Since my release from ILLEGAL IMPRISONMENT on April 10,2001, my quest
for justice has only gained
momentum.
I am the victim of small town politics where the locals have met very little
resistance in doing things their own way, regardless
of the law.
I feel that I must preface my story with events that led up to the conspired,
bogus lie, and malicious accusation against me.
In June 1996, I was served with an arrest warrant for stalking John W. Waters
by Sheriff Pete Cole of the Sheriff's
Department of Bullock County, City of Union Springs, Alabama. My father
and I were at his place of business, working
when Cole arrived. I had no idea what it involved and told my father that
something is suspicious about it. My father told him
to "get that mess out of here, anything concerning that courthouse ." I
even thought myself, what are they up to now?
I walked over to the sheriff's office after work and signed a $5,000 bond,
still not knowing what it was all about. I had not
had any legal trouble with anyone, I was just baffled by this 'out of the
blue' charge.
I grew up in Union Springs, Alabama. My parents, grandparents, and great
grandparents had also lived there all of their lives. My life was happy growing
up with my 5 brothers and sisters. I thought many times back then that there
was truly no place
like home. Even the name, Union Springs, sounded so pleasant to hear.
After graduating from high school in 1973, I attended Greenville Technical
College in Greenville, South Carolina and became
a Registered Nurse. I continued my education at the University of So. Carolina
in a related field of Nursing, where I
graduated with a B. S. Degree in Psychology.
I was married for a number of years and have one child.
In 1990, I moved back to Alabama and continued working as a Registered Nurse.
I worked for almost 2 years at the hospital
in Bullock County, where I was born, and where the doctor who delivered
me was still practicing Medicine.
Illegal drugs have always been a major problem in Bullock County, as is
true for most areas and states today. I did not like
what I was beginning to see, the growing drug industry, and also the sick
suffering addicts that it was producing.
My uncle, who worked closely with John W. Waters, claimed that Waters supplies
the money for a large portion of the drugs that are smuggled into Bullock
County. As proof, my uncle became involved in the business with JW Waters
for the greed of
the fast easy money, and he made it no secret that JW Waters was the money-man
behind the drugs.
My thinking was that if the king pins of the drug business were arrested
and removed, then the 'nickel and dimers' would not have access to the drugs,
and that many lives would be saved from tragedy as a result.
My nightmare began when I took action to help remedy the drug situation
in my home town. The law is not where one wants
to go to report crime or corruption in that town. I was once told by the
Chief of Police that if I called to report another crack dealers' house, that
he was going to 'put me in jail'.
I contacted the FBI, the drug enforcement task (which two members live
in Union Springs and their primary income is from
the drug sales), and the ABI.
In June 1996 when summoned to court for stalking JW Waters, the ABI agent,
Mr Arrington, whom I had spoken with two
or three times, was there in the back room as part of the coercion of a
guilty plea. He had breached my confidentiality in him
and had told D. A. Whigham, Judge Robertson, and other members of the court
everything I had confided in him. This was evidenced by his presence in the
back room where the severe coercion occurred. The ABI man never spoke a word
while in the room, however, once when the Judge blurted out that I had 'called
JW Waters a murderer', he looked at the ABI man. Mr. Arrington knodded in
agreement. I had only told the ABI agent that my family was highly suspicious
of the possibility that JW Waters may have been involved in my Uncle's death.
Other angry statements were made by the judge alluding to confidential information
given only to Mr. Arrington during my conversations with him.
All in the same day on June 14, 1996, I was charged with stalking the king
pin, coerced into a guilty plea, sentenced to three, split to serve two years,
jailed, and denied an appeal bond.
I was charged Ex Post Facto under the April 24, 1996 Anti-Terrorism Act,
however the conspired accusation of "stalking"
was to have been done prior to that Act being passed by Congress. A sentence
under this act can carry the death penalty.
That is how the threat of a sentence to death was used to coerce a guilty
plea. I never stalked that male a day in my life. I have certainly never associated
with him, as he is approaching 80 years old.
I had an appointed attorney, Johnny Hagood, from the same camp the court
members are from. They are all one and of the same, and stand to get booted
from the click if they dare resist any tactics or conspired plans to harm
those of their choosing.
