I am asking for all the folks out there to contact our new AG Ashcroft, and ask him to sic the FBI on Massachusetts. During Linda's last day in court, the judge, who claimed he knew very little about the case, CUT OFF our attorney during his summation, and announced that he had already made up his mind that Linda was "...a hyper-sensitive person, who should not own a gun." This phrase was lifted directly from the show/cause hearing when the judge charged the trucker with "Driving to Endanger," used by the trucker's attorney to describe Linda.
During the "Trial," all the witnesses were "sequestered" to prevent them from discussing the case amongst themselves.I, being a witness, was out in the hall, along with the moron of a N. Adams cop that took the gun from her car, and he was talking with everybody that walked by! Not only that, but the three state cops were "sequestered" all together!
After the "trial" was over, one of the ADA's was over-heard in the hall telling the trucker that HIS case was going to be dismissed. Quid pro quo. Our original attorney spent hours trying to get Linda to, "submit to sufficient facts..." essentially a guilty plea. We now know why he was so desperate to have her do so--he KNEW that they were going to take her down! The judge, one Alfred Barbalunga, crawled out from under his rock just long enough to preserve some semblence of appearing to "hear" the case, but had made up his mind long in advance. The "jury of 6" was waived in this instance, because our original att'y told Greg--who did have our best interest at heart--that Barbalunga "...absolutely hates it when cops lie." This was done purposely, as Barbalunga did not give a hoot about ANYTHING that was said in that kangaroo court! And I do not use that phrase advisedly as the outcome of that farce was decided long ago.
We are filing a civil case against the cops that started all this.
And that is just the tip of the iceberg. According to many other folks that have come forward, the rot is deep and growing. Another example; that same stupid cop that took the gun was in charge of an arson investigation. According to several accounts, the arsonist had all but confessed, and the judge threw the case out, citing the fact that the investigation had been done so poorly and the preparation so sloppy that there was no case! Several other stories about the Mass. state police and particularly the N. Adams and Pittsfield police dept's will have your hair standing on end, and the Mass. att'y general has blown off several requests to look into the incredible corruption prevalent in W. Mass. Hell, all OVER Massachusetts!
This is the state where the Revolution began, but now the citizens are so afraid of their own shadows that they just stand by and watch as their rights are stripped from them and the cops and courts trample the Constitution into the mud!
It is pathetic to watch and scary to deal with up close and personal. Call the new AG and TELL him to open an ivestigation into this widespread and persistant corruption. I will be the first one to tell the Feds to keep (their) noses out of our business, but when the state AG won't do squat then we should be able to look elsewhere for help. Most specifically, those Mass. residents who get this, and are still willing and able to stand up for themselves.
Russ Hamilton; Heath, Massachusetts 4 Feb, 2001