What every American needs to know- The Power of an “Offer of Proof”

Wesley Hoyt

By Wesley Hoyt
Former Prosecuting Attorney
Is there doubt that we live in Perilous Times? Anyone who has missed this point, please go back to History 101 and consult 2 Timothy 3:1 “…in the last days perilous times shall come.”
Ancient writings show Mankind obtained its basic needs in spite of perils. Call it survival, humans are a hearty bunch when they work together and put their collective minds to it. Perils are a part of life in all ages. Spoiled we are, with over 200 years of peace in America, forged from the evils of a king that allowed those loyal to him to rape, plunder, pillage and burn fellow humans with impunity (quartering soldiers in your house meant that the soldiers could and would rape your women – why do you think so many were outraged? See the Declaration of Independence). The secret to success for all tyrants is in allowing their lieutenants to have anything they want as long as they are loyal to the dictator – confirm with Hitler’s psychotic fringe command staff; the reward of loyalty is a free hand to commit any excess.
“A Republic, Madam, if you can keep it,” was the watchword of our forefathers. Who questions that the Constitution was divinely inspired? This generation must decide if we will be able to keep it, with all its warts and imperfections. Our Constitution worked fairly well in the pioneering and post-WWII eras, because cleansing flowed from adversity; it was truly “do or die,” which causes most people to “Buck-up.” Prosperity, on the other hand, has made us soft as a nation; the entitlement mentality today breeds an unhealthy loyalty and a lack of resolve to stand up for what’s right—only what’s expedient.
Now, far too many people are lulled into a deep sleep by the distractions of today and ignore the iconic lessons of the past. We threw off tyranny once, but continual vigilance requires acknowledgment of repeated patterns of despotism; else they pass right over our heads, unnoticed and will visit us again.
When it comes to the innocent being persecuted in America, those aware are asking the proverbial question: “Who’s next?” and those suffering cognitive dissonance are in denial, qua: “it couldn’t happen here,” and “my government wouldn’t do that” are common retorts. The voluntarily-uninformed claim the ostrich privilege (head-in-the-sand style ignorance) and will say in the crunch: “I didn’t know,” “nobody told me” or “how did that happen?”
Let’s cut to the chase. Who among you would not defend a child wrongfully accused or a loved one indicted for something they did not do? Yet, there is a plague of fabricated charges and an epidemic of false accusations sweeping the nation, spawned by unscrupulous officials, sending numerous innocent people to prison for life-long sentences.
PRACITCAL SOLUTIONS
There are many writers who have opined about the causes and the conditions that create the ‘Perfect Storm’ countenancing the imprisonment of the innocent. There are few who offer solutions, and most look back and see what’s happened, but can’t see the pathway for the future. “I can see what went wrong,” they say, but have no generally applicable remedies.
There are three causes to abuse of the innocent: corrupt investigators, corrupt prosecutors and corrupt judges.
There are three remedies: honorable defense attorneys, knowledgeable trial support and public opinion influenced by fair and honest news reporting.
Public opinion must be expressed in socially acceptable ways to be effective, such as when Mark Taylor, first male victim shot in the Columbine massacre, was imprisoned by the State of Arizona in a phony mental-health-hold from 2010 to 2011. He was prohibited from contacting or being contacted by his family. Mark was guilty of politically incorrect advocacy against anti-depressants and Big Pharma which he said was responsible for the deaths at Columbine.
It was a so-called “Human Rights” worker from the Arizona Governor’s Office who was principally responsible for his false imprisonment; which provoked the flood of cards, letters, faxes, emails, phone calls and protest signs into Gov. Jan Brewer’s Office in droves with the message: “We are informed. We know what you’re doing. Let Mark Taylor go or we are going to make a huge stink that will come upon you.” The public was alerted and responded well, as did the alternate talk-radio media, abuzz with the story. The Court of Public Opinion was in full swing. Two attorneys, one from Arizona and the other from Colorado, collaborated by filing parallel suits, one in each state as a platform to release him, and on March 29, 2011, the pressure was too great and the Governor’s Office relented and Mark was sent home.
Could lightning strike again? Could an informed public with unrelenting demands secure the release of other innocents? All it takes is the will of the people exercising the prerogative to be involved and by staying vigilant and demanding for others the liberty we need most for ourselves; understanding that if we don’t take a stand, it will be everlastingly too late. Even the mainstream media is covering the fact that Obama is systematically deconstructing the American Republic. Hello, are we in the Last Days, or what?
Who’s next? Is the first question we should ask, and the second is: Who will come to our rescue when it’s me or a member of my family? Consider the following three abbreviated case studies:

