Update on Hughes Victim Matthew Potter
For those of you interested, Matthew Potter, a member of the hughes so called "Church" turned victim of criminal prosecution because of them appeared in court on September 12th 2018 in the Oakland County Circuit Court in the state of Michigan facing charges for the Hughes criminal drug trafficking operation under the guise of being a church.
According to the court records, Potter was granted "MOTION FOR WALKER HEARING." Now for those of you interested but who aren't aware of it, a Walker Hearing takes place before a trial and allows the judge to determine whether a statement was voluntarily made - and thus can be used as evidence in the trial - or not. The jury can only hear your statement if a Walker hearing determines you made it voluntarily and knowingly.
Our understanding is that this has been requested on behalf of Potter by his attorney (who is being paid by Jacob and Mary Hughes by the way) in regards to Potter having initially chose to remain silent and not talk with police during the March 2018 raid on his co-defendants home during the drug raid, but then ultimately Potter Did make a few statements in regards to him being there at the Hughes house during the raid. Though personally we don't see or know of anything Potter said that could have been construed to determine him guilty of anything, but none-the-less we do hope to see him not punished for the hughes greed so we make smoke and prayers for him that the hearing will somehow bring him some liberation from the criminal charges he faces.
When cops try to talk to you without an attorney present, silence is, of course, your first line of defense. But if you're worried you may have been bullied or tricked into saying something you wouldn't have otherwise, remember that your attorney can still request a Walker hearing. In any case, contact an attorney right away to make sure all of your rights are protected. In the state of Michigan, for a confession to be deemed valid, the defendant must have made it in a knowingly, intelligently and voluntary fashion. The element of a coerced confession is one that can be the difference between freedom and incarceration because if a defense counsel can display the confession was done in an involuntary fashion, the statement will be suppressed through the exclusionary rule.
When a defendant claims that the confession was done in an involuntary fashion the judge can hold a hearing to determine voluntariness of confession. The thing that is often misunderstood by practitioners is that the defendant may take the stand and testify for limited purpose of making of record his or her version of facts and circumstances under which confession was obtained. Even with the defendant taking the stand at the “Walker Hearing”, the defendant will still have the option not to take the stand at their trial should the confession be deemed to be admissible because of the protections afforded in both the United States and the Michigan Constitution.
When there is a suspected confession, a strong lawyer should insist upon a hearing to determine whether or not it was voluntary, and for that reason we do give a little bit of trust and credit to Potter's attorney. To do this, the attorney has to go the extra mile in this situation because without suppressing a confession he could be suppressing his clients freedom. Criminal law is a dangerous game and the attorney needs to utilize every aspect of a strong defense. For whatever reason, the “Walker Hearing” is one that is truly overlooked” and so to us it is rather impressive that Potter's attorney appears to be on his game, at least in this aspect though again, we personally don't see what if anything suppression-wise is going to be gained that will benefit Potter personally..
It is concerning to us that thus far Potter's attorney is the Only one who has NOT filed for a motion to separate his case from the Hughes, especially Jacob Jay Hughes as even his own attorney team has taken the initiative to separate his trial from his wife's in the hopes that One of the two might no end up in state prison upon their coming conviction. We have expressed our concerns to Potter directly several times and suggestion he look into having the attorney do that for him as his chances of freedom would be far greater than to stand trial for drug trafficking with an already long known and previously convicted drug trafficker, obviously... but perhaps since the Hughes are paying for his attorney and ultimately they Do have Potter set up in the position of fall guy when it comes to their crimes, he's not having that choice, we don't know, but we felt it was time we shared our opinion and suggestions with all of you as well as we have him personally, just so you're aware.
We're also concerned as to Potter's attorney not yet having filed a motion presenting "Religious Rights Defense" on Potter's behalf, after all it is the only reason he's tangled up in with the Hughes in the first place. According to our sources within ONAC Potter is still to date declared a member of their church in good standing, which is how it is he became involved with the Hughes branch chapter of ONAC.
And too, there remains the issue as to Potter's official role as being "Treasurer" to the Hughes sham church on official records despite never being entrusted to handle any of the Hughes drug money.A lie is a lie and this of the Hughes lie leaves Potter as their fall-guy, from our perspective anyway, what are Your thoughts?
According to the court, Potter's Walker Hearing has been scheduled for October 17th 2018 at 1:30 PM before presumably Judge O'Brien in the Circuit Court. For those who wish to learn more about the right of a Walker Hearing, conducting an internet search for: People v. Walker, 374 Mich. 331 (1965) is likely your best bet as far as a starting point.
As always we Thank you for your interest and support and we hope you stay tuned for future updates!
