We have illegal aliens getting benefits an illegal president but
the son of a Lt Col, Donald Sullivan, gets arrested for not
answering questions. Here is an update from Lt Col Donald Sullivan
on the arrest of his son.
“Events of March 24, 2009 – My son’s Arrest for not being from NC; and the beat goes on, only it’s getting more personal.
Short Version: On March 24, 2009, my son was stopped at a checkpoint; arrested for not answering questions; and jailed under $50,000.00 bond for committing no crime.
Long Version: Just when I thought it could get no more ridiculous, Tuesday came. It was the 24th of March, 2009, and I was in Burgaw, NC, the county seat, at the courthouse to serve the DA timely with my record on appeal for the right to bear arms trial of November, 2008. As I walked into the courthouse from the bright North Carolina sunshine, I saw a familiar face just coming down the stairway from the courtrooms upstairs. Not only did the face look familiar, it was my son; and he was in handcuffs! I casually walked up to him and the State policeman who had him in tow and said, “Well, I see they finally broke your cherry, Myson.” He smiled, and said, “Looks that way, Dad.”
I turned to the officer, introduced myself, and asked him why my son was being charged. He told me straight up, “He wouldn’t answer my questions.” “That’s the way I taught him”, I said. “He doesn’t have to answer your questions.” I turned to my son and asked him what was going on, not thinking the trooper would let him answer; but he did. He said he was on his way to my house along NC Highway 210 when he ran up on a police checkpoint. When I interrupted and asked why he didn’t just turn around and go the other way, he said there was no need, since he was not breaking any laws. Besides, he said he was towing my trailer and turning around on a two-lane road would have been difficult.
He continued with his story saying the trooper had asked him for his license and registration, which he tendered. Both are from Michigan, since my son is still a resident of Michigan, but the trooper asked him what his local address was. (The trooper was aware of my son’s trial a few months ago when the charge was dismissed against him for no NC license for lack of evidence and jurisdiction. I know for a fact my son has no NC address.) He responded with, “You have my license. I’m not going to answer any of your questions.” The trooper asked him if he had insurance, and my son responded, “I told you I am not going to answer any of your questions.” The trooper told him he would go to jail if he didn’t answer. My son persisted, so the trooper ordered him to pull his pick-up off to the side of the road and get out of it. He complied, and the trooper read him his Miranda rights, the first of which is, “You have the right to remain silent.” The trooper then told him he would be arrested unless he answered the questions about his local address and his proof of insurance. My son maintained that he didn’t have to answer any questions, so he was handcuffed and brought to the courthouse for his “probable cause” hearing. This is where I came in.
I asked the trooper how he could arrest my son for not answering his questions when he had a right not to answer. He responded that there is a law in NC which requires everyone to give their address when asked by a law enforcement officer or the courts. When I asked how that could be with our right to remain silent and not incriminate ourselves, and he said he was just doing his job. How I hate that response. One day 9it will be the death sentence of anyone who uses it. I told the officer I had some quick errands to run in the courthouse, but that I would join them upstairs where the magistrate was holding small claims court. After depositing my record on appeal with the DA, I went upstairs to the courtroom.
Once inside, I saw that the trooper was about to finish briefing the magistrate on the charges: No NC operator’s license; no proof of insurance; expired MI registration; no trailer license plate; and refusal to answer questions divulge his local address. The magistrate called my son forward and asked him for his address. He told her he was not answering any of his questions, that he had a right to remain silent. She then asked if he could be in court on the 20th of May, to which he responded, “Yes, Ma’am.” She then put him under FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS SECURED BOND ($50,000.00), BECAUSE HE REFUSED TO ANSWER HER QUESTIONS! When he told her he was not a flight risk, nor was he a threat to anyone, and should be released on his own recognizance by law, she responded, “You won’t answer my questions or those of the trooper. Your license says you are from out of state. You could be an ‘axe-murderer’ for all we know, so the bond stays.” I then interrupted and asked, “How much was that bond?!” She said “$50,000.00.” I then asked her if she would accept cash or a check. She said, “Certified check or cash.” I told her I would be back in an hour with the money. My son went to jail, and I went to get the cash.
