By THE TRUTH HOUND
In the wake of Veteran’s Day, it’s important to note that the mistreatment of veterans doesn’t only happen in terms of their medical treatment, or lack thereof.
In the case of Connecticut resident and Vietnam veteran Werner E. “Vern” Fuerst, the abuse extends to undermining the basic constitutional rights which veterans for time immemorial have risked their lives to protect.
On Labor Day weekend (September) of 2015, Fuerst, who had already had triple bypass surgery, has long worn a pacemaker and has fragile health, began experiencing an apparent cardiac arrest while feeling extreme dizziness. He then made a hasty, unfortunate, seemingly aggressive remark to his wife while imploring her to quickly get his medicine. The remark, he insists, was simply the product of confusion and fear in the heat of a medical emergency.
Overwrought immediately after the incident, his wife relayed a candid account to first-responders about what had happened and what was said by Fuerst to her (although she later retracted her statement, to let the police know the medical incident was not as dire as it first sounded).
But when the incident was initially reviewed by the Farmington Police Department (FPD), they decided to make the incident a weapons issue because they knew Fuerst was a longtime gun collector. Presumably, they were concerned about Mrs. Fuerst’s safety.
Yet, right after Labor Day, a FPD SWAT team showed up, ransacked the Fuerst residence and seized a large collection of vintage firearms. But, oddly, they also seized rare coins and a broad range of collectibles. Furest roughly estimates everything taken to have been worth at least $250,000.
A longtime certified NRA firearms coach and instructor, Fuerst also had his personal ammunition supply confiscated by police.
Many of the personal items were torn from their original packaging during the raid, which drastically lowered their value. The house was left in shambles.
But, worse, the life of Mr. and Mrs. Fuerst has been left in shambles, with Vern having been confined to the Connecticut Veteran’s Administration home in Rocky Hill and separated from his wife for over a year, as of this writing. He’s required to stay put while awaiting a definitive trial or hearing, but over 20 hearings have come and gone with endless, stressful delays.
As of Veteran’s Day on Nov. 11, Fuerst fears he’ll remain marooned at the Rocky Hill home for another 6 to 7 months as his 80th birthday approaches. He says his [now former] attorney L. Kay Wilson, “did not properly, vigorously or effectively defend me,” as he told this writer while also informing the Institute for Justice of Arlington, Virginia of his plight. The institute has not responded to Fuerst’s case so far.
Fuerst dismissed Ms. Wilson in April. “However, she preceded behind my back in private discussions with the prosecutor and judge, in chambers, without me,” Fuerst alleged.
Fuerst understands that the judge appointed Ms. Wilson as his official public defender but that she actually “continued to work for the opposition” against him.
A major snag is Ms. Wilson reportedly will not voluntarily step down from her assumed “public defender” post regarding Fuerst unless the judge officially dismisses her from that role and assigns Fuerst a new defender. Notably, according to Fuerst, “a replacement has been arranged” but nothing can move forward without the judge’s order.
“They’re waiting for me to die so they don’t have to return the things they’ve taken from me,” he repeatedly told this writer, distraught over the callous treatment he’s receiving from a Connecticut court system that, from his perspective, seems completely detached from any sense of justice.
And since he’s being confined away from home indefinitely without being afforded a fair, speedy constitutional trial, Fuerst sees his situation as a habeas corpus case. He also sees it as a violation of the 2nd, 4th and 10th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Judicial relief from his predicament appears to be more and more beyond his reach. This matter is heavily wearing on him, hour by hour, day by day, week by week.
And he can’t shake the suspicion that the sometimes-controversial public access cable-TV political commentary show he used to produce locally is another factor in his exile. If true, that would mean that the First Amendment right of free speech veterans believe they’re protecting when they venture into harm’s way is yet another casualty in Fuerst’s grueling case.