Backwoods Justice
I am not one to air my own dirty laundry in public, but I would be remiss in my civic duties as an average citizen of Greeneville, TN if I did not use my first amendment rights in bringing to light my dealings with our local judicial system.  As I have discovered over the last several months, many other citizens in our neck of the woods have received similar treatment at the hands of our local officials - what can only really be described as "backwoods justice".  By leveraging the power of the Internet to keep them accountable, the Internet may become an effective tool in challenging tyranny and government complacency and to preserve democracy and freedom (even at the local level). 

If you are from Greeneville or the Third Judicial District, I would recommend that you consider the documentation below before you vote in the next election for mayor and district attorney.  You might even want to call or write and remind them that they are our public servants, not our masters (Mayor Bryan: 639-7105 & District Attorney Bell: 787-1458).  Neither has responded to my letters. 

If you are national or regional, our area code is 423.  Our community would benefit from aggressive investigative reporting.  It is possible that the unique service of the clinic might attract national media attention anyway (I've heard some say that it makes "good copy"), which of course could direct a national spotlight on the judicial system as well - which would be a good thing.

The information below represents almost all of the written communications I have had with our judicial system since filing charges against my former office manager, Geri Sue Douglas, last May.  As I have slowly reconstructed the financial records of my two corporations, I have discovered what appears to be 3 counts of forgery of checks written directly to her and over $60,000 in theft.  The detective handling the case, Mr. Stewart Kilgore, has told me many different things with regard to securing Ms. Douglas's financial records.  At first, he said that the evidence I initially presented to him was sufficient to issue an arrest warrant, which he told me he was going to do.  After "interviewing" Ms. Douglas, he said that he was going to have subpoenas issued for statements of her credit cards for which she used my corporation to pay.  I believe that the credit card statements will establish criminal intent and begin to demonstrate a pattern of criminality including theft, fraud, and forgery.  A little later, he told me that he had received the credit card statements but that he could not turn them over to me.  At the meeting with the DA in October, he said that he was in such a hurry to get to the meeting that he had left the credit card statements in his office.  By February, he said that a judge would not issue subpoenas for the records that he never had.

I brought these discrepancies between word and deed to the attention of Mayor Bryan but have yet to receive a response.  Nearly all of my communications with the judicial system is documented below (over 20 letters) for those who have the time and interest to read.  A copy of each letter was sent to my accountant, my lawyer, and my bankers - they can confirm these letters.  Some were sent certified with a return receipt.

Last month, the Medical Newswire reported that "Rose Ettlin, one-time billing clerk for Dr. Sikh Dev Aujla [of Maryland], was convicted of forging Medicare checks and stealing more that $10,000 from Dr. Aujla's practice... Ettlin's total haul: $11,904.73.  Ettlin was sentenced to 10 years in the state division of corrections, with all but 18 months suspended, along with a 10-year term of probation.  She'll also have to pay Dr. Aujla back the money she stole."

I believe that Ms. Douglas committed much worse crimes than this, yet our justice system refuses to do their due diligence in obtaining her financial records, which I believe would confirm my allegations.  In fact, this detective has repeatedly provided contradictory statements to me (translation: he lied) on numerous occasions.  Considering the egregious mishandling of this case, one wonders if the relationship between this detective and the well known attorney in this town representing Ms. Douglas is inappropriate.  I believe an investigation of the cases handled by this detective and represented by this attorney should be undertaken, comparing the number that actually make it to the DA's office and eventually to trial with the cases of other detectives and attorneys in this judicial district.

At the beginning of the case, Mr. Kilgore told me that the DA only likes "slam dunks" (confirmed, by the way, by other police officers).  I have provided a detailed list of evidence substantiating my allegations to his office, but at our only meeting it was obvious that the DA had not actually reviewed any of them.  Considering the way that the case has been handled thus far and my lack of confidence in the judicial process within the Third District, the only satisfactory solution would be for the DA to recuse himself and arrange a change of venue.   

My last communication with our backwoods system of justice was a letter to the judge on April 9 whom Mr. Kilgore said refused to allow a subpoena of Ms. Douglas's credit card records.  Neither he nor any member of this system has provided a written response explaining the rationale for not undertaking this very simple task of subpoenaing her financial records.  They should all be held accountable for their actions in the next election, and if their conduct has been improper, then they should be removed from their office and appropriate legal actions should be taken.

