Post by WaTcHeR on Jan 24, 2007 14:06:52 GMT -5
01.24.2007 - In a preliminary hearing held last Wednesday in Weakley County General Sessions Court, a Dresden man facing charges of criminal impersonation and theft of property saw one charge dropped and the others bound over to the grand jury in May.
Officer Jeff Collins, who had been indicted on the charges in early December of last year, was dismissed of the criminal impersonation charge, but now faces the possibility of a grand jury trial in May of this year on the charges of theft.
Two separate affidavits were produced by Inv. William Yates of the Dresden Police Depart-ment. The first document stated that, on Nov. 30, 2006, Yates interviewed Ellen Driskell and Driskell admitted that from July 26 to Oct. 31 of 2006, she had written a series of checks to Collins for items for which she never received totalling the amount of $1,830. According to the document, she also stated that during this time period she gave him cash in the amount of $1,200 for items she did not receive including a 2001 Pontiac vehicle, a central air and heating unit and attorney fees for an incident involving her grandson. This resulted in the charge of theft of property (over $1,000).
The second affidavit written by Yates stated that, on the same date, Driskell admitted that Collins had come to her residence and told her that for $1,700, he could get her grandson, Shawn Kohne, out of the Weakley County Jail. The affidavit went on to say that Driskell admitted she told Collins that she did not have the amount, so she allegedly wrote Collins a check for $550 and he said he would make up the difference. The document stated that on several occasions, Collins identified himself as a federal drug enforcement agent and on this particular occasion, he allegedly stated that he could do things that the local police department could not do because of his federal agent status and further stated to Driskell that he could contact the attorney general and have him contact the judge to get Kohne's sentence reduced.
This resulted in the charge of criminal impersonation and an additional theft of property ($550) charge.
On the witness stand at the preliminary hearing, Driskell was questioned by Collins' attorney, Mitchell Tollison of Madison County and Assistant District Attorney Kevin Mc-Alpin.
Driskell admitted that she hadn't lived in Dresden but just a few months and met Collins at a yard sale he was holding.
"He was very friendly," she said.
"We talked about our medical problems since we both have them. He talked about his leg and back and said he'd been shot three times. I'd just moved into Dresden and he offered to do some work for me. He said he could get me lawnmowers and gave me some prices. He kept coming back and forth with prices for things and he treated me well. I gave him several checks. I gave him $300 for a lawnmower, $650 for a central heating and air unit and $1,450 for a car. The checks amounted to about $1,850 and I just found two more for about $500 worth, but I got nothing in return for the checks. He just kept on giving me excuses. I felt safe, though, because he told me that he was a DEA officer and that he was on the police force, but not in Dresden. I trusted him and felt safe around him."
Additionally, Driskell stated that her grandson had gotten in trouble and was in jail and that Collins had offered help in getting him out because of his status as a DEA officer.
"He said he could get someone to take a lesser bond for him," Driskell said.
"I gave him the check for $550 and he said he could make up the difference. He had run out of cigarettes and asked to borrow some. He asked me if my grandson smoked and I said he did so he said he would take the cigarettes to my grandson. I called up my daughter and told her and she said, 'What?' She said, 'Mom, you can't smoke in jail.' I admitted to giving Jeff the $550 and she said, 'That's not funny. I'll call you back.' But I told her that she should give him (Jeff) time because he was a DEA officer."
In being questioned by Tollison, Driskell admitted that she'd once sold real estate and knew the purpose of a contract, yet hadn't made any formal contracts with Collins over the items in question.
"You said you paid $650 for the air conditioning and heating unit and made the agreement in July and asked for someone to pick up the unit," Tollision said.
"The unit is there in Jeff's yard waiting for someone to pick it up right now. You also told Jeff that you sold your pain medication and Jeff told you to stop because that was illegal."
"I never said that," Driskell interjected.
Tollison further stated that, as Driskell's daughter had been in court that very day on a public intoxication charge, Collins had refused to sell the car to Driskell because she admitted that the vehicle would be for her daughter's use and Collins wanted no part of contributing to her drunk driving.
Another one of Driskell's grandsons, a minor, was hiding out at her house from the police after fleeing from law enforcement on Nov. 30, the same day Driskell had given Collins the check, and Collins had a hand in helping the officers arrest him.
"Did Jeff Collins say he'd talk to the attorney general?" Tol-lison asked.
