Stalker
It saddens me to have to post this information. A mental ill man in our area has chosen to harass and stalk me and threaten my life. I have obtained two person safety orders against this man. His name is Mark Vance Halburn. Mr. Halburn operates a web site called putnamlive. I have been told he harasses and threatens people into advertising on his web site or they will suffer his malicious accusations and rants. I have been told by people that have contacted the "advertisers" on Mr Halburns web site, that "the majority no longer pay him and the remainer are afraid not to for fear of losing business after his malicious posts". The majority of this page contains legal documents detailing the extent of Mr Halburn’s serious mental health issues. Rest assured that anything Mr Halburn posts about me is largely false and meant to harass and intimidate me in retaliation for attempting to protect his own child, my wife’s daycare employees, and my family from his threats to our safety. Also rest assured that everything possible has been done to ensure our safety.
My History with Mr Halburn:
My first encounter with Mr Halburn was in the fall of 2012. I was asked by my ex-wife to talk to Mr Halburn about his constant phone calls, harassment, and menacing of the staff of the Winfield PJ’s Daycare and Preschool. Mr Halburn’s child was in PJs Preschool at the time. Mr Halburn, through his own actions (read his divorce order and you will be shocked by what he has done), was only able to see his child for a few hours a week. The preschool director informed me that Mr Halburn would call the preschool dozens of times a day disrupting the function of the school. She further reported that when Mr Halburn’s constant calls were not answered, he would harass and menace the director and employees. I tried to intervene with Mr Halburn to get him to understand that his child was in preschool and he should not be called so often, and we arranged for him to call at specific times. Mr Halburn agreed and then broke his agreement. I spoke to Mr Halburn’s lawyer in an attempt to resolve the issue. Mr Halburn broke another agreement not to call frequently and harass the employees. Finally, Mr Halburn threatened to kill me, destroy me and the preschool if he was not allowed to call his son whenever he wanted. He further demanded millions of dollars for every time he could not talk to him on the phone. At this point, I did some research into who Mr Halburn was, including calling local law enforcement and discovered that Mr Halburn has serious mental health issues and his threats should be taken seriously. I obtained a temporary personal protective order from a Kanawha County Magistrate immediately.
A temporary order is issued after a magistrate reviews your complaint until a formal hearing with both parties can take place. At the formal hearing, Mr Halburn became so agitated that the magistrate ordered two guards to stand behind him. At the formal hearing, the magistrate heard both sides and granted a 1-year personal protective order against Mr Halburn. Mr Halburn appealed this protective order to the Kanawha County Circuit Court. The circuit Court denied the appeal and upheld the original order. Mr Halburn appealed the order again about 8-9 months later and that appeal was again denied.
Mr Halburn violated the order several times over the next year by coming onto my ex-wife’s business property, coming onto my property, stalking my ex-wife, and following my ex-wife’s daycare employees. Mr Halburn apparently is intelligent enough to read the fine print and push his harassment just to the edge of violating the strictest interpretation of the original order. My ex-wife’s Winfield Daycare was scheduled to move into the Teays Valley Nazarene Church on Teays Valley road in August of 2013. Mr Halburn’s child was still enrolled at the daycare. When Mr Halburn found out where we were moving, he called many of the church board’s members and threatened to sue them if they allowed our daycare to move to their church. The church board then terminated our lease effectively closing that daycare.
The original protective order expired in October of 2013. In mid December 2013, Mr Halburn was waiting on me outside of the WCHS/WVAH TV Station in Charleston. I have appeared on a live Pediatrician On Call show just after 7am for almost a decade. His car was parked in front of my car partially blocking it. When I came out of the TV Station, Mr Halburn approached me with his video camera in hand. I was unsure if Mr Halburn had a weapon and he had threatened my life just over a year earlier, therefore I got in my car, backed out of the space and drove to the hospital. I called 911 to report Mr Halburn stalking me while enroute. I also drove on a different route and drove around a building to see if Mr Halburn was actually following me, which he was. Mr Halburn was not able to follow me onto the secured parking lot at the hospital. Mr Halburn later called the TV Station asking why they allowed me to park illegally on their parking lot. He called the hospital and asked them the same thing. Later that day, I obtained the second temporary personal safety order against Mr Halburn for stalking me. A hearing was scheduled on 12/17/2013. Mr Halburn reportedly asked for that hearing to be postponed stating that he worked from 9am to 9pm everyday, despite the fact he does not have a job, his only income comes from advertisers on his website. His request was denied. Mr Halburn did not appear at the hearing despite being properly served with the notice. Mr Halburn actually posted the video of his stalking me on utube and I presented this and other evidence to the magistrate. The magistrate followed proper procedure and issued a 2 year personal safety order against Mr Halburn. Mr Halburn has appealed the order to the circuit court. To date, two circuit court judges have recused themselves due to previous harassment of their staff by Mr Halburn.
