Guilty Till Proven Innocent: American Justice? – If You Can Afford It!

By Penny White

As British ex-pats, author Penny White and her husband, Harry, had been living the Florida dream for several years until, through no fault of their own, they found themselves on the wrong side of the law. They suffered wrongful arrest and incarceration. If found guilty, they each faced a hundred and thirty years in prisona situation based on lies told by a former business partner and his aggressive attorney.

In Guilty Till Proven Innocent, White shares the story of how, in a dramatic, TV-style raid on their Florida home by armed, masked police, their lives changed forever. White narrates their experience including spending time in jail and fighting the charges lobbied against them.

This true story calls into question the American courts, and White asks for a further review into a justice system that fails to uphold the tenets of liberty, freedom, and justice for all, not just for those who can afford good, but expensive attorneys.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Aug 18, 2017
• ISBN: 9781532027017

Penny White

Penny White is a former ballet teacher. Combining a love of travel and knowledge of the building industry, White and her husband, Harry, purchased a United Kingdom marketing company that sold Florida vacation homes. They moved to Florida in 1999 where business was successful until the downturn in the world economy. They have two grown children.

Book preview

Prologue

This is our true story, which needs to be told! As British ex-pats, my husband and I had been living the Florida Dream for several years until, through no fault of our own, we found ourselves on the wrong side of the law. We suffered wrongful arrest and incarceration. If we were found guilty, we each faced a hundred and thirty years in prison as a result of a pack of lies.

The American Justice System, although it’s based on English Common Law, is definitely flawed and needs a thorough review. Surely it should uphold the concept of liberty, freedom and justice for all, not just for those who can afford good, but expensive attorneys. As you will see from our traumatic series of events, the System is heavily biased in favour of the rich. Money definitely talks. That is not right.

The statue of the lady standing up for Justice above the Old Bailey Courts in London, carries scales to weigh up a fair decision based on evidence, and the double-edged sword of retribution, for law and justice. Therefore she doesn’t have a spare hand to hold out for money to influence the outcome. Some statues show her wearing a blindfold to indicate that she has no bias and shows no favours. Really? Wish that was true!

In the United States, many of us have noticed that the majority of adverts on TV are for law practices. So even in this current economic crisis, attorneys all seem to be thriving. It’s so sad that their services are a necessary expense for most people now. It even costs a fortune to file for bankruptcy. That’s crazy when you’re declaring that you have no money!

But as a result of our nightmare experience, if we didn’t have really good friends, who were ready, willing and able to help with the money to bail us out, and then to employ great criminal defence attorneys, we’d now be spending the rest of our lives in jail.

When our attorneys first spoke to the State Prosecutor, he admitted that he hadn’t even looked at our file, and that was after he’d appeared in front of a judge to demand the warrant to order our arrest and detainment.

But the main purpose of this book is to underline the need for the legal system to hear both sides of any story, before just locking people up and potentially throwing away the keys! It’s unconstitutional to deny anyone their liberty without due process. This is particularly relevant when you can’t afford an attorney. Then you’re totally dependent on the overworked Public Defenders, who don’t seem to have the time or the manpower to be able to offer a creditable defense. So the big question is how many others are suffering this injustice, without the chance to be heard, shut away from society in a gruesome, third world penal system?

It’s also somewhat astounding that the sentences for cases involving monetary offenses are in some instances much longer and more punitive than those involving violence and the taking of human life. So is money more important than anything else? But at least murderers are interviewed (or interrogated) before they are charged, unlike in our case, when this is the first time we have the chance to tell our side of the story!

Please note that under the circumstances, all names have been changed to avoid any continuance of repercussions in the ongoing persecution saga.

This book is whole-heartedly dedicated to our cherished knights in shining armour – our saviours, who are our much-loved friends and family, most specifically our daughter Nina, Maria, David and Fiona, without whom we know we’d still be unjustly behind bars. So please join me in my account of the events, which have systematically and wrongfully destroyed our lives for the past six years, and will ultimately affect us for the foreseeable future!…

There is a saying attributed to Dr Martin Luther King, Jr that "Injustice for One is Injustice for All. We are bound by an inescapable garment of mutuality, whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." This is taken from a letter from the Birmingham Jail, 1962. How very true and how very relevant to our whole situation.

