Professional Documents
Culture Documents
STATE OF GEORGIA
Plaintiff/Petitioner
MIKE DEWEY,
Individually And
in his official capacity as
Defendant,
JOE WHEELER,
Defendant,
MICHAEL BELL,
Defendant,
GEORGE MELTON,
Defendant,
Does 1-25
AND
Defendant
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Comes now the Plaintiff, Richard Jerry McLeod who files his above styled petition,
Complaint and motion for a preliminary injunction. Plaintiff has owned, occupied and possessed
The tract of land known as Grooverville Methodist Church tract for more than twenty five years.
He acquired title to the subject property as heir at law of his great grandfather, Richard Ramsey
And by adverse possession. The property was assessed as tax exempt until without notice the
Assessment was changed to taxable. McLeod filed lawsuit to challenge taxable status. While
this Lawsuit was on appeal the property was sold by the tax commissioner in an invalid tax sale
and McLeod filed his Quiet title petition (the underlying case under which this subsequent action
is filed) Howell L. Watkins II Realty Corporation of Vero Beach Florida was the purchaser at
the Invalid in rem tax foreclosure sale. Howell L Watkins II, officer of this realty corporation
now seeks to avoid the inconvenience of the lawful requirements imposed by the courts and this
II.
WRIT OF MANDAMUS
Ordering Mike Dewey, and his Deputies to immediately return all items of personal property
seized and confiscated from the Grooverville Methodist Church property tract and from
McLeods adjacent property. This property consists of private personal papers, legal documents
and research materials, briefcases containing pending legal documents, computers, and personal
clothing and other items. A list of the property removed is listed in Exhibit A attached hereto.
This property was seized and confiscated by Dewey and his deputies in collaboration with and at
the request of Howell Watkins II in an attempt to illegally evict McLeod from the property.
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WRIT OF PROHIBITION
Plaintiff/Petitioner requests the Court to issue a Writ and Order Prohibiting Mike Dewey or
any of his deputies from interfering with McLeods peaceful occupation of the Grooverville
Methodist Church property tract, his adjacent property tracts or of the use and enjoyment of
egress and ingress provided by the one hundred fifty year old prescriptive easement for this
driveway traversing through portions of the Grooverville Methodist Church property tract.
Mile Deweys deputy Joe Wheeler and Does have attempted to unlawfully interfere with his
right of egress and ingress through this undisputed legal easement. This unlawful action must be
expressly prohibited. Dewey and his deputies must be prohibited from continuing their
retaliatory actions designed to intimidate and harass McLeod and further invade his privacy and
That Mike Dewey, Joe Wheeler, Michael Bell and any other deputies or persons be prohibited
from interfering with or claiming any right to interfere with the replacement of the gate and fence
which was removed from the property. Replacement of this gate and fence are essential for
containment of McLeods animals and to secure the property from entrance from vandals and
Petitioner McLeod further requests that Mike Dewey and his deputies be prohibited from serving
as private security guards or personal servants for Howell Watkins II Realty Corp., Howell L.
Watkins II or any of his agents regardless of whether the officers are on duty or off duty.
That Dewey and his deputies be prohibited from committing any further acts of vandalism to or
Watkins has enlisted the aid of Mike Dewey, Joe Wheeler and others to unlawfully
attempt to evict McLeod from the Grooverville Methodist Church Tract and McLeods adjacent
property. This Illegal Eviction has resulted in the loss of McLeods valuable personal property
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and the defendants are engaging in continuing trespass and damage to McLeod and his property.
With no other adequate and practical remedy at law McLeod has no other option but to initiate
this action.
I.