Mr Halburn has the right to free speech, as does the rest of the citizens of the United States. With that right comes the ethical responsibility to not unjustifiably harm others using that right. Mr Halburn chooses to use his right to free speech to intimidate and harass his fellow citizens. One problem I have with the current state of our legal system is that someone’s right to free speech should stop when it involves incorrect, harassing, and threatening speech. If someone uses their right to free speech in a way that unjustly harms you or threatens you, then you have to use the legal system to obtain recourse. There is a difference between criminal and civil proceedings. If Mr Halburn threatens to kill the President, then he will face a criminal proceeding backed by the power of prosecutors employed by our government. If Mr Halburn makes false accusations, harasses and threatens a private citizen or business, they must use the civil system to seek recourse. The civil system is very slow and costly. Ultimately it comes down to this: you get the justice you can pay for. In the end, the most effective recourse is a monitory one in which Mr Halburn could be forced to pay restitution for his transgressions. But Mr Halburn has no property or income worth paying a lawyer to sue him for. Obtaining a court order against Mr Halburn is largely ineffective as he has repeatedly violated numerous orders as you will soon read about. Thus Mr Halburn is largely free to unleash the effects of his mental illness on his fellow citizens largely without penalty.
Most divorce orders are 5-10 pages. A complicated one might take 20-30 pages. Mr Halburn’s is 41 pages long, most of which addresses his serious mental health issues.Here are a few excerpts from his divorce order that will give you an idea of Mr Halburn’s mental status:
1.Two separate forensic psychiatrists evaluated Mr Halburn. Both agree that
“Mr. Halburn has been distressed, upset, and angered by what he perceives as improper due process and believes that he is the target of the authorities. All of this is the result of a severe personality disorder which predates any of the alleged stressors. It should be noted that Mr. Halburn's psychological profile and behavior would suggest that he has propensity for aggressive behavior, No history of overt violence is found; however, given his degree of agitation and volatility noted during our examination, any threats made by Mr. Halburn should be taken seriously and dealt with appropriately.“
2.Mr Halburn has been arrested numerous times over his behavior:
“:Mr. Halbum's arrests follow the pattern clearly seen by the mental health professionals: he generates needless conflict and then overreacts when his bullying tactics are resisted. In January 2007 he was arrested for making harassing, obscene and threatening phone calls. In August 2008 he was arrested for trespassing and assault. In August 2009 he was arrested for trespassing. In October 2012, at the conclusion of the first day of trial in this case, he was arrested formaking harassing phone calls. The fact that he was later convicted on only one of the charges is immaterial (the trial on the last charge is still pending). It is the arrest itself which could result in psychological and / or physical harm to the child. Moreover, there is no reason to believe that this pattern will change since, as Dr. Hudson, his own witness, noted Mr. Halburn"".sees little need for changes in his behavior."”
3.The family court judge spent a considerable amount of the divorce order detailing Mr Halburn’s mental health issues beginning this whole section with:
“During the course of this case, ', Halhum's personality disorder, as diagnosed by two mental health experts, not only surfaced, but it became even more bizarre, irrational and divorced from reality as the case progressed, leading the Court to conclude that the risk that Mr. Halbum will become violent is closer to the opinion of Dr, Thistlewaite than to that of Dr. Hudson.”
4. Mr Halburn made numerous court filings in his divorce case after his own counsel was allowed to fire Mr Halburn as a client. The filings give an example of Mr Halburn’s state of mind:
a.Mr Halburn requested that “The court "must be ordered immediately pay for a beach trip" (sic) for the child”
b.Mr Halburn requested that “the court could order the State of West Virginia to build a zoo, near Charleston by 5:00 pm EDT, April 22, 2012 and to move the Atlantic Ocean to the State of West Virginia”
c.Mr Halburn “Commands that Ms. Halburn's counsel and the court personally fund a week long beach trip for [the child] upon receipt of this motion" and "must also fund the travel of [the child's] classmates and teachers to the beach . . . "
d.Mr Halburn“Wishes that "(the judge] should be permanently committed to Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital until he does society and favor and passes (sic)"
5. The following is verbatim from the divorce order: ” Mr. Halburn submitted the following fraudulent letter to the Clerk of the Supreme Court in which he impersonates a judicial official. The letter is reprinted in its entirety:
I Michael J. Kelly have violated the rights of Halburn and Mark
Halburn. I allowed Henry Glass to repeatedly lie in court. I refused to allow
Mark Halburn to correct Glass's lies and improperly threatened to throw Mark
Halburn out of a conference call hearing. I have repeatedly refused to correct my
improper temporary order. I violated Halburn's right to a Spring Break
vacation in Myrtle Beach. I am an embarrassment to the legal profession.
