Good Cop, Bad Cops Pt 3

(By American Zen’s Mike Flannigan, on loan from Ari)

(Disclaimer: The proprietor of this blog and Mr. Wilson have an ongoing years-long friendship, in which the former has benefited on several occasions by the generosity of the latter. However, that in no way, shape or form has influenced the blog owner’s decision to post a series of articles about his case nor the content of what is written below.)

Part One.

Part Two.

As Trooper Wilson began to realize the actual particulars of his case, he began fearing for his personal security. Yes, a career soldier and policeman began to have misgivings about his safety.
     Yet, as we'll see at the end of this installment, that was but the start of his worries.
     About two weeks after the Bar Overseers responded, Tpr Wilson, an Army Reservist, was notified he was being activated to serve as a drill sergeant at Ft. Leonard Wood in Missouri. This would separate him from his legal counsel but this inconvenience was leavened by his remove from Massachusetts, theoretically keeping him safe from reprisals. Like a plot out of a bad spy novel, Wilson was informed by his son that he and his mother were being shadowed by someone closely answering the description of a State Police Internal Affairs investigator attached to his case. Either he was very bad at his job or was deliberately making no attempt at discretion in the interests of intimidation. Either way, it was only after Tpr Wilson had notified his State Police barracks commander that he was ready to contact the feds that the harassment had ceased.
     In order to beat the statute of limitations, Tpr Wilson had filed a pro se lawsuit against the Franklin PD at the end of 2003. In it were charges of assault and battery, defamation and false imprisonment. His intention was to secure legal representation in order to launch that suit and, later, another against the MA State Police. The complaint, along with one to the Board of Bar Overseers, established his knowledge of the conspiracy. It's notable that, by early 2004, officers in both the Franklin PD and the State Police abruptly began retiring, including the Chief of the Franklin PD and Major John Burns, the head of the Internal Affairs unit that had been stalking Tpr Wilson's family.
     In late 2003, as his year-long duty stint came to its completion,Trooper Wilson had accepted a year-long posting to Ft Benning as a Drill Sergeant. Early on, he'd reached out to the head of the Mass Minority State Police Officers Association. By this time, however, he realized that this official had been systematically betraying him by informing the State Police of his strategies and intentions while making a hash of the investigation.
     Following the mass exodus that had already begun, by spring 2004 the Col. Superintendent and his Lt. Col. assistant tasked with Wilson's disciplinary action had also abruptly resigned. While resignations occur all the time, what made this noteworthy, if not newsworthy, was that the Colonel resigned well before his term was up.
      With this development Tpr. Wilson contacted local reporters to suggest that his case played a major part in the spate of resignations. What really should've raised eyebrows was when his assistant quit at exactly the same time. And as further proof the mainstream media is essentially worthless, the local newspapers here in Massachusetts never bothered to delve into the exact reasons why they were abruptly resigning. The closest the papers would come to revealing the reasons for the scuttling away was "dirty laundry." And it became clear to Wilson they were turning in their credentials to protect their pensions. But as for the who's, what's, when's, where's and why's? Well, that was another story. And by that I mean there was none.
     It was the gathering storm involving Trooper Wilson's allegations and the State Police coverup, not to mention the dereliction of duty on the part of his legal team who'd been working both tables, prosecution and defense, simultaneously. In other words, there was plenty of smoke but no one suspected or cared there was a fire under it.

One Shade of Grayer

As it turned out, Trooper Wilson's nightmare of thieving, duplicitous, incompetent attorneys was just beginning. This time, instead of waiting to be assigned another, he'd sought out C. David Grayer. Grayer came well recommended by his own sister who'd had him as a law instructor in college. To launch the pro se lawsuits against the Franklin and State Police, Grayer took a $10,000 retainer from Wilson. Finally, some traction!

     Or so he thought.

     Months after forwarding the retainer, Wilson received no subsequent contact from Grayer. When Wilson finally got hold of him, Grayer asked Wilson if he'd spoken with his associate, Harrison Fitch. Problem: Fitch was already very well-known to Wilson, namely through his affiliation with the aforementioned Major Burns and the Internal Affairs Division that was stalking Wilson's family. For his part, Grayer was unaware that Wilson knew about this alliance between Fitch and Burns (a strange assumption to make with a policeman). In the end, "no legal action was taken against the State Police and the case was subsequently dismissed from court for failure to comply," to use Wilson's own words. Bottom line: Grayer took $10,000 out of Wilson's pocket for doing absolutely nothing. Well, nothing to Wilson. From the Massachusetts State Police's viewpoint, he magnificently did his job in spiking the lawsuits against them and their brothers in arms in Franklin.

