Bluegrass Conspiracy : Scratch a Child Support Case And Solve Murder (Part 3)
Ironically I had changed my company name in ads to American Dream Talent Mangagement when I crossed criminal elements in the police force. So, you could say my American Dream was destroyed.
VI: An American Dream Destroyed
In 1986 I was twenty-one years old, a college student, with a part-time job at Zondervan Family Bookstore in the Fayette Mall in Lexington, Kentucky. On 05-22-86 there was an article in the Lexington Herald-Leader written by Don Edwards about Musical Messengers and its owner, Lynn Richardson. Shortly after reading the article I started to supplement my income at the Family Bookstore by doing singing telegrams for Musical Messengers. I was the kissing bandit.
In January 1989 Lynn Richardson offered to sell Musical Messengers to me and my girlfriend, Denise Pate. Denise and I started to make payments to Lynn and in l991 she handed over the costumes, client list and routine descriptions and moved to Florida.
On 08-14-91 Articles of Incorporation were filed for Playful Entertainment Network, Inc. and on 02-17-92 the Lexington Herald-Leader’s Business Monday announced the opening of its office at 3101 Richmond Road, Suite 313 and noted that Playful Entertainment, like its predecessor, Musical Messengers, offered a number of services: bartenders, clowns,. dancers, magicians, costume characters, singing telegrams, dance-o-grams, and strip-o-grams, as well as party planning for birthday and bachelor parties, etc. On 02-21-92 Senator Mitch McConnell sent a letter congratulating me on the opening of this business.
We were a legitimate business and we never at any time offered to anyone or provided to anyone any illegal service. From the very beginning I was determined that the public would know that we did not provide call-girl or call-boy services. In fact, because we wanted to ensure the legality of all of our offered services, my attorney Gary Matthews completed and on 10-02-91 had delivered to me a report on the legalities of the strip-o-gram part of the business, specifically, on the rules governing strip-o-grams in public places.
Playful Entertainment and its successor company Dream Team Management flourished and within a few years our clients included: Anita Madden, Joe Namath, Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith, Rex Chapman, Bill Curry, Special Olympics of KY., Somerset School System, Estil County School System, Lexington Public Schools, Fayette County Sheriff’s Dept., Lexington Police, Fraternal Order of Police, DEA, White Hall State Shrine, Spindletop Hall, Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington Parks and Recreation, Maury Povich, Jenny Jones, HBO, Ricki Lake, Toyota Manufacturing, St. Elizabeth Anne Seton Church, Kentucky Utilities, Immanuel Baptist, Central Baptist Hospital, Brand Consulting, Geddes Pools and Fencing, Webb Brothers, Tom Gentry, Payson Stud, and Calumet Farms.
In 1993, however, evil reared its ugly head. Christopher Hignite and his company collided with corrupt officers of the law. In May of that year and again in January of 1994, Detective George Doyle of the Lexington Police Vice Squad suggested to Christopher Hignite that people who offer to provide strippers for money were perceived or known to be people who provide prostitutes. When Hignite told Doyle that he was not one of those people, that he ran and would continue to run a legal business, Doyle questioned his wisdom. On the one hand, if he continued to operate legally, the police would pursue him as if he were operating illegally. On the other hand, if he would begin to provide the services of prostitutes and pay Doyle and his associates protection money, he and they would flourish indefinitely. Hignite refused to play Doyle’s game. [Today, Doyle and his partners are, as I understand it, the owners of Lexington limousine service, Gold Shield Limousines.]
On 04-14-94 the Lexington Herald-Leader reported that Lexington was suing massage parlours, Some of those under investigation are owned by Deborah Wardlaw. Margaret Kannensohn says this is a continuation of her efforts to rid Lexington of prostitution.
By March 1995 I have moved to a nice house on Boston Rd. Playful Entertainment had expanded its advertising and we were now in listed in the Paris, Georgetown, Somerset, Ashland, and Bowling Green, Kentucky sections of phone books. But I had come to believe that the police were illegally tapping my phone: there was interference in the line, sometimes you could hear people saying your name, and sometimes you could hear police radios in the background.
