Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals to rule on ethics commissioner rewriting ethics law
When faced with a single goal, in this case, embarrass Donald Trump’s administration; there is little doubt that one would choose the path of least resistance. That’s exactly what Cynthia Propst Raulston did when she pursued charges against Trump’s southeast regional director for the Environmental Protection Agency. Unfortunately for her, her weapon of choice, the Alabama Ethics Law, is clear – there’s a straight line from Point A (a complaint) to Point B (a resolution). By her actions, skipping the legally declared path for resolving a complaint, Raulston unilaterally declared herself and her office as powerful as that of Attorney General Steve Marshall. Let me explain how. The Alabama Ethics law is written without much room for interpretation. The “shall’” versus the “may” doesn’t leave room for guessing. Any first-year law student can tell you that. The process as described by the Ethics office requires a commission vote prior to going to a grand jury. Don’t believe me? Here are the exact words from the Ethics Commission website and I quote: Upon investigation a complaint may be: Closed because the Ethics Commission does not have jurisdiction regarding the alleged wrongdoing or the Statute of Limitations has expired. Dismissed due to lack of evidence to support the complaint. >Presented to Commission for Determination of Probable Cause. “Presented to the commission for determination of probable cause.” Nope, no ambiguity there. I don’t even need a law degree to understand the process. Going to the commission is an important step of due process of those facing complaints given the commission is not controlled by any one individual and the commission itself is charged with enforcing the ethics law. The makeup of the commission’s members is 2 appointees by the governor, 2 by the speaker of the house and 1 by the lieutenant governor. Each of which after being appointed has to be confirmed by the state senate. The current commissioners are: It was these five members Raulston circumvented by going straight to the grand jury. Read Anderton’s declaration, as filed, below: While her gumption and creativity could be lauded the effects of letting it stand presents a potentially chilling reality for the state of Alabama. Every time a new precedent is made chipping away at the structure of the law it weakens the law itself. This weakened foundation means that rouge prosecutors can go after just about anyone at any time in any manner they decide but more so the constant ambiguity also lends to the defense of those in the future who may seek an out when they do in fact break the law. Don’t for a moment think anyone is immune to the consequences of the decision before the court now. Due process is as important to the rule-followers as the rule-breakers because without it the process to determine which is which gets very fuzzy. The law § 36-25-4 says so very clearly, “In all matters that come before the commission concerning a complaint on an individual, the laws of due process shall apply.” The biggest problem in all of this is that either Propst Raulston unilaterally decided the rules didn’t apply to her or she did so with the support of the commissioners who have been silent to date. Right now the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals has in front of them a motion to right the wrong made by Propst Raulston and the Alabama Ethics Commission. Will they choose to take it?
Lies and coverups: Did Ethics Commission attorney lie?
The narrative that an Alabama environmental group, activists and some journalists sold in November sounded menacing: “Indictments had been brought against Donald Trump‘s Regional EPA appointee Trey Glenn and former business partner, Scott Phillips, a state environmental board member.” But the problem with this narrative, in their own words, is that these charges were an effort of the environmentalists at Alabama’s GASP themselves. GASP claimed in a November tweet, “Just so y’all know, Gasp made this possible. We were the ones whose presentation was shared by Glenn and Phillips. We paid for the exhibits in PACER so we could piece this story together. We did the leg work and the organizing. We need your support to keep doing it.” Once GASP “did and the leg work and organizing,” the indictments were spearheaded and pushed for by Ethics Commission lawyer Cynthia Propst Raulston. If Raulston’s maiden name sounds familiar, it’s because her sister, Stacie Propst, is the former the Executive Director of GASP. Stacie Propst and others took issue with the fact that a presentation she was to give before the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) commission, which Phillips sat on, was given to Glenn before the meeting. The presentation, which had been formally submitted to the commission, was already subject to Alabama’s open records laws, but that didn’t stop Propst’s supporters from crying foul once it was brought to light Phillips shared it with Glenn (who then shared it with his clients). AL.Com’s John Archibald described Propst’s in a column decrying the