"Anatomy of Conviction by Assassination of Character and Prosecutorial Misconduct"

This narrative is long, but its goal is to provide a complete and true picture of the trial and the injustice system in America. The transcripts are being bought by generous family members as it takes a year to get court ordered transcripts when a person is indigent. Shelton has been declared indigent by the court and has $500,000 in debts because of a six year struggle against corruption and the destruction of her medical practice and defamation of her character as well as the numerous legal battles. She has been unable to work for the past four years while under siege. Everything stated here can be confirmed when the transcripts are available.

On August 20, 2007 Dr. Linda Shelton was put on trial in Chicago on the charge of two counts of aggravated battery to a correctional officer. She has been free on $100,000 bail, and the possible sentence is anywhere from probation to 5 years in prison. The verdict was GUILTY as charged. Presentation of post-trial motions and sentencing is set for September 18, 2007 at the Cook County Criminal Court Building at 2600 S. California Avenue in Chicago between 9:30 and 11:00 a.m., courtroom 702.

Dr. Shelton essentially was fraudulently declared to be a despicable "witch" who committed the heinous crime of attacking a guard while in jail because she is a rich bitch who wanted special treament and would do anything she wanted to get it including physically attacking a guard. Don't bore me with the facts was the jury's attitude - this was clear by their body language - slouching and rolling of the eyes. The conviction was clearly a result of character assassination, fraud upon the court, evidence tampering, and bias.

SHE'S A WITCH! - SHE'S A WITCH!

The State started off by providing testimony from the "victim", Sgt. Salemi from the Cook County Department of Corrections ("CCDOC") that Dr. Shelton on May 10, 2005 was an inmate at the CCDOC and that she was a demanding bitch who asked for "special treatment". Sgt. Salemi testified that Shelton was always from day one complaining, yelling, demanding, annoying, and keeping everyone awake. Sgt. Salemi was called to the woman's medical tier on May 16, 2007 because Shelton was making noise by banging on the cell door and "flooding the toilet." Sgt. Salemi testified that he came to the cell door and then told the female officer on the tier to "go back to your post" and "watch the other inmates." [eliminate witnesses] Sgt. Salemi then testified he opened the door to Shelton's cell and came in about six inches leaving the door open behind him to "talk to her". He stated that Shelton was in the middle of her cell in a wheelchair facing him about five feet away and "surprised him" by rapidly accelerating her wheelchair and ramming him, causing abrasions on his shins. He stated that he put his hands down and pushed Shelton away coming in contact with her knees and then Shelton leaned back in her wheelchair, reared up both her legs and kicked him hard enough in the chest to cause soreness and to propel him backwards into the closed door. He said Shelton in so doing fell out of her wheelchair, that he then handcuffed her and removed the wheelchair from the room. He stated that he suffered abrasions along the length of his shins and that they were bleeding and he went to the ER and received medical treatment - a salve.

Salemi admitted on cross examination in a Freudian slip that his job is: "to give inmates what they deserve." Defense counsel repeated his Freudian slip statement and Salemi quickly responded that he meant "food, clothes and medication". He falsely stated that he signs all the officers' tier shift notes as supervisor but says "he never reads them." The rules regarding duties of a sergeant require that they are responsible for tier notes by those he supervised but defense couldn't impeach him because the judge pretrial ruled to quash most discovery requests including those for policies and procedures at the jail.

Salemi was shown pictures of the cell with the door very wide open and not held open by anyone and views from inside and outside the cell. He was shown pictures of a normal size wheelchair with arm rails, that was not broken in any way sitting in the doorway which made it seem that it was easy to exit the cell. He said the pictures were accurate representations of the conditions at the time. He was shown pictures of his abrasion running up and down the length of his shins on both sides. He said they were accurate representations.

On cross-examination he stated the door had remained open when he went into the cell to talk to her. He stated that no he did not put his hands on her knees, but pushed the wheelchair making it roll backwards after Shelton rammed him and Shelton was about a foot or two away from him with the wheelchair rolling backwards when she "reared up" and kicked him in the chest causing soreness and propelling him backwards against the closed door.

The state presented one more witness, Nurse Ogali, who testified that she heard a commotion, while sitting at her desk at the nurses’ station behind the glass which started about four feet up off the ground and was kitty corner about 15 - 20 feet away from Shelton's cell door. She said she looked up and saw Salemi's back at the door and saw Shelton in her cell push her wheelchair towards Salemi. She testified that the doors have heavy door closing mechanisms that keep the doors closed if not held open and the door was partially closed against Salemi who was at the threshold. She said that after Salemi came out of the cell and said he had been injured she went in and found Shelton lying on her back next to a wall and screaming to stay away from her, so she did not examine Shelton, but called her supervisor. She was asked if Shelton was handcuffed, but did not know. She did not see any water on the floor in the cell. She said she told Shelton to get up on the bed but she would not.

Defense counsel of course pointed out that a nurse would not ask a handicapped woman to get up off the floor if she was handcuffed without assistance as this would be impossible. This impeached Salemi's statement that he handcuffed Shelton and makes Salemi's testimony not credible as well as his incident report a false statement which is felony obstruction of justice. Since the prosecution witnesses impeached themselves and each other this is grounds for a not guilty finding not withstanding the verdict as the prosecution has NOT proved the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.

At side bar the State made a motion in limine to prevent the defense from presenting ANY testimony or evidence as to why she was in jail except to say she had been held in contempt by a judge, and that she should be prevented from making ANY statement about her civil rights advocacy work, civil suits, other criminal cases, or any mention whatsoever of Shelton's public advocacy on behalf of prisoners, the poor, or the physically or mentally handicapped if it involves a civil case. The judge illegally granted this State motion in limine [a request by a party to prevent introduction of evidence at trial]. He said it would bias the jury against the State.

At a pretrial hearing the State had made a motion to admit evidence of other crimes, the defense had stated they would welcome the opportunity and the judge ruled that neither side could mention any other criminal case pending or resolved.

Therefore the jury was only told that Shelton was a doctor in jail on a contempt conviction. THEY WERE NOT TOLD:

1.The contempt charge was a in a case where Shelton was charged with Medicaid vendor fraud for sending in bills to Medicaid under her name for services done in her office by statutorily qualified employees including psychological testing by psychologists and psychological counseling by statutorily qualified counselors. The vendor fraud charge is outside of statutory authority and without jurisdiction, thus null and void because the Federal Medicaid Act specifically allows physicians to bill for services of their employees and there is NO State law or rule making "substitute billing" illegal. (How can billing for a nurse giving shots be legal and billing for a psychologist doing tests be a serious felony fraud?). The Supremacy clause of the United States Constitution bars this prosecution because the Federal Medicaid Act specifically allows substitute billing. Contempt found in a case that is null and void is also null and void per case law as since the orders to hold Shelton for trial and appear in court are void, then any orders produced by a court without subject matter jurisdiction is void. Therefore, Shelton was wrongfully jailed and this wrongful conviction for criminal contempt [making intentional statements in the court to bring the court into disrepute] presently is under appeal in the Illinois Supreme Court.

