Amber Darnel
An Alabama real-estate agent says she plans to sell a house belonging to a Chilton County woman who was unlawfully incarcerated for five months last year.Circuit Judge Sibley Reynolds ordered Bonnie Cahalane jailed as part of the fallout from a divorce case styled Wyatt v. Wyatt, and then orchestrated an agreement for the sale of Ms. Cahalane's house while she was under threat of being returned to jail if she did not comply.
Court documents show that Amber Darnell, of RealtySouth, is listed as the agent for the Cahalane property. I called Ms. Darnell recently and informed her that both Ms. Cahalane's incarceration and the resulting sales agreement were contrary to black-letter Alabama law.
Ms. Darnell's response, in so many words, was that she is just doing what she's told, and the sale will proceed. (See video at the end of this post.)
"I've been told not to discuss anything with you because of this court order," Darnell said. "So I have no response on anything."
Darnell said she wasn't aware of Cahalane's incarceration, and it had nothing to do with her. "That's confidential information . . . all I'm trying to do is sell the house."
I reminded Darnell that it is actually is public information, from court records, and asked for the name of her superior at RealtySouth. She said it is Patty Bingham, and I stated that the company is unlawfully selling a house, one that essentially is being stolen from its owner.
Does that concern Amber Darnell or anyone else at RealtySouth? I couldn't tell that it does. Darnell claimed that Cahalane had agreed to the sales arrangement, but I said that came when she was wearing prison clothes and under the duress of being unlawfully returned to jail. A contract under such circumstances, by law, is void--but that didn't seem to bother Amber Darnell.
"I'm doing what the court has asked me to do," she said.
I noted that Ms. Cahalane likely will have grounds for a civil-rights complaint in the future, and that could expose RealtySouth to substantial liability.
Ms. Darnell's response? "All I can do is do what they've told me to do."
(To be continued)