fact it was shared saying, “So Propst walked headlong into a buzz saw. She was, according to videos and minutes of the meeting, greeted with tough questions about data, degrees of health danger and whether you’d have to have a condition that makes you eat dirt to be harmed…” Certainly, there’s more to the charges being brought than just GASP and their former executive director’s sister, right? Kyle Whitmire from AL.Com broke the news of the indictments with a statement provided by the ethics commission. Whitmire reported, that, “The Alabama Ethics Commission lead the investigation after being asked for help by the Jefferson County District Attorney’s office.” He supported that with the following statement from the commission. “The Alabama Ethics Commission is committed to working with Alabama’s District Attorneys, and all enforcement agencies, whenever needed and asked to do so, to ensure enforcement of Alabama’s Ethics laws on behalf of the citizens of Alabama; and these indictments are evidence of that,” Alabama Ethics Commission Director Tom Albritton said in a press release. “I want to recognize the hard work from the Jefferson County DA’s office which requested our assistance in this important matter; and from our office, Cynthia Raulston, the Commission’s General Counsel, as well as Special Agents Dustin Lansford, Byron Butler and Chief Special Agent Chris Clark for their hard work and dedication to the enforcement of our Ethics laws.” That would be great except, The former Jefferson County DA, Mike Anderton, under penalty of perjury, has filed a formal declaration with the Circuit Court of Jefferson County that directly contradicts Whitmire’s reporting and the referenced Ethics Commission press statement. In it he says that Raulston was behind the entire case and that his office “had no plans to present any related matter to the grand jury.” He goes on to say his entire role in the case was just to facilitate Raulston’s use of the Jefferson County grand jury again, at her repeated request. Read Anderton’s declaration, as filed, below: So at the end of the day either the statement and claims from Allbrighton are factually incorrect or the sworn statement from Anderton is. Fortunately, we have the answer to how this all started, the tweet from Gasp says it all. So what’s next for those involved? At the February 11 arraignment of Glenn and Scott, where the charges were changed and some dropped, the defense filed for dismissal of the case in part for “malicious prosecution.” The judge made it clear that he would hold a hearing on the motion and that Raulston should be prepared to deal with the facts. The facts seem to point very clearly to misconduct on the part of the Ethics Commission and toward malicious prosecution.
Drug charges and second chances among topics JeffCo DA candidates spar over
Over 100 Alabamians, interested in faith and politics, filled Southside CME Church in Birmingham, Ala. Tuesday evening for the Alabama Faith in Action District Attorney (DA) Candidate Forum. There, Jefferson County District Attorney Mike Anderton and his challenger Danny Carr addressed the crowd on several relevant topics. Bail Anderton: Will not recommend cashless bond, or release to court, for ALL cases. “Low-level property crimes, low-level non-physical injury kind of crimes… if the bond has been set up to $5,000 that individual can sign his name and walk out without a problem,” Anderton explained. “But you also have to look at what happens if someone steals a car and gets out on a cashless bond, and steals another car. That may not be substantial harm to the community, unless it’s your car. If it’s your car you want something done about it.”He continued, “I’m going to take a look at each and every case as they come through and judge it on the facts of the case. This is all about treating everybody fairly.” Carr: “The number purpose of a bond shouldn’t be to punish that person,” said Carr. “The purpose of a bond is to ensure that person comes back and appears before that judge. If the bond’s sole purpose is to punish that purpose, it becomes punitive. For low-level offenders they should get a bond… Sentencing and diversion Carr: “I definitely believe in diversion programs,” said Carr. Carr suggested expanding diversion programs to some distribution cases. He also believe fines and fees for the programs should be waived where the person is indigent. Anderton: I absolutely believe in diversion programs. I think they’re terrific. Because the whole idea that someone has a drug or narcotic issue, we need to get them off,” responded Anderton. Anderton says for a small amount of possession, diversion programs make sense. But he does not believe it is appropriate for drug traffickers. Failure to appear (FTA) Anderton: “If I find out an individual has FTA’d because he wasn’t given notice, I’m not looking to lock him up. No, this has got to be fair. He can’t be expected to make an appointment he didn’t know about,” said Anderton. “Once an individual has an attorney, we, District Attorneys office, is not allowed to contact that defendant. It is unethical for us to contact the client of a lawyer… we can’t do it.” Carr: “We can agree on the part about a defendant — once they’re represented by an attorney, we can’t contact them. That would be unethical for us to call them up and say x, y, z.” Carr believes in giving defendants a second chance to appear, if the lawyer believes they can be tracked down, rather than issuing a warrant from the bench, an FTA. — Anderton and Carr will face-off on Tuesday, Nov. 6. Watch the live-stream of the forum:
