Deputy Sheriff Robert Vann, on duty at the jail told investigators, "Koella sounded confused and disoriented... and Koella mumbled throughout the conversation." Tennessee trooper Ronald McDonald, the arresting officer (not the hamburger clown), told investigators that "Senator Koella seemed confused, tired, and fatigued." A renter of Koella's told investigators: "Koella probably wouldn't know if he had actually been involved in an accident or if someone had hit him due to his current physical condition and health problems," and "Koella suffers from multiple sclerosis [MS] and as such his movements appear jerky, and if you were not familiar with his illness you might think he was incoherent when talking to him." Note that this renter was Koella's alibi witness, that alleged Koella called police, yet who was contradicted by another eyewitness who actually did notify police. Chauffeur-Trooper Jessie Brooks told investigators: "Once Koella was talking to him and then just quit in the middle of a sentence as if he lost his train of thought. He also recalls Koella sometimes appears disoriented." Police allege Koella allegedly phoned police after being allegedly badgered by one of his renters, but no record was made of this alleged conversation in the jailhouse log. Blount County Sheriff James Berrong and Chief Deputy Archie Garner claimed they were never told of Koella's alleged phone calls.

Knoxville television station WBIR Channel 10, owned by Gannett, the multinational corporation that owns USA Today newspaper, refused a plaintiff's subpeona of a videotape of the court's sentencing hearing where Koella was unable to answer even routine questions by the judge and his own attorney. (Another court hearing was videotaped by Channel 10 and WATE Channel 6, which allegedly showed a police officer changing his testimony under oath -- potentially the crime of perjury ("Testi-lying" police call it) -- but both T.V. stations also refused to honor subpeonas requesting evidence of this crime. Tennessee's Shield Law (TCA § 24-1-208) was supposed to protect confidential sources, not protect police and politicians from going to prison. Although a court transcript was available, the videotape would have been even more informative.

Here is the censored court transcript from the senator's sentencing hearing:

At Koella's censored sentencing hearing, "tough-on-crime" Special Prosecutor Gus Radford "threw the book" at the senator: "The state is not concerned with the causes of the accident. Who is at fault is irrelevant."

Koella's criminal defense attorney, Jerry Cunningham, a former U.S. prosecutor, admitted: "But this man did not flee. He crept away. Nobody said he tried to run to another county, he tried to secrete the vehicle. There was ample places to hide a car. He could have simply gone out the back.... But I know it was not Senator Koella's fault, because he was doing everything he could under the circumstances." (Koella's driveway was 1/4-mile long and invisible from the road, protected by a locked gate and as Cunningham points out, has a back exit.)

Senator Koella's Miranda rights

Judge Bevil explained how the American justice system works: "That would be real justice. But we don't have that. That's not a realistic option. I think we want to blame somebody.... Any kind of crime that's committed against us... it's so easy to want to blame somebody.... If we can blame somebody, then we know that this thing didn't just happen.... You see, Mister Koella is in a difficult position.... Because you see, justice is supposed to be blind.... Sometimes people want to see public officials do something wrong and pay for it.... That's not fair, either. That's not what justice is all about. But justice is blind.... I was a prosecutor for 18 years, and I know about cases.... It would be easy to come in and say, 'Let's put a jury in the box, let's try this and let the cards fall where they may.' But that's not -- that's not -- that may be the easiest thing, but it is not necessarily the best thing, nor is it justice.... It's a sad situation, but, as I said, I don't think sending Mister Koella to the workhouse or to jail for 30 days is going to make any difference whatsoever in this case or it's going to solve any problems. And I think if he were treated like anyone else, that's what would happen.... This court is going to order you to do 30 days community service."

Actually, Judge Bevil's "harsh" sentence mysteriously changed to "30-HOURS" of community service, allegedly without the judge's knowledge. After this latest news hit the press, the "special" judge promised he would recheck his records: "In my seven years on the bench, I don't think I have ever ordered 25 hours. I have ordered a lot of 30 days."

A shocked Joyce Barnard told the press, "I thought he got off to light to begin with. He ought to at least serve the 30 days. I'm pretty upset about it. . . . It's been a year since Terry was killed. I can't get the whole thing behind me. It just seems that things keep popping up," The victim's brother, a doctor, said, "Something never felt right all along. How can they just do that? I kind of questioned the prosecutor all along." Actually, prosecutors had failed to call any of the eyewitnesses during a previous preliminary hearing. As one observer noted, this court proceeding appeared to be "home cooked."