2. Five weeks prior to May 16, 2005 Shelton had won in the Circuit Court of Cook County a summary judgment against the Sheriff of Cook County (warden of the jail) in a complaint for injunction. Shelton had asked in a freedom of information request for the Sheriff's compliance plan with the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") and the Sheriff had refused to produce it. The judge ruled that the Sheriff must produce it so his attorney, Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine (the prosecutor in all criminal cases against Shelton, except the vendor fraud case) had to admit to the court that the Sheriff was in violation of the Federal ADA in that he did not have a compliance plan. Shelton plans to file a complaint for injunction with the Federal Court to force the Sheriff to develop a compliance plan that assures that people in the largest jail in the United States and the largest court system in the United States who have disabilities are given proper accommodations. Therefore, this attack by Sgt. Salemi on Shelton could be considered retaliation against Shelton for exercising her Constitutional rights for redress of grievances (a felony crime on the part of the Sheriff staff against Shelton.)

3. Three weeks prior to the trial Shelton had prevailed in a mandamus complaint against the State of Illinois Human Rights Authority ("HRA") which is a branch of the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission. The HRA by statute MUST investigate any complaint of violation of the Illinois Mental Health and Development Disabilities Act ("Mental Health Act") if they rule that the complaint is not frivolous. Shelton had made a complaint of torture and abuse of mental health patients/inmates and alleged mental health patients/inmates and their medical neglect at CCDOC. Shelton had noted that her patients or their relatives when jailed were medically neglected and that mental health patients/inmates in the jail were abused and tortured. This has resulted in preventable deaths. There are many cases of medical neglect over recent years at the jail which have resulted in death and disability. They take a body out of CCDOC almost every other day!

Shelton has over the last six years been unlawfully incarcerated there in retaliation for her civil rights and advocacy activities. She is disabled with multiple medical problems. She suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and has been obtaining therapy for several years. The jail staff and medical staff refused to give her medication previously prescribed, constantly involuntarily and forcefully injected her with sedatives to shut off her complaints about this and have repeatedly beaten her in retaliation for her complaints. The medical staff claims she is suffering from anxiety in jail and therefore they don't need to treat her asthma attacks with medication. They claim she is faking her disability although they have never done a neurological exam on her. They claim she was faking she couldn't stand up and faking fainting.

Injecting someone involuntarily with sedatives to shut them up is a class A misdemeanor violation of law and official misconduct. The Mental Health Act only allows involuntary medication by court order or in an emergency when a person is an immediate and deadly danger to themselves or others. Beating a prisoner, unlawful involuntary drugging of a prisoner, denial of medication are all criminal acts of official misconduct, malpractice, and torture.

The HRA had deliberated and ruled the complaint is NOT FRIVOLOUS, but has refused to carry out their mandatory duty to investigate by formally ruling that they were closing the case because they did not want to investigate a jail. The court was clearly about to rule in favor of Shelton and order an investigation when the State capitulated. The State was represented by the Illinois Attorney General (the prosecutor against Shelton in the vendor fraud case). They said they were doing a "reversal of case closure."

The court, Hon. Judge Kinnaird, presiding Chancery judge, ruled that the State must present her an affidavit that they were investigating the complaint and estimate how long the investigation would take. The State has complied and an investigation has begun. At the same time Assistant United States Attorney Joan Laser announced to the press that the Attorney General has begun an investigation at the CCDOC for medical nelgect, abuse of mental health patients, and excessive force. Shelton had filed complaints with the U. S. Attorney in February 2007 and July 2007 with attached evidence including affidavits from 40 inmates stating they were beaten, raped, medically neglected or abused.

4. Shelton has a pending civil rights suit in Federal Court in Chicago before Judge Lefkow where she is claiming malicious prosecution on a fraudulent vendor fraud charge outside of statutory authority, lack of jurisdiction of Illinois Attorney General as prosecutor and of court, fraud upon the court, unlawful detention (Judge Pantle in vendor fraud case illegally jailed Shelton three times for contempt and her successor judge jailed her once for contempt - two of the jailings were overturned by the Appellate Court in that they reduced the bail she had, which was raised from a $10,000 personal recognizance bond to NO BAIL in punishment for contempt for telling the judge she had no jurisdiction, and the case was void back to the $10,000 personal recognizance bond - essentially declaring the jailing illegal and reduced bail on a second contempt allegation from $500,000 [Pantle increased it from $10,000 personal recognizance to $500,000 cash bond a week after the Appellate Court freed Shelton, claiming that Shelton had lied to the Appellate Court] to $100,000 cash bail [because of the added charge of battery of correctional officer case].) Therefore, Shelton had proven that Judge Kathleen Pantle had violated the Illinois Constitution because it strictly forbids excessive bail and NO BAIL unless the charge is murder, a charge where the result can be a life sentence, or a charge where there has been held a hearing where the Defendant has been declared and proven to be a danger to society. None of these applied to Shelton. Shelton is alleging that the Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Judge Pantle were violating their oaths of office in falsely prosecuting Shelton outside of statutory authority, alleging a crime that is specifically authorized by federal law, ordering excessive and unconstitutional bail amounts, and other illegal acts, in a scheme to deny mental health care to persons with Medicaid insurance. For details see:

Therefore, the jury just knew that Shelton was in jail for contempt. The inference would be that a doctor is a good person and a doctor in jail must be very bad. They really don't know what contempt is, and the judge ruled that the defense could not explain this to them, so the jury was biased from the start in being allowed unrebutted information that Shelton is a bad person - and certainly must be despicable and did something very bad to be in jail on contempt. Why would they listen to the testimony if they at the start make this assumption? People have a way of selective listening once they make up their minds about an issue.

Shelton presented the testimony of her neurologist, Dr. Boris Vern, who stated Shelton has heart conditions, very severe asthma, post traumatic stress disorder, congenital and acquired spinal stenosis that damaged her spinal cord, that she had extensive cervical spinal surgery in 2000 and has residual deficits including extremely poor balance. weakness on the right side, weak hands, arms and shoulders, particular disability in the right leg requiring use of a brace to walk. He said she circumducts her right leg because the muscles that flex it at the hip were weak. He said her gait was unsteady, she had extreme difficulty taking even a few steps when he examined her on June 1, 2005, that she had lost 30 lbs in 2 1/2 weeks in jail, that she could not tandem walk (one foot in front of the other).

