The First Appellate Court has just weighed in on the landmark fraud suit brought by District Attorney Paul Gallegos against Pacific Lumber. Gallegos has lost. The trial court decision to toss the case on demurrer was affirmed in full.
More to come…
UPDATE: The appellate court decision can be found here (.pdf).
This article appears in Send Out The Clowns.
Ya beat me to it!
The court’s decision means that a corporation, or any entity, has the right to lie in pursuit of a government permit, with immunity from prosecution by a DA.
Some will celebrate because Gallegos lost, when really it is the public that loses.
For once Ken is right….the public lost big time. All of the time and money paying back Debbie August, all of that divisiveness just to be a hero for his handlers in Ken’s little crusade And soon, the patently transparent political stunt with Douglas and Zanotti.
Thank goodness the Supes backed off on the request for the big bucks outside counsel.
Oh yes you’re right Ken…the public lost. And so did you. A lot of taxpayer money and even more public trust.
The Court’s decision means your boy didn’t have a case and didn’t understand the law. If you want to discuss the ‘right to lie’ take it up with Salzman….or just look in the mirror. Or you could just read the decision carefully.
Write yourself a prescription, I think you’re going to need it.
It’s a long way back from this one.
You can say what you want about Mr. Miller, but he is right on this point. This means that anyone can lie on any permit, including a building permit, and get away with it as “lobbying”. Pretty serious stuff.
Er…that’s Dr. Miller
You too should read the case and the decision. Your conclusion is completely wrong. It does not mean that at all.
“Mr.” Miller is using that same old tired,. Tim Stoen excuse for losing the case before the trial court. Read it….then post your legal opinion.
No, Ken – it means that both sides get to present their case in any dealings with public entities – without fear of judgement by biased officials or predatory litigants like yourself.
You say they lied. That doesn’t make it true.
And the justices point out in no uncertain terms that this case in particular had plenty of review, took place in full public view with loads of public comment and oversight by numerous governmental agencies resulting in 80,000 pages of documents. They found it unlikely that one document, submitted AFTER the filing period, and corrected voluntarily shortly thereafter, still BEFORE the decision was rendered, likely had no effect on the outcome.
They said that even after three tries, Gallegos case not only had no merit but wasn’t salvageable.
The “right to lie” rhetoric made the justices laugh, Ken.
Ken and his minion seem strangely quiet.
hmmmmmmmm
Well…..the spin will not be long in coming.
“Right to Lie”
“paul out gunned by the hot shot, high priced specialized attys”
“The courts and media biased against the hard working fraud crusader.”
“Corporate control is everywhere….dammit”
Hank….please interview Stoen and Miller. It should make for a lively piece.
You mean “this case is a slam dunk!” Stoen? “Four pieces of paper and two expert witnesses and this case is over” Stoen?
And the “stunned” Dr. Miller? So “surprised” that the courageous DA filed this case?
Oh I missed one.
Credit to Larry Evans on Heraldo’s blog.
The corrupt Maxxam wins a victory over the best interests of the common working souls.
Well hell, Maxxam however corrupt it might be, was not the moving party in this corrupt case and its hard to figure where the greatest injustice flies.
Volumes of twisted rhetoric do not change the fact that this was a political pay back and a cheap stunt and the common working souls got their tax monies squandered on some high stakes playground antics.
Spin it Larry….Ken, for the moment is silent.
Ahhhhhhh
The spin machine is searching for some traction. Now they’ve fallen back on blaming the Supervisors for not letting Gallegos bring in Cotchett to head up Ken Miller’s lawsuit.
Go back and check the record – Gallegos/Stoen brought a faxed draft copy of a proposed contract with Cotchett before the Board.
The Board expressed concern that this had not been reviewed by County Counsel. Among the questions asked (which then NCJ editor Keith Easthouse deemed irrelevant) was whether or not their decision that day to deny it precluded Gallegos from making the necessary corrections, and coming BACK in with a final (not a draft) proposal that addressed the questions.
The answer was that nothing was stopping him from coming back. The answer was that he was free to come back.
HE NEVER DID.
Miller, Stoen, Gallegos all have the Goebbels big lie down pat. Tell a big lie, keep repeating it, never back down. The ugly truth is that a lot of people want to believe that lie, it fits with their agenda, too, and so you can count on a goodly number of co-conspirators to keep your lie alive. As for reading the opinion, heaven forfend. Maybe we could get all the copies of the opinion, and burn them, along with the CAST minutes and stats, the Penal Code, and Tim Stoens emails.
With respect to Tim Stoen’s emails – I just wish we could have known more – and much more could be requested by Public Records Act Request – specifically, emails and faxes between he and John Burton regarding this -&*/#!~ this… suit. It would be nice to know the real genesis of it.
Evans is nuts. Has spent to much time winning over college kids with dope and lies. Can’t figure out why adults,intellegent adults,judges won’t fall for his maxanistan rants. Sad very sad that his groups have had so much power in our community. Love PL,hate Huriwitz,hate EPIC,love this place.
[…] Thanks to Hank for noticing. […]