Thursday, January 2, 2014

Roger Shuler Recounts Details of Harrowing Night of Police Brutality, Unlawful Arrest on Oct. 23

This is Carol, Roger's wife. The beating of a journalist in Ukraine recently made international news. Such thuggish tactics are not limited to the republics of the former Soviet Union and other developing countries. They can be found right here in Alabama.

Legal Schnauzer publisher Roger Shuler was the victim of police brutality when he was unlawfully arrested because of a lawsuit filed by Republican political figure Rob Riley. Shuler was returning home from a visit to the North Shelby Library and a brief stop for dinner when a Shelby County police car almost crashed into him in his driveway at roughly 5:45 p.m. on Oct. 23. Deputy Chris Blevins apparently was trying to keep Shuler from entering his own garage and almost hit the Shuler vehicle and their house. Shuler had the garage door open and a free entry into the garage so he drove in and that's when the brutality started.

Blevins entered the Shuler garage which is underneath their house even though the deputy did not show a search warrant or an arrest warrant of any kind. Blevins then proceeded to brutalize Shuler knocking him to the floor three times and spraying mace in his face and eventually pressed resisting arrest charges against Shuler even though there is no evidence that Shuler initiated contact with Blevins at all.

"If a regular citizen had done to me what Chris Blevins did, the individual would be facing multiple counts of felony assault," Shuler said. "This is simple police brutality that I experienced and it's one of the most godawful experiences of my life. I've never been beaten like this. It left me with at least 10-12 cuts, abrasions and bruises on my arms, legs, torso and back. And according to Deputy Blevin's own incident report, he did not show a warrant. He claims he told me he had a warrant, but he didn't. That is a lie. He did not tell me that. And he initiated contact with me and I made no effort to turn away from him or to flee in any way. This is a scene right out of Hitler's Nazi Germany, but it happened right in our garage."

According to Blevins incident report, he knocked Shuler to the ground three times onto a concrete floor, he sprayed mace on him, and all without showing a warrant to Shuler. "Why would an officer of the law not show a warrant if he had one?" Shuler said. "I strongly suspect Chris Blevins didn't even have a warrant. But even if he did, he didn't show it and had no grounds to come in my home. In addition to that, the court had no jurisdiction over me and still doesn't, because we never have been lawfully served because of a bogus traffic stop that Officer Mike DeHart conducted at the North Shelby County Library which we've reported on the blog. So essentially I'm sitting here in jail for over nine weeks now by orders of a court that has no jurisdiction on me and I'm also the victim of police brutality."

"My case has received extensive national and international coverage. It's been reported by Al Jazeera, by al.com, by AlterNet, by many, many news sites on the internet, but very little has been written about the police brutality component of it--what happened during my arrest. I easily could have a concussion or a skull fracture from what was done to me and to say that I'm bitter and unhappy and enraged that this was allowed to happen in our country and nothing's been done about it would be an understatement. I strongly suggest that American citizens take notice of what has become a growing police state in our country, particularly here in the Deep South. Officers apparently think they don't have to have warrants or they don't have to show warrants. They just come inside your home and this form of police brutality was practiced on me," Shuler said.

Matt Osborne of Osborne Ink wrote an article for his blog on Oct. 31 featuring extensive photos and video of the crime scene inside the garage where Shuler was assaulted, beaten, maced and unlawfully arrested by Shelby County sheriff deputies. Here is the link to Osborne's blog post: Exclusive Roger Shuler Arrest Scene Photos.




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14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Anon 12/13/13 @ 9:08 pm
Lamar Democrat & Sulligent News
Attorney General Bill Pryor appts.
Dr. James Downs, Baldwin county Medical Examiner to fill State Director's position at Auburn University 08/12/98.

"...we must have and must continue to stand for truth". Dr. James Downs

In unresolved Alabama forensics' matters [truths] one is left to wonder why, the reasons for the differences in Dr. James Downs signature; to being signed now DR. J.C. UPSHAW DOWNS since resigning Auburn for Savannah's GBI Forensics Department.

Attention:
Anon 12/13/13 @ 9:08 pm do you have any ideas as to why? Did he leave the state rather than get too deep into ongoing political nightmarish quagmire?

Unknown said...

This is Nazi America.

You aren't dead, though, and that's the good news because Roger, the Alabama thug who physically attacked you was restrained. Make no mistake about that truth.

These criminals that are insane don't have brains. They've been made into exactly what is needed to do the job.

The job is Palestine didn't cooperate so America gets to pay the price cause we're the vassal state of Tel Aviv.

