Pam Bettis, head prosecutor in Henry County, Ga., stands outside her solicitor’s office in McDonough, Ga., in the county courts building. (Photo solicitor’s office)
Truck driver Michael James, in four separate cases in three states, finds that a black who defends his constitutional rights meets with stiffened resolve among judges and prosecutors to force from him a plea bargain. His most recent case is in Henry County, Ga., where the solicitor refuses to drop his case, despite being swamped with 30,000 prosecutions annually. (Photo David Tulis)
This letter from EEOC indicates California-based Cargo Solution Express Inc. took part in a retaliatory act against Michael James, which led to a false arrest and incarceration in two jails, one in Catoosa, and one in Henry County, Ga. (Photo David Tulis)
Michael James the Chattanooga truck driver is demanding a criminal case in Henry County, Ga., be dropped for the state’s failure to respect his due process rights by allowing a cop to take out an arrest warrant on him without any kind of swearing from an alleged victim.
By David Tulis
The controversy arises out of an encounter just as the company acted to retaliate against Mr. James for making complaints over withheld pay with the U.S. department of labor and the EEOC, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal alphabet soup agency.
“As stated previously, I was under an assigned load and initially stopped at the McDonough, Georgia terminal of Cargo Solutions on Sunday, July 9th, 2023 after my truck tractor developed mechanical issues requiring maintenance,” says Mr. James in a letter sent to Pam Bettis, head solicitor (prosecutor) in Henry County, south of Atlanta.
Mr. James traveled to McDonough, Ga., Aug. 28 for a hearing in the state court of judge Ralph Bailey Jr., an encounter that Mr. James insists should have brought dismissal on due process violation and sufficiency grounds. Judge Bailey, as is Mrs. Bettis, is holding on to the case despite extraordinarily detailed analysis of its irregularity and due process violations.
The judge refuses to read Mr. James’ proper challenge to subject matter jurisdiction, and insists he return for a motion hearing — though motions are proper only in a court where subject matter jurisdiction has been secured by the state. Mrs. Bettis and her assistant solicitor have not taken the first step to secure subject matter jurisdiction.
Mr. James continues in his letter to Mrs. Bettis:
“I slept in the sweltering heat of the cab of my truck overnight in order to be first in line for repairs on Monday morning July 10th, 2023. After waiting patiently in the garage all day for repairs to be completed *** I was informed that parts were not readily available and that repairs could not be completed. The company hired Uber to give me a ride back home to Chattanooga, TN due to lack of parts availability; and I was to return back to work once the repairs were completed.
This building houses a trucking company that Mike James says was illegally withholding wages. it is at 3833 Jodecco Road, McDonough, Ga. (Photo Google Earth)
Prior to this date, I had taken exception to Cargo Solution’s unauthorized reduction in my earned compensation and unlawful theft of wages, which I am still addressing through the Department of Labor. I had informed my drivers manager, via text messages, approximately one month earlier in June 2023 of my intention to take the theft of earned wage to the Department of Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), if Cargo Solutions Express, Inc. refused to pay me my earned wages.
I have included for your immediate review, a Letter of Determination from the EEOC which should confirm to your satisfaction that any purported “termination” was done in retaliation for my complaint to the EEOC Cargo Solutions did not provide a DOL-800 Separation Notice as required by Georgia State Law O.C.G.A. § 34-8-190(c), nor was I informed of any separation or “termination”.
Page 1 of a two-page letter from EEOC Atlanta district director Darrell E. Graham indicating that retaliation figures into a call to police about Michael James’ being on a trucking depot retrieving personal property.
Keisha McCoy and several other Cargo Solutions employees conspired to have me falsely arrested in retaliation for my legitimate complaints to the EEOC and the Department of Labor.
Their false and misleading statements to the police resulted in my wrongful arrest, imprisonment, and the malicious prosecution of my person.
Ms. Bettis, I continue to be injured with each passing day as I am unable to secure employment while such charges remain outstanding and unresolved by your office or the Courts. I have always been a law-abiding citizen with no criminal record whatsoever. Consider for a moment the difficulty of trying to explain the arrests and outstanding “Criminal Trespassing” & “Loitering or Prowling” charges to a potential employer. How receptive do you think any such employer would be to any explanation other than dismissal and expunction?
First, I was unlawfully charged with “Criminal Trespass” under O.C.G.A § 16-7-21(b)(3), which the arrest warrant application refutes on its face. Approximately one-year later, your office decided to amend the charge to “Loitering/Prowling” under O.C.G.A § 16-11-36(2023).
Paragraph (b) of this section holds in part as follows:
“Unless flight by the person or other circumstances make it impracticable, a law enforcement officer shall, prior to any arrest for an offense under this Code section, afford the person an opportunity to dispel any alarm or immediate concern which would otherwise be warranted by requesting the person to identify himself and explain his presence and conduct. No person shall be convicted of an offense under this Code section if the law enforcement officer failed to comply with the foregoing procedure or if it appears at trial that the explanation given by the person was true and would have dispelled the alarm or immediate concern.”
This matter has already cost me significant emotional distress, time, money, and continuing lost wages in having to travel back and forth to Henry County, Georgia in an effort to vindicate my good name and reputation. Moreover, I am also out the costs and expenses of bringing those who have borne witness to this continuing charade each time they have to travel back and forth as well, one having to travel approximately five-hundred miles (500) for each round trip.
I have given you ample reason to dismiss this case and terminate prosecution by your office. I have provided your office with more than enough exculpatory evidence to show that I was not on the property at 1am on July 11th, 2023 as well as adequate rationale to dispel any alarm or concern pertaining to the innocent retrieval of my personal property from my assigned truck #1476 on the evening of July 10th, 2023.
Moreover, the included EEOC Letter of Determination provides your office with the motive, means, and opportunity by which Cargo Solutions engaged in retaliation against my person by the making of a slanderous false report of “termination” and “criminal trespass” with Henry County Police Officer Chris Thomas, badge #5714. I want these individuals prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for the intentional making of a false police report.
EEOC urges negotiations