ILLEGAL EVICTION
On the morning of February 23, 2017 McLeod was confronted at his dwelling by the
Brooks County Sheriffs Swat Team and more than twenty officers armed with shotguns
pointed at McLeods head. These officers had broken through two locked gates and without any
Announcement had proceeded to execute a warrant for search and seizure. They executed the
warrant as a No Knock warrant despite fact that the no knock authorization had not been signed
as such. They proceeded to arrest McLeod and haul him off to jail while they proceeded to
confiscate his dogs and other personal property. He was accused of animal cruelty although there
was no valid evidence of any probable cause claimed. McLeod was then denied bond and
illegally imprisoned for more than sixty days in violation of state and federal civil rights laws
and binding legal precedent. The falsely alleged offenses, even if they had been committed
would have been misdemeanor offenses. This arrest was merely a subterfuge and a
cover up to enable Watkins, Dewey and his surrogates to assist Watkins in his planned illegal
eviction and to deny McLeod access to the courts to litigate the pending appellate case involving
the subject property.. Immediately upon the removal of McLeod from his property Watkins and
his employees arrived and with the assistance of Dewey and his surrogates, truckloads of
McLeods personal property were confiscated and removed from the property. Watkins and
Dewey did wantonly with malice aforethought conspire and collaborate to attempt to avoid the
inconvenience of the courts. Dewey and his deputies at behest of Watkins removed McLeod
from his property and ordered his electricity disconnected from his adjacent dwelling property
believing McLeod would be unable to return to his home to make any protest against this illegal
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eviction.
Self Help Evictions are illegal and prohibited by law in Georgia, whether they are
Performed with the assistance of the local sheriff or not. A writ request application must be filed
with the court, an opportunity for a fair hearing and the right to appeal is required before any
eviction can legally occur. Even then no property owner is allowed to confiscate convert or
destroy the occupants property. One who commits an illegal eviction is liable for damages in
Georgia .
The Defendants did with tortuous intent interfere with McLeods possessory interest in the
Grooverville Methodist Church Property and his adjacent property. This unlawful intrusion
without McLeods consent was executed through physical force against McLeod and the
property
Damages are awarded in an action for trespass to compensate an owner for injury caused
due to a trespass. They are awarded to a person who proves that a trespass to his/her property has
been committed and thereby actual damage has occurred. Trespass is an intrusion on a property
of another person and it is presumed that damage has occurred from such intrusion.
Howell Watkins, Mike Dewey, Joe Wheeler, Michael Bell, John Melton and as yet
unnamed Does committed acts of Trespass to Land and McLeods property as defined by
1. In the early morning hours of February 23, 2017 Mike Dewey and his swat team unlawfully
broke through two locked gates and arrested McLeod serving a warrant for search and seizure of
McLeods dogs without any claimed evidence of probable cause . This invasion was immediately
accompanied by Howell Watkins II and his employees who proceeded to confiscate McLeods
personal property as shown in attached exhibit A. As deputy Joe Wheeler later stated I put Mr.
Watkins in possession of the Groovervillle Methodist Church property. This excessive use of
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force and acts of fraud, conversion and abuse of authority under color of law must not be
tolerated by the Court. These illegal conspiratorial acts by Dewey and his deputies are nothing
less than those of a lawless band of vigilantes operating in defiance of and outside the law.
2. Watkins, Wheeler and does hauled off truckloads of McLeods personal property including
priceless antiques and artifacts and supplied no inventory of the confiscated property.
3. Mike Dewey and Joe Wheeler did order the electricity disconnected from McLeods dwelling
Located on his adjacent property. This action of trespass is expressly prohibited by Georgia
entrance a and claiming they were there to eradicate the one hundred year old colony of wild
bees Inhabiting the property. This colony of wild bees is an endangered species and has
5. Watkins employed an unlicensed surveyor and his crew to conduct an unofficial survey of the
Grooverville Methodist Church tract, This surveyor and his crew at the direction of Watkins did
Illegally enter upon the Grooverville Methodist Church tract AND the adjoining lands of
McLeod (cutting down trees and shrubs and erecting temporary stakes and markers on McLeods
Property described in his deed. These acts constitute a trespass under Georgia law and the
perpetrators are subject to damages. There is no Right of Entry law in Georgia to protect
surveyors from such liability One cannot enter anothers land without permission.
6. Deputy Joe Wheeler, Deputy Michael Bell and unknown deputy Doe subsequently did
Enter the Grooverville Methodist Church Tract and removed the outer fence serving as a
temporary barrier to the property; Deputy Bell then proceeded to cut the lock on the inner gate.
Deputy Joe Wheeler and as yet unknown deputy doe informed McLeod he could not use the one
hundred fifty year old prescriptive driveway easement and if he did so he would be arrested.