We are all on plantation U$, or we are the 'Haves' that do what Karl Rove and Nazis do.

Police State U$A is the brutality that Palestine has experienced since 1901 to 1948, and to-date.

Got to get the "Jewry Political Zionist Criminally Insane" to not be the power that causes the powerlessness we see in the Alabama 'system' as the model that is for all 'Merica.

Unknown said...

Alito Supreme Court Justice has more than doubled his income.

His primary wealth is being generated from the industry of IT, and that means whatever umbrella the 'government' is under, is how the top level of 'law' retires.

Roger must get a Freedom of Information Request to as many places as can be sent, asking exactly what keeps him incarcerated AND how much income does 'he' as human capital generate in the new system of IT?

Dear Supreme Court Justice Alito, can you please explain the following in respect to the 'Retirement Portfolio/s' of the "LAW SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT CENTERS", and that is: Roger Shuler has been falsely imprisoned in the system which is operated in a digital matrix -my understanding- and therefore, I want the entire DISCOVERY in this new system of how the 'retirement system' operates, from algorithms to derivatives and whatever PROFIT MARGIN Roger is producing by being in the system of no due process and no rule of law 'digital GITMO', as Shelby County Jail.

Et Cetera, GET A PETITION and get it to the top retirees known as Supreme Justice U$A.

Anonymous said...

Word count requirements will not allow the entire article, so please see the link below and go to read the entire article.

From the LAMAR DEMOCRAT AND SULLIGENT NEWS, "The Weekly Read Daily"
August 12, 1998, (page 15)

Pryor Appoints Mobile Medical Examiner as New Director of State Department of Forensics Sciences

MONTGOMERY, AL - Attorney General Bill Pryor announces his appointment of Dr. James Downs of Mobile, a medical examiner for the Department of Forensics Sciences, as state director to replace 10-year director Carlos Rabren, who is retiring at the end of this month.

"I am confident that the citizens of Alabama will be well served by Dr. Downs," Pryor said. "Of the many impressive candidates who applied for this job, I feel that James Downs is the most imminently qualified by his education, experience, and vision for the department's future. As a medical examiner for the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences since 1994, he has distinguished himself as a chief of Autopsy Service and of Investigative Services, and served as a morgue safety officer and supervisor of autopsy technicians. He currently serves as a consultant to the Behavioral Sciences Unit at the FBI academy in Quantico, Virginia, and has completed Peace Officers Standard Training at the Southwest Alabama Police Academy in Bay Minette."

Downs holds a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from the University of Georgia and a doctorate of medicine from the Medical University of South Carolina, which residencies in anatomic pathology and clinical pathology and a fellowship in forensic pathology, all also from the Medical University of South Carolina. He has lectured extensively and is widely published on a number os specialized topics of forensic sciences.

Under state law, the Attorney General appoints the director of the apartment of Forensic Sciences. "This may be one of the most far-reaching and important decisions I make as Attorney General," Pryor said. "The director I have chosen will serve the law enforcement community and our state for many years to come. The retiring director, Carlos Rabren, has made a profound influence over the last 20 years, presiding over the modernization of DNA and firearms technology and bringing Alabama to the leading edge of the collection of forensic evidence."… continued……

FULL ARTICLE:
http://lsu.stparchive.com/Archive/LSU/LSU08121998P15.php

Unknown said...

U.S. | Police State and Prisons
National Lawyers Guild Applauds the Compassionate Release of Lynne Stewart
by National Lawyers Guild
Thursday Jan 2nd, 2014 2:22 PM

NEW YORK — On December 31, Judge John G. Koeltl granted the Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) request for the compassionate release of Lynne Stewart. This is heartening news. Ms. Stewart is 74 years old and has terminal cancer with a life expectancy of less than 18 months. She has been serving a ten-year sentence at the Federal Medical Center Carswell (FMC Carswell) in Fort Worth, Texas, in connection with her defense of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman.

lynne-stewart.jpg
lynne-stewart.jpg

As her condition has continued to deteriorate, the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) and several legal and social justice organizations have twice called on Attorney General Eric Holder to direct the BOP to grant compassionate release. Given that Ms. Stewart’s medical condition clearly falls within recent reforms to the BOP’s compassionate release program announced by Holder in August, and that the warden at FMC Carswell had earlier approved her release, the NLG urged that the process of consideration be expedited.

“From arrest to sentencing, Lynne Stewart's case was used by the Department of Justice to send a chilling message to attorneys: think twice about who you represent! For speaking to a Reuters reporter about her client’s viewpoints – in violation of an administrative order – an ailing Ms. Stewart was sentenced to a decade in prison. Today’s small measure of justice does little to repair the damage wrought by the government’s unjust prosecution of an advocate whose service to society has been widely documented,” said Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director of the NLG.

