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IN THE CRIMINAL COURT FOR MONROE COUNTY

AT MADISONVILLE, TENNESSEE

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STATE OF TENNESSEE

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V. CASE NO. 10215

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DARREN WESLEY HUFF

TRANSCRIPT OF ARRAIGNMENT
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JUNE 28TH, 2010

THE HONORABLE CARROLL L. ROSS,

PRESIDING JUDGE
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APPEARANCES
FOR THE STATE:
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Assistant District Attorney General

James H. Stutts
10th Judicial District
P.O. Box 647
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Athens, Tennessee 37303-0647

FOR THE DEFENDANT:
Pro Se
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ITEM PAGE
ARRAIGNMENT (6/28/10)
ARRAIGNMENT 1

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CERTIFICATE OF COURT REPORTER 11

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INDEX TO EXHIBITS

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NUMBER DESCRIPTION PAGE ENTERED
1 Copy of criminal complaint
in federal court 6
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Order from federal court
showing conditions of
release 6
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1 IN THE CRIMINAL COURT FOR MONROE COUNTY
2 AT MADISONVILLE, TENNESSEE
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4 STATE OF TENNESSEE

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6 V. CASE #10215
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8 DARREN WESLEY HUFF
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10 This case came on to be heard on an
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arraignment and was heard on the 28th day of June,
2010, before the Honorable Carroll L. Ross, Judge,
13 holding the Criminal Court for Monroe County, at
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14 Madisonville, Tennessee, when the following
15 proceedings were had, to-wit:
16 THE COURT: Darren Wesley Huff. (Brief
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17 pause) You are Darren Wesley Huff?

18 DEFENDANT HUFF: Yes, sir.
19 THE COURT: Mr. Huff, you have been charged
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20 in an indictment with...let’s see...folks, I’m going to need

21 quiet -- one count of, it appears to be inciting a riot,
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22 disrupting a public meeting or a procession.

23 DEFENDANT HUFF: Yes, sir, I’ve, I’ve
24 questioned those too. I haven’t seen any --
25 THE COURT: Okay. Hang on just a minute.
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Arraignment/6/28/10 Page -1-

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1 DEFENDANT HUFF: Okay.
2 THE COURT: Let me, let me read you what it
3 says and then we’ll proceed from there, okay? All I can
4 do is tell you what the charges are in the indictment.

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5 DEFENDANT HUFF: Yes, sir.
6 THE COURT: Your co-defendants were some
7 -- I’m trying to sort through the ones you’re actually

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8 charged with here. And I'll give you a full copy of the
9 indictment for you, for your information as well.
10 DEFENDANT HUFF: Okay. Thank you, sir.
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THE COURT: (Brief pause) It says you -- let's
see. There was a participation in a riot, a disruption of a
13 meeting, threatening to harm a juror, to-wit: a Grand
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14 Jury foreman. It appears there are...(brief pause)...the
15 threatening to harm a juror was in retaliation for actions
16 taken by Mr. Pettway. It appears to be retaliation for
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17 past action. It appears you have four -- three charges in

18 this indictment then. Do you understand, sir, that's what
19 you've been charged with?
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20 DEFENDANT HUFF: Okay. And I -- who is it

21 that's accusing me?
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22 THE COURT: Well, the Grand Jury has indicted

23 you here, sir. I mean, those kinds of questions you'll
24 need to -- do you have an attorney, sir?
25 DEFENDANT HUFF: I don't, sir.
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Arraignment/6/28/10 Page -2-

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1 THE COURT: Well, you'll need to hire you an
2 attorney real quick. These are some serious
3 accusations here. All I can do is tell you what the
4 charges are.

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5 DEFENDANT HUFF: Okay.
6 THE COURT: That's, that's all I can do at this
7 point. (Brief pause) Do you understand that's what the

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8 charges are?
9 DEFENDANT HUFF: I'm not even sure how to
10 answer. I mean, again, I, I heard you clearly --
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THE COURT: Well, I can read you what --
again, all I can do is tell you what the charges are. I
13 don't know anything else about them.
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14 DEFENDANT HUFF: Okay.
15 THE COURT: But you understand that's what
16 the Grand Jury has indicted you for?
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17 DEFENDANT HUFF: Okay.

18 THE COURT: For those charges, okay? The
19 other questions you've got are better addressed to your
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20 attorney, and I would suggest you hire a lawyer

21 immediately in this case --
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22 DEFENDANT HUFF: Okay.

