Ted Bell…….No Choice, No Change!

Posted on October 23, 2022 by Deborah Keller

**Opinion**

10-23-22

On May 17, 2022 this county along with McDowell County essentially voted to re-elect Ted Bell for DA for four more years. This was in spite of all the things he has and has not done during his tenure.

D.A. Bell (often referred to by some at the courthouse as the “Invisible Man” since he so rarely tries cases himself) is running unopposed for his office….again. Only thirteen percent (13%) of this county voted him in to represent us in the Republican primary.

This is a man who in case you have forgotten has:

Altered body cam video in a major death by officer case (verified in court), not charged any officer in that case, not released the official SBI report concerning this case or any other case involving the Sheriff’s office.
Who let his friend Judge Pool off the hook for sexual misconduct on the bench. Yet persecuted a woman for eight (8) months for a social media post against a candidate accusing them of “calling” her, then dropping the case on the day of the hearing.
Who has as of yet to try the Word of Faith Fellowship cases after over 6 years, but tried a littering case right away against an attorney who complained about him.
Who also refuses to show families the body cam video from questionable cases about the death of their loved ones until made to by a court order.
Who reportedly has had numerous complaints made about him to the NC Bar Association.
Who lied about his political endorsements while campaigning knowingly endangering the positions of multiple law enforcement officials for violation of the Hatch Act.
Who rarely tries cases in court preferring to have his staff do the majority of the work.
Who is involved in a lawsuit for conspiracy and denial of constitutional rights along with several judges against a local attorney.

Unfortunately we have no choice in this matter. He will win this office even if he only receives one vote. So where does that leave us, the people whom he refuses to represent? We must be diligent in watching and reporting what Ted Bell does and does not do in the next four years. Reporting him to the bar when it is applicable.

When you vote DO NOT MARK your ballot for him. Leave it blank. Show the sentiment of NO CONFIDENCE by not voting for him. Let him see the numbers of how many did not vote for him. You do have a choice by not marking the ballot on any individual who is unopposed if you disagree with their politics.

Hopefully the Bar will act against him the way they did the DA in Henderson County and remove him from office and allow another DA to be appointed. We deserve a DA with integrity, and one who will be transparent and actually represent all the people of this community.

At the very least he could resign and go into private practice but either way he is here now and we have to deal with it as best we can. Stay alert, stay vigilant, and do not allow him to comfortably feel he can continue to act as he has in the past.

Mr. Bell we are watching! The things you have done and not done will NOT be forgotten. Be aware that Karma comes for all, even you.

“Laws For Thee But Not For Me”- Ted Bell Does It Again

Posted on August 9, 2022 by Deborah Keller

August 10, 2022

Here in Rutherford and McDowell County we don’t have a choice for District Attorney in November. That decision was made by 13% of voters back in May in the Republican primary.

Ted Bell who has altered body cam video in a major death by officer case (verified in court) not charged any officer in that case, not released the official SBI report concerning this case or any other case involving the Sheriff’s office.

Ted Bell who let his friend Judge Pool off the hook for sexual misconduct on the bench.

Ted Bell who has as of yet to try the Word of Faith Fellowship cases after over 6 years.

Ted Bell who also refuses to show families the body cam video from questionable cases about the death of their loved ones until made to by a court order.

Ted Bell who reportedly has had numerous complaints made about him to the NC Bar association.

Ted Bell who lied about his political endorsements while campaigning knowingly endangering the positions of multiple law enforcement officials for violation of the Hatch Act.

Yes, that Ted Bell, our current District Attorney is at it again. He is not complying with election rules that all others must abide by. The question is why? What is he hiding? How much money he spent? Who donated it, and if so why? It is just habit for him now?

Or does he really truly think the laws don’t apply to him. Hummm………

The Board of Elections requires that all candidates turn in their campaign finance records. They have a set time for them to do this. The date this year was July 12^th. (29 days ago) This is DA Bell’s third campaign. He is fully aware of this yet as of today he still has not complied.

Of course as long as it takes him to hear a trial (unless it’s someone who complained about him to the bar) I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. The question is how long are the people of his district going to turn their heads the other way when it comes to Ted Bell?

You do not have to vote for him (even though he is the only name on the ballot in November) you can leave it blank and show the results. He still will be elected even if he only voted for himself and we all know he has many “friends” who seem to owe him so there’s that.

