The prologue to Al's story, in his own words. Selected portions have been highlighted by the editor.
The only reason we include the following disclaimer is because our legal department says we must. DISCLAIMER: All of the officers and support personnel mentioned below are innocent of any criminal, civil, procedural, or administrative wrongdoing until proven guilty or liable in a court of law or other properly constituted tribunal. Any of these parties may submit a rebuttal to these charges. The following material consists solely of the personal opinions of the author, Al Shemonia, and such opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Copwatch.com or its board, associates, affiliates, or members. This material is not currently presented as fact.
At approx. 7:00 AM of Wednesday, March 07, 2001, I picked up a friend by the name of Stephen House from his residence in Sycamore, IL. Mr. House was accompanying me to a court appearance in St. Charles IL at the Kane County Courthouse. I was driving my 1992 Chevrolet Caprice, which I had just purchased the week prior in Benton, IL. As we passed the Dekalb County Courthouse, we observed a red late-model Chevrolet Impala with an after-market antenna on the roof and a red and blue light on the dashboard. The Impala was headed eastbound on Rt.64. I made eye contact with the driver of this vehicle as we passed on the roadway. I made a comment to Mr. House that the vehicle must be one of the new detective vehicles from one of the surrounding departments. Several miles later as I approached Rt.38, we both observed what appeared to be the same vehicle behind me, but without the red and blue light in the windshield. The after-market antenna on the rear of the roof was there, so I assumed it was the same vehicle.
As I began to make my left hand turn onto Rt.38, the driver of the red Impala activated his headlight/marker flashers. I did not see any red or blue lights anywhere on the vehicle, but I assumed it was a law enforcement officer attempting to initiate a traffic stop. I pulled my vehicle onto the shoulder of Rt.38, and activated my scanning receiver in my vehicle. We listened as the officer reported a traffic stop, and requested 10-28 (license plate) information. My license plates were expired, but I had a 'License Applied For' sticker in the upper left hand corner of my rear window, in compliance with Illinois law. I had intentionally left my expired plates on the vehicle as they were Amateur Radio plates, and had my call sign on them. The officer then exited his vehicle and approached my driver side window. I turned off my scanning receiver, as prior experience had proven that many officers become hostile when they learn their radio communications are being overheard, even though this act is allowed under Illinois law. The officer identified himself both verbally and with documentation as Det. Seitsema of the Dekalb County Sheriff's Department and asked me where I was going. I informed the officer that I was enroute to an appointment. He again asked where I was headed and where I was coming from. I declined to offer this information, as it was irrelevant to him, and I am not required by law to volunteer this information. This seemed to irritate the officer.
The officer then demanded my drivers license and proof of insurance. I gave the officer my drivers license and informed him I currently did not have insurance on the vehicle. Det. Seitsema then asked my passenger for an identification card. Mr House produced a valid drivers license and gave it to Det. Seitsema. Det. Seitsema then asked me several questions about my 2-way radio equipment which was mounted in my car (being a Galaxy DX73 10-meter transceiver, a Yeasu dual band transceiver and a Radio Shack scanning receiver). I advised him I was an FCC licensed Amateur Radio operator, and I used the equipment to fulfill a hobby. Det. Seitsema asked me where I had stolen the equipment from. I advised him the equipment was not stolen, and I did not appreciate his assumption that it was. I then gave him permission to check all the serial numbers on my equipment. About this time I noticed another late-model blue Impala park behind Det. Seitsema's vehicle occupied by an officer later identified as Sgt. Gustafson. The two officers spoke together for several minutes behind my vehicle, then Det. Seitsema then entered his vehicle and placed a red and blue flashing light on his dashboard.
Sgt. Gustafson then approached the passenger side of my vehicle and told Mr. House to exit the vehicle. Mr House did as commanded. Det. Seitesma then approached the drivers side window and told me to turn off the vehicle and give him the keys. I did as commanded. Det. Seitsema advised me that I was operating the vehicle in an unlawful manner, as the plates were expired, and there was no valid insurance on the vehicle. I was told to stand behind my vehicle while Det. Setesma began to search my car.
After approx. 30 minutes I was asked to accompany the detectives to the Dekalb County Sheriff's Department to talk about "something that needed to be discussed." I advised Det. Seitsema that I was not willing to accompany him at this time, as I was now running late for an appointment. Det. Seitsema then brought me to his vehicle and seated me in the front passenger seat. He advised me that my vehicle was being towed, as it bore expired plates and carried no insurance coverage. During this time, Mr. House was taken and seated in the blue impala and while a third uniformed Dekalb County Officer stood by, Det. Seitsema searched my vehicle and trunk, taking pictures of both the interior, exterior, trunk and all my radio equipment and other items in my vehicle. The detectives seemed very interested in a pair of bolt cutters that were mounted under the spare tire in the trunk, which were left in the car by the previous owner. (I am a radio technician, and bolt cutters are used to clip an antenna during the tuning process.)