He said she also had some sensory deficits and in his opinion would not at the time or even now when not dehydrated be physically capable of lifting up both legs seated in a chair and kicking anything with any strength. He said the dehydration would have made this worse. He said she would not have been able to accelerate a normal wheelchair in a few feet to a sufficient speed to be a danger to anyone or to ram anyone because of permanent weakness in the hands, arms, and shoulders. He said the fact that the wheelchair was broken and extra wide would have made this proposition more preposterous. He said that he read two alleged witness statements from inmates with long sentences for violent crimes who stated Shelton stood up and kicked Salemi like a ninja. He stated this was absolutely impossible. He stated her disability was much worse on the right side. He was qualified by the court as an expert witness in neurology. He stated he was not an expert in forensic examination and did do research on sleep and physiological affects of sleep on the brain. His testimony was unrebutted by any expert witness from the State. The State put on no expert or other witnesses, except one guard in rebuttal.

Shelton presented the testimony of her cardiologist, Dr. Joan Briller, who stated that Shelton suffers from cardiac arrhythmias requiring medication, vasospastic angina requiring medication, and very severe and poorly controlled neurocardiogenic syncope. This is an illness where the neurocardiac reflexes are abnormal and a person has an extremely profound faint with cardiac arrest when in pain, when dehydrated and standing, when overheated, and in other circumstances, because the blood vessels in the lower body are wrongly stimulated to dilate instead of constrict when the person stands reducing blood flow to the brain and inappropriately stimulating a nerve in the autonomic system that slows and then stops the heart. She stated that the treatment requires a mineralocorticoid steroid hormone daily and a high salt diet with 5 gm supplemental salt a day to expand the blood volume beyond normal (fluid overload on a chronic basis) to prevent these attacks. She stated that she reviewed the records from the jail, found that Shelton had been on a hunger strike, that her lab tests revealed she was intensely dehydrated with a concentrated blood [she did not give the following lab and exam results: BUN/Cr of 28+, Hct of 48, constant tachycardia - fast heart rate, orthostatic hypotension - a drop in blood pressure when standing]. She stated that dehydration causes profound weakness. She also stated that the record revealed that Shelton became faint on the second day in jail, could no longer stand except very briefly and after this she was confined to a wheelchair. She also testified that in January 2006 she had to admit Shelton to hospital for a particularly severe episode of dehydration, inability to walk, weakness, cardiac arrhythmias and chest pain. She said her experience revealed that when Shelton was that dehydrated she was very weak and that she was dehydrated from May 12, 2005 to the time Shelton was "released" on May 27, 2007.

Shelton was NOT ALLOWED to inform the jury that her condition deteriorated so severely in jail that she was transported to a hospital on May 27, 2007, the sentence was stayed after serving 17/30 days and she remained hospitalized for 11 days. Those hospital records revealed she was admitted with severe dehydration, an inability to walk, and post-traumatic-stress disorders including flashbacks (daytime dreams of reliving a life threatening event where the person is confused and out of touch with the environment) of an attack by a guard. During these flashbacks and during the entire hospitalization, Shelton was never found to be violent in any way. During this hospitalization Shelton was examined by Dr. Vern and Dr. Briller's associates on May 31, 2005 and June 1, 2005.

Testimony was NOT allowed that Shelton collapsed or suffered life-threatening asthma attacks and severe episodes of pre-syncope and syncope at least 40 times in the last six years requiring transport by ambulance to emergency rooms and rapid treatment by paramedics.

Any reasonable jury that was not subject to bias and therefore closed their ears would have made the inference - Shelton can't kick a healthy 190 lb male guard from a wheelchair across the room against a door from a wheelchair that is moving backwards if she suffers from neurological deficits, in addition to weakness from severe dehydration on top of this - which confined Shelton to a wheelchair. Shelton doesn't have the strength, especially when dehydrated to rapidly accelerate a stationary wheelchair five feet to ramming speed and ram a well trained strong quick male of 190lb who inappropriately came into a female's cell, purposely without any witnesses. Couldn't he stop the alleged "ramming" simply by putting his hands out and blocking with his hands on Shelton's knees?

The law in the United States requires that if an expert witness makes a statement that is unrebutted by another expert witness, then his statements must be taken by the court and jury as true. Because of the unrebutted expert witness' statements Judge Joseph Kazmierski was obligated to declare Shelton not guilty - this will be argued on post trial motions.

The court allowed the prosecutor in his closing, despite objections, to TESTIFY. Mr. Andrew Dalkin stated that the jury should ignore the experts as they are Shelton's "friends," they are her friends because they were not paid for their testimony, that they exaggerated - "see Shelton walking with a cane to the jury box" - "she obviously can kick". This is presenting evidence [that Shelton can kick] through the prosecutor instead of through a rebuttal witness to Dr. Vern. This is strictly forbidden in American jurisprudence and is absolute grounds for a mistrial.

Dalkin said the doctors' testimonies were contrived and exaggerated and should be ignored. He said that since Dr. Vern's CV showed that he does sleep study experiments and he admitted he is not a board certified forensic expert, just board-certified in neurology, that he is not qualified to make an opinion about what Shelton was physically capable of doing. This was an illegal statement in that it was fraudulent instructions to the jury that they can ignore unrebutted expert testimony and rely on testimony from the prosecutor that was not backed up by any legitimate witness. Assistant State's Attorney Dalkin can not declare himself a de facto expert witness and say because Shelton walks with a cane during the trial that on May 16, 2005 her health condition was such that she could kick a 190 lb man from a wheelchair against a door while the wheelchair is moving backwards and get up to ramming speed with her broken wheelchair within 1-5 feet, surprising a well trained 190 lb male guard. When the prosecutor testifies, without the statements backed up by legitimate witnesses, this is absolute grounds for automatic mistrial. Prosecutors may not give testimony. They can only state facts introduced into evidence by witnesses. This is basic due process rights under the Constitution of the United States Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.

The defense put on two character witnesses. The first was a neighbor who said she had known Shelton for 44 years and Shelton was known in the community and the church as non-violent and no one has ever said she was violent or threatened violence. Shelton's previous office manager also testified that the community of doctors and patients also consider Shelton non-violent and that Shelton has absolutely no reputation for violence or threats of violence. Character witnesses by law cannot give any more details about a person's reputation or life other than such generalities. They are not allowed to testify as to specific statements or events or what others say in detail as this is considered hearsay.

