Tuesday, October 25, 2011

TN Court of Appeals: Cars can be searched for invisible guns w/o PC or search warrant, cops can destroy all evidence, incompetent defendants can now be prosecuted despite zero caselaw, prosecutors are now defense lawyers


Mr Clark had a massive stroke 3 weeks after this video discussing dismissal of charges in the alleged redlight camera shooting case

Alternate title: State of Tennessee Attorney General Defrauds Court of Appeals in Violation of Court Order to Dismiss Case Against Cliff Clark, AG Hires Clark's Lawyer to Block Appeal to TN Supreme Court and Ensure His Silence That a Knox Deputy Confessed to Shooting a Redlight Camera

"Mr Clark is innocent of the charge of allegedly shooting a red-light camera."
-Ron Newcomb, former attorney for Clifford Clark and current deputy attorney general prosecutor in Sevier County who knows the difference between Innocent and Not Guilty

"Once a revered Knox County Criminal Court judge, Richard Baumgartner on Tuesday shuffled into a federal courtroom in shackles, accused of covering up the drug-trafficking crimes of the mistress he met via a Drug Court program he helped found. Baumgartner, who sent thousands of people to prison in his nearly two-decade-long tenure as judge, was arrested Tuesday as he drove away from his East Knox County farm and hauled into U.S. District Court with shackles on his feet and a chain wrapped around his belly and connected to handcuffs."
-Jamie Satterfield, Knoxville News Sentinel, Former Judge Richard Baumgartner faces 7 federal counts of failing to report felonious activity, May 16, 2012
One judge in this case -- Richard Baumgardner -- has already been arrested, convicted and disbarred for being stoned on dope and having sex with his drug dealer in judges chambers during this trial, and the judge buying his illegal narcotics FROM POLICE OFFICERS with FULL KNOWLEDGE OF KNOX COUNTY D.A. RANDY NICHOLS in a conspiracy of silence, according to 1,200-page TBI report now made public. 1000s of convictions will now be overturned, including 5 mass-murder convictions last week, except for one...Cliff Clark's case. Read the 1200-page police report, probably a result of the Dragonater's investigative report of this judge's bizarre courtroom ruling that videotaping clothed adults at a public swimming pool is now "kiddie porn". The AG condoned the judge's intoxication in order to extort bogus convictions, according to eyewitnesses in the news. This ex-judge also refused to allow exhumation of the corpse of the former AG to protect co-conspirators, during his widow's murder trial (both murder convictions also to be overturned?), as seen on Court TV.


KPD dashcam video shows the camera had zero bullet holes 30 minutes AFTER Cliff Clark's arrest...2 holes should be visible from this angle


KPD patrolcar video proves the Redflex camera was without bullet holes AFTER Mr Clark was arrested and driven to jail. Mr Clark's 30-06 with 150-grain factory-load bullets was "extremely high-powered" according to KPD and would have left 4 very large exit holes visible in this image. KPD photos proved only 1 small exit hole on the right side with 4 small entry holes including 1 entry hole on the back (left side in this video) -- these KPD photos were suppresseed by the TN Court of Criminal Appeals because they prove Mr Clark was innocent. KPD, Redflex and Knox DA destroyed all ballistic evidence in this case, which would have proven Mr Clark's lawful rifle did not fire the low-powered bullets that allegedly hit this (or another?) camera. Redflex was fired by City of Knoxville for suspected bribery and contract fraud during Mr Clark's case, and Redflex refused to testify against Mr Clark, and Knox DA testified that Redflex fled the jurisdiction to its home base in Australia. Mr Clark never got a redlight camera ticket, and was never sued in court for a redlight camera ticket. Lawyers, judges and lawmakers agree, there is no legal requirement to ever pay a redlight camera ticket, so there was no motive for Mr Clark to shoot a redlight camera. Charges were dismissed 1 week after Mr Clark subpoenaed Knox County Deputy Mark Mcconnell to testify a Knox deputy confessed to shooting a redlight camera.

RE: Charges reinstated against accused red-light camera shooter -- Not true, but does anybody care?

"On or about September 24, 2009, Defendant's counsel was notified that Mr Clark is currently in the intensive care unit out of state due to suffering a massive stroke. Mr Clark underwent surgery as a result of the stroke [costing $400,000]."
-Ron Newcomb, Motion to Continue Trial, filed 30 Sept 2009 -- page 1 -- page 2

"The State's response asserts that its research has provided no definitive answer to either question posed by this court. The State asserts that there can be no dispute that the defendant cannot be tried on the remaining pending charges if he is determined not to be competent to stand trial. Therefore, the State concludes that 'it is in the interest of all parties' for this matter to be remanded to the trial court for a forensic competency evaluation of the defendant. The State indicates that it would have no objection to this court holding this appeal in abeyance pending the reoslution of the motions challenging the defendant's competence to stand trial on the remaining pending charges 'since such resolution might impact the State's decision to proceed further with its appeal in the present case.' We see no purpose to be served by a remand to the trial court to determine the defendant's competence to assist his counsel in pursuing this appeal. The motion for a forensic competency evaluation is therefore not well-taken. Accordingly the motion is DENIED.”
-COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT KNOXVILLE, State vs Clark, ORDER, 13 August 2010

"Based upon the finding of the Defendant being medically incompetent to stand trial regarding these criminal charges pursuant to T.C.A. 33-7-301 et seq., and that said incompetency being medically permanent in nature, and upon fulfillment of conditions stated herein, these matters shall be dismissed with prejudice providing that the weapons and other items currently seized pursuant to the Defendant’s arrest by the Knox County Sheriff Department and or any other law enforcement agency will be released to Attorney Ron C. Newcomb of Burroughs Collins & Newcomb, PLC for full satisfaction of the Defendant’s financial obligation to Attorney Ron C. Newcomb. The courts costs of this matter are taxed to the State."
-Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz, Knox County Criminal Court Division 3, Docket No. 91484 and 90618, AGREED ORDER OF DISMISSAL WITH PREJUDICE, April 1, 2011

The TN Court of Appeals, in that same opinion, alleged that mentally incompetent defendants (incapcitated by a "massive stroke" in this case) can be prosecuted and convicted even though they cannot participate in their own trial defense, cannot afford a lawyer, and cannot speak to hire a lawyer because their own defense lawyer was hired as a prosecutor in the middle of his appeal. The court of appeals never bothered to mail a copy to Mr Clark of this first order re competency, only mailed the second order for remand:

"On April 29, 2010, Clark filed a “Motion for Forensic Competency Evaluation and Hearing Regarding Indigency for Costs of Forensic Competency Evaluation” in this court. On May 12, 2010, this court filed an order deferring its ruling on this motion and requiring the State to file a response addressing whether there is a 'constitutional or statutory requirement that a criminal defendant be competent to proceed on appeal when represented by counsel and, if so, what the proper standard is for determining whether a criminal defendant is competent to proceed with an appeal when represented by counsel.' The State filed a response on June 14, 2010. On August 13, 2010, this court entered an order denying the motion for a forensic competency evaluation at the appellate level and concluding that a 'non-capital defendant’s mental incompetence to assist his attorney in pursuing an appeal should not prohibit the appeal from continuing.'”
-COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT KNOXVILLE, State vs Clark, Footnote 4, Direct Appeal from the Criminal Court for Knox County, No. E2009-01795-CCA-R3-CD, 24 October, 2010

The TN Court of Criminal Appeals opinion of State vs Clark, dated 28 Sept 2011, alleged that cops don't need to see a firearm in order to search a car for firearms without a search warrant (contradicting the US Supreme Court in Arizona vs Gant).

