Hal Turner Diaries (Cont 2)
When there is infighting, or cat fights in courts, the truth about what the government is up to can be exposed. With the below re-posted from another blog, I think both sides are truth challenged. Note: because I post something, does not mean I agree, or disagree with the author, just that I found it interesting.
Skeletons in the closet of US Attorney Prosecuting Hal Turner
Chicago, IL – (http://family-of-hal-turner.blogspot.com) Assistant U.S. Attorney William R. Hogan is the man prosecuting radio host and Blogger Hal Turner over an Editorial on Turner’s web site from June, 2009.
During Turner’s second trial last week, Mr. Hogan introduced “evidence” from Turner’s web site dating all the way back to the year 2002. He even stooped so low as to raise an issue about a Letter-to-the-editor of a local newspaper Turner wrote in the year 1998.
None of Hogan’s “evidence” had anything to do with the charges against Mr. Turner, but Hogan used those pieces of “evidence” to muddy-the-waters in Turner’s trial. Clearly Hogan was trying to get the jury to Hate Mr. Turner so as to wrongly convict him. Hogan’s effort failed – again. The jury in the second trial was hung with the vote being 10 – 2 in favor of ACQUITTAL.
Seeing as Mr. Hogan thought it proper to dig into Hal Turner’s background, we decided it might be interesting to delve into Mr. Hogan’s Background. So, we did.
Oh, what a treasure trove of dirt we found! It turns out that Assistant United States Attorney William R. Hogan has quite a shady past.
Hogan has been with the US Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) for many years. In that time he developed a reputation as a man willing to win at any cost; even if it meant allegedly bribing witnesses, committing fraud, lying to juries and allowing inmates who “snitch” to get sex, drugs and unsupervised telephone access!
On at least one occasion, an inmate-turned--snitch was brought to the US Attorney’s Office where he was later caught having sex on the U.S. Attorney’s conference room table with his girlfriend! For Mr. Hogan, it didn’t seem to matter as long as he won.
While such antics didn’t seem to matter to Mr. Hogan, they mattered to the Illinois State Bar Association. A State Ethics Panel filed Ethics charges of fraud and suppression of evidence against Hogan for his alleged role in the botched prosecutions of El Rukn street gang members.
The ethics accusations against Hogan - the lead prosecutor of the El Rukns from 1988 to 1993 - allege that he withheld evidence from defense lawyers, made inaccurate statements to jurors and later gave inmates unfettered access to sex, drugs and unsupervised telephone use so they could run their street gang from the US Attorney’s office!
The most damning allegation - that Assistant U.S. Attorney William R. Hogan Jr. knew about positive drug tests of two cooperating witnesses and failed to tell defense attorneys about it!
The uproar over Hogan’s conduct was so serious that a federal judge threw out three El Rukn convictions which triggered a litigation nightmare that reached far beyond three defendants.
Defense attorneys said the judge's ruling could be the "death knell" for 34 other El Rukn trial convictions, spur the reversal of witness plea agreements and prompt motions in other cases - including an Operation Greylord case, the John Cappas investigation and a civil case involving a mob trial.
"It has tremendous implications," said law Professor Richard Kling, one of three attorneys who won new trials for El Rukn gang members.
After a nearly three-year probe, the U.S. Justice Department fired Hogan then fought to keep secret testimony by FBI agents and other witnesses called during the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William R. Hogan was notified that he was FIRED in a 16-page letter dated April 11 from Justice Department official David Margolis.
As most common folks already know, the legal system is infested with sleaze and back-room-deals. A couple deals later and all of a sudden, Mr. Hogan got his job back. Evidence of any wrongdoing was quietly squashed and Mr. Hogan had to lay low for awhile; obeying the rules and minding his P’s and Q’s.
All that changed with the trial of Hal Turner. It seems Mr. Hogan – who probably should have been disbarred – is back to his old tricks.
During trial #2 in the Hal Turner case, a particularly intense confrontation took place between Mr. Hogan and Mr. Turner. While Turner was testifying, he hinted that the financial records from the FBI were not complete Hogan asked “Are you suggesting my office has withheld evidence? Turner shot back “Yes.” Then let loose with a litany of proof.