23 THE COURT: -- to represent you because
24 these are some serious charges here.
25 (Brief pause) Now, sir, for other reasons, I will
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Arraignment/6/28/10 Page -3-

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1 be recusing myself from hearing this case. Your
2 bondsman will have to have a clear address on how to
3 reach you. There will be a special judge appointed to
4 hear this case, and they will have to contact you as soon

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5 as that special judge is appointed, and a hearing date
6 will have to be set. I cannot give you a date today
7 because I don't know when the special judge -- so does

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8 your -- you'll need to leave a clear address with Ms.
9 Cook here, and your bonding company will have to know
10 how to get in touch with you. And as soon as that special
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judge is appointed, there will be a date set by that
special judge, and you will have to appear back in this
13 court on that date. Do you understand that, sir?
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14 DEFENDANT HUFF: I do, sir.
15 GENERAL STUTTS: (Brief pause) Your Honor,
16 may the State be heard on it?
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17 THE COURT: Yes, sir, for what?

18 GENERAL STUTTS: We would like to tender to
19 the Court, these are Mr. Huff's pending federal charges,
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20 as well as the conditions of his release. Other than the

21 electronic monitoring system that he's on, we would ask
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22 that the same limitations be part of his bond here in state

23 court.
24 THE COURT: (Brief pause) Mr. Huff, it
25 appears you've been charged in federal court for some
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1 fairly significant incidents as well, and that there have
2 been certain conditions set on your bond for release
3 there. You've obviously been complying with those
4 conditions because you have not been picked back up,

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5 so --
6 DEFENDANT HUFF: There, there was a
7 condition on, on one of the, the restrictions that I have.

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8 THE COURT: Yes, sir.
9 DEFENDANT HUFF: Including the home
10 detention, the reason for that was, one, to keep me away
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from your small, quaint little town here. The other one
was until I acquired gainful employment.
13 THE COURT: Yes, sir.
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14 DEFENDANT HUFF: I have acquired that. I
15 just have not started yet.
16 THE COURT: Okay.
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17 DEFENDANT HUFF: So I believe -- just so that

18 you know that that probably is going to go away.
19 THE COURT: That's fine. That's up to the
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20 federal judge.
21 DEFENDANT HUFF: Right.
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22 THE COURT: So I have no, I have no -- we will

23 show the original criminal complaint in federal court as
24 exhibit one to this hearing. As exhibit two, we will set,
25 show the order setting your conditions of your release.
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1 (EXHIBIT NUMBERS ONE AND TWO MARKED
2 AND ENTERED).
3 THE COURT: Now I would just advise you, sir,
4 you are not to have any contact with our clerk's office,

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5 other than through your counsel.
6 DEFENDANT HUFF: Sure.
7 THE COURT: You are not to contact any

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8 potential judge in this case, any past judge in this case.
9 DEFENDANT HUFF: Understood.
10 THE COURT: Any potential juror, Grand Jury
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foreman, current or in the past, in this county or in any
other county in the 10th Judicial District. And I'm just
13 going to be very blunt with you. I've got -- I'm afraid you
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14 got sold a bill of goods by somebody that was using you
15 for their own reasons, and I'm just going to talk to you
16 about a thing or two here. I -- there's been a lot of
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17 carrying on about this case.

18 DEFENDANT HUFF: There certainly has.
19 THE COURT: There have been a lot of
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20 assertions here. I've been involved in some of, some

21 fairly specious accusations on some things. Not that it
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22 makes any difference, but I want you -- I do not appoint

23 Grand Jury foremen. I have never appointed a Grand
24 Jury foreman in this county; I will never appoint a Grand
25 Jury foreman in this county. I do not appoint Grand Jury
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1 foremen in McMinn County, which is one of the other
2 counties that's been drug into these rather unfortunate
3 actions. I have never appointed a Grand Jury foreman in
4 McMinn County, nor will I ever appoint a Grand Jury

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5 foreman. Those are one of the kinds of so-called
6 allegations of truth that have been perpetrated all over
7 the Internet, and have taken in probably some very well-

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8 meaning people like yourself. I will state again I did not
9 appoint the Grand Jury foreman in Monroe County, but it
10 wouldn't matter whether I did or not. We are very, very
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proud in this county to have one of the first black Grand
Jury foremen appointed in the state of Tennessee. He's
13 done us a good job. I did not appoint him. I'd be glad to
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14 say so if I did. We're very proud in this county, to try to
15 resolve some of the race problems that other places in
16 the, throughout the country haven't been terribly
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17 concerned about; one of the reasons we did this many

18 years ago when this Grand Jury foreman was appointed.
19 I will also advise you, sir, the case law is
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20 crystal clear: it does not matter how many terms a