Deputy Wheeler sated I have already put Mr. Watkins in possession of the Grooverville
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Methodist Church Property once and I have now put him in possession again. When
McLeod asked to see the writ authorizing eviction Wheeler replied I dont need any writ.
I know the law. When asked to see the plat of survey under which Watkins claimed possession
Three days later at dusk on Friday afternoon two deputies accosted McLeod at his front door
With guns drawn and arrested him for trespassing on Watkins property. This warrant issued
without the required hearing was sworn to and issued at request of Howell L. Watkins II.
McLeod was forced to spend three days in jail before being allowed a hearing before the
magistrate. Magistrate Crosby who has a complete absence of jurisdiction to make any rulings
on matters involving title to land stated that he had determined McLeod had never been the
owner of the Grooverville Methodist Church tract and was not an owner or a tenant. Crosby
stated he had talked with Tax commissioner Rothrock (a respondent in the underlying quiet title
action) and she told him McLeod had never been an owner. The magistrate has no jurisdiction to
make such a ruling and attempt to preempt the jurisdiction of the Superior Court in this
currently pending underlying Quiet title petition in which a Lis Pendens is filed. Therefore; this
criminal trespass warrant is invalid and void on its face due to these unlawful acts of Magistrate
Crosby. Howell Watkins II, Magistrate Crosby and Deputy Melton who executed the warrant
are all individually liable for damages as result of their illegal actions.
7. Howell Watkins II subsequently illegally entered the subject property, removed and destroyed
The invalid search and seizure warrant ostensibly issued to seize dogs falsely claimed to have
been victims of animal cruel was simply an essential part of the conspiracy between Mike
Dewey, Watkins, Wheeler, and yet unnamed does to perpetrate and perform an illegal eviction of
McLeod from the Grooverville Methodist Church property subject to this currently pending
Quiet title action. No attempt was made by Watkins to secure any writ from the court to evict
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McLeod from the subject property, Watkins had ample opportunity to avail himself of the legal
process provided and mandated by the Courts. Instead he preferred to circumvent the legal
process, having been assured of help and protection from a willing and compliant Mike Dewey,
Joe Wheeler and others. Georgia law and binding judicial precedent prohibit Self Help evictions
in Georgia.
Illegal evictions are prohibited in Georgia under O.C.G.A. 5-10-2. The bare possession
of land authorizes the possessor to recover damages from any person who wrongfully in any
manner interferes with such possession. Civil Code, 3876. As stated in Kerlin v. Lane
Company et. al. 6410 (165 Ga. App. 622) (302 SE2d 369) (1983)
The only persons subject to prosecution for criminal or civil trespass to the Grooverville
Methodist Church Property Tract are Howell Watkins, Mike Dewey, his deputies, agents and
surrogates.
Even if assumedly Watkins had been the valid owner the foregoing self help eviction,
confiscation and conversion and trover of McLeods personal property is expressly prohibited by
Georgia law. One is not allowed to make forcible entry onto land and damage occupants
Punitive damages are available to a plaintiff in trespass action even if minimal damages
destruction or conversion 9-3-32. The defendants have committed all the foregoing acts plus
1. Brooks County by and through actions of its road supervisor and maintenance workers
Committed an act of trespass by allowing its tractor operator to negligently and recklessly
destroy a highly visible triangular metal sign and post warning of a water line running
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underneath the roadbed at 25 Beasley Road. The sign and metal support pipe were shredded by
rotary mower carelessly operated in right of way mowing. This red sign with black lettering had
been installed to warn road employees of presence of this two inch cast iron water pipeline,
Similar warning post and sign on opposite side of road had been previously damaged and
destroyed. This water pipeline easement has been in place for more than forty years and is duly
recorded in the deed records in office of the clerk. This pipeline was previously ruptured by the
countys ditching machine and after two days of county workers attempting repair a professional
plumbing contractor from Valdosta had to be employed by the county to cut out the damaged
section and weld in a replacement section at considerable cost to the county. This destruction of
the warning sign occurred during the pendency of this pending underlying quiet title action.
2. Brooks County road supervisor and workers committed acts of continuing trespass to
McLeods land located directly across from and west his property at 1675 Liberty Church Road.
