From his current location in the Shelby County Jail, Shuler is not able to fully research the legal issues involved. But he says his arrest clearly required a warrant; the charge was civil contempt, and it was not a case of an officer witnessing misconduct and being able to make a warrantless arrest.
At Shuler's resisting arrest trial last week, District Judge Ron Jackson ordered Prosecutor Tonya Willingham to produce any warrants associated with the arrest. Willingham replied as follows, "Your honor, we have no warrants."
Shuler says that means there either were no warrants or the prosecutor withheld evidence which could jeopardize her career.
"I would ask our readers to consider this scenario," Shuler said. "Imagine if I have had been at the Riverchase Galleria on Oct. 23, 2013 and a fellow shopper accosted me and threw me in the backseat of his car and drove off. That shopper would have no legal authority to take such action, and it would be considered a kidnapping. I had two friends when I was in college who were kidnapped in my Missouri hometown, so I know that it's one of the most serious crimes on the books. Because he had no lawful authority to make an arrest, Deputy Chris Blevins essentially kidnapped me and I'm still a kidnap victim today."