The entire case thus far against the town of Greeneville and against Ms. Douglas is summarized in a May meeting with a prominent law firm in Knoxville.  It is the first of the items presented below.

I especially welcome all citizens of the Third Judicial District to read the material below and contact the public officials mentioned in them.



Legal Strategies
Outline for Meeting 052202



I.Case against the Town of Greeneville

a.      The case against Ms. Douglas, my former office manager, which has been                                egregiously mishandled (perhaps corruptly so) by the Town of Greeneville
i.      May 17, 2002 Offense Report filed by Mr. Kilgore
ii.Initial case for theft and multiple counts of forgery
iii.      Another Capital One check in November 2000
iv.      Another double payment of salary
v.      Other forgeries or uses of my signature stamp
vi.      Reimbursing for expenses incurred rather than writing the check to the                                  businesses from which she supposedly bought the items
vii.      Other questionable disbursements and misallocation of funds
viii.      Discrepancy between patient income and deposits
ix.      Discrepancies between what she counted in cash and what was deposited –                            65% of it in the last 2 months
x.      $3,500 in bounced check charges due to her theft
xi.      Her problems with the IRS
1.      Income exceeded what she reported on her W-2 for 2000
2.      The unreported income from her theft
3.      February 4, 2003 letter to her

b.      Major Goals
i.      To be compensated for the monies I would have collected had the Greeneville                         Police Department done its job in establishing Ms. Douglas’s mens rea.
ii.      To be compensated for the work I have done and legal fees I have incurred in                          trying to keep local public officials accountable with extra perhaps for punitive                         damages considering the deliberate deception on the part of the detective.
iii.      To have Mr. Kilgore removed from the Greeneville Police Department and so set                      an example to other police on the force that this kind of conduct will no longer be                    tolerated.   To have the chief of police demoted for incompetent supervision.
iv.      To have the present DA publicly recuse himself and see personally that a nearby                     judicial district accepts responsibility for investigating and prosecuting Ms.                              Douglas for multiple counts of forgery and one count of felony B theft. 
v.      To clear myself of the taint of her crimes on my reputation.
vi.      To instigate an independent investigation to see if the DA’s “prosecutorial                              discretion” is really an excuse for favoritism toward [a certain lawyer in town] and                    to prevent further criminal cases accepted by this [lawyer] from being tried in the                    Third Judicial District.

c.      Letters to Mr. Kilgore
i.      June 5 – initial evidence of forgery and theft against, Mr. Kilgore's change of mind                    that he would not arrest her documented
ii.      June 10 – documenting that Mr. Kilgore told me he had issued subpoenas for her                     Capital One credit card statements
iii.      June 21 – documenting once again he has subpoenaed these records, informing                        him that Ms. Douglas had fled jurisdiction
iv.      June 24 – documenting the return of a computer Ms. Douglas had stolen
v.      July 11 – documenting a conversation that he had indeed received the credit card                    records
vi.      July 15 – documenting his statement that he needed the original checks (not                          copies) and confirming his receipt of the credit card records
vii.      July 22 – informing Mr. Kilgore that the bank legal departments told me that                           their copies of checks had always been sufficient evidence and that I had found                       further evidence of theft from another checking account
viii.     July 31 – documenting that Mr. Kilgore had not received the credit card                                   statements from a subpoena but that Ms. Douglas’s attorney would be bringing                       them to him
ix.      August 7 – documenting a conversation that contradicted other information that                       he had previously provided to me (see letter)
x.      August 29 – informing Mr. Kilgore that the ADA advised against my meeting with                      him and Ms. Douglas's attorney and direct questions concerning the conduct of                        the investigation
xi.      October 16 – informing him of new discoveries that I had made that put the theft                    over $60,000
xii.      November 19 – documenting a 20 minute phone conversation in which he said he                     had some of the credit card records but not all of them but planned to subpoena                      them as he told the DA that he would do
xiii.      December 18 – documenting a phone call on December 5th that he would be                           talking with the chief of police about the subpoenas and that he would be                               calling me on the 9th, documenting that true to form he did not contact me on                       the 9th
xiv.      February 1 – documenting phone conversation where Mr. Kilgore told me he                             could not actually subpoena the records even after going to Judge Tom Wright                        for permission to issue the subpoena
xv.      April 30 – documenting conversation he had with my attorney in which he said                         that it was his understanding that I authorized Ms. Douglas to use my corporate                      checking accounts to pay for her Capitol One credit cards