After a while, Det. Seitsema retrieved a screwdriver from my trunk and removed the expired plates from my vehicle, and placed them and my screwdriver in his trunk. I was then told I was being taken to the Sheriff's Department in Sycamore for further questioning. I observed Mr. House being transported in the blue Impala by Sgt. Gustafson.
We arrived at the Dekalb County Sheriff's Department at approx. 8:30 AM and I was led into an interrogation/interview room and seated behind a brown wooden table with silver metal legs. Det. Seitsema then left the room, locking the door behind him. I waited for an unknown amount of time for the officer to return. Eventually Det. Seitsema returned, and sat down across the table from me. I immediately asked if I was under arrest, and if so for what charge. Det. Seitsema advised I was not under arrest but was wanted for questioning. He advised me that several other officers were currently executing a search warrant on Mr. House's Toyota MR2, and taking a tire from the vehicle located at his residence. Det. Seitesma then told me he wanted to know all I knew about several recent burglaries involving Motorola 2-way radios. I advised the officer that I did not know what he was referring to, and then stated that if I was going to be questioned, I wished to call an Attorney to be present. Det. Seitesma then became extremely irate, and jumped up from the table pounding his fists in front of me. He yelled "Don't give me your fucking bullshit"! I then remained silent.
Det. Seitsema soon left the room, and returned with Det. Michael Stewart of the Dekalb Police department. Again I was asked about a series of burglaries in the area. I again advised that I knew nothing and I wished to remain silent, until an Attorney was present. I was told I could not see an Attorney, as I was not under arrest. I stated that if I was not under arrest, and could not have an Attorney present, I wished to leave. I was told I was not at liberty to leave. I was again left alone in the locked room. After some time went by, I knocked at the door to get the attention of the officers and asked if I could use the washroom and get something to drink. I was told that I could not at that time, and was again locked in the room
For the next several hours, I was interrogated by several officers about recent burglaries. I was also asked to sign a statement against Mr. House, implicating him in the burglaries. I advised that I had no knowledge of him being involved in any burglaries, and therefore I would not sign a statement implicating him. Det. Stewart then stated "so you wanna be a nigger and protect your boyfriend?" I advised both officers that I was not trying to protect anybody, Steven House was not my boyfriend, and that I had no information to share with them. Again I was left alone. While sitting alone this time, I retrieved my cellular telephone which until now I had forgotten was on my belt. I called my girlfriend, Jennifer Mirotznik, at her workplace and quickly advised her of the situation and asked her to contact an Attorney of her choice and send him to the Sheriff's Department as soon as possible to represent me during this interrogation. During this phone call, Det. Setesma rushed in and confiscated my cellular telephone before I could complete the call.
Again I was visited by several officers, each time telling them that I had no information to offer. The officers acted extremely violent, and irate at all times. The most violent of these was Det. Seitsema who on several occasions lunged at me, pounded his fists on the table in a violent manner, kicked the table at which I was sitting and called me many derogatory names such as nigger, son of a bitch and many others. Although I am white and not prejudiced in any way against color or national origin, I took extreme offense at being called a nigger, and my Mother being called a bitch.
On one occasion, Det. Stewart brought me a written statement which implicated me in all the burglaries. I was told I would be charged with as many as 30 felony burglaries and could be sent to prison for 20 years unless I began to talk, or write statements. This statement I was shown was signed "Steven House". I noticed the signature did not match the signature of Mr. House as I know it, and the handwriting was not the handwriting of Steven House as I know it. I was sure this was a forged statement, and again I remained silent. (I later received the discovery in this case, and the statement I was shown was NOT there, making me further believe the statement and signature was forged by the officers in an attempt to coerce me into a false confession to crimes, or implicate Mr. House. I later learned that the forging of a signature by an officer is a Felony.)
