REVIEW OF THE CASE IN 1997
In June of 1997, I wrote to Dr. Jerry Burns Ph.D. at State of Alabama University, where Dr. Burns was [and is] the Chairperson - Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology. This was written before I found the forensic reports above. Still, I *knew* Patrick was innocent - because I know him well. Perhaps better than anyone else on earth does. There's one thing that everybody who knows him knows about Patrick Swiney: the man doesn't lie. As you will see below, he could have easily covered everything up, ran, and lied, and gotten away scott free. He didn't do that. He called 911 for help.
Here is an excerpt of my 34-page synopsis to Dr. Burns, dated June 4, 1997. It may shed some light on the issue of why have they arrested and persecuted Patrick Swiney for a crime he did not commit. This is what I thought might have happened at that time. I was less familiar with the case at that time. I had not found the forensic reports yet, so I was still at the stage of speculating some kind of tie to Patrick's past, but it seemed a bit far-fetched, even to Patrick. It didn't seem far-fetched to me. I know from personal experience that truth is always stranger than fiction. If nothing else, Patrick's story needs to be told. See for yourself who Patrick was before this terrible tragedy occurred.
Having said all of the above, it is important for me to say that a couple of statements below need to be amended [updated]. I shall place those corrections in underlined brackets [ abc ] for easy review:
"Background History:
Patrick Swiney was a police officer in the State of Alabama for 13 years. From 1965 to 1969, he was with the Huntsville Police Department. From 1969 to 1973, he was with the Vestavia P.D. From 1973 to 1977 he was with the Gulf Shores P.D. From 1977 to 1980 he worked as a legal investigator for Bell, Johnson, & Hill, Attorneys at Law in Pelham, Alabama. His supervisor was Richard W. Bell, Attorney [who became Patrick's defense attorney at the 1989 trial (1987 crime)]. From 1980 to 1986 he worked as an over-the-road driver for various transportation companies, and was home-based in Shelby County. His academic accomplishments are as follows:
Associates of Arts Degree, Jefferson Davis College, Brewton, Alabama, 1993
Truck driver training, University of Montevallo, 1982
University of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama (Criminal Justice/Psychology)
Huntsville Police Academy, 1976
Associate Instructor, Huntsville Police Academy, 1968
Alabama State Police Academy, 1967
Specialized Education Programs:
1. Private Pilot - single engine land (147 hours logged - approximately 225 hours unlogged)
2. Photo-Electric Intoximeter School, Alabama Department of Health Permit #211, 1970
3. Certified Forensic Photography, University of Alabama, 1978
4. Electricity/Basic Electronics, Technical Training Center, 1969
5. Alabama Civil Defense, Medical Self-Help Training Center, 1967
6. Advanced First-Aid, American Red Cross First-Aid Training Center, 1967
In 1977, Patrick turned in his badge when he saw how corrupted some of the officials were in the Gulf Shores Police Force in Baldwin County. He was given a choice to stay and join in on the under-the-table payoffs or leave, so he left.
[This is only partly accurate. Patrick did not see the justice in the way a fellow officer was being treated by his superiors; he left and turned in his badge in solidarity for his friend and colleague, Bobby Noles. The confrontation he had with his superiors was outwardly about that. There was no outward confrontation regarding blatant payoffs - but rather, indignation over a fellow officer being treated unjustly. This action took place at the Huntsville PD rather than Gulf Shores PD]
While Patrick was serving at the Gulf Shores P.D., there many threats made against his life
[There were two assassination attempts. One was rather minor and no one was hurt. The second nearly succeeded (see photo). Three men attacked Patrick and cut up his face badly. He was left to bleed to death. He carried himself to the hospital. The physician put in hundreds of stitches. Today, you have to know where to look, to see any scars. These attempts were while Patrick was working on an investigation assignment for the police department. He was to gather evidence of a drug ring. The evidence he gathered was the cause of the District Attorney of Baldwin County Jimmy Hendrix and the Chief Investigator for the Sheriff's office, Bobbie Stewart, being sent to federal prison.].
The most serious was the threat to kill his 3 year-old daughter who was living with her mother 250 miles away. This threat was taken seriously because the three men who threatened to kill his daughter informed Patrick that they knew the color of her house, how many people lived in that house, the telephone number and other details to convince Patrick that they meant what they were saying. Patrick attempted to confront these three men, but they slipped out of town that night in the trunk of a car.
Before he left the Gulf Shores Police Department, Patrick gathered the original evidence that caused the Federal Court to convict the Baldwin County D.A. and the Chief Investigator with the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office for their corruption. At the same time, Patrick was involved in a drug ring investigation, where 47,000 pounds of drugs were uncovered, and he was on the verge of uncovering a link between the drug ring and the officials in Baldwin County whom he suspected of laundering money and racketeering.
During this investigation, there was an assassination attempt on Patrick’s life. Three men attacked Patrick and cut his face up pretty badly. Photographs are available. Patrick’s family doctor put in several hundred stitches and today there are no noticeable scars. Only one of the three men who attacked Patrick was charged with simple assault and fined. The Baldwin County Judge in the case lowered the charge from first degree assault with intent to murder without consulting Patrick, or the Gulf Shores Police Department, where the assassination attempt took place. The other two men were never charged. This is all a matter of record in Baldwin County.