Unreported by the media and unknown to the victim's family, Koella's "sentence" was again mysteriously altered, but this time it was waived completely, allowing Koella to serve not a single second of his hit-and-run sentence.

Senator Koella's "invisible" hit-and-run crash. Click to enlarge

This civil wrongful-death case settled for $1.5-million in 1998, unreported by the media (i.e., censored) which refused subpeonas by the plaintiff's greiving widow and published many libelous lies about her dead husband. (This was the calculated economic loss of the victim losing 24 years of life, and it didn't cost Koella anything since his insurance company paid all of it. Attorneys Sid Gilreath of Knoxville, and Charles Murray of Sandusky, Ohio, handled the widow's civil suit. Knoxville attorney Richard Baker also handled much of the investigation, when he still worked with Gilreath and Associates.)

Contrary to testimony by a twice-arrested Koella witness -- who another witness alleges wasn't even at the crash scene -- eyewitnesses stated the motorcycle headlight was on (which is automatic), and after-crash police photos proved the headlight still worked just fine. The perjurous Koella witness also alleged the motorcycle was in a ditch, when all photos show it on the centerline of the highway, and that it caught fire, which it clearly did not. Koella's "star" witness first said he saw 4,000 motorcycles ride by, then said he didn't see any motorcycles except the victim's. He said he never saw any police, any ambulances, nor the hospital's helicopter. He could not even remember his own address. He even declared the motorcycle never hit Koella's van, despite photographed tire marks on the van and the testimony of numerous expert and police witnesses. He never gave a statement to police at the crash scene. Koella's witness's statement said: "The son of a bitch didn't even look at the motorcycle." In deposition under oath, this witness told how one of his arrests went down: "I was put in the back seat, just like any other criminal.... and he said, 'Put your hands through the window up here and let me put these handcuffs on you, cause they'll fire me if I don't.'" (Senator Koella was never handcuffed despite fleeing the scene of a homicide, and was NOT put in a police-car cage, but was chauffeurred to the jailhouse in an unmarked police car, according to police.) The Koella witness alleged the motorcycle rider was speeding at 70 MPH (which Koella's attorney bumped to 80 MPH), but all eyewitnesses swore that the rider was following a slow car at 40 MPH, and that after the slow car passed, Koella turned left, right in front of the motorcycle, which barely had time to hit its brakes, and didn't even move from the middle of its lane ("Oh no, he's not going to do that!" the eyewitnesses exclaimed). Cross-examination in a trial would clearly have destroyed the credibility of Koella's alleged witness. But for the purposes of media disinformation and bait-and-switch blame-games, Koella's alleged witness was a star.

The drive through the Great Smokey Mountains National Park attracts vacationers from all over the world, making the Smokeys the most-visited park in the world. Motorcycle tourists especially thrive on the low-speed twists and curves between Gatlinburg TN and Cherokee NC.

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This media-alleged "outlaw biker" was a 52-year-old designer for General Motors who had just taken his wife on vacations to Hawaii and on an ocean cruise, who rode a pink motorcycle and had a tattoo of a puppy on his arm. He loved golfing, football, boating and the Zen of routine motorcycle maintenence, and was a weekly member of the Church of Christ. Terry Barnard preferred the fresh air and environmentally friendly fun of riding a motorcycle through the Great Smoky Mountains, rather than merely driving a gas-guzzling car or motorhome as millions of American's are prone to do. He was a relative-novice rider, who struggled to keep up with his more-experienced neighbor. Had Barnard passed one more automobile, he would never have crossed paths with the defective driver named Koella. As they say, "Fortune favors the brave."

On what would have been her husband's 53rd birthday, Joyce Barnard tried to give her Victim Impact Statement at the senator's sentencing hearing: "The fact, Senator Koella, that you, a state lawmaker, had the audacity to leave the scene of a collision when you admit you heard a 'thunk' on your vehicle has left me with a lot of anger and rage to deal with, and it's all directed at you. Eyewitnesses said you got out of your van, walked a few feet toward the scene, then turned around, got back in your van and --"

Judge Bevil: "Now, Mrs. Barnard... we're not here to hear the entire case today.... You will need to refrain from telling what other people told you about this."

Joyce Barnard: "Well, I'll have to say that actually the only thing that leaving the scene of the accident is to just leave me feeling angry and very distraught and with a lot of hurt.... If I'm not allowed to face him and tell him about that, I don't think that's right."