The State presented no rebuttal testimony to these character witnesses other than Sgt. Salemi stating that Shelton was always screaming, banging on the door and annoying the staff. The prosecutor acknowledged that Shelton was denied a free phone call to an attorney and her family. All prisoners when they enter the jail by statute are allowed phone calls to talk with a lawyer and a family member. Shelton was frantic because she needed to arrange for the care of her father, who is dependent on her, elderly and disabled. Since she bypassed usual processing because the court ordered an immediate evaluation by the jail doctor, these phone calls were denied (they only allow them in processing). This is a criminal violation of Illinois Statutes by the jailer. [of note, by the time Shelton returned home a month later her father was mildly confused, lost 20 lbs from 145 to 125 lbs and was dehydrated.] This amounts to felony elder neglect ordered by the court and the Sheriff.

The defense attorney, J. Nicolas Albukerk, attempted to question the investigator, Inv. Sofus, in order to prove she had talked to Salemi and what he said on the stand was not consistent with her notes of what he told her. He wanted to use her notes to impeach Salemi. Salemi did not say in her notes that the wheelchair was moving backwards when Shelton kicked him. He did not say Shelton kicked with both legs but said that Shelton kicked him with her RIGHT leg [the side that is partially paralyzed]. He did not say he was in the room when rammed, but that he was rammed in the doorway and fell backwards - yet no one saw him fall out of the cell into the hall. He did not say that the cell was dry. In her notes he said the cell was flooded by toilet water, but the tier notes reveal the cell was never flooded by toilet water. BUT THE JUDGE sustained all State objections to her testimony as hearsay [hearsay is allowed in impeaching witnesses] and she never answered even ONE question. The defense was not allowed to ask Sofus if she interviewed Ms. Ogali. The answer would have been yes and the investigator would have been impeached by her own notes which stated that there were NO WITNESSES. The investigator would have been asked how Ogali could have been a witness if she was sitting at her desk and her view was obstructed by the cell door (the window starts four feet up, the door was closed per Salemi, and Ogali was sitting at her desk about 20 feet away kitty corner to the cell.) The defense counsel was NOT allowed to ask these questions. The judge said this was unallowable hearsay. He was wrong as hearsay of previous out of court statements is allowed to impeach a witness. This is judicial misconduct and a constitutional due process violation in preventing defense from impeaching the witness Salemi with clear cut evidence. This is grounds for a mistrial.

The defense called as a witness Detective Gregory Johnson, an expert witness on police procedures, excessive force and pursuits. He had trained many officers and deputies in the academy. He had investigated crimes at the jail as a State's Attorney Investigator. He testified that all police are trained that male officers should never enter a female's cell without a witness absent a life-threatening emergency. He stated that the facts proved there was no emergency. His opinion was that it was misconduct for Salemi to enter the cell without a witness. He stated that Shelton could have claimed Salemi sexually assaulted her as when there are no witnesses the victims in a sexual assault allegation are generally believed. Shelton however, did not take advantage of this and later make this type of false allegation [because she is honest].

Defense called a witness they had hired, a detective who had gone to Ogali's home, given her a copy of her nurse's notes of the incident, read the notes to her, asked her to read them, and asked her if she remembers the incident. Ogali responded she did not remember anything. This statement impeaches her statements on the stand that she saw the incident or parts of it from her nurse's station. This is reason for the court to ignore her testimony and find Shelton not guilty, notwithstanding the verdict, as her testimony is not credible.

Shelton testified that she was a pediatrician with special expertise in neonatology and psychiatry. She was very frustrated by not being able to tell the jury who she was. She tried to rapidly slip into her testimony at many points that she takes care of primarily the poor and people on Medicaid, does home visits particularly to children on ventilators and dying children. She is the only pediatrician in the Chicago area who did home visits and because of this was given emergency special privileges one year at Children's Memorial Hospital to familiarize herself with a severely ill child for the home visits. She never made a lot of money because all home visits are charity care as the State does not cover the overhead. She advocates for the poor and mentally and physically multiple handicapped.

Her attorney was overwhelmed by the degree of adverse and illegal rulings preventing him from questioning Shelton to bring out to the jury who Shelton was, was convinced that Salemi and Ogali had not given any evidence against Shelton (their testimonies were conflicting in some of their answers and inconsistent), was convinced that Shelton didn't really need any witnesses except the doctors, and therefore refused to call the extensive witnesses Shelton had listed (guards and nurses) to prove the jail tier log records of Salemi were falsified, the jail tier log records of Ofc. Glindsey were falsified, Salemi was violating the rules of the Sheriff by entering a female cell alone, the wheelchair was broken and difficult to push, etc. etc. He became so overwhelmed by emotion that he forgot to ask Shelton the details about how her wheelchair was broken. Trying to speak rapidly to sneak in testimony because defense counsel was not allowed to ask questions to elicit it, because the jury needed to hear it, backfired. The State was so rapid at objecting and the judge so rapid at sustaining the objections to Shelton's statements that the jury simply didn't hear them and this didn't go over well with the jury. Their body language was clear that they weren't listening to her or finding her credible.

The wheelchair was double wide, extra heavy duty and very dilapidated. The rubber on the right wheel was torn off in areas and down to bare metal so that when Shelton tried to push it, it often would not have traction if the floor was a little lower on the right or there was a depression in the floor resulting in the right wheel spinning without traction and the wheelchair then wouldn't move. The connecting screws to the handrail on the right wheel were bent and one spacer was missing so that the hand rail wobbled and would slide against the wheel creating friction and preventing the wheel chair from moving easily. One of these screws would get pushed through the wheel when the handrail intermittently wobbled inward so that it jammed the wheel. The arm rails were missing and there were two hollow metal posts slightly above the seat level on each side of the seat. The back was stretched out so much that a nurse had taped 3 towels to build up the back rest so a person would not fall off the back of the wheelchair.

The rules at the jail are that guards are not allowed to push wheelchairs. However, since Shelton was so weak and slow with her wheelchair, transport Ofc. Boutte, and Sgt. Hernandez pushed her wheelchair to the health clinic, to the courthouse, and to the visiting area. Shelton NEVER propelled her own wheelchair when off the unit. The unit was small enough that she could slowly push herself around it. However in 2 1/2 weeks, other than for visits, health visits, and court visits, she only came out of her cell 1/2 dozen times and refused to come out the rest of the time. She even refused all showers after she had a near fainting episode in the shower on the 2nd day and sponge bathed in her cell. The jury was told none of this.

The attorney failed to put on the stand family and friends who visited her in jail and witnessed her severely weak condition to the point she could not hold her head up during visits and had to keep it resting on the counter next to the glass separating visitors from inmates. The defense attorney failed to put on the stand Ofc. Boutte or Sgt. Hernandez who had told her: "Salemi only attacks women, I hope you get the S****". The Sgt. probably would not have verified this statement because he works with Salemi daily. But they both would have been able to testify that Shelton was never able to wheel her wheelchair by herself off the unit because she was too weak and too slow. Shelton will plead ineffective assistance of counsel in motion for mistrial.

