ACCUSED’S FATHER ALLEGED ELECTORAL CORRUPTION; SON ARRESTED BY STATE TROOPER WITHIN CITY LIMITS; NO DOCUMENTATION RECEIVED BY ACCUSED MONTHS LATER
by Sharon Rondeau
(Jul. 22, 2015) — On December 12, 2014, 20-year-old Spencer Curtis Schuelke was stopped and arrested in his driveway for allegedly driving under the influence (DUI) by Tennessee Highway Patrolman John Welker of the Nashville division of the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP).
The dispatch call obtained from the THP is a rather calm exchange between the dispatcher and Welker with the number “3368” and Spencer’s address at “2520 Chalice Drive” in Murfreesboro constantly repeated.
Spencer was jailed in the Rutherford County, TN jail twice as a result of the arrest, posting bond both times to regain his freedom. The first occasion followed the arrest, while the second resulted from an alleged failure to appear for a hearing of which Spencer said he was never informed. On the second occasion, Spencer was at work when sheriff’s deputies arrested him in what he termed a “Fugitive/Dangerous Major Felons squad,” according to a letter sent to multiple media companies; U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley; the Knoxville and Washington, DC offices of the FBI; and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Schuelke 06-18-2015 Letter To A-Plus Bonding-2
Spencer has lost his pilot’s license as a result of the DUI arrest and protests his innocence. In his letter, Spencer referenced the fatal shooting of country singer/songwriter Randy Howard by a bounty hunter on June 9 in Lynchburg, TN, comparing his own case and to Howard’s tragic ending.
In response to the arrest, Spencer filed a suit against the Rutherford County General Sessions Court which was dismissed on June 15 by Chancellor Howard W. Wilson “for his failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Wilson also ordered Spencer to pay all court costs incurred from his filing which named Welker and the State of Tennessee as defendants.
Schuelke 06-15-2015 Order of Dismissal (Judge Wilson)
Three case numbers were assigned to Spencer’s charges following his first arrest, but grand jury indictments were not issued until two weeks ago. According to Margaret at the Rutherford County clerk’s office last Friday, the grand jury produced three indictments indicating probable cause during the week beginning July 6, when the grand jury met for three successive days on the 6th, 7th and 8th. The grand jury reportedly maintains the same three-day-a-month meeting schedule “each month.”
During The Post & Email’s conversation with Margaret, she informed us that two indictments identified Schuelke’s alleged crimes as “DUI,” with the third issued for “underage drinking.”
We asked who the grand jury foreman was during the session, to which she responded, “Karen Hudson.” We then inquired if she knew how long Hudson had been serving in that capacity, to which she responded, “Oh, I don’t know; a long time.”
We asked if she were aware of TCA 22-2-314, which states that no juror can serve a consecutive term in Tennessee, to which she responded, “Yes.” “How would a long-serving grand jury foreman square with that law?” we asked, to which she responded, “She doesn’t vote,” instead conducting the administrative duties of the grand jury.
In Tennessee, grand jury foremen are handpicked by the judge, and in many counties, they cast a vote with the 12 other grand jurors, who by law must be randomly-selected. Several Tennessee court clerks have informed us that the foreman votes when a twelfth vote is needed to issue an indictment, according to state law, in the event of one dissenter.
We asked Margaret if she had knowledge of the evidence presented against Schuelke, to which she responded in the negative, adding that all grand jury deliberations are done “in secret.”
Last fall, Spencer’s father, Dennis Schuelke, filed an affidavit with the Davidson County Election Commission stating that a candidate for the Tennessee House of Representatives, Atty. Carson “Bill” Beck, was running for office for representative in the state’s 51st House district while actually residing in Sumner County. A reference to the affidavit at Nashville Scene has since been removed from its place on the web.
Beck won the election last November representing “part of Davidson County,” according to his legislative website.
At the time, Dennis Schuelke stated that Beck lived across the street from him in Hendersonville, which is located in Sumner County. Schuelke was not the only person to file a complaint with the Davidson County Election Commission concerning Beck’s declared candidacy. On June 18, 2014, The Tennessean reported that Eric Richardson filed a formal complaint with the commission which initiated a “special meeting,” during which Beck was asked questions about his residency. Beck was reportedly allowed to remain on the ballot without providing any evidence of his claims of residency in Davidson County.
For approximately three years, The Post & Email has followed the case of Clifford Rockholdt, a former Tennessee police detective who provided voluminous evidence of corruption within the Sumner County civil court system by means of double-billing for child support; a hearing date changed in pen of which Rockholdt was never officially notified; a divorce which appears to have been granted without an application from the other party, who was named as aggrieved; and the cancellation of a scheduled hearing about which Rockholdt learned from The Post & Email after we called the court clerk with a question about his case.
Tennessee law states the following in regard to candidates for public office (source: LexisNexis):
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© 2015 by The State of Tennessee
All rights reserved
*** Current through the 2014 Regular Session and amendments approved at the November 4, 2014 General Election ***
Title 8 Public Officers And Employees
Chapter 18 Eligibility, Commissions, and Oaths
Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-18-101 (2014)
8-18-101. Eligibility to hold office.