Judge Bevil: "Mrs. Barnard... you just can't talk about what other witnesses might have seen."

Joyce Barnard and Sid Gilreath at Koella's sentencing hearing

Joyce Barnard: "Okay. Then I can say: Any decent person would have run to the scene if he could help in any way; why didn't you?... You have no idea the devastation you have caused so many people. We still cry, we still hurt, and we pray that we'll wake up and find it was just a nightmare. But in the morning when we do wake up, we have to face the reality of another day without Terry. I no longer have a happy future to look forward to. You have robbed me of everything, the companion I was supposed to grow old with and my best friend. Terry was the one by my side to support me when I had to have brain surgery for a malignant tumor. And Terry stood by me through all my treatments. He always wondered how he would get along without me if I died. Now, it's me wondering how I will get along without him. And what if the cancer comes back? He won't be there to hold my hand. Terry had called me Monday night to say they were going for one last ride. Ironic, isn't it, Senator?... Well, it was his last ride. The last thing he said to me was, 'I love you.' I never thought it would be the last time I'd ever hear him say it to me.... At least we all have the satisfaction of knowing that you have to live with this every day of your life, the same as we do. Just remember, the Lord said, "Vengence is Mine."

Less than one year later, Senator Koella died of a burst aorta. He was 64 years old.

This was not a normal heart attack (which is death of the heart muscle from a blood clot). A ruptured aorta generally means instant death. Amazingly, Koella "stayed alive" for three days, or at least that's what the news media reported. Perhaps even 20-times-millionaire heart-surgeon Senator Frist could not have saved him (presuming he would want to save him). As his former opponent, Representative Dorothey Mae Owenby noted, this "heroic effort" conveniently allowed the political machine enough time for a smooth transition of power while locating a suitable replacement -- outside the reach of the restless voters. Also note that a burst aorta is not a standard symptom of MS or cancer, though it might be a reaction to a lethal overdose of amantadine hydrochloride, Koella's prescription psychiatric medication.

Governor Don Sundquist eulogized Koella as the Tennessee legislature's most conservative politician: "He was a true individual and true to his beliefs" who "had his finger on the pulse of the Legislature". Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Wilder enthused: "A little over a year ago, people thought it was time to quit. It wasn't. And he didn't." Reverend Kevin Frederick let slip a little Freudian irony by giving Koella credit for sponsoring "tough-on-crime" Prohibition laws against marijuana farmers and consumers, and "three-strikes-and-you're-out" laws against repeat offenders. This display of self-righteousness might lead an intelligent person to suspect every politician who claims a little too loudly to be a "crime buster". (In other words, prohibition rhetoric is a mere smoke screen. Those who make drunk-driving laws are those most likely to get drunk and drive, since they know they are immune to police prosecution. Likewise drug prohibitionists are most likely to abuse and deal drugs, since prohibition laws guarrantee high profit. These politicians know they don't have to live by the laws they make.)

Had Koella been convicted of a felony, a run-off election would have been required, allowing his former opponent, Democrat Mae Owenby, a second chance at the election she was previously declared the winner of. The day after her "victorious" election -- one week after the senator's arrest -- 199 hand-written ballots "appeared" from Sevier County. Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Wilder refused Owenby a recount. Wilder was with Senator Koella at his Republican fundraisers the day of the fatal hit-and-run crash. Koella's criminal defense attorney reportedly laughed at the "Owenby Bureau of Investigation" for even attempting to compete against his client. Perhaps Mr. Cunningham didn't anticipate the $25,000 post-crash investigation conducted by retired FBI agent James Bentley. "Hard-ball" detective work is no laughing matter.

As any educated reader can see from this case file, Koella was in deep trouble. It's "easy" for the establishment to corrupt the criminal justice system since the government controls the prosecutors. However, in a civil lawsuit, the "prosecutors" work for the victim, not the government. Koella had a right to not testify against himself in a criminal trial, but in a civil trial, nothing in the world could prevent him from testifying against himself -- and by association, against the Republican establishment in Tennessee and Washington.

