Update on Richard Brown Court Case…
This afternoon was supposed to be the Pretrial for Richard Brown, the former School Board candidate who is facing six charges of child endangerment. Those of you who have followed the story will remember there are questions concerning there being any real evidence of what he is being accused of as well as speculation that there was some political motivation involved in the decision being made to go for an indictment once he refused to accept a plea deal since he was not willing to plead guilty to something he felt he was innocent of. Today rather than the Pretrial taking place it was rescheduled to December 3rd. It was also pointed out in court that none of the motions Richard Brown’s attorney, Ronnie L. Wingate, had made in regard to the discovery process of requesting evidence had been responded to by the Prosecution. The reason given was that the assignment had changed for the Prosecutor, however, I remember prior to the motions being filed that Timothy F. Braun was going to be the prosecutor on the case. I heard that the day of his arraignment which was on 9/26/07, Judge Linda Jennings gave the prosecution an additional week to respond to the 7 motions filed on October 1st and the one additional motion filed this morning.
Fox Toledo, WTVG and WTOL had camera crews in the court room this afternoon but given there was very little outcome, the coverage was small.
When I spoke with him today, Richard is understandably frustrated in the delay, especially since he was placed on a leave of absence without pay from his position for the City. Personally given his position had nothing to do with any of the charges he’s facing, it can’t help be wondered which would be a larger issue for tax payers, a man who is supposed to be presumed innocent until guilty continuing to do his job or no one overseeing the financial management of the project he was in charge of…
This whole thing seems a bit off to me. While I believe firmly in the principle that one is innocent until proven guilty, it was my understanding that Mr. Brown is a preacher, and therefore makes his money preaching. If he is a city employee, then it is completely reasonable for him to be on suspension without pay, pending the outcome of his case. Regardless of whether he is getting paid or not, if these allegations weren’t true, then what motivation would people have to go after him? It seems these allegations would be rather farfetched if not for the fact that a grand jury indicted him and there was enough evidence where the prosecution felt they had enough for a case. There is no political question here. Both Mr. Brown and Ms. Bates are democrats. There must be something to it.
October 30th, 2007 at 1:58 amWhat I find disturbing is that the prosecution isn’t ready to proceed. What’s the hold up? Why they haven’t completed “discovery” yet? So either the prosecutor is stalling or they simply don’t have enough to make a case that will stand. A change in prosecutor they knew and planned for, so what has that got to do with delivering evidence? It’s a clerk/assistant job anyway.
My gut says..stalling …which infringes on Brown’s rights to speedy trial.
October 30th, 2007 at 8:16 amKurt, his income came from working as an auditor for the City not as a minister, the majority of the ministry things he did/does were more as a volunteer.
There is a political question here, that directly related to pressure being placed on him to drop out of the School Board race. From the very timing of the complaint, which was shortly after he let it be known he was running for school board, to the rumors being floated about the community by other campaigns, to the suggestion that if he dropped out of the race “this would all go away”, and quite a bit more that unfortunately I can’t elaborate on, I believe very strongly part of the motivation was political.
Chad, many believe there is a problem with the evidence, we won’t even know what evidence there even is until the prosecution finally gives his attorney the information. Right now it’s pretty much a given that unless this is dropped at Pretrial for lack of evidence on December 3, that there is very little chance Richard’s attorney would be ready to go to trial on December 18th especially depending on how long it takes the prosecution to respond.
October 30th, 2007 at 9:25 amPaying taxes is something that I don’t enjoy but when I see cases go through and the outcome was just then I don’t mind paying them but when jerkoff prosecutors drag their feet and move at a pace that even Snuffy can do better that simply bothers me even more when my tax dollars are going to waste on something that isn’t true. This whole endeavour stinks to high heaven and trust me just like I mentioned before when this turns out to be a yield that they planned on (which I know it is) to keep my boy Richard out of the race because he was a threat then I will personally protest in front of the prosecutor’s office/home and who ever else was involved in this matter. It pisses me off that people use the system to try and acquire a political stands. Politics is an ugly business but I can get much uglier if they don’t follow certain standards.
