October 8, 2013
Judge Jackie Fulford
301 S. Monroe Street Room 100
Tallahassee, FL 32301
Dear Judge Fulford:
RE: Case# 2011CF375A1, A2 2011CF441A1, A2, A3, 2012CF2662A1
I am writing this letter on behalf of my son, DeShon Thomas. In July 2013, I made contact with an Orlando area attorney to see if she would be interested in representing my son, DeShon, in the pending cases against him in Leon County. After informing the attorney of the scheduled motion hearing in August, she advised that I wait until the rulings from the motions before giving her any monies. In which I did. When I met with her after the hearing, she was agreed to look at the information that I provided to her and contact me. To which she did not contact me—despite several messages that I’d left with her office.
Recently, my son, Robert Chambers, went to her office to follow up on why we had not heard back from her. At which time she informed Robert that she’d spoken with both Gregory Cummings and Daren Shippy to which they told her that I was a troublemaker and that I was the problem as to why my son’s case was not moving through the judicial process. Cummings went even further to tell her that payments from me were not reliable and he informed her that I’d bounced a check with him. She concluded that she did not want to get involved with the case.
My son, DeShon, believes that Mr. Shippy’s statements hindered him from retaining a private attorney that would’ve provided him with better representation. Although Mr. Shippy has been more active on his case than any other attorney, early on Mr. Shippy did file a Motion to Withdraw, to which he told DeShon that his case was “a lot of work.” I offered to pay for an investigator to help Mr. Shippy shift through witness statements, but instead of accepting my offer as a mother who is only seeking fair and unbiased justice for her son, I see now that I’ve been labeled as a “troublemaker.” To date Mr. Shippy has not disclosed all of the evidence. Mr. Shippy has not been able to sort out all of the contradicting statements given by both law enforcement officers and witnesses. At the hearing on October 7, 2013 the lines of communication between DeShon and Mr. Shippy was not clear—bottom line Mr. Shippy does not seem to be able to handle DeShon’s case properly and he’s begging the court to grant him a continuance. Mr. Shippy is being copied on this letter so if asking the court directly is not the right protocol, then Mr. Shippy is being asked to file a motion for a continuance as soon as possible. DeShon Thomas does not want to go to trial as scheduled for October 14, 2013. DeShon no longer wants Mr. Daren Shippy to represent him.
Thank you for your time and consideration regarding this matter. It should be known that this letter is being mailed express to all parties, except DeShon who authorized me to write this letter.
Respectfully,
Carissa Chambers
cc: Daren Shippy, Jeff Lewis, DeShon Thomas
Mothers Against Unethical Laws (MAUL) 