Tennessee Prisoner Harassed by Medical Staff, Denied Library Privileges

“STOP!  DO NOT SPEAK.”

by Sharon Rondeau

(May 6, 2015) — On Tuesday, The Post & Email received a letter from Tennessee state prisoner Mike Parsons, whose story we have covered for approximately the last year.

The letter relates events in which TDOC staff appear to be harassing Parsons, who is hopeful of being released from the TCIX facility at the end of this month. Parsons was incarcerated on February 11 of last year following a raid on his farm which yielded two charges of possession of firearms as a convicted felon.

Tennessee grand juries and trial juries are corrupt throughout the state; therefore, each and every defendant is likely denied constitutional due process in determining his or her guilt or innocence. Tennessee prisons are replete with individuals who have been victimized by the unconstitutional system deeply entrenched in The Volunteer State.  The Post & Email has found over the past six years that court officials will rarely speak on the record on any given case or on court proceedings in general.

Parsons first went to prison after a man named Barry Laxton appeared on their property in September 2007 and killed one of their wolf-hybrid dogs in cold blood. Parsons attempted a citizen’s arrest on Laxton after he and his wife were nearly hit by a myriad of Laxton’s 29 bullets.

Instead of Laxton, a judge ordered Parsons arrested and charged with aggravated assault, theft of property, and aggravated kidnapping.  He was convicted on the assault and theft charges by a jury which contained a relative of the arresting officer in violation of TCA 22-1-104, which states:

22-1-104.  Disqualification by interest or relationship.

No person may act as a juror in any case in which the person is interested, or in which either of the parties is connected with the person by affinity or consanguinity, within the sixth degree, as computed by the civil law, except by consent of all parties.

HISTORY: Acts 2008, ch. 1159, § 1.

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Tennessee judges, law enforcers, and other public officials often use the courts to retaliate against individuals who they perceive as a threat or for whom they have developed disaffection. Time and again, The Post & Email has reported on cases in which those challenging the illegal status quo have been victimized by police and SWAT team raids, confiscation of property for no valid reason, illegitimate grand jury foremen, inebriated judges, and court clerks willing to alter paperwork without notifying the defendant in the case.  The Post & Email has also observed that individuals who are convicted, serve their time, are released on parole and attempt to rebuild their lives are frequently indicted on parole violations or new charges, often on what appeared to be fabrications rather than clear evidence.  Instead of truly weighing any evidence presented against a citizen, Tennessee County grand juries have become tools of the government for which they issue indictments upon demand. Judicially-installed grand jury foremen insure that the government obtains its desired result.

Since CDR. Walter Francis Fitzpatrick, III (Ret.) discovered during the fall of 2009 that Tennessee criminal court judges choose their own foreman who serves in definitely, numerous individuals have come forward to The Post & Email relating experiences which reinforce the contention that a thoroughly-corrupt system has ensnared an untold number of individuals in jails and prisons throughout the state.

Early last month, Parsons was notified that the Tipton County grand jury had indicted him on two counts of illegal firearms possession. Parsons has previously argued that the firearms in question belong to his wife, who is not a convicted felon, and that he had no access to them.  His wife provided The Post & Email with a sworn affidavit to that effect.

In 2006, Parsons had run for the position of county executive for Tipton County. While reported election results that evening showed Parsons with an overwhelming number of votes over his opponent, Jeff Huffman, the following morning he was told he lost the election. In a letter enclosed with what follows below, Parsons told us:

…If I had not received any more votes I would have had no less then 4282. Consider this, Ted Hanson, was working act WMC TV Channel 5 in Memphis the night of the election and was in the room receiving the faxes and putting the election returns on the TV. Ted Hanson is now the Mayor of Covington having just been elected a few months ago. I called him at Channel 5 after the votes were flipped and asked him what happened. He told me, “Mike, we received the fax from the Tipton County election commission and posted the returns as listed on the facts. That was the only fact we received from the Tipton County Election Office that night.  I would look into it if it were me.”

Hanson’s mayoral Facebook page is here.

Parsons then posed the question in his letter, “How can you lose votes?  Considering I was strongest in the south part of the county where more people were new to the county and not beholden to the old boy network, it would appear that they simply flipped the votes. However, Judge Walker assured no examination of the smart cards or tabulating machine would occur, denying the voters and my ability to see if in fact the votes were flipped.”

Parsons filed a lawsuit against the Tipton County Election Commission which was denied by both a trial and appellate court.

During the raid on the Parsonses’ farm on February 11, 2014 while Parsons was out of prison on parole, one of the raiding officers asked him, “Do you plan on running for County Executive again?”

Parsons faces trial on the new charges in August.  His recent report follows.