I was led into what appeared to be a kitchen area of the department, and shown several tables covered with electronic equipment, and a box of Motorola 2-way radios. I was told that this all had been removed from Mr. House's residence, and the Motorola radios were some of the items that had been reported stolen. I was told that my fingerprints were on several of the radios. I knew this was not possible, as I had never seen these radios before, and had no part or knowledge of the theft of them. I was handed one of the radios, and asked to look at it closely to see if I recognized it. I refused to touch the radio, as I believed this was an attempt by the officers to place my fingerprints on the item. At one point I overheard 2 officers outside the doorway stating that most of the items were removed from the house without a warrant and must be returned. The other officer replied he would add a home address to a signed 'consent to search' form, which would allow them to place any and all items into evidence.
I was then ordered to remove my shoes, being a pair of black and blue Nike Basketball type athletic shoes. These were taken by one of the officers and later returned and placed outside the door. I was then asked what other types of shoes I owned, and I voluntarily stated that I also owned a pair of brown loafer type dress shoes, and a pair of black Nike athletic shoes which I used for outdoor work.
During this entire ordeal, I was denied any food or drink, and I was allowed to use the washroom only once. I was allowed to smoke a cigarette on one occasion.
At approx. 1:00 PM, I was told that if I wrote a statement concerning one crime that I did have knowledge of that had been committed the year prior, and gave the names of guilty parties, I would be allowed to then speak with an attorney and would be free to leave. I requested to see the attorney first, and after consulting legal advice I would consider writing the statement. Again Det. Steward became very hostile and denied me an Attorney until a statement was written. (The officers did not know I had requested one through my girlfriend, and I did not volunteer this information. )
Throughout this seven hour interrogation, I became extremely drained both emotionally and physically, as I had not been allowed to eat or drink anything at any time during the day, and the intense interrogation and threats had me very paranoid of the prospect of being charged with 30 felony burglaries, and being sent to prison for up to 20 years as I had been told by the detectives.
I was then told by Det. Stewart that an Attorney was waiting outside to speak to me, but that as I was not under arrest, they were not required to allow him to speak with me. I was again given a statement form and told to write a statement about the crime that I had knowledge of, and give the names of all involved. I was told that after I wrote this statement, I would be allowed to leave with the Attorney, and would not be charged with the crimes. In an effort to end this ordeal, I then wrote a statement about the one crime I did have knowledge of, being a burglary that had occurred the prior year when I was in a van with several other subjects. I gave the names of the two subjects that had committed the offense, and then was told to sign a paper stating I had been informed of my rights, which I signed and added that I was only informed of my Miranda rights after signing the statement. This seemed to further anger Det. Stewart. I also signed a paper stating that the Det. Stewart had my permission to retrieve the bolt cutters from my trunk to undergo some testing at the State Police lab. Being in this emotionally and physically drained state, I signed all the forms. I was then informed that I was being charged with 2 counts of felony burglary, as by my statement I was riding in the vehicle when they occurred. I was also given 2 traffic tickets for unlawful registration and Driving without proof of insurance. (The registration ticket was later dismissed by the Dekalb County States Atty. I pled guilty to driving with no insurance).
I was told an Attorney would be in shortly. When the Attorney arrived, he asked why I had written the statement. I explained to him I did so that I could go home as promised by the detectives, as I was physically and emotionally drained. He informed me that although it was illegal and coercion, it was a tactic used by many law enforcement officials to coerce a statement from a subject. The Attorney advised that the only evidence against me consisted of 3 conflicting statements written by 3 subjects (all of highly questionable character) and my statement in which I stated I was riding in the vehicle. Several others who were present at the time of the crime indicated that I was not the one who committed the offense, yet there statements were not taken.
After the Attorney left, I was given a 20 ounce bottle of warm coca-cola and allowed to drink a small amount before being led upstairs to the jail where I was booked, fingerprinted and held to see the judge the following morning. On Thursday, March 10 at 9:00 AM I was brought before Judge Engel via CCTV in the Dekalb County jail, and my bond was set at $50,000 with 10% to apply.
On Friday, March 11, 2001, a good friend wired $5000.00 to my girlfriend, Jennifer Mirotznik. She brought the required $5010.00 ($5000.00 bail + $10.00 processing fee) to the Dekalb County Jail, and I was released on bond.
After being released I spoke with several other subjects who informed me that they had been shown a statement on which my signature had been forged, in an effort to solicit a statement from them implicating me.
On Approx. March 14, Kristen Brackmann called me and informed me that Det. Michael Stewart and another detective had came to her house and ordered her to accompany them to the Sheriff's Department. She stated that they had ordered her to write a statement implicating me, after threatening to charge her with the crime if she did not comply. Ms. Brackmann stated that she was sick and not feeling well, as she was several months pregnant, so she wrote what the detectives told her to write so she could return home.
Al Shemonia
DISCUSSION FORUM
