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My name is William M. Windsor. I have never been arrested, have never been charged with a crime, and had never been in jail prior to October 28, 2014.
But for 53 days, from October 28 to December 19, 2014, I was detained in the Ellis County Jail in Waxahachie, Texas as a political prisoner.
This is Part 2 of my story.
What I am publishing is a sworn affidavit that I filed on December 11, 2014 in criminal cause number 14-158 in the 40th Judicial District Court in Ellis County, Texas, Ex Parte William M. Windsor.
I am writing this in several parts to tell the story of my experience as a political prisoner. This is Part 2. I am inserting addiional information from the diary that I kept, and these additions are shown inside [brackets.]
I will be linking evidence to these articles as time permits; I need to get my scanner working.
If you haven’t read Part 1, please do, as this makes the most sense when read in chronological order.
In the following sworn statements under penalty of perjury, I refer to myself as the âRelator,â which I understand is the proper designation in a habeas corpus proceeding.
21. On October 28, 2014, the Relator was in the 40th Judicial District Court in Waxahachie Texas for a hearing in Case #88611. The Relator was surprised to see [Ellis County] District Attorney Patrick Wilson and [Ellis County Texas] Sheriff Johnny Brown in the audience for the hearing [as well as a small army of Ellis County Sheriffâs deputies].
[The hearing lasted from 1:30 pm to a little after 5:00 pm. It was the last hearing of the day, and it had nothing to do with the DA or the Sheriff.]
22. The Relator was detained on October 28, 2014 at approximately 5:30 pm by the Ellis County Sheriffâs Department as he left the courtroom. The Relator was informed that there was a warrant from Montana. The Relator was not told that he was under arrest, and he was not read his rights.
[The Relator did not see the Montana Bench Warrant (Exhibit A) until November 21, 2014, but it was what Ellis County allegedly based their actions on.]
23. The Relator was taken to the Ellis County Jail. He was not given any paperwork or explanation as to why he was there. The Relator was not asked to prove his identity. [Sheriffâs Deputy Matt Overcash typed something into a computer while the Relator sat on a nearby bench.] [The Relator did not see what Deputy Matt Overcash typed until November 21, 2014, but it is what Ellis County claimed as an Affidavit of Probable Cause â Exhibit B.] The Relatorâs personal property was taken from him, which included his laptop and zip drive.
[I was pleasantly surprised that almost everyone I met on the jail staff was very nice.]
24. The Relator was [told that he had been] granted a $100,000 bond and [was] given the opportunity to post bond for âviolations of a protective order.â No details were given.
25. The Relator was not given a phone call for eight-and-a-half hours. The Relator was kept in the Booking Area where he discussed his legal situation with several sheriffâs deputies and several jail booking staff officers. The Relator was never read his rights.
[I am EXTREMELY claustrophobic, and the first two days were terrifying in that regard. I seriously questioned whether I could make it. I take medication nightly for claustrophobia, but I had no medicine with me.]
26. At 2:00 am on October 29, 2014, the Relator was given a telephone call by Officer Jerri Smith. It was too late to reach anyone, and the telephones at the [Ellis County Texas] jail do not allow a message to be left on voice mail. The Relator knew only two phone numbers â his son and his ex-wife. Neither of them ever accepted the Relatorâs calls, and they have done nothing to help the Relator.
[The Ellis County Jail phone system (and I suspect all jail phone systems) are close to worthless. The system does not work with cell phones, will not allow you to connect to leave messages, and will not even allow you to make a normal call once you obtain Commissary privileges and have $12 to buy 10 minutes of time. The idea that you get to make one call is not what you see in the movies; rarely does anyone reach someone with their call.] [The feelings of desperation that I had for the first two days were truly overwhelming.]
[Nurse Jamika Lockhart appeared sometime in the middle of the night. She took health and medical information from me, and she gave me a TB test. As I thought about it later, I realized that the Ellis County Sheriffâs Department had required me to give them personal medical information that I donât feel they had the right to obtain. Nurse Lockhart is a beautiful lady and extremely sweet; she was one of my favorite staff members.]
[I went back into the holding cell and tried to sleep, but the so-called mattress was just a hard, lumpy mat. I was given a thin sheet that they called a âblanket,â and nothing else. It was FREEZING cold. I tried to help out three people (including Tyrone and Corey) by providing their bail money in exchange for going to my car to get my cell phone and calling someone who could come get me out. Corey was a lifesaver as he called a relative locally, and she looked up two phone numbers for me. I was able to reach both, and a wonderful âlandlord,â Michael, went to the place where I was staying and got some checks and some cash and drove it from Dallas to Waxahachie! The other was the manager of the bank that I use; from her, I learned that some laws have changed that make it really difficult for someone incarcerated to get access to their money.]
