Here Come The Judge

This is the letter that was delivered to the Judge's office.



From the desk of

Ted G. Cook

480 Hard Rock Road

P.O. Box 625

Savannah, TN 38372

(731)-925-4754

March 25, 2013

The Honorable Judge
Creed McGinley
Circuit Court Judge
Hardin County, Tennessee
Savannah, TN 38372

In re: Possible Jury Tampering With My Grand Jury Panel

Your Honor,

The most charitable way of explaining my issue is, something is very wrong with the results of my attempt to present the results of a Comptroller’s audit to the three member screening panel, en route to your full Grand Jury for their review and up or down vote.

I had at least two occasions to talk with District Attorney General McCadams before my presentation, which Mr. McCadams also attended, and he never mentioned a statute of limitation issue or any other issues that would effect getting the true bill from your grand jury.

The triable or indictable public offenses charges were: Theft of property - Class C/D - Felony (4 year SOL); Criminal Conspiracy - Class D Felony (4 year SOL); Official Misconduct - Class E Felony (2 year SOL) ; Official Oppression - Class E Felony (2 year SOL) ; and Misrepresenting information to state auditors - Class C Misdemeanor (1 year SOL). [Applications enclosed]

After I completed my summary presentation to the panel and left the room, relegated to wait in the hallway while they “deliberated” for about 20 to 25 minutes, someone call my attention to the fact that Mr. Terry Dicus, a supposed lawyer and TBI Investigator for the DAG’s office had gone into the deliberation room and we wondered why.

When I was called back to the deliberation room the only people present were the three members of the screening panel. Your Foreperson announced that the TBI agent, that had just left the room, had informed them that the statutes of limitation had expired on my charges and therefore they had voted NOT to pass my application on to the full grand jury.

Although I tried to explain why that was just plain wrong, they would have no part of it and again informed me that they had voted and I could not move on to the full grand jury. Thank me very much, told me to have a good day. By the time I got back to the hallway DAG McCadams and Mr. Dicus were nowhere to be found and the DA is not responding to my phone calls.

I am aware that Mr. Dicus personally dropped a letter off at The Courier Friday, treating a libel suit if an immediately retraction, by the Courier, of my opinion in the Letters to the Editor section. How dumb is that? I don’t think he liked my reference to the DA’s “pet TBI agent” along with the tampering with the jury remark. I think I may have touched a nerve with the young man. But then again ole Navy Chiefs’ have a talent for that sort of thing and besides, I didn’t invite him.

Now that the TBI Investigator and part time lawyer has influence the grand jury panel with his bogus pronouncements as to the statutes of limitation having, as a matter of law, expired on the charges, the court and myself are entitled to see his proof as to when he or the DAG think the statute of limitations expired on the charges in the application. To do that, he needs to tell the Court and myself, when the SOL began and ended on each one of the charges, and his proof. Of course, that is impossible on at least one of the charges, i.e. Criminal Conspiracy, being a continuing act, and all. [First Blush Summary of Statute of Limitations Enclosed]

Question: Why did the panel member not ask, if in fact they asked anyone as to the SOL, the DAG or the Court itself, as per your instructions, if it was a legal question or in this case a question of fact for a jury to decide, at some point in time, if the defense alleges and proves it. If that is not out of bounds, I’m not sure what would be.

I will bet you my retired Constable badge against his active TBI badge, and you can hold the stakes, that he is so wrong that there has to be another motive for injecting himself into my CITIZENS application to the grand jury. The DA has had the information on the auditor’s investigation since at least December 2010 and as late as last month advised me that they were still waiting for the auditors to send him their files on their investigation, which we all know is not going to happen. In short, as far as we know, there has not been an investigation by the DAG or TBI. If there has, no one has contacted Mr Spence or myself and as far as I know has not talked to any of those “certain employees” referred to in the audit.

As we all know, not to necessarily say that District Attorney General McCadams is unethical, but, an unethical prosecutor will introduce inflammatory or prejudicial material that has nothing whatsoever to do with the case. They usually do this for the singular purpose of prejudicing the judge, but it would work well in a grand jury panel, too. We also know that on occasions a judge will believe a prosecutor before he believes a stranger, especially if that stranger is a non-lawyer. This tactic can be spectacularly effective.

Where in the heck did Mr. Dicus come from and why did he try to thwart, double cross or frustrate my rights to interface with the full grand jury. Why wasn’t it General McCadams who rendered the bogus opinion, and that is just what it is, an opinion, instead of the representative of the TBI, with his little badge? Maybe because Mr. McCadams knows better and doesn’t want his fingerprints on the issue. Too, too late.

As you may know, the audit was published in February 2012, for fiscal year 2011, and the results as outlined will provided your grand jury with the basis to find the elements present to return a true bill on the charges represented by the Comptrollers report of their investigation. i.e. sufficient evidence for a trial; that the act was a crime under law; and that the court had jurisdiction. A very low threshold called probable cause, as you know.

If the SOL has not expired, as Mr. Dicus pronounced and I win his badge, I could see how he might be charged with tampering with the grand jury panel and perjury for his false statement, in that they are, in fact, NOT TRUE and both Dicus and McCadams knows, or should know, they are false.

You Honor, as best I can tell, I have been denied my constitutional right to redress my grievances and allegations with the Grand Jury, and I want it back, sooner rather than later. I would like to see you either convene an investigative panel or reconvene the current grand jury panel, with the costs charged to the District Attorney and TBI, of course.

Respectfully submitted for your consideration,

/s/ Ted G. Cook

Ted G. Cook

731-607-4103

cc: DAG McCadams, TBI Jackson Office, DAG Conference and State Attorney General (FAX)

Attachments - (3)