On 03-01-95 I called the Lexington Police Department. I talked first to G.R. Watkins and said I wanted Internal Affairs and he asked why. I said that I had reason to believe that rogue cops were tapping my phone; furthermore, that they were seeking pay-off money for services I do not provide and they have suggested to me that, were I to provide those services and pay protection money, everybody would be happy. Watkins switched me to Detective Dan Gibbons because Gibbons was the supervisor on duty. Gibbons took my name, still did not give me Internal Affairs, but instead transferred me to Larry Walsh, the Chief of Police. The Chief asked me for the officers’ names, he asked me if I had told anyone else, and then he told me to talk to Detective Suels. Detective Suels asked for the officers names; he said that he had heard rumours about these officers; he asked for my name and phone number; I did not heard from him again.
03-14-95 Landlord, Rick Satterwhite writes a letter to me explaining that he is terminating my lease as of 03-31-95. The reason he gives, on 03-14-95, is a raid that has not taken place and will not take place for a week. Though the date on the letter is, ‘03-14-95’, it is not given to me until three days after the raid.
03-21-95 Lexington S.W.A.T. team stages a raid on my house after several attempts, one of them successful, to plant drugs in the house. The officers again take me into a private room at the police station and attempt to blackmail me. Upon finding out that the planted drugs were not enough for a felony I take a misdemeanor and leave.
03-24-95 Rick Satterwhite delivers the letter written on 03-14-95 to my house.
03-28-95 Rick Satterwhite, my landlord, returned to my home and stated to me that he was told by the police in his kitchen that I ran a prostitution ring and was a cocaine dealer. However, he had recently talked to the lead detective on the case and, as it turns out, the detective did not believe that any of the charges were correct. The detective had informed him that a small amount of marijuana had been found and nothing else. At this point, he asked if he could offer to let me stay and tear up the letter. I had already found a new house in Georgetown and declined.
11-14-96
12:00 I called Mayor Pam Miller’s office because escorts are getting way out of control and costing me business and making it more dangerous for us. I left a message. I then called the Lexington Police about the escort problem. I was told to talk to Detective Green with the Vice Squad and he would be in the next day.
11-15-96
I called and asked for Detective Green. No answer, got answering machine, left a message.
Called for Detective Green a second time. Told to call Detective Winings.
1:00 I called the ACLU and asked if I could file an illegal competition lawsuit against the escort agencies if I could prove they provide illegal services and take jobs away from our legal company. The representative claimed that I had a valid complaint and my idea sounded interesting. However, the ACLU was very busy and I would have to seek independent counsel. He then asked if I would keep them updated on the situation for their files.
1:15 I called Mayor Pam Miller’s office again. I left another message.
1:30 I called the County Attorney’s office and talked to Margaret Kannensohn. She told me that all strippers are doing some kind of crime. She is a Christian and won’t help me even if I believe I am doing nothing wrong. She told me to call the Police Department and I told her that they had told me to call her. I told her about my idea to file a lawsuit. She had no interest and did not want to set up a meeting with me.
2:00 I called Det. Winings He said that the advertisers who allow the escorts to advertise are the problem, not the police for not closing them. He told me if I wanted them shut down, he wasn’t going to help me get rid of my competition. [Is he implying that I am in the same business that they are in?] I told him I’ve done an investigation into them and have enough evidence to file charges on many. Would he like to see my file? . He told me to try and shut them down myself, he won’t help, he doesn’t want to meet with me, and “good luck.”
Unknown to me at the time and not known to me until 2007, on 11-04-97 a Court Complaint pursuing child support was issued by Margaret Kannensohn, Byron L. Ockerman, Christopher E. Hutchison, R. Barry Minton. and on 11-10-97 a Civil Summons was issued for me and signed by Robert M. True and Amy Fowler. The child’s mother, Michelle Brizendine tells me in 2007 that she had absolutely nothing to do with making the Complaint or with issuing the summons
On 1-3-99 I sent a letter to Attorney General Ben Chandler asking for his help. He returns my letter and contacts me by phone. Mr. Chandler assigns investigators from his office to help me and the investigators and I have several meetings, however, nothing ever comes of this. One of these investigators, Chris Lilly is later assigned to head the ABC division in Frankfort. [ In 2007 He receives a DUI and resigns.]
02-26-99 I received information from social services about Domestic Abuse from Jennifer. This is from the Cabinet for Families and Children. Many contacts are issued and they try to contact by phone. We have all of the confidential reports that were filed. There can be no doubt that social services knew where I was at this time..
On 5-10-99 we performed at a bachelor party for James Paul. We were hired by Vince Matteini of the Lexington Police Department. Everyone at the party was a police officer. There can be no doubt that the police knew where I was at this time..