[Insert Judges' name - I think it was Judge Charles Butler, but not sure. In June of 1998, Judge Butler ordered the US Marshal to have Patrick Swiney locked up, alleging that he had sent a threatening letter to a Judge. Patrick was already locked up (see 'Too Late To Debate???' which is what just about every Judge received in the mail from him hoping they would do something about the way he and others were being treated at Holman Prison. The *only* Judge who responded was Judge Butler. Patrick was thrown in the hot box, knowing full well that he is a heart patient. When he came out 72 hours later, he was half dead. (see my letter to Judge Butler after he did this to Patrick)]
In 1987 Patrick, age 43, married Betty Snow, age 38. Betty Snow’s family [The mother's name is Nell Snow] is well-heeled and very influential in Alabama. Influential enough to get the State to put in an Interstate off-ramp to their business when there weren’t any other businesses around for miles. Betty Snow was very close with the Shelby County D.A., Mike Campbell, who went to high school with Patrick and who was a friend of the Baldwin County D.A., who was arrested for corruption.
[Patrick was a couple years ahead of Betty and Michael. He knew them but there wasn't any friendship going on. He was in band class with them, I believe. Yearbooks will show that Betty and Michael were high school sweethearts]
We have since determined that Mike Campbell and Betty Snow were having an affair while she and Patrick were married. Betty Snow was also still romantically connected to her ex-husband, Ronnie Pate, when she married Patrick Swiney, but Patrick was unaware of this at the time. Had he been aware of this, they would not have gotten married. Patrick and Ronnie Pate never met and never spoke to each other."
[DA Michael Campbell alleged that there had been no adultery because the victims were fully clothed, thus telling the jury that the DNA tests were unimportant. Betty Snow and Ronnie Pate were clothed. The autopsy report says Betty had no underwear on, was in her bare feet. Ronnie Pate was in his bare feet. The master bedroom where Betty and Patrick slept showed no signs of being used. The bed sheets in the spare bedroom were in recent disarray The video tape is said to show this, but we are being stonewalled by officials and have not been able to obtain this video for examination It is the same with the crime scene photographs.
THE MARRIAGE
Betty and Patrick were only married 5 months before she and Ronnie Pate were shot to death. Betty was addicted to drugs and they both drank too much. Patrick's weakness was that he drank too many Budweiser's. He could sip a glass of Blue Nun and not go overboard, but he couldn't do that with Budweiser Beer. He classifies that as alcoholic, and he says that at least -- in that respect -- prison saved his life. He was a quiet drunk, if you will. Preferred to go off by himself and think about things, rather than Party and get rowdy. Betty was vivacious and fun-loving, so this must have attributed to some of the arguments. When they were sober, everything was fine. Patrick describes Betty as very sweet when she was sober. Testimony of a neighbor says. [see transcript pg. R706]
Q. Did he ever express his love for Betty?
A. Oh yes.
Q. On how many different occasions did you hear him express his love for his wife?
A. Well, it was the little things he did when you would see couples together, and they … you know, he touches her and I observed this, and it wasn't making an example out of it, you know, you could tell. You don't have to express your love to your mate, you know, you can tell that. What is going on, you know, just from observing.
Patrick and Betty had marital problems because of the drugs and drinking. Not because he was the jealous sort. He had no idea that his new wife was sleeping around. He loved Betty. He had no problem with Mike Campbell coming to visit them or call his wife. He knew they were close friends and that was okay. He knew that Betty and her ex-husband, Ronnie Pate, had been married 5 years and that it was an abusive marriage because Betty told him she had gotten a restraining order against him when they broke up. He knew Ronnie Pate and Betty had to straighten out some tax returns. Betty wanted her ex-husband to come over to the house to do this. Patrick didn't want his wife's ex-husband in the house, and no longer had reason to believe Ronnie Pate was still abusive. He suggested she meet him at a restaurant or something to get their taxes done. So, he and Ronnie never met. They spoke on the phone once.
The DA coerced Ronnie's grieving mother -- or caused her to "remember" -- that Ronnie told her that Patrick told him, "If you ever come in my yard I'll kill you." When asked when Ronnie said this to her, Mrs. Pate could not really remember, it was just at some specified time, maybe a month or so before the shootings. Supposedly, Ronnie came to Patrick's house, then Patrick said this to him, and turned his back and went into the kitchen. Would a trained police officer ever make a deadly threat to someone then turn his back on that person? I don't think so.
Patrick did not say this to Ronnie before Ronnie was shot because Patrick and Ronnie never met. How can such a testimony be classified as "circumstantial" evidence, sufficient to convict? How can such testimony be verified when Ronnie is speaking 3rd hand from the grave? This hearsay testimony received no objections from either defense attorney or district attorney. Yet, the forensic evidence that I found 10 years later was never revealed to the jury. And yet, the Courts in Alabama refuse to look at the merits of this case.
THINGS WE DON'T KNOW
