ADAMSVILLE, ALABAMA
by: Beverly Brabham
(Took this to the court on Jan. 6, 2003 and had it stamp-dated and filed.
I am setting up a paper trail.)
Birmingham, Alabama
Judge Roy Landrum
Adamsville Municipal Court
Adamsville, Alabama 35005
EMERGENCY HABEAS CORPUS RELIEF
I, Beverly Anne Brabham, come now before this Honorable Court in the State
of Alabama to present this emergency habeas corpus relief. The reasons below
will confirm that immediate relief is due:
Grounds for Relief
The judge in Adamsville, Alabama has refused to appoint counsel for my defense.
My ability/ inability to pay for an attorney has not been considered. My
Miranda Rights were not read to me.
On April 16, 2002, I was arrested out of my home for a DUI. An officer was
called by a neighbor, because they heard an argument between my boyfriend
and me. Officer Bentley arrived and asked me if we were arguing. I said no,
and walked in the house. I had just sat down in the car to remove a tape
that was playing and tune in the radio for my boyfriend who was in the yard.
The keys were in the house, because the acc. switch stays on when the key
is removed. The knob to lock the ignition is broken. The car was inoperable
at the time due to a bad hub bearing, left front.
I was in the bathroom, undressed and getting ready to take a shower when
another officer, Henderson, arrived while I was inside my home, entered
the house uninvited, knocked on the bathroom door, and wanted the keys to
the car. I told him I would have to get dressed, that I would be out shortly.
He said, hurry up, or I'll come in there on you. I got dressed, got the keys
from the kitchen drawer where they are kept, and took them to him. He and
officer Bentley saw a sandwich bag under the cassette tape I had removed.
Bentley commented, "I think I can smell it". The baggie contained change
(coins) that I keep on the console. I felt that this discovery, not revealing
"drugs", angered Officer Henderson. I mentioned that there are some
'rights' that people have when they are in their own home, yard, and private
property. Henderson immediately grabbed me and said that I was under arrest,
(because he was angry). HENDERSON MADE AN ARREST FOR DUI, AND I WAS IN MY
HOME BEHIND A LOCKED BATHROOM DOOR WHEN HE ARRIVED.
I was NOT READ MY MIRANDA RIGHTS. My friend even asked what I was being arrested
for and was estounded to hear the Officer say, DUI. I had been in the house
for aprroximately 20-30 minutes when he arrived! I was not near the car.
The keys were in the house the entire day. The car had not been driven due
to the bad hub bearing, and we frequently use the car stereo and tape player
while in the yard. My only conversation with Officer Bentley was, "no, we
are not arguing". However, the report was done by him. He gave me a breathilizer
2 hours after Henderson's arrest. I saw it register very low. He threw the
test away and said, "You refused it." I said, no I did not. He then printed
out a 'refusal' sheet of paper. I requested a blood and/or urine test, because
even though this arrest was frivolous, I could not have possibly registered
anywhere near intoxicated. I had had very little alcohol at the time. He
refused both, even with my plea that I wanted it for my defense. (Apparently
the low results didn't suit him, and this has been known to be done by other
officers in this area. I know of two personal accounts of it).
The house and yard are not visible from the public road, and I was inside
the (supposedly) privacy of my own home when arrested for DUI. The driveway
is one-way in, one-way out. The yard is approximately 300 yards from the
road, and is in the woods. As stated earlier, we frequently use the car stereo
when in the yard, listening to music.
Case Action to Date
May 20, 2002
I went to Court. The clerk stated that I was not on the Docket because they
were attempting to make this a felony offense. A felony offense for an arrest
by an Officer, who arrived and arrested me out of a locked bathroom in my
home!!! Anyway, the case is being handled as a misdemeanor.
November 19, 2002
I went back to court. I was being charged with a third DUI. The priors were
from 10 years ago and are not certified. I pled "NOT GUILTY", of course,
and was told by the Judge and the D. A. to get a lawyer. I attempted to inform
both that I was unable to afford an attorney, but was cut off by both and
not allowed to say anything. The Judge said, I don't care to hear anything
you have to say.
December 17, 2002
I returned to court. I informed the judge that I did not have a lawyer and
could not afford one at the time. I asked him if he would appoint one. He
refused. He told me that he would give me until January 7, 2003 to get a
job and hire a lawyer. This seemed unreasonable because the week after was
Christmas, then New Years, then the very next week, court. Impossible! Even
if I got a job, I would be unable to afford an attorney at the rates I was
quoted by the ones that I called.
