Carol Shuler
My wife, Carol, holds the distinction of probably being the only person in U.S. history to be arrested and imprisoned based on the word of . . . a ghost.I'm not making this up. Follow us on a three-step path that shows what we mean:
(1) Carol is charged, per a Misdemeanor Information (MI) from Greene County, Missouri, Prosecuting Attorney Dan Patterson, with trespass. The MI states that particulars about the trespass charge are in a Probable Cause (PC) Statement from Deputy Debi Wade. The PC Statement, however, says not one word about trespass. That means the charge is based on . . . nothing -- and it must be dismissed, as a matter of law.
(2) Wade claims in her PC Statement that Carol "barreled into [her] head first," apparently supporting a count of assault on a law enforcement officer. Wade's claim has a couple of problems: (a) It didn't happen, as Carol has shown in her Motion to Dismiss; (b) Even Patterson seems to acknowledge that it didn't happen because he filed no charge against Carol based on the alleged Debi Wade incident. That count, essentially, already has been dismissed as a matter of law.
(3) The only remaining claim is that Carol "assaulted" Deputy Jeremy Lynn by pushing him after he had forced his way into our apartment during an unlawful eviction on Sept. 9, 2015. But Wade admits in her PC Statement that she did not witness this event. Specifically, Wade states: "I was not witness to that assault, however, I was advised that Carol first pushed the door from inside when Capt. Lynn attempted entry with the key, then got physical with him once inside the threshold and pushed him repeatedly.”
(Note: The PC Statement, MI, and Motion to Dismiss are embedded at the end of this post.)
If you believe that arresting and imprisoning someone is serious business -- and you agree with the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which holds that no seizure of a person shall happen without probable cause -- this should scare you death.
Consider what Wade is saying here: She did not witness Carol do anything wrong regarding Jeremy Lynn, but someone "advised" her that Carol pushed the officer. Well, who advised her on the subject? Was it another officer, a squirrel out on the lawn, a passing meter reader, a golden retriever taking a poop across the street?
You might think I'm being ridiculous, but get this -- the "adviser" has no name. We don't even know if he's human.
That's why I say Carol was arrested on the word of a ghost. Based on Wade's statement, the "adviser" might as well be from the spirit world. Whoever he is, and wherever he's from, he provides no probable cause to arrest my wife.
How many people -- with names and swearing under oath -- claim Carol Tovich Shuler did anything wrong regarding Officer Jeremy Lynn? Zero.
That means two things:
(1) All of the criminal charges against Carol are not based in probable cause and must be dismissed;
(2) Carol's arrest and imprisonment were based on zero probable cause, constituting a false arrest and false imprisonment -- and a Fourth Amendment violation -- that are about as blatant as they can come.
We are left with this glaring question: If someone on the scene witnessed Carol push Officer Lynn, and advised Debi Wade of such, why was that officer not chosen to submit the Probable Cause Statement? Why have Officer Wade make a statement under oath about events she admits she did not see?
With those questions hanging in the air, the credibility of the Greene County "justice apparatus" is emitting the smell of a rotting fish. In fact, it might not even smell that good.