His reason for not calling all these and other witnesses is because he believed that the State case was so weak in view of the doctor's testimony, the injuries to Shelton, as well as her legitimate reason for legally making noise and a hunger strike protesting their denial of her constitutional rights, that no jury would convict Shelton and that there was no way they could prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. He felt excess witnesses would annoy the jury and then they would be biased against Shelton. He felt Shelton should have asked for a bench trial as he believed juries are like Russian Roulette and make decisions based on bias and emotion, ignoring the law. He felt that Shelton should not testify because he felt that all defendants do more harm than good when they testify and the burden is on the State to prove the case and not on the Defendant to defend the case.

Shelton told him that despite the law, the fact is that a jury and the court considers a defendant guilty until proven innocent to the hilt, that they want to hear the defendant or this would add bias as they would think the defendant had something to hide and that all the witnesses were necessary. The attorney could not refuse the jury trial for a bench trial or refuse to allow Shelton to testify. He however did last minute preparations and not subpoena all those Shelton had asked him to, partly because he didn't want to in view of his strategy and partly because he has a small practice and had a murder case just before this case he was defending - he won it, which took all his time. He wanted to postpone the trial to have more time to prepare and Shelton had insisted he should move more quickly for a trial and get it over with as it had been two years since she was charged. She had represented herself for 1 1/2 years and hired him because the judge had made so many illegal rulings against discovery requests and disallowing subpoenas and defenses and motions to dismiss that she felt she didn't have a chance representing herself.

Shelton now realizes her decisions concerning the above were probably poor. The attorney did need more time to prepare, and she needed more time to convince him to call more witnesses, and it would have been better to represent herself because this would have allowed narrative testimony by her that would not have seemed so abrasive and she would have more easily been able to slip in, less abrasively, testimony illegally forbidden by faulty judicial rulings.

The judge disallowed subpoenas (quashed them and the discovery requests) for visitor logs, policy and procedures at the jail, transports logs (to discover other names of transport officers), jail tier logs of other unlawful incarcerations so that Shelton could prove their was a pattern of denying her civil rights and a pattern of abuse of her, as well as a pattern of the guards violating their own rules in locking her down excessively for refusing food, to prevent her from speaking with the social worker, to prevent her from filing grievances, to continually deny her salt and medication, etc. etc. He would not allow her to show the jury photos of her extensive contusions from previous beatings by jail guards, describe her numerous complaints to Sheriff internal affairs and the FBI about illegal abuse of her and illegal medical neglect of her at the jail. He would not allow her to describe her civil rights suits against jail staff that are pending or have been unlawfully quashed by the corrupt 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in federal court.

Shelton testified that she did not ram or kick Salemi. She testified that she was at the door pounding on it and asking for a "white shirt" - a supervisor when Salemi came to the door. She stated that she had refused dinner and they locked her in the cell. She stated that she needed to make phone calls to arrange for the care of her father and wanted to try the collect phone again. She stated that Salemi was alone and that if unit officer was with him at first, she didn't see her at the door because she is very short and may have been standing to the side. She said Salemi opened the door with his left hand, said "I'm going to make a case so you don't get out," and dashed in rapidly lunging at her with his right hand. She said his hand landed on her neck and she was terrified. She said that the force of his body lunging against her pushed the wheelchair backwards and he stumbled against the foot rests of the wheelchair, sliding down against them. She said the wheelchair was pushed back to the bed and twisted slightly as it propelled backwards. She said he struggled to maintain his footing and choked and grabbed at her while doing so. She doesn't remember all the places he touched her in this process except the throat. She said she tried to push his arm off of her neck but he was too strong. She said she felt like she was suffocating and couldn't scream. She said he then grabbed her left arm with his left arm and the wheelchair with his right hand and flipped her out of the wheelchair against the bed violently while snatching the wheelchair out from under her.

She said she was stunned and in shock and went into a flashback (because she has been treated for post traumatic stress disorder due to a previous attack by a man where she was restrained and suffocated). She said this made her go into an irrational state where she screamed at everyone not to touch her while she cowered against a wall instead of allowing medical attention. She said she landed on her knees and hands, She said her right 3rd toe got caught in the wheelchair footrests and was so severely contused it swelled up like a grape and the doctor several days later ordered an X-ray to rule out a fracture. She said she had large contusions on the back of her thighs and inner right thigh, small contusions on the left arm in the pattern of finger marks, a bruise on the right knee and a badly contused right 3rd toe. She said after about 6-8 hours she started asking for medical attention because she thought she might have a fracture but they refused such for two days.

A nurse, Gaye (spelling?) wrote in her notes two days later that Shelton had a 4 1/2 inch by 7 inch contusion on the right posterior and inner thigh, a 3 inch by 4 inch contusion on the left posterior thigh and a severely contused right 3rd toe. The State stipulated to this testimony which was read to the jury. This is consistent with Shelton's story and inconsistent with Salemi's story. If Shelton had fallen out of the wheelchair while kicking Salemi she would not have severe contusions of the posterior and inner thighs. She would have more likely had contusions on pressure points such as hips or buttocks or elbow or the side of a knee, not the front of a knee. She testified that the metal posts for the arm rails raked against her thighs and caused linear abrasions which the staff failed to record in their notes and resulted in the huge contusions on her thighs.

She had asked the court, when she was representing herself and had been declared indigent, to pay for expert witnesses including a mechanical engineer and forensic pathologist to testify that physics and methods of injury are consistent with Shelton’s story and make Salemi’s story impossible. The defense attorney refused also to hire these experts which Shelton considered critical. This is another reason that the evidence presented is inconsistent with the verdict and therefore the judge would be justified in making a finding of not guilty, notwithstanding the verdict or at least declare a mistrial.

Shelton slipped in that she was a federal witness against corrupt persons at the jail [she has given the U.S. Attorney and FBI evidence of official misconduct, medical neglect, torture and abuse of prisoners]. She pushed the envelope in sneaking in comments that she was a federal witness, against corrupt county officials, despite the judge's ruling that she could not talk about her advocacy or other cases, and argued with the prosecutor when he continually falsely said to her in cross examination that she was asking for special treatment - free phone calls, and salt - because she didn't like the food. She argued with him saying that she was just asking for everything that any other prisoner was entitled to - a free phone call upon being taken into custody to a lawyer and a family member and proper medication. She said all the other prisoners were given this initial free phone call and she wasn't so she wasn't asking for special treatment. She tried to say that the State laws require that ALL prisoners be given initial free phone calls to a lawyer and family and that salt WAS medication.

