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| Deputy Debi Wade (From facebook.com) |
I use the term "preposterous" to describe Wade's claim for two reasons: (1) She places the "barreling" event near the front door of our duplex apartment, and I saw everything that happened in that area, from the front seat of our car, parked about 15 feet away in the driveway. Carol never initiated contact with Wade, and I never saw Wade make contact with Carol, unless it was to help her off the ground after another officer had body slammed Carol and broken her left arm by yanking on both arms in an upward and back motion; (2) Greene County Prosecuting Attorney (PA) Dan Patterson apparently does not believe Wade's account because, in his Misdemeanor Information (MI) filed with the court, he charged Carol with only one count of assault on an officer -- and that allegedly was against a male officer named Jeremy Lynn, and it was inside our apartment, just as officers had thrust open the door.
Carol is not charged with assaulting Wade, so one has to wonder why Wade included false information that even the PA does not believe -- or at least, he does not believe it amounted to a criminal offense. It also raises questions about Wade's credibility, especially when you consider all the other hokum in her PC Statement. (More on that in upcoming posts.)
What really happened? Carol spells that out in a Motion to Dismiss Charges filed on March 14. (The Motion to Dismiss, PC Statement and MI are embedded at the end of this post.)
Note: Wade admits in the first paragraph of her PC Statement that she did not witness Carol push Officer Lynn, but an unknown person "advised" her that it happened. That, of course, is blatant hearsay, which is inadmissible in court and means, as a procedural matter, there is nothing to support probable cause that Carol committed any offense involving assault. As a factual matter, Wade's account is pure fantasy and should put her at risk of criminal sanctions for filing a false PC statement.
Carol's account starts with Jeremy Lynn and other officers bursting through our door, even though we had filed a Notice of Appeal the day before that placed an automatic stay on eviction. Given that we were in lawful possession of the apartment on Sept. 9, 2015, every action by the cops amounts to "forcible entry and detainer," a charge they will face (among others) in our upcoming police brutality/civil rights lawsuit. Here are Carol's words from the Motion to Dismiss:
I heard noise outside our apartment and looked out the peephole to see what was going on. We had filed a notice of appeal the day before, with appropriate fees, and we knew that put an automatic stay on the eviction. I knew there was no way, under the law, that anyone could be attempting an eviction. When I heard noise outside, I thought we had a possible prowler or someone attempting a home invasion. That’s why I looked out the peephole, and I had my cell phone in my hand, thinking I might need to call 911 any moment. Next thing I knew, the door was thrown open, and I was slammed up against the wall, behind the open door, hard enough to possibly cause a concussion. My glasses were knocked off, the cell phone was knocked out of my hand, and I was disoriented. But I never caused physical contact with Officer Lynn or anyone else on 9/9/15. While I was facing the wall, someone (I assume it was Officer Lynn) grabbed both of my arms, pulled them behind my back and placed them in handcuffs. As Lynn was applying the handcuffs, he caused my head to bang against the wall another 2 or 3 times. Also, someone put his hand on top of my head, as handcuffs were being applied, forcing my head violently into the wall several more times. Once in handcuffs, I wasn’t capable of pushing anyone, and I did not do so. I did not push anyone before being placed in handcuffs, either. I would be glad to file an affidavit if the court deems it necessary. If Jeremy Lynn is the officer I think he was, he’s a large fellow – maybe 6-4 or 6-5 and 270 pounds or more. The notion that I would push him is absurd.
So, Jeremy Lynn caused Carol's head to bang against the wall ("2 or 3 times"), and as Lynn was handcuffing her, someone put his hand on top of her head and violently pushed it into the wall several more times. And the cops are claiming Carol assaulted them? Is it any wonder I've seen signs that Carol is suffering from post-concussion symptoms, especially when you consider she also was slammed butt-first to the ground that day, outside the apartment? Carol has one of the sharpest minds I've encountered -- she made straight A's in school through K-12 and college -- but I now regularly see signs of jumbled thinking, an inability to express thoughts in a concise, direct manner. Is this the result of her brain being battered about inside her skull during an eviction that never should have happened?
In the days immediately after the eviction, our No. 1 concern was about trying to get Carol's arm pieced back together via trauma surgery. I'm not aware of medical personnel conducting any concussion tests on her, but there is no doubt her brain took a beating at the beginning and the end of our eviction.