Needless to say, I received ineffective assistance of counsel. Hagood never
spoke one word on my behalf, as the transcript would reveal. An example of
his representation (not defense) was that I asked to face my accuser, JW Waters.
Hagood
stated that "this was not one of those kind of cases where he would need
to be there." I just didn't know then what I know
now, or things would have been very different.
The Judge ordered that I be drug tested. How ironic, because this whole
ordeal was over being made a political prisoner because I spoke against their
drug business. Hagood walked down stairs with me to be tested. He was whispering
and talking with the officer who was to test me for drugs. Before the urine
could hardly hit the testing field, she started say that it was positive for
Cocaine, then for marijuana. I was furious. I stood up and demanded a blood
test. The Hospital was across the street and I said to my mother, let's go
over there. I'm having a blood test. Then the tester said she'd re-test it,
that she may
have used some outdated chemicals. I retrieved the same urine from the nearby
trash can where it had been recapped and thrown. She tested it and allowed
that one to be negative.
When Hagood reported the results to the Judge, he did not want me to go
with him. By this time, it had become apparent as
to why Mr. Hagood was appointed. he was adamant about not wanting me to
approach the bench with him to report the test results to the judge, he had
stated that this was not a case where my accuser needed to be present, and
he only urged a guilty plea from me, without out discussing any options.
In retrospect, I truly believe that he was there assist in D. A. Whgham's
desired results, which were vindictive motives to bring deliberate harm to
me. Hagood was there for representation only. He certainly did not offer
any defense to the bogus lie.
My experience with the justice system has taught me that truth is not necessarily
required when these actions seem to have contributed to the conspiracy to
deliberately harm me for the exposure of their filth.
On July 23, 1996, Robertson, the sentencing Judge, suspended the sentence,
and I was to enter a treatment program. When admission attempts failed, I
just went home and went on with my life. In October 1996, Judge Robertson
was forced to
resign from office due to his alcohol and drug addiction. Alabama Governor
Fob James appointed Judge Tommy Gaither to fulfill his remaining 3 1/2 yr
term. I April 1997, I was charged with a Public Intoxication and was taken
before Judge Gaither.
I had not completed the treatment program. He ordered that the sentence
remain suspended pending the completion of a treatment program. On May 23,
1997 the program was successfully completed. The Judge was notified, and
he chose not
to call me back to court for any further orders, as his terms of the suspended
sentence were met. He has written two
Affidavits stating that the sentence ended at the completion of the program
and that he did not order any probation on the
case. The nightmare of the wrongful conviction was over.
Judge Gaither was removed from office when Judge Smithart was put in office
in January 1999. DA Boyd Whigham had
many problems with Judge Gaither, because Judge Gaither was by the book
of the law. DA Boyd Whigham was part of the initial conspiracy against me,
so he used this misdemeanor public intoxication, adjudicated by the Municipal
Court judge, to
have Judge Smithart re-sentence me on the expired stalking case. There was
no reasoning with Smithart, for he is a puppet in
a black robe and does as he is told to do.
In March 1999, two years later, I was charged with Public Intoxication 100
yards from my home. I was imprisoned in April 1999 until April 2001.
Judge Gaither appeared at a hearing in August 1999 and swore under oath
to Smithart that there was no probation to revoke
on the case. Judge Smithart lied about Judge Gaither's testimony in his
order, and that prompted Judge Gaither's second Affidavit to clear himself
of the lie. Judge Gaither has indicated that he will testify in Federal Court
as to the truth that there
was no probation to revoke.
In January 2001, Judge smithart called a hearing to offer me 3 years probation
for an early release of 2 1/2 months. I
declined their probation and returned to prison for the last 78 days of
the illegal sentence. I was told at the hearing that, if I stayed until the
end of the "probation revocation" that it was all over, no papers, ended.
(By law, a person has the unfettered right to complete a sentence incarcerated
and to decline probation.)
Upon my release on April 10, 2001, Judge Smithart phoned my mother at home
one night and told her to give me the
message that I would be on probation for one year.
That was the third sentence on the same case. My mother asked what he meant
by that, and she reminded him of the court hearing in January 2001. He was
rude, saying he wasn't going to argue with her and hung up the phone.
I was not present when sentenced these last two times, nor was I represented.