Today, plagerising a newspaper report, radio propagandist Hallerin Hilton Hill was laughing how wonderful it is that the TN Court of Criminal Appeals opined that police never need a warrant nor probable cause to search your car, and how wonderful it is to pay your traffic tickets directly to Communist China. (This is the same week that THP/TSA VPIR squads began raping all drivers, er, "terrorists" on TN highways, literally, without probable cause nor search warrant.)

What's missing from this story?

State of Tennessee vs Clifford Clark court archive

1. Mr Clark has no attorney to fight this appeal. His attorney Ron Newcomb is now employed as a prosecutor in the Sevier AND Blount County attorney general's office. How CONVENIENT for the state attorney general to offer Mr Clark's attorney a job (2 jobs), eliminating Mr Clark's best opportunity to file a petition for certiorari to the TN supreme court against the state attorney general. Mr Newcomb was previously employed as a prosecutor by the Sevier County DA's office. Newcomb's newborn son required a kidney transplant, his insurance was maxed out, hence the move to Blount County's bankrupt government which has the best medical insurance in Tennessee at taxslave expense.

"Why would Ron Newcomb defend anyone as a defense attorney especially now? I thought he now was working as an assistant District attorney with the Sevier County 4th judicial district under James B Dunn. Ron Newcomb is obviously playing both sides of the fence. Defending criminals and prosecuting criminals at the same time? Is that not a conflict of interest?"
-Knoxville News Sentinel, 'Snake' bitten with 22-year prison term, August 18, 2011

"A man will not face charges in the shotgun death of another man in Sevier County. A county grand jury returned a no-true bill this week after reviewing evidence in the death of Michael Sutton, who died in July 2010. The prosecutor's office presented evidence against James Gregory Brown II. Sheriff Ron Seals said at the time of the shooting that witnesses said it was accidental -- that Brown dropped a loaded 12-gauge shotgun and it discharged, striking Sutton, who died before an ambulance arrived. Assistant District Attorney Ron Newcomb told The Mountain Press his office respects the grand jury decision."
-VolunteerTV.com, No charges in Sevier County shotgun death, 23 September 2011
2. Mr Clark did not need to be found incompetent by stroke in order to win all his cases. This is the real reason the State voluntarily dismissed its prosecutions for alleged trespass on campus by a UT student, and alleged aggravated assault of a deputy sheriff wearing a Metallica t-shirt who illegally broke into Mr Clark's home without a warrant, then ran screaming out of the house "having flashbacks to Afghanistan" when Mr Clark confronted him with a shotgun inside his own home.

3. Judge Leibowitz dismissed the vandalism charge against Mr. Clark 1 week after Mr. Clark subpoenaed a former Knox County deputy sheriff to testify that a current Knox deputy sheriff confessed to shooting a redlight camera in Knoxville. She had several years to dismiss it, why then, 4 weeks before trial for pulling a shotgun on a cop? Normally such dismissals don't happen until the day of trial, in order to coerce defendants to plead guilty under maximum psychological pressure, especially when accused of attempted murder of a cop ("dressed as a criminal" as his attorney the prosecutor wrote in his motion to dismiss).

4. Mr. Clark had a "massive stroke" 3 weeks after winning dismissal of the vandalism charge. Did you know that Medicare refuses to pay any medical bills for any person until 2.5 years after becoming sick under Social Security Disability? If a private insurance company pulled a scam like the fed govt -- taking money from customers the nrefusing to pay claims for 2.5 years, the executives would be immediately arrested -- convicted and sent to prison. Mr Clark's private insurance refused to pay for the $400,000 stroke, calling it a "pre-existing condition".

5. KPD, Knox prosecutors and Australian Redflex destroyed all ballistic evidence and audio evidence in this case. KPD officers testified they were standing within inches of the redlight camera as Mr. Clark allegedly shot it, yet those same cops testified they had no reason to make a traffic stop of Mr. Clark. The alleged police audio of those gunshots was destroyed by KPD. KPD testified Mr Clark's rifle was not in plain sight. There is no law against driving with an unloaded rifle, and no handgun carry permit is required, so Mr Clark violated no laws. There is no law requiring a permit to carry a long gun. How many people could be framed for a crime by police, using the sole "evidence" of carrying a lawful firearm in their vehicle?

6. Mr. Clark's rifle was a 30-06 caliber with factory 150 grain bullets, capable of penetrating 5/8-inch steel plate at 100 years, yet the thin sheet metal of the redlight camera housing only had 1 exit hole out of 4 bullets at less than 20 yards. KPD, Redflex and Knox DA destroyed the 3 bullets inside the camera housing, which would have proven Mr. Clark's rifle was not the weapon that shot the redligth camera.

7. Redflex is an Australian company that got 80% of ticket revenue. Redflex was fired by City of Knoxville for suspected bribery and contract fraud. Redflex refused to testify against Mr. Clark, and its employees fled USA.

8. The current redlight camera contractor in Knoxville is Lasercraft, based in Communist China.

9. The TN Court of Appeals cannot overturn the US Supreme Court's Arizona vs Gant.

10. Knox prosecutors already signed an agreed court order to voluntarily dismiss all prosecutions of Mr Clark, "with prejudice", officially due to his incapacitation by massive stroke. The State failed to appeal that agreed order within the statute of limitations, thus it is "impossible" (within the law) for the State to prosecute or convict Mr Clark. Mr Clark can get expungement of all dismissed cases, removing them from the public record. This includes removing this bad appellate opinion from the public record, denying its use by attorneys general as legal precedent. It's amazing the court dared classify this as a "published opinion" rather than an "unpublished opinion" (banned by order of the court from legal precedent due to being invalid caselaw).

11. It is part of the public record that Mr Clark's attorney, Ron Newcomb, filed a motion with the court for an indefinite continuance due to "massive stroke". Yet all news reports after Mr Clark's stroke refused to mention the stroke, instead implying that Mr Clark was insane, especially with inane comments by law enforcement lackeys. In fact, during this trial, Mr Clark obtained a signed letter from a psychologist on UT campus that nobody is more sane than Mr Clark, and Mr Clark is not a danger to himself or others. In fact, the State did return all of Mr Clark's fireams after the agreed order of dismissal, after Knox County deputies broke into Mr Clark's home and gunsafe, stealing $10,000 in firearms, including the shotgun used to lawfully defend himself inside his home from undercover cops "dressed as criminals", as well as the 30-06 rifle allegedly used for vandalizing a redlight camera.

12. Attorneys for Knoxville News Sentinel, WBIR TV, City of Knoxville and Knox County attorney general office threatened to arrest The Dragonater during the trial of Mr Clark, for daring to file a 50-page First Amendment appeal of an opinion from Judge Leibowitz banning TV coverage of this world-famous trial. Four previous judges had ordered The Dragonater to broadcast full coverage from inside the courtroom in this case. When Mr Clark started winning is when The Dragonater was banned. KNS and WBIR hold illegal secret contracts with City of Knoxville for propaganda placement, and The Dragonater had subpoened those public records. During that same hearing, Judge Leibowitz threatened to sanction Mr Clark's attorney Ron Newcomb for subpoena of a Knox County sheriff incident report where Mr Clark was severely beaten in the head by suspected undercover police or police informants with immunity from prosecution (causing his massive stroke), and threatened arrest Mr Clark for complaining that the judge's court order had been illegally written by the prosecution using false testimony that never appeared in the court record.

13. Why did it take 2 years for the Court of Appeals to write its opinion? Is it because it knows Mr Clark is incapacitated and unable to call their bluff and file an appeal to the TN Supreme Court? Will Mr Clark pay his attorney $1,000s more to appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court, to fight for the Constitutional rights of everyone else? Mr Clark has already won his case and cannot be prosecuted under double jeopardy. How many prosecution appeals are decided AFTER the prosecution has dismissed its case?