And please note, a well-known expression of loyalty: - "I pledge Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all!" Hmmm…

CHAPTER ONE

ARRESTED!

Oh my God! Oh my God! How can this be happening to us? How can this be happening to me? It was about seven o’clock on a hot and humid Friday evening, when the doorbell rang and my husband, Harry went to answer it. Lilly, our beloved golden Labrador was barking, as she always did to greet whoever was stopping by to visit. But this wasn’t friends just calling to socialise…

I hadn’t long woken up from my nap, which I had been taking most afternoons since my angioplasty last year for blocked arteries in my heart. I just gave a quick stir to the chilli on the stove, and then went to see who Harry was talking to at the door. Normally our visitors would already be sitting outside by the pool with a cuppa or glass of something to quench their thirst.

To my horror, there were three armed sheriff’s deputies crowded into our porch, together with another guy who had the Florida Department of Law Enforcement logo, emblazoned on his jacket. As soon as he saw me, he demanded to know if I was Penny White. What on earth is this all about? I asked. Getting no direct response from him, I jumped to the conclusion that this was yet more aggravation brought into our lives by our dear ex-partner, who had initiated a hostile takeover of our family business the previous year. (For the purposes of this book, I will name him somewhat appropriately – Dick. My sincere apologies to any nice guys of that name. I’d hate to cause offence to them, but this particular person has definitely proved to be a right Dick).

Everything then seemed to go into a slow motion blur. My heart was pounding as they put handcuffs first on Harry, then a female officer made me put my hands behind my back, and cuffed me too. That really hurt – they were so tight. I was terrified! Surely we could sit down and talk about this? It was so very scary. This just couldn’t be happening. (I apologise for repeating myself, but this whole thing was incredible)!

I was horrified to see that there were several squad cars with flashing blue lights parked outside our home. Masked police in bullet-proof vests, fully armed with rifles and automatic weapons, were surrounding the whole house. Did they think that we were terrorists? Unbelievable. Just like something out of a movie!

It was all so very shocking, but I seem to remember that the FDLE guy said that we were being arrested and would be taken to Bartow – a good hour’s drive away. Suddenly my brain kicked into overdrive as I knew that whatever happened, I would need my medications and especially my insulin, as I am a Type-1 diabetic. He said that I couldn’t take anything with me, insisting that it would all be sorted out with medical staff when we got there. I couldn’t even take my glucose tablets for a possible hypo, or the nitrate spray for angina. I thought there was a strong possibility that one or the other would be needed under these extreme circumstances!

Despite his protests, I insisted that I needed to take my medical records, as I certainly wouldn’t be able to remember all the doses of the various prescription items, which I must have every day. Grudgingly, he allowed the lady officer to take me back inside the house to collect all the documentation from the bathroom medicine cabinet. As my hands were still securely fastened in handcuffs behind my back, she had to retrieve the data for me. I was jostled back to the front door and the FDLE guy grabbed all the paperwork, and muttered that he would deal with it.

I asked our son-in-law, Carlos to quickly go and bring me some shoes, or I would have been carted off barefoot. It was really awkward trying to wriggle my feet into the flip-flops without the use of my arms to balance me, but somehow I managed. It was stupid how all the little insignificant things like this seemed to be so important, when thinking back now of the overwhelming horror of this whole life-changing event.

I was escorted to the back of one of the waiting squad cars, feeling very frightened and self-conscious. Luckily, there didn’t seem to be hoards of neighbours out, watching to see what was happening with this frightening TV-style drama! I had never in my life been this close to a police car, let alone now experiencing being bundled into the back seat like a real bad guy.

There was no room for my feet on the floor of the car, and the lady officer just told me to put them up on the seat. When I asked how I was supposed to fasten the seat belt, she just placed the buckle on my shoulder. Goodness knows how she thought I could even put it across me, never mind click it into place with my arms tightly fastened behind my back. Absolutely ridiculous! But I guess they didn’t really care about their captives’ safety in the event of any accident – just that they would be shackled securely enough not to be able to run away.

I was dressed in a scruffy old pair of denim shorts and small pink t-shirt, as I had been doing housework in what was to be my last normal day for some time. We were about to enter a whole new and scary world, which would be a totally undeserved nightmare that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy (although looking back now, that might exclude Dick, who had caused all of this, with his lies and deceit).