"I don't know anything about the attorney general. Just the judge," Driskell said. "He said he'd go over to a friend's house, Judge Moore. Jeff referred me to Bill Wetherell. He said if I needed any help that Bill Wetherell would help me. He said that a while back, I guess, around August."
Tollison questioned Driskell about two checks in particular for the amounts of $90 and $250 written on July 26 and Driskell "had no idea" about them.
The $90 was for yard mowing and for pressure washing the house which Driskell claimed Collins had never done. She claimed the $250 was for the air conditioning system, but added, "I'm not going to sit here and argue. I've got a doctor's appointment."
Driskell admitted that in August, she'd given Jeff's daughter an envelope with $150 cash in it for yard sale items and didn't give her any more money in August, but gave her another $300 in an envelope for the air conditioning unit at a time which she couldn't remember.
The day before paying the $550 to Collins for her grandson, Driskell said she'd sent Collins a note and asked him to contact her. A documented cell phone conversation revealed that Driskell had called Collins later and asked him to contact her, signing off as "mom" because the two had such a close relationship, "closer than his own mother," Driskell admitted.
Driskell, in the phone message to Collins, said, "Jeff, you didn't go up and see my grandson. Please call me." However, Driskell mentioned nothing about the money.
"If I want to talk about money, I'll do it in person and not over the phone," Driskell said.
Bill Wetherell, a police officer for the DPD, was next questioned and admitted on the stand, "I never told Ellen that Jeff Collins was a DEA agent."
Wetherell said that he'd been contacted before by Driskell and asked to meet with Collins and Driskell over her grandson who'd been badly beaten up. There was a chance that the grandson would be met by another person with a gun at the park in Dresden, so Wetherell ran surveillance the night it was supposed to happen and nothing took place.
Collins' daughter, Nan, was dismissed from testifying be-cause she was present in the courtroom while the other witnesses were on the stand.
Collins himself next took the stand and denied that he was paid $550 after Driskell's grandson was arrested. The transcript showed that he was paid and then Driskell's grandson was arrested.
"She told us he ran, but he'd been hiding in the house," Collins said. "I called 911 and hung up. I blocked the bedroom door so investigators Plunk and Mc-Gowan could get him."
Collins admitted that the central air conditioning unit was paid off and that Driskell could come and get it anytime she wanted.
"I never told her I was a DEA agent. I take medication and I told her that I had to sign a DEA contract that I couldn't sell the medication or I would be in trouble. I was a police officer with the Bradford Police Department. I never worked for the DEA. I'm not an agent. She knew I worked as a narcotics agent. I was an undercover agent in narcotics because they give you that title," he said.
Collins claimed his son held his yard sale on the end of July and received two checks from Driskell, $90 for the yard mowing and $250 for a computer system. At the yard sale, Collins' son negotiated a price for the air conditioning unit and came up with $2,800. "I told her I was in ill health and was in no condition to install the unit, but my son could help," Collins said.
"I agreed to sell her (Driskell) the car if her daughter didn't take it. I decided not to sell when she said the car was for her daughter. Her daughter had totaled a car before in a drunk driving accident and she (Driskell) had taken the blame for it because she didn't want her daughter arrested again. I tried to refund the car money to her at that point," Collins said.
As to the promise to help her grandson out of jail, Collins admitted, "I never told her I'd work anything out. I told her that if she felt like anything was wrong, she could contact an attorney. I never said I'd pay for one."
"Ellen called me once. Her daughter worked at Q-Mart and they had a conversation once and Ellen told her daughter, 'Don't trust him. He's a con man and a wanna be police officer.' But there's no hard feelings," he added.
Collins admitted that Driskell still owed him over $3,000 and hadn't made any other payments since October of 2006.
In his closing argument, Tollison stated, "The criminal statute in the TCA 39-16-301 shows that the elements of criminal impersonation cannot be proven. There's no probable cause. That charge should be dismissed. As to the thefts, people have civil disagreements all the time. It is wrong for our court system to be used in this manner. It's clear that she paid for the heating and air conditioning unit. It's not clear as to who was supposed to deliver it. That's not a criminal act. A civil disagreement belongs in civil court. It's odorous. It's wrong. It should be dismissed."
