In her letter to DA Kelley, Ms. Kern said: “We find it disturbing that Dr. Chua was not afforded his fundamental ‘due process’ rights, was denied access to his legal counsel - along with your seizing his assets,  rendering him unable to pay his lawyer’s and witnesses’ fees,” Ms Kern said, adding “He was denied bail and as since been incarcerated for the last 7 and 1/2 months because you considered him a ‘flight risk.’ Ironically, however, we find it disingenuous that you’re alleged to have offered him a plea bargain to admit to just one drug charge and take a 2-year sentence.”

Dr. Chua has been charged for his alleged involvement in the death of James Carter III in December, 2005. An autopsy report held that Mr. Carter’s death was accidental, caused by the mixture of drugs ingested by the deceased.

Furthermore, toxicology report showed that the drugs found in the deceased were found to be all within the therapeutic level, including “methadone,” as prescribed by Dr. Chua.

“Despite the above findings, however, and after a 9-month long investigation, he was subsequently arrested on September 13, 2006, and charged with the murder of Mr. Carter, along with his alleged violations of Georgia’s Controlled Substance Act," the NaFFAA chair said.

She said “we believe that every American - including U.S. citizen Dr. Noel Chua - should have the basic right to challenge his arrest via a time-tested habeas corpus petition. Instead, you stripped him of that right, and it’s becoming apparent to s that your office rigged the Georgia justice system’s rules of procedures squarely against him."

“With all due respect, we contend that your stance on his case is so severely flawed that it makes one think that the kind of justice system you’re overseeing in Camden County is so tainted — if not racially biased and/or glaringly discriminatory against a Filipino-American, who has dutifully served his St. Mary’s community with his utmost professionalism and integrity, philanthropy and countless works of mercy - as attested to by the thousands of patients and citizens he has helped and cared for all these years," Ms Kern said.

She pointed out that Dr. Chua did not succumb to the DA’s  offer of plea bargain. “We’re proud of him that he chose to remain in prison rather than admit the guilt of a crime he did not commit.”

She continued: “What would be purported to be specific statements of facts may even lack the most fundamental earmarks of objective credible evidence amidst your unwillingness to consider exculpatory evidence that would have granted him his request for bail, if not his outright release from incarceration."

Lastly, the hallmark of our American Court system is etched in these words that ‘... justice delayed is justice denied.’  Accordingly, we are thankful that, after such a long wait, he will at long last see his day in Court on September 10, 2007.  Rest assured that Filipino-American leaders from NaFFAA and other organizations in Georgia and across the U.S. will be present to rigorously scrutinize how you would mete out the fiat of American justice.

“We the Filipino-Americans across Georgia and America are very much opposed to the way you’ve handled the case of Dr. Noel Natividad-Chua — an honorable Filipino-American citizen and a distinguished member of Georgia’s Camden County.

Under Georgia’s Court system of justice and the guidance of the U.S. Constitution, we look forward to witnessing this trial."

The Georgia Asian Times said in its latest issue that supporters of Dr. Chua are relieved that he will finally have his day in court. It said the Filipino American community in Georgia has galvanized efforts in recent weeks to get the authorities to free Dr. Chua on bail or to have the case set for trial.

“We are glad that the case will go to trial in court after almost a year. We are confident and optimistic on the outcome of this trial," said Willy Blanco, VP of Fil-Am of Atlanta, a local Filipino-American community organization.

Over $100,000 has been raised to date by the supporters of Dr. Chua to help pay for his legal defense, according to Blanco. “We plan to raise another $25,000 to help pay for legal fees and medical expert witnesses."

“We are outraged at the way Dr. Chua was treated initially and why he is in jail for so long, and being denied bond when there are other far more heinous cases that have been granted bail," said Dr. Ely Ellebera, a local physician and a supporter.

Prosecutors have tried to get Dr. Chua to accept a plea bargain of probation in exchange of a guilty plea to a lesser charge of violating Georgia’s Controlled Substance Act, but Chua flatly rejected the offer and demanded his day in court.

He was also charged with RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization) that gave the authorities the power to take control of all his assets.

Dr. Chua is represented by Attorney Donald Samuel, a Georgia criminal law expert who has published numerous books and  journals on criminal law. He reportedly told the Filipino-American community leaders that “there is no case against Dr. Chua” and that the death of Carter was “accidental,” as supported by the autopsy and toxicology reports.