October 30th, 2007 at 10:01 amThis time I can’t be mad at the judge this time el pendejo prosecutor tiene todo el tiempo en el mundo para hacer el caso pero no, el es como los huevos del perro – detras…
This stinks to high heaven if you ask me! Knowing Richard the way I do, if there were any truth to these allegations he would have dropped out the race in May when they “all of a sudden” surfaced. If you ask me, and nobody has, this is crap! A way to get someone who had the kids’ best intentions at heart, out of the race. The prosecution should be ashamed of themselves for spending taxpayers’ money ridiculously. This is the very reason why other young people don’t step up to run for political office because it is simply not worth it! You want to help but to do that you have to go through unnecessary scrutiny and at the end of the day you get $80/meeting? I think not!
For what Richard and his family have endured at the taxpayers’ expense you would think he was running for mayor or congress!
Another thing, someone mentioned that Ms. Bates and Mr. Brown were democrats so there’s got to be something to the case. You forget that Mr. Ford entered the race and this is a great easy way to get a young up-n-coming “out the way” so that Mr. Ford won’t be embarrassed or blamed for Mr. Brown coming in 3rd! Check to see how much money Mr. Ford has given to help Ms. Bates get elected!
One last thing is this issue started out with Children Services. After Children Services did their investigation it was said that there was nothing to the case and it was written up as such! So again, where did all this come from? Who in the Toledo Police Department had to gain from Mr. Brown getting out of the race? hmmmmm
Ms. Bates can forget about me voting for her PERIOD! And if Chief Navarre was ever going to run for office, I’d think again about that as well.
I know way too much about this entire situation and City Council sits on the sidelines knowing full well that their employee was framed! I won’t vote for any of them anymore either!
October 30th, 2007 at 10:33 amIt stinks because they’ve all stepped in shit here.
October 30th, 2007 at 9:55 pmI have to agree with you all. I think Richard was set up, but will the community ever know the real truth? I would appreciate if someone who knows the inside of this story to elaborate the dirty laundry. I wish Richard had a strong advocate to break his name clean………..
October 30th, 2007 at 10:33 pmA Grand Jury is presented only one side of the case – the prosecutor’s, any weaknesses are not pointed out to the jury, as well as no extenuating information.
Another example that retributive indictments are standard “Unholy Toledo” tradition [with cascading multiple counts so as to encourage plea bargains brokered by public "defenders"] was described in the ToledoCityPaper.com last Wed. Oct.24- to wit: I am amused by Johnny Hildo’s brief commentary on my life and times of late, and appreciate the fine summation of some of my career [City Politics, TCP October 17-23]. A number of errors cry out for correction, however, and the rest of the story bears telling. I not only “worked on a law degree”, I graduated with a certification in Environmental law. Secondly, the reference to “arrests for domestic violence” is wrong. I was falsely arrested, charged, and wrongfully prosecuted for assault and sundry other charges, most dropped when the alleged victim recanted. Every charge taken to trial has resulted in a “not guilty” verdict. – Rick VanLandingham.
I have watched first hand this escalating soap opera, featuring Officer Murphy, Carty’s Bulldog Fredericks, esquire, and an unnamed city prosecutor, resulting in expensive jury trials. Also, a CityPaper feature writer now hides behind a psuedonymn to protect his elected position.
October 30th, 2007 at 11:19 pmand as example of the daily print media assuming the as holy as thou genuflec, check out the Detroit Free Press, http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071019/OPINION01/710190338/1069
October 30th, 2007 at 11:28 pm“That’s no way for a school board official to behave”
editorial October 19, 2007
Okay, now I’m lost. Apparently, you all know alot more about this than I do. Mr. Brundage has only made it less clear. Could someone fill me in on the details? Without the details, this sounds like some great conspiracy theory, though I cannot connect the dots.
October 31st, 2007 at 2:16 amAllow me to clarify, the only thing I know is that a grand jury indicted Mr. Brown on these charges. This means at the very least that the prosecution presented enough evidence to indict him. This does not mean he’s guilty. Given the undertone of this thread, it seems many of you have information that you’re not willing to share. If you think it’s prudent to keep that information to yourself, fine, but on the outside looking in, I am only aware that a grand jury indicted him on showing porn to teenagers, and that Mr. Brown told them to call him while having sex. Presumably, these teenagers testified in front of the grand jury, but of course without cross examination. However, the grand jury must have found this testimony to be credible. I don’t presume Mr. Brown to be guilty, but if you know something about the case that will clear his name in the public eye, why not share it?
