3/19/10 assault on Dr. Shelton
INCIDENT ON MARCH 19, 2010 AT DIRKSON FEDERAL BUILDING BETWEEN DR. LINDA SHELTON AND COURT SERVICES OFFICER MAHON/ASST. U.S. MARSHAL WAHENDA
I, Dr. Linda Shelton, went to the 20th floor District Court office to file a habeas petition on a state case where I was fraudulently arrested without probable cause and the state judge, in retaliation for me writing an article as a reporter stating that another Judge violated the law and committed criminal acts, was refusing to hear a motion to dismiss for lack of probable cause in violation of her oath of office and the constitution.
When I filed the paper the clerk said she was assigning it to the same judge to whom two previous habeas petitions were filed. I told the clerk that was not proper procedure because the assignments were supposed to be random. The clerk said her supervisors told her to do this. I asked for a copy of the rule by which she was doing this and her black male supervisor said to talk to Mr. Ted Newman or Ms. Frisch their supervisors in the court clerk’s office.
I went to look for Ms. Frisch in the hall I was directed to. She was not in her room but Mr. Newman was. He briefly and politely talked to me and gave me a rule, LR40.3(b)(1)(A), claiming that this said they had to assign the same judge every time I filed a habeas petition. I told him his interpretation of this rule was faulty and asked who his supervisor was. He said it was Mr. Dobbins, the clerk of the court. I asked who was Mr. Dobbins supervisor and he told me the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. I asked if I could have his address and name. He politely printed it out for me.
I then went to Ms. Frisch as she had entered her office and she politely spoke to me for a few minutes to listen to my concerns that their rules were violated which discriminated against me. She agreed with Mr. Newman in his interpretation of this rule. I told her I could not imagine a rule automatically assigning different cases to the same judge over and over and I would go talk to their supervisor Mr. Dobbins for an explanation.
I went to Mr. Dobbins office down the hall and spoke to a very polite secretary in room 2046, Annette Panter. We sat out in the chairs in the hall outside her office, because I am disabled and walk with a walker and find it hard to stand still for very long. I explained to her the problem and asked her if Mr. Dobbins was free for a few short minutes to give me his interpretation of rule LR40.3(b)(1)(A).
I told her that I interpreted the rule as meaning that the same judge would be assigned to subsequent filings from a prisoner in jail or prison (“in custody”) on the same case, not that the same judge would be assigned for different cases. I pointed out to her that the next section of the rule LR40.3(b)(1)(B) said that subsequent civil rights complaints for those in “custody” should be assigned to the same judge and I had filed three federal civil rights complaints, all unrelated, which had been assigned to different judges. This proved that the appropriate interpretation of section A was to assign different cases to different judges under the random assignment system.
She went to talk with Mr. Dobbins and came back and said he would not meet with me, but if I wrote a letter she would give it to him and he would present it to the “Executive Committee”. I explained to her that I was troubled with this attitude because I just needed to know HIS interpretation of this rule as HE was the Clerk of the court and supervisor of the above employees. She went back to talk with him and came back and said he would not talk to me. I said I was still concerned about his refusal to do his job and interpret the rules for his employees and for a citizen who had a concern that the rules were not being used properly and I would call his supervisor in Washington.
My companion, Davy Cady, who had driven me to the building that morning because I had been ill and in hospital and was feeling poorly told Ms. Panter that he also felt Mr. Dobbins was being inappropriate in that he ALWAYS refused to talk to litigant who had simple questions about the rules by which thing were done and that part of Mr. Dobbins’ job was to interact with the public and give his opinion on what rules meant in terms of procedures in his office.
I sat in the chair and politely and as quietly as possible called the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts in Washington DC, Mr. James Duff. I was connected with a public information officer, Karen Redman. She told me that each Clerk was allowed to act independently but they had to follow “a process.” I explained to her the problem and asked to speak to Mr. Dobbin’s supervisor. I asked how to make a formal complaint against Mr. Dobbins and his staff. She told me it should be addressed to the Chief Judge of the District Court and that Judge Holderman as that person.