14. Mr Clark never got a redlight camera ticket, and was never sued for a redlight camera ticket in any court. No redlight camera ticket was ever entered into evidence in any court. No person is ever required to pay a redlight camera ticket due to lack of personal service of process as required in all civil lawsuits. If Mr Clark had gotten a redlight camera ticket, he probably would have paid the $50 rather than fight it in court, since he's a retired "millionaire" at age 50. So Mr Clark had no motive to shoot a redlight camera. Mr Clark always maintained his innocence, that this was a frame job by KPD.

15. Mr Clark was illegally expelled from UT as a result of Mr Clark's website, CliffSpeaks.com, discussing his redlight-camera vandalism defense (a violation of the First Amendment to the US Constitution). UT denied Mr Clark a mandatory due process hearing, by filing a false charge of alleged criminal trespass, based on forged and perjured testimony by UT employees. Based on this false arrest warrant for alleged trespass, undercover Knox County sheriff deputies in Metallica t-shirts broke into Mr Clark's home without identifying themselves, and without a search warrant. Inside his bedroom, Mr Clark pulled a loaded shotgun on the burgler, er, undercover deputy in a Metallica t-shirt. The deputy later testified that he "ran screaming from the house having flashbacks to [raiding homes and killing innocent women and children in] Afghanistan." In fact, Mr Clark had been given a written invitation from a professor to attend an event on UT campus, where Mr Clark already has 2 degrees.

16. During Mr Clark's trials and tribulations, the Tennessee legislature passed a law banning 95% of all redlight camera tickets, effective immediately in 2011.

17. Mr Clark is a business owner and software engineer with numerous patents and copyrights, with 2 degrees from UT Knoxville. He is a former teacher with Knox County Schools. He is a veteran of the US Air Force and US Navy. He is a licensed pilot and aircraft owner certified for aerobatics. He is currently divorced. He owns his own home (no mortgage) and currently resides in Knoxville. He swears under oath he never shot a redlight camera, and his attorney described him as "innocent" rather than "not guilty". He has invested over $40,000 on his legal defense, without ever having a trial. Mr Clark's incapacitating stroke may have saved KPD, KCSO, UTPD, UT, City of Knoxville and State of Tennessee and their individual employees millions of dollars for a verdict of false arrest and malicious prosecution. Mr Clark never got a redlight camera ticket.



Charges reinstated against accused red-light camera shooter

By Jamie Satterfield
Knoxville News Sentinel
October 24, 2011

A state appellate court on Monday reinstated charges against a Knoxville man accused in the shooting of a red-light camera.

In an opinion drafted by Appellate Judge Camille R. McMullen, the state Court of Criminal Appeals concluded Knox County Criminal Court Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz was wrong to toss out an indictment for felony vandalism and reckless endangerment filed against Clifford Clark in the November 2007 incident.

It's not clear, though, whether prosecutors will be able to try Clark. Earlier this year, Leibowitz deemed Clark mentally incompetent to stand trial in an unrelated assault charge after his attorney, Ron Newcomb, argued Clark had suffered a "debilitating medical event" that caused significant memory loss and an inability to communicate. Newcomb did not offer details, and Leibowitz sealed related medical records.

Clark was accused of shooting out a red-light camera that captured him running a red light at the intersection of Interstate 640 and Broadway. Knoxville Police Department officers who were near the intersection when they heard four shots being fired and then saw Clark speeding away stopped him within seconds.

According to the appellate court opinion, the officers handcuffed Clark and then found a high-powered rifle from which four shots had been fired in Clark's vehicle. The officers did not have a warrant to search the vehicle, and the U.S. Supreme Court has, in recent times, placed significant limitations on law enforcement's ability to search a vehicle without a warrant.

Leibowitz opined the officers had exceeded those limits. However, the appellate court concluded the rifle was readily visible to the officers and, as such, met the "plain view" exception to the requirement for a search warrant.

The court agreed with Leibowitz that KPD was wrong to give the damaged red-light camera back to its owner — private contractor Redflex Traffic Systems — rather than maintain it as evidence but opined her dismissal of charges was too draconian a punishment for the error.

"Accordingly, we reverse the trial court's judgment dismissing the indictment," McMullen wrote.The court instead is barring prosecutors from using photographs of the damaged camera as evidence.

Comments

Power to the people!! Kudos to you Cliff! I think all thieves should be shot like dogs, whether human or robotic....

The Dragonater is banned forever from KNS Comments, and KNS attorneys threatened the Dragonater with sanctions and arrest for daring to broadcast Truth news in the case of State vs Clifford Clark.



The Dragonater's Reality Check on WBCR Truth Radio on 1470 AM, discussion about Redlight Camera Sniper Case with Jim Balloch of the Knoxville News Sentinel:







"For the following reasons the court reverses its decision with respect to the motion to suppress the evidence and dismiss. The officers removed the defendant, Mr. Clark, from the vehicle almost immediately and on the videotape which has no audio available, patted down and handcuffed the defendant within a few seconds. It is admitted by the state that the lens covers were not made a part of the body of evidence in this case. It is also admitted that the officers took action to search the vehicle without the benefit of any search warrant, nor was there any written consent to search. The defendant denies giving any oral consent to search. The court requested that the state search for the camera cover and enclosure which the defendant is alleged to have shot in order that there be an opportunity for testing. The state was unable to produce the evidence and the Attorney General has determined that some of the evidence is gone, and some of the evidence has been recycled for use. Thus the defense contends it cannot examine the items which were damaged, nor do ballistic testing. It is the court's opinion that the search of the vehicle in absense of any search warrant and after the defendant had been safely removed from access to the vehicle in the rear of the car in the dark with a flashlight violates the United States Supreme Court case of Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. (2009). Additionally, State v. Ferguson, 2 S.W. 3d 912 (Tenn.Crim.App 1999) holds that the Constitution is violated when missing evidence has not been produced and is crucial to the opportunity of the defense to discover and examine such missing evidence. Thus it is this court's opinion that the evidence taken from the motor vehicle would be suppresed and the case should therefore be dismissed."
-Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz, State v. Clifford Clark, Order Regarding Motion to Reconsider Suppression and Dismissal, 30 July 2009

"A Knoxville man accused of shooting a red-light camera has a new theory about the crime. Charges against Clifford Clark III were dismissed on July 30. Clark was accused of firing several shots which destroyed the camera at the intersection of Broadway and I-640 in Nov. 2007. He was arrested a short time later after police stopped his car near the scene. But Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz dismissed the charges of vandalism and reckless endangerment. Her order states that the arresting officers 'immediately took action to search the vehicle without the benefit of any search warrant, nor was there any written consent to search.' The judge also said evidence, particularly the damaged camera, was no longer available. 'The state was unable to produce the evidence after inquiring has determined that some of the evidence is gone and some has apparently been recycled for use.' The defense was then unable to examine the camera parts or do further testing on the items. In an interview with freelance journalist John Lee, Clark said it's a 'tremendous relief' to have the case dismissed. The interview is posted on YouTube. Clark denies firing any shots at the camera and offers this suggestion in the interview: 'I think it was the police. If that camera was shot, I can only believe it was the police who shot the camera.' Clark alluded to a conspiracy in which the camera operators get paid by the City of Knoxville for every damaged camera. But Clark did say he subpoenaed at least one former Knox County Sheriff's deputy who would have testified that officers have in fact damaged cameras in the past. Knox County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Martha Dooley said the Sheriff can't make any comments because Clark has other criminal charges pending. 'As long as this is still in the court system, we really can't say anything,' Dooley said."

