Randall Kelton of Austin's Rule of Law Radio was charged and convicted in Rusk, TX for filing informal criminal complaints against the county and district attorney with a Cherokee County grand jury. After spending several weeks in the Rusk, TX jail, Kelton has been released on bond while awaiting his appeal. What is the "corruption" Randall Kelton presented to the March 2009 Cherokee County grand jury (as others have in complaints to the Attorney General and State Bar) and specifically what exactly does Cherokee County do that is 'criminal activity?' What did Kelton disclose from the public record that they retaliated against? Furthermore, what are Anderson and Cherokee Counties doing within their court systems that amounts to retaliation against Free Speech?
According to charges filed in Cherokee County, this bunch deemed it a Class A misdemeanor for the
Rule of Law Radio talk show host to have met with a 2009 grand jury, speak of the cases they were considering and disclose any public information. (Source:
Tyler Paper, "
Austin Radio Talk Show Host Sentenced," September 29, 2011) In late September, Randy Kelton was fined $4000 and sentenced to Cherokee County jail for 1 year after a kangaroo court and the local newspapers were told Kelton was part of the Robert Fox so-called "sovereign citizen" movement.
Translation: Randy Kelton and his radio show are "dangerous," therefore trampling the US Constitution was again necessary to stop the muckracking against their beloved little enclave.
A mishmash of witnesses including bailiffs who Rebel-Rouse under Confederate banner on the courthouse lawns and other direct descendants of the jury pool were called to testify against Kelton, who represented himself
pro se. The County's witnesses had nothing to do with the case, but everything to do with Kelton's locally biased and misinformed jury. There goes another waste of their taxpayer dollars.
Of course any American citizen has the right to present public information to a grand jury (and circumvent prosecutors, bailiffs and investigators), therefore the charges against Kelton, his trial and subsequent incarceration are all false, malicious and retaliatory on their face. A recent
Houston Chronicle article spells out how a Harris County grand jury is excluding the district attorney in their ongoing probe into HPD's breath alcohol testing procedures. Of course, the rule of law applies in Harris County and not in Cherokee County.
Grand jury may be targeting DA in HPD van probe.
Panel excluded prosecutors from investigation.
A Houston grand jury apparently investigating recent allegations about the Houston Police Department's troubled mobile alcohol-testing vehicles may now be setting its sights on the Harris County District Attorney's Office.
An appellate court ruled on Thursday that the grand jury can continue to exclude prosecutors from listening to witnesses testify in secret proceedings in the ongoing investigation, despite protests from Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos. (Source: Houston Chronicle, October 22, 2011)
The Cherokee County grand and petit jury pools are illegally stacked and manipulated by the county clerks, district attorney, district attorney investigators, and sheriff's department. In both civil and criminal cases, family members and pals of those testifying lie during
voir dire in order to be impaneled. That is if there is any
voir dire to speak of. Whether it is a criminal or civil case, these jurors are suborned and coached by the above entities to feign ignorance and deny any personal prejudice, when in fact most have a 100% conflict of interest. Local officials seeking revenge against those within their jurisdiction do so through the local court system.
These tricks are as old as the generational corruption within Cherokee County. State laws require jury pools of potential jurors to reflect the demographics of the county, not those who are puppets for the district attorney; however very few East Texas defense attorneys ever challenge the makeup of rural grand juries or trial juries during
voir dire. Challenges must be made before juries are impaneled, which is impossible for Cherokee County's version of sneak-attack indictments, such as those repeatedly against
Robert Fox. In Cherokee County, individuals called to the grand jury are not random, they are cohorts and/or family members of prosecutors and law enforcement, thus
illegal. These 'pillars of the community' were obviously found by
Randall Kelton to be in complete conflict of interest for hearing cases against
Robert Fox.
Article 4 Part 2 of the Texas Constitution (County Administrative Council) spells out how the county clerk of court is to conduct a random lottery of county residents every six months to form a pool of jurors, as well as make EVERY AND ALL county court proceedings and records available to the public. Section 6 reiterates that all county court juries and activities must be open to the public. Apparently this doesn't apply in Corrupt Town, USA when an out-of-town investigative journalist snoops through the public record.