Needless to say, I was very upset, but controlled. This whole charade was obviously due to the amount of harassment my many legal filings have caused the local law enforcement agencies and the courts along with the several criminal proceedings and appeals I have active at the present. There was no need whatsoever to arrest my son for alleged statutory violations which do not have jurisdiction over an out-of-state individual, and the $50,000.00 bond was an aberration not seen before in Pender County!
When I returned to the jail with the cash, the magistrate was busy in her office. I struck up a conversation with some other unfortunates who were waiting in the lobby for their friends and loved ones and told them I was there to pick up my son who had been arrested for “Not answering their questions” and held under $50,000.00 bond. They were astounded, of course, since no one had ever been heard of such; and it was completely illogical. I told them it was vindictive and retaliatory, that “they” were using my son to get at me, and I was not going to stand for it. I said things like, “They’ve made it personal now by going after my children, and they’ve crossed the line!” These things I said loud enough for the magistrate to hear. Then, I walked over to her open door and asked if she was ready for me to bail out my son; that I had $60,000.00 cash just in case she upped the ante. She replied in the affirmative and said, “All he had to do was to answer my questions, and he wouldn’t be here. And it was not vindictive. I didn’t know he was your son and had ties to the county. If I had, I could have reconsidered the bond.” I told her it was not too late to reconsider, especially since he had a right to remain silent in the first place, and it was a violation of his constitutional rights to deny him his liberty for exercising his rights. She replied that she had reconsidered, that the bond was reduced to $2,000.00 unsecured. I told her that was not good enough, that he had objected to any bond due to his not being a flight risk or a threat to anyone’s life, liberty or property. She said she had to leave the bond in place, since that was the guideline she was given “in school”. (I assumed she was referring to the same “school” my jailer had mentioned when she told me my “stay would be prolonged” if I didn’t submit to being photographed last month.) She tapped on the window at the back of her office and told the jailers to “Bring Mr. Sullivan out. He doesn’t need handcuffs.) So, they brought my son out; he collected his things and filled out the necessary paperwork; and we left to recover his truck. I told her it was a good thing she had “reconsidered”, or my son would have filed a civil suit against her. As it was, he would only file against the trooper, but she might be a co-defendant.
When we got to his truck about 90 minutes later, the State trooper who had arrested him was there waiting in his car, right by my son’s truck. I got out of my car, with my S&W 9mm strapped on my hip as always, and walked up to his car and tapped on is window. He rolled the window down, and I asked him if he was waiting to arrest us again when we moved the car. He replied that he was just stopped doing some paperwork. I then asked if he would arrest my son when he drove off in the car, or did we have to trailer it home, which I was prepared to do. He told me he couldn’t drive off if he had no insurance. I told him my son had insurance, but he just hadn’t felt the need to answer the trooper’s questions. When he said the truck couldn’t move on its own without proof of insurance, I asked my son to show the officer his proof of insurance, which he readily did. This set the officer back a bit, and he asked, “Why didn’t you show me this before?” My son responded, “Because, it’s like I told you, ‘I don’t have to answer your questions if the answer might tend to incriminate me”, so I don’t answer any questions.”
We then proceeded to have a very nice and informative chat with the officer for over an hour, during which time I said nothing to compromise my son’s case, but I did take the opportunity to educate the trooper a little bit. He admitted he was not so sure things were always as they appear, or as the government tells them, and that he regularly listened to local conservative radio hosts and to Neil Bortz. As we parted, I informed the trooper that he had violated my son’s rights, and that my son would file a civil suit against him as soon as the charges were dismissed. He said, “Do what you have to do”, to which I responded, “It’s the only way you and your buddies are going to learn to leave us alone.” Oh, and as to my sidearm, the trooper asked me just before we parted what kind of weapon it was. I told him, “S&W 9mm”.
DS
3-29-09″
Lt Col Sullivan, sir, if you need any assistance say the
word, and thousands will come to your aid.
Rating
Rating
Citizen WElls 