27. When the Ellis County bail bond companies opened later that morning, the Relator contacted a bondsman who said he would provide the bond.
28. A corporal in Booking contacted someone in Montana who said a Texas bond would not be accepted. The Relator informed Booking that he would not waive extradition; he would fight it.
[I was told that everyone always waives extradition.]
[I met very nice people in the Booking Area. I had been taken from court, so I had on a coat and tie and looked totally out of place with the average arrestee; folks thought I was a judge or an attorney. I sat there and drafted motions in longhand on the back of court documents that I had with me when I was detained. Everyone had been arrested before, and they told me what to do, not do, etc., like the importance of showering every day, knowing which toilet is for “sitting” only (much more graphic term used – rhymes with hitter), and other valuable info. I was ultimately put into a small holding cell with three other people. In that little confined space with no ventilation, I started to have a claustrophobia panic attack. Most of the people who I met in Booking were there for public intoxication, criminal trespassing, possession of a joint, or minor things. Most had bonds of $250; I was an exception to the rule at $100,000 and allegedly charged with three felonies plus two misdemeanors but not under arrest. I was much older than everyone else; I was the only person who didnât have tattoos; and I was the only person I met in jail who was not a drug user (have never even smoked pot).] [In the wee hours of the morning of October 29, 2014, I was fingerprinted and had my mugshot taken. They donât use ink anymore, and I didnât get to stand in front of a height chart holding a sign with my number on it (1019-14). I felt a little shortchanged as it was nothing like the movies.]
29. At 10:21 am on October 29, 2014, the Relator was âarraigned.â The Relator was not given the opportunity to speak. The Relator received no explanation about his rights in regard to habeas corpus. The Justice of the Peace/Magistrate told the Relator that his bond was set at $100,000. The hearing was neither recorded nor videotaped. The Relator was not told that he had the right to contest the âarrest.â No time was set for a writ of habeas corpus. The Relator was never told that he had such a right. The Relator was not directed to a court of record for the purpose of obtaining such a writ. Each of these are things that the Relator later learned are required by law.
30. The Relator told Booking that his bond was set by the Justice of the Peace at $100,000. But the Relator was told that a Texas bond would not be accepted. The Magistrate did not say that he was setting a Montana bond. (See Exhibit C, a true and correct copy of a document titled âArrest Reportâ that the Relator was directed to sign at the end of the time before the Magistrate. This document says âTexas.â)
31. The Booking staff was kind enough to obtain a list of Missoula, Montana bonding companies. [I called a dozen of them, but only one accepted my collect call.] The Relator contacted Brad of âYour Bondsman.â The Relator made a payment by credit card. Brad told the Relator that he would go to the court there on October 30, 2014 and present the bond.
[I always thought bail bond fees were 10%. I was told that I had to provide security for the full $100,000. The only way I could do that was by maxing out my credit cards with debt. Most folks would be out of luck with such a high bond, but I have had these cards for as long as 35 years, and I had high incomes and excellent credit over the years. It broke my heart to see people who couldnât come up with $100 for their $1,000 bond.]
32. Late in the afternoon of October 30, 2014, Brad called Booking and told an officer and the Relator that the authorities in Montana refused to accept a $100,000 bond from the local bonding company that they deal with regularly.
[Brad told me that Judge John W. Larson in Missoula Montana has quite the reputation, and he does whatever he wants. Sadly, I had already learned that; Judge John W. Larson of Missoula Montana is one extremely corrupt judge. It was when Brad told me this news that I figured I would be behind bars for the rest of my life.]
[A while later, a young Booking officer took me for the strip search, de-licing, shower, and change into a pink-striped prison jumpsuit, orange rubber shoes, brown T-Shirt and boxers. I was treated very gently. There were indications that high-ranking officers had put out the word to be careful with me because I was âmedia.â]
33. The Relator was then moved from the Booking Area to âOâ Tank in the Ellis County Jail [at about 4:00 pm on October 30, 2014]. While in Booking, the Relator was exposed to staph and MRSA as well as one extremely violent crazy man.