It is a shame and disgrace that he is representing this district. Our citizens deserve better but as we all know the “good ole boy network” is strong here. Hopefully the bar will address this for us and he will lose his law license and we can have an appointed DA but until then we need to watch and report every time he violates the oath and responsibility of his office.

It is hard to remove a sitting DA but not impossible. (see Henderson County….they did it) Judgement may be slow but it is coming Mr. Bell and if you continue to think you are above it all you will be sadly mistaken. It comes for us all.

Ted Bell…..A Mother’s Plea

Posted on May 9, 2022 by Deborah Keller

May 9, 2022

On this past Mother’s Day I could not help but think about all the other mothers who have lost a child. It is always a day filled with love but tinged with sadness. I lost my child after a routine medical procedure when he was 32. It was devastating and still fifteen years later, painful. I realize it was no one’s fault just something that tragically happened. As terrible as that was I can’t imagine how the mothers who have lost a child due to judicial or police action feel.

I got to see this first hand when my friend lost her son in a police shooting. Not only was she dealing with the death of her son, but in every instance where she tried to find out what had actually happened she was blocked by D.A. Ted Bell. She finally had to resort to court action against him to see the body cam footage only to realize Mr. Bell had altered it. Again, she had to go back to court and still received no answers as to why he was shot. I know this day will be hard for her from now on. She still continues to seek justice for her son.

I can’t imagine how the mothers of the people who have died at the jail feel. They have questions that Mr. Bell has refused to answer also. No one sees the SBI investigative reports he has concerning them. The agony of the mothers of the people who have died in police shootings over the past seven years who never got answers about how their child died has got to be almost unbearable.

Last but not least the mother who waited six years for Mr. Bell to actually hold her trial. She not only lost custody of her children during that time but was unable to contact them due to a court order proposed by Mr. Bell. Her son who had emotional issues and made the original complaint did not get the parental support he needed during that six years and after testifying in court unknowingly took a Fentanyl laced Xanax that a friend gave him and died. That friend later died while in custody. This mother was found innocent of all charges. That however was cold comfort after six years being denied her children and now the death of her son. Where was her guaranteed right to a speedy trial by Mr. Bell? That family is destroyed forever.

So many, many things that Ted Bell has directly done or decided not to do have negatively impacted so many lives over the past seven years but with no apparent consequence to him. All these people had families, someone who loved them. All of them deserved to know why he made the decisions that so affected their lives.

These are the ones we know about, how many more are out there that we don’t know about? How many mothers cry in silence being unheard by any official that cares? How many families will forever ask why? All life matters regardless of who it is.

Do you want the things that have gone on for the last seven years to continue in your community?

Protection of a judge who committed criminal acts and lied to law enforcement officers about it.
Total lack of transparency concerning anything in the Sheriff’s Office or the jail.
Personal vendetta court cases taking priority over long waiting cases.
Difficult cases (WOFF) being continued 6+ years until no witnesses remember anything about it.
Discussing current murder investigations and sharing depositions with social media people who live out of state.
Not utilizing court time to decrease the backlog of cases.
Asked for a political favor from a police chief to remove a political banner (negative to Ted Bell) off private property.
Misrepresenting official police endorsements to affect an election.

Need we go on? We deserve better than this. We have the opportunity to bring integrity and transparency back to the District Attorney’s Office next Tuesday. The only way to enact change is for us to vote it in. The May 17th primary decides who our District Attorney will be for the next four years.

Please go vote. Let’s bring integrity back to the courthouse. It starts with us.

Ted Bell…….Why?

Posted on May 4, 2022 by Deborah Keller

May 4, 2022

So many questions persist about District Attorney Ted Bell. The biggest ones concern why Ted Bell does the things he does.

Why does Ted Bell feel community activities are more important than the job he was elected and gets paid to do?

Why with the backlog of cases does Ted Bell’s office close early on Fridays?

Why has Ted Bell put off the Word of Faith Fellowship trial (6+ years now) over and over and over again?

Why did Ted Bell say the victim in a case was “too fragile” to testify yet this same victim joined the army during the six (6) years it took to finally hear the case? (By the way the defendant was found innocent of all charges.)

Why did Ted Bell imply in a political forum that a young man committed suicide after testifying when it was an accidental fentanyl laced Xanax that he took?

Why is Ted Bell talking to and sharing confidential victim/suspect statements with a woman who lives in New Mexico and constantly posts videos about it?