06-20-99 I typed and sent a letter to the Cabinet for Families and Children asking for anything in my file so that I can give this to my attorney. On 06-25-99 I receive a letter confirming my request for any documents filed in my name that they may be in possession of. Nothing further is ever received from them. However, there can be no doubt that social services knew where I was at this time.
On 8-23-99 the Lexington Herald-Leader reported that the city planned to move against escort agencies. The article mentioned Deborah Wardlaw and her attorney David Andrews. Mentioned also was Assistant Police Chief Fran Root,..
On 08-25-99 Deborah Wardlaw called me and asked if I had heard of the new ordinance being planned for escort agencies. She informed me that she and her attorney, David Andrews, had planned on fighting the ordinance and asked if I would like to join. I explained that in my business I would not be required to obtain this license.
On 09-07-99 Margaret Kannensohn called me. Clearly, she knew where I was. She asked me if I had heard anything “on the streets” about the new ordinance. She said that she knew that I didn’t do escorts but that she thought I might know some of the people that run them. She asked specifically if I had talked to Deborah Wardlaw or her attorney about the lawsuit they were planning to file, I told her that Wardlaw had called and asked me if I wanted to join the lawsuit. I told her exactly what I had told Deborah, that the escort ordinance did not apply to me.
On 9-20-99 Deborah Wardlaw called again and told me that she was going to have her attorney David Andrews file suit against the city to contest the new fees ordered in the city’s new escort ordinance. She told me that she and others in her business had always made protection payments to the police, that Doyle, Lyons, Sorrell, Winings, Taylor and Henderson were involved in the business, that they still wanted their cut, and that she was not going to pay them and the new fees as well. She told me that she had told Doyle this in a phone call she had had with him and that he told her that they would kill her if she attempted to expose them.
On 9-23-99 the Lexington Herald-Leader reported that Deborah Wardlaw had been killed in her apartment. There was no forced entry, a pillow was put to her head and the bullet was from a 9mm weapon. The Herald-Leader reported that Wardlaw ran an escort agency; it did not report that in 1999 Lexington police were carrying 9mm weapons.
[The Herald-Leader report also mentions Margaret Kannensohn; P.T. Richardson; J.C. Dumas; Peter Brown.]
On the television, the evening news did back-to-back stories with no connection whatsoever drawn between the two: the first story concerned Margaret Kannensohn’s campaign against the owners of escort agencies and the second reported the discovery of Deborah Wardlaw’s body.
On 09-24-99 in a Lexington Herald-Leader article (“Police ask for help in latest killing”) David Lyons is given as the officer to call if anyone has any information that might be useful in the investigation of the killing of Deborah Wardlaw.
09-27-99 Det. David Lyon’s drove past our building several times and then approached our front door and left a card. Jill Mitchell and I were just up the road on our way back to the office and watched as he pulled out of the driveway.
09-27-99 Detective David Lyons called and talked to Jill Mitchell. He asked a lot of questions about Brandy Tucker. He wanted to know her schedule, what kind of documents that we keep for our parties, asked for our address and phone number even though he had just visited our building and had been the one to initiate the phone call. He stated that Brandy Tucker was not under investigation for the murder of Deborah Wardlaw and neither were we. He said Brandy knew Deborah and that’s why they wanted to talk to her. However, why would he need to know answers to the types of questions he was asking? He appeared to be very nervous during this conversation and his voice shook.
Later that day, David Lyon’s visited my office and tells me he knows I talked to Deborah Wardlaw recently. He asks me if she had given me any clues as to who might have wanted to kill her. He then starts looking all around our office and even picking up our calendar and booking forms. Jill asks if we’re under investigation for Debbie, he says, should you be? I then tell him unless he wants to arrest me don’t contact me in any way except through my attorney.
09-29-99 Margaret Kannensohn called and asked me if I knew anything about Deborah Wardlaw’s death. I told Kannensohn that Wardlaw had told me that cops had threatened her for not wanting to pay them.
11-11-99 I start an organized effort and organization determined to fix the escort problem. I send letters out to major Kentucky churches asking them to call and ask police and County Attorney to fix the problem. 11-11-99 AEIOU letter to churches all over Kentucky
11-16-99 Francoi Jackson wanted to interview for a job. I knew she was a police officer. She came to the interview wearing a wig and with a video camera in her purse. She wanted to tour the entire building. Later that evening, Margaret Kannensohn would ask me about her.
11-16-99 I sent a letter referring to phone calls and fighting escorts to Margaret Kannensohn at County Attorney’s office and tell her I know she sent an undercover officer to my business. I tell her that I knew Dee Marlow, aka Francoi Jackson, was a police officer and I tell her, finally, that Deborah Wardlaw had told me that police officers had threatened her life. I then ask her what is being done about escorts and offer to send my investigative report. I receive no reply.
