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An Open Letter & Open Report / Plea Hearings In Lee County, Florida
December 2, 2019
Plea Hearings in Lee County, Florida
Dear Ms. Lunelle,
On Monday, November 25, 2019, once again members of the William Footman Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Save Southern Heritage Florida, and a group of citizens from Lee County including the “Keep Lee in Lee” Group and beyond would gather in the courtroom of Judge Thompson, who would decide the status of the Sons of Confederate Veterans as victims in the case against David Howes, who had admitted to the vandalization of the Cenotaph of the Honorable General, Robert E. Lee, after he had been identified on a bank camera alongside two other perpetrators of the crime of whom he refused to identify.
After the state attorney went into consultation with Howes and his attorney and offered Howes a reduction in sentencing , and a downgrade of the charge, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, through their attorney, the Honorable David McCallister, cried foul in the proceedings, under the state’s constitutional law in Morsy, and declared the Sons and their families victims who had been left out of the proceedings, and would have wanted Howes charged and convicted under the Hate Law status, a second degree felony.
The state attorney argued that the Sons had no standing because they were not victims, and had no rights to confer with the Prosecutor on any disposition impact as victims.
The Honorable Judge Thompson was having none of the State’s argument, and took judicial notice that Attorney McCallister had in his original pleadings noted the Sons as victims, and that the Constitution would be followed in his courtroom, suggesting that the state had better act according to the Constitution under Section 16, Paragraph B – Marcy’s Law.
God bless this Judge for granting the Sons and arguably the people of the South due and equal process under the law. And may God bless Attorney McCallister for his masterful presentations in these proceedings. And may our Lord and master not forget to bless all those wonderful citizens who stood in the courtroom in support of Mr. McCallister and the Honorable General, Robert E. Lee, the namesake of the county.
I look very much forward to December 9, 2019, and being once again in the courtroom of Judge Thompson to determine the outcome of this case that affects so many not only in Lee County, but places afar. God bless you!
Your brother,
HK
Chairman, Board of Advisors Emeritus, Southern Legal Resource Center
Member, Save Southern Heritage Florida
Recipient, Virginia Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Robert E. Lee Award
Recipient, Mississippi Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, John L. Harris Award
Recipient, United Daughters of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis Medal
Recipient, National Sons of Confederate Veterans, H.L. Hunley Award