-Scott Brooks, Knoxville Journal, Accused camera shooter says cops did it, 12 August 2009

"It is extremely easy to beat this type of ticket in court. Your easiest defense is to simply throw the ticket away. If it does not come with a return receipt that requires a signature, there is no proof that you actually got the ticket and they cannot prosecute you on that."
-Norman G. Fernandez, attorney at law, free ebook How to Beat a Speeding Ticket - Photo RADAR

75% of AZ Drivers Refuse to Pay Photo Traffic Tickets

85% of TX Drivers Refuse to Pay Photo Traffic Tickets

"Lasercraft is a member of the Public Safety Equipment PSE group of companies. Public Safety Equipment (Intl) Ltd, Registered Office, Yeadon, Leeds, England. Beijing Mag Science & Technology Development Corp, Beijing, China."
-Lasercraft.com

"Redflex Group is based in South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Redflex Holdings Limited was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in January 1997. Redflex Traffic Systems Inc has contracts with more then 130 USA cities, and is the largest provider of digital red light and speed enforcement services in North America."
-Redflex.com

$500,000 City of Knoxville invoice paid to Redflex account in National Australia Bank in Australia, obtained by Clifford Clark during discovery in his case

"Any prosecutor can convict a guilty man; it takes a great prosecutor to convict an innocent man."
-Dallas DA Henry Wade, in charge of prosecuting and protecting Lee Harvey Oswald

"I'm just a patsy! I didn't shoot nobody no Sir!"
-Lee Harvey Oswald, US Marine Corps Naval Intelligence, before he was gunned down by jewish mobster Jacob Rubenstein inside the Dallas Police Station, the same police station President JFK Sr was gunned down in front of, and the same police station Jack Ruby died of "sudden cancer" 1 week after winning a new trial

Dallas DA’s death 19 convictions undone - "As district attorney of Dallas for an unprecedented 36 years, Henry Wade was the embodiment of Texas justice. Nineteen convictions — three for murder and the rest involving rape or burglary — won by Wade and two successors who trained under him have been overturned after DNA evidence exonerated the defendants. About 250 more cases are under review. No other county in America — and almost no state, for that matter — has freed more innocent people from prison in recent years than Dallas County, where Wade was DA from 1951 through 1986. John Stickels, a University of Texas at Arlington criminology professor and a director of the Innocence Project of Texas, blames a culture of 'win at all costs.' 'When someone was arrested, it was assumed they were guilty,' he said. 'I think prosecutors and investigators basically ignored all evidence to the contrary and decided they were going to convict these guys.' In his last 20 years as district attorney, his office won 165,000 convictions, the Dallas Morning News reported when he retired. In the 1960s, Wade secured a murder conviction against Ruby, the Dallas nightclub owner who shot Lee Harvey Oswald after Oswald's arrest in the assassination of President Kennedy. Ruby's conviction was overturned on appeal, and he died before Wade could retry him."
-MSNBC, 7/29/2008


Knox deputies and Knox DA refused to arrest or prosecute the "car-jacking muggers" who beat Mr Clark causing his stroke

"If I'm found floating face down in the river or murdered ('apparent suicide') in a jail cell on some bogus charge, you'll know it was the sheriff's department working in concert with the University of Tennessee."
-Clifford Clark, CliffSpeaks.com

"Do you think this is an Operation Northwoods situation?" [flase-flag govt snipers framing a patsy]
-Cliff Clark

Conclusion

The fact that there is no evidence against Mr Clark, no law violated by Mr Clark, and many laws violated by KPD, had nothing to do with this appellate opinion. However, gangsters in government have lots of guns and bullets, with plenty of serial-killing mass-murdering psychopathic "trigger pullers" who will obey any unlawful order for their $100,000 paycheck as Police State Death Squads. Heck, just this week, serial-killing mass-murdering psychopathic "trigger pullers" obeyed the unlawful order from illegal alien Dictator Hussein Obama Soetoro to bomb the president of Libya (a nation that never attacked USA) as he waved a white flag of surrender, then homosexually gang-raped him (as seen on TV) then put 2 bullets in his head in summary execution without trial nor appeal and dumped in an unmarked mass grave, then installed convicted Al Qaeda terrorists as dictators of Libya under Islamic martial law. What makes you think YOU are exempt for government "rendition" (a government term for slaughtering people, from the term "render" for slaughtering livestock)?

See also:

UPDATE 15 Nov 2011: Hookers And Pimps Rally Behind Cliff Clark

The Police Officer as Psychopath

My first body cavity search

Tortured by Copsters in Tennessee

“I’ll burn your house down, set your dog on fire and there won’t be a member of your family left, do you understand me? I won’t hire it done, I will do it myself! Do you understand me?”
-Blount County sheriff James Berrong, United Stated Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, Nuchols v. Berrong, No. 04-5645, July 11, 2005

Tennessee Auditors Arrive - 48 Blount Sheriff cars missing - "The state auditor arrived in the County a few weeks ago. The auditor was able to find only 239 vehicles. What happened to the other 48 vehicles? But the Sheriff wants the taxpayers to support a tax increase, so that he can have even more money to spend next year. Does this make sense to you?"

Blount County cops buy college degrees at massaage parlor

COP.
2. to steal; filch.
3. to buy (narcotics).
4. cop out, a. to avoid one's responsibility, the fulfillment of a promise, etc.; renege; back out.
5. cop a plea,
a. to plead guilty or confess in return for receiving a lighter sentence.
b. to plead guilty to a lesser charge as a means of bargaining one's way out of standing trial for a more serious charge; plea-bargain.
-Dictionary.com, Random House Unabridged Dictionary 2006

injustice, innocence project, DNA evidence, exonerated, civil rights violation, corruption, police state, ron paul, insanity defense, james earl ray, mlk, jfk, grassy knoll, e howard hunt, frank sturgis, rush to judgement, lee harvey oswald, frame job, operation northwoods, richard nixon, tricky dick, oliver stone,

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Why you must always carry a gun on UT campus


American sucker grovels then pays $50 "set-down fee" on UT campus

KNOXVILLE, TENN. -- This is more proof that UTPD and KPD are mafia criminal organizations that give immunity to cop-killin mobsters willing to bribe police protection rackets. Fired sheriff Tim Hutchison bragged on the front page of the News Sentinel that he stole cars at West Town Mall with convicted copkiller Roy Lee Clark, towtrucker and chopshop owner. Teflon Tim was re-elected 2 weeks later. Tim's reportedly dodging process servers after robbing his bankrupt car dealership of $17-million.

When a towtrucker was caught demanding a set-down fee with 15 minutes left on the meter in downtown NOxVile, one owner calmly got his handgun out of the glovebox and laid it on the top of the dash. Presto...no set-down fee, no cops, no arrest for "brandishing a firearm" (because he wasn't holding it).

"Set-down fees" are illegal under TN Code. That is felony extortion.

So is towing any car not blocking a public highway. That is felony cartheft.

Been there, done that. Then my lawyer got 2 guns put to his head and told, "If you don't do what you're told we'll blow your brains out." Which is exactly what the owner of Sutherland Avenue Wrecker did to the owners of Cedar Bluff Towing, who were "left for dead", allegedly, according to employees of SAWS.

The proper way to handle an extortionist's demand for an illegal set-down fee is to turn on your audio recorder and/or video/audio recorder, have him repeat his demands, place a hand on your gun in its holster, ready for quick-draw, and say, "You are now under citizen's arrest for extortion. Put your hands behind your head and lay face-down on the pavement."

If he jumps in his towtruck, stand in front of it. If he puts it in gear and drives towards you, open fire, shoot for the head in "self defense" -- if you don't you're maybe dead. "I feared for my life, officer!" is all you need to say, then STFU and hire a criminal lawyer.

Tie him up, gag him if required, remove the keys from his truck (preserve the evidence). Then load him in the truck of your car or bed of your truck and drive down a lonely country road...to the judicial commissioner's office in the City County Building for a probable cause hearing. Or call 911 and demand KPD pick up your prisoner, then immediately drive to the judicial commissioner's office to file an affidavit of probable cause for criminal complaint.

