Post by scotkaz on Jul 10, 2006 5:27:31 GMT -5
I have posted this on the front of www.kennyrichey.org . You can make comments and see comments if you are a registered user only.
There is also a section on the Bulletin Board under other cases where Patrick's case is highlighted. You can read the posts without registering but need to register to post.
Many people read the posts on this board. Below this post is a comment also. Please feel free to add your comments in support of Patrick.
Patrick Swiney: A Human Being
Monday, 10 July 2006
I have known Patrick Swiney for 12 years. His wife Sherry was one of the first advocates of justice I met online. We very quickly became friends and supporters of each others campaigns. Sherry and Patrick have supported the Kenny Richey Campaign in so many ways over these long years.
I looked at the site www.patrickcrusade.org and read the case of Patrick Swiney, and was totally appalled that this man had endured this total affront to justice.
Patrick Swiney is a graduate of the Alabama State Police Academy (1967) and the Huntsville Police Academy (1976). He is a former Deputy Sheriff for the Shelby County Sheriff's Office in Columbiana where he served from 1964-1969; a former Police Officer serving with the Huntsville Police Department in Huntsville (1965-1969), the Vestavia Police Department in Vestavia Hills (1969-1973), and the Gulf Shores Police Department in Gulf Shores (1973-1977). Mr. Swiney served as Vice-President of the Fraternal Order of Police while with the Vestavia Police Department. While working for the Gulf Shores Police Department, Patrick was instrumental in exposing a drug smuggling operation resulting in the conviction of the District Attorney in Baldwin County and the Sheriff's Department chief investigator. Patrick left police work due to his disillusionment with the law enforcement community (after the drug smuggling incident in Gulf Shores) and went to work first as a legal investigator (1977-1980) and then as an over-the-road driver (1980-1986)
The above is from www.patrickswiney.com On there also is a lot of evidence and court documents regarding Patricks case.
Patrick was a good cop. All evidence shows that him being a good cop who would not look the other way when he saw things that where not right, is the reason he was fitted up and sent to prison. Patrick had and still has morals. He is someone I admire greatly. I have added the weblinks to Patricks case on this letter. I want people to read the facts and the evidence in this case.
Patrick Swiney, has shown me and many others worldwide, that despite his own terrible circumstances and his failing health, he truly does care about others. Not just others in the same predicament as himself, but also to his friends. Friends whom he loves as family.
Sherry has been his voice for so long. She has worked so hard and so long. She has found lawyers, forensic experts, ballistic experts and so much more. People who all agree that Patrick has been wrongfull convicted, yet the State of Alabama refuses to look at his case and even consider that a terrible injustice has been done.
Every now and then Patrick sends me a card or a note. He has done this for many years. Always offering support and love, always joking with me about being a Servant of the Crown because I am Scottish. I call him Paddy because he has an Irish name and Irish family history.
Always joking at how he wonders why USA allows me into their country since I campaign against it so much.
Several years ago I went to Ohio to visit Kenny, and when I arrived at the Holiday Inn, in Mansfield after a long journey, the receptionist told me that mail had arrived for me the day before. She joked and asked if I was famous? I laughed and wondered who could possibly be writing to me at this hotel.
There where two letters. One a lovely card saying "Welcome to USA" and a note saying, "Was just checking that you arrived safe and well".
Patrick had sent the mail and it made me smile because it was such a thoughtful and kind thing for him to do.
He did that everytime I went to Ohio.
When he knew I was low and going through a hard time he would send me cards which would lift my spirits and sometimes make me cry because he had really taken the time to think about what he was writing and he was showing me his support in the only way he could do so. Patrick has a heart of gold and is a kind and caring man. He is also an innocent man.
He truly appreciates the support he gets and he shows the people he supports unstinting loyalty and care. He truly is one of a kind.
Every time he writes he mentions his beloved Sherry and also many of the other people he calls "family".
Right now things are not going great legally for Patrick's case. This has saddened me deeply because I still believe in justice and truth.
I also believed that because his health is so bad that the State of Alabama would hurry up and see that true justice would be done. It hasn't yet happened.
Yet Patrick and Sherry NEVER give up this fight.
Neither should we his supporters. And I will tell you why we cannot give up. This affects not just Patrick and his family. If we allow people to be wrongfully convicted like this with no protest and no real public outrage then who is to say that this could not happen to your family? Don't think this couldnt happen because sadly it can and does. People are fitted up, framed or whatever you want to call it, and taken from their lives and families when they did nothing wrong. They are locked up and the keys literally thrown away. I often wonder how many others there are?? How many men and women in this situation who have no family or friends on the outside to take up their cause? Frightening isn't it?
We need to highlight Patricks case even more with media in Alabama. We need to keep up the pressure. We need to have the people of Alabama made totally aware of this terrible injustice and try to get them involved in this fight for Patricks life.
Lets make no mistake about this. Patrick Swiney is not on death row BUT he might as well be. The sentence he has is a long, prolonged and painful death.