[âOâ Tank is a 24-man cell of approximately 1,500 square feet; 12 double bunks, three 8-seat iron picnic-style tables, three toilets, three sinks, two showers, cement block walls, cement floor, steel ceiling, bulletproof glass windows to the guard area, not bars. I immediately met Thomas Joe Edward Lee aka T.J. and several other young men, and I was relieved and felt comfortable. It was not scary as I anticipated. I never met anyone older than me, and 95% of the men there could have been my children or grandchildren. Iâd estimate the average age to be 28. Other new friends made the first day in âOâ Tank at the Ellis County Jail included Marquavius Woods (the only person other than me who I met out of hundreds who did not have tattoos); Jonathan Rima (a nice young man on crutches); Bryan (a tall guy who traded his semi-lumpy mattress for my giant lumps mattress); Michael McGowan (a handicapped black man who had been unable to obtain any help from his court-appointed attorney); Ignacio Galvan aka Nacho (nicknamed me Montana and âhazedâ me the first night by saying the newest guy had to get up and turn out the lights â and there is no switch and the lights are always on); Zach (a really nice trustee with a hearing loss similar to mine); and Robert Davidson aka Jake or The Vape Master (a young guy who fell behind on court payments and got his probation revoked as a result). I found that old men command almost universal respect in jail/prison. In addition to âMontana,â I was nicknamed Old School or School, for short. This is a common prison term for anyone seen as quite a bit older than you. That meant I was âSchoolâ to everyone. I later learned that âPopsâ and âPawPawâ are also common. It seems that most people in jail must have called their grandfathers âPawPaw,â because I was called PawPaw a lot. As miserable as the experience was, I really did meet wonderful people. I cannot imagine what it would have been like without such kind people who immediately had my back, my front, and my sides. I was taken care of the whole time I was there as if I was actually the PawPaw to these guys. I was especially relieved to see how open the tank was as that really lessened the claustrophobia. My claustrophobia is so bad that I canât even watch a movie where someone is in a small, restricted space.]
[My first jail meal other than bologna sandwiches served in a paper sack (âJohnny Sackâ) in Booking was something that faintly resembled hamburger meat, two slices of bread, broccoli stems, two cookies, and a would-be Kool-Aid. I scarfed it down. I was so upset for the three days in Booking that I hadnât eaten.]
[Other friends from Ellis County Jail in Waxahachie, Texas include Carlos Amador aka Paradise, Zachary Anderson, Cody Barnes, James Boyette aka The Boxer, David Bradshaw, Steven Calder aka The Enforcer, Lejonathan Cox, Greg Deloach, Cristoval Diaz, Brian Eaton, Michael Finch, Julian Fira, Donald Ford, Francisco Garcia, Justin Garcia aka Houston, Arcadio Garza, Michael Gonzales, Lonnie Hall, Michael Harvey, Robert Holland, Chris Horn, Robert Jack, Aaron Jones aka AJ or Lover Boy, Zackery Jones aka Locker, Greg Mason, Billy Mizer, Faustino Montemayor aka Claxton, James Myers aka Cellie, Heath Neitzel, Nicholas Parker, Eugenio Pena aka The Barber, Lonny Ramirez, Matthew Rauen, Bobby Rhodes aka Tank Boss, Benton Skelton, Louis Stocker aka Organized, Amber Vanderzwart, Gustavo Villanueva, Hector Villanueva. This does not include those who have been released or sent to The Big House, including Jacob Aparicio, Justin Johnston, John Florence, Jamie Ellis, Jordan Brittain, De’Juan Wilson, Aaron Drake, Terrance Marion, Drake Hernandez, Lawrence Murley, Scotty Stewart.]
Part 2 of the story will be much more significant when I get the documents scanned that are “the entire file of the District Attorney.” A comparison of these documents to the law — Article 51 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure makes it clear to anyone with decent reading comprehension that Bill Windsor was held in total violation of Texas law.
Part 1 is the background to the story. Part 2 discusses when Bill Windsor was handcuffed and taken to jail from a hearing in a civil suit that he filed against the people who have viciously defamed him in what is the largest case of defamation in U.S. history. Part 3 details early days in jail and attempts to get someone/anyone to help; the conspiracy to keep William M. Windsor in jail begins to come to light. Part 4 covers events from November 26, 2014 through December 2, 2014 as the corruption of Judge Bob Carroll erupts in full bloom. Part 5 introduces Ellis County Texas District Attorney Patrick Wilson into the corruption picture. Part 6 leads to a December 19, 2014 at which Bill Windsor was ordered released by Judge Cindy Ermatinger.
Bill Windsor was never arrested, just illegally incarcerated for 53 days — a political prisoner!
William M. Windsor