This of course is exactly why guns are illegally banned in Victim Disarmament Zones. Police only exist to protect the criminals from the public, and to rob the sheeple of their hard-earned fleece.

Back in the olden days, USA had no police and no jails, just a hangman's noose for horse russlers...


Hanging of a horse thief in Oregon 1900

Friday, October 21, 2011

Power understeer



This is why motorcycles must be banned from the Dragon, to prevent distraction of caged wankers.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Big Brother videocams inside every car...


Land of the coward and home of the slave

Gov't cameras in your car? E-toll patent hints at Big Brotherish future

By Bob Sullivan
MSNBC

Patent application number: 20110161140

Imagine that you couldn't drive on major highways without agreeing to put a camera in your car -- one that could film either the occupants or the vehicle’s surroundings and transmit the images back to a central office for inspection.

You don't have to read George Orwell to conjure up such an ominous surveillance state. You just have to skim through filings at the U.S. Patent Office.

It's hard to imagine Americans would tolerate such a direct, Big-Brotherish intrusion. But they might not notice if the all-seeing cameras were tucked inside another kind of government tracking technology that millions of Americans have already invited into their cars.

Kapsch TrafficCom AG, an Austrian company that just signed a 10-year contract to provide in-car transponders such as the E-Z Pass to 22 electronic highway toll collection systems around the U.S., recently filed a patent on technology to add multi-function mini-cameras to their toll gadgets. Today, transponders are in about 22 million cars around the U.S. Adding inward and outward facing cameras to the gadgets would create surveillance capabilities far beyond anything government agencies have tried until now.

The stated reason for an inward-pointing camera is to verify the number of occupants in the car for enforcement of HOV and HOT lanes. The outward-pointing camera could be used for the same purpose, helping authorities enforce minimum occupant rules against drivers who aren't carrying transponders.

But it's easy to imagine other uses. The patent says the transponders would have the ability to store and transmit pictures, either at random intervals or on command from a central office. It would be tempting to use them as part of a search for a lost child, for example, and law enforcement officials might find the data treasure trove irresistible. The gadget could also be instructed to take pictures when the acceleration of a car "exceeds a threshold," or when accidents occur, so it could be used like an airplane cockpit flight recorder.

It's important to note that a patent filing is a far cry from the invention and manufacturing of a new product. Many patent filings are nothing more than a defensive measure taken to protect the farthest reaches of intellectual property. Officials at Kapsch declined to be interviewed for this story, but in a statement said that citizens shouldn't read too much into the filing.

“This patent filing is part of the standard intellectual property protection process followed by every company that invests in research and development," said Erwin Toplak, chief operating officer of Kapsch, in an e-mail. "Kapsch, for example, files approximately 20 patent applications a year. This process protects our unique ideas; it does not signify that a commercial product is in development or even contemplated .”

And P.J. Wilkins, executive director of the E-Z Pass Group consortium that manages the massive toll collection cooperative, said he hadn't even heard of camera technology when told about the patent by msnbc.com.

"It's not an upgrade we are working on here," said. "We just signed a long-term contract with them and this wasn't a requirement."

Enforcement of HOV and HOT lanes is a labor-intensive and expensive issue for many state agencies, he said, and he understood why a company like Kapsch would try to invent a technology to deal with the problem, But he said he couldn't imagine it being used in the E-Z Pass system.
"Before anyone goes down that road there's a whole host of questions that would have to be answered,” he said. “What's the impact on privacy? What's the impact on the data stream? I just don't think it's something that would gain a lot of traction."

Kapsch sells its technology in 41 countries around the globe, and 64 million cars worldwide have been outfitted with its transponders, according to the firm's website. Occupant cameras could be attractive, and more acceptable, outside the U.S.

And while it's possible cameras-in-cars technology would be a non-starter in America, that doesn't mean Americans shouldn't be worried, said Lee Tien, a privacy expert with the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

"I think (drivers) should be pretty concerned," he said. "You want to make sure any use of that technology is very carefully regulated. People should let the E-Z Pass folks know now what they think about any possible plans to introduce cameras in their cars, now, while it's being developed, rather than before it's already a fait accompli, and some agency says it's already spent millions on it and can't turn back now."

Tien said there's nothing inherently bad about using new technology to enforce tolls, but he cautioned against what is sometimes called "surveillance spillover." Technology designed for one function is inevitably used by law enforcement officials and other government agencies in unintended ways.

"You could imagine that they could limit the capacity of devices -- say the images would be destroyed after a very short period of time -- so it would not be as powerful a surveillance device. But that's not the general dynamic," he said. "Once you have the device out there, someone says, 'Why not use it for this, or that.' That's usually where the battle between privacy and other social goals is lost."

The dynamic is playing out right now in a European scandal surrounding use of a secret government program used by German law enforcement officials to monitor citizens' Internet behavior through the use of Trojan horse software called R2D2. German courts had permitted use of the software only when officials were fulfilling a legal wiretap order, and only to listen in on Skype conversations. But the R2D2 Trojan has allegedly been used by German authorities to send thousands of screen shots detailing suspects' Internet explorations, to keylog their typing, and in a host of other potentially illegal evidence-gathering methods.

The solution, says Tien, is to design privacy right into the gadget in the first place, to minimize the inevitable temptations for law enforcement and security officials.
"It doesn't bother me that (Kapsch) filed this patent. Surveillance technology is constantly being developed. There is money in surveillance," he said. "The question is less about lamenting the invention of these things and more about questioning our demand for surveillance, and thinking about the kind of society we are building and encouraging when we legitimize the continual, gradual architecting of the social world into a surveillance society."

News of the camera patents comes as electronic toll collection continues to expand around the U.S. -- and while options for using the systems anonymously have finally become commonplace. After years of complaints from skeptics that E-Z Pass toll paying created an undesirable public record that could be used to track individuals, systems in Texas and Washington state now allow users to register for the devices without disclosing their identities. And a new "E-Z Pass On the Go" gadget is being sold in the Eastern U.S. that functions much like a disposable prepaid phone card, allowing anonymous use of the E-Z Pass tolls.

E-Z Pass has had to beat back a lot of conspiracy theories through the years, Wilkins noted -- such as the idea that the gadgets would be used to catch speeders and issue tickets. E-Z Pass users now register very few complaints, he said, and are overwhelmingly happy with a system that helps them avoid delays at long toll booth lines.

"The whole tracking thing is a bogus argument," said Wilkins. "If you have a cell phone you are being tracked anyway. Law enforcement can get to cell phone records just as easily (as E-Z Pass records). And the phone company keeps that data a very long time."





Boy racers beware: your parents are watching

By Anna Gizowska in Sydney and David Harrison
Daily Telegraph
14 Aug 2005

It's bad news for boy racers: Big Brother is watching you - and so are your parents on a new in-car video camera that records how motorists drive.

The palm-sized device, to be launched in Britain this month, is fixed to the windscreen beneath the rear-view mirror and captures any dangerous or erratic driving. Parents can then download the colour footage onto a computer to see - and hear - how their children behave behind the wheel.

The £1,000 camera, which is being compared to the "black box" used on airliners to record flight details, was invented by an Australian, developed in the United States and has been approved for sale in Britain.

So far the device, called DriveCam, has been used mainly by fleet car companies who use it to monitor their drivers and to provide evidence for insurance claims, but the makers are also planning to market the camera as a "car nanny".

Gary Rayner, who invented the camera after reading about the car crash that killed Diana, Princess of Wales, and the lack of information about the moments leading up to her death, said: "It's an ideal way to keep an eye on the kids' driving. Parents, like fleet managers, can see bad driving behaviour before it turns into accidents and give their children advice."

