7/30: "What is August 18?"8/4: "14 days to the 18th."
8/7: "Four days to the 18th of Aug." [A little problem with math, there.]8/9: "Who is BO going to delete on AUG 18? BO you wamt to play with the BULL you have to expect the horns."
8/11: "Hello People, hey BO six days and a wake up. Are you ready? Come to the court house and see for your self, see you on the 18th."
8/14: "Angle,Stoffa, BO, got caught with their arm in the cookie jar. Tuesday we will give you the line up for Thursday, stay tuned." [No line up provided]
8/14: "One good thing about having the prison next to the courthouse. The arrested councilmen won't have to walk far to attend the council meeting."
8/15: "Hi folks, well 2 days and a wake up. Do not forget Thursday 9:A.M."
8/17: "ATTENTION:
"THURSDAY AUGUST 18, 2011 AT 9 AM AT THE NORTHAMPTON COUNTY COURT HOUSE THE HONORABLE JUDGE BARATTA WILL HEAR A CASE INVOLVING THE POSSIBLE MIS-USE OF TAXPAYER FUNDS TO ILLEGALLY TRY AND STOP THE THE SALE OF GRACEDALE.
"Bernard O'Hare and Ron Angle will be represented by themselves.
"John Conklin will be represented by Christopher Spadoni.
"Election Board will be represented by Christopher Spadoni.
"John Stoffa will be represented by criminal defense Attorney George A Heitzman.
"Motion filed by Attorney Larry Otter.
"Everyone who is interested can see first- hand how their tax dollars have been spent and what extreme efforts were taken to try to prevent the voters from weighing in on the future of Gracedale----BE THERE THURSDAY!
"You just may find out some surprising facts about the character of our 'leaders.'"
8/17: "For a budinski, no-good-nik, Mr. know it all,with a mouth big enough that Condors build nests in it. The silence is deafening over on the hateblog, regarding tomorrows [sic] court date.
On April 28, 2011, Mr. Otter filed a motion that essentially accuses me of perjury during previous testimony in this matter. He repeated that accusation in subsequent amended motion on 5/5/11 and in a second amended motion on 6/13/11. From Spring to late Summer, he at no time has bothered to get a copy of the transcript. It took me one day, and it proves Otter wrong.
In addition to this serious charge, County Executive John Stoffa and his Director of Administration, John Conklin, have been accused of deceptive behavior. He forced Stoffa to go out and hire private counsel to defend himself on a spurious claim that would take all of two minutes of legal research.
For months, a dark cloud has hung over all of us, over charges that Ron Angle and I were secretly represented by Eckert Seamans. And while Eckert Seamans was secretly representing me, we were apparently secretly representing the County. Mr. Otter even mentions “unnamed co-conspirators.”
Mr. Otter has not been content to file four separate motions seeking attorney fees. He has also given WFMZ-TV69 two television interviews, comparing us all to Bonusgate defendants, and suggesting some of us might go to jail. He has told both The Morning Call and Express Times that he is demanding a criminal investigation, and this has all been dutifully reported. Several times.
Now he wants a continuance. Again.
How long is this nonsense going to continue?
In his letter, emailed sometime late today, he claims that Dee Rumsey, the Voter Registrar is a “key witness.” She's so vital she's never even mentioned in any of the numerous paragraphs in his sundry motionas for attorney fees. Her presence is just a waste of taxpayer money.
The real reason for this continuance request is simple – politics. He does not need the Registrar, but Mr. Otter would rather have a hearing date closer to Election Day, when he can do the most damage to Ron Angle with smear after smear, even though he will ultimately lose.
Otter's client, the Gracedale Initiative Petition Committee, has publicly advocated Angle's defeat at the polls this November and hosted a meet 'n greet for his opponent.
Mr. Angle, as I have told Mr. Otter many times, does not use email. So he was unaware of Otter's latest until I called him and informed him of this request last night. He asked me to inform you that he believes this latest request for a continuance is politically motivated - nothing more than an attempt to get a hearing closer to Election day.
I'd also like to point out that Mr. Angle and I jointly filed Preliminary Objections in this matter on May 25. Now Mr. Otter did file another amended motion for attorney fees after that, but he withdrew that motion. So I believe, and respectfully suggest, that our Preliminary Objections are outstanding and have not been rendered moot.
Mr. Otter has filed no reply brief. He has made outrageous statements concerning perjury and deceptive behavior, has repeated those allegations, but has made no effort to determine the truth. Between 4/28/11 and now, Mr. Otter could have easily obtained a transcript of my testimony, which disproves one of his oft-repeated allegations. His reckless allegations provide ample basis for our own motion for sanctions, pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 1023.2.
Although sorely tempted, Mr. Angle and I have chosen not to seek sanctions ourselves because this Court already has enough real work to do.
But we have been accused of serious misconduct, and those charges have been allowed to linger. People who are not even parties to this matter – John Stoffa and John Conklin – have had their reputations impugned. It has seriously affected Mr. Conklin, whose background is emergency management, not the political world.
My own 1985 suspension from the practice of law is once again a hot topic.So yes, I oppose Mr. Otter's latest politically motivated request for a continuance. Moreover, I believe we have all waited long enough for Mr. Otter to act professionally, instead of repeating allegations he knows are untrue. I also request this Court to sustain my Preliminary Objections and dismiss Mr. Otter's motion because it is obviously frivolous on its face. He should not be rewarded for making baseless accusations of perjury, or for calling the County Executive a liar.
If this Court would rather hear the evidence, that's fine, too. But let's do it now, not at election time.Mr. Otter's request for a continuance was DENIED by Judge Baratta yesterday. The show must go on. And it goes on today. A little newsflash for the Gracedale Gang. No matter how many people you corral, the law is still the law. No matter how much you taunt, the law is still the law. Otter will now have to prove his case to a Judge instead of WFMZ-TV69 or Gracedale unions. And guess what? We'll have an opportunity to present our case, too, and to cross-examine the witnesses who testify against us. There can be no anonymous accusers in a Courtroom. I'm looking forward to it.
To prevent the usual anonymous trolls, I have disabled anonymous commentary on this post. Commentary is still enabled, but it's under DISCUSS, where I will have the IP and ISP for every comment.