scruggs transportation motion

8/3/2019 Scruggs transportation motion

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTFOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OFMISSISSIPPI

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

v. NO. 3:09CR002-GHDRICHARD F. SCRUGGS

COMBINEDPETITIONFOR WRITOFHABEAS CORPUS ADTESTIFICANDUM

ANDMOTIONFOR ANORDER OFTHE COURT FOR A MARSHAL TRANSFEROF

PETITIONER

TO THE HONORABLE GLENN H. DAVIDSON, SENIOR U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE

RICHARD F. SCRUGGS, by and through Edward D. Robertson, Jr., of counsel

hereby petitions the Court for a Writ of Habeas Corpus Ad Testificandum for

RICHARD F. SCRUGGS. In addition, RCHIARD F. SCRUGGS herewith seeks, by

unopposed motion, an Order of this Honorable Court ordering the United States

Marshal to transport Petitioner directly from his place of incarceration at the

Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, to his place of confinement for the

hearing scheduled by this Court to commence on March 26, 2012.

The following facts and circumstances support the Petition for Habeas Corpus Ad

Testificandum:

The said Petitioner, Richard F. Scruggs, is currently confined at the Federal

Correctional Institution in Montgomery, Alabama. The presence of Petitioner,

Richard F. Scruggs, is necessary for a hearing set for March 26, 2012, at 10 a.m. in

the above referenced matter.

Motion forOrder Requiring Marshal Transfer of Petitioner

Case: 3:09-cr-00002-GHD-SAA Doc #: 167 Filed: 01/16/12 1 of 5 PageID #: 1564


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Comes now Petitioner and, with the consent of the Government, requests that

the Court enter its Order to the United States Marshal Service to transport Petitioner

directly from the federal corrections facility at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama to

the local incarceration facility at which Petitioner will be housed during the hearing

ordered by this Court on Petitioners 28 U.S. C. 2255 motion to commence on

March 26, 2012. In support of this Motion, Petitioner states to the Court as follows:

1. Through counsel, Petitioner has made a direct request to the United States

Marshal Service for a transfer by the United States Marshall Service. A marshal

transfer is a direct transfer outside the normal hub-and-spoke transfer procedure

followed by the Bureau of Prisons to transport prisoners. The United States

Marshal in Oxford indicated that it could consider Petitioners request only if the

ordered by this Court.

2. Under the normal procedures of the Bureau of Prisons, Petitioner would be

transported by a combination of ground and air transportation from the federal

corrections facility at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama to a federal

corrections facility in Atlanta. When a sufficient number of inmates were ready to

be transported, Petitioner would be transported to a federal corrections facility in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. From there, and again at a time when transportation

efficiencies warranted it, Petitioner would be transported to a corrections facility in

Memphis, Tennessee, and from there, driven by the United States Marshall Service

to either Aberdeen, Mississippi or Oxford, Mississippi. The total distance of this

journey is approximately 1600 miles.

3. The journey just described generally takes from four to six weeks.



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4. The drive from the corrections facility in Memphis, Tennessee to Aberdeen,

Mississippi, the last leg of the 1600 mile journey under normal transportation

procedures and a distance of 145 miles, is of nearly the same duration as a drive

from Montgomery, Alabama to Aberdeen, Mississippi, a distance of 191 miles.

Rather than four to six weeks, the Montgomery-Aberdeen leg should take

approximately four hours.

5. During the four to six week transportation period of the Bureau of Prisons

system, Petitioner would essentially be incommunicadowith his counsel, effectively

unavailable to assist in the preparation for the hearing ordered by this Court.

6. Further, if past experience is repeated, Petitioner will face potential health

issues. During previous such transportation events under the Bureau of Prisons

system, Petitioner was not regularly provided with his necessary medication.

7. Further, Petitioner is currently a mathematics GED teacher at the federal

corrections facility at Maxwell Air Force Base. A prolonged absence will result in his

students delaying or otherwise falling behind in their pursuit of their GEDs.

8. Should the Court so order, Petitioner is prepared to bear the expense of

direct ground transportation provided by the United States Marshalls service both

ways from the federal corrections facility at Montgomery, Alabama to Aberdeen (or

Oxford), Mississippi and back if such transportation is permitted by the Court.

9. There is a precedent for such transfers in the then-prisoners Joey Langston

and Steve Patterson were provided such transportation to Montgomery, Alabama,

following their testimony in another case.



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10. Assistant United States Attorney Robert Norman has graciously indicated

that the Government would not oppose the Court ordering a marshal transfer in this

case.

WHEREFORE, the undersigned requests that the Clerk of the Court be directed to

issue a Writ of Habeas Corpus Ad Testificandum commanding the United States

Marshal for the Northern District of Mississippi and the Federal Correctional

Institution in Ashland, Kentucky to take Richard F. Scruggs into his custody and to

produce Richard F. Scruggs in the United States Courthouse in Aberdeen,

Mississippi on or before March 26, 2012, and continuing for such time as necessary.

FURTHER, on behalf of Petitioner, the undersigned herewith requests that the

Court issue its Order directing the United States Marshal to transport Petitioner

directly from the federal corrections facility at Maxwell Air Force Base in

Montgomery, Alabama, to the place of incarceration intended for Petitioner during

his presence at the 28 U.S.C. 2255 hearing to be conducted by this Court beginning

March 26, 2012, at Petitioners expense, if the Court so orders.

Respectfully submitted, this 16th day of January, 2012.

/s/Edward D. Robertson, Jr.

Edward D. Robertson, Jr. Pro hac vice

Bartimus, Frickleton, Robertson & Gorny, P.C.

715 Swifts Highway

Jefferson City, Missouri 65109

573-659-4454

573-659-4460 (fax)[email protected]

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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I, Edward D. Robertson, Jr., hereby certify that on January 16, 2012, the

undersigned served copies of this Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus Ad

Testificandum on the Office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of

Mississippi by way of the Electronic Court Filing (ECF) system.

/s/Edward D. Robertson, Jr.

Edward D. Robertson, Jr.


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