d.      Letter to Mayor Bryan August 18
i.      Demonstrating Mr. Kilgore's corruption and need to be removed from the police                        force
ii.     Promise to post all this on my website if he did not do something about the                           corruption

e.      Letters to the ADA and DA
i.      August 22 meeting notes with ADA – lasted one hour
ii.     September 13 reporting discovery of additional theft to the ADA of approximately                     $45,000
iii.    October 2 – reporting discovery of additional theft to the ADA of $2,588
iv.    October 8 to the DA sent regular mail appealing to him to “compel an investigation                  and then prosecuting crimes committed by my former office manager”
v.     October 23 – the same letter sent to the DA this time certified return receipt
vi.     November 6 letter documenting meeting of October 31 (attended by DA, ADA, Mr.                    Kilgore, my wife, and me) and its action items:
1.      Mr. Kilgore will be reviewing her credit card information.  I am alleging she                             used my corporate checking account to pay off over $11,000 in personal                                  expenses she charged on at least two Capital One credit cards.  The credit                              card account numbers that she put on the checks (copies of which I provided                           to you in the communication of October 23rd) are ...3889 and ...9098.
2.      At some time in the future, your staff we will be meeting with my wife and me                         again to review the charges on these two credit cards to determine whether                            they were for her own personal expenses or for my corporation. 
3.      Mr. Kilgore will be issuing subpoenas for her bank statements as well.
vii.      February 6 requesting an update on the progress of these action items – no                            verbal or written response

f.        Letter to Judge Tom Wright April 9 documenting the copy of letter I wrote Mr.                          Kilgore on February 1 and submission of evidence justifying the issuing of                              subpoenas for Ms. Douglas Capital One credit card statements – no response



June 5, 2002
Mr. Stewart Kilgore
200 N. College Street
Greeneville, TN  37745

Dear Mr. Kilgore:

I am writing to obtain information concerning the investigation of my former office manager (Ms. Douglas).  As you know there is compelling evidence that she has committed one count Class D felony theft against Robert S. Berry, MD and Associates, Inc. and two counts forgery against Robert S. Berry, M.D. using my signature stamp.

On May 17th I signed a document concerning these allegations.  The following week, I provided substantial documentation supporting these allegations as well as my signature stamp that she used to forge my signature on two checks.  On May 24th you returned much of the documentation (although not the signature stamp) and told me that you planned to arrest her on May 27th.   Last week on May 30th, you returned one of my phone calls and left word on my voice mail that you had “interviewed” Ms. Douglas on May 29th and planned to have another interview on May 31st.  Since then, I have called your office between 8:30A-9:00A on June 3rd, 4th, and 5th and left word on your voice mail to return my call.  To this point, you have not returned these calls and apparently no arrest has been made. 

I realize that you are very busy at this time with other cases, but it would be helpful if you would meet with me briefly concerning this case.  Although I am still in the process of obtaining copies of bank statements, credit card statements, and other documents that were not in her filing cabinet after her employment was terminated, I believe I have provided sufficient evidence for her arrest. 

In particular please look again at the following attachments:

Attachment A

Nine checks from Robert S. Berry, M.D. & Associates, Inc. and signed by Ms. Douglas to pay for her Capital One Cards (actual credit card numbers provided). You can call Capital One at 800 333-7116 to confirm that these are her cards as I have already done or you can subpoena credit card statements themselves.  This is enough in and of itself to arrest her for class D felony theft.

Attachment B
Copies of checks indicating double payment of her salary for March 30th, April 27th, and May 25th.

Attachment C
Check number 1664 for $500 written to Ms. Douglas herself using my signature stamp which she was not authorized to use.  This represents both theft and forgery.

Attachment D
Check number 1670 for $500 written to Ms. Douglas using my signature stamp.  Again this represents both theft and forgery.

