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Before I go on, let me remind you again that these are the very people who
are elected and appointed to office to guarantee that something like this
doesn't happen, but if it does, the government will protect you. I thought that
was part of the reason I pay so many taxes: for the government to protect me
and my rights under the United States Constitution. Yeah, right, when monkeys
fly backwards.
When the selection of the jury took only a few minutes, I could see the
handwriting on the wall. They had this trial so professionally rigged and
well-scripted that they must have written a manual for each one of them to
follow. Everyone knew exactly what he had to do and did it to perfection. As it
ended up, there was a three-way tie for who protected the mayor the most: the
defense attorney, the prosecutor or Judge Spore.
When it came time for me to testify, I knew before I went up there that it
would be the only chance I'd have to tell the jury exactly what happened.
Unfortunately for me though, when I got up on the stand, I could tell by the
way the attorneys were asking questions that they weren't going to give me that
chance.
I wanted to explain to the jury what led up to the mayor losing his temper
and knocking me through several rows of chairs. I wanted to tell them about
being arrested by the mayor and then about being tried by him in the Rossford
mayor’s court. I also wanted to tell them how aggravated and humiliated the
mayor was when he had to dismiss his case against me in his own court.
I further planned on telling them that the very day after the mayor dropped
the case, the Rossford prosecutor received an anonymous phone call at home in
the evening telling him that we were accepting hazardous waste.
I would also explain to them about being arrested for the second time and
being taken to the police station. I would finish by telling them exactly what
happened in the courtroom closet and then in the courtroom, and let them decide
who was telling the truth.
I had no problem with that scenario whatsoever. As a matter of fact, when
the trial started, besides my uncle, the jury persons were the only people in
the courtroom whom I trusted. The only problem was that the attorneys
controlled everything I said. Every time I tried to explain to the jury what
led to the assault, both attorneys objected. That's right. The defense attorney
and the prosecutor would both object!
I don’t claim to be an expert on court procedures, but that was the first
time I'd ever seen anything like that happen. Once I was on a jury, and as a matter
of fact was the jury foreperson. And I've watched trials on television before.
Anytime one attorney objected to anything, the other attorney would argue
against the objection. This was the only time I ever witnessed both attorneys
objecting consistently to the same issue. There was just no way they were going
to allow me to tell anything more than they wanted the jury to know. I would
guess that at least 99% of the questions they asked me demanded I answer with
just a "yes" or "no," and Judge Spore made sure that's all
I said.
Since the judge, prosecutor and defense attorney were manipulating the
entire trial, it wouldn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out that the mayor was
going to walk free. Before the jury left the room I knew what the verdict was
going to be. And it was: "not guilty." The trial and verdict were
decided well before we ever walked in the building.
I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but I simply couldn't believe that the
government was this crooked. The thing that stuck in my mind most was the fact
that this was my own government doing this to me--the very same people who are
entrusted by law to protect me so something like this doesn't happen. What a
joke.
The mayor of Rossford didn't walk away because he was innocent. He was
guilty as hell. The only reason he got off was that two local governments were
more than willing to rig a trial. On top of that, the highest elected and
appointed officials of the Rossford government were more than willing to commit
perjury, no sweat. Whatever it took to walk away clean.
Well, after watching this go down the way it did, I can't even find the
words to tell you what I felt inside. Was I angry? Hell yes. But what could I
do? I couldn't beat the truth out of them. Well, I was angry enough to, but who
would understand that? No one, because you’re supposed to go by the rules. The
only problem with that is: How do you go by the rules when the government
doesn't? Unfortunately, my only hope was Art James and by then he too was in
their pocket.
You probably are asking yourself the same questions I've asked myself a
million times: Why would two prosecutors and a judge do this? What could they
possibly gain for rigging these trials? To tell you the truth, I'm not even
sure. But if I had to guess, I'd say the Rossford prosecutor did it for the
fees, since he was either on a retainer or a pay-as-you-go basis with the city,
to say nothing of the political favor he would gain with the mayor and council.
As for the special prosecutor from Lucas County, I'd guess his payoff would
have to come in the way of a political favor, like being assigned high profile
cases where he could make a name for himself; or maybe it was a promotion. I
really don't know how that system operates so it's difficult to tell exactly
how they would do it, but there is no doubt in my mind that somehow he was
rewarded for his complicity. Sometime after this the special prosecutor wound
up working for the U.S. Attorney’s office. Hmmm... Isn't that coincidental?
As for as Judge Spore-- I really don't know how the political system pays
off a judge either. I don't think they'd just hand him cash, but they could if
it was in the form of campaign contributions. Or maybe it was the support of
both political parties in the next election. One political party endorses him
and the other makes sure he doesn't have much competition in his next race.
Believe it or not, they actually do things like that around here.
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