Rather than describe it, we’ll let you read the actual court transcript to see for yourselves, then we’ll continue this story below. . . . .
Well, well, well. Old habits seem to die hard. Based on what’s in the court transcript above, it seems that Mr. Hogan is back to his old habits of suppressing evidence and lying to juries.
Hogan knows his case against Hal Turner is pure trash. He knows that Turner merely advocated violence in a context that did not lend itself to imminent lawlessness. He knows that such advocacy is protected by three separate US Supreme Court Decisions: “Brandenburg v. Ohio” “U.S. v. Watts” and “NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware.” But Mr. Hogan doesn’t seem to care about those rulings. He’s apparently trying to blur the line between advocacy and “threats.”
The only problem is, if he’s successful, it will forever smash 50 years of rock solid free speech case law. And if he gets away with it by successfully criminalizing Hal Turner’s opinion, then his brethren in other US Attorney’s Offices will be able to criminalize EVERYONE’S opinions.
Mr. Hogan opened the door to Hal Turner’s past. Turnabout is fair play.
The best part is, there are far more skeletons in Mr. Hogan’s closet. His Divorce is particularly dicey, but we’ll leave that alone; at least for now.
Hal Turner is not alone in this fight. His family, friends and intelligence operatives he worked with for years, are in this fight too. If cunning misdirection and sleazy character assassination is the path the government chooses to pursue, they’d better realize such tactics work both ways.
Everybody has skeletons in their closet. As we’ve just shown, we can dig them up.
If you doubt the facts herein, read about them for yourself in the New York Times and elsewhere, below:
New York Times Coverage: http://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/05/us/judge-reverses-3-convictions-in-gang-cases.html?scp=2&sq=El%20Rukn&st=cse
Ethics Charges Filed: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-4324752.html
Suppression of Evidence: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-4296288.html
Convictions Overturned Because of Hogan Misconduct: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-4173736.html
Hogan Gets FIRED: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-4331137.html
During Turner’s second trial last week, Mr. Hogan introduced “evidence” from Turner’s web site dating all the way back to the year 2002. He even stooped so low as to raise an issue about a Letter-to-the-editor of a local newspaper Turner wrote in the year 1998.
None of Hogan’s “evidence” had anything to do with the charges against Mr. Turner, but Hogan used those pieces of “evidence” to muddy-the-waters in Turner’s trial. Clearly Hogan was trying to get the jury to Hate Mr. Turner so as to wrongly convict him. Hogan’s effort failed – again. The jury in the second trial was hung with the vote being 10 – 2 in favor of ACQUITTAL.
Seeing as Mr. Hogan thought it proper to dig into Hal Turner’s background, we decided it might be interesting to delve into Mr. Hogan’s Background. So, we did.
Oh, what a treasure trove of dirt we found! It turns out that Assistant United States Attorney William R. Hogan has quite a shady past.
Hogan has been with the US Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) for many years. In that time he developed a reputation as a man willing to win at any cost; even if it meant allegedly bribing witnesses, committing fraud, lying to juries and allowing inmates who “snitch” to get sex, drugs and unsupervised telephone access!
On at least one occasion, an inmate-turned--snitch was brought to the US Attorney’s Office where he was later caught having sex on the U.S. Attorney’s conference room table with his girlfriend! For Mr. Hogan, it didn’t seem to matter as long as he won.
While such antics didn’t seem to matter to Mr. Hogan, they mattered to the Illinois State Bar Association. A State Ethics Panel filed Ethics charges of fraud and suppression of evidence against Hogan for his alleged role in the botched prosecutions of El Rukn street gang members.
The ethics accusations against Hogan - the lead prosecutor of the El Rukns from 1988 to 1993 - allege that he withheld evidence from defense lawyers, made inaccurate statements to jurors and later gave inmates unfettered access to sex, drugs and unsupervised telephone use so they could run their street gang from the US Attorney’s office!
The most damning allegation - that Assistant U.S. Attorney William R. Hogan Jr. knew about positive drug tests of two cooperating witnesses and failed to tell defense attorneys about it!