01-18-00 Criminal Complaint filed against me by Detective Phil Taylor about Marty case listing my current address at the time.
01-19-00 Criminal Warrant issued for me for failure to obtain escort license
03-13-00 Criminal Complaint filed by Detective Phil Taylor for me after sending Jill to a party listing my current address
Criminal Summons issued on complaint filed by Phil Taylor sent to Jessamine County with Criminal Complaint listing my current address
04-26-00 Fayette County has charged me with running an escort agency without a license. They have also charged me with providing prostitution after setting up a contractor of ours. The very same types of activities I had worked diligently to eliminate and was warned I would be set up for if I didn’t “play the game”. They then alter evidence and lie on the stand in order to convict him, Marty Nicholas. My attorney sends motion for discovery and bill of particulars to Margaret Kannensohn. All files from this case are sent to her office
06-22-00 Arrest and detainment of Chris Hignite by Sheriff Joe Saunier and others
07-12-00 Commonwealth’s Memorandum of Law is sent to my attorney listing my current address
07-13-00 Jill pulled over and Chris arrested after initial mistaken identity by Jessamine County for Fayette County listing my current address
07-17-00 It is now claimed (11-06-07 that on 07-17-00 the Sheriff’s Department tried to serve the child support summons to me at 3433 Clays Mill Rd., my mother’s house, with a note that I had moved to 221 B Industry Pkwy. in Nicholasville. Clays Mill Rd. had never been listed on my driver’s license or any other official document as my official address since graduating high school. Furthermore, the Sheriff’s department did not need to go to my mother’s house to find me because the County Attorney, as the evidence shows, knew exactly where I was.
08-18-00 Supplemental motion for discovery and bill of particulars for Chris
08-30-00 Request for video evidence from Jim Havey at Fayette County Attorney’s office
10-26-00 Lexington Herald-Leader reported that a Mr. Barnett wins a ruling against two policemen in Lexington for knowingly withholding evidence that would exonerate him in a murder trial. The officers are Craig Sorrell and David Lyons.
11-11-00 Fayette County officials hint that another county may be tapping phones for them both during a hearing with the Fayette County Attorney’s office
11-13-00 Response to motion to exclude exhibits by Brent Austin for Chris and Jill is sent to County Attorney.
02-10-01 Lexington Herald-Leader reports that some Lexington officers integrity has been questioned during another lawsuit naming Det. David Lyons, and Det. Craig Sorrell. [See 10-26-00; I believe, November 6, 2007, that Det. David Lyons and Det. Craig Sorrell are still on the force.
04-12-01 Failure to Appear Warrant for Fayette Co. served by Jessamine County
In order to condense I will summarize that several more appearances and false arrests occurred until my trial date. Fayette County allowed us to go through jury selection and make opening statements. I was called a number of names and charges were thrown around about me by the prosecutor. My attorney informed them that we could now prove that the city had intentionally set me up, altered evidence and lied on the stand in order to convict me of crimes they knew I was not guilty of. After a short recess the prosecutor returned without any of the County Attorney’s witnesses. The judged queried a response and Jim Havey stated that all of the officers were now refusing to testify so as not to incriminate themselves. The case was dismissed and I was told to be thankful by the Judge. Of course, Sovereign Immunity is immediately thrown in my face and I am left to re-build my life.
‘07-17-06’ is written by hand in the upper right hand corner of the original child support summons to me dated 11-10-97
08-15-06 Margaret Kannensohn announces retirement 5 months early
08-16-06 Larry Roberts sworn in to succeed Kannensohn
VII: Conclusion
Over the course of the last fifteen years I have accumulated a mass of hard and electronic copy of printed papers as well as audio and video records of my encounters with officers of the court in Fayette, Scott, and Jessamine counties. After my return to Kentucky in 2004 I made the acquaintance of and formed a friendship with Dr. Henry Schankula, a professor in the department of Philosophy at the University of Kentucky from 1970 until his early retirement in 2004. Through Henry I met his son, David Schankula. David received film credit for the Research for Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 and he was a contributing producer of Moore’s recent Sicko. David has a professional interest in my story and Henry has motivated and encouraged me to organize the mass of material in my possession into a counter-offensive which would first, vindicate my own honest attempt to live the American Dream; second, expose the guilt of some of the very officers involved in the repeated attempts to fabricate mine; third, to establish a claim or set of claims for compensation for loss of reputation. mental and physical injuries, pain and anguish, loss of income, loss of future income, loss of self esteem, the inability to enjoy a normal life, fear of police and government, loss of freedom, violation of civil rights, stress and harassment of family and friends, financial strain on family and friends, destroyed relationships and a destroyed business. I need your help.