Attachment E
A copy of a listing in the June 2002 Greeneville Parade of Homes of her house that has been reduced in price suggesting that she is a flight risk.

There are of course many other documents that we have obtained so far as evidence of further theft...  However, it would seem that the ones contained in Attachments A – D should suffice to issue arrest warrants for a class D felony theft and forgery.   

I have tried to obtain a copy of her W-2 form from the IRS but they told me that they would not actually have a copy until the end of July and indicated that I would not be able to obtain it without her consent.  I recommend that you subpoena this from her as I believe you will find a discrepancy between it and the payroll report, providing further evidence of her tendency not only to steal but also to deceive. 

I have also included the computer disks that you requested in your voice mail last week and a letter to Ms. Douglas stating why we needed them.  I doubt that you will find these of much use, as my accountant could not even access the information contained on them. 

When I talked with you at length on May 17th you seemed eager to see that justice would be served in this case.  In further conversations you indicated that the evidence provided so far to you was sufficient to justify issuing a warrant for her arrest.  It seems that you have changed your mind.  I would like a meeting with you in the near future, if possible, to discuss why. 

Sincerely,


June 10, 2002
Mr. Stewart Kilgore
200 N. College Street
Greeneville, TN  37745

Dear Mr. Kilgore:

Thank you for our conversation of June 6th concerning the case involving Ms. Douglas.  It appears that the investigation is proceeding well and I appreciate your efforts.  Specifically as I understand it, you have issued subpoenas for the Capital One credit cards issued in Ms. Douglas’s name.  You also have already obtained a copy of her W-2 to compare it with the payroll report.  And you have warned her that if she flees this jurisdiction you will have her extradited.

Again, there is still much work I need to do to ascertain the extent of her theft.  I look forward to the meeting with you, the DA’s office, Ms. Douglas and my attorney once you have received copies of her credit card records.

Thanks again for all of your efforts.  As you probably know, I write these letters not only to help clarify any misunderstandings between you and me but also to provide a paper trail for the IRS and various creditors that I am doing my “due diligence” in not only seeing that justice is served but in recovering stolen funds. 

Sincerely,

Robert S. Berry, M.D.





June 21, 2002
Mr. Stewart Kilgore
200 N. College Street
Greeneville, TN  37745

Dear Mr. Kilgore:

The purpose of this letter is to review conversations that I have had with you since my last letter of June 10th and to review new developments since that time. 

As a review of our conversations over the phone and at your office, it appears that you have subpoenaed credit card statements from Ms. Douglas’s Capitol One accounts but have not yet received them.  You expect to receive them within the next week or so.  You have also talked with Ms. Douglas on several occasions and you stated that she assured you she would not flee the jurisdiction and would be glad to meet with us once the statements had arrived.  According to you, she said that she would notify you before making any trips outside of the area.

I have learned from Ms. Douglas daughter’s employer that Ms. Douglas has moved to Seattle, WA to live with her son.  I was wondering if she notified you of this and if not what plans you might have to insure that she will be at the meeting you mentioned involving you, her, a representative from the DA’s office, my attorney, and me once the credit card statements have arrived.   

I have also found that she used the checking account of Robert S. Berry, MD & Associates, Inc. to pay for a computer that was never used or even seen at this office.  C... Computers built this computer (we have a copy of the invoice) and you can interview any previous employees of my corporations to determine if this computer was ever on site.

At this point, we have substantial evidence for class D felony theft and two counts of forgery.  I trust that we will be able to have this meeting in the near future and allow Ms. Douglas to account for her actions.

Sincerely,

Robert S. Berry, M.D.



June 24, 2002
Mr. Stewart Kilgore
200 N. College Street
Greeneville, TN  37745

Dear Mr. Kilgore:

The purpose of this letter is to review developments since my last letter to you on June 21st.

On June 23rd, a man brought a computer in to our office and told my office assistant that Ms. Douglas had asked him to deliver it here.  I did not see him but from her description it sounds like Ms. Douglas’s former husband ...