More than 3,000 people die on British roads every year and a quarter of the victims are drivers aged between 17 and 25. Mr Rayner says that the device will save lives. It has reduced road deaths in America, where it has been fitted in 30,000 fleet vehicles, he said.

The camera, which also has a red "panic button" to capture incidents such as muggings or road rage attacks, records sights and sounds inside and outside the car continuously but "saves" footage only when there is a "trigger incident". These include excessive speed, sharp cornering, hard braking or accelerating, and going over bumps. The camera saves footage 15 seconds either side of each incident.

A spokesman for the Institute of Advanced Motoring said: "It's early days yet but we have endorsed this product because we believe it can make a contribution to road safety."

Parents welcomed it too. Jeff Joyce, who runs an insurance business in East Sheen, south-west London, and has an 18-year-old son who has been driving for a year, said: "It can only be a good thing if it helps young drivers to be a bit more aware of how important it is to drive safely.
"It also gives the parents more sway over the children because if they have evidence of bad driving they can stop the kids using the car and make them pay for any damage."

The prospect of being filmed, however, horrified his son James who has had two crashes since he passed his test. "It would be terrible," he said. "If my mum and dad were to see a film of me driving I don't think they would let me drive again.

"I suppose it could help you with an insurance claim, but I don't think any teenager or other young driver would want their driving to be captured on film."

In Australia, where 350 people aged 17 to 25 die on the roads and 5,500 are seriously injured each year, the device is being used to improve teenagers' driving.

Gene Corbett, the director of Total Driver, a driving school in Queensland, recently carried out a three-month study of 40 young drivers with DriveCam fitted in their cars and found many dangerous flaws in their driving because of their lack of experience.

"We give them a few lessons then put them in charge of a car at legal speeds of up to 110 kilometres an hour, with little or no education or coaching and expect them to learn the rest by experience, which is ludicrous," he said.

Mr Corbett's assessment and coaching reduced "trigger incidents" by up to 80 per cent and most of the drivers said the study had made then drive more cautiously.





Smile For The Camera: Big Brother Is Watching You Speed Via Satellite

TheCarConnection.com
April 27, 2010

Satellites do many awesome things: they allow us to communicate with friends and family, they help us find our way home when we're lost, and of course, they bring us television -- delicious television. But there are a few downsides to those hunks of metal and circuitry floating above the surface of the earth, and for drivers in Britain, one of those downsides is now speed traps.

In London and Cornwall, a pilot program has just been launched that combines all the fun of terrestrial speed cameras with the creepy omniscience of GPS. In a nutshell, the program -- called "SpeedSpike" -- uses positioning satellites to track motorists as they travel between traffic cameras. By calculating the time it takes a driver to move from one point to the other, SpeedSpike can determine whether or not the motorist has been speeding. When the car reaches the second camera, calculations are made, and if they're out of line -- blammo! -- a photo is taken of the license plate, and a ticket is mailed to the owner.

Obviously, this is terrible news for leadfooters. Garden-variety traffic cameras are confined to a particular area: if you're not driving by one, it can't give you a ticket. But SpeedSpike allows the camera system to expand exponentially, with far less on-the-ground hardware. As long as you drive past two cameras, your speed can be measured and you can potentially receive a citation. Taken to its logical extreme, the British government could roll out enough camera checkpoints to cover the entire nation.

And just because this is happening in Britain doesn't mean that those of us in North America can relax: the company behind SpeedSpike, PIPS Technology, is based in Knoxville, Tennessee. Not to get all survivalist or anything, but: yikes.

Of course, the real problem with SpeedSpike goes beyond overbearing traffic enforcement: SpeedSpike opens the door to serious breaches of individual privacy. It's hard to argue that anything as illegal and dangerous as speeding is a-okay, so SpeedSpike itself is, in theory, justifiable. But the jump from traffic enforcement to more insidious applications is a short and easy one.

Unfortunately, just like cell phones, in-car internet, and Lunchables, the genie is out of the bottle on this brand of technology. PIPS's pilot program might fail for any number of reasons -- political, logistical, or otherwise -- but the idea is there, and the technology is there, so our guess is that the service itself will eventually be there in some form or other. As drivers (and voters), we need to make sure it rolls out in a way that ensures safety while also respecting the privacy of individuals.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Deals Gap Dragon Dragstrip


Death rate skyrockets on the Dragon after 'speed limit' reduced by 35 mph

See Fake Propaganda Death Map by THP and Knoxville News Sentinel's bankrupt Maryville Daily Times versus Truth Map by TailOfTheDragon.com: THP claims 3 deaths in 2009 but there were actually 5 deaths. THP claims zero deaths in 2010, but there was actually 1 death with the road closed by martial law for 6 months.

Daily Times forget to mention the rider literally run over by a tractor trailer in 2011, since big rigs block both lanes in every curve with immunity from prosecution (no ticket for the biker-killin trucker). North Carolina has already banned large trucks from US129, thus denying access to the Dragon, a law this trucker violated in order to murder Ike Woodard. Yet cops refused to ticket this trucker for his homicide at Deals Gap.

In fact, Blount County renamed Interstate 140 (Pellissippi Parkway) to honor the convicted hit-and-run killer of a sportbike tourist.

The actual cause of biker deaths is the 4-hour to 24-hour rescue time by Rural Metro and THP on the Dragon (as if any cop ever performs first aid or has first responder equipment and certification).



‘The dragstrip' to the Dragon now a concern

By Joel Davis | (joeld@thedailytimes.com)

“The Dragon” might be a cruel and unforgiving stretch of road, but it doesn’t stop thousands of motorists from being drawn to its seductive challenges each year.

An 11.1-mile segment of U.S. 129 from Tabcat Creek to the North Carolina Line at Deals Gap, The Dragon draws motorcyclists from across the nation and from around the world to pit themselves against its world-famous 318 curves. Many rise to the occasion — discovering the exhilaration of conquering the legendary road. Sometimes, though, they fail. There has been an average of 2.4 motorcycle fatalities per year for the past six years on the stretch.

Harold “Monk” Hood, 71, is a veteran motorcyclist. He’s traveled The Dragon at least 100 times in the past six years but admits it’s not his favorite ride. He prefers the nearby Cherohala Skyway in North Carolina, which is more suited to touring on his 2010 Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic. “I don’t like to be crowded,” he said.

And The Dragon is crowded.

Thousands of vehicles travel the route during busy season, which sometimes leads to sticky situations as riders of very different temperaments encounter each other, Hood said. “All of a sudden, you’ve got two crotch-rockets coming around you in the middle of a switchback curve. ... It’s scary.”

Daily Times photographer Tom Sherlin, a motorcyclist himself, had five separate encounters with sports bikes while filming a first-person account of riding The Dragon, which can be seen on (http://TheDailyTimes.com) “The first time it was just surprising because he appeared out of nowhere —all of a sudden he’s going past on the left, and then you see him fly away,” Sherlin said.

Still, there is a place for everyone on The Dragon, whatever bike they ride, Hood said. “I’m not saying they shouldn’t be there. It’s a federal highway so everybody has got the right to be on it. It’s overcrowded, but everybody has a right to ride their own bikes. If they’d stay within the speed limit, nobody would have a problem.”

Unfortunately, it is the riders unfamiliar with the curvy roads who most often prove to be a danger to themselves, Hood said. “Most of the ones who wreck are out-of-staters. I hate to see that. They come out to enjoy themselves and leave in a bag.”

Speeding common

With thousands of travelers crossing the mountain on U.S. 129 each year, the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) and Blount County Sheriff’s Office deputies stay busy. THP alone wrote 2,365 citations to motorists traveling U.S. 129/SR115 in Blount County in 2009 and 2010. Speeding was the most common violation on the roadway, especially regarding motorcycles.