David Hinkson

1. David Hinkson was an effective advocate for the underdog. He is a veteran who was in the Navy during the Viet Nam conflict. He helped others protect their property rights from those embedded in the crony system. David’s passport proves he was out of the USA when accused of soliciting to murder federal officials; it was suppressed by Federal Judge Richard C. Tallman, an appellate level judge who sat as an Idaho trial court judge, and no offer of proof was made by Hinkson’s attorney who let him down. (www.rolandhinksonfiles.com )

Edgar Steele

2. Edgar Steele, also a veteran of the Viet Nam era, helped protect individual rights for those persecuted by the so-called child protective system, and then he had the unmitigated gall to defend those who wanted to exercise religious freedom. Edgar Steele’s expert witness proof that the Government’s audio recordings were fabricated was suppressed by another Federal Judge, Lynn Winmill of Idaho and, no offer of proof was made by Steele’s attorney who let him down. (www.free-edgar-steele.com) UPDATE: Sadly, Edgar Steele died September 4, 2014, just days after the original publishing of this article.

Schaeffer Cox

3. Schaeffer Cox, a minister, exercised religious freedom and freedom of speech. The FBI put out a bounty offering $350,000 to anyone who could get him to commit a crime, which attracted a “take down team” of criminals who regularly worked with the FBI as confidential informants, willing to make up stories. Audio recordings made by the FBI that absolutely proved he had no intent or involvement in any crimes or plans to commit a crime were suppressed by the corrupt Federal Judge in Alaska. Bail was set at $3 million so that he could not assist in his own defense. (www.freeschaffercox.com )
What these and so many others have in common is that they committed no crime, were falsely accused of law violations that never occurred (actually accused of crimes made up by corrupt FBI agents) and have been convicted with lengthy prison sentences that exceed their life expectancy.
The other common elements for these three are that the prosecutors knowingly introduced false testimony, and the judges suppressed exculpatory evidence. In a word, each of them was set up and convicted of fictitious crimes made up by the government simply to silence them.
These statements are provable in the absolute, but no court will hear them because the judges use procedural excuses to block the accused from proving their innocence. Make no mistake about it; the Presumption of Innocence is dead in the American Justice System. But, what’s worse; if accused today, you must prove your innocence or you will be found guilty; and the judges are programmed to prohibit you from presenting exculpatory evidence. The only defense is to have as your attorney, one who is well schooled in the corruption of government officials who has the integrity, fortitude and chutzpah to make an offer of proof on the record each time the trial judge denies the admission of evidence that would show innocence.
It takes great preparation, foresight and guts to stand before a judge, who can hold you in contempt and send you to jail for defending your client and say these words: “If you will not allow this witness to testify, I will make the following offer of proof as to what that witness would have said.”
Judges consider it an affront to their dignity if someone demands the right to honorably defend himself when Constitutional rights are being systematically denied. But, that’s what it takes, because the innocent must present evidence at trial or they will have nothing for an appeal court to review on appeal; then they will never see the light of day again. A warning to all, even if you are innocent and can prove you are innocent, you must assume you will be convicted. Then you must stand your ground and find the way to make your case through offers of proof. You must get the Court of Public Opinion to send out continual messages that you are being persecuted. If the judge denies the right to present the offer of proof, you’d better have it in writing and have a legal assistant immediately file the written version with the Court clerk to make a record, or you will ultimately lose because the appellate court must have evidence that was presented at the trial which can be considered. This is about taking action when the opportunity presents itself by those knowledgeable and skilled in the art of defending the innocent.
There is no glory in defending the innocent any more, there is only satisfaction when, like the starfish thrown from the sandy beach back into the ocean, it makes a difference to that one. I hope and pray that those who read this article are willing to step up and send cards, letters, emails, faxes, and make phone calls to the officials responsible for imprisonment of the innocent, just as they did with Mark Taylor; so that when it happens to you or one of your loved ones, others will do it for you. In this way, maybe, just maybe, a defense can be etched from the government’s foregone conclusion of guilt, and then if others are willing to step up we can save each other from the guillotine – or, frankly, all will be lost.
There is a ray of hope: the US Supreme Court, in May 2013 handed down a ruling in McQuiggin v. Perkins that allows one who is actually innocent to pass through a “gateway” in order to avoid the procedural bars that prohibit him from proving his innocence, even years after his conviction occurred. There may be light at the end of the tunnel for some, if they get the right help in time.
Wesley W. Hoyt is now in the private practice of law admitted in Colorado and Idaho with special “pro hac” admissions in several other western states. He spends the majority of his time representing the innocent who have been falsely accused of crimes they did not commit. He can be contacted through Independent News International World Report or by email at hoytlaw@hotmail.com.