I believe that it would be appropriate to have my office assistant see if Ms. Douglas's former husband was the man who delivered the computer. I would like to know and why he did (to me this delivery is tantamount to an admission of guilt – both Ms. Douglas's and perhaps this man's).  Since he returned the equipment, he has participated (perhaps unknowingly) in the theft and it would be safe to assume that he might be a suspect in the other thefts as well. 

It would seem appropriate given that Ms. Douglas willingly falsified her intentions to you (she lied) about staying within the jurisdiction, she should be extradited as quickly as possible.  As I warned you before, Ms. Douglas can be very convincing.  She has fooled a lot of people.

I was also wondering whether the change in mayors will have any effect on your continuing on this case.  Thank you for your continued work on our behalf.

Sincerely,

Robert S. Berry, M.D.



July 1, 2002
Mr. Stewart Kilgore
200 N. College Street
Greeneville, TN  37745

Dear Mr. Kilgore:

The purpose of this letter is to review developments since my last letter, as I have not received any communication from you.

As you know, it appears that Ms. Douglas left this jurisdiction the Tuesday before you left for vacation.  Some man (probably her former husband) left a computer at our office telling my office assistant that it was from Ms. Douglas.  Mr. Computer Man stopped by last week and assured me that this was the computer that he sold to our clinic in July 2001 (please see attachment F with Mr Computer Man's written statement to that effect).

Her leaving the jurisdiction after she realized that she was under investigation and her returning the equipment that she had stolen both indicate that she knows she is guilty.

I have several questions that I hope you will answer.

   1. Will you investigate the theft and returning of the computer - that is, will you find out             what role her former husband had in its removal from the clinic?
   2. Will you find out where Ms. Douglas is now?
   3. Once you have found out where Ms. Douglas is, will you have her extradited?
   4. Have you received the statements from Ms. Douglas's Capital One credit cards?

Thank you for your assistance in these matters.

Sincerely,
Robert S. Berry, MD



July 2, 2002
Mr. Stewart Kilgore
200 N. College Street
Greeneville, TN  37745

Dear Mr. Kilgore:

Thank you for your phone call yesterday and for leaving information on my voice mail.

I certainly hope that you will have that meeting with Ms. Douglas on July 8 at 8:00AM as you said.  However, I am a little skeptical.  She has a history of habitual deception, and if I had to predict I would say that she will call you on Friday with an excuse to postpone the meeting.  Before reserving an extensive amount of time that morning, you might want to confirm this information.

On the outside chance that Ms. Douglas really returns here to give an account for her actions, I would be glad to meet with you, a representative from the DA's office, and Ms. Douglas on Thursday afternoon July 11th from 1PM on.  Before I ask my attorney to be there, I would like to have more assurance that Ms. Douglas will be there.

Again, thank you for your assistance in these matters.

Sincerely,
Robert S. Berry, MD





July 11, 2002
Mr. Stewart Kilgore
200 N. College Street
Greeneville, TN  37745

Dear Mr. Kilgore:

The purpose of this letter is to ascertain the status of the investigation into the forgery and embezzlement charges against Ms. Douglas.

On July 1st, you left word on my voice mail that Ms. Douglas had called you and that you two were planning to meet on July 8th at 8:00AM.  I have not received any communication from you concerning this meeting.  I was wondering if you could give me an update on it.

As I mentioned in my letter dated July 2nd, I was very skeptical that she would be at that meeting given her tendency toward deception.  I am still doubtful given the fact that I have not received word from you, given the fact that I have not seen her truck at her house the several times that I have driven by recently, and given the fact that her lawn has still not been cut since my last letter.

In my letter of July 2nd, I had mentioned that I was available this afternoon (July 11th) for a meeting.  It would seem that professionalism (not to mention common human decency) would have dictated that you would have contacted me before now so that I could have planned my schedule and reserved time with my attorney.

It now appears that she has indeed fled the jurisdiction.  The question is: are you planning to have her extradited to face the forgery and theft charges?

It would help me with the Internal Revenue Service and with my banker if you would provide me with a copy of the original charges that I filed on May 17th and a copy of Ms. Douglas's Capital One credit card statements that you subpoenaed and said that you received.   

Thank you for your assistance in these matters.

Sincerely,
Robert S. Berry, MD



July 15, 2002
Mr. Stewart Kilgore
200 N. College Street
Greeneville, TN  37745

Dear Mr. Kilgore:

Thank you very much for your phone call this morning.

