Game Over, Almost (Continued from Page 2)

Farrell Coleman's and Stephen Ray Adams' testimonies played crucial roles in Andy's conviction. They were admittedly drug addicts and drug dealers and had a laundry list of prior convictions between them. So, no matter what evidence was presented, the AUSA had these two men to stand before a court and swear to God and country that Andy was present during drug deals and had not only known the full extent of the operation, but had also translated Spanish to English for these transactions.

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In the telephonic sworn statement of David Burney conducted by attorney John White, the level of deceit and trickery of AUSA Schattman was divulged. Burney revealed Adams' frustration in his sworn statement. "He was pissed off because he was getting screwed over because he was told if he cooperated and did this, that there would be leniency and nothing was being done about it." He expressed to Burney that, "He had — straight up he had lied on the stand and that his testimony went against his factual resume."

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And further, that "he had only met Herbert Anderson on two occasions, once several years back and then on a bike run." Burney then asked Adams, "well, I thought you said in your debrief and everything else — in your factual resume, it said that he was there during a deal everything else?" Adams' reply was, "No, that's just — that was the story I was told to come up with." Noting Adams' aggravation, Burney asked, "Well, why did you even lie if you already knew how they were going to do?" Adams' reply was simple and also encompassed the power of the blackmail tactics the AUSA office applies, "Man, they go me as a career criminal," and "I'm looking at a life sentence."

    

The government had even extorted Mr. Farrell Coleman to say that "Anderson was in there with Gerry when there were drugs on the pool table, there were untold quantities of methamphetamines and Anderson was there during all of this." He then came back and said that in fact he had only met Andy on one occasion, and that's because he was supposed to have been doing some work for him at one of his clubs. "Andy ended up firing him for not doing what he was supposed to be doing and gave him his check and that was it."

Coleman expressed that since, "He had made a deal with the U.S. Attorney he might as well come up with something to help himself." Burney and another co-defendant Wade Smith wrote letters to two of the judges in Fort Worth after having discovered these blatant and flamboyant lies, but were reprimanded for it. The counselor at their jail unit in Forth Worth, Jakes called them into his office and scolded them for having attempted to express the truth in a sea of lies. Counselor Jakes said he should have spoken to him of Schattman beforehand and even called them "stupid!"

This is the question that arises: what place does a Bureau of Prisons employee have interfering with Federal court proceedings? The answer is of course, is none. But it does further illustrate the lengths prosecutors will take to cover themselves and secure a conviction.

The third and most vicious prong on the trident of Andy's counterfeit culpability is Judge John McBryde. McBryde is a sisister character who is known to abuse his position and power. He is infamous for an impressive list of actions that ensure his will be done regardless of the legal, moral, or ethical standards he must bend or break to do so. McBryde has intimidated  and embarassed attorneys for years in an attempt to reign authority over the court. 

In 1995, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a rare public reprimad of McBryde over what it characterized as "intemperate, abusive and intimidating treatment of lawyers, fellow judges and other," and he was suspended for a year. He has gone so far as "to require attorneys who displease him to take remedial reading courses."

He has also been accused of, on more than one occasion, of jury tampering, stating unofficially to juries that if they did not return with the verdict expected, "there would be unpleasantness."

McBryde was also the mastermind of redacting statements from official court transcripts.