Two returned phone calls is considered felony stalking in Florida?
Imagine if you were chronically ill and received regular treatment. One
day your healthcare provider suddenly drops you. For no good reason,
they abruptly cut you out of the health program. The clinic
administrator phoned you at home and said you missed an appointment. You
know it wasn't true. In fact, you contacted the health clinic several
times and their staff told you the appointment was on a different day.
The administrator decides not to believe you, becomes belligerent and
calls you a liar. You hear verbal abuse. Then the administrator tells
you that you can no longer visit the health clinic. After a few more
heated words, the administrator hangs up in mid-conversation.
You call the clinic to resume the conversation. You want an explanation
or an apology. They won't pick up the phone so you leave a message on
the answering machine. Not satisfied, you visit the clinic's website and
find the clinic administrator's contact information, cross reference it
with the phone book, and call the home number. The man's wife answers
the phone and you explain the situation to her, asking for help.
Three days later, police officers barge into your house and drag you
away. The clinic administrator brought up charges of aggravated stalking
against you. This is a felony with a five-year prison sentence. You
discover the clinic administrator is close buddies with the city mayor.
The public defender told you powerful politicians want to put you away
for a long time. The mayor's own personal PIs are looking into your
case. It seems the mayor wants to keep you quiet, stopping you from
going public with how the health clinic mistreated you. The DA asks the
judge to set bail at $25,000. The judge strangely ups the bail to the
maximum possible $50,000 before the bond hearing even begins. At the
bond hearing, the judge increases bail to $50,003. You discover the
court is using a secret docket and the court proceedings are not open to
the public.
When they arrested you and put you in a holding cell, they placed you in
solitary confinement. You did nothing to deserve solitary. They placed
you there the moment you arrived. You are listed as unreleasable for
bail. You have to stay alone in the cell for 24 hours a day. You can't
visit the common areas or see any person, except for 30 brief minutes to
take a shower and other minor things.
Two months go by. You're still in holding, still in solitary. At a pre-
trial hearing, you request the judge to give you an electronic ankle
bracelet so you can return home and go back to work to pay your family's
bills. The judge will hear none of that and refuses to lower the bail.
You have to wait another three months for the trial date. It could be
pushed back a full year.
This story is not a work of fiction. I wish it were. It happened to
Jeffrey Wayne Callahan of Jacksonville, FL in April 2007. He's still
waiting for his trial two months later.
The Volunteers in Medicine (VIM) health clinic in Jacksonville refused
to continue treatment for Callahan's diabetes and thyroid condition. He
has further complications from diabetes such as weakened kidneys and
endocrine system. Pain medications from VIM only seemed to make matters
worse. According to Callahan, they poisoned him with bad medicine, gave
him more than he needed, and did not monitor the medications for a
period of seven months. They fooled around with his appointment
schedule, dismissed a doctor who knew his case, and brought in a doctor
who knew nothing but thought something looked fishy. They ran the doctor
off and messed with his appointments again.
The medications from VIM affected Callahan's psychological condition.
They made him feel anxious and irritable. The staff at VIM knew how
their prescriptions affected his mind, causing severe mood swings.
Jefferson Matthews, the top VIM administrator, called Callahan's home on
April 17 and told him he had missed an appointment, verbally abusing
Callahan and calling him a liar. Matthews intimidated and harassed a
patient with known mood swings from his company's prescribed medication
until the patient became perturbed. He agitated the patient's mental
state until the patient could no longer take it. Callahan said things on
the phone he immediately regretted. He left a message on the clinic's
answering machine in a tem****ary medicated state of rage. About two
hours later, Callahan found Matthews' home number in the phone book but
talked more calmly to the administrator's wife, explaining the situation
and asking for help to continue his health care.
The medications also weakened Callahan's physical condition. He was
bedridden most of the time. When police came to arrest him on April 20,
they had to carry him to the squad car because it was impossible for
Callahan to walk. The medications weakened his heart. Shortly after his
arrest, Callahan was treated for a heart attack and had to be moved to
the hospital for a few days.
According to Florida law, aggravated stalking is supposed to be for a
reasonable threat to one's life or physical health. The VIM clinic had
to know that Callahan may have been loud in voice over the phone yet
physically inept. In addition, they had to know the psychological
effects of their medications were tem****ary. Callahan only wanted VIM to
admit they made a mistake in his appointment schedule.
Callahan is currently held in the John E. Goode Pre-Trial Detention
Facility in Jacksonville. He has been in isolated lockdown from the
moment he arrived.
Matthews, the VIM clinic administrator, has close ties to Jacksonville
mayor John Peyton. It appears Matthews is using his political
connections to make sure Callahan goes away and doesn't come back.
Charges were not filed until after Matthews learned of Callahan's intent
to go public, which was three days after the phone calls. He apparently
wants to silence Callahan from exposing healthcare corruption. It seems
the Duval County justice system can be manipulated to accommodate the
mayor's wishes.
In repeated phone calls to verify his appointment, VIM clinic staff had
told Callahan they did not have anything scheduled for him on April 13.
They told him he was scheduled for April 20 at 8:45 AM. Matthews called
Callahan on April 17 to tell him he had missed the April 13 appointment.
Rather than admit his mistake and apologize, Matthews, who claims to
care for the poor and the ill, decided instead to antagonize his patient
and have the patient jailed and charged with a felony. In addition to
illness, insult, and injury, a patient who once trusted VIM to care for
him now faces the possibility of five years in prison.
Additional information can be found in the following links:
http://tipthepizzaguy.com/discussion/thread.php?num=7248
http://tipthepizzaguy.com/discussion/thread.php?num=7666
You can contact Jeffrey Callahan's wife, Traci, to get more information
about this story. Email me to receive her contact information.
People can send a one-time donation to the family of Jeffrey Callahan.
We're trying to raise funds to hire an attorney, post bail, and pay some
of his family's monthly expenses while Jeff is away in holding. Visit
the following link to send a donation:
http://tipthepizzaguy.com/donations.htm
This is a very difficult time for Jeff and his family.
--
Tip the pizza delivery driver
http://tipthepizzaguy.com
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