As for Wade's claim that Carol "barreled" into her, it's pure nonsense -- and it should earn Wade time behind bars, depending on the penalties for filing a false PC Statement . Here are Carol's words on the subject:
I did not take off on a dead run for the door, and Officer Wade did not help me put items in our car. I did that on my own. Officer Wade already was at the front of the residence, so she did not jog up behind me, and I did not pivot and barrel into her head first. I wear glasses, I have scoliosis, and I have never been in a physical encounter with anyone. The notion that I would “barrel into” Debi Wade, likely breaking my glasses and injuring my neck and back, is nonsensical. I did not initiate contact with Officer Wade, and I do not recall her making contact with me.
This fantasy about Carol barreling into her, tells me that Debi Wade was not even trying to get things accurate in her PC Statement; she apparently was assigned to concoct a document that would terrorize us -- causing Carol to be falsely arrested and imprisoned -- and that's what she did.
(To be continued)
20 comments:
They probably assigned a female officer to write this PC Statement because they figured it would be more believable coming from a woman.
@9:41 --
You might be onto something. I guess that means a woman like Debi Wade has to sell her soul to keep her position in the fraternity of a corrupt sheriff's department.
I don't know Carol personally, but I keep up with her (and you) on Facebook and read about her here, and she doesn't come across as the type to barrel into anyone, much less a cop.
@9:51 --
Carol isn't, and she didn't. Was she upset that day? Yes, and so was I. Most people would be upset when they know they had filed a notice of appeal that stays execution on an eviction, and the dumb-ass cops come "barreling" into their home anyway. On at least four grounds, the landlord had no lawful right to bring the eviction and the cops had no right to be there.
I don't understand why Dep. Wade claims she was "advised" that Carol pushed the male officer, and then she claims you threatened to shoot officers, but she provides no source of where that information came from. Why didn't those sources fill out the affidavit instead of her? Why is the sheriff's office and the prosecutor allowing clear hearsay into a sworn document?
@9:57 --
All good questions. I think it's a case of "it's hard to keep your lies straight." Also, it makes me think this PC Statement was thrown together at the last minutes, with the SOL closing down, and no one bothered to check to see if it even made sense, much less whether it was truthful or not.
The PC Statement is dated 9/22/15, which is 13 days after the eviction on 9/9/15. You don't think that's an accurate date on the PC Statement?
@10:01 --
Hardly anything in the PC Statement is accurate, so why would the date be accurate? Why would they write a PC Statement 13 days after the event? If you have a true offense, wouldn't you write the PC Statement within a couple of days of the event? Why wait until 9/8/16 to file the PC Statement? They wrote it on 9/22/15 and then let it sit for almost a year before filing?
That doesn't generate confidence that the statement is accurate, and it sure as heck isn't.
To me, it reads like it was written at the last minute, almost a full year after the event, and Debi Wade -- being both dishonest and forgetful of what actually happened -- just pulled stuff out of her ass.
I would have thought that if the police genuinely believed that you were armed and prepared to shoot they would have called to you to come out with your hands up rather than attempt to enter the property with a key. For all they knew, according to their statement, you could have been waiting with an armed weapon ready to shoot! They had to be pretty certain you were not armed to risk an uninvited entry.
I still don't understand why someone was in such a hurry to execute on this eviction, to the point that someone scheduled it inside the 10-day window when nothing could be done. Why not let the lease go month to month, and if you couldn't pay at some point, then bring a rent and possession case. Why the rush, and the BS about a 911 call and the phony story about Carol barreling into a deputy? Seems nuts to me.
It seems nuts because it is nuts. And my own brother was involved in it, which makes it even nuttier. The month-to-month scenario you suggest is what should have happened, according to the lease. But it seems clear to me that someone did not want us to go month to month. They wanted to lock us into another one-year lease, and we weren't going to do it when the lease we already had didn't contain such language.
Were they concerned that we might return to Alabama? That suggests communications between Alabama thugs and Missouri thugs, which I've thought for some time was going on -- and it's probably still going on. I'm not sure, but the whole thing was not a legit eviction. It was done, as Missouri's forcible entry law says, under "circumstances of terror."
Steve:
Very interesting comment, an idea that had not occurred to me. As I think about it, the way they entered was incredibly stupid if it had been a situation where they thought someone was armed. It's hard to describe the layout of that apartment, but as you enter the front door, there is a dining area back to the right and behind the person entering. If I'd had a semi-automatic weapon, I could have positioned myself there and picked off 3-4 officers before they ever knew what hit them. Henderson, the one with the assault rifle, looked scary. But he entered facing away from the dining area, with his gun facing away from the dining area. If I'd been in the right position -- in the dining area -- and been so inclined, I could have dropped him like a sack of Idaho potatoes. Three or four other cops barged in right with him, and with a semi-automatic weapon and the ability to use it, we could have had a pile of deceased cops right at our front door.