I never faced my accuser; due process of the
law violated, double jeopardy twice, and denied equal protection of the
law.
False, illegal imprisonment is a helpless horrible crime these court commit
against people, because they can.
The second sentence (the 2 years of illegal imprisonment) was still pending
in Federal Court at that time.
In November 1996, I filed for Habeas corpus relief in Federal Court, 7 months
into the incarceration. In August 2001, it
was dismissed as being out of the statute of time. That's not true for there
is a one year statute for filing a Habeas Corpus in Federal Court. That is
just a further indication of how rampant injustice is and how out of control
the court system is in
Alabama, even in the Federal Court.
The Habeas Corpus that I filed in March 2002 is still pending. I submitted
clear and convincing records of my allegations of
the second double jeopardy, yet Judge Myron Thompson has failed to act upon
it.
My life will never be the same again. In 1996 my belief in our system was
shattered, not just in Alabama but the whole
United States. I have been in pursuit of justice, all to no avail, since
I first filed in Federal court in November 1999. The corruption and injustice
against me originated in Bullock County, (Union Springs) Alabama, but the
arm of corruption is far reaching. There seems to be a networking of the members
of our court systems where the bond is impermeable, and meeting
the ends of justice seems to almost be secondary.
CONCLUSION
I was literally made a political prisoner by and through the conspiracy
of DA Boyd Whigham and the accuser I never faced,
JW Waters of bullock County, Alabama. There was absolutely no evidence to
support a conviction, as the stalking never occurred. This was an attempt
to quieten my efforts to expose their filth and corruption.
I have now received 3 sentences for the same conspired lie.
The only justice I may ever see in any of it is the fact that I know that
they know the truth, that Judge Smithart, Judge
Robertson, D.A. Boyd Whigham, and JW Waters know I was never guilty of the
accusation of stalking that king pin drug lord.
Also a local bank, patronized by my father since 1951, had foreclosed on
my father's business over a year before in 1994, however, the property was
redeemed within the 10 day grace period. My father had taken the pay-off amount
to the bank,
but his cash payment was refused He was standing at the foreclosure with
the money to pay off the full loan amount, yet he
was ignored by the foreclosure attorney. It was evil intent. My father later
discovered that JW Waters was the buyer. This caused many hard feelings, as
it was devastating. It took almost four times the amount of the original pay-off
to redeem the property.
It has been said many times in Bullock County that, if the local politicians
don't like a person, that they seek to harm any and every family member possible.
The local politicians have been never been met with any resistance and do
things their own way regardless of the law or
people. Self-enrichment and gain seems to be their goal, and it is strange
to many that no outside authority dare confront
them.
I will forever be mindful of the truth surrounding the horror I endured
from those people, some, I grew up with.
Sincerely,
Beverly Brabham
Any and all questions and comments are welcome! Write to Beverly
directly at:
(In conjunction with WRONGLY CONVICTED AND SENTENCED IN
ALABAMA)
Beverly Brabham
I have been compelled to write the following since the
day I published my story on the Internet. Some very interest, yet
harrowing events occurred while I was illegally confined in the joint,
better known as 'hell without the fire.'
Bear in mind, the April 1999 case used, which led to my
imprisonment , had expired in May 1997. I received a public intoxication
100 yards from my home in March 1999. This, by the way, is a misdemeanor,
not punishable by imprisonment. But the District Attorney, Boyd Whigham,
now had him a Judge on the Bench that would obey his commands. It had
angered Boyd Whigham many times when he could not 'get his way' with
Judge Gaither, regardless of the law. Whigham is the culprit behind the
corruption in Bullock County, Alabama, U.S.A.
A LYING CONSPIRATOR/INSTIGATOR
While I was illegally imprisoned (double jeopardy) for
something I never did in the first place, and sentenced again on
it two years after it expired, Judge Robertson wrecked his vehicle
while driving under the influence of his drugs and alcohol. Another
vehicle was involved, but the story was so quiet that very few of the
details were privy to the public. The article was in a June 2000 issue
of the Eufaula, Alabama Tribune.
A ROSE BETWEEN TWO THORNS
Judge Gaither is the Judge who ended the bogus lie in
May 1997. He remained in office until it was taken by the present
Judge, Smithart.
