CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: “Press freedom issue raised” POSTELL AND GBI: 4th AMENDMENT VIOLATED, RULED JUDGE WILBUR OWENS

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CHARLES POSTELL, arrested by GBI after his home office was searched illegally while agents were in his home under pretense of protecting Postell and his family, became his own  best story. A storied and notorious career as an investigative journalist had led to being framed by the state law agency he’d often written unflattering articles for The Albany Herald, where he was state editor. US District Judge Wilbur Owens – who hadn’t been a fan of Postell’s but knew dirt when he saw it – ruled the search had been illegal and violated 4th amendment rights. The Albany Herald’s publishers, Jim Gray, Sr. and his son Jim Gray, Jr. filed a $5.5 million lawsuit against the GBI on behalf of Postell.

http://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0829/.Uvl69FzN0x0.email

Charles Postell’s home office after GBI illegal search and seizure

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Charles Postell's home office after GBI illegal search and seizure

Postell’s career as an investigative journalist included many exposes on law officials, and agents of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI). After 4 inmates escaped from Georgia State Prison’s Death Row, they claimed to be protecting Postell and his family, arriving at the Postell home with guns and staying overnight.

Postell caught one of the agents rifling through his office files in the middle of the night. The next day the agents returned with a search warrant and went directly to the files which had been pilfered.

Charges were brought against Postell and wife Judi, but later dismissed following an FBI sting which foiled an extortion attempt.

This led to a $5.5 million lawsuit against the GBI for illegal search and seizure, opening up open discourse about 4th amendment rights violations

Georgia State Prison’s electric chair

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Georgia State Prison's electric chair

Replaced now with lethal injection, this chair was on the 4th floor of Georgia State Prison, Reidsville, GA, on Death Row. Handmade by a man whose fate was decided ultimately on the day of his execution, this chair was transported with Death Row mass murderer Carl Isaacs early on the morning of the only escape from GSP’s death row. The 4 other inmates in on the escape made it out, though one, Troy Greg, was beaten to death before they were recaptured – in a Outlaw Motorcycle Gang clubhouse

Georgia State Prison, Reidsville, GA, photo by Charles Postell

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Georgia State Prison, Reidsville, GA, photo by Charles Postell

One of the only, if not the only, journalist allowed on “the Row,” 4th floor of GA’s maximum security prison where Death Row was located a stone’s throw from “Old Sparky,” the hand-made white-painted electric chair made by a man whose fate wound up in its unholy seat.

GBI list of items illegal seized from investigative journalist Charles Postell’s home

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GBI list of items illegal seized from investigative journalist Charles Postell's home