From it I understand the following:

1.      You did call my office on July 8th and left word on my voice mail (however, as I said I               did not receive the voice mail – otherwise, I would not have written the letter of July               11th).  It should be noted that I did receive a voice mail from you on July 1st.
2.       That Ms. Douglas retained Mr. Lawyer as her attorney and that he could not meet on               July 8th nor could he meet today because of an illness in his family.
3.       That you do not know whether Ms. Douglas is in town but that she gave you her                     word that she would be at a meeting when one is arranged.
4.       That you cannot arrest Ms. Douglas without the original checks (I did not understand               that I had to have the original checks until today).
5.       That you are leaving town today at 1PM and will return on Wednesday but that you                  have a medical procedure that will put you out of the office on Thursday of this                       week.

I will go by both banks (First Tennessee and Bank of Greeneville) today with a copy of this letter in hand to request the original checks that are relevant to this case.

Will there still be a need for the meeting between you, a representative from the DA’s office, Ms. Douglas and her attorney, me and my attorney without the original checks?

I am assuming that you have copies of the credit card statements from Capital One.

Again, thank you for your assistance in the investigation of this case.

Sincerely,
Robert S. Berry, MD



July 22, 2002
Mr. Stewart Kilgore
200 N. College Street
Greeneville, TN  37745

Dear Mr. Kilgore:

I am writing as a follow-up from my letter of July 15th.

As you instructed, I requested the original checks in question from both First Tennessee Bank and the Bank of Greeneville.  Representatives from each told me that their legal departments had informed them that copies of cancelled checks usually suffice as evidence in theft and forgery cases and that original checks are not needed.

Therefore, I would like to ask you if you would discuss this with the DA’s office to see if the copies are sufficient.  If they are not, would you write me a letter using your official letterhead and your signature so that I can present these to both banks?

I was also wondering if it is not too much trouble if I could have a copy of Ms. Douglas’s Capital One credit card statements so that I can present them to the IRS in case of an audit.  They will need to know where the money went.

In addition, I received copies of statements from another bank account (the Patient Organizer Card).  I discovered that Ms. Douglas used it to pay for quilts from a WB and IA – two elderly sisters with whom I talked on the phone and who told me that they had been selling quilts on the day in question on Tusculum Blvd.  She used checks 1509 and 1510 to compensate them $150 each.  You are welcome to confirm this information if you would like.  Ms. IA’s number is ...

If there is anything else that I can do to assist in this investigation, please let me know.  If I am incorrect in any of the information I have received from you, please let me know.

Again, thank you for efforts in investigating this case.

Sincerely,
Robert S. Berry, MD





July 31, 2002
Mr. Stewart Kilgore
200 N. College Street
Greeneville, TN  37745

Dear Mr. Kilgore:

Thank you for your phone call yesterday. 

As I understand it, Ms. Douglas’s attorney will be giving you a copy of the Capital One credit card statements in question.  You should have these by tomorrow.  You also indicated that her attorney would like to have a meeting in the future and that both he and she would be there.

This seems to represent significant progress.  We shall see what becomes of it.

If possible, I would like a copy of these credit card statements and the letter that you promised to send First Tennessee Bank and the Bank of Greeneville requesting the original checks as we discussed before.

If there is anything else that I can do to assist in this investigation, please let me know.  If I am incorrect in any of the information I have received over the phone from you, please let me know.

Again, thank you for your efforts in investigating this case.

Sincerely,
Robert S. Berry, MD



August 7, 2002
Mr. Kilgore
200 N. College Street
Greeneville, TN  37745

Dear Mr. Kilgore:

Thank you for your phone calls today. 

In one of your conversations today, you said that you met with Ms. Douglas and her attorney since my last letter of July 31st.

I was under the impression that you had subpoenaed her Capital One credit card statements and that they were in your possession.  Now I understand that you do not have them in your possession and that I can’t get a copy of them even though one of my corporations paid over $11,000 for expenses charged to them.  If she doesn’t have anything to hide, why doesn’t her attorney turn them over to me?  If she claims that these were legitimate business expenses for my corporation, then it would seem that she should have no problem allowing me to have copies so I can complete my corporate taxes.  

