was painfully clear to me that the jury had been tampered with. They had been told disparagaing things about me that clearly are not true. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was.
A man seated next to Broadbent then jumped in and said words to the effect that I have provided information to them that he knows is false. He claimed I said Maid of the Mist had a 40-year federal government contract. He said he has worked with the federal government, and he knows they do not do 40-year contracts.
I never said any such thing. Page 3 of Tab 4 of the binder that he was alluding to says quite clearly:
“…fraud in obtaining no-bid 40-year government contracts….”
I politely explained to him that I said GOVERNMENT contracts and that they are with the State of New York and the Province of Ontario, and I held up the two contracts. On the CD-ROM provided in a dozen of the binders, a file includes copies of both contracts. New York State is 40 years, issued in clear violation of New York law. I also have dozens of newspaper articles about these, and all of this as well as an affidavit from the newspaper reporter who exposed a lot of this was on the CD-ROM in the binders. These contracts have been front page news in Canada. The Province of Ontario voided the contract, tendered it for competitive bids for the first time in 160 years, and fired the people involved. The New York contract should be voided in the next two months; it is in default now.
The man just grunted when I explained.
I don’t mean to make this sound totally negative because the discussion about the limited proof they want to see was very productive.
When I could get in a few words, I let them know that this is not just about me. I identified the affidavits provided from people who wish they could testify, and I informed them that there were at least two people in the lobby hoping to speak to them. Broadbent said only I could speak.
One sweet lady said I should just forget about what happened to me. I told her I appreciated her advice, but I am committed to this for the rest of my life. I emphasized several times that this is not just about me.
Mr. Settles called my time to a close a little after noon. I told them all I would be back on Tuesday with the 20-pages and evidence.
When I spoke with Scott in the lobby afterwards, he said two sheriff’s deputies were speaking with Naomi Fudge calling me a lunatic. Hey, if a lunatic is someone who fights corruption and dishonesty, than I am mighty proud to be a lunatic.
Scott asked who was in the Grand Jury Room. I told him there were at least 23 people, though I didn’t count. 25 of my 27 binders were distributed. Scott said that he heard someone say that the Grand Jury was meeting down on the second floor. Hmmm. I was on the third floor. Scott wonders if they set me up with people who aren’t really the Grand Jurors. I don’t think so. I will say this. I was not sworn in, and there was no court reporter. I’m not surprised that they don’t want a record…. But I believe those were the real Grand Jurors.
So, after all the effort to get there, all the excitement preparing, I’m not pleased with how it went. If I had it to do over again, I wish I had asked them to let me make my planned presentation and then take their questions….but I didn’t.
If they don’t try to back out of my invitation to return on Tuesday, I’ll be happy. I’ll be REALLY HAPPY.
I shudder to think how many messages are in voice mail….