If he was on death row there would be an end to this at some point, not that this is what we would want of course. However the situation is right now that if the State of Alabama get their way then Patrick Swiney will rot in that hellhole until he either dies of old age or due to any of the illnesses he suffers. And if that happens the State of Alabama would have helped to commit the perfect crime. The case would be closed and never re looked at. Allowing corruption and injustice to carry on unchecked.
Patrick's heart condition is not great. How much more stress and strain has this man to endure? The evidence I have asked you to look at CLEARLY shows that he is an innocent man.
What does it take to get people fired up and actively fighting for justice.?? We need idea's, we need working idea's and we need people to come forward and help put these idea's into practice.
We need people to print off petitions, flyers etc and hand them out to groups, churches, media etc. We need people to continue to press media.
I recall Kerry Max Cook who was freed from Texas Death Row saying that for TEN YEARS he wrote to a particular Texan newspaper every week with no response. One day a reporter who was fed up with these constant letters from Kerry decided he would shut Kerry up once and for all and prove his guilt.
The reporter did not shut up Kerry. The reporter found to his shock that Kerry was indeed telling the truth.
We need this kind of thing for Patrick Swiney.
If anyone has any ideas on how to help and if they can help please contact Sherry Swiney on taoss@worldnet.att.net
Patrick has suffered long enough.
It is time for us who care about truth and justice to fight back harder than ever. Patrick Swiney is a human being, who is forced to endure inhumane conditions. We know that many prisoners suffer the same inhumane conditions.
Sherry has worked tirelessly and needs to know people are fighting with her on this fight for justice and Patrick's very life.
Please show support by going to the websites, looking at the case and the evidence and doing whatever you can to help highlihght this injustice. We need to work together on this.
Thank you
Karen Torley
www.kennyrichey.org
When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist." Dom Helder Camara
Patrick Swiney can be added to the ever-lengthening list of those denied justice in the legal system in the United States of America. A legal system which appears to preclude the possibility of wrongful conviction.
A system which favours the state in pursuit of a conviction, based on the economic imbalance between accused and accuser in many cases.
If you can afford it, you can buy legal expertise but you cannot buy genuine justice. The upshot for many of those convicted without the option of presenting evidence, not available at trial, at a later date, is that the onus is now placed on them having to prove their innocence.
This is contrary to natural justice, it negates the premise of guilt beyond reasonable doubt and perpetuates a culture of never having to admit being wrong. Saving the reputations of politicians, legislators and prosecutors should not be done at the cost of an innocent man’s life.
Patrick Swiney deserves genuine justice.
Posted by Pete McKenna
There is also a section on the Bulletin Board under other cases where Patrick's case is highlighted. You can read the posts without registering but need to register to post.
Many people read the posts on this board. Below this post is a comment also. Please feel free to add your comments in support of Patrick.
Patrick Swiney: A Human Being
Monday, 10 July 2006
I have known Patrick Swiney for 12 years. His wife Sherry was one of the first advocates of justice I met online. We very quickly became friends and supporters of each others campaigns. Sherry and Patrick have supported the Kenny Richey Campaign in so many ways over these long years.
I looked at the site www.patrickcrusade.org and read the case of Patrick Swiney, and was totally appalled that this man had endured this total affront to justice.
Patrick Swiney is a graduate of the Alabama State Police Academy (1967) and the Huntsville Police Academy (1976). He is a former Deputy Sheriff for the Shelby County Sheriff's Office in Columbiana where he served from 1964-1969; a former Police Officer serving with the Huntsville Police Department in Huntsville (1965-1969), the Vestavia Police Department in Vestavia Hills (1969-1973), and the Gulf Shores Police Department in Gulf Shores (1973-1977). Mr. Swiney served as Vice-President of the Fraternal Order of Police while with the Vestavia Police Department. While working for the Gulf Shores Police Department, Patrick was instrumental in exposing a drug smuggling operation resulting in the conviction of the District Attorney in Baldwin County and the Sheriff's Department chief investigator. Patrick left police work due to his disillusionment with the law enforcement community (after the drug smuggling incident in Gulf Shores) and went to work first as a legal investigator (1977-1980) and then as an over-the-road driver (1980-1986)
The above is from www.patrickswiney.com On there also is a lot of evidence and court documents regarding Patricks case.
Patrick was a good cop. All evidence shows that him being a good cop who would not look the other way when he saw things that where not right, is the reason he was fitted up and sent to prison. Patrick had and still has morals. He is someone I admire greatly. I have added the weblinks to Patricks case on this letter. I want people to read the facts and the evidence in this case.
Patrick Swiney, has shown me and many others worldwide, that despite his own terrible circumstances and his failing health, he truly does care about others. Not just others in the same predicament as himself, but also to his friends. Friends whom he loves as family.
Sherry has been his voice for so long. She has worked so hard and so long. She has found lawyers, forensic experts, ballistic experts and so much more. People who all agree that Patrick has been wrongfull convicted, yet the State of Alabama refuses to look at his case and even consider that a terrible injustice has been done.