General Sessions Judge Tommy Moore dropped the criminal impersonation charge due to the fact that the TCA government definition didn't include a federal classification and was limited to a state classification only. He subsequently bound over the theft cases to the May grand jury and they are scheduled to be heard at 9 a.m. on May 14.
www.wcpnews.com/dynamic/288115223838387.bsp
Officer Jeff Collins, who had been indicted on the charges in early December of last year, was dismissed of the criminal impersonation charge, but now faces the possibility of a grand jury trial in May of this year on the charges of theft.
Two separate affidavits were produced by Inv. William Yates of the Dresden Police Depart-ment. The first document stated that, on Nov. 30, 2006, Yates interviewed Ellen Driskell and Driskell admitted that from July 26 to Oct. 31 of 2006, she had written a series of checks to Collins for items for which she never received totalling the amount of $1,830. According to the document, she also stated that during this time period she gave him cash in the amount of $1,200 for items she did not receive including a 2001 Pontiac vehicle, a central air and heating unit and attorney fees for an incident involving her grandson. This resulted in the charge of theft of property (over $1,000).
The second affidavit written by Yates stated that, on the same date, Driskell admitted that Collins had come to her residence and told her that for $1,700, he could get her grandson, Shawn Kohne, out of the Weakley County Jail. The affidavit went on to say that Driskell admitted she told Collins that she did not have the amount, so she allegedly wrote Collins a check for $550 and he said he would make up the difference. The document stated that on several occasions, Collins identified himself as a federal drug enforcement agent and on this particular occasion, he allegedly stated that he could do things that the local police department could not do because of his federal agent status and further stated to Driskell that he could contact the attorney general and have him contact the judge to get Kohne's sentence reduced.
This resulted in the charge of criminal impersonation and an additional theft of property ($550) charge.
On the witness stand at the preliminary hearing, Driskell was questioned by Collins' attorney, Mitchell Tollison of Madison County and Assistant District Attorney Kevin Mc-Alpin.
Driskell admitted that she hadn't lived in Dresden but just a few months and met Collins at a yard sale he was holding.
"He was very friendly," she said.
"We talked about our medical problems since we both have them. He talked about his leg and back and said he'd been shot three times. I'd just moved into Dresden and he offered to do some work for me. He said he could get me lawnmowers and gave me some prices. He kept coming back and forth with prices for things and he treated me well. I gave him several checks. I gave him $300 for a lawnmower, $650 for a central heating and air unit and $1,450 for a car. The checks amounted to about $1,850 and I just found two more for about $500 worth, but I got nothing in return for the checks. He just kept on giving me excuses. I felt safe, though, because he told me that he was a DEA officer and that he was on the police force, but not in Dresden. I trusted him and felt safe around him."
Additionally, Driskell stated that her grandson had gotten in trouble and was in jail and that Collins had offered help in getting him out because of his status as a DEA officer.
"He said he could get someone to take a lesser bond for him," Driskell said.
"I gave him the check for $550 and he said he could make up the difference. He had run out of cigarettes and asked to borrow some. He asked me if my grandson smoked and I said he did so he said he would take the cigarettes to my grandson. I called up my daughter and told her and she said, 'What?' She said, 'Mom, you can't smoke in jail.' I admitted to giving Jeff the $550 and she said, 'That's not funny. I'll call you back.' But I told her that she should give him (Jeff) time because he was a DEA officer."
In being questioned by Tollison, Driskell admitted that she'd once sold real estate and knew the purpose of a contract, yet hadn't made any formal contracts with Collins over the items in question.
"You said you paid $650 for the air conditioning and heating unit and made the agreement in July and asked for someone to pick up the unit," Tollision said.
"The unit is there in Jeff's yard waiting for someone to pick it up right now. You also told Jeff that you sold your pain medication and Jeff told you to stop because that was illegal."
"I never said that," Driskell interjected.
Tollison further stated that, as Driskell's daughter had been in court that very day on a public intoxication charge, Collins had refused to sell the car to Driskell because she admitted that the vehicle would be for her daughter's use and Collins wanted no part of contributing to her drunk driving.
Another one of Driskell's grandsons, a minor, was hiding out at her house from the police after fleeing from law enforcement on Nov. 30, the same day Driskell had given Collins the check, and Collins had a hand in helping the officers arrest him.
"Did Jeff Collins say he'd talk to the attorney general?" Tol-lison asked.
"I don't know anything about the attorney general. Just the judge," Driskell said. "He said he'd go over to a friend's house, Judge Moore. Jeff referred me to Bill Wetherell. He said if I needed any help that Bill Wetherell would help me. He said that a while back, I guess, around August."