The county clerk of court shall conduct an at-random lottery of citizens to serve as county court jurors, record and maintain all files pertaining to each case as a court of record, maintain said files at court expense at such places as to safeguard said records, make records of every county court proceeding publicly available after filing in an easily searchable form which shall be open for public inspection, ensure that records are filed within thirty days of completion of each county court proceeding, place the seal of the court on all documents where a seal is necessary, and witness the authenticity of the documents. (Article 4, Part 2 Section F, Texas Constitution)
The Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 19 also spells out in Article 19.01 Section B how district judges can get their fingers in the selection of jury commissions. Which brings us to another criminal conspiracy alive and well in Cherokee County: the passing of private information, including citizens' stolen mail, illegally intercepted phone conversations and subpoenaed records doled out in advance to these potential jury pools.
When Cherokee County officials pass nonpublic information to their Good Ol' Boy/Biddie network they are committing the crime of
Misuse of Public Information. As spelled out in the Texas Attorney General's online publication on public ethics, state law prohibits a public official or public employee from disclosing a citizen's nonpublic information (such as their social security and driver license numbers) found under the
Texas Government Code, Chapter 552. This same code spells out what information is public via the Freedom of Information Act. A district attorney's criminal record, for example an old DUI right out of Law School and a night in Austin's jail, is public record whether or not the charges were expunged, adjudicated or stricken from the voters' access.
TEXAS PENAL CODE
TITLE 8. OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
CHAPTER 39. ABUSE OF OFFICE
§ 39.06. MISUSE OF OFFICIAL INFORMATION
(a) A public servant commits an offense if, in reliance on information to which he has access by virtue of his office or employment and that has not been made public, he: (1) acquires or aids another to acquire a pecuniary interest in any property, transaction, or enterprise that may be affected by the information; (2) speculates or aids another to speculate on the basis of the information; or (3) as a public servant, including as a principal of a school, coerces another into suppressing or failing to report that information to a law enforcement agency.
(b) A public servant commits an offense if with intent to obtain a benefit or with intent to harm or defraud another, he discloses or uses information for a nongovernmental purpose that: (1) he has access to by means of his office or employment; and (2) has not been made public.
(c) A person commits an offense if, with intent to obtain a benefit or with intent to harm or defraud another, he solicits or receives from a public servant information that: (1) the public servant has access to by means of his office or employment; and (2) has not been made public.
(d) In this section, "information that has not been made public" means any information to which the public does not generally have access, and that is prohibited from disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code.
(e) Except as provided by Subsection (f), an offense under this section is a felony of the third degree.
(f) An offense under Subsection (a)(3) is a Class C misdemeanor.
Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., p. 883, ch. 399, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1974. Amended by Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3243, ch. 558, § 9, eff. Sept. 1, 1983; Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 30, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987; Acts 1987, 70th Leg., 2nd C.S., ch. 43, § 3, eff. Oct. 20, 1987; Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 927, § 1, eff. Aug. 28, 1989. Renumbered from V.T.C.A., Penal Code § 39.03 and amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, § 1.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1994. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, § 5.95(90), eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, § 14.52, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.
Arrest records, expired warrants, police reports, affidavits and sworn testimony is available even in rural areas for those who search online and/or public courthouse records. This type of information is what
Randall Kelton has been accused of accessing in attempt to sway the Cherokee County grand jury in March 2009. Their collective response was only a licensed "investigator" can present evidence to a Texas grand jury when a private citizen files criminal complaints against them. Ain't that convenient? Again, they butchered the Texas Occupational Code to retaliate against whistleblowers and are meeting behind closed doors with the 12th Court of Appeals in Tyler in hopes of rubber stamping their corruption.
Time to call in all the favors.