In 2009, 227 out of 388 motorcyclists cited were ticketed for speeding violations. These citations increased in 2010, with 383 out of 666 motorcyclists cited for speeding. In 2009, only 228 speeding citations were issued out of 690 total to non-motorcyclists. In 2010, there were 272 non-motorcyclists cited for speeding out of 621 total citations.

Improper passing was the second most common violation for motorcyclists.

The Daily Times received the citation statistics through an Open Records request made to the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security.

Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Marian O’Briant said an annual grant from the state allows deputies to increase enforcement on the Dragon. “It is an overtime grant exclusive for the Dragon. We use it May through the end of September for direct patrols two or three days a week. Without those grants, we couldn’t do that.”

From 2008-2011, the Sheriff’s Office received $366,706 from the state to pay for overtime incurred during the Dragon patrols.

‘The Dragstrip ...’

The path to The Dragon has its own perils.

Local resident and farmer Dan Ashby believes Calderwood Highway, which leads to The Dragon, has become a danger in its own right. He calls the 10-mile segment of U.S. 129 that stretches from U.S. Highway 411 to the Calderwood Dam “the dragstrip to The Dragon.” He said there is danger every day.

“It’s utter chaos,” he said. “These idiots come flying up through here in speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour. ... It’s anarchy out here at night.”

Ashby said he’s been trying get public officials to take steps to improve safety on the road for several years now, but feels that little has been done, He has written more than a dozen letters to officials during the past three years, but feels nothing will be done about the road until “someone powerful, rich or politically important gets hurt on this road.”

Governor’s Highway Safety Office Director Kendell Poole said he respects Ashby’s statements, but explained that efforts have been made in order to curb these problems. “Over half a million dollars in overtime has been sunk into patrols on The Dragon and the areas surrounding The Dragon,” he said.

‘Dangerous task’

Although Ashby gives credit to Blount County Sheriff James Berrong and the THP’s efforts to tame The Dragon, he doesn’t believe local law enforcement has sufficient resources.

“I feel sorry for the deputies putting their lives on the line when they are restricted in what they can do up here,” Ashby said. “Only Sheriff Berrong has made an effort, but it is fairly nonexistent on weekends due to manpower. The deputies and troopers are to be commended for a thankless and dangerous task of enforcing laws of Tennessee without any manpower support and real involvement from Nashville.”

While in his frustration Ashby cites a lack of involvement from Nashville, there has been some funding provided by the state.

O’Briant said the Sheriff’s Office especially concentrates its efforts during peak cruising season and uses state grant money to help finance those patrols. “Between the months of May and the end of September, with the gracious assistance of the Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office overtime grant money, we are able to send extra enforcement to The Dragon five days a week — Friday, Saturday, Sunday and then two other days during the week. There are usually two Sheriff’s Office cruisers up there on those days. We concentrate on areas of The Dragon where there are the most problems and the most accidents.”

Slow it down

Living just past Hatcher’s store, Ashby said he also believes that the intersection right before his house at Six Mile Road creates part of the problems and is a huge danger by itself. “It’s got to be one of the most dangerous intersections in the state.”

Ashby, a motorcycle rider himself, said he is not opposed to riders, sightseers or tourists in the area and that all he is asking is for the Tennessee Department of Transportation to slow the speed limit down a “little bit.”

The posted speed limit for the stretch of highway that runs parallel to his property is 50 mph. Ashby said he feels even decreasing it to 45 mph could help the situation and prevent accidents.

“The fact that this road has a 50 mile-per-hour (limit) on it is especially ludicrous when compared to TN 411 in Madisonville, Englewood and Etowah that limit the speed to 45 mph on a five-lane road with very little residential or business activity,” he said.

See also: Dragon’s toll: 17 in 6 years (Ike Woodard rolls in his grave because of the Police State)

Comments by Facebook

The speed limit on the Dragon is 65 mph, according to TDOT, TN Code 55-8-152 & 153 , Blount County Attorney General, Blount County Courts, TN Court of Appeals and TN Supreme Court in CITY OF OAK RIDGE v. DIANA RUTH BROWN. Lowering the speed limit has quadrupled the death rate on the Dragon, which is why it is illegal to post a limit of 30 mph without a TDOT performing a mandatory traffic engineering survey speed audit .

"Dear Mr. Lee: Please find enclosed the Road Safety Audit Review of U. S. 129 from North Carolina State Line to Tabcat Bridge in Blount County, dated July 25, 2007. We have no record of a Traffic Engineering Survey and/or Speed Audit for this location."
-Marion E. Hilt, Staff Attorney, TDOT, Tennessee Open Records Act Request, February 23, 2011

A $6-million class action lawsuit was filed in Knoxville this week, against Bluff City for suing speeding tickets without an engineering speed audit.

Every cop on the Dragon is guilty of felony official oppression, conspiracy and racketeering, according to TN Code. Is USA really land of the coward and home of the slave? Cops on the Dragon are paid $100,000/yr salaries according to THP and BCSO public records.

COP.
2. to steal; filch. 3. to buy (narcotics). 4. cop out, a. to avoid one's responsibility, the fulfillment of a promise, etc.; renege; back out. 5. cop a plea, a. to plead guilty or confess in return for receiving a lighter sentence. b. to plead guilty to a lesser charge; plea-bargain."
-Random House Unabridged Dictionary

“I’ll burn your house down, set your dog on fire and there won’t be a member of your family left, do you understand me? I won’t hire it done, I will do it myself! Do you understand me?”
-Blount County sheriff James Berrong, United Stated Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, Nuchols v. Berrong, No. 04-5645, July 11, 2005See More

Biker Tickets Increase 11,400% on the Dragon, brags THP

THP bans all commercial businesses in Blount County on the Dragon, says TDOT Report.

"The median pre-crash speed was 29.8 mph, and the median crash speed was 21.5 mph, and the one-in-a-thousand crash speed is approximately 86 mph. Motorcycle riders in these accidents showed significant collision avoidance problems. Most riders would overbrake and skid the rear wheel, and underbrake the front wheel greatly reducing collision avoidance deceleration. The ability to countersteer and swerve was essentially absent."
-Dr Harry Hurt PhD, Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures, USDOT

Countersteering is the only way to steer a motorcycle, and requires steering in the opposite direction to a curve. THP censors countersteering from it's Motorcycle Operator Test and Study Guide, thus intentionally causing 95% of all motorcycle crashes.

The main cause of motorcycle deaths on the Dragon is the 4.5-hour response time by Rural Metro. Knox County has a 10-minute response time required by contract, or Rural Metro has to pay a penalty out of its billion-dollar profit.

Your odds of dying in a motorcycle crash are about the same as stangulation by inhalation, or by fire.

You're THREE times more likely to die by gunfire than in a motorcycle crash.

You're FOUR times more likely to die by FALLING DOWN or by poisoning than in a motorcycle crash.

You're TEN times more likely to die by suicide than in a motorcycle crash. (Does riding a bike protect you from suicide?)

You're EIGHTEEN times more likely to die from the FLU than in a motorcycle crash.

You're TWENTY-SEVEN times more likely to die playing ordinary sports than in a motorcycle crash. 200,000 stick-and-ball athletes die every year in USA, according to CDC.

500,000 Americans are killed every year by tobacco.

Medical doctors are the leading cause of death in USA, with virtual immunity from prosecution. For every 1 driver killed in a car or motorcycle crash, doctors murder 250. The most dangerous part of a motor vehicle crash is the medical treatment.