There was also a time that you promised to write letters to both banks requesting the original checks (this is documented in the letter of July 24th).  Now you are telling me that you will not or cannot.  I do not understand why you told me that you would at one point, but today you said that you would not.

Quite frankly, Mr. Kilgore, given your previous contacts with me, I have a difficult time believing anything you say.  That is why I immediately write down the record of every phone contact I have with you and send it to you for verification.  Also, by doing so, I have kept a detailed record of the conduct of this investigation.  I will be presenting it to the only person who is publicly accountable for your performance – the mayor.  There are very few means that average citizens such as I have at our disposal to keep unelected public officials such as you accountable for doing their jobs. I will use as many as I have to.  

I understand that there will be a meeting on September 5th at 4PM between you, a representative from the DA’s office, Ms. Douglas's attorney and me.  I intend to be there.  Please let me know the location.

If there is anything else that I can do to assist in this investigation, please let me know.  If I am incorrect in any of the information presented here, please let me know.

Sincerely,
Robert S. Berry, M.D.



August 15, 2002
Mayor Darrell Bryan
200 N. College Street
Greeneville, TN  37745

Dear Mayor Bryan:

I am writing to file a complaint against one of the detectives within the Greeneville Police Department.  On May 17, 2002 I filed felony charges with Mr. Stewart Kilgore against my former office manager, Ms. Douglas.  I asked Mr. Kilgore to investigate the case at the recommendation of my attorney.

Since that time, all it seems that Mr. Kilgore has succeeded in doing is putting Ms. Douglas on notice that I had discovered her crimes and that I was initiating criminal proceedings against her.  On June 18th she fled the jurisdiction reportedly to live with her son in Seattle, Washington.  After reviewing the material in this package, I believe you will also conclude that Mr. Kilgore has done more harm than good.  

It would be bad enough if Mr. Kilgore had simply not done his job.  However, on numerous occasions he deliberately provided me with misinformation.  After his first lie, I took it upon myself to document everything that he told me in conversations over the phone and mailed these to him for verification.  I sent copies of these letters to my attorney, my accountant, and my bankers as well.  All of these letters are provided in the attachments with the last letter first informing him of my intentions to notify you, and then they are arranged in chronological order (i.e. letters of August 7, June 5, June 10, June 21, June 24, July 1, July 2, July 11, July 15, July 22, July 24 and July 31).  He has only rarely challenged the information in them, so the rest must be presumed to be correct. 

To summarize the facts in these documents:

1.       On May 24 after I provided Mr. Kilgore with bank copies of checks demonstrating                      theft and forgery, Mr. Kilgore told me that he had sufficient evidence and that he                    would arrest her the following week.  He did not do this.
2.       During a phone conversation of June 6th, Mr. Kilgore told me that he had issued                      subpoenas for Ms. Douglas’s credit card statements that had been paid by my                         corporation and that he had received a copy of her W-2 form from her (the amount on               her W-2 form was over $2,000 less than her payroll checks, establishing her pattern                 of deception even to the federal government).  Later he told me that he did not                       actually have them in his possession, but that Ms. Douglas's attorney had them.                     Then Mr. Kilgore indicated that he had no plans of issuing a subpoena for them (it                    should be noted that Ms. Douglas used my corporation to pay over $11,000 in                        personal credit card expenses).
3.       Mr. Kilgore never provided me with a copy of the W-2 form he supposedly received                  from Ms. Douglas (her file was the only employee file missing when I began my own                investigation).  Given his other lies, I doubt that he actually has it.
4.       On July 15, Mr. Kilgore told me that the DA’s office could not issue an arrest without               the original checks – this despite over one and a half months after he told me that                  he had sufficient evidence to arrest her.  I contacted my banks, and First Tennessee                told me that their policy is to destroy all checks after 90 days (their legal department               informed me that copies of checks provided by their bank had always constituted                     sufficient evidence in other theft cases).  I suspect that First Tennessee Bank is                      correct and that Mr. Kilgore is wrong in this matter.
5.      On July 24, Mr. Kilgore told me that he would write First Tennessee Bank to request                 the original checks.  However, in our conversation of August 7 he said that he would                not. 
6.       In a conversation of August 7th, Mr. Kilgore told me that he had met with Ms.                          Douglas and her attorney during the preceding week.  This may be true, but I doubt                it.  The grass in front of Ms. Douglas’s house for sale has not been cut since mid -                   June, suggesting that she has not returned from Seattle.