Tollison questioned Driskell about two checks in particular for the amounts of $90 and $250 written on July 26 and Driskell "had no idea" about them.
The $90 was for yard mowing and for pressure washing the house which Driskell claimed Collins had never done. She claimed the $250 was for the air conditioning system, but added, "I'm not going to sit here and argue. I've got a doctor's appointment."
Driskell admitted that in August, she'd given Jeff's daughter an envelope with $150 cash in it for yard sale items and didn't give her any more money in August, but gave her another $300 in an envelope for the air conditioning unit at a time which she couldn't remember.
The day before paying the $550 to Collins for her grandson, Driskell said she'd sent Collins a note and asked him to contact her. A documented cell phone conversation revealed that Driskell had called Collins later and asked him to contact her, signing off as "mom" because the two had such a close relationship, "closer than his own mother," Driskell admitted.
Driskell, in the phone message to Collins, said, "Jeff, you didn't go up and see my grandson. Please call me." However, Driskell mentioned nothing about the money.
"If I want to talk about money, I'll do it in person and not over the phone," Driskell said.
Bill Wetherell, a police officer for the DPD, was next questioned and admitted on the stand, "I never told Ellen that Jeff Collins was a DEA agent."
Wetherell said that he'd been contacted before by Driskell and asked to meet with Collins and Driskell over her grandson who'd been badly beaten up. There was a chance that the grandson would be met by another person with a gun at the park in Dresden, so Wetherell ran surveillance the night it was supposed to happen and nothing took place.
Collins' daughter, Nan, was dismissed from testifying be-cause she was present in the courtroom while the other witnesses were on the stand.
Collins himself next took the stand and denied that he was paid $550 after Driskell's grandson was arrested. The transcript showed that he was paid and then Driskell's grandson was arrested.
"She told us he ran, but he'd been hiding in the house," Collins said. "I called 911 and hung up. I blocked the bedroom door so investigators Plunk and Mc-Gowan could get him."
Collins admitted that the central air conditioning unit was paid off and that Driskell could come and get it anytime she wanted.
"I never told her I was a DEA agent. I take medication and I told her that I had to sign a DEA contract that I couldn't sell the medication or I would be in trouble. I was a police officer with the Bradford Police Department. I never worked for the DEA. I'm not an agent. She knew I worked as a narcotics agent. I was an undercover agent in narcotics because they give you that title," he said.
Collins claimed his son held his yard sale on the end of July and received two checks from Driskell, $90 for the yard mowing and $250 for a computer system. At the yard sale, Collins' son negotiated a price for the air conditioning unit and came up with $2,800. "I told her I was in ill health and was in no condition to install the unit, but my son could help," Collins said.
"I agreed to sell her (Driskell) the car if her daughter didn't take it. I decided not to sell when she said the car was for her daughter. Her daughter had totaled a car before in a drunk driving accident and she (Driskell) had taken the blame for it because she didn't want her daughter arrested again. I tried to refund the car money to her at that point," Collins said.
As to the promise to help her grandson out of jail, Collins admitted, "I never told her I'd work anything out. I told her that if she felt like anything was wrong, she could contact an attorney. I never said I'd pay for one."
"Ellen called me once. Her daughter worked at Q-Mart and they had a conversation once and Ellen told her daughter, 'Don't trust him. He's a con man and a wanna be police officer.' But there's no hard feelings," he added.
Collins admitted that Driskell still owed him over $3,000 and hadn't made any other payments since October of 2006.
In his closing argument, Tollison stated, "The criminal statute in the TCA 39-16-301 shows that the elements of criminal impersonation cannot be proven. There's no probable cause. That charge should be dismissed. As to the thefts, people have civil disagreements all the time. It is wrong for our court system to be used in this manner. It's clear that she paid for the heating and air conditioning unit. It's not clear as to who was supposed to deliver it. That's not a criminal act. A civil disagreement belongs in civil court. It's odorous. It's wrong. It should be dismissed."
General Sessions Judge Tommy Moore dropped the criminal impersonation charge due to the fact that the TCA government definition didn't include a federal classification and was limited to a state classification only. He subsequently bound over the theft cases to the May grand jury and they are scheduled to be heard at 9 a.m. on May 14.
www.wcpnews.com/dynamic/288115223838387.bsp