Well, there was one way he could get out of testifying: Death. Did Koella become such an embarassment that his liability outweighed his usefulness? Did a "cost-benifit analysis" calculate Koella was worth more dead than alive, like Lee Iacocca deciding that saving ONE DOLLAR on each Pinto fuel tank was worth hundreds of "crispy critters" (dead people, as the "engineering whores" jokingly called them)? What would someone do to protect millions or billions of dollars? Heck, they could pay someone to do the dirty work -- the real killers didn't even have to get their hands dirty. Between police officers and military personnel, the government employs 3-million trained "killers" at any given moment (plus thousands of criminal "informants"). As any news spectator knows, people kill each other over change in one's pocket or shoe's on one's feet or wearing the wrong "colors". What would a ruthless group of politicians do to protect themselves? Hell, in that same election year, tax assessor Byron "Low-Tax" Looper (his real legal name), a Tennessee Republican, was arrested for shooting and killing his Democratic legislative opponent so close the election that Tennessee law made it illegal for the Democrats to substitute someone in the dead victim's place. (Perhaps Looper will now change his name again to "Lone Nut" -- except his gun was reportedly pre-owned by both the mayor and the chief of police.) Politicians routinely pass laws and wage wars that kill thousands of people every day. They even send their own kids to die in their wars. That's their job. Any citizen can become expendable. Heck, how many presidents have been murdered in America? Who even knows how many?

As any reader can see from reading this news story, Koella was about to get his ass kicked in a civil trial. The discovery process was gathering momentum and leaving no stones unturned. The victim's attorneys planned to depose the governor and all the other politicians Koella was with that day. All hell was about to break loose in Judge Curtis Collier's federal courtroom in Chattanooga. The national media might have had a feeding frenzy. Koella's unsealed medical records might become Tonight Show fodder and provide embarrasing household words for schoolchildren across America. Collier was appointed by President Bill Clinton -- a Democrat. Even if Koella had somehow won, the victim's family was guaranteed to appeal. Unless the U.S. Supreme Court was willing to change American case law, Koella was going to lose, and perhaps take down a lot of politicians with him. How convenient for Koella to pick that time to kick the bucket. His civil trial was just a few short months away. Did someone have a guilty conscience and get this lunatic idea to name a highway after a "sacrificial" hit-and-run killer? Did Koella's apparently corrupt lifestyle rot his brain and his health? Or did Koella the professional lawyer and politician just crack-up under a little legal pressure, commiting sucide with a lethal overdose of amantadine hydrochloride (20 pills)? Did he just give up on his life and his health and allow Karma to overtake him? Or did a "Doctor Death" slip Koella 2-grams of amantadine hydrochloride and blow out his aorta with high blood pressure? Who cares?

Anyway, what can the rest of us learn from other folks' misfortune? This deadly crash occured at 30 MPH (bike) and zero MPH (car) and 5 MPH (Koella's van), according to drivers following both the motorcycle rider and the senator. This is the speed that 90% of fatal motorcycle crashes happen, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. Not even a full-face helmet can save a person from brain-death via the front ends of "pedestrian-unfriendly" cars. (Brain-swelling is what killed Barnard, according to the autopsy report.) Not even instant response from two passing nurses and emergency medical technicians with extensive equipment could save the senator's injured victim, although their tourniquet did prevent any blood loss. The occupants of the third car immediately called 911 on their cell phone, and one of the EMTs who witnessed the crash simultaneously radioed for an ambulance and helicopter, to no avail. By the time the helicopter arrived at the hospital, the victim was gone.

ROAD RAGE

After Koella's demise, Bill Clabaugh, Koella's unelected replacement in the Tennessee senate, sponsored the bill naming an Interstate highway after the fatal-hit-and-run senator. (Perhaps Clabaugh presumed his inappropriate "memorial" would tap into the motorcycle-hater mentality so prevalent among "conservative" people who have never learned how to ride one.) The legislature rubber-stamped the bill, and Governor Sundquist signed it into law:

Governor The Don Sundquist and state legislature named Interstate Highway in honor of a convicted hit-and-run killer of a biker tourist - Highway Patrol chauffeurred the Governor and the Killer all day then Conspired to Obstruct Justice to prevent Senator Carl Koella from arrest of DUI and Vehicular Homicide - American Motorcyclist Association rented billboards in protest in Blount County and Nashville and ordered million-man boycott of Tennessee - This insane law is still The Law in 2006 - Photo by John Lee and Pirate News Productions

In outrage, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), and their 250,000 members, have erected billboards in Blount County, Tennessee, naming U.S. Highways after Senator Koella's hit-and-run victim.