October 31st, 2007 at 2:26 amCSD investigated and found no merrit to the charges. Both the mother of the alledged victim and the alledged victim deny th allegations. Said allegations were phoned in anynon. droped.
This all started when Jack Ford decided he was in to win.
IMO…now would be the time for the defense to mount a media based defense.
October 31st, 2007 at 5:04 amPossible conflicts of interest, allegations of all stripes.
Election season, Priceless.
October 31st, 2007 at 6:39 amMr. Kurt,
I understand what you’re asking but being that there is still a case and the charges have not been dropped I don’t think it is prudent to discuss some of the things that I do know. What I can say is that Richard looks forward to the day when he can talk in FULL DETAIL about the past five months that the “Toledo Police” department have put him through.
It is interesting to point out one thing, if this was something of credibility then why wasn’t the mother on the prosecution’s side? She was on the news the same day this went to the grand jury because she and Richard are good friends, and her sons are his god children. He is very close to this family and I do believe that the prosecutors and Eugene Kutz, who happens to be the lead detective on this case, underestimated this family in thinking that they would remain quiet.
I plan on speaking with her later this week because she is not holding back on anything that took place as far as the lies that were told to her and a lot more that I do not want to divulge just yet because I was asked to be careful about what I say. There are a lot of politicos who read this blog and believe me, Judge Jennings and the Prosecutor’s office are reading this as well. We can’t tell them too much, I just can’t wait for this to go to trial because that’s where they are headed. Mr. Brown, from the times that I have spoken with him, is not waivering at all on this one, I do not see him taking a plea to anything.
If that were the case, he would have taken the lousy pisspoor misdemeanors that John Weglian and some chick named Jennifer offered him with the wonderful assistance of Eugene Kutz at their side. My question again is if this is child endangering, where is CSB? Hmmmmm
Again, the question is “who gained from Mr. Brown’s departure?” And what is City Council going to do because I spoke to someone who works in the HR department at the University of Toledo and Owens Corning and both said that the fact that he was suspended WITHOUT PAY from his job for something that had NOTHING to do with his job description smells real bad and I am wondering if he can possibly file a lawsuit against the city. There better be a record of this having been done in the past because it would be too convenient for his suspension to have occurred primarily to force him into a plea deal in the likelihood that he could get back to work!
STICK TO YOUR GUNS RICHARD, THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY WHO REALIZE WHAT THIS IS, THE POLITICS OF DESTRUCTION BUT DO NOT LET THIS DESTROY YOU. ALLOW THIS SAD ORDEAL TO MAKE YOU STRONGER!
I was told just the other day by an inside source in the city’s HR dept. that the administration pressured Council for the suspension without pay. Hmmmmm rather interesting if you ask me. Boy, I can’t wait for all the juicy details to come out because I here that somebody somewhere has a full detailed disclosure of EVERYTHING that has occurred! It’s not pretty what they have done to him…it remains to be seen.
October 31st, 2007 at 10:55 pmAnother thing Mr. Kurt, there is an old statement that comes to mind about the grand jury. It goes like this, “you can indict a ham sandwich in front of a grand jury!” The reason the statment rings that way is because it is true. The grand jury’s job is to indict and that’s what they do. In this case they were presented information from the detective and from what I’ve been told, one of the sons of the mother. The other hasn’t been found he’s gone into hiding of sorts because he told someone that he is sick and tired of adults taking what he said to them way out of context! So, there you have it, the ham sandwich got indicted and now we await anxiously for the court proceedings to take place.
After I talk to the mom, I plan on saying more. The reason why I’m keeping close tabs is this same thing happened to my cousin in Texas and the prosecution had to drop the charges and settle out of court because he was falsely accused and they knew it. They just wanted to see if he’d buckle under pressure and he didn’t! Here we go again, I gave Julia Bates a little more credit than this but we see where her loyalties are.
October 31st, 2007 at 11:04 pmI can’t add much more to what Inquiring Minds has posted, I’ve been trying to be careful just as they are to not post anything that shouldn’t be said while this is still unresolved and because I think this will end up being involved in some type of lawsuit for damages by the time it’s over.