January 7, 2003
I filed a copy of this Habeas Corpus, prior to this court date, and I am
now adding to it. I went before the judge and, he immediately asked what
this was about. I stated that I am requesting the appointment of an Attorney.
The Federal Court and Alabama Attorney General's addresses were already on
the request for relief.
HABEAS CORPUS
I, Beverly Brabham, am writing for this immediate action for relief and release
because it is illegal confinement. I will literally be IN JAIL, without representation,
because I am indigent, and the judge has refused to appoint an attorney.
1. My Miranda rights were not read to me.
2. I had been inside the house a long while before the arresting officer
arrived, and he had no basis for the arrest. I was refused a blood and/or
urine test, after the Officer said I refused the test, which I DID NOT REFUSE!
The fact is that I passed it, and he did not like the results.
3. My indigency and ability to hire an attorney has been ignored.
4. My constitutional due process rights are and have been violated.
5. The case and its merits have not been heard, NOR have I faced my accuser.
6. An arrest is NOT a conviction.
7. Constitutional Fundamental unfairness and Due Process violations.
CONCLUSION
Based on the foregoing, I, Beverly Brabham, am due immediate Habeas Corpus
relief. I have been denied due process of the law, and I am attempting to
prevent being illegally incarcerated for being indigent, and without representation
by Counsel.
I pray that immediate action will be taken on this matter, as liberty was
too dearly bought by our forefathers for a United States citizen's Constitutional
Right to due process to be so violated. Injustice should never be tolerated
in any situation.
Respectfully submitted,
Beverly Brabham
Pro Se (due to inability to afford an attorney)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Hi Lee, written to Federal Court after again being denied the appointment
of counsel)
U.S. District Court (Northern Division)
Room 140, U.S. Courthouse
1729 5th Avenue North
Birmingham, Alabama 35203-2040
Birmingham, Alabama
Thursday, January 09, 2003
RE: 2:03-cv-00064 Beverly Brabham
The enclosed request for relief was filed in the Municipal Court of Adamsville,
Alabama on January 7, 2003. I appeared in Court that day to request that
I be appointed an attorney for my defense.
The judge was very rude to me and made the following comments concerning
the enclosed request for relief, comments to the entire courtroom, and to
me.
He said, "Who wrote this up?" I said, "I did". He said, "Huh, you sho' didn't
know what you were doing, did you, coming in here with this ignorance. Don't
you ever bring anything like this in here, acting dumb and putting a Federal
Court's address and an Attorney General's address on here. You are in this
court and this court only. What is all of this about?" The Clerk, Jan, sitting
next to him, told him that it was a request for the appointment of Counsel.
He said, "Good God, in all my 28 years up here on this bench, I have never
seen such foolishness in my life, you trying to be cute or something?" I
was, of course, not given a chance to answer any of these facetious questions.
He told me to be back in two weeks. He told me, like he did everyone else
before him, to hire an attorney, or that we'd be tried without one.
When I questioned him about my right to have one appointed because I could
not afford one, he said, that's not up to you, YOU don't make the laws, 'we'
of the judicial system amke the laws. Now you hire an attorney or I will
try you without one.
At one point, just before sentencing a man to 60 days in jail, he told him
that getting an attorney is like buying a new car; you get a job and make
the payments on a new car. (The man had requested that an attorney be appointed
for his defense, but was refused and sentenced to jail right then.) The two
really seem unrelated, buying a car and hiring an attorney. I need both and
can't afford either. The difference in the law is that the law says that
"if you cannot afford an attorney that one would be appointed for you".
There is no law that says "a car will be provided for you if you cannot afford
one". That was an inappropriate analogy from the judge.
As I walked away, he blurted out further innuendos and degrading comments:
"Look a here, I can't believe this mess, I've never seen anything like it.
what is it, what? Is she afraid to work for money to hire an attorney?
It was most humiliating, embarrassing, and degrading to have all eyes on
me and to hear the snickering just to humor the Judge.
The enclosed is what the case is about, but my request from this Honorable
Court is that I may receive the relief so due.
Respectfully submitted,
Beverly Anne Brabham
Judge
Gaither's Affidavit
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