These are the same courts that can have a bailiff removal hearing for their highest paid constable the day before his Federal drug indictment. All the while claiming on the record that their appointed designee never showed up for work, and never mentioning his arrest. (Source:
Jacksonville Daily Progress) These are the same courts trying to sue Palestine, TX blogger
Ricky Minton of
Small Town Justice.com for expressing his opinion on how his friend's criminal case was handled by Anderson County investigators. (Source:
Tyler Tribune, October 24, 2011) These are the same courts that cash bond out absconding parolees caught with guns and drugs, who then go off and murder the next DPS trooper who stops them. (Source:
Longview Marshall News Journal, May 8, 2008)
These are the same courts who attempt to exonerate a
rapist cop facing federal prison by prosecuting his victims. (Source:
Jacksonville Daily Progress "Protesters take to courthouse" January 25, 2006) These are the same courts making plea deals with drug addicts and pedophiles, while wasting taxpayer time and money by using these same courts against their political enemies. Now their targets are stretching beyond the realm of AM radio and into journalism and the blogosphere.
Are they trying to set some type of legal precedent in the local courts to silence every articulate complaint against them? Probably. They definitely want to have it both ways-- as they did with federally convicted bailiff
Randy Thompson: on one hand they claim their Cherokee County Pct. 3 Constable never served as bailiff in the
369th Judicial District, while at the same time threatened him with contempt of court for not continuing his duties. (Source:
Jacksonville Daily Progress, Jan. 7, 2006) Randall Thompson was supplementing his taxpayer paid salary by driving to the Mexican border to buy pseudoephedrine to make crystal meth for sale in Cherokee County, TX. This continued until federal authorities caught him on the border.
What does Cherokee County mean during the 2006 Thompson hearing "we don't know where he is?" Constable Randy Thompson was removed from his bailiff position
in absentia the day before his federal drug indictment. Cherokee County feigned ignorance in the newspapers as to Thompson's whereabouts up to the day his TRUE BILL hit the presses. Only years after the fact can readers of the
Jacksonville Daily Progress find hidden in their archives the articles about Randall Thompson being in contempt of the same court who didn't know where he was...
The
Daily Progress knew where
Cherokee County Constable Thompson was and what he was doing, just as his employers knew of his arrest months before his indictment. Thompson was sentenced to 10 years. (Source:
Tyler Paper, August 23, 2006) Whatever the case may be, Cherokee County circles the wagons when one of their own is caught red-handed engaged in some type of corruption.
On the other hand, found in easily obtainable court records, innocent citizens have been sentenced in Cherokee County for crimes that not only were never committed, but for homicides linked directly to law enforcement. They usually target the poor who can't afford an attorney. As a result, destitute families have suffered the most within the county's version of court-appointed legal representation. Cherokee County's version of public defenders supplement their incomes by staying in the good graces of those who appoint them as indigents' counsel. They know not to rock the boat or be culled from the 'friend of the court' list. They know if they challenge the court's railroading they'll lose that income to one of their less ethical colleagues. Some even know this rule of thumb so well, that they can show up at the Rusk, Texas courthouse drunk as skunks.
Amicus curiae gone amok.
The district attorney's office in cahoots with the
Cherokee County Bar Association has protected and coddled drunken attorneys on the county dole who have shown up inebriated at the Rusk courthouse and performed their court-appointed duties, drunk and derelict. They have in the past collectively lied directly to examining bar associates who follow-up on complaints against the drunks among Cherokee County's bar association. In turn, they spend your taxpayer dollars blackmailing each other into silence and illegally harassing their political rivals with sexual innuendo.
Case in point, the recent ousting of Cherokee County's lead sheriff investigator
Chris White and the revelation that he was spending county time on county computers concocting false sexual harassment claims against Jacksonville Police Chief
Reece Daniel. White, Cherokee County's highest paid sheriff's deputy, was sending out anonymous emails to the Tyler and other East Texas media claiming that Chief Daniel was facing sexual harassment suits, when in fact the police chief was not. (Source:
Jacksonville Daily Progress, December 19, 2009) A simple apology was all that was required to get both agencies to cooperate with each other and go back to violating people's' rights. No one would ever consider Capt. White's libelous emails against the Jacksonville police chief to be worthy of a defamation lawsuit to be filed in either district court having jurisdiction. The only defamation lawsuits found in this area are against private citizens making critical comments against them while they, on the other hand, are allowed to perjure and slander to their hearts' content.