The uproar over Hogan’s conduct was so serious that a federal judge threw out three El Rukn convictions which triggered a litigation nightmare that reached far beyond three defendants.
Defense attorneys said the judge's ruling could be the "death knell" for 34 other El Rukn trial convictions, spur the reversal of witness plea agreements and prompt motions in other cases - including an Operation Greylord case, the John Cappas investigation and a civil case involving a mob trial.
"It has tremendous implications," said law Professor Richard Kling, one of three attorneys who won new trials for El Rukn gang members.
After a nearly three-year probe, the U.S. Justice Department fired Hogan then fought to keep secret testimony by FBI agents and other witnesses called during the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William R. Hogan was notified that he was FIRED in a 16-page letter dated April 11 from Justice Department official David Margolis.
As most common folks already know, the legal system is infested with sleaze and back-room-deals. A couple deals later and all of a sudden, Mr. Hogan got his job back. Evidence of any wrongdoing was quietly squashed and Mr. Hogan had to lay low for awhile; obeying the rules and minding his P’s and Q’s.
All that changed with the trial of Hal Turner. It seems Mr. Hogan – who probably should have been disbarred – is back to his old tricks.
During trial #2 in the Hal Turner case, a particularly intense confrontation took place between Mr. Hogan and Mr. Turner. While Turner was testifying, he hinted that the financial records from the FBI were not complete Hogan asked “Are you suggesting my office has withheld evidence? Turner shot back “Yes.” Then let loose with a litany of proof.
Rather than describe it, we’ll let you read the actual court transcript to see for yourselves, then we’ll continue this story below. . . . .
Well, well, well. Old habits seem to die hard. Based on what’s in the court transcript above, it seems that Mr. Hogan is back to his old habits of suppressing evidence and lying to juries.
Hogan knows his case against Hal Turner is pure trash. He knows that Turner merely advocated violence in a context that did not lend itself to imminent lawlessness. He knows that such advocacy is protected by three separate US Supreme Court Decisions: “Brandenburg v. Ohio” “U.S. v. Watts” and “NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware.” But Mr. Hogan doesn’t seem to care about those rulings. He’s apparently trying to blur the line between advocacy and “threats.”
The only problem is, if he’s successful, it will forever smash 50 years of rock solid free speech case law. And if he gets away with it by successfully criminalizing Hal Turner’s opinion, then his brethren in other US Attorney’s Offices will be able to criminalize EVERYONE’S opinions.
Mr. Hogan opened the door to Hal Turner’s past. Turnabout is fair play.
The best part is, there are far more skeletons in Mr. Hogan’s closet. His Divorce is particularly dicey, but we’ll leave that alone; at least for now.
Hal Turner is not alone in this fight. His family, friends and intelligence operatives he worked with for years, are in this fight too. If cunning misdirection and sleazy character assassination is the path the government chooses to pursue, they’d better realize such tactics work both ways.
Everybody has skeletons in their closet. As we’ve just shown, we can dig them up.
If you doubt the facts herein, read about them for yourself in the New York Times and elsewhere, below:
New York Times Coverage: http://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/05/us/judge-reverses-3-convictions-in-gang-cases.html?scp=2&sq=El%20Rukn&st=cse
Ethics Charges Filed: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-4324752.html
Suppression of Evidence: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-4296288.html
Convictions Overturned Because of Hogan Misconduct: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-4173736.html
Hogan Gets FIRED: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-4331137.html
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
JURY VOTES 10 – 2 FOR ACQUITTAL; NJ BLOGGER STILL FREE
Brooklyn, NY – (http://family-of-hal-turner.blogspot.com) For the second time in three months, radio Shock-Jock and blogger Hal Turner has thwarted government efforts to convict him of threatening to murder 3 United States Judges. Jurors in the most recent case announced they were deadlocked yesterday, but returned to continue deliberations today.
Despite sending about 8 separate notes to the judge asking questions about the law and about evidence exhibits, Jurors once again announced they were deadlocked at 3:00 PM today.