Why is this same woman supposedly collecting statements from Rutherford County residents for Ted Bell in ongoing murder trials?

Why did Ted Bell prioritize a littering trial (against an attorney that filed a complaint against him) and hear it first on the post Covid court docket?

Why does Ted Bell not try the majority of the cases brought before the court?

Why does Ted Bell never release any SBI investigations of wrongdoing in the Sheriff’s Office?

Why did Ted Bell knowingly alter a body cam video of a death by officer shooting?

Why did Ted Bell have to be ordered by a judge to allow the family of the victim of an officer shooting to see the body cam video?

Why did Ted Bell knowingly release still shots of the altered video of the officer shooting to the public?

Why did Ted Bell allow Judge Pool to accost his staff member with unwanted sexual attentions without intervening?

Why did Ted Bell agree with having SBI and LEO threaten a Pool victim if she proceeded with a case against him?

Why did “The Plea Deal DA” Ted Bell not offer a plea deal to Judge Pool’s victim and the judge hearing the case had to?

Why did Ted Bell expedite a hearing against Judge Pool’s victim when she was having difficulty paying the fees? (She did get them paid)

Why did Ted Bell send out mailers saying he had unanimous police endorsements from both McDowell and Rutherford County when he in fact did not?

Why did Ted Bell sign a statement with a radio station that this unanimous LEO support was true for radio ads knowing that it was not?

Why did Ted Bell not answer emails requesting written confirmation of these endorsements?

Why did Ted Bell then post on Facebook that these were “personal” endorsements yet his mailer has the titles and department of each individual listed?

Why does Ted Bell think the people of McDowell and Rutherford County are so enamored of him that they can’t see all the inconsistencies in his behavior?

Why does Ted Bell seem to think that what he wants is more important than justice for the people of McDowell and Rutherford counties?

Why would law abiding citizens who believe in truth and justice vote to continue letting Ted Bell do these things?

Be informed, vote for integrity, truth, and justice on May 17^th. Do not let Ted Bell continue with these behaviors. The community you save may be your own.

Early voting is going on now through May 14^th. Make your voice heard!

No Justice Served…….Remembering Ethan Calton

Posted on April 24, 2022 by Deborah Keller

Ethan Calton and his mother Gwynne Miller King

April 24, 2020

Today would have been Ethan Calton’s 30^th birthday. His family and loved ones will be celebrating his life and memory today. His story is as follows.

Ethan was shot in the back during a service for arrest by officer Tyler Green with Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office on December 1, 2020. There were numerous questions concerning this case at that time as well as today still. Supposedly the SBI investigated the shooting thoroughly, but the results of that investigation were never released.

The family of Ethan had to take DA Ted Bell and current Sherriff Chris Francis to court to even be allowed to view the body cam video. After viewing it they found they had more questions than answers and that the date stamps did not appear to be consistent throughout the video. See the WLOS story and video here.

When questioned in court District Attorney (D.A.) Ted Bell confirmed to the judge that he had “stabilized” the video and it was a bit shorter in length than the original. D. A. Bell then released an enhanced version of a still shot off the video to the public.

The judge ordered him to show the entire unaltered video to the family. After seeing the unaltered version there were even more questions. When the video was released to the general public many questions were asked by them also.

Nowhere in this heartbreaking video did you see Ethan with a gun in his hand nor did you see any officers rendering first aid to him after he was shot. They never even checked a pulse. He was literally left lying where he fell while they walked over and around him.

It appears that this was Officer Tyler Green’s fifth incident with discharging a firearm in three years while working for Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office. D.A. Ted Bell did not press charges against him, nor have we heard if any type of psychological evaluations on Officer Green for firearms safety have been done.

Ted Bell is running for D.A. in the May 17^th primary. He was called out by the judge in this “death by officer”, but how many other things similar to this has he intervened in? Since he has been in office, how many things has he filed away?

He claims to have a high conviction rate via plea deals, but how many such deals has he made by making people think they had no other choice. With such power should come responsibility. Have we really seen that with Ted Bell?

Cases that he was concerned about have languished six (6) or more years waiting to be heard. So much can happen in that time to cause a case to be dismissed. Is he truly acting responsibly to the people he was elected to serve?

What about the issue of “protecting” former Judge Randy Pool?

What about hearing the cases against Word Of Faith Fellowship members for an incident that happened in 2013?