Robert J. Boyle, one of Lynne Stewart’s attorneys added, “We are gratified and thankful that the government has agreed to Lynne’s compassionate release request. She has dedicated her life to fighting for justice for the underserved and unpopular. Lynne can now return home to her family and to the community that loves her.”

Ms. Stewart is a longtime member of the National Lawyers Guild. Since her initial indictment, Guild members have educated the public about the many ways her case runs afoul of the Constitution. The Guild’s 2005 publication The Case of Lynne Stewart: A Justice Department Attack on the Bill of Rights is available at nlg.org.

December 31, 2013
http://www.nlg.org/news/releases/national-lawyers-guild-applauds-compassionate-release-lynne-stewart
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Unknown said...

Jailhouse Lawyer Vice President
Whitney Leeds

National Lawyers Guild

www.nlg.net

132 Nassau Street, Rm. 922
New York, NY 10038
Ph. (212) 679-5100
Fax (212) 679-2811
Board and Staff
National Officers

Azadeh Shahshahani
President
Bina Ahmad
National Vice President
Camilo Romero
National Vice President
Claire White
Student National Vice President
Gabriela Lopez
National Vice President
Marcus Kryshka
Legal Worker Co-Vice President
Mumia Abu-Jamal
Jailhouse Lawyer Vice President
Natasha Bannan
Executive Vice President
Roxana Orrell
Treasurer
Theresa Squillacote

http://www.nlg.org/news/releases/national-lawyers-guild-applauds-compassionate-release-lynne-stewart

Anonymous said...

Anon 01/03/14 @ 10:51 pm

2002 governor's race; election's final total results becomes a serious national curiosity issue; further inflamed by Pryor's seizing of ballot boxes, refusing a recount under the guises of having started a criminal investigation.

Point: NOT READILY AVAILABLE ANY REFERCING MATERIALS AS TO PRYOR'S INVESTIGATION'S RESULTS; EVEN MORE NOTICEABLE, NEVER OFFICIALLY INVESTIGATED.

Wouldn't there have been a grand jury impaneled?
Who was subpoenaed to testify before grand jury?
What media covered,gave reports on the investigation?
When and where and by whom with Pryor's Attorney General's office was there a public announcement as to investigation conclusion, grand jury findings if any, etc....

Being a statewide election for the office of governor; {who was complainant of record} claims of
election ballot box[es] tamperings supposedly via voteing machines [?] wouldn't then such a serious criminal act rise to the requesting of such an experienced forensic examiner as then known to be "Dr. John Downs".

Pryor notified Secretary of State
that he had seized the ballot boxes.

Alabama law requires that they be made available for minimum of six months post election day.

Did Pryor break ballot boxes seals? Did the Sheriff? Or was it the doctor during the course of Pryor's investigation; who were the required by state law individuals on scene before, during, and after ballot boxes breaking of seals?

This is one of many reasons that I seek information as to whom given the title State Director during these years.

Refer to Pryor's given unto sworn under oath to tell truths when appearing before Senate Judiciary for approval of federal judgeship, and one of the questions' answers ask of him will go back to, during the investigation of former governor Jim Folsom.

Who was [has] running a smoke screen for Pryor's lies. Why did Doctor James Downs resign as Alabama's State Director to except a position with GBI in Savannah?

What do you think Anon from 01/03/14 10:51 pm

RIChardo

Anonymous said...

IF the nude photo displayed of Mr. Pryor is authentic (and not a trick to set up, frame, and shut down Roger Shuler's blog,) then my personal opinion is that Mr. Pryor was compromised before he graduated from school even during the era the photo was made.

A compromised person often cannot make fair decisions and should never be in any position of power with the capacity to threaten an American citizen's freedom, family, or assets.

Powerful people will sometimes (even desperately) use every available means to avoid being exposed or have their secrets divulged.

Not saying this is the case, but there is something terribly wrong with the Siegelman story - with his loss of the election, the fumbling of the vote count in the Baldwin Sheriff's office, and his imprisonment for a "crime" that other governors commit traditionally when appointing campaign donors to state boards.

It was with dogged determination that Leura Canary went after Don Siegelman. Baldwin County seemed committed to destroy Steve Nodine even if he had been found innocent. While the cases are not comparable, there seems to be an undercurrent that designs the game and stacks the deck in Alabama.

Were these things happening before Republicans took control of politics, business, and the state?