I realize that’s frustrating Kurt, but it’s pretty frustrating for the people who know more and I’m very positive that it’s extremely frustrating for Richard. Before the indictment it seemed as if some of those bent on spreading rumors were difficult enough to deal with, that almost seems like a walk in the park compared to what’s now being done.
October 31st, 2007 at 11:11 pmI understand the frustration, truly I do. If Mr. Brown is being falsely accused, than hopefully the judicial system will do the right thing and clear his name. Forgive me for being critical Lisa, but your posts on this issue have been certainly biased towards Mr. Brown. To me, that does not seem like fair reporting, especially when you’re not reporting all the facts. If Mr. Brown has been speaking with you, which I suspect he has, he knows what he’s telling you, and he wants you to report it. Sure, his lawyer is telling him not to talk, but he is. Report it! Given your biased reporting, if I were the prosecutor, I would subpeona you. I’d like to know what you’ve been told. Additionally I would subpeona your user data and find out who “inquiring mind” is and learn what s/he has to say. The fact is this. You’ve implied over and over again that Mr. Brown is innocent of this crime, yet you won’t give the facts to support that. A Jack Ford conspiracy is not good enough, until you explain the conspiracy. I’m sorry, but at this point, I think it’s reasonable to treat Mr. Brown like a Catholic priest who has been accused of a sex crime. Tell the facts, there’s no room for implication.
November 1st, 2007 at 1:36 amAgain, I’m sorry Lisa. I respect you, truly I do. But what is going on here?
November 1st, 2007 at 1:52 amKurt, I’d put it this way, if you were accused of something that I felt you didn’t do and I knew there were questions concerning the evidence, I’d feel the same way about you. I’d do my best to point out what facts I do know that I can state that are not in dispute. I’d also probably toss in a few personal statements such as “with the way I know you, I know you are innocent”, etc.
I wouldn’t “report” on things that could potentially cause you problems. Am I biased towards Richard Brown? Perhaps partly because I know him but it’s more because of the details that I do know that I feel strongly about this case. It would be stupid of me to post everything I know at this point, it could actually hurt his defense and that would be very irresponsible of me not just as a blogger but as a person who has come to know him. Which is why I have faced a dilemma in wanting to report on this but do so in a way that is an attempt to be fair.
If the prosecutor wants to subpoena me or try to subpoena my net logs, so be it. It’s already been pointed out to me that Judge Jennings was aware of my last posting concerning the arraignment. Not to mention the mother has been interviewed by the media and this confirms some of what has been able to be stated here as to questions concerning the evidence.
Despite your desire to know more, if you feel you want to treat Richard as a “Catholic Priest accused of a sex crime”, so be it, in theory even that Catholic Priest should be innocent until proven guilty and….one additional fact that I will add, if Richard Brown was guilty, he was very stupid to have not taken the misdemeanor plea deal that was offered. Being given the chance if guilty to end up still keeping your job, your reputation and avoid jail time versus facing the threat of 6 felonies…how many guilty people do you think would take that risk? There are probably some innocent people out there that would have taken the plea deal, it was suggested to him by others that he should consider it given where the pressure was coming from. Richard was just as adamant then as he is now as to his innocence of what he was being accused of. I also don’t believe I mentioned Jack Ford, I did state I feel there was some political motivation involved in this, but I haven’t named names…
And Kurt, you don’t have to apologize, your question of my bias is a valid one and I have tried to balance fact versus feeling and I’m sure at times feeling has been evidenced. That doesn’t change the facts which are simple, he says he’s innocent, many people believe he is innocent, even the mother of two sons, there is no physical evidence of any of the charges, pressure was attempted to be exerted on him to drop out of the race, pressure was attempted to be exerted to get him to take the plea deal, City Council was pressured to place him on leave without pay rather than with pay as is more of the standard according to many HR people spoken with or leaving him in the job since this case has no direct bearing on the job. His attorney asked for the indictment to be thrown out because there were errors, it was refused, the prosecution has stalled as far as providing his attorney any evidence (which it doesn’t appear there is any) and computers that were taken from his home, including his mother’s personal computer that was promised to be returned within a week has still not been returned almost a month later. Just based on that alone without any of the rest of the more precise details that should say something…
Of course it’s not politically smart to to support Richard Brown, very few of the people involved in politics or government will publicly say anything though privately they’ll say how horrible this whole thing is. I’m strange though, when someone is my friend, I stick with them, popular or otherwise. That doesn’t mean however that I would let bias blind me beyond reason.