The Judge called the Jury out into the courtroom and gave a modified version of the Allen Charge which instructs jurors how important a case is and that they should give further consideration to any fellow jurors who saw the facts in other ways. This instruction, under federal rules, is a last-ditch effort to help a jury come to a unanimous verdict.
In an extraordinary departure from the norm, Judge Donald Walter added a summary of the jury instructions to the Allen Charge in an effort to make clear the jury’s task. This hybrid instruction to the jury utterly failed to break the deadlock.
The hybrid Allen Charge was not the only irregularity in the trial. In fact, the second trial was skewed from the start by Judge Walter. Instead of allowing both the government and the Defense to give opening statements one-after-the-other, Judge Walter ordered the defense to wait until the government’s case was over before allowing them to give an opening statement. This served to bolster the government’s case by slanting the first half of the trial in the government’s favor.
Another strange alteration of trial procedure was an order by Judge Walter forbidding the Defense from mentioning Hal Turner’s role as an Intelligence Operative for the FBI unless Turner himself took the Witness stand. This requirement would have gutted the defense unless Turner testified; but Turner took to the stand with gusto.
Trial turned Slugfest
In a brutal two-day cross examination by Assistant US Attorney William Hogan, Turner absolutely shined. Time after time, as Hogan tried to paint Turner as a liar and a man who was simply wrong about the laws regarding freedom of speech, Turner let loose with responses that utterly destroyed Hogan’s line of questioning.
At times, the interactions between Hogan and Turner became so intense that the Judge had to warn both men “this is not a high school debate. Everyone will keep their voices down.” Despite that admonishment, both men engaged each other with a tenacity seldom seen in any American courtroom.
At times, Hogan became so flustered by the verbal beating being dished out by Turner, that Hogan fumbled for papers at the Prosecution lectern and was even seen talking to himself! If that wasn’t embarrassing enough, Hogan repeatedly found himself being told to “shut up” or “sit down” by Judge Walter. In one particularly amazing moment, Judge Walter told the Assistant United States Attorney “Mr. Hogan, sit down and don’t get up unless I tell you to.” The courtroom broke out in laughter as Hogan sat, slack-jawed, at the embarrassing rebuke.
In blistering responses to Hogan’s various accusations, Turner fired back with irrefutable facts, backed up by documents. Turner’s memory of events from years earlier foiled absolutely every attempt by the government to twist or manipulate the facts of the case.
After two days of hammering Turner over the content of his web site, it was clear to most observers in the courtroom that the case had become little more than a Bolshevik “show trial.” One courtroom observer remarked “This looks like the kind of trial we used to hear about in the former Soviet Union where the ruling regime put dissenters on trial.” Another attendee stated bluntly “This case is cloaked in legitimacy, but what the government is doing stinks like a whorehouse at low tide.”
The government was clearly trying to prosecute Turner for the ideology espoused on his web site and its raucous racial content. In fact, every piece of the government’s “evidence” had absolutely nothing to do with the charge against Turner. None of the web postings or e-mails brought-up on cross examination, had anything to do with the three judges Turner was accused of threatening. Clearly, the jury saw through the scam and instead focused on the blog posting that initiated the charges against Turner.
The prosecution began over an editorial Turner published last June which criticized three federal judges who violated the US Constitution and who ignored a recent US Supreme Court ruling. The editorial called the Judges "traitors" and said they "deserve to be killed."
The government claims that "deserve to be killed" is a threat to actually go kill them. Hal Turner says "deserve" is an opinion; protected free speech.
Jurors Gagged but speak out anyway
According to two jurors who sat on the case, the final vote was ten to two in favor of acquittal. The Jurors, who demanded anonymity because the Judge ordered them to stay away from the media, were incensed by that instruction. “When the judge first gave us the case, his written instructions said we could not tell anyone our vote until after the case was over. But when we finally came to the end, the Judge came in and specifically told us we were not to talk to the media,“ said One Juror.
The other Juror echoed those sentiments saying “The real reason they don’t want us talking to the media is because the prosecution lost so badly. They don’t want anyone to know their case was shit.”
Both Jurors confirmed that the two hold-outs were members of the jury who took great offense to one particular posting on Turner’s web site from the year 2008. In that posting, offered as “evidence” by the prosecution, Turner suggested the inauguration of Barack Obama “looked like a scene from planet of the apes.”