Then Republican Troy King coached by the (murder/suicide) late Strategem consultants became A.G. and was soon splattered across the internet as a closeted person, and taking trips to Nashville to sing with George Jones. What's going on in Alabama?

One has to wonder exactly what Leura Canary and her business-minded New York native husband were really doing on their Russian Honeymoon. What is going on in Alabama with these cases simply wreaks, and is absolutely: UN-AMERICAN!

We need to form agencies (other than the FBI) to check high level corruption, because the FBI is apparently over-extended with terrorism and hasn't the time and assets to investigate these justice system horrors within that are ripping the country apart internally.

We need an agency that will monitor the "CIVIL" courts where the horrors occur on a daily basis.

Bloggers are all we have because the mainstream media will do what their advertisers and owners/corporate boards tell them to publish. If bloggers are silenced with jail, intimidation and harassment, then the truth will never be told in many instances.

Mr. Shuler has made a great sacrifice to remain in jail while this dialogue continues. I hope others will appreciate his sacrifice and suffering and contribute - one way or another. He needs all the support he can get because he is up against some high-dollar,extremely powerful people and in American courts these days: money and power or the lack of it is often what determines wins and losses in judicial rulings.



Unknown said...

2014 Annual Western Conference, Event - Simi Valley, CA - January 25, 2014

The Federalist Society will hold the 2014 Annual Western Chapters Conference at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, on January 25, 2014.

Steven G. Calabresi: co-founded The Federalist Society, serves as Chairman of the Society’s Board of Directors

Steven G. Calabresi, Clayton J. and Henry R. Barber Professor of Law

Phone: (312) 503-7012
E-mail: s-calabresi@law.northwestern.edu

Steven G. Calabresi co-founded The Federalist Society and serves as the Chairman of the Society’s Board of Directors. He served in the Reagan and first Bush Administrations from 1985 to 1990 and advised Attorney General Edwin Meese III, Ronald Reagan’s Domestic Policy Chief, T. Kenneth Cribb, and he wrote speeches for former Vice President Dan Quayle. Since joining the Northwestern faculty in 1990, Calabresi has published more than 30 articles and comments in law reviews. He is the George C. Dix Professor of Constitutional Law for 1998-2000 and for 2004-2007.

Northwestern School of Law

Phone: 312-503-3100
Fax: 312-503-2035
E-mail: dearlawdean@law.northwestern.edu

Arthur Rubloff Building, 375 E. Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611
http://www.law.northwestern.edu/

Daniel Rodriguez, Dean
daniel.rodriguez@law.northwestern.edu

Center on Wrongful Convictions, Law, School of

Phone: 312-503-2391
Fax: 312-503-8977
E-mail: cwc@law.northwestern.edu

Arthur Rubloff Building, 375 E. Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611

Robert Warden, Associate Director Center - WC r-warden@law.northwestern.edu
T 312-503-3291

Steven Drizin, Professor Clinical
s-drizin@law.northwestern.edu

T 312-503-6608

Jennifer Linzer, Coordinator of Special Events

j-linzer@law.northwestern.edu

http://www.fed-soc.org/doclib/20130412_2012AnnualReport.pdf

http://theartof12.blogspot.com/2014/01/steven-g-calabresi-co-founded.html

Pamela S. Karlan,

Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law and Co-Director, Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, STANFORD LAW SCHOOL, Neukom Building, Room N241, Crown Quadrangle, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, CA 94305-8610, T 6507232465, karlan@stanford.edu
T/F 650-725-4851 / 0253

FORWARD: DEMOCRACY & DISDAIN

http://www.harvardlawreview.org/media/pdf/vol126_karlan.pdf

Anonymous said...

Anon 01/05/14 @ 12:38 pm
1993 Sessions Assistant U.S. Attorney, Alabama; rejected appointment for Federal Judgeship gets Alabama Attorney General's office:
The question is: NOT that he, apparently with knowledge of Governor Fob James started an investigation into Jim Folsom's previous administration for acts of corruptions; BUT TO THE CONTRARY, why was the Folsom investigation stopped/dropped after Sessions becoming Alabama U.S. Senator accumulating all the investigative baggage at the payers expense for nothing when Sessions ask arriving in Washington about Folsom's case, him having nothing to say;
but more concerns when Pryor confronted by media after being appointed by James him too; with exception that he had never known of any investigation, and that HE COULDN'T close it, because he never opened it.
Their positions are in direct conflicts with the USDOJ's who Sessions had sought after to assist him!
Seigelman had testified against Pryor, his campaign manager Karl Rove and his bud Canary, and Pryor's tobacco company alliances during James tenure.
Obviously Jim Folsom did not run again for governor, rather Seigelman.
How did the USDOJ account for disposing of the Folsom case, the use of FBI, without any resolve?
Do these events not rise to the levels of any average minded Alabamian's thought processes?
Was there specific political exchanges of quid pro quo that began with the Sessions/Pryor- Folsom political corruption investigation that blasted off only to stop on a dime, and then without explanation?