November 1st, 2007 at 2:51 amKurt…
Anyone that knows me or has read my posts on “Child Abuse, Child sexual assault etc” know that I stand for graphic death penalty for people that sexually abuse a child. I grew up in an enviorment that had much of this sort of behavior. I recognize an abuser a mile away. If I thought there was the least little truth to this charge I would lead the drive to have him executed for it.
I have met Mr. Brown and thought I do not know him personally, I know what I saw. He did not do this. It’s not within him to do this.
The seedy political arena of Toledo and Lucas County are mired in a rich and stank history of this sort of attack. It’s the modern version of baseball bat politics.
November 1st, 2007 at 6:22 am“But what is going on here?”
Our justice system in action.
An accusation is made and a tribunal weighs the facts as known and the rest follows.
The collateral damage is normal also as we as humans have a tendency to rush to judgment.
November 1st, 2007 at 6:58 amI couldn’t have said it any better Chad and Neighborhood Concerns…
Kurt, believe me, I really wish I could really just give a “tell all” about this but it COULD do Richard more harm being that it would let the prosecution possibly in on some things that they aren’t aware of…however, you are WAY OFF BASE to put him in the category of a priest who has sexually abused a child. MY GOD!
Do you think any mother worth a grain of salt would stand up in his defense if it was even remotely the case? That’s crazy. Plus, that sexual priest crap was with children…children, look at the records and little kids were being victimized. This case is about two teenagers 16 and 18, and their credibility is VERY questionable. So with that said, lets wait and see. With the way the prosecution is playing we’ll probably still be at this until next summer.
November 1st, 2007 at 11:27 amWhat I hope to see is the prosecution droping this for a lack of evidence, plausability and common sense. Like ya said IM… given the the complaintant…it will sag into infinity.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:06 pmI am with you Chad! The prosecution is probably going to seek to some serious “below the belt” hits with the likes of Tim Braun and John Weglian trying to make Julia look like she’s worth something!
The next we’ll hear, Richard will be made to look like he’s running a sex shop or something! lol My God! There is no telling what all they’ll try in order to make Julia look good. When is she up for re-election again?
And don’t think the 22nd floor of One Government Center hasn’t had meetings about this case. Let’s just wait and see!
Richard let everything come out in the wash! Chief Navarre should be real concerned about his police force because there are some moles in the camp! BIG TIME!
They got what they wanted which was Richard out the race…lets move on! JESUS!
November 1st, 2007 at 4:00 pmMay I suggest that the reason Richard was targeted for this prosecution is his expertise in auditing. Julia Bates and other government officers can not afford to have an honest auditor who understands government contracts working for the city let alone on the Toledo Board of Education where questionable contracts would undobutedly be questioned by a trained auditor.
Mr. Wingate should submit some public records requests for Julia Bates’,John Weglian’s and Tim Braun’s expense accounts. He’ll find that Ms Bates has a county provided vehicle in violation of Ohio law and is likely using it for personal use without proper mileage logs. He’ll also find that Weglian and Braun have a history of being used as special prosecutors without comoensation from other conties (moonlighting) to target other political enemies of the status quo. In this regard recall the quid pro quo arrangement with Ottawa County prosecutor Mark Mulligan wherein he never presented Treasurer Ray kest’s thefts in office to a grand jury while Tim Braun was busily harassing my family and me in Ottawa County for complaining about Mark Mulligan’s alleged misconduct in office including protecting alleged illegal expenditures totaling over $1.4 million in the Benton Carroll Salem Local Schools District from 1995-2000. (My husband was a Board of Education and I was an attorney trained in public contract law)
He should also request from Dean Mandross complaints concerning Tim Braun’s alleged misuse of the internet to harass me for my complaints about widespread fraud in school and legal contracts in Ottawa County and to protect alleged sexual abuse of children by Erie and Ottawa County law enforcement and or relatives of politicians.