Judge Gaither and his wife had endured a tragic situation
with their son, Will. He had acquired a rare bone cancer as a teenager.
During my illegal incarceration, they had Will admitted to a hospital
in Birmingham, and it appeared to the doctors that removal of one of
his legs was inevitable. They had given him every treatment available.
It was a trying time for this family, but Heaven was flooded with much
prayer for Will. To the amazement and disbelief of all involved, Will
was discharged from the hospital, INTACT!! Praise God, Jesus IS the great
physician who was called in on the case. His miraculous healing power
has kept him whole to this very day.
EVIL REVISITED
Just five weeks into the office as a State Circuit Judge,
Smithart sentenced me on the expired case. He never bothered to
know the facts, look at the record, or hear any testimony from me.
He had a fixed gaze on DA Boyd Whigham, and was not about to move
outside of the DA's demands.
With all documents, facts, testimony, and evidence that
he was sentencing a person in violation of their protection against
double jeopardy, the Judge proceeded anyway. In fact, I was not even
present or represented at the time he sentenced me.
While illegally incarcerated Judge Smithart gave the keys
to his vehicle to a drunk minor. She baby-sat for him at times.
Knowing that she was drinking, he allowed her to go to a party in
his vehicle. A boy, Matthew Blue, rode with her. A group of them
met at the local school's parking lot. She drove the vehicle out
onto the football field, cut several doughnuts on it, and tore up
the sod. Those tracks remained for a long time.
As she and Matthew were on the way (or on the way back
from the party; doesn't matter), she approached a curve at a flying
rate of speed. She wrecked, throwing Matthew from the vehicle. He landed
on the pavement, killing him instantly. This never made the news paper,
and the details of it were 'hushed'. A DUI HOMICIDE IN THE JUDGE'S VEHICLE!!
She did not get so much as even a short-term probation period. Ultimately
Judge Smithart is responsible for the death of Matthew Blue and the DUI.
The case was resolved by the MISDEMEANOR JUDGE dismissing
the case.
(See anything wrong with the picture here?)
The point I am trying to make is, give me the leniency
the girl got for a DUI/homicide; give me the leniency of the DIU/wreck
by Robertson. No, I went to prison for a "misdemeanor excuse" to re-sentence
me on an expired Case that I never committed in the first place!
Few people in a lifetime are able to escape fear in some
form, real or imagined fears, healthy or unhealthy fears, or past,
present, and future fears. I believe that I live in a mixture of all
of the above.
Since June 1996, I have lived in a constant state of fear
from those corrupt individuals in Bullock County, Alabama. The trauma
of literally being accused of a lie, severely badgered and coerced,
convicted, and sentenced to prison all in one day is something that
I won't soon forget. The damages are almost beyond description in words.
If what this has done to me could be visualized on the outside, I would
be maimed and disfigured beyond recognition. It literally destroyed a
big part of my life, especially my 16 year career as a Registered Nurse.
The extreme hatred and malicious contempt shown to me that day by those
officials, (including Judge Robertson), who are elected to protect us,
was conscience shocking to say the least. My family and I knew of their
corruption and how they did things their way, regardless of the law. But
until then, we would have never thought they would go to the extreme of
actually throwing an absolutely innocent human being in prison by means
of a conspiracy.
My biggest fear is that they will strike again. I plan avoid
it being me again at all cost, but it will happen to someone else they
don't like. I had an opinion and spoke out against their drug dealings.
Doing what they did to me was a way to try to shut me up, and to bring
further hurt and harm to my family. Now look at me, broadcasting their
dirt on the world wide web, exercising my freedom of speech, and telling
of my personal horrors in being caught in their corrupt trap.
Others who in someway have "gotten on their wrong side"
are in graveyards or prisons. I feel very blessed and fortunate to
have truly survived the ordeal, for others have not been so fortunate.
I knew personally some of the individuals who they snuffed out, and some
who are this very minute in prison and are innocent. Some didn't live
to tell of the brutality they endured, especially during their last torturous
moments of life. Those deaths were not a pretty sight. I will elaborate
on those that I knew in another article.
I truly fear for my life from them. It is sad that we have
to live in fear of those elected to protect us. I view them the same
way I view terrorists abroad, just on a smaller scale/ratio. I am always
aware of my surroundings, and will never answer the door. I don't
trust strangers, and I get nervous if a car follows me very far. I
only answer my phone when the caller ID lets me know who is calling.
