My Response: Email to John Suthers (June 18, 2010)

Subject: Your desire for a contempt of court citation From: Douglas Bruce Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2010 08:03:50 -0600 To: John Suthers john.suthers@state.co.us , katie.allison@state.co.us Please call me today to schedule a telephonic court setting date for a court hearing prior to a trial on the citation for contempt of court that you are seeking. You have handled this case so far by ex parte contacts with Denver District Court Judge Brian Whitney. That is unethical, illegal, and unconstitutional. I have a right to attend my own lynching. No matter how much you hate the three tax-limiting petitions that are on the November ballot, no matter how much you despise me personally or TABOR generally, that anger does not excuse your acts of political revenge on me, your unilateral presentations to the judge, or your trying me in the newspapers via your tax-paid public relations staff. I read in today's paper that you plan to continue this one-sided vendetta today by seeking a contempt citation. Since the judge has granted your every request without requiring that I even be notified of any such "hearings," it appears no tax-paid government employee thinks my attendance is required at any stage of this political show trial. I would not be surprised if you and the judge again got together privately and convicted and sentenced me without bothering to let me speak. Since you won't listen, I wish to explain in court your factual and legal errors. As a former prosecutor, I know that any accused person has Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights to be informed of the charges, to attend every hearing in his case, to cross-examine the witnesses against him. to receive the benefit of the rules of evidence, and to be heard in open court. I hereby request all those rights be enforced in my case, including timely discovery of all evidence you believe you have and the standard prohibition against your introducing evidence not furnished in timely discovery. It is not clear to me whether you intend today to set a hearing or just to go ahead and convict me. (It would be so much easier, wouldn't it?) You are already doing your best to convict me in the court of public opinion, so it's not much of a stretch to imagine that final disregard of my constitutional rights to due process of law and what is commonly known as "a day in court." I am sure your actions are of great benefit to your re-election campaign; using an unpopular public figure as a political whipping boy has got to be a political "no-brainer," a slam dunk winner. But I appeal to your conscience and sense of legal ethics not to continue down this wrong path. Instead of completing your prosecution without me, please have your assistant AG call me today to arrange for a telephonic setting with the court clerk for a court date, the way such matters are handled in every other civil and criminal case. After that date, I want a public hearing with all your witnesses, and I want my right to testify in my own behalf, just like every other citizen. I hope you will also agree that you have the burden of proof, that I am presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law, and that I have a right to an appeal. I also request a copy of the specific charge against me at an arraignment, and the right to request a jury trial. I do not waive any of my legal rights. Since Judge Whitney had no trouble granting your two prior motions without hearing from me, that shows he has prejudged the case, which is the definition of prejudice. He has received information from your office unilaterally, and I presume your assistants spoke with him before he granted your motions. He has replaced existing law, and invented new law, on service of process, then applied it retroactively in violation of constitutional bans on ex post facto application of laws. I therefore request another district court judge be assigned to preside over this case, and will file a Motion to Disqualify if that does not occur. Among other things, I challenge his finding of valid service, which is an element of contempt of court. He cannot make such a finding unilaterally, then preside over a trial in which that is a key element. I am entitled to a neutral and detached magistrate, not one predisposed to uphold his own prior findings of fact. Therefore, the case should be reassigned before we schedule dates with the new judge's clerk. If you insist on proceeding unilaterally today, I hope you will at least notify the judge of my request for his recusal, and that I have offered to appear at a citation hearing. If you obtain a warrant for my arrest, I am notifying you that I will appear voluntarily in court at any time. There is no need for a "perp walk" parading me in handcuffs, or to allow your friends in the media to take pictures of me in an orange jump suit. I have done nothing wrong, as you will soon find out to your deep and very public embarrassment. The phrase "equal protection of the law" applies here. Check it out; it's in the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and it applies to the actions of your office. In case you have lost your copy, I would gladly provide you a copy of the federal and state constitutions, as well as the Colorado Code of Civil Procedure regarding subpoenas. Please let me know. I await a phone call today from your office. Douglas Bruce (719) 550-0010 taxcutter@msn.com