Shelton said her constitutional rights were violated. She said she was not allowed ANY phone calls for 24 hours because as a result of her multiple medical problems they took her to the Cermak ER rather quickly to be assessed by a physician rather than putting her through the processing line for a phone call. The staff in the ER and on the jail unit then said she was not allowed any phone calls until the next day and then only collect calls. Shelton argued with the prosecutor that her disabled father needed to have assistance and that she needed phone calls to arrange this assistance and that the only other phone numbers she could remember were cell phones and you can't call cell phones from a collect phone. Dalkin testified that she was too smart not to know other phone numbers. Shelton stated that therefore, by the time she returned home a month later her father was confused, lost 20 lbs and was dehydrated. She said her father was sitting in the gallery. In the gallery her father was sitting and was clearly very elderly and feeble. He was accompanied by a friend and in a wheelchair. He had obvious severe shakes from Parkinson's disease. She called this felony elder neglect ordered by the judge and the jail. The defense attorney failed to call him as a witness.

Shelton stated she refused to talk with the doctors or nurses when she arrived in the jail but showed them her MedicAlert® bracelet and gave them her MedicAlert® summary sheet that she always carries with her detailing her medical problems medication and need for 5 gm supplemental salt per day. MedicAlert® is a non-profit foundation that maintains a 24/7 phone line whose number is on the bracelet and who will provide anyone who calls a full medical history of the patient wearing the bracelet. Therefore, there was no excuse for the jail to refuse to give Shelton the previously prescribed medication and salt. The jail medical staff therefore can not say that they were unable to obtain her medical records quickly.

Shelton said the doctor said he would not read anything. She was allowed to show the jury the MedicAlert® summary and her bracelet, but they were not allowed to take it back into the jury room and read it, the copy of this document in the jail's medical records. She said they had no excuse to deny her the medication and salt. She said she rapidly becomes severely dehydrated and weak without this medication and became faint in the shower on the second day. She said this is why she was given a wheelchair and used it after the second day. She said she was frantic about wanting to arrange care for her father and feared for his life, that it was clear they were medically neglecting her and she would become very ill quickly.

She said she therefore decided she must do two things. First she must have paper and pen and write an emergency motion to the Appellate Court to stay the sentence and allow a bond during appeal. She also decided that the only legal means of protest was a hunger strike and to make noise and constantly complain, asking for grievance forms, a supervisor, the medical director and repeatedly ask for the phone calls, assistance from the social worker, medication and salt. She said they made it clear right away they would deny her these fundamental statutory and constitutional rights.

She said that she thought that she would rather quicken her medical deterioration and get the suffering and pain over with quicker by a drastic dry hunger strike, which would either force them to meet her reasonable and legal demands or transfer her to a hospital, which would allow her salt, medication, phone calls, a social worker, and pen and paper and a means to get a motion to the court. This is why she became so argumentative, difficult, and uncooperative with the jail correctional and medical staff. She was never asked by her attorney if she was transferred to a hospital. This occurred on May 27, 2005 after an emergency motion by an attorney hired by her family because they feared for her life, because of her appearance, weakness and lethargy at the time of their once weekly visits. She said her family was not asked to testify as to these actions and their assessment of her condition, which again is ineffective assistance of counsel.

The jury apparently felt Shelton was simply a bitch for making statements that the judge kept telling her she couldn't make and for arguing with the prosecutor on cross examination. Shelton came across as very intelligent and knowledgeable, but verbally aggressive and defensive. The defense was not allowed to ask Shelton on direct exam calmly about her advocacy activities thereby explaining her verbal skills and verbal aggressiveness and therefore inform the jury that Shelton had a lot of experience in court litigating civil rights actions against the State and County and that her arguments that it was her constitutional right to make phone calls and obtain salt, which is a medication in her condition, and that this is NOT special treatment, but a statutory right. Her aggressive verbal statements during cross examination about this were taken as false by the jury, argumentative and an example that her testimony was baloney. They watched but did not hear a thing Shelton said or totally ignored her statements and ignored the law.

As the jury was not allowed to hear evidence about who Dr. Shelton was (poor doctor who sacrificed income to make home visits for the poor, civil rights activist, activist for the handicapped and mentally handicapped, very aggressive vocally in legal actions against the State in this regard and in testimony before State commissions and agencies in Illinois and Minnesota as well as in closed door meetings in Washington, D.C. as an honorary physician advisor to the National Republican Congressional Committee - they think she is Republican, but actually is more of a libertarian and independent). They were not allowed to be told that she is a non-violent pacifist since the 1960s, that she may seem over intellectual and abrasive verbally but never attempts to achieve legal goals in other than legal ways. They were not told that some papers in Springfield Illinois have described her as the "speaker of the decade" after her testimony before State agencies 7 or 8 years ago, that temporarily halted the mandate for the chicken pox vaccine because she was able to best a 1/2 dozen corporate pharmaceutical company lawyers and the Director of the Illinois Department of Health, John Lumpkin, with her testimony. Virtually ALL the newspapers in Illinois supported her opinion in their editorials about the inappropriateness of mandating the chicken pox vaccine. The jury was therefore, not told that Shelton has publicly spoken against government policies and has been targeted with false arrests and unlawful prosecutions for doing so.

The jury was not allowed to be shown a trial transcript from a previous charge against Shelton for aggravated battery where she was accused of attacking a deputy at the Bridgeview Courthouse. She was a little over one year after neurosurgery and 10 days after herniating her disc, walking with a cane in intense pain when she arrived at the courthouse on October 21, 2002. She was representing herself on an unlawful arrest a malicious trespass charge, brought by the hospital where she had medical privileges to admit patients, who had retaliated against her for her complaints that they denied proper care to Medicaid patients. She was acquitted on the trespass case representing herself.

The previous charge of aggravated battery occurred when Shelton went to court on the trespass charge and asked the deputies at the security entrance to help her lift her briefcase on wheels up onto the screening desk for scanning. They refused. Shelton told them the Americans with Disabilities Act required them to accommodate her as she had a herniated disc, a disability and walked with a cane. They refused so Shelton tried to enter without her briefcase hoping the judge would help order the deputies to help her get the briefcase up to the courtroom. The deputies pushed Shelton out of the security gate and told her she couldn’t come in unless she lifted up her bag. Shelton knew this was forbidden by her doctors. Shelton knew that if she left the courthouse a warrant would be issued for failure to appear. She asked to use the phone by the desk to call the court’s clerk and the deputies refused to let her use it.