All persons eighteen (18) years of age or older who are citizens of the United States and of this state, and have been inhabitants of the state, county, district, or circuit for the period required by the constitution and laws of the state, are qualified to hold office under the authority of this state except:
(1) Those who have been convicted of offering or giving a bribe, or of larceny, or any other offense declared infamous by law, unless restored to citizenship in the mode pointed out by law;
(2) Those against whom there is a judgment unpaid for any moneys received by them, in any official capacity, due to the United States, to this state, or any county of this state;
(3) Those who are defaulters to the treasury at the time of the election, and the election of any such person shall be void;
(4) Soldiers, sailors, marines, or airmen in the regular army or navy or air force of the United States; and
(5) Members of congress, and persons holding any office of profit or trust under any foreign power, other state of the union, or under the United States.
HISTORY: Code 1858, § 748 (deriv. Const., 1834, art. 2, § 10; art. 6, § 7; art. 9, § 3; art. 10, § 3; Acts 1843-1844, ch. 197, § 2); Shan., § 1069; mod. Code 1932, § 1812; modified; impl. am. Acts 1971, ch. 162, § 3; Acts 1973, ch. 76, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 8-1801; Acts 1980, ch. 453, § 1; 1989, ch. 320, § 1; 1993, ch. 373, § 1.
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Before November’s election, Dennis Schuelke further alleged, “I have seen Mr. Beck literally every night staying at 217 Bluegrass Drive [Hendersonville, Sumner County] up until his eligibility was challenged in June of 2014. And only since then has he started living some of the time in a, shall we say, a lesser standard house of Mr. Steve Douglas Gibson, his lawyer “acquaintance,” who happens to work out of the same location as Mr. Beck’s parents’ office building, Beck & Beck in Davidson County.”
In a video produced in March, Dennis Schuelke asked Bill Beck, who was walking his dogs in Schuelke’s neighborhood, “Where were you living this last summer up through the middle of summer?… Are you familiar with the Tennessee state constitution, Article II, Section 9, that says that you have to live in the county one year prior to the election, Bill?” After Beck entered his home with his dogs without responding, Dennis is heard to say, “Thanks for your response, Bill; it says everything. Appreciate it.”
In 2011, Dennis Schuelke published a book titled “Attorneys Above the Law” which describes his experience with a lawyer who reportedly accepted a retainer from him to recover “money stolen by a fraudulent company” but who did not complete the work promised. When Schuelke sought relief against the attorney from the courts, he was shocked to find that the judge found no reason to pursue the matter.
Beginning in the fall of 2009, Walter Francis Fitzpatrick described a “dictatorship of the judiciary” in Tennessee which involves judges, court clerks, grand jurors, trial jurors, defense attorneys, prosecutors, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), whose agent hung up on Fitzpatrick when he turned to the TBI for assistance in rooting out corrupt judges. Fitzpatrick is now serving a three-year prison term after having brought a number of petitions alleging such corruption to the McMinn County, TN grand jury.
In November 2011, Dennis Schuelke testified to a joint legislative subcommittee about his experience with the state’s judges, and he has since given numerous interviews about corruption within the legal and judicial systems in Tennessee. Dennis has also contacted his local representative, Rick Womick, on several occasions on the same topic and what he describes as unfounded, retaliatory charges against his son.
Spencer has received no documents in the mail associated with any of the three cases, including the indictments. On Friday, Margaret informed The Post & Email that the indictments could be made available to us at a cost of $.50/page on a prepaid basis.
Approximately six weeks ago, the Schuelkes’ family cat was found mutilated on the front lawn of their property.
The website Abel Danger, hosted by Lt. Col. Field McConnell (Ret.), who attended Fitzpatrick’s sentencing hearing last August and declared it a travesty of justice, characterized the case against Spencer Schuelke as an “impending malicious prosecution.”
On Wednesday, The Post & Email contacted Rutherford County deputy prosecutor Brent Lindsay Pierce for comment on the three cases he is pursuing against Spencer Schuelke, numbered 368735, 368736 and 368737, which we specified when we called at approximately 1:08 p.m. EDT. We were told by the receptionist that the prosecutor’s office does not have voice mail and therefore left our contact information with her. When asked if Pierce speaks with the media, the receptionist stated, “It depends; sometimes he does and sometimes he leaves it to Jennings,” meaning District Attorney General Jennings Jones of Tennessee’s 16th Judicial District.
We did not receive a return call from Pierce or Jennings by the close of business on Wednesday.
We also left a message on Trooper John Welker’s voice mail asking where THP officers are authorized to patrol and whether or not we might speak with his attorney assigned as a result of the Schuelke DUI arrest, who we understand is Amanda S. Jordan. At approximately 2:20 p.m. EDT, we received a message from THP Public Information Officer Lt. Bill Miller, who said he had spoken with Welker and would be willing to address “any concerns we have.”
The Post & Email will be following up with Miller on Thursday.