Therefore, I immediately vacate my temporary, order. I award Mark Halburn the
marital home and full custody of Halburn immediately. I then resign my position as Kanawha County Family court judge due to my in competency and arrogance. I agree to move to another state and never practice law or hold public office again.
6. Mr Halburns repeated ridiculous court filings, emails, text messages and phones calls to court officials in direct violation of court rules resulted in the Supreme Court of WV ordering the following regarding Mr Halburn:
Mark V. Halbum's communications are vexatious and frivolous;
All litigants in the courts of this State - including Mr. Halburn - must
comply with the appropriate court rules, none of which permit litigants to contact
court officials via personal telephone calls. e-mails, or text messages; and
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, that any future telephone calls, e-mails, email
attachments or text messages from Mark Halburn to court officials in this
State may be disregarded; and
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, that Mark V. Halburn ~ like all other litigants
in this State - is required to comply with the appropriate Court rules with regard to
pleading, practice and procedure, which require that all filings be submitted in
writing to the appropriate court clerk's office in which Mr. Halbum has a pending
IT IS HEREBY ORDRED, that any further communications from Mark V.
Halbum to court officials or employees of the courtsystem that are vexatious,
frivolous, or do not comply with the terms of this order will be referred to the
appropriate authorities for possible criminal prosecution.
7. Mr Halburn actually asks that the judge be ordered to “revive his dead mother” as follows:
In perhaps his most outrageous invective, Mr Halburn writes that "Judge Kelly sat back and allowed :Mrs. Halburn to die without seeing her grandson, in 2012. He should be ordered to revive her and pay for trip to California to see her at Kelly's personal expense." (Emphasis added); andMr. Halburn's demand that the Court be ordered to revive his deceased mother establishes beyond cavil that Mr. Halburn's personality disorder cannot be controlled and that it presents a real, elevated and increasing risk to safety and well-being as his grip on reality deteriorate.
8. In one of the most concerning part to me regarding the potential for Mr Halburn to turn violent, the court noted:
On September 29, in direct defiance of the Supreme Court's Administrative Order,
Mr. Halburn sent the following email to the Administrative Director of the Supreme Court in which he admits to hearing "voices":
Subject: Potential threat
While taking photos of today' s Poca Heritage Days event, a male voice came up
behind me and said something to the effect of, "If you need someone to take care
of Watkins or Kelly for you, just let us know ... " I don't know if that means
cooking them homemade cheesecake or a threat of violence. When I turned
around, all I saw was numerous people of both genders milling around. I asked,
"Did someone just talk to me?" and only received blank stares ... I never saw the
person, and do not recognize the voice. I am deaf in my right ear with a constant
ringing noise (because of past infection) and have a tough time distinguishing
which side of me sounds are corning from because of "the bounce" effect. While I
have a hearing aid device I do not wear it around crowds because it makes all of
the noise rather irritating.
Rest assured I WILL NOT be publishing this as I do not want to encourage any
nuts out there to do anything illegal or harmful-even to judges that I do not like. I
am not filing a police report because it can be acquired through FOIA. You are the
ONLY person I am revealing this to for obvious reasons.
Similarly, I do not publish the phone numbers and addresses of elected officials,
candidates, and law enforcement officers-even when such information is part of
election filing documents and public records. I will not make it easy for ANYONE
If you want to call me to discuss this further, feel free. I will AL WAYS try to do
the right thing. However, there really isn't anything more to say. I just wanted you
to be aware of the situation. It happened right after the parade when I was walking
north on Route 62 towards the school parking lots.
Obviously I will NEVER ask anyone to "take care" of anybody in any sort of
Mr Halburn was either informing the court of a veiled threat he is making regarding the court officials or he is hearing voices, which is a sign of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a disorder in which one does not see reality correctly. Schizophrenics are at extreme risk for committing violence if commanded by the “voices” or due to hallucinations forcing them to commit a violent act.
9. Yet another example of Mr Halburn’s mental health issues causing him to not follow societal norms the court noted:
Also in September 2012, while attending the mandatory parent education class required of all divorcing parents, Mr. Halburn became irate at the content of the video that is part of the curriculum. He demanded the right to address the class and told the class instructor that she was “out of line" for not permitting him to speak. The instructor left the class to find a deputy and Mr. Halburn was soon escorted from the premises.