Shelton then walked through the security gate slowly pulling her briefcase on wheels and repeatedly asking for assistance. Deputy Doran purposely stepped in front of Shelton so Shelton would bump into her. Shelton bumped and Deputy Doran forcefully and violently pushed Shelton backwards making her lose her balance. In doing so Shelton’s arms flailed in front of her and one hit Deputy Doran. Since Shelton had taken her keys out of the basket for examination and had them in her hand, one scratched the deputy. It left a “2 X 3 mm” red mark. Shelton was then arrested for felony aggravated battery to an officer. At trial Deputy Doran and Deputy Caliendo stated that Shelton walked into the courthouse without a cane and that Shelton had no health problems and refused to comply with security procedures and attacked Doran.

Shelton impeached them with the prisoner inventory which stated “cane” as the first item confiscated and with an incident report signed by Deputy Caliendo that revealed that Caliendo had previously called an ambulance at the security entrance when Shelton collapsed from an ozone induced asthma attack on a hot day and lost consciousness. Honorable Judge Rhodes declared Shelton not guilty at the end of the prosecution case in chief commenting that Shelton had “thoroughly impeached the deputies.” Shelton in her defense was denied the right to show the jury this trial transcript to prove there was a pattern of perjury by the Sheriff’s department against her as well as false arrest and malicious prosecution. This is a procedural due process violation under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution, that requires declaration of a mistrial as the judge’s rulings preventing introduction of previous cases or discussion of any civil or criminal case outside the case at bar was prejudicial to the defense, because it would have balanced out the defamation of Shelton by the prosecution.

The jury wouldn't make eye contact, slouched in their seats, rolled their eyes and appeared not to listen or believe her. The defense attorney approached one juror after the trial and asked: "was it close?" She said "no". She said that Shelton shouldn't have testified as her attitude convinced them she was guilty. Apparently they ignored the testimony of the defense including the doctors instead relying on their bias that she was clearly a scumbag doctor as evident from the fact she was in jail and her license was suspended and she talked loudly on the stand and argued with the judge and prosecutor which supported the prosecutor's allegation that she wanted special treatment and would do anything to get it. The jury clearly ignored the jury instructions that a conviction has to be beyond reasonable doubt and was the burden of the prosecutor to prove guilt. They ignored clear cut evidence and testimony and ignored the conflicting testimony of Sgt. Salemi, the State's main witness. They ignored the judge's constant refusal to allow the defense to ask questions or introduce evidence.

Shelton was shown pictures of the jail unit, cell, cell door, and views from in and out of the cell. She stated that they did NOT represent an accurate picture of the way these looked at the time of the alleged crime. She said the heavy hydraulic door closing mechanism had been disconnected, the doors were never able to be opened more than 90 degrees while in the pictures they were open 160 degrees, the doors could not be left open as they automatically and forcefully closed if they were not held open, that the views from the nurse's station and from the cell out were inaccurate because the door would never have been open that wide even with someone holding them so nurse Ogali could not have seen into the cell while sitting at the nurse's station. This was a criminal act of tampering with the evidence by the prosecution. The prosecutor Assistant State's Attorney Andrew Dalkin admitted he was there when the pictures were taken. He is guilty of official misconduct, tampering with evidence, fraud upon the court, subornation of perjury, and this is an absolute reason to declare a mistrial.

Ogali clearly committed perjury in stating she could see into the cell and see Shelton move her wheelchair towards Salemi. These photographs of tampered evidence (door with mechanism removed) were illegally allowed into evidence and biased the jury into believing the door could stay open, could open wide, was easy to maneuver a wheelchair out of the room, and allowed very good views of the cell from the nurse's station. This was fraud upon the jury. This is an absolute reason for a mistrial.

Shelton wanted her defense attorney to request a field trip of the jury and judge to the jail to personally observe the conditions of the door and a demonstration to show that even in a new wheelchair and without dehydration Shelton has great difficulty opening a jail door from a wheelchair and could only do so backing out in an awkward fashion, first using one leg to push the wheelchair against the door to open it a few inches and then wedging her arms against the jams to help her leg push the door open enough to wheel out. The attorney did not do this and this is ineffective assistance of counsel requiring a new trial as the failure to prove Shelton had difficulty maneuvering even a normal wheelchair was prejudicial to the case. Shelton wanted also to call several nurses as witnesses to this and have them testify that half the time other inmates and nurses or guards held the door open so Shelton would not have to struggle so much. This field trip would also allow them to note that the door always slams shut, can not open > 90 degrees and that it can not stay open on its own, thus impeaching Salemi.

The prosecutor, Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Andrew Dalkin and his partner John Maher, stated to the jury that Shelton was an annoying loud woman who demanded special treatment - free phone calls and salt which were not allowed. He misstated the law to the jury which is grounds for mistrial, as all prisoners have a statutory and constitutional right to make initial free phone calls and for proper medication.

Dalkin said the doctors should be ignored, testified that Shelton could clearly kick, without any rebuttal witnesses. Prosecutors are not allowed to testify and expert witness statements that are unrebutted must be considered as true by the court and the jury. He stated that the doctors could not be believed because they were Shelton's friends. This is a misstatement of the evidence. The doctors stated they have no relationship with Shelton outside of their professional relationship as her doctor. Dalkin said that Shelton didn't tell them about the battery by Salemi so she made it up later. This is a mischaracterization of the evidence as Dr. Briller's testimony was clear that Shelton had complained to her she was beaten.

Dalkin said the door mechanism was not taken apart on the door in the photo, but he did not explain why the door was open 160 degrees and not held by anyone. The photo was clear, although dark, that the mechanism was disconnected. Ogali testified that the doors firmly self close and are NEVER open without someone holding them.

Dalkin stated that Shelton's medical license was recently suspended adding to the bias against Shelton and the court REFUSED to allow Shelton to rebut this false statement, as the license suspension is on the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation web site unlawfully and erroneously. Shelton is litigating to have this corrected.

Maher stated that Shelton had contusions on her butt which was consistent with her falling out of the chair. No such testimony was given. This is false testimony by the prosecutor and a mischaracterization of the testimony.

Fundamentally they said that Shelton was a bitch who felt she was above the law, was a no good for nothing doctor who they implied lost her license for good reason (again false testimony by the prosecutor) and wanted to get out of jail and would try anything including assaulting a guard to accomplish this.

Dalkin stated that if there is any place in the world that assault and battery against an officer can not be tolerated it is in a jail or prison. He said society has placed a high penalty on this even if the officer suffered no injury but soreness or a bruised ego. Other defendants have received seven (7) year sentences for aggravated battery of a correctional officer for throwing a cup of juice on the officer. They emphasized that the jury should have no sympathy due to disability and should give the harshest message that Shelton is not above the law and deserves severe punishment. They said that it should be clear to the jury that there was intent in this crime as Shelton made it clear should would do anything to get her way including banging on the door, throwing water under the door, and committing battery of a guard.

