|
There's no doubt in my mind that this decision panicked the Political Good
Old Boy Network, because they went into overtime rigging this next trial. By
now they were prepared to go to whatever extremes necessary, because they knew
they had to win this case. They also knew they couldn't afford to make any more
mistakes.
I want to take you through this next episode step by step so you can see
just how unprincipled, manipulative and outright corrupt these people really
were.
When it came time for the mayor’s trial in Perrysburg, whatever confidence I
had left in the legal system ended abruptly. The Political Good Old Boy Network
knew that to win this time, they would have to control every aspect of the
trial. The most important thing was that they make this trial appear
legitimate. And what better way than to have a trial by jury? Supposedly, that
way no one could point a finger at them because a jury would decide if the
mayor was guilty or not. Their hands would seem clean.
To make this scheme work, they would have to hand pick a judge whom they
trusted and a prosecutor who would do exactly what they wanted him to do.
Before we appeared for the trial it never even occurred to me that they had the
power to do this, but they did.
Going into this trial, the only thing I felt we would have in our favor
would be Judge Wetli, because he gave the appearance of being an honest and
fair judge. From my past experiences with these people, I knew they had to do
something crooked to win this case, I just didn't know what yet.
It didn't take long to find out. As I walked into the Perrysburg courthouse
I thought to myself that it was strange I had never spoken to whoever was going
to prosecute the case. It seemed strange that the prosecutor wouldn't take the
time to at least talk to me and ask me what happened, if for no other reason
than to see if he believed me or if I would make a credible witness. I mean, he
wasn't prosecuting the bag lady; this was the mayor of the city.
Personally, I don't think I've ever heard of an attorney who didn't care if
he won or lost a case, especially a government attorney. To these people,
winning is everything, and they generally are willing to go to whatever extreme
necessary to do it. What made this case any different?
I'm not 100% positive, but I think that's how they advance to a higher
position. If I'm not wrong, I think they’re judged by their win/loss record. As
I was about to find out, in this case political favors scored a much higher
rating.
When we walked into the courtroom, I soon discovered how they planned on
pulling this off. After we entered the courtroom, I walked up to the
prosecutor’s table and introduced myself. The prosecutor told me his name was
David Bauer. The very first thing that went through my mind was that he and
Louie had the same last name. I didn't say anything but I hoped that they
weren't related. Then I asked the prosecutor where he came from. Was he a Wood
County prosecutor? He looked at me with an irritated expression and in a tone
indicating he wasn't interested in discussing anything with me, stated that he
was from the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office.
At that point I thought to myself, "Why would they go to Lucas County
to get a prosecutor when we were in Wood County?" About this time I
happened to look up and see Judge Spore walking toward the bench. It didn't
take much imagination to figure out: the Political Good Old Boy Network was
about to strike again.
I glanced back at the prosecutor and asked if Judge Spore was going to hear
the case. Without looking at me, he replied that, yes, he was. I told him that
Judge Spore had already removed himself from hearing the case because I had
told Judge Spore in an open court that I thought he was a crooked judge. I
asked him what had happened to Judge Wetli, and why he wasn't hearing the case.
The prosecutor looked at me with a stern expression and said that Judge
Spore had been put back on the case. He added that I didn't have a choice in
who was going to hear the case. His advice for me was to sit down and be quiet,
because I was nothing more than a witness for the state.
By then it was all too apparent that I was fighting a lost cause. As long as
they could keep these cases on their turf, I'd never stand a chance of
obtaining a fair hearing, let alone of winning.
I sat there thinking to myself, "I can't believe this, they are
actually going to do it again!" By now it was all too apparent that the
Political Good Old Boy Network had gotten Judge Spore put back on the case. To
top that off, they gave me a prosecutor who didn't even want to talk to me, let
alone prosecute the case successfully.
Whoever went to the Lucas County prosecutor’s office instead of the Wood
County prosecutor’s office wasn't looking for someone to successfully prosecute
the case. They were looking for someone to throw the case--in their favor, of
course. If they were concerned about a fair trial, they could have moved the
trial to another county.
I had to give the Political Good Old Boy Network credit for this one. They
had the judge they wanted, they had the prosecutor they wanted, and it's a
given that they had the defense attorney of their choosing. It doesn't get any
better than that.
|