As you can see from these materials, I have persistently furnished evidence to Mr. Kilgore and patiently implored him to present it to the DA’s office.  I see that I have no other recourse now but to go to the DA’s office personally with this information – now three months after filing charges and Ms. Douglas gone.

These materials also demonstrate that Mr. Kilgore has not only been incompetent and negligent in carrying out his duties as a detective but that he has also lied to me on a number of occasions.  Because of his dishonesty, I believe you should immediately see to it that Mr. Kilgore is relieved of his responsibilities. To me he has acted as a public master, not as the public servant which he is.  He has demonstrated that he cannot be trusted with the job of investigating crimes on behalf of the citizens of Greeneville.

Unfortunate for you and as incredible as it might seem, other police officers have told me that Mr. Kilgore is one the best detectives on the Greeneville force.  If this is the case, your predecessor did not do you any favors.  Perhaps one of the major jobs you will have as mayor will be to clean this department up.  After talking with other citizens in town, it would seem that they should rightly be called “the do-nothing-detectives” of Greeneville.

My family and I moved to Greeneville just six years ago.  Most people around here have a term for such folks.  They call us “outsiders” – and perhaps rightly so.  Nevertheless, I live in the city limits and have two for-profit corporations and am president of one not-for-profit corporation.  As a physician I serve the uninsured of our county and other parts of northeast, TN – a service few other physicians around here are willing to provide.  I pay city taxes and deserve to be represented honestly and competently for crimes perpetrated against me.   Although I blundered terribly in trusting Ms. Douglas, I should still be allowed appropriate redress under the law.  She should be made to give account for her actions, receive whatever penalties society deems appropriate for her crimes, and provide restitution for her thefts. 

I have no “insider connections” with persons of influence in this town.  Nevertheless, I believe that it is my civic duty to make the most strategic use of my first amendment rights to see that justice is served in this case with Ms. Douglas and that our local justice system is held accountable.  From my conversations with other citizens of Greeneville, it appears that many are eager to see this effort succeed.   

Although this clinic has been disparaged by some locally, its unique approach to primary care, especially for the uninsured, has drawn acclaim regionally and is even now beginning to draw attention nationally.  For example, this past spring we received King Pharmaceutical’s Healthcare Hero Cup of Kindness Award for Innovation.  The clinic has been featured on a talk show in Los Angeles, on World Net Daily (the largest daily newsource on the Internet) and in World Magazine (a weekly international Christian publication with a readership of over 300,000).  One physician from Chicago called me recently to see if I would allow him to use our PATMOS name – he has told me that he plans to come out of retirement to start a clinic similar to ours.  A talk show host from Chattanooga called this week asking me to be on his show.  Given the new Healthcare Reimbursement Arrangements making pre-tax, tax-deferred personal medical accounts available for employees of large companies, it is possible that patient-managed healthcare through payment at time of service as demonstrated by our clinic will captivate the interest of many other Americans. It is possible, then, that many more Americans will be drawn to the clinic’s website. 

If this case against Ms. Douglas continues to be mishandled, I will post all of the material in this package on the website for the whole nation to see.  An Internet spotlight would then be directed on a city detective force reputed to be rife with incompetence and corruption.  Perhaps Americans in other locales will conclude that this is the kind of backwoods justice they can expect in a small town in northeast, Tennessee – which would not make you very popular with folks here or in towns nearby.  Neither you nor I would want this – but how else can an ordinary, powerless citizen see that city hall does what is right by its citizens?  Regardless, I will not pull this information until Ms. Douglas has her day in court, and Mr. Kilgore is relieved of his duties.

Mr. Bryan, when I told my six year old daughter about what “Miss Geri” had done to us, she asked, “Daddy, why wasn’t she put in jail?”  To this I had no answer.  I hope that you do.

Sincerely,
Robert S. Berry, MD

As of April 23, 2003, I have received no response from Mayor Bryan.

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