     By now, poor Trooper Wilson must have felt like a lead in a Pod People sci fi movie. Everyone to whom he'd turned wound up working for the bad guys or were the bad guys. His lawsuits now seemingly blown out of the water and given a State Police chopper ride to the legal morgue, Wilson had no recourse but to file complaints against his last two lawyers with the MA State Board of Bar Overseers. When he did so, he got some surprising news: Grayer didn't practice tort law (a revelation you'd think he'd make to Mr. Wilson but I guess he really needed that $10,000). Furthermore, in violation of legal ethics, Grayer then subcontracted Wilson's lawsuits to another lawyer and agreed to split the loot with him. That other lawyer was the morally, ethically, and most importantly, legally compromised Mr. Harrison Fitch, Esq.

     A thinking person acquainted with the particulars of this case would justifiably wish they were a fly on the wall just to see the look on Burns' buddy's face when he read the brief and saw Wilson's name on it. Then Fitch showed what a true profile in courage he was when he essentially hid from Wilson and failed to tell him of the conflict of interest and his failure to file the paperwork in time. Their reason for hoping their incompetent collusion was almost comical: They were hoping that Trooper Wilson would get deployed to Iraq and that his death would give them that permanent degree of blessed separation.

     Instead, these do-nothing shysters got much more time off than they'd bargained for- After a determination, the BBO had ruled to suspend Grayer for five years. Fitch is still suspended after more than a decade and was reduced to asking the BBO for permission to work as a paralegal. And before you ask, yes, their collusion in spiking Mr. Wilson's case was one of several reasons to suspend both lawyers. (Grayer's suspension order can be found here and Fitch's own ongoing suspension order can be found here. They both sound like something out of a bad John Grisham novel.)

Catch-22

Between the spring of 2005 and January 2009, Trooper (Now US Army Sergeant) Wilson did not go gently into that Iraqi good night as his so-called lawyers had hoped. He had, instead, served at various Army posts in various capacities ranging from Counter-Intelligence Special Agent, Military Intelligence Drill Sergeant and finished a six-year tour, again, as a Military Police Drill Sergeant. After getting mysterious phone calls from the MA State Police inquiring about his return, he'd learned his family's home had been burgled. Some legal documents were rifled through and, oddly, only a video game was stolen. The local detectives investigating the burglary advised him it was someone's attempt to send him a message. And they were completely ignorant regarding his legal situation.
     About a year later, his son's mother reported having been followed by a light-skinned African American man with a shaved head in a red Ford Taurus. Days later, he'd gotten another cryptic phone call from a trooper again inquiring about his return. This caller perfectly fit the description of the man who'd been following Wilson's son's mother. Wilson shot back he was aware of his ex-girlfriend's suspicions. Furthermore, he'd warned he would liaise with the Army's CID and contact the FBI. The stalking and burglaries ceased... for a time.
     For those unfamiliar with the laws regarding this, it's worth noting all military service spent during wartime counts toward state-service retirement. Trooper Wilson left his job with the MA State Police after 14 years of honorable service. He'd returned with over two decades and was already eligible for retirement. However, in spite of honorable service with both the DoD and Massachusetts State Police, Wilson encountered animosity from a Major who was his Troop Commander. It's also noteworthy that all returning service members undergo background, physical and psychological exams. After passing the physical and background check with flying colors, he ran into an obstacle with the behaviorist conducting the psych eval. In the spirit of openness, he informed the behaviorist about his Major's hostility and ongoing legal struggles with the MA State Police. Over the course of four counseling sessions, he'd even provided corroborating documentation.
     Incredibly, the behaviorist decided Trooper Wilson was unfit to return to duty and that, furthermore, his well-documented claims of persecution and retribution was evidence of PTSD, despite the fact Trooper Wilson hadn't served in any combat capacity. In other words, he could've either silently accepted this ongoing "conspiracy" (the psychiatrist's own word) to prevent him from getting relief from a court or he could have reported the abuse and detonated his law enforcement career. Fighting his persecution and betrayal at the hands of the State Police and his incompetent attorneys constituted grounds for rejection. In other words, Catch-22, only in reverse- By being cognizant of the potential danger he was in, he was deemed too crazy to take back.
     He disagreed with the diagnosis even as Wilson's Troop Commander illegally attempted to prevent him from attending drills conducted by his unit at Ft Meade, a strange turn of events considering Wilson had been rejected as unfit to return by the state police's own shrink. Only after complaining to the VA was he "allowed" to fulfill his duties to his unit.
     The stalking of his family continued until as recently as last month.
(Continued in Part 4.)