I asked her what was “the process” and she didn’t know. I asked her who would know and she wasn’t sure. I asked to speak to an official in the office and she refused to connect me. I politely asked her and told her if she couldn’t answer my questions and she refused to connect me to an official in the office who could answer them, then I would call the clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court and asked for the procedure to find out “the process”, who interprets rules, and how to make formal complaints against the Clerk Dobbins. She had been unable to clearly answer these questions.
I called the U.S. Supreme Court Clerk. While I was talking to her (Lauren), Court Services Officer Mahon came to the hall and said I had no more business in the building. He threatened my companion and Mr. Cady then went to the other end of the hall and left the area. I told Mr. Mahon that he was incorrect. I tried to tell him the above, that I was talking to officials in Washington to try to find out the appropriate procedures to deal with my concerns, that I was then going to the law library to look up some things, and that he was being inappropriate and interfering with my business in the building. I told him that Ms. Panter had told me I could give her a letter for Dobbins that I was going to do that after I got information from Washington and that I considered his interference an assault on me. I asked him to please stop and back off so I could finish my business. He refused.
I then called the Federal Marshal’s office and explained that I was being assaulted at the Clerk’s office by a Court Services Officer who was interfering with my business in the building and asked them to send someone to intervene.
Some time another Court Services Officer with white hair and a white mustache who was about 5’ 5” tall came and stood in the hall. He refused to give me his name.
I finished my phone calls with people in Washington and wanted to then write a letter to Mr. Dobbins explaining the issues and asking for his interpretation of the rules. However, Mr. Mahon walked into room 2046 – Ms. Panter’s office. I followed him and he told Ms. Panter not to talk with me, then as I was coming in physically pushing me out of the way back into the hall (a battery of a handicapped person), shut the door and all other doors. He then pushed a chair in front of the door blocking the entrance to the Clerk’s office and sat in it. I told him it was a crime to assault someone, and to interfere with people’s business in the building. Mr. Mahon either pushed me or grabbed me several times!!! I protested his criminal acts.
Then a deputy from the Marshal Service came up and I tried to tell him what was going on and ask him to please move away Mr. Mahon so I could conduct my business, but instead he was rude, snide, and assaultive saying I had finished my business in the building and had to leave. I told him he was mistaken, that I had not finished my business, that Mr. Mahon was assaulting me and interfering with my business and I needed to ask Ms. Panter for a piece of paper so I could write a brief letter to Clerk Dobbins.
Mr. Mahon stood up and I moved the chair away from the door and tried to knock on the door reaching behind Mr. Mahon and below him by the floor to knock on the door because he kept inserting his big body between me and the door. I yelled to Ms. Panter that I needed a piece of paper to write a letter to Mr. Dobbins. I called Ms. Panter and left a message on her answering machine that I needed a piece of paper to write Mr. Dobbins a note.
Deputy Wahenda then started assaulting me verbally with threats to arrest me for attacking Mr. Mahon by “grabbing his balls”. He became more and more assaultive claiming he would write such false statements. I told him that I was shocked (to say the least). I told him I would not be intimidated by a corrupt officer. I told him that they both were violating the law in assaulting me and interfering with my business in that office.
Ms. Panter then opened the door and gave me a piece of paper by handing it to Mahon, who handed it to me. I sat down in the chair in the hall and began writing my letter. I am suffering from a C7 radiculopathy (a complication of my congenital spinal problem) and my right hand is not working well and I am on strong pain meds (Tramadol®) to control the excruciating neuropathic pain. Therefore it takes me a long time to write a short letter. I slowly wrote this letter to Mr. Dobbins, trying to ignore the assault against me by these corrupt officers and trying to ignore the fact that I was in pain and not feeling well.
Eventually, I slipped the letter under the door to Ms. Panter, despite Mr. Mahon trying to prevent me from doing so and yelled to her to please pick it up. She yelled back through the door that she would give the letter to Ms. Dobbins and I thanked her.