"The most stunning statistic, however, is that the total number of deaths caused by conventional medicine is an astounding 783,936 per year. It is now evident that the American medical system is the leading cause of death and injury in the US. (By contrast, the number of deaths attributable to heart disease in 2001 was 699,697, while the number of deaths attributable to cancer was 553,251.5) Using Leape's 1997 medical and drug error rate of 3 million multiplied by the 14% fatality rate he used in 1994 produces an annual death rate of 420,000 for drug errors and medical errors combined. Using this number instead of Lazorou's 106,000 drug errors and the Institute of Medicine 's (IOM) estimated 98,000 annual medical errors would add another 216,000 deaths, for a total of 999,936 deaths annually. Our estimated 10-year total of 7.8 million iatrogenic* deaths is more than all the casualties from all the wars fought by the US throughout its entire history. Our considerably higher figure is equivalent to six jumbo jets are falling out of the sky each day."
—Gary Null, PhD; Carolyn Dean MD, ND; Martin Feldman, MD; Debora Rasio, MD; Dorothy Smith, PhD, Life Extension Magazine, Death by Medicine, March 2004 (plus 10-Million annual aborticides in USA)

"One hundred forty years ago, the Royal Society in England warned against the railroads, claiming that at speeds over 30 miles per hour, the air supply to the passenger compartment would be cut off and people would die from asphyxiation. And the college of physicians in Munich, for its part, warned that at 30 mph, travelers would suffer headaches, vertigo and possible lose their sight because of a blurring effect. Over 30 mph great catastrophies were predicted, because everyone knew that even a twig would shatter the wheels."
-Jules Burgman, ABC News, NASA Langley Research Center, The Impact of Science on Society, NASA SP-482, NASA Scientific and Technical Information Branch, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1985

Telling the Truth in Motorcycle Crash Statistics

Famous Person Says Leave Bikers Alone on the Dragon

"There has been an average of 2.4 motorcycle fatalities per year for the past six years on the stretch." - I travel from the west coast to ride your beautiful hi-ways and sadly on my last trip arrived just after one of these sad tragedies. and was nearly hit by the same semi that killed the rider before I arrived. Yes I said Semi, big rig, 18 wheeler, that's what killed that poor rider and many others through the years NOT speed! Apparently North Carolina has laws banning trucks of this size from this hi-way but turns a blind eye after all who's it gonna hurt a biker? and Tennessee doesn't care about safety either because cry's to stop the trucks has fallen into that same category (who cares! it was only a biker). Speed is an important factor on all roads not only excessive speeds but also speeds that impede the flow of traffic and the arrogant self righteous people that think others should follow them well below posted speeds or risk going around rather than using provided turnouts to let others pass safely. This could have been a great article if you had sat down and interviewed all involved rather than getting a biased one-sided opinion and puking it out as the Gospel but then again why should you have any integrity in your reporting when all the other major journalist have sold their integrity for a fluff story. Enforce the laws that exist before throwing mankind into chains.

I'm a frequent tourist to the area - and if it were not for winding roads, I wouldn't be there (and spending money) - and there are plenty of others doing the same. But, be that as it may, and having just spent two weeks in the area, my perspective is that the sport riders doing truly high speeds are rare (I never saw it at all) and overwhelmed by the number of cruisers, many of whom ride VERY slowly but will not do the courteous thing by using the paved pull-outs to let others pass safely. Tractor-trailer units are another scary thought; a 53-foot trailer can not fit on that road and stay in its own lane. When will Tennessee do the right thing and ban tractor-trailers with longer than 30 foot trailers on that road, the same as what North Carolina has done (but seems not to be enforcing very much)?

As far as speed limits, the 5...0 mph speed limit from 411 to the lakes seems reasonable (I could do that in my tow vehicle with ample safety margin), the 40 mph speed limit by the lakes is surely under-posted as a revenue-generator (no apparent reason for it to be any different from the 50 zone), and the 30 mph speed limit in Deals Gap itself is under-posted and can easily and safely be exceeded by someone on a scooter, nevermind a decent car. If there is a problem with a small number of people exceeding a speed limit by a huge margin, then reducing that speed limit is not going to help - the artificially low speed limit will just annoy everyone else and won't affect someone who is already exceeding it by a huge margin.

Deals Gap is not a good place for inexperienced riders, nor is it a good place for oversized vehicles (tractor-trailers that simply won't fit on the road), nor is it a good place for vehicles with handling problems (motorcycles with inadequate cornering clearance, and particularly trikes - many of the fatalities in the last few years have involved trikes of home-built or kit-built design, which are often prone to overturning).

If the real problem for the residents is noise (and I suspect this to be the case), then where is the enforcement for that?

By the way, I appreciate the enforcement on staying on the correct side of the center line. Let's see it applied to the tractor-trailers equally ... and on balance, let's see some enforcement for those who block traffic from passing by going very slowly and not using the pull-offs.See More

The state could obviously give $0.02 about the safety of motorcyclists. If the state cared anything about the safety of motorcyclists they wouldn't have "cleaned" the ditches on 129 from the state line to Tabcat bridge, which effectively did absolutely nothing except put large amounts of dirt and gravel in the road. Law enforcement is not on "The Dragon" to protect anyone, they are there for revenue purposes. As far as the speed limit on 129 North of Tabcat Bridge, if anything it should be raised by at least 15mph, no engineering survey has ever been completed on the road, the speed limits are arbitrary numbers. The road along Chilhowee Lake is wide and straight, for it to have a 40mph speed limit is especially ludicrous. Comparing the speed limit on 129 to the speed limit on 411 is completely irrelevant, 411 has a much different traffic flow, volume of traffic, and far fewer cross streets, schools, businesses, and driveways which if anything would negate a higher speed limit than that of 411.

What they don't say or even ask about are the Cruisers that do 5mph and wobble through out every corner is a danger to the people behind him. Then if you pass this rider that can't even ride his own bike. then you are the bad guy for getting away from a situation that might put your self in danger. Funny how they say a sportbike passing them at the posted speed limit is dangerous but the guy on a cruiser that trys to show off in front of a photographer and wrecks goes into the other lane and takes me out is the good guy. kind of twisted right? 8 out of 10 fatalities are cruiser riders that don't know the capabilities of their vehicle. Nor even understand the most basic rider skill of counter steering.

Now on the reducing the speed limit. That is a great idea!! When the speed limit was lowered to 30 mph on the 11 mile stretch the death rate increased dramatically........... I love people that don't have a clus about what they are talking about and blabbering on like they do. They idiot diarrhea of the mouth.

Right... decreasing the speed limit saves lives... Just look at all the lives saved when they decreased the speed on the Dragon. All they did was make it more alluring. When you can show me lives saved instead of income generated, then I will listen. NOT until then. This is ALL about the government needing more money because they are broke. When citizens can't budget their lives and over step their credit they file bankruptcy and are forced to start over, shouldn't our government have to stop excessive pork spending and trim the budget where possible instead of raising fines, dropping speed limits, raising taxes etc? Personal responsibility apparently has flown the coop. Now we need the government telling us how to be safe. I call it Darwin's theory at work.

Mr. Ashby didn't mention how conversation has to stop (inside your home)until 25 to 30 bikes go by. I love to hear the single sound of a Harley, but together it's just a loud roar. It breaks by heart when they go roaring by, praying that they will all be comeing back in one piece.

AND if people that came from across the land to ride the fabled 'dragon' knew how to ride, there would be no need for passing. I have been behind riders that go 10 mph..... if you are that scared, don't go up there because you are putting everyone in danger. I do the speed limit, no more, no less. I am not one of the 'passers' but am friends with some of them I am sure...

Riding is fun dont know why young people think getting killed is should have a place 4 a chance to recieve jesus i mean if u want to get hurt or killed go out the right way huh

Please read what you have written and then tell me what the hell you are talking about. And i am sorry you seem to be dressed like the rest of the people who cause the most of the problems up there let me guess you dont have a full faced helmet or protective leathers. how many times did you ride in overalls and flip flops this year. Please if you are going to comment please at least be educated enough to make sense when you type a message.Thank you

THP Troopers Die in Motorcycle Crashes...945 To Go