What about the overdoses and deaths that have occurred at our jail during his tenure?

Who is he supposed to serve, the people of our communities, or his friends and co-workers?

What about the arrogance of thinking it was acceptable to alter a body cam video concerning a death by officer?

Is Bell who we really want to represent us-someone who seems to think that position and power are more important than actual justice for victims.

Today Ethan’s mother Gwynne Miller King mourns the unnecessary death of her son on the 30^th anniversary of his birth. His three young children will celebrate this bittersweet day with their mother, unfortunately quickly losing the memory of him with time.

Ethan was not given the opportunity to grow and be a father to his children or be there to help his mother as she grows older. People make mistakes in life, but those types of mistakes should not cause them to be executed by firearm and left to lie in the dirt alone.

Nothing will bring Ethan back to the people who loved him. They know in their hearts who he was. They also know how senseless his death was.

Justice must be served in this case someday. However, justice sometimes takes time and people who care about the truth. Ted Bell is not one of those people it seems.

Rutherford and McDowell County citizens deserve someone who actually cares about doing “the right thing.”

Gwynne, the community wraps their arms around you and your family during this time and sends you much love. Ethan will not be forgotten by them and neither will seeking justice for him.

Column: Power Can Corrupt……

Posted on April 8, 2022 by Deborah Keller

April 8, 2022

While investigating what goes on in the District Attorney’s office, it seems that whatever Ted Bell says goes (even though he tries to say the State dictates most of his decisions.) Yesterday during my questioning about how things work in the office, it was said that Mr. Bell commonly changes court dates by moving them up from the originally scheduled dates without notifying the victims, the defendants, or the attorneys involved.

It seems that would be considered a denial of due process. After talking to several attorneys in the area who didn’t disagree, I found that regardless of that, it is, in fact, happening. I asked if this was not illegal, as it seems to violate everyone’s right to know their trial date. The attorneys said it was totally up to Ted Bell and he is known for doing it frequently.

When checking with several courthouses in adjoining counties the majority of them have a notification system in place if a trial date is changed so that all parties are aware. In Ted Bell’s courthouses both here in Rutherford County and in McDowell County, the attorney’s have to check online every single day, sometimes twice a day, to try to keep up with date changes.

In some cases they are actually just posted on the board in the courthouse where persons actually have to physically come in and look for them. (see example)

This should be totally unacceptable. Victims have no idea that dates have been changed, witnesses are unaware, police officers and defendants do not know. People have to get childcare and take time off work to go to these things. Yet, Ted Bell can just arbitrarily move a trial date up as it suits him with no regard to how it affects everyone involved.

Now, one reason I have heard being given is that he says the trial docket is too full and changes have to be made. That could be understood if he moved it to a later date and then informed all the parties involved in those incidences, but to move it up……???

The question to ask is about the “fairness” of this. One can go with the fact that it’s not criminal, as we all know Mr. Bell had a definite idea about what is and isn’t a criminal act (ex. Former Judge Randy Pool). Yet this does seem it could create a ripe environment for personal vendettas against specific people or lawyers.

Also between Mr. Bell and the Clerk’s office there should be enough staff that someone could make sure people are notified that their trial date had changed. You cannot reasonably expect people who do not work in the criminal justice division to know how to check the docket online or come by the courthouse to see what is posted. Most persons are nervous about just going into the courthouse for any reason.

It seems that more and more about the “goings on” in this office are coming to light. There is much more happening than just meets the eye. Lord John Edward Acton said in 1887 “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” That is why transparency in this office is so vital to this community.

Please think about your vote for District Attorney in the primary this May. (Unaffiliated voters can choose to vot in the GOP primary.) It will decide the race as there is not anyone from another party running.

If after close scrutiny you feel Ted Bell is the right man for the job then so be it, but if you have questions….. any questions at all about how he has handled WOFF cases, police investigations, courthouse behaviors, long trial wait times, or the Judge Pool case, then vote for Krinn Evans. Give an experienced criminal attorney a chance to be transparent with the community that elected them and get this backlog of cases through the court system. Vote for someone who will put the people first.

Ask questions, be aware. Make your vote count for you as well as your community.

Please go vote. Let’s bring integrity back to the courthouse. It starts with us.

Early voting is going on now through May 14th. Make your voice heard!

Early voting is going on now through May 14^th. Make your voice heard!