By then Deputy Wahenda had grabbed my walker away from me and was writing some “tickets”. He told me I was under arrest. I told him it was therefore a false arrest and he was gong to get in trouble. I tore up the tickets he handed me, but picked up the pieces from the floor because he said he would write me another ticket for “littering.” He kept saying he was going to check that I and to come to court to inconvenience me and that there would be a $5,000 fine on each ticket. It was clear that he was a criminal and a jerk. I tried to ignore him and simply finish my business in the building. I told him he was acting criminally not I.
I called the U.S. Marshal’s office again and asked for a supervisor. They connected me with Ken Robinson. I old him the above and asked him to send a supervisor to control the out of control Wahenda. He said no he wouldn’t and that Wahenda could handle the situation. I am appalled that no supervisor came to talk to me.
I told the officers I needed the spelling of the names of the people I had talked to for the complaint I would file against the clerk’s office, and since they removed my walker from my possession I crawled to the doors of Mr. Newman and Ms. Nisch. I was able to read the name on Mr. Newman’s door, but not on Ms. Nisch’ door. Mr. Mahon stood in front of the name tag purposely so I couldn’t read it. I told him to move away. He refused so I just sat on the floor in the hall telling both of them they were being inappropriate and I wouldn’t leave until I had the spelling of her name. They kept saying hey were arresting me – for God knows what!
Then I called the Chicago Police and asked them to send an officer to help me as I was being assaulted. The officer eventually came up, but by then I was starting to feel ill due to the stress of this assault against me. I tried to explain the above to him and he wouldn’t listen. I told him to verify my story with Ms. Panter and he refused to go talk to her. In the meantime, Mahon moved enough for me to see the spelling of Ms. Nisch’s name and I wrote it down.
Then they all forced me onto the seat of my walker. Because I was ill, I started to feel faint with this rough housing. I have heart, lung, and congenital neurologic disorders. I am very fragile in general and faint easily – go into a brief (less than 60 sec) cardiac arrest and have had CPR started on me 5 times. I am being evaluated for the need for another neurosurgery on my neck soon. I told them if I turn blue don’t panic, just put my feet up. I asked for a drink of water and Mahon went and got one and gave me a drink of water. It didn’t help and I felt I was going to imminently pass out so I went to my knees on the floor and told them I didn’t feel well. I then lay on the floor and put my feet up on the walker. I started to get a little light-headed and confused. I probably started to turn pale and look bad, as that is what people have told me in the past when I start getting sick from this malignant neurocardiogenic syncope.
I remember being forced to sit against the wall. I remember the CPD officer handcuffing me. I remember getting short of breath, wheezing starting up, and asking for my inhaler in my bag. Then the CPD officer removed the handcuffs and declined to arrest me on an unknown charge. I remember Mahon helping me use my inhaler many times because I didn’t have the strength to press it with my hand. I remember hearing Wahenda say I had drugs in my bag (Tramadol). I remember paramedics coming and placing me on a stretcher and taking me to the ambulance. I remember the nebulizer treatment and oxygen they gave me helped me quite a bit. By the time we got to the hospital, the wheezing had subsided and I told them I didn’t need any treatment and then left without being evaluated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Once I am stable, I prefer to treat myself at home and rest at home. As you may know, I am a physician and I am perfectly capable of treating myself at home.
I presume the tickets are invalid because neither box A or B is checked and there is no court date listed. I also believe the tickets are invalid because they are simply harassment and do not represent legitimate complaints.
I made an official compliant of this assault and battery and interference with my business in the building against Mahon and Wahenda, as well as for official misconduct against Wahenda for making up alleged offenses with the Office of Investigations, U.S. Marshal Service in Virginia. The investigation is pending.
When I got home, I discovered that the Tramadol prescription bottle with the pills had been stolen from me. I complained that Wahenda stole these controlled substances. I have severe neuropathic pain for which this was prescribed. I will have to have neurosurgery soon to relieve the nerve compression that is causing this pain. Medicaid will NOT refill this prescription early. I need immediate help in recovering this stolen drug prescription bottle. I had very little medication left in a little pill dispenser. I believed in order to obtain a refill I would have to show the pharmacist a police report about the pills being stolen. The U.S. Marshal Service has as of this date refused to respond to my letters about this.