21 Grand Jury foreman is appointed. He can be appointed
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22 for 50 years if the appointing judge so desires that. And

23 that's why I'm very much afraid that you have some very
24 good intentions, but you've been led astray by a lot of
25 falsehoods, by misrepresentations, and pulled into this
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Arraignment/6/28/10 Page -7-

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1 by forces that you probably had no control over. I'm
2 going to enter these as exhibits. I will -- you are
3 obviously under some rather strict conditions from the
4 federal court. You should have, as I said, no contact

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5 with anybody in this county, other than through counsel,
6 which I do suggest you appoint -- or that you retain
7 counsel immediately to assist you in these charges.

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8 Coupled with your federal cases in this matter, you are
9 looking at significant problems. You do need to get an
10 attorney looking after your interest pretty clear, pretty
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DEFENDANT HUFF: I will probably need to
13 have one appointed.
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14 THE COURT: Are you disabled?
15 DEFENDANT HUFF: Uhmm...
16 THE COURT: You told me you were just getting
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17 a job, so you'll have to take --

18 DEFENDANT HUFF: Correct.
19 THE COURT: -- up that issue -- it's not up to
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20 the taxpayers of this quaint little county, as you like to

21 refer to it, to pay for you an attorney if you're able to
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22 work. You need to get you a job. Our taxpayers here

23 money have quite frankly been going to increased
24 security every time we've had to have a hearing in this
25 case. And if there is a concern about an appointment of
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Arraignment/6/28/10 Page -8-

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1 an attorney, you'll have to take that up with the special
2 judge, but I will not appoint you one today, okay?
3 DEFENDANT HUFF: Okay, understood.
4 THE COURT: That will be fine. Here is you a

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5 copy of the indictment. (Brief pause) And you will hear
6 from the court or from your bonding company as soon as
7 a hearing date is set on that, and you can come back

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8 then on that date, okay?
9 DEFENDANT HUFF: Fair enough.
10 THE COURT: And you are free to go at this
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point, if you wish.
DEFENDANT HUFF: All right. (Brief pause)
13 Judge, thank you for your --
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14 THE COURT: Okay, sure thing, sure thing. Let
15 me ask you, when you come, do you have to get special
16 permission from federal court when you come up here?
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17 DEFENDANT HUFF: I really think that -- well, I

18 don't want to say whether (indiscernible) up there.
19 THE COURT: Sure, I understand. I'm just, I'm
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20 just --
21 DEFENDANT HUFF: But ultimately --
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22 THE COURT: If you need us to notify anybody

23 when you have a hearing here, we'll be glad to do that,
24 to, to facilitate your being able to come back up here to
25 court.
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Arraignment/6/28/10 Page -9-

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1 DEFENDANT HUFF: We've got pretty open
2 communication.
3 THE COURT: Okay, okay, that's fine.
4 DEFENDANT HUFF: So that shouldn't be a

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5 problem at all.
6 THE COURT: Well, if, if you -- just ask your
7 bonding company if you have any trouble coming back on

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8 a date, because we'll try to facilitate you being able to
9 get back up here on any dates you've got.
10 DEFENDANT HUFF: Thank you.
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THE COURT: Okay? Sure thing. Just keep us
posted through your bonding company --
13 DEFENDANT HUFF: Will do.
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14 THE COURT: -- or your attorney then on that,
15 all right?
16 DEFENDANT HUFF: Will do.
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17 THE COURT: Okay. Thank you, sir.

18 ***********************************************************
19 THIS WAS ALL THE PROCEEDINGS HAD AND
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20 EVIDENCE INTRODUCED AT THE ARRAIGNMENT IN

21 THIS CASE, HEARD ON THE 28TH DAY OF JUNE, 2010.
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22 ***********************************************************
23
24
25 CERTIFICATE
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Certificate of Court Reporter Page -10-

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1 I, the undersigned Denise E. Barnes, Official
2 Court Reporter and Notary Public for the 10th Judicial
3 District of the State of Tennessee, do hereby certify that
4 the foregoing is a true, accurate, and complete

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5 transcript, to the best of my knowledge and ability, of all
6 the proceedings had and evidence introduced at the
7 arraignment in this case, in the Criminal Court for

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8 Monroe County, Tennessee, heard on the 28th day of
9 June, 2010.
10 I do further certify that I am neither of kin,
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counsel, nor interest to any party hereto.
July 10th, 2010
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15 Official Court Reporter and
16 Notary Public
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17 State of Tennessee
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