Historic Appearances by 3 Judges – Backfires!
Making this mistrial even more spectacular was the testimony of three United States Appellate Court Judges. The same judges Turner is accused of threatening. This trial marked the first time in the history of the United States that three sitting judges took the witness stand to testify against a defendant. It back-fired.
One Juror said “they let those judges come into court from a special side door instead of all the other witnesses who came and went like everyone else. It was clear to us that the judges were getting special treatment and that was just unfair to the Defendant.” The other Juror who spoke with us said “The judges were pompous and arrogant. The one guy (Judge Posner) actually whined about having to be in court – as though we weren’t good enough for him to be bothered with” she said.
All three judges took the stand and claimed they believed Turner’s editorial was a threat to murder them. But each looked like a complete fool when defense attorneys elicited that not one judge asked for protection from the US Marshal Service.
As the mistrial was declared, Turner was assigned a federal public defender because this case has sent him into Bankruptcy. Terms of Turner’s release from prison prevent him from working. He is under house arrest, forbidden to speak to the media or even to discuss his case with anyone but his immediate family. In fact, the only difference between the bail restrictions on Hal Turner and those imposed on Mafia Boss John Gotti is that Gotti had to post $4 Million bail while Turner got out on $500,000. All the other terms of Turner’s release are as severe as those on John Gotti.
A third trial for Hal Turner is tentatively scheduled to begin April 12.
More coverage:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/031010_Jury_enters_third_day_of_deliberations_in_trial_of_shock_jock_Hal_Turner.html
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jzBi0fWBvJIDUVijJgw7oQJRMYrQD9EC22JG1
Turner remains free on $500,000 bail as the government scrambles to cover their second dismal showing.
Despite sending about 8 separate notes to the judge asking questions about the law and about evidence exhibits, Jurors once again announced they were deadlocked at 3:00 PM today.
The Judge called the Jury out into the courtroom and gave a modified version of the Allen Charge which instructs jurors how important a case is and that they should give further consideration to any fellow jurors who saw the facts in other ways. This instruction, under federal rules, is a last-ditch effort to help a jury come to a unanimous verdict.
In an extraordinary departure from the norm, Judge Donald Walter added a summary of the jury instructions to the Allen Charge in an effort to make clear the jury’s task. This hybrid instruction to the jury utterly failed to break the deadlock.
The hybrid Allen Charge was not the only irregularity in the trial. In fact, the second trial was skewed from the start by Judge Walter. Instead of allowing both the government and the Defense to give opening statements one-after-the-other, Judge Walter ordered the defense to wait until the government’s case was over before allowing them to give an opening statement. This served to bolster the government’s case by slanting the first half of the trial in the government’s favor.
Another strange alteration of trial procedure was an order by Judge Walter forbidding the Defense from mentioning Hal Turner’s role as an Intelligence Operative for the FBI unless Turner himself took the Witness stand. This requirement would have gutted the defense unless Turner testified; but Turner took to the stand with gusto.
Trial turned Slugfest
In a brutal two-day cross examination by Assistant US Attorney William Hogan, Turner absolutely shined. Time after time, as Hogan tried to paint Turner as a liar and a man who was simply wrong about the laws regarding freedom of speech, Turner let loose with responses that utterly destroyed Hogan’s line of questioning.
At times, the interactions between Hogan and Turner became so intense that the Judge had to warn both men “this is not a high school debate. Everyone will keep their voices down.” Despite that admonishment, both men engaged each other with a tenacity seldom seen in any American courtroom.
At times, Hogan became so flustered by the verbal beating being dished out by Turner, that Hogan fumbled for papers at the Prosecution lectern and was even seen talking to himself! If that wasn’t embarrassing enough, Hogan repeatedly found himself being told to “shut up” or “sit down” by Judge Walter. In one particularly amazing moment, Judge Walter told the Assistant United States Attorney “Mr. Hogan, sit down and don’t get up unless I tell you to.” The courtroom broke out in laughter as Hogan sat, slack-jawed, at the embarrassing rebuke.
