Officer Scott Harrison nicely coordinates his lies, joining Debi Wade in suggesting that Carol broke her own arm by flailing about in backseat of patrol car

Scott Harrison

Missouri deputy Debi Wade, who wrote the bogus Probable Cause Statement that caused my wife, Carol, to be arrested, essentially claims that Carol broke her own arm by flailing about in the back seat of a patrol car after being arrested and handcuffed. What about other officers who gave written statements about events during our unlawful eviction in September 2015? It looks like they copied off Wade's homework. In law-enforcement terms, that probably is known as "coordinating your lies."

First, let's consider the words of Officer Scott Harrison, who played an uber curious role in all of this. He was the one who supposedly contacted David Shuler, my lawyer/brother, and advised him that I had placed a 911 call threatening to shoot anyone who attempted to evict us. On the day we were evicted, Harrison was one of the first officers through the door and pointed an assault rifle at my head. He also was the officer who drove Carol to jail and then to Cox North Medical Center, where he received word that her arm was broken.

A few days after that, according to discovery documents turned over to Carol in her criminal case, four officers on the scene concocted a colossal batch of lies to suggest Carol broke her own arm and cover up the truth -- that an officer, apparently Lt. Christian Conrad, broke her arm. From Harrison's written statement:

Lt. Conrad retrieved my patrol unit keys, and then he drove my patrol unit to the driveway to the south of our location. Lt. Conrad and I helped Carol to her feet and then I escorted her to my patrol unit (#313). Carol was twisting and turning herself in a resistive manner as I walked her to my patrol unit. I told Carol to calm down and step into the patrol unit. Carol seated herself in the patrol unit and situated herself, before I closed the vehicle door.

I went back to the residence and collected some paperwork that I had left inside. As I exited the residence, I heard Carol yelling/screaming, and then noticed she was throwing herself against the backseat and cage of my patrol unit. She did this multiple times in the time it took me to walk back to the vehicle and open the back passenger door. I asked Carol if she was alright. Carol yelled at me to take off the handcuffs and stated that her wrists were hurting. I had Carol lean forward and I checked the handcuffs for comfort again. I was able to place a finger between the handcuffs and Carol's wrist.

I then transported Carol to the Greene County Jail. During the transport I advised Carol of her rights under Miranda and she stated she understood her rights. Carol was calm and had placed her head against the rear passenger side window during the drive to the Jail. Carol also appeared to be sleeping at one point during the transport. Once at the jail, Carol complained about her left arm hurting. Carol had a visible scrape to her lower lip, which she made no complaint about. Carol stated the pain was more in the middle of her arm, near the elbow. I advised jail staff to have a nurse from the Medical Division check out Carol. I photographed Carol's injury to her lower lip at 15:19 hours at the jail.

For the record, Carol categorically denies flailing about in the patrol car and says she couldn't have done that even if she had wanted to -- which she didn't. We will present evidence in upcoming posts that shows she is telling the truth.

As for Scott Harrison, his world soon would get a lot more complicated. He and his colleagues would find it necessary to build a web of lies in an effort to cover their butts:

A nurse arrived and looked at Carol's arm, and I took a photo of the arm where she stated it was hurting. I photographed Carol's left arm/elbow at 16:01 and 16:02 hours at the jail, which did not show any bruising but did sow some minor swelling. It wasn't until after that, that Carol began complaining of "severe" pain to her left arm and elbow. The jail nurse stated that Carol would need to be checked out at the hospital before she could be admitted as an inmate into the Greene County Jail. I notified Lt. Wade that Carol would need to be transported to Cox North Hospital for care. I placed handcuffs in front of Carol just prior to transport. She stated that she was in no pain from the handcuffs. I transported Carol to Cox North Hospital without incident. Upon arrival at Cox North ER, Carol was placed in room #8 and was then seen by Dr. J. [Jock] Porter, M.D. During our time waiting in the ER, the bruising became much more visible, so I photographed Carol's left [elbow] again, at 19:09. This photograph shows swelling and severe bruising to Carol's left arm in the elbow area.

After Carol's left arm and elbow were X-rayed, Dr. Porter advised that it was broken just above the elbow and would require surgery. Dr. Porter scheduled a Cox Ambulance to transport Carol to Cox South Hospital for the actual surgery. I notified Lt. Wade of the status update, and she then notified Capt. [Jeremy] Lynn of the situation. Lt. Wade called back and advised that Sheriff Arnott authorized Carol to be released from the PC charges for Assault on LEO 3rd degree and Interfering with a Legal Process, and that we would present the case to the Greene County Prosecuting Attorney for review. I notified hospital staff and Carol Shuler herself that was released from custody prior to her being transported by ambulance to Cox South Hospital for surgery. Carol remained calm the entire time we were at the jail and hospital.

Harrison's statement tells us that Sheriff Jim Arnott authorized that Carol be "released" from charges, not just released from jail to receive treatment at the hospital. That appears to mean any charges were dropped. So what did Carol do to cause the charges to be reinstated in fall 2016 and for her to be re-arrested on January 30, 2017? Nothing in the documents we've seen suggests she did anything. But she still faces criminal charges.

Next, we will examine the written statements of two more officers.


(To be continued)