These Brooks County personnel were directed to unlawfully enter McLeods property without
consent for more than fifteen feet and proceed to dig a ditch through the entrance to the
property. The concrete land line marker was dug up and destroyed and the property was made
inaccessible by vehicle due to this unauthorized ditch causing damages and inconvenience
to McLeod.
way mowing operation without any regard for the adjacent land owners. It is undisputed that the
width of county roads in Georgia is specified by Statute (primary roads are to be thirty feet in
width and secondary roads are to be only twenty feet in width). In 1997 this law was changed to
increase the width of some roads however all prior roads remain the same width as prior to the
change. If the county wants more right of way they have to condemn and buy the additional land.
It is well known that most rural county roads were never deeded to the county and the county
only has a prescriptive right of way. Binding legal precedent has firmly established that the
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county only has prescription to use the ground under the road bed. Some surveyors
have erroneously platted roadways as being of greater width but this does not change the legal
width.
In defiance of this law and binding legal precedent Brooks county officials continue to
recklessly operate their right of way mowers to trespass on the land of adjacent property owner,
cutting down trees, flowering plants and shrubs and fences belonging to the landowner. The
negligent and reckless mower operator on instruction from the road superintendant operate the
mowers as a road plowing operation rather than a mowing operation denuding the earth of all
vegetation. The soil is then left completely barren of all vegetation allowing erosion and
movement of soil into the ditches resulting in impassable roads and unnecessary expense to the
taxpayers. These reckless and negligent county employees have continued to trespass upon
McLeods land bordering Beasley Road and Liberty Church Road by mowing land which they
have no legal prescriptive right to mow. The land has been denuded of all vegetation, native
flowers and shrubs and personal property. Exhibit C attached hereto. This continuing trespass is
1. Order Brooks County to Replace Water pipeline warning signs or pay the costs of replacement
2. Fill the illegal ditch at Liberty Church Road land and stop the diversion of water which has
eroded McLeods property resulting in it being inaccessible. Restore the entrance to this property
3. Cease and desist from any mowing or other road maintenance operations beyond the thirty
foot width of the Liberty Church Road and the twenty foot width of Beasley Road.
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1. The defendants cease their continuing acts of trespass and cease and desist from entering the
subject property for any purpose until a final adjudication of the quiet title action has been made
2. Mike Dewey and his deputies be ordered to discontinue their acts of harassment and
intimidation directed to cause injury and mental distress to McLeod and refrain from interfering
with McLeods egress and ingress through his driveway located on and adjacent to the
Grooverville Methodist Church tract. That Dewey and his deputies be ordered to refrain from
interfering with McLeods construction of a replacement gate and fence around the disputed
property to contain his animals, Plaintiff McLeod is severely hearing impaired and the U.S.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides that his right to own and maintain service dogs
is not to be interfered with. These service dogs and signal dogs are essential to his survival
and this right must not be interfered with; therefore McLeod request that Dewey and his deputies
be restrained from any further interference with McLeods keeping of these dogs.
3. Dewey and his deputies be prohibited from acting as private security officers or personal
servants for Howell L. Watkins II or his entities regardless of whether on or off duty.
CONCLUSION
Plaintiff /Petitioner requests the Court to issue the foregoing requested writs of Mandamus
and Prohibition and to grant an Order for Preliminary Injunction to prevent further damages to
McLeod and his property AND to award damages for destruction of and damages to his property.
McLeod further requests he be awarded actual and punitive damages for the damages to and
destruction of his personal property AND the mental distress, mental anguish and all other
damages resulting from this illegal eviction, trespass and illegal incarceration orchestrated by
Respectfully Submitted,
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Richard Jerry McLeod Pro Se
VERIFICATION
I hereby swear and affirm before one authorized by law to administer oaths that the statements
and information in the foregoing petition are true and correct based on my personal knowledge
and belief.
CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify that I have this day August 15, 2017 served the defendants with a copy of the
foregoing petition and complaint by mailing and faxing a copy to each of the addresses shown
below.
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Richard Jerry McLeod
Mike Dewey
Joe Wheeler
John Melton
Howell Watkins
Brooks County
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