But you are on target: They did not act at all like cops who had any fear of being shot. I'm guessing they knew I wasn't going to put Carol or our kitty kat (Baxter) at risk, plus I didn't own a gun. Kind of hard to conduct a shootout without a gun.
I'm concerned about Carol's brain. These bastards banged her head against a wall multiple times? They body slammed her to the ground? She very well might still be suffering from traumatic brain injury. That's serious stuff, and it concerns me more than her arm, as bad as that is. Arms generally can be repaired. Brains often cannot.
LS: I agree with Anonymous@10:56--is there any way Carol could obtain a neurology evaluation--scans and such? Also any news on the dash and body cams of the SWAT team? Am eagerly awaiting their appearance!
@12:24 --
I agree with @10:56, too. So far, Carol has had no brain-related examination. In the days after her injury, the medical team was focused on her arm, especially when X-rays showed the bone had been snapped in two. Also, Carol and I were separated for almost 24 ours while she was in jail/hospital, and I never had a chance during that time to tell docs what I had seen in terms of her being slammed to the ground and having her head banged up against the wall, etc. After surgery on her arm, Carol had four months of PT -- and we were under constant threat of being homeless -- so the head issues took a back seat.
We don't have health insurance, so I'm not sure of any way Carol could get a neurology exam. It should have been done within a few days of the injury, of course, but jails aren't known for providing world-class health care. It's now roughly 19 months since the injury, and I'm very concerned about possible damage to her brain. She simply cannot think and express ideas in a coherent way right now. It's frustrating for her and disturbing for me, and while I'm hardly an expert on brain trauma, it sounds like this could be the aftermath of her head being banged around.
Do these hillbillies in Missouri know that arresting someone is serious business, and it's not done on second and third-hand information. Ms. Wade has first-hand knowledge of almost nothing, and the little she does have, the prosecutor rejected. What a joke.
This might offend some, but I don't care. Experience has taught us that a lot of cops are not very bright. I guess that's why they are cops. It's a good position for someone who's stupid to get off on a power trip.
Ms. Wade's PC statement is the work of someone who is a pretty dim bulb. Worst of all, she has no one who provides any direction or management. She knows good and well the "barreling" bullshit never happened. But to move up in the organization, I guess you have to kiss Sheriff Arnott's doughy fat ass, so that's what she did.
If you say, "I'm not writing a fake PC Statement; find somebody else to do it," I guess that's your ticket out the door -- along with your steady paycheck, your benefits, etc.
It's a miracle someone wasn't killed during that eviction. Sounds like absolute chaos.
@3:48 --
It was a miracle. I told Carol the other night, I think three things saved me:
(1) I was outraged by what I saw happening to Carol, but she didn't seem hurt, so I figured she would be OK. Why she didn't scream out in pain, I'll never know. But I didn't hear her make a peep. If there had been any sign of a visible injury -- her screaming out in pain, her bleeding, the bone sticking through her arm -- I probably would have gone nuts, intervened, and gotten myself shot. (Note: I wonder if Carol had a concussion and that might have dulled her pain centers, keeping her from feeling the full pain until later. Just a guess on my part.)
(2) A cop had thrown our kitty kat, Baxter (in his pet taxi), on the hood of our car, and I was acutely aware of Baxter's well-being. It was clear from the handcuffs they were arresting Carol, and I knew if I got arrested, Baxter would die. The cops probably would have killed him for fun or let him loose. He took medication for asthma and high blood pressure (yes, cats can have high blood pressure) and being let loose would have been a death sentence for him. I couldn't risk getting arrested and putting his life at risk.
(3) Just a few months earlier, I had been arrested in our garage in Birmingham. That experience taught me that cops are incredibly dangerous. They are armed to the teeth, and they do not care one iota about the rights or well-being of subjects they encounter. Until that happened, I'd always figured cops were somewhat human and rational. But they aren't -- or many of them aren't. You can't talk sense to them, they are taught to bully and hurt others, and they are taught that they can get away with rogue behavior. As bad as the ones in Birmingham were, the ones who attacked Carol were even worse. I knew they would give no second thought to shooting me. If you even appear to be challenging them, they take that as a threat and grounds to eliminate you -- and they have the weaponry and the training to do it. So, my earlier arrest might have saved me from getting killed during that eviction.
All cops are jackboots who carry pistols with hair triggers and no safeties- "for their safety"
How much do you have to lose to realize that you can't change a damn thing and that there is no difference from Democrats and Republicans ?
That Liberal and Conservative as terms are just used to create the "team mentality" of X vs Y and if you observe their behavior- they don't give a shit about a me, a Roger, or a Carol, or a Baxter ?
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