LisaRenee may recall http://www.erievoices.com. This website entirley funded by my family published proof of case manipulation including the use of baseless indictments by area prosecutors to target political threats to the pay to play system so engrained in the area. That website was shut down by government action and I currently face 8 years in prison for using the internet to criticize judges and prosecutors and publishing proof of their unethical conduct on the the internet.
Currently, http://www.northcountrygazette.org publishes some of my briefs in my criminal cases concerning the criminalizing of speech critical of the justice system. I welcome emails at else512@aim.com.
November 20th, 2007 at 8:52 am[...] per the decision of Council President Michael Ashford and it was again delayed. Last time around on October 29th the prosecution was given one week to give Brown’s defense attorney evidence as ordered by [...]
December 3rd, 2007 at 2:37 pmThere is no doubt that both the Toledo City Prosecutor and Lucas County Prosecutor offices abuse prosecutorial discretion for the purpose of purely political persecution. Alliterations aside, I have been the target of so many wrongful and maliscious prosecutions I have lost count.
Three felony indictments to date: the first dismissed when the “victim” recanted; the second I was denied effective assistance of counsel, and forced to plead or go to prison for something I did not do; the third, and most recent, indictment was trumped up by Det. Daniel Navarre, brother of Police Chief Navarre, after a rushed “investigation” based entirely on the incorroborated statement of the actual thief.
The record shows that each time I initiated or pursued legal challenges to the powers that be, or filed lawsuits against the city or county, the response was to abuse prosecutorial powers to try to shut down my legal action.
The first indictment was launched in 2002, following my second city council campaign, and challenges to the unneeded demolition of the former “Hotel Monroe” (a.k.a. “Brenda’s Body Shop”
. In May, 2002, the day after I graduated from law school, I was falsely charged and later indicted for felony burglary. Although that indictment was later dismissed when the “victim” recanted, I spent three months and all my savings fighting this false charge.
Fed up, finally, in May 2004 I filed a major lawsuit against the City of Toledo. No local media ever reported on this litigation. Carty sent his pitbulls after me, and a detective was assigned to “investigate” me. After two failed attempts to file false charges against me, the detective used the very same alleged victim from 2002, trumped up a request for a search warrant, and raided my home. While only two or three documents related to the warrant, TPD seized my ENTIRE OFFICE including some 15,000 pages of documents, my computer, and everything relating to the then-pending lawsuit against the City. Thus they effectively shut down the lawsuit through abuse of prosecutorial powers.
When I refused to plead, the alleged victim panicked. When TPD would not let her back out a second time, more drastic action was taken. On December 26th, 2004, I was ambushed and shot 3 times, and left to bleed to death. But for the grace of god, I survived and 3 years and as many surgeries later am enjoying close-to complete digestion and walking once again, albeit with a cane.
In the summer of 2005, Carty’s favored Frederick — Sue Frederick who was arrested for interfering with police business but got off with a special deal — directed a crowd of people to loot my home, then watched while they did.
On March 17th, 2006, I submitted an eye-witness affidavit in Court incriminating Sue Frederick. Later that same day, another city employee, convicted crack dealer Mike Lee, a former fellow solid waste division employee and friend of Sue Frederick, paid a group of kids to set my home on fire. The kids were seen running out of the house as the blaze started just before midnight. Damage was limited to a rear addition and the roof, yet the City demolition crew was ordered out the very next day, and my home was demolished for now reason at all.
During the summer of 2006 and resuming in 2007, I submitted a number of public records requests to the City, obviously leading up to a new lawsuit. The City launched a pre-emptive strike, falsely charging my with Breaking & Entering, then adding a false charge of intimidating a witness to boot. Not only can I prove my innocence, I can also show that the police knew it, and knowingly filed false charges against me.
RECENT UPDATE:
On a recent Friday I filed a major amendment to my pending lawsuigt against the city, addind additional counts. The very next day, my home was burglarized, and my and legal documents computer stolen. On Monday, my computer and documents were “turned in” to TPD, who now claim it to be evidence and refuse to return in! This despite state law requiring the prompt and swift return of stolen property to the victim, and allowing photographic evidence to be used in place of the actual stolen items. As of this writing, TPD still has my property.
Rick VanLandingham
March 12th, 2008 at 7:29 amWow!
March 12th, 2008 at 8:57 am