THE CHALLENGE
Everyone says that no one person can effect a change in something like the legal system. No one without a “big” lawyer can receive a fair trial. Stephen Job said, “One person can effect a change if they are crazy enough to believe that they can change the world. This is why they do it, they believe that they can.” I was naive. I thought that I could represent myself because I have been successful for other clients. I had not seen the dark underbelly of the legal system at its worse. I knew that there was corruption, but I did not expect the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to be a part of the corruption. I expected the Courts of Appeal to be corrupt because of their history. I did not expect that the pleadings that I filed for a Petition for Discretionary Review would be destroyed with the opinion of the 10th Court of Appeals by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. I did not expect the Texas Supreme Court would remove the opinion of the 10th Court of Appeals from its file. I expected the State Bar of Texas to destroy my file and commit perjury in it pleadings and remove the opinion of the 10th Court of Appeals from its records because they have a history of deception and dishonesty. They had put a false report on their website that I had been identified as a forger of checks on year before my trial. Witnesses in my trial reported seeing the false and defamatory reports on the State Bar of Texas website about me and did not believe that I was an attorney because of State Bar of Texas reports on its website. I did not expect that my pleadings filed in federal court would be destroyed and replaced by someone. I did not expect 5th Circuit to be a part of the corruption or the United States Supreme Court. Imagine my shock when I realized that they were very much a part of the court corruption and defendants do not get fair trials or meaningful appeals in the United States anymore. What to do. If I challenge the system, I may not get to practice again. Could I stay silent and practice law again. Or should I oppose the criminal behavior and corruption of the system. This was my challenge. I decided that I could not be silent even if it meant that I would never practice law again. Too many people are dying in Texas with this corrupt system for me to be silent and save myself. Someone must speak out for change. I have a good case to stand as a model for others to get an opportunity for fair trials if I can be strong. I must take the challenge.
In my case, I had to take the challenge because under Texas law, I have committed no crime but have spent 31 months in jail. The sole basis for my prosecution appears to be the fact that I was a Black female attorney who was bucking the system at every turn. Moreover, there was no transcript of the trial complete enough seven years later for an appeal of all the issues. The record that does exist appears to be falsified by the 10th Court of Appeals to support their opinion as it bears little or no relations to the actual trial. One judicial commission has ruled that the court reporter refusing to provide a free transcript per court order or respond to me for almost five years is not misconduct. Someone has been breaking into my home and stealing files and also leaving me records which get stolen. What I have learned from this anonymous person who has been bringing me files is that the prosecution withheld evidence of the perjury of the FBI and Secret Service in that the U.S. Attorney had told that State to proceed with its prosecution because they had not found any violations of federal law that could be prosecuted. The Secret Service Agent testified in the trial that a secret grand jury was going to be convened and I was going to charged with a number of federal crimes including 1029 access crimes. He also testified that I had been living a criminal life as a lawyer and social worker and had chosen a criminal life instead of obtaining lawful employment. He did not consider licensed social work or the practice of law to be legal or acceptable employment for a Black female. He said that I could have sought legal employment and had not done so. He stated that he had a history of testifying in state court trial to obtain convictions in certain crimes. These secret files which my “deep throat” has been leaving indicate that the prosecutor knew that my funds were legal as they had investigated the source of my California clients funds that he had been wiring to me and found from his friends that the money was legal and was not a part of any criminal activity. Remember the 10th Court of Appeals indicated in its original opinion( the only original opinion to my knowledge) that these legal loans could validate the warrant even though there was no probable cause for the warrant in the four corners of the document. The prosecution and law enforcement altered the Western Union documents and refused to provide these documents to the defense prior to the trial. The Money Gram documents were also altered and concealed by the prosecution. The Standby Counsel stated that the prosecutor told him, “She has always been a criminal all her life. She just has not been caught. She is Black isn’t she?” This indicated to me that the prosecutor thought that all Blacks were criminals. He decided that he could not tolerate me practicing law in his town. He kept repeating in the trial, “Miss Mayfield has been a lawyer and a social worker. She has been a criminal for a decade.” Blacks could not be social workers and lawyers in this town.
The challenge is that when you see this kind of racism and discrimination in the system; you cannot remain silent even if it means that you will lose your right to practice. People are losing their lives because of this kind of behavior. Martin Luther King used to say, “If you are silent when you have a duty to speak, and you do not speak; then you cease to live.” A part of you dies with your silence. I want to live and this type of injustice to cease.