Greg Harrison, Vice President of Communications for the AMA and columnist for American Motorcyclist magazine, wrote in "A Monumental Mistake:" "I've seen a lot of outrageous things happen in politics since I've been working here, but this tops them all. It's the equivalent of issuing a series of O.J. Simpson autographed steak knives. And no, this isn't a joke.... Here's the new rule: Kill a biker, get a highway named after you.... As a tourist who has spent a lot of family vacation dollars in Sen. Clabough's district, if those signs go up, you'll never see another penny of mine in Knox or Blount counties." With the agressiveness of police "law enforcement" tactics upon selected "targets of opportunity" (motorcyclists), perhaps Harrison is prudent to suggest a boycott of East Tennessee. Terry Barnard was killed, so no ticket or arrest was in his future -- just Obstruction of Justice and Official Oppression in his death "investigation". Motorcyclists who are still breathing, however, must still deal with area police agencies that routinely operate outside the law.

"You're driving along U.S. Route 321 in Tennessee, and you see a billboard designating it the "Terry Barnard Memorial Highway." What's it mean? Those billboards, erected by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), are a response to the decision by state legislators in Tennessee to name a nearby stretch of Interstate 140 after the late Sen. Carl Koella. Koella may have served the state well for many years, but in 1996 he was involved in a hit-and-run accident that resulted in the death of motorcyclist Terry Barnard. Koella turned his van left into the path of Barnard's motorcycle on Route 321 near where the AMA's billboards are located. The motorcyclist tried to avoid a crash, but he hit the side of the van, then ran into a car stopped behind it. As Terry Barnard lay dying by the side of the road, witnesses said Koella stopped, got out of his van, looked around, then drove away. He later pleaded no contest to leaving the scene of a fatal accident. The AMA does not oppose appropriate actions honoring Koella's long career in public office, but naming a highway after a driver who left a man dying in the road is more than just an insult -- it's outrageous. Tennessee has decided to honor its hit-and-run senator by naming a highway after him. The AMA has decided his victim deserves at least the same honor. That's why you'll see billboards along Route 321 declaring it the 'Terry Barnard Memorial Highway.'"
—American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), American Motorcyclist, "Who is Terry Barnard?" May 12, 2000

Governor "The Don" Sundquist and the Tennessee legislature named Interstate Highway 140 in Blount County and Knox County in honor of convicted hit-and-run killer Carl Koella, the alleged crack cocaine kingpin of Blount County for the Bush Crime Family as part of the CIA's permanent Iran-Contra narcoterror pipeline - Tennessee Highway Patrol chauffeurred the Governor and the Killer all day then conspired to Obstruct Justice to prevent Senator Carl Koella from arrest for DUI and First Degree Murder, which carries the Death Penalty for drunk drivers in Tennessee - Throughout US and world history, most government highways and structures are named for murderous psychopaths in gangster govt, so the Carl "Coca Cola" Koella Highway is no exception to this rule - Magazine editors: click photo for printable 200dpi image 300kb - For max resolution BMP image screenshot or HD video file, contact John Lee at Pirate News Productions - Photo by John Lee 2006

"In many ways, the whole Janklow fiasco (see "Governor/Congressman Janklow Gets 100 Days," page 24) reminds me of another tragic incident seven years ago, when a van driven by state Sen. Carl Koella of Tennessee turned left into the path of AMA member Terry Barnard, who was killed instantly. Koella copped a plea, was fined $2,500 and "sentenced" to 30 days of community service. For killing another human being. Worse, after Koella died a year later, the Tennessee Legislature passed a resolution naming a highway after him. That’s like naming a bank after John Dillinger. We organized a campaign against that designation, raising money to pay for billboards naming the highway where this crash occurred after Terry Barnard, Koella’s victim, instead. And I, along with many of you, made a personal pledge not to visit the two counties the proposed Carl Koella Memorial Highway traversed if the signs were ever posted (to this day, they haven’t been)."
—Greg Harrison, American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), American Motorcyclist, Justice for All, "Frustrated by the Janklow sentence? So are we," April, 2004