As we drove off, I tried to slide down in the seat to avoid being seen, but was also sneaking a look around to see who might be witnessing our shame. Surprisingly enough, to my relief, I couldn’t see anyone, although they might have been looking through their blinds, being cautious with all these hordes of armed police arresting Bin Laden. Oh no sorry! It was just us, the vicious criminals in their neighbourhood.

It seemed to take forever to be driven to the local police station. I was just going over and over in my mind, what on earth had they been told that could possibly justify this appalling treatment? We drove in through heavy sliding gates, which had to slam shut before I was allowed to clamber out of the cramped back seat, and be escorted into a stark, concrete holding cell.

Harry arrived just after me and was taken straight through to be interviewed. He seemed to be gone for a lifetime, while I paced around with nothing to look at, apart from the steel toilet, small hand-basin and just a concrete slab for seating. My mouth was dry, so I sipped some water from the tap (or I should call it faucet. We had been here in Florida for nearly twelve years, so I should have been speaking the language by now). I was hoping that Carlos had turned off the chilli on the stove that had been almost ready for our dinner. I would have done my injection and we should have been eating it by now. I hoped that they would hurry up and get this all over and done with, so that we could get back home, otherwise I’d be going hypo. At least we were at the local station rather than miles away in Bartow.

My mind was racing. I was wondering if Carlos had managed to contact our daughter Nina at work, to tell her what had happened, and if he was making sure that Lilly was OK and not too traumatised, after our dramatic departure. Oh my goodness, what on earth would Nina be making of it all?

Eventually Harry returned and I shouted through the bars to ask if he had been given an attorney, although I doubted that he would even have thought to ask for one. We had nothing to hide, so why would he worry about being asked any questions? But I’d had time to think about what we should be doing according to all the TV programs like Law and Order, CSI etc. So when I was led through to sit at a desk with the FDLE guy and another man, I waited while they read me my Miranda rights, and then told them that I definitely wanted an attorney.

To explain the need for this procedure, this is the definition of the Miranda Warning, according to the U.S. Constitution Online:-

"The Constitution reserves many rights for those suspected of crime. One of the fears of the Framers was that the government could act however it wished by simply saying an individual was a suspected criminal. Many of the rights in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, such as habeas corpus, the right to remain silent, and the right to an attorney, are designed to ensure that those accused of a crime are assured of those rights.

Police were able to take advantage of the fact that not everyone knows their rights by heart. In fact, it is likely that most citizens could name a few of their rights as accused criminals, but not all of them. The police’s position was that if the accused, for example, spoke about a crime without knowing that they did not need to, that it was the person’s fault for not invoking that right, even if they did not know, or did not remember, that they had that right.

This was the crux of the issue in Miranda v Arizona. In 1963, Ernesto Miranda was accused of kidnapping and raping an 18-year-old, mildly retarded woman. He was brought in for questioning, and confessed to the crime. He was not told that he did not have to speak or that he could have a lawyer present. At trial, Miranda’s lawyer tried to get the confession thrown out, but the motion was denied. In 1966, the case came in front of the Supreme Court. The Court ruled that the statements made to the police could not be used as evidence, since Miranda had not been advised of his rights.

Since then, before any pertinent questioning of a suspect is done, the police have been required to recite the Miranda warning. The statement, reproduced below, exists in several forms, but all have the key elements: the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney. These are also often referred to as the Miranda rights. When you have been read your rights, you are said to have been Mirandized.

Note that one need not be Mirandized to be arrested. There is a difference between being arrested and being questioned. Also, basic questions, such as name, address, and Social Security number do not need to be covered by a Miranda warning. The police also need not Mirandize someone who is not a suspect in a crime.

As for Ernesto Miranda, his conviction was thrown out, though he did not become a free man. The police had other evidence that was independent of the confession, and when Miranda was tried a second time, he was convicted again. After release from prison, Miranda was killed in a barroom brawl in 1976.

The following is a minimal Miranda warning, as outlined in the Miranda v Arizona case: -

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense.

The following is a much more verbose Miranda warning, designed to cover all bases that a detainee might encounter while in police custody. A detainee may be asked to sign a statement acknowledging the following: -

You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Do you understand?

Anything you do say may be used against you in a court of law. Do you understand?

You have the