Twin counties and double standards.
Juxtapose decades of all the above to what is happening to free speech bloggers and whistleblowers such as
Randall Kelton of Jurisprudence.com and
Ricky Minton of Small Town Justice. Kelton was sentenced to 1 year for asking the Cherokee County grand jury to investigate the corruption he had uncovered. Minton is being pursued in the same Anderson County court he alleges on his personal website allows investigators to perjure. What the hell is going on in backwater East Texas that the US Attorney General's office allows private citizens to be targeted for expressing their opinion?
Any American citizen can post publicly accessible police affidavits online and challenge their validity, especially when all charges related to the police report have been dropped.
Ricky Minton of Palestine, TX is being pulled into district court where a defamation lawsuit has been filed against him for complaining about an old police report on his Liberty Blog. All in order to make him spend money and make an example of him. Detective
Nathan Allen of the Palestine PD is seeking damages in the 369th District Court for ambiguous comments posted somewhere on Minton's
Small Town Justice website. We would post the comment here but we can't find it; try the
Ellis County Observer. With a scorned jury and sympathetic judge, they will ignore the fact that Detective Allen has been promoted time and time again, subsequent to Minton's criticism and open letters to Allen's superiors. The only ones reacting to Minton's comments are those spending taxpayer time trolling the Internet. Minton's website is Wikipedia based, an open forum and the epitome of Free Speech. And if read with honest intent, the site actually exonerates a lot of local public servants. They just can't stand people reading about it.
"We're watching you, boy..."
Because
Ricky Minton (owner of the website) also resides in their pissing grounds, they get to use taxpayer money to stack his future civil jury with those he has been critical of. At the same time, the Palestine police officer filing suit continues to have his own popularity and career skyrocket in the local
Palestine Herald, while claiming "emotional distress" from Minton's randomly obscure website and a forgotten incident report
[here]. We see how this works; citizens cannot be even slightly critical of anyone in the criminal justice system in Anderson and Cherokee Counties without being dragged through the same corrupt system. Federal authorities know that these 'justice' authorities will retaliate against anyone within their reach.
"You don't talk about us, boy...now we're gonna getcha..."
Is it 1st Amendment free speech to question the police skills of one of Palestine's shining stars; and secondly
Who Really Cares? Apparently the district court "having jurisdiction" to dole out the punishment thinks otherwise and has figured out a way to get their hands on the operator of
Small Town Justice (just like they do everyone else who criticizes them). Ricky Minton's blog talk has not affected the Palestine Police Department's promotion of Nathan Allen by one iota. The fact is
Detective Nathan Allen has a fine career ahead of him, as his continual publicized promotions indicate. They just can't stand people putting a different perspective on their actions, even when they make simple mistakes.
It doesn't get any more UN-Christian and UN-American than this, folks. What's next? Are they going to shut down all the ISPs in East Texas like they do in China and Egypt, because of one person's negative opinion? Is a rural East Texas jury going to find that a private citizen cannot write complaint letters and post them freely without reprisal from them? They already know the answer because the fix has been in the works the day a private citizen went public in their jurisdiction.
What about those openly public comments about police perjury on
Rate My Cop, the online private citizen blotter? Police are rated on a scale from 4 Star excellent to über-BAD; these officers fare pretty well after the online criticism and accolades seen by millions.
It is an abuse of power for local attorneys in bed with criminal justice officials to use the legal system to target private citizens because of their personal comments. It should be called what it is: judicial terrorism.
Travelers and business people should know what they are getting into by challenging the status quo of these small towns. This area isn't America, folks. They use taxpayer money and their public positions to retaliate against anyone they deem a threat to their government pensions. Each one of these miscarriages of justice above is linked to the corrupt stench of the same people who have been at it for decades. Sadly, their local inbred supporters are perfectly OK with it all, no matter how UNAMERICAN. They want things said in print the way they want it repeated, not the way it really is. They don't just throw tantrums like a spoiled little rich brat when someone says something bad about them. They are rogue, rabid and out of control.