Mr. Albukerk, Shelton's attorney closed by stating the criminal act was physically impossible for Shelton, that the doctors had stated so and this was unrebutted. He discussed all of the above inconsistencies in the testimony of Salemi and Ogali that made their testimony not credible. His closing was calm, clear and outstanding with great detail explaining the above. He failed to state that the law required the jury to hold Dr. Vern’s statements as true and they could not weigh his credibility as his testimony was unrebutted as an expert. This is ineffective assistance of counsel and reason for a mistrial as failure to instruct the jury properly was prejudicial. This also could have been presented in jury instructions.

The jury deliberated for an hour and when they came back to deliver the verdict at about 5 p.m. an army of correctional officers and Sheriff deputies descended on the courtroom to witness the verdict and if necessary take Shelton into custody - at least 20, many high ranking and many plain clothed. When the verdict was read as guilty Shelton was in shock. Dalkin moved for revocation of bail and immediate custody. Albukerk pleaded with the court to allow Shelton to remain free on bail until sentencing on September 18, 2007 as she was clearly not a danger to the public, had appeared at all previous hearings and was not a flight risk due to her medical problems and disabled father. The judge, by the grace of God, denied motion for revocation of bail. The deputies surrounded Shelton and escorted her, her attorneys and two friends who witnessed the verdict out of the courthouse. By her car, Shelton collapsed in the arms of her friends and wept.

Shelton will file post trial motions for a not guilty finding notwithstanding the verdict or for a mistrial based on all of the above incidents of prosecutorial misconduct, false testimony by prosecutor, mischaracterization of the evidence, misstatement of the law to the jury, failure of the state to preserve the broken wheelchair (weapon) which was requested in a timely fashion. Issues for mistrial also include unconstitutional judicial rulings denying the right to present defense of a pattern of outrageous government conduct, refusing to allow defendant to subpoena necessary evidence such as name of transport officers, refusal of judge to allow defense to present offers of proof when testimony was disallowed (an absolute reason for a mistrial), ineffective assistance of counsel (Shelton would have won if the case was not so political) in that he did not subpoena all necessary witnesses and did not sufficiently challenge (although he objected) unconstitutional judicial rulings.

Shelton will also file a direct appeal after sentencing if request for mistrial or not guilty finding is denied. She will also file a petition for mandamus with the Illinois Supreme Court requesting that they order the judge to make a directed finding of not guilty notwithstanding the verdict as Dr. Vern's testimony must be taken as true as it is unrebutted. She will prepare State and then Federal Habeas Corpus petitions. She will file shortly an Emergency Complaint for Mandamus in chancery court asking the court to order the jail to give her proper medication previously prescribed including salt when she is taken into custody. She will file a motion for thorough physical exams by specialists and reports to the court by the specialists and by the Cook County Department of Corrections and the Illinois Department of Corrections as to how they will accommodate her disabilities and medical problems. Finally, Shelton will file a complaint with the federal court asking them to order Shelton held elsewhere when in Chicago, other than Cook County Jail, because County Jail has no compliance plan with the Americans with Disabilities Act and therefore is unprepared to accommodate Shelton’s disabilities. Shelton’s health is fragile and until they can accommodate her medical needs, she should be held in a hospital facility or under home confinement if the sentence includes incarceration. She will also ask for federal witness protection as this case appears to be retaliation against a federal witness (Shelton), who will testify if called in federal court about malpractice and official misconduct at the jail including medical neglect and torture. This retaliation has been carried out through grotesque prosecutorial and judicial misconduct.

Shelton will plead for home confinement, a suspended sentence or probation in order to take care of her disabled father and in order to maintain her health with proper medical care. She will ask for an order of protection from the federal court because she can prove her life is endangered by repeated malpractice, willful indifference to medical needs and cruel and unusual punishment of denying her salt and medication while repeatedly abusing her - in the face of the CCDOC being in violation of federal law in not having a compliance plan under the law as required by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and in the face of the fact that Shelton's multiple actions include providing evidence to the FBI and US Attorney as a federal witness against corrupt officials in Cook County and Illinois.

She is rapidly making arrangements for 24 hour care for her father, for help in managing his affairs, for help in managing his doctor's visits and associated needs, for assistance from lawyers to take over her multiple civil actions against the Cook County, corrupt officials and hospitals which have committed malpractice, against the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation in illegally suspending her license under false pretenses, and in other areas of her life where she has great responsibilities.

She needs to raise $300,000 for legal defense on all of her cases and in order to litigate the civil cases by lawyers instead of by herself. Donations can be sent to her attorney:

Shelton legal defense
C/O Mr. J. Nicolas Albukerk
3025 West 26th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60623
U.S.A.

Thanks to anyone who prays for Linda Shelton and her family and who is able and willing to donate money or appear at sentencing in mitigation or simply for moral support to balance off the army of Sheriff Deputies who will be there.

Sentencing will be at the criminal court building in Chicago at 2600 S. California on September 18, 2007 between 9:30 and 11:00 a.m.

Please consider writing letters protesting this miscarriage of justice and retaliation, requesting the judge to overturn the verdict or declare a mistrial, requesting the judge to show mercy and leniency and allow probation, a suspended sentence or home confinement, along with asking for federal witness protection and a federal investigation to:

Mr. J. Nicolas Albukerk at above address

United States Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald
5th Floor
219 S. Dearborn
Chicago, IL 60604

Special Agent Robert Grant
Director of FBI Office in Chicago
2111 W. Roosevelt Road
Chicago, IL 60608-1128

Senator Richard Durbin
Chairman Senate Judiciary Committee 309 Hart Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510

Representative Daniel Lipinsky
1717 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Honorable Judge Joseph Kazmierski
(LABEL ANY LETTER ON OUTSIDE:
“EVIDENCE IN MITIGATION CASE NO. 05 CR 12718, STATE V. SHELTON”)
Courtroom 702
2600 S. California Avenue
Chicago, IL 60608

Cook County Commissioner Anthony Peraica
118 N. Clark Street
Room 567
Chicago, IL 60602

Cook County Commissioner Robert Maldonado
(Director of Oversight Committee Concerning
Cook County Jail)
118 N. Clark Street
Room 567
Chicago, IL 60602

Send comments to the press addressed to the editor of:

The Chicago Tribune
Chicago Sun Times
Daily Southtown
Chicago Herald
National Public Radio (NPR) C/O “The Story”
e-mail = TheStory@mail.wuncfm.unc.edu
The Washington Post
The New York Times
Any Other Media You Can Think of Including CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox Network

Submitted by Shelton on Mon, 2007-08-27 15:54.

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