One of Dr. Chua’s local supporter and strong advocate is none other than Sheriff Bill Smith of Camden County. Sheriff Smith befriended Dr. Chua and traveled with him to China to seek alternative treatment for his son in early 2006. Smith’s son is paralyzed from an automobile accident.

The sheriff admitted on July 17 at a Camden County Commission meeting that he is somewhat caught in the middle of the case.

Prosecutors filed a motion on July 26 in an attempt to move the trial out of Camden County. Assistant District Attorney Jackie Johnson filed a motion to recuse Sheriff Smith due to his advocacy for Dr. Chua. The motion also said Dr. Chua is ‘not secure in the Camden County Detention Center."

The GAT said the Filipino-American community continues to rally support and organize fund raising effort to help pay for the doctor?s legal defense expenses. “We hope to increase the moral support from the general public and the community’s letter writing campaign to the District Attorney office about the injustice," said Blanco who visits with Dr. Chua regularly.

“The death of James Carter is unfortunate, but what happened to Dr. Chua is a terrible injustice. If such injustice could happen to Dr. Chua, it could happen to anyone including you and me," added Blanco.

The 47-year old Dr. Chua has an impeccable personal and professional background. He was a high school valedictorian, magna cum laude in Medical Technology, Number 1 in the Med-Tech Board in 1987, and a consistent honor student.

He graduated from the Far Eastern University Medical School in Manila, Number 11 in the Medical Board. He had highest distinction honors after completing his Master?s degree in Health Care Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University.

Last month, Dr. Chua gave an exclusive interview to Edmund Silvestre of the weekly Filipino Reporter in New York, complaining of how his constitutional rights were trampled and how he intends to fight till the end to restore his dignity and reputation.

The Reporters story said “Dr. Noel Chua is angry, desperate and helpless. For close to a year now, the Filipino-American Georgia physician, who is a medical graduate ofthe Far Eastern University in Manila and ranked 11th in the 1992 board exam, remains locked up as his legal troubles drag on with no end in sight.

In the interview, Dr. Chua said he was a friend of the family of Mr. Carter and had hired him as a filing clerk and to assist patients. He said he only became aware of his drug history from his family after his death.

The doctor was accused of murder after Carter died from ingesting prescribed and unprescribed drugs. “They charged  me with murder saying the drugs I prescribed had no legitimate medical purpose," he said.

Asked why he was charged, Dr. Chua said “It’s all about abuse of power on the part of the authorities to help a family (Carter’s) shift their guilt to someone else. There’s also racial discrimination. The DA has other motives than to accept the truth that James Carter was responsible for his actions. The DA, with the help of the chief investigator, misled the grand jury to believing I prescribed medications without any legitimate medical purpose based on one other doctor’s affidavit. But the toxicology report alone shows there were drugs in James Carter’s system that I did not prescribe and were not supposed to be mixed together."

Asked why he rejected the plea bargain offer, the doctor said “I’d rather go to prison than admit to a lie.”

The doctor also recounted how he was transferred to another county jail because the authorities knew I would be treated fairly in Camden county where he had established a good practice with more than 1,000 patients.

He said: “The law requires that I should be detained in the county where I reside but the DA requested the judge to sign an order to transport me to Glynn County which is about 35-40 miles away from Camden County . They know I would be treated fairly in Camden County  so they took me to Glynn County to be maltreated there. I stayed there for approximately six weeks and had minimal contact with family and friends. My lawyer found the Georgia Code that they violated, and he filed a motion asking the DA to provide a valid reason why I was taken to Glynn County . The DA could not justify his action so the judge was forced to sign an order to bring me back to Camden."

Dr. Chua said his “assets have been seized and a receiver was appointed by the court after he was falsely accused of racketeering, clearly an attempt to prevent me from financing my defense. I never did any racketeering activity. This receiver was allowed to charge my account for their services in unbelievable amounts to drive my finances to zero. They had already forced me to sell one of my investment properties. They were forcing me to sell my house or office."

He added that before his arrest, he had over $120,000 in cash in the bank. The last statement he received from the receiver showed his account was down to about $10,000.

“I cannot believe that they can charge me or use up my money when they haven’t convicted me. The court appointed them so the court should have been paying them, but the receiver has already withdrawn over $50,000 from my account for themselves, not specified as fees or anything," he told the Reporter.

Dr. Chua said that since this happened to him, “it could happen to anybody. We really eed to think more about people who are falsely imprisoned.”

He said his parents in Manila could not believe what was happening to him.

Dr. Chua also appealed to the community to help him “against  this discrimination and injustice.”