In blistering responses to Hogan’s various accusations, Turner fired back with irrefutable facts, backed up by documents. Turner’s memory of events from years earlier foiled absolutely every attempt by the government to twist or manipulate the facts of the case.
After two days of hammering Turner over the content of his web site, it was clear to most observers in the courtroom that the case had become little more than a Bolshevik “show trial.” One courtroom observer remarked “This looks like the kind of trial we used to hear about in the former Soviet Union where the ruling regime put dissenters on trial.” Another attendee stated bluntly “This case is cloaked in legitimacy, but what the government is doing stinks like a whorehouse at low tide.”
The government was clearly trying to prosecute Turner for the ideology espoused on his web site and its raucous racial content. In fact, every piece of the government’s “evidence” had absolutely nothing to do with the charge against Turner. None of the web postings or e-mails brought-up on cross examination, had anything to do with the three judges Turner was accused of threatening. Clearly, the jury saw through the scam and instead focused on the blog posting that initiated the charges against Turner.
The prosecution began over an editorial Turner published last June which criticized three federal judges who violated the US Constitution and who ignored a recent US Supreme Court ruling. The editorial called the Judges "traitors" and said they "deserve to be killed."
The government claims that "deserve to be killed" is a threat to actually go kill them. Hal Turner says "deserve" is an opinion; protected free speech.
Jurors Gagged but speak out anyway
According to two jurors who sat on the case, the final vote was ten to two in favor of acquittal. The Jurors, who demanded anonymity because the Judge ordered them to stay away from the media, were incensed by that instruction. “When the judge first gave us the case, his written instructions said we could not tell anyone our vote until after the case was over. But when we finally came to the end, the Judge came in and specifically told us we were not to talk to the media,“ said One Juror.
The other Juror echoed those sentiments saying “The real reason they don’t want us talking to the media is because the prosecution lost so badly. They don’t want anyone to know their case was shit.”
Both Jurors confirmed that the two hold-outs were members of the jury who took great offense to one particular posting on Turner’s web site from the year 2008. In that posting, offered as “evidence” by the prosecution, Turner suggested the inauguration of Barack Obama “looked like a scene from planet of the apes.”
Historic Appearances by 3 Judges – Backfires!
Making this mistrial even more spectacular was the testimony of three United States Appellate Court Judges. The same judges Turner is accused of threatening. This trial marked the first time in the history of the United States that three sitting judges took the witness stand to testify against a defendant. It back-fired.
One Juror said “they let those judges come into court from a special side door instead of all the other witnesses who came and went like everyone else. It was clear to us that the judges were getting special treatment and that was just unfair to the Defendant.” The other Juror who spoke with us said “The judges were pompous and arrogant. The one guy (Judge Posner) actually whined about having to be in court – as though we weren’t good enough for him to be bothered with” she said.
All three judges took the stand and claimed they believed Turner’s editorial was a threat to murder them. But each looked like a complete fool when defense attorneys elicited that not one judge asked for protection from the US Marshal Service.
As the mistrial was declared, Turner was assigned a federal public defender because this case has sent him into Bankruptcy. Terms of Turner’s release from prison prevent him from working. He is under house arrest, forbidden to speak to the media or even to discuss his case with anyone but his immediate family. In fact, the only difference between the bail restrictions on Hal Turner and those imposed on Mafia Boss John Gotti is that Gotti had to post $4 Million bail while Turner got out on $500,000. All the other terms of Turner’s release are as severe as those on John Gotti.
A third trial for Hal Turner is tentatively scheduled to begin April 12.
More coverage:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/031010_Jury_enters_third_day_of_deliberations_in_trial_of_shock_jock_Hal_Turner.html
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jzBi0fWBvJIDUVijJgw7oQJRMYrQD9EC22JG1
Turner remains free on $500,000 bail as the government scrambles to cover their second dismal showing.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
* * * *Will Hal Turner be tried for a 3rd time? Link:
http://judicialmisconduct.blogspot.com/2010/03/turner-to-be-tried-for-3rd-time.html
posted by The Stark Raving Viking at 3/21/2010 08:11:00 PM
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