Remember Clinton Oxford?

(Updated Saturday, 9/13/14)

Clinton Oxford looks like a very scary guy in The Express Times picture accompanying his stalking trial story this week. In reality, rather than looking like a monster, he looks like an idiot, especially with his Jim Carey Dumb and Dumber haircut. I watched bits and pieces of the trial.  I figured it was the least I could do because, at one time, he was a regular on this blog.

Of all the people in the world, he decided to stalk his probation officer. A Jim Carey move, to be sure.

When he started commenting here, I knew Clinton was a former inmate. But he was clean and sober, so I actually encouraged him. I even suggested he should return to school.

His comments really offended Tricia Mezzacappa, Jim Gregory and the Blog Mentor. That made me like him more. They regularly accused me of using "Clinton Oxford" as a pseudonym. Jim Gregory and Mezzacappa even made that claim on their short-lived radio show.

I guess they know now they got that wrong.*

A few months before his troubles, Clinton stopped commenting here. I later learned from one of the jail volunteers that he had fallen off the wagon. The demons had returned.

I also know his probation officer, whose name has already been mentioned enough. She is highly intelligent and very capable. More than that, she is a genuinely nice person who tries to help her clients. When I heard the kinds of emails that Clinton was sending to her, I was disgusted. When I heard that he was even walking by her former home, I was appalled.

She did nothing to deserve this kind of mistreatment.

Clinton had also started lying. He had falsely accused someone (a male and a recovering alcoholic) of sexually assaulting him. In reality, this guy refused to allow Clinton to use drugs in his home. Police determined that Clinton was a liar and were considering charges. It's around that time that he went off the deep end with his probation officer.

District Attorney John Morganelli took this case very seriously, as he should. He assigned one of his best prosecutors, Rich Pepper, to try the case. And try it he did. I torment Pepper because he's a shitty sailor, but he is a classic barrister. All he needs is a frickin' powdered wig. He knew when to raise his voice for dramatic effect. At one point, he himself peppered the victim with questions in rapid succession, using all the foul language contained in those emails, knowing that the victim would start crying and be even more appealing to the jury.

He played his role well.

In his closing, he gave the old tried and true prosecutor argument that "If you think it's perfectly OK for someone to send emails that talk about killing someone, set him free."

Defense attorney Tony Rybak is looking like an idiot right now, especially after being chewed out in front of the jury by the judge. But in fairness, he got this case at the last minute.

Judge Jennifer Sletvold slammed him for suggesting that the victim, by the very nature of her profession, was being protected.

Of course she was!

District Attorney Morganelli explained this himself. "Our probation officers are not going to be harassed and intimidated on the job."

It's his job to protect her.

But I don't understand why Judge Sletvold freaked out when Rybak stated the obvious. The facts were against him,The law was against him. The only thing he had left was abusing his opponent.

That's probably the only issue he has on appeal, and it's unlikely that will get him very far. Even if Judge Sletvold was wrong to admonish him in front of the jury and basically accuse him of willful misconduct, there's simply too much evidence of guilt. Besides, she may have had other reasons for wanting that door unopened.

Morganelli feels he'd win any appeal raising that issue. "If not, we'll try him again and we'll win it again."

And he will.

The moral to this story is that you should not ask for a jury trial after you've pleaded guilty and are waiting to be sentenced. Especially when the evidence of guilt is overwhelming.
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      1) Mezzacappa, the Blog Mentor and Gregory sometimes accused me of using Clinton Oxford as a pseudonym. (" "Clinton Oxford" is a fake name. ... i sign mickey mouse under my name....get it? I proved you're a liar and have proof. ... Clinton Oxford is a made up name. Period. No story.") During his short-lived radio show, Gregory falsely accused me of creating all the characters on my blog, "He uses fake names, Clinton Oxford and the rest." Mezzacappa, on her blog, began using "Clintop Poxward" to counter what they accused me of doing. All this time, Clinton Oxford was a real person who was posting under his own name. I don't post anonymously or under any name but my own.
       Instead of just admitting that she was wrong and moving on, Mezzacappa doubles down with yet another lie. According to her, "Clinton Oxford was charged with Stalking and Harassment on 3/31/14 with a bail amount set at $15,000. Docket sheet shows that no bail was posted. Most of his vile comments directed at yours truly and Jim were posted after 3/31/14. Its not looking good for O'hare."
      This is simply untrue. I blogged about Clinton's arrest on 4/1/14. There were no comments from him posted on this blog after that happened, nor could there be, because he's been in jail. Interestingly, Mezzacappa fails to provide a link to a single comment from Clinton Oxford posted after 3/31/14, because she knows she's lying. Publishing lies that you know are lies is what the courts call "actual malice."