My parents and I still talk in codes on their home telephone, or just
don't talk about what we don't want to be heard on the illegally tapped
line.
After declining probation and remaining in the cage to end
the illegal sentence and to be through with that court, I thought
I could somewhat have my life back that had been stripped from me. Eight
days after the illegal probation and sentence ended for the second time,
I was sentenced a third time to one year probation. This was without my
presence or representation also. This is where I started to become very
fearful and leery of Federal Court, for this third sentence was imposed
on me while that court was still under the scrutiny of Federal Court
for the second sentence. The Judge in Bullock County must know something
I don't know, for this was a blatant, vindictive, deliberate act of callous
disregard and indifference on Smithart, not to mention criminal obstruction
of justice.
At that time, my motions to Federal Court were being denied,
where I motioned for their intervention to stop the multiple sentences
for the lie. Again, INJUSTICE had prevailed.
I could not be around people of that town for months after
the tragedy. I had no control over what I would blurt out at the mere
mention of the 'operation corruption' that runs that place. I don't
trust anyone around that town anymore. I keep a very low profile
when I visit my parents home, where I grew up and where they have lived
since I was three years old.
So many emotions run through my mind and heart on a daily
basis, even now, that I feel sometimes as if I am on a roller coaster.
I don't feel that I will ever again get to totally experience a full
life, not as long as that corruption goes unchecked. I'll admit, I have
extreme highs and extreme lows, but it is usually when I start dwelling
on a particular event or wrong that has been done. I was robbed of two
years of my life, 720 days. I really began to sink into depression after
the third sentence was imposed. I had dreadfully returned to the joint
after a hearing to offer me 3 to 5 more years probation, just two months
before the illegal sentence on the lie was to end. I had lived up to my
end of the agreement with the Judge, that if I returned to complete the
illegal time in confinement, I would be through with them. He is the one
who reneged on the bargain, and Federal Court has not acted on it yet.
I only wanted to be in the company of my family, or anyone very close to
the family who knew the whole bizarre story. I had been so used to just
sitting alone on that iron slab, working on my legal work, and blocking
out the noise in that jungle. I felt as if I was there all over again.
I feared, and still do, getting a job. Almost every application asks if
a felony has ever been committed. I have filled them out and I always
check NO. I will continue to check NO unless the day ever comes where
I do commit one. As of this writing, I can say wholeheartedly that I
have not committed a felony and have no plans to do so.
At this point, my fears becomes overwhelming at times. I
am a ProSe Litigant, struggling to get my issues across to Federal
Court now, going into the fourth year. The Case is solidly documented,
black and white, with no gray areas to cast doubt, yet I still feel a
sense of indifference from Federal Court. My real fear here is, I have
nowhere to go from here, the guardians of our Constitution, and I have
documented over twenty Constitutional Rights that have been severely
violated by that court.
With all of the fears and anxiety, mental and emotional
trauma that still continue to haunt me daily, I manage to go on functioning
anyway. I'm kind of scared of what will happen to me at the end of the
legal battle whether I win, lose, or draw. I haven't let myself cry
over this, because I fear that I would collapse under the mountain and
never be able to get back up. The analogy that I feel is: it's as if
I am holding a vehicle up off of a child to keep him/her from being crushed,
but when someone removes the child to safety, I simply die from sheer
exhaustion and wonder how I was able to do it.
Life does go on and I try to find new coping methods. I
have been out of prison for almost two years, and I am beginning to
move out of the isolation I put myself in. The best coping method yet
is getting involved with helping others who have also been victimized
by the system.
I thank the support groups I have joined for their care,
understanding, belief in me, and support.
I especially thank and appreciate Lee Gaylord of The Castle
of Hope for Lost Souls who inspired my web site. He had read my story
and e-mailed me to ask if he could link to my site. I wrote him back
that I didn't have one. A short while later he sent me the html format
and the link to MY STORY on his site. I was amazed! His site is awesome,
and I have spent a lot of time there. I seem to find on that site just
what I need to read at that moment. I want the fear and anxiety
that is hard to explain to go away, healing from the damages, and to be
able to live again.