JeffCo Sheriff, DA candidates face-off in debate
Jefferson County voters have more information about the candidates running for Jefferson County Sheriff and District Attorney (DA) thanks to a public debate hosted Sunday evening. DA candidates, Republican incumbent Mike Anderton and Democrat challenger Danny Carr faced-off first, before the Sheriff candidates, incumbent Republican Mike Hale and Democrat challenger Mark Pettway took the stage at the UAB campus. The debate was hosted by the Birmingham Association of Black Journalists and the Phi Iota Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. the debate also featured a voter education session, which answered questions such as: What issues will be on the ballot? How do you navigate the Alabama Voter website to find your polling place? How to register to vote. And how to absentee vote. DA debate Crime and recidivism Anderton: “My primary goal is to work with those who have gotten in trouble before, try to figure out why they have gotten in trouble,” Anderton said according to the Birmingham Times. “Is it poverty? Is it lack of education? Is it lack of a job?. . . Let’s work with those who have recently gotten out of prison or jail. So that we can work with them to take care of whatever their needs are. Theirs are just as important. They’re coming out and needing our help. “What we’ve got to do is make sure they have some hope, make sure they’ve got something in their future that they can walk to with pride and know that when they get there they’ve accomplished something.” Carr: “Make sure that we do things that benefit those individuals while they’re paying for the crime that they committed,” Carr said according to the Birmingham Times. “The worst thing that could happen is that they go in and come out worse . . . because then they come in our community [and cause even more problems]. We have to . . . make sure that you are placing people in the best position they can be in when they get out so that they won’t return to a life of crime.” Watch the DA debate below: Sheriff debate Body cameras Both candidates agreed that body cameras protect sheriff deputies and citizens. “This day and age there is no reason why we should not have body cameras,” explained Pettway. Watch the Sheriff debate below:
Kay Ivey appoints Mike Anderton as Jefferson County District Attorney
Gov. Kay Ivey on Wednesday appointed Mike Anderton to fill the vacancy of the Jefferson County District Attorney. Anderton’s appointment follows the ouster of DA Charles Todd Henderson who was found guilty of first-degree perjury by a jury in October. “I am proud to appoint Mike Anderton as Jefferson County District Attorney. Out of all the applicants, Mike had the most experience, and I know he will work effectively, and with integrity, for the people of Birmingham and all of Jefferson County,” Ivey said. Ivey continued, “Having dedicated his legal career to bringing justice to innocent victims and their families, and working 33 years in the Jefferson County DA’s Office, I am confident in Mike’s abilities to effectively serve as District Attorney.” After graduating from Auburn University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech Communication and beginning his professional career, Anderton went on to earn his Juris Doctorate from Cumberland School of Law. He began his legal career in the Fifth Judicial Circuit in Alexander City, Ala., in 1982 as an Assistant District Attorney. In 1984, he began working in the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office and still serves there presently. During his prosecutorial career, Anderton has participated in approximately 350 felony and misdemeanor jury trials, including numerous capital murders, homicides, drug offenses and property crimes. He was also part of the original “Vertical Prosecution Unit” which was formed by the District Attorney’s Office in 1991, to meet the special needs of victims and families of homicides and child sexual and physical abuse. Since 1987, he has served as Division Chief, wherein he supervises eight Deputy District Attorneys and many support personnel. “I thank Governor Ivey for placing her trust in me to serve as Jefferson County District Attorney. I am committed to putting my years of experience as a prosecutor to work for the people of the 10th Judicial Circuit in my new role as District Attorney,” Anderton said in a news release. “The Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office needs to continue its tradition of stability and integrity. I look forward to leading my office in the pursuit of justice, citizens’ trust and victims’ rights.” Anderton’s appointment is effective Friday, Dec. 1, 2017. He will serve until the 2018 general election.