Excluding Seigelman, Leura Canary during these years brought about more far reaching government corruptions on her watch than conceivable...........
And "their system" has been allowed to do, continuing to do these things to Roger and Carol Shuler because they didn't like what Shuler's said..........
Maybe Roger's case before a jury of his peers, media, and public will begin validating his previous comments, and for the record via a court reporter.

RIChardo

Anonymous said...

a person entrusted with the
authority and responsibility to
investigate and prosecute,

and too politically appointed to sit in life/death situation cases, fails in their rational thinking if believing their going naked for public to see won't ever come back to expose them; then they should remain members of the bar.

Imagine what thoughts reflected on by families, mothers, daughters, having been in judicial contact with someone with such background.

Support the Seigelman and Shuler families; it's not over yet.....
"Persistence." President Abraham
Lincoln

Anonymous said...

Bob Riley is in charge. He and his son control Hubbard and the Guv. Riley is pulling in millions as a lobbyist and off of the AAA scam that gives him five percent. Dude runs Alabama with an iron fist.

e.a.f. said...

While reading an alabama newspaper there ws an article on hubbard, who had been able to use $70K in campaign funds for legal work. Now that was entertaining. How did a silly law like that come into being. Then it got even sillier. These politicians can use it in criminal cases, if it pertains to their actions while in office. So it would appear politicians can get into trouble and then use campaign contributions to get them out of it. As I understand the article, Hubbard used lawyers to send people letters advising to stop "slandering" him. that was only his opinion,

What a waste of campaign funds. Much prefer the Canadian system. If you did something illegal while in office the government will pay for your defence. however, if you are found guilty, you pay it back. Seems just so much fairer.

So these people who don't like Mr. Shuler can in fact use their campaign funds to harass him. There is something very wrong in alabama and it is not just the cold weather moving in.

Canadian weather reports it will be colder in Atlanta than in Alaska. Ouch/
Perhaps that old saying of ...when hell freezes over--you just got your wish. Alabama is freezing over. British Columbia, the southern part is enjoying a balmy 7 deg. C. no snow, no wind. ah, perhaps this freeze in Alabama will cool some of the hot heads who through Mr. Shuler in jail. In the meantime, if its freezing remember to leave your taps running a bit at night so your pipes don't freeze.



Anonymous said...

Not meaning to distract from Roger's suffering, case nor his cause. Roger obviously has more courage and personal commitment than most.

Since interest is generated around James Downs and his appointment and influence in Alabama and court rulings, it would be very interesting to know whether James Downs was involved with the autopsies of two young girls while he was in Charleston, South Carolina. According to reports online, both girls were autopsied in Charleston, both suffered gruesome, horrible murders, both were investigated by Detective Bill Knowles of the Horry County (Myrtle Beach, SC) sheriff's office. Crystal Todd's murder was sensationalized through Trutv, and Amy Caroline Frink's murder was not. Both died and were reportedly autopsied during the period James Downs was located in Charleston.

In at least one of these murders, the mother did not identify the child's body.

From the Georgia Bureau of Investigation site:

Dr. James Downs - Regional Medical Examiner - Coastal Regional Crime Lab

Dr. James Downs completed his undergraduate degree in biochemistry at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia in 1983. He moved on to earn his medical degree in 1988 from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina. From 1988 to 1994, Dr. Downs completed an anatomic pathology residency, a forensic pathology fellowship (in conjunction with the Metro Dade County Medical Examiner Department - Miami, Florida), and a clinical pathology residency, all at the Medical University of South Carolina. During the period of 1990 to 1994, he was a deputy medical examiner in Charleston County, South Carolina.

He worked in a number of different capacities for the State of Alabama's Department of Forensic Sciences from 1994 to 2002, and was eventually appointed as the Chief Medical Examiner for the state of Alabama in 2000.

Dr. Downs joined the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in 2002 at the Coastal Regional Crime Lab in Savannah, Georgia. He is also currently a consultant at the Behavioral Sciences Unit at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, a major in the Civil Air Patrol (USAF Auxiliary) Legislative Wing, and a forensic pathology consultant for the C.S.S H.L Hunley Project in Charleston, South Carolina.
http://gbi.georgia.gov/medical-examiners