Excerpts taken from:
Unified Criminal Justice Information System
Strategic Alliance Services Request
For the Commonwealth of Kentucky
Fayette County is within the jurisdiction of the Kentucky 22nd Judicial Circuit Court. The county and the City of Lexington have merged their governments into the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. The Lexington Division of Police is a combined police force made up of the former Lexington City Police Department and the Fayette County Police Department. UK has its own police force with sworn officers. These two police departments, the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, and KSP comprise the major law enforcement agencies in the county.
The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office has primary responsibility for warrants service in the county, and they handle approximately 50 to 60 per week. The other law enforcement agencies also serve warrants, but do so generally in the course of other business, such as in conjunction with an accident or other investigation. When it is necessary to serve a warrant on UK property, the law enforcement agency serving the warrant contacts the UK police first. This is not just a courtesy; often the UK police need to escort other law enforcement officers into dormitories or classrooms where they would generally not have unescorted access. The Fayette County District Court reported a backlog of 18,000 active warrants, both Bench and Arrest Warrants, but could not readily determine the breakdown of numbers between the two types, or between felony and misdemeanor warrants.
Law enforcement agencies use a common, standard Arrest Warrant that is filled out by hand. The courts use an AOC format for the Bench Warrants that can be downloaded from the Sustain system. Most of the information on the Bench Warrant can be filled out on the computer and then printed, but some of the descriptive information on the warrant must be filled out by hand. The Fayette County Attorney’s Office uses an automated tool, FileMaker Pro, for preparing warrants and tracking complaints; however, they do not track the warrants themselves. After the Arrest Warrant is signed by a judge, it is distributed to the sheriff’s office for execution.
The courts provide all warrants to the sheriff’s office for service. The sheriff’s office is the primary warrants serving agency, but they do get some assistance from the police departments in this regard. In addition to using Sustain and LINK to record and share information on warrants, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government uses a locally developed application called “CRT” for recording and tracking the status of all warrants. All law enforcement agencies have online access to CRT. The Lexington Division of Police has a local Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system, but it is not shared with others and is not used for recording or sharing warrants information.
The courts will upgrade from Sustain to KY Courts II in summer 2002. The Lexington Division of Police, the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, and the UK Police Department all have their own LINK terminals. Office automation to support information consists of access to Sustain, LINK, and CRT, plus some individuals have Internet access.
Circuit court clerks are reluctant to respond to inquiries about warrants over the phone because of past abuses by unauthorized individuals. They now refer all telephone queries to the sheriff’s office for resolution. There is a problem with double-data entry because all the Bench Warrants information that the courts enter into Sustain must be separately entered by law enforcement into CRT, thus increasing the workload and the likelihood of error. This is also true of Arrest Warrants information entered into LINK and CRT; it must be entered twice because there is no connectivity between the two.
Rapid Issuance and Distribution of Warrants – The system is able to generate and issue a warrant in minutes, rather than days. Warrant data is electronically submitted from the courts, instead of being entered manually at the police department, so the risk of false arrest due to outdated data is greatly reduced. Business rules coded into the system allow ADW to automatically generate and electronically distribute the warrants to the appropriate precinct or borough. In addition, before issuing the warrant, the system verifies the last-known address of the individual named in the warrant
The LINK portal provides a facility for the input and tracking of Arrest Warrants. LINK can be accessed for search purposes by all law enforcement officers across the Commonwealth, including: city and county police, county sheriffs, state police, probation and parole officers, fisheries and wildlife officers, the public housing authority, and military installations. Dispatch personnel are the only individuals authorized in these agencies to enter and maintain warrant data within LINK.
Prepared for:
Commonwealth of Kentucky
Governor’s Office for Technology
100 Fair Oaks Lane
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601-1108
Prepared by:
SAIC Project Team
8301 Greensboro Drive
Mail Stop E-6-3
McLean, Virginia 22102-3600
[In light of their own guidelines, there is really no believable explanation that can be given as to why it took them almost 11 years to serve a summons when all of their computers shared the information concerning my whereabouts.]
Written by HigniteFiles
Professional writer, photographer and videographer
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