"Lt. Cmdr. Walter Fitzpatrick and I, along with five other patriots, went to the Monroe County [TN] courthouse Thursday, April 1, to serve some criminal arrest warrants While Fitzpatrick filed for the warrants at the court clerk’s office, James Bowman and I called the Madisonville Police Department to tell them we planned to make a citizen’s arrest at the courthouse and we wanted a police officer to go with us. The police dispatcher told us an officer was on his way to help us.http://www.scribd.com/doc/27029190/U-S-Grand-Jury-Institute-Inc-Investigative-Report-Monroecountytn-021110Bowman and I then went to the courthouse to help Fitzpatrick serve the warrants. We covered all the exits to be sure Gary Pettway couldn’t leave undetected.
According to Tennessee law, the term of a grand jury foreman is limited to no more than two years. City and county officials have refused to investigate Monroe County Judge Carroll L. Ross for convening grand juries using the same jury foreman, Gary D. Pettway, for the past 27 years."
"25 (twenty five) years of illegal prosecutions will cost TN's tenth District????
In case this escapes you I'll remind all who read this... For the past twenty five (25) years, the Monroe County 10th Judicial District has been convenening illegal Grand Juries and every Indictment or action handed down is null and void. Do you here that, residents of this district? Null and void!
All Lt. Commander Fitzpatrick ever asked for was a fair hearing in front of a duly formed Grand Jury and was repeatedly denied.
A man can only take so much and he reached the end of his legal peaceful rope with no recourse left so now this 10th District will be under the gun for denying its citizens due process in every case adjudicated and evry case since 1985 can and should be re-opened. Suits should be filed for wrongful imprisonment and whatever elese the Lawyers deem fit. ""TCA Rule 6 (g) (3) states: "The foreperson shall hold office and exercise powers for a term of 2 (two) years from appointment" This Foreperson has been such for the past 27 (twenty seven) years. "
Fitzpatrick's supporters claim Pettway is actually term limited to two years, meaning every case heard by the grand jury in the past 25 years is null and void. Courthouse employees reported they fielded unending calls Tuesday concerning the situation, with most callers being civil, but a few were reported to be threatening.
Monroe County Attorney Jerome Melson said there is legal precedent showing Pettway has broken no rules serving as grand jury foreman for 27 years. He cited a case from 1983 in Robertson County where William Hailey claimed he had been wrongly indicted in 1975 due to the fact only three people had served as grand jury foreman in 28 years. In 1983 the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled there is no language in Tennessee Criminal Court Rules of Procedure stating a grand jury foreperson is limited in how many terms they can serve.
“As I understand this ruling,” Melson said, “the Tennessee rules concerning the service of a grand jury foreman contains no term limits.”