Every now and then Patrick sends me a card or a note. He has done this for many years. Always offering support and love, always joking with me about being a Servant of the Crown because I am Scottish. I call him Paddy because he has an Irish name and Irish family history.
Always joking at how he wonders why USA allows me into their country since I campaign against it so much.
Several years ago I went to Ohio to visit Kenny, and when I arrived at the Holiday Inn, in Mansfield after a long journey, the receptionist told me that mail had arrived for me the day before. She joked and asked if I was famous? I laughed and wondered who could possibly be writing to me at this hotel.
There where two letters. One a lovely card saying "Welcome to USA" and a note saying, "Was just checking that you arrived safe and well".
Patrick had sent the mail and it made me smile because it was such a thoughtful and kind thing for him to do.
He did that everytime I went to Ohio.
When he knew I was low and going through a hard time he would send me cards which would lift my spirits and sometimes make me cry because he had really taken the time to think about what he was writing and he was showing me his support in the only way he could do so. Patrick has a heart of gold and is a kind and caring man. He is also an innocent man.
He truly appreciates the support he gets and he shows the people he supports unstinting loyalty and care. He truly is one of a kind.
Every time he writes he mentions his beloved Sherry and also many of the other people he calls "family".
Right now things are not going great legally for Patrick's case. This has saddened me deeply because I still believe in justice and truth.
I also believed that because his health is so bad that the State of Alabama would hurry up and see that true justice would be done. It hasn't yet happened.
Yet Patrick and Sherry NEVER give up this fight.
Neither should we his supporters. And I will tell you why we cannot give up. This affects not just Patrick and his family. If we allow people to be wrongfully convicted like this with no protest and no real public outrage then who is to say that this could not happen to your family? Don't think this couldnt happen because sadly it can and does. People are fitted up, framed or whatever you want to call it, and taken from their lives and families when they did nothing wrong. They are locked up and the keys literally thrown away. I often wonder how many others there are?? How many men and women in this situation who have no family or friends on the outside to take up their cause? Frightening isn't it?
We need to highlight Patricks case even more with media in Alabama. We need to keep up the pressure. We need to have the people of Alabama made totally aware of this terrible injustice and try to get them involved in this fight for Patricks life.
Lets make no mistake about this. Patrick Swiney is not on death row BUT he might as well be. The sentence he has is a long, prolonged and painful death.
If he was on death row there would be an end to this at some point, not that this is what we would want of course. However the situation is right now that if the State of Alabama get their way then Patrick Swiney will rot in that hellhole until he either dies of old age or due to any of the illnesses he suffers. And if that happens the State of Alabama would have helped to commit the perfect crime. The case would be closed and never re looked at. Allowing corruption and injustice to carry on unchecked.
Patrick's heart condition is not great. How much more stress and strain has this man to endure? The evidence I have asked you to look at CLEARLY shows that he is an innocent man.
What does it take to get people fired up and actively fighting for justice.?? We need idea's, we need working idea's and we need people to come forward and help put these idea's into practice.
We need people to print off petitions, flyers etc and hand them out to groups, churches, media etc. We need people to continue to press media.
I recall Kerry Max Cook who was freed from Texas Death Row saying that for TEN YEARS he wrote to a particular Texan newspaper every week with no response. One day a reporter who was fed up with these constant letters from Kerry decided he would shut Kerry up once and for all and prove his guilt.
The reporter did not shut up Kerry. The reporter found to his shock that Kerry was indeed telling the truth.
We need this kind of thing for Patrick Swiney.
If anyone has any ideas on how to help and if they can help please contact Sherry Swiney on taoss@worldnet.att.net
Patrick has suffered long enough.
It is time for us who care about truth and justice to fight back harder than ever. Patrick Swiney is a human being, who is forced to endure inhumane conditions. We know that many prisoners suffer the same inhumane conditions.
Sherry has worked tirelessly and needs to know people are fighting with her on this fight for justice and Patrick's very life.
Please show support by going to the websites, looking at the case and the evidence and doing whatever you can to help highlihght this injustice. We need to work together on this.
Thank you
Karen Torley
www.kennyrichey.org
When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist." Dom Helder Camara
Patrick Swiney can be added to the ever-lengthening list of those denied justice in the legal system in the United States of America. A legal system which appears to preclude the possibility of wrongful conviction.
A system which favours the state in pursuit of a conviction, based on the economic imbalance between accused and accuser in many cases.
If you can afford it, you can buy legal expertise but you cannot buy genuine justice. The upshot for many of those convicted without the option of presenting evidence, not available at trial, at a later date, is that the onus is now placed on them having to prove their innocence.
This is contrary to natural justice, it negates the premise of guilt beyond reasonable doubt and perpetuates a culture of never having to admit being wrong. Saving the reputations of politicians, legislators and prosecutors should not be done at the cost of an innocent man’s life.
Patrick Swiney deserves genuine justice.
Posted by Pete McKenna