Shelby Co. (ECWd) –
On May 8, 2024, Judge Miller issued an order granting a motion for a criminal defendant’s compliance with the Criminal Identification Act and outlined compliance was to be done by May 10, 2024, – 4 PM. (2024CM22)
Attorney Tom Finks appeared on May 10, 2024, in this case and according to the docket entry, previous orders remain intact. We understand he attempted to have the prior orders dismissed.
A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), request to the Sheriff’s office for a copy of the mug shot and booking/intake documents related to this case was denied with a claim no records exist. That request was made on May 17, 2024, a full week after the deadline for compliance with the court’s order.
We understand the defendant appeared at the Sheriff’s office for compliance with the court order on May 10, 2024, however the Sheriff’s office had no paperwork on the matter so no mug shot and processing took place.
Fast forward to July 1, 2024, almost two months past the deadline for compliance with the court order, a second FOIA request was submitted to the Sheriff with the hopes a court order would have meaning and the appropriate compliance would have taken place. We note mug shots have a 72-hour deadline under FOIA. The response I got was on July 9, 2024, well past the statutory deadline. Once again, the response indicated no records exist.
This leads to a simple question:
Do Court Orders really mean anything in Shelby County?
2 Comments
Brian K Anderson
Posted at 10:33h, 10 JulyIf no one enforces the court orders, I would say they aren’t worth much more than the paper written on or the time to make the docket entry.
DENNIS FINEGAN
Posted at 21:34h, 10 JulyWhy should Shelby County be different than New York or Washington D. C.? Trump has shown that you can ignore or delay almost all court orders or judgements.