HARDIN CO.— When Robert Trigg, 30, and his wife Deena Schuff, 26, were arrested in Rosiclare in July they had no idea the nightmare in the guise of state’s attorney Tara Wallace that was about to be unleashed on their lives.
Indiana court documents indicate that Trigg was wanted on an outstanding warrant for theft in that state.
Following a July 11 traffic stop in Rosiclare, both Trigg and his wife were taken into custody on charges of Unlawful Possession of a Stolen Vehicle when the plates on the 1991 Chevy Silverado they were driving came back stolen.
Both were booked into the county jail on that date and immediately Wallace began her little dance of betrayal.
Tried to get wife to testify against husband
Despite preliminary hearings (during which the threshold of evidence is very low as a rule), in which lawmen testified they had no proof that Schuff or Trigg knowingly had possession of a stolen vehicle, Wallace convinced Judge Paul Lamar the couple should be held for trial.
“We were co-defendants in the case,” Trigg told Disclosure. “Tara Wallace asked my wife to testify against me. She told my wife she would put me away for 14 years and dismiss all the charges against her.”
As with nearly every stunt Wallace has tried since being elected to office, this too backfired in her face…and she didn’t like it.
“My wife said she just laughed in the state’s attorney’s face and said, ‘I am not about to lie for you and put my husband in prison’,” Trigg said. “My wife said the state’s attorney’s face turned beet red and she said she would see the both of us in prison.”
Wife pleads, charges against husband dismissed…but…
On August 26, Schuff took a plea deal to one count of Aid/Abet/Possession of Stolen Vehicle and was sentenced to three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Since Schuff took responsibility for the stolen vehicle, charges against Trigg were dismissed on August 26 as well.
It is unclear if Wallace actually filed formal charges against Trigg or not.
What is clear is that from August 26 until October 8, he sat behind bars with no charges whatsoever legally holding him there.
A Disclosure judicial source said Wallace could have filed a charge against Trigg of Fleeing From Justice because of an Indiana warrant on bad check charges, but that she violated his Constitutional Rights by just holding him in a jail cell for no reason.
Trigg said he got word to Wallace that he would not fight extradition to Indiana on the bad check charges.
“But that at least requires a hearing,” the judicial source said. “It’s not like Mr. Trigg could just sign papers and get on a bus or in a police cruiser. There must be a proper hearing and he be given the opportunity to fight said extradition.”
That didn’t happen.
Judge expresses alarm over situation
Trigg said that despite several attempts to get Wallace to either charge him in Hardin County or set up an extradition hearing, she refused.
“I made sure she knew that Indiana had a Governor’s Warrant for me and all I needed was that hearing,” Trigg said. “She refused.”
In a court hearing on October 8, Judge Lamar ordered Wallace and Trigg both brought into the courtroom.
Judge Lamar asked Wallace point-blank, “Why is this man still being held in my jail?”
While Wallace stood there like a very large stump, Trigg told the judge that Indiana had a Governor’s Warrant and that he had made Wallace aware of it on several occasions.
When Judge Lamar looked at Wallace, she said she didn’t know anything about the Governor’s Warrant or any attempt by Trigg to inform her of it.
Lamar wrote in the record sheet “Defendant in custody; Defendant has been in custody on Indiana Warrant; Defendant has been held since 8/27/13. No charges have been filed in H.C. (Hardin County); Defendant ordered released since no charges have been filed.”
When Disclosure contacted Wallace at both her office and home about the matter, she refused to even come to the phone.
Sources have told Disclosure that Judge Lamar voiced concern over Wallace’s stunt, saying, “We (the county) are responsible for this…”
It is not clear if Trigg intends to sue Wallace at this point over violations of Constitutionally-protected rights.