"On October 22, 1996, after receiving an "advisory letter" from the DMV two years before warning that his license was about to be revoked due to excessive "points, Tennessee State Senator Carl Koella struck and killed 52 year old Terry Barnard, retired General Motors engineer and motorcyclist. After stopping to see that Barnard was dead, he is said to have admitted his guilt to others that had stopped, then drove home. The case was handled in the typically "good old white boy" system that has sadly given the South its redneck stigma. Although indicted by a grand jury for felony hit and run, the Senator was slapped on the hand and sentenced to 30 days of community service after pleading no contest to misdemeanor hit and run. On January 14, 1998, still serving Senator Koella died of heart trouble, having served 26 years in office. Months after his death, his insurance company settled a wrongful death lawsuit for $1.5 million. On April 7, 1999, to honor the former Senator, Tennessee legislature passed and Governor Don Sundquist signed Senate Bill 923, sponsored by Koella's chosen successor. This bill did not rename a state building, or a state park, or another state project to honor his 26 years of service. No, the state of Tennessee, in what many outside the state called completely callous, designated "that segment of Interstate Highway 140 beginning at its intersection with Interstate 40 in Knox County to its terminus at U.S. Highway 321 in Blount County is hereby designated as the "Senator Carl O. Koella, Jr.. Memorial Highway" as a lasting tribute to this exemplary public servant". Note - before turning in front of Terry Barnard later that evening, Senator Koella had visited Rockford, Tennessee with Governor Sundquist. In 2002, the Rockford Police Department was disbanded after a police sergeant was charged with intentionally swerving into the path of a motorcyclist, killing him."
—DeadlyRoads.com, "Can You Believe It? Bizarre Hit and Run Cases or News - Slap in The Face"

"We have all seen the stories over the past few years of motorcyclist being killed with little or no justice being enforced for causing a death. Most recently we have been reading about US Representative Bill Janklow killing motorcyclist Randolph Scott last year. Not only did he receive what some would call a light sentence of 100 days in a County Jail; he will be eligible for work release after 30 days. Janklow, on the witness stand, admitted to driving over the speed limit at times and has failed to stop at stop signs on occasion. Other instances that stand out include the 2002 death of a motorcyclist on a California highway where the driver of a pickup slammed into Gary Michael Kunich, killing him. The pickup driver's lawyer was quoted in an AMA article as saying 'It's a tragic traffic accident' but 'it's a risk that motorcyclists take.' One final reference was the 2000 case of the late Senator Carl Koella from Tennessee getting a stretch of Interstate 140 renamed in his honor. Interstate 140 is near County 321, the road where Senator Koella was involved in the hit and run accident that killed motorcyclist Terry Barnard in 1996. Later, Senator Koella pleaded no contest to leaving the scene of an accident. We at MMM have a homework assignment for you this year. We want you to write a letter to your elected officials and explain to them, in your own words, that motorcyclists are part of the transportation system in the United States. We pay for the right to use our interstate, county and local roads through the same sales, fuel, and license taxes as any other vehicle on the road and trivializing the deaths of motorcyclists because it is 'a risk motorcyclists take' is not acceptable."
—Gus Breiland, Minnesote Motorcycle Monthly, Motorbyte.com, All the News that Fits, March 2004

The AMA is not alone in its condemnation of Tennessee injustice. In the state of Oregon, motorcycle enthusiasts are using the Koella fiasco to bolster support for legislation referred to as, "Kill a biker, go to jail."

Note that Barnard was NOT wearing heavy-duty safety leathers with body armor (resulting in many broken bones), which Blount County deputies and Tennessee Highway Patrol detectives routinely "profile" and arrest safety-minded motorcycle tourists for the "crime" of wearing (which is like arresting car drivers for USING seat belts). Anyone who bothers to watch motorsport "crash videos" can witness the importance of such safety equipment, and the continuing need for advances in this area. Police who violate the law in this way need to be immediately arrested and fired from the police force in order to protect public safety (and to protect the government's insurance corporations from lawsuits).

One local doctor was literally tortured—locked in the cage of a police car with the heater on during summer—arrested for the "crime" of wearing armored-leather safety equipment while responding to a surgical call in the emergency room of Blount Memorial Hospital. Police routinely consider it "Contempt of Cop" (i.e., "resisting arrest") for any citizen to question a cop about the legality of a traffic stop, leading to thousands of post-traffic-stop beatings and killings of citizens in custody. (The doctor won his case in court due to the lack of "reasonable suspicion" for the "profiled" traffic stop, destroying the "probable cause" for the arrest, but did not bother to sue for emotional damages and his $1,000 legal expenses since both the elderly doctor and his E.R. patient survived.) This citizen was not the only tourist to suffer the wrath of area police who are out of control.