FAQFAQ   SearchSearch  MemberlistMemberlistRegisterRegister  ProfileProfile   Log in[ Log in ]  Flint Talk RSSFlint Talk RSS

»Home »Open Chat »Political Talk  Â»Flint Journal »Political Jokes »The Bob Leonard Show  

Flint Michigan online news magazine. We have lively web forums


FlintTalk.com Forum Index > Political Talk

Topic: recall drama in Neithercutt's court

  Author    Post Post new topic Reply to topic
untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Flint Mayor Weaver asks judge to order county clerk to call off recall

Posted on August 23, 2017 at 6:15 PM
By Oona Goodin-Smith ogoodins@mlive.com
FLINT, MI - Flint Mayor Karen Weaver is requesting that a judge order Genesee County Clerk John Gleason to call off November's recall election.

On Tuesday, Aug. 22, Weaver's attorney, Kendall Williams, filed a complaint asking Genesee County Circuit Judge Geoffrey L. Neithercut order Gleason to rescind his declaration of November's recall election.

Williams also filed a motion requesting that Gleason explain to the judge why the recall election should go forward, or else be ordered to call it off.

Citing Gleason's claims of "insidious skullduggery" in recall petition circulation, Williams stated that the county clerk agreed with the mayor that "grossly illegal behavior by the petition circulators" had taken place, but that Gleason ignored the evidence.

"I have seen with my own eyes the changed dates on the signatures, I agree with them there," Gleason said. "But by the time my office went through them a second time (after Weaver challenged 1,000 signatures), none of those snuck past. (Weaver's) number one concern was to throw out the recall. Our number one concern is to protect the rights of the petitioners."

A brief in support of the motion also notes that "several individuals" have noted that their "signatures were obtained through fraud, deceit and misrepresentation" and that they are willing to testify to the fact under oath.


The complaint comes on the heels of the mayor's filing to intervene in a separate case over whether Flint City Councilman Scott Kincaid can simultaneously run for city mayor and his Ninth Ward seat on the November ballot.


Claiming that County Clerk John Gleason "is not able or unwilling to interpret the applicable Michigan election laws regarding (the mayoral recall)," attorney Kendall Williams asked that Judge Judith A. Fullerton – in addition to settling whether Kincaid can run for two positions at once – also determine whether the recall process against Weaver was valid.

Weaver requested independent representation in the case between the councilman and clerk as she said in a court filing she feels Gleason would not have her best interests in mind.

"(Weaver is) right - I'm concerned with adequately representing all candidates and citizens," Gleason said. "I adamantly refuse to represent a single candidate at the expense of the greater community. Flat out, the recall law is inadequate."

Williams was not immediately available for further comment on the matter, while Flint spokesperson Kristin Moore declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

Both cases were initially assigned to Judge Judith A. Fullerton, but have since been reassigned to Neithercut, the judge who originally ruled in April that the recall language against the mayor was valid.

Gleason announced on August 4 that the recall against the embattled Flint mayor would appear on the November ballot after reviewing a challenge from Weaver initially claiming 1,200 of the recall petition signatures - a number that has dropped to 1,000 on the most recent filing - were forged or otherwise manipulated.

"The recall law is silent on the issue (of running for two positions at the same time)," Washington said. "Courts shouldn't put words into a statute that isn't there, or create a strained interpretation of the law that isn't there. If the law needs to be clarified, that should be done by state legislature and not a county judge."

The county clerk filed a complaint with the court on August 15, asking a judge for declaratory judgment over whether Kincaid can take up two spots on the ballot.

Including Kincaid and recall leader Arthur Woodson, 17 people have filed to challenge Weaver for her position in the November election.


Unlike previous mayoral recalls, in which an initial election to recall the office was followed by another election to fill the seat if the incumbent was ousted, the process is now condensed into one vote.

The matter over whether Kincaid can appear twice on the November ballot is scheduled to be heard by Neithercut on Thursday, Aug. 24, at 1:30 p.m.

It is currently unclear whether the validity of the recall will also be determined at the time.


Last edited by untanglingwebs on Fri Aug 25, 2017 9:35 am; edited 1 time in total
Post Thu Aug 24, 2017 2:34 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message  Reply with quote  
untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Flint Beat

HomeFlint City HallCounty clerk says recall efforts likely to move forward despite Flint mayor’s challenge
County clerk says recall efforts likely to move forward despite Flint mayor’s challenge
July 31, 2017Flint Beat 2 Share
FLINT, MI — Mayor Karen Weaver is challenging recall signatures submitted in hopes to remove her from office.

According to the Genesee County Clerk’s Office, Weaver is contesting at least 1,200 of 5,951 signatures certified by Flint City Clerk Inez Brown’s office.

Weaver filed paperwork challenging the signatures on July 31, 2017 – The last day she had to challenge the 5,951 signatures verified by Brown’s office.

“As Mayor of City of Flint, Michigan, who is the subject of the Recall Petition filed by Arthur Woodson…I challenge the validity and genuineness of the signatures of the petition circulators and petition signers as described herein pursuant to MCL 168.961a,” read Weaver’s challenge.

In the mayor’s challenge, she claims that the process is questionable including the review process in the City Clerk’s office.

“A review of the dates of several hundred petition signatures, even by a lay person, reveals that the dates were written by someone other than the petition signers,” said the recall challenge. “It appears that petition circulators may have requested that petition signers not date their petition signatures. This is prohibited by the statute.”

On June 30, 2017, Woodson turned in 780 petitions with 8,848 signatures. The County Clerk’s office signed off on 8,051 of those signatures before turning them over to Brown’s office for verification.

Brown’s office approved 5,951 of the signatures. She had until June 24, 2017, to verify and turn the signatures back over to County Clerk, John Gleason’s office. Brown’s office submitted the 5,951 signatures to Gleason’s office on July 21, 2017. Woodson needed 5,750 signatures to put the recall effort on the November 2017 ballot.

Gleason says he believes Brown did a thorough verification process of the signatures and the recall will likely show up on the November 2017 ballot.

“There will be no stall tactics, none,” said Gleason. “They can’t run the clock out. They don’t have the ability to keep this off the ballot. Their deadline is over. The clerk typically does a thorough job in matters like this.”

Gleason said the issue is likely to show up on the November ballot. His office has to review the 1,200 signatures Weaver is challenging. If Gleason confirms that the signatures are valid, then Weaver can still take the issue to court.

According to documents, Weaver’s legal team hired SPECKIN, a company that analyzes signatures. The forensic analyst, Robert D. Kullman reported that in his opinion, that there are discrepancies.

“My examination revealed changed/altered dates within the circulator signature block, dates on the signature lines that were after the date in the circulator signature block, information in the signature lines (addresses, zip codes, dates) that were not written by the signer.”

Kullman was asked to check to see if any signatures were dated prior to May 2, 2017, if circulator signatures were written by someone other than the circulator, if dates were changed or altered, if signature lines were dated after the date in the circulator signature block and if information in the signature lines were written by someone else other than the signer.

Woodson initially submitted recall language on Jan. 23, 2017. On January 27 he withdrew that language.

He filed his more language in February pointing at the city’s controversial trash dispute as for the reason. Woodson’s approved language was the fourth attempt to remove Weaver.

“They are using thug tactics to fight this recall,” said Woodson. “The real question is why are they trying to fight this so hard? If the people want to keep her in office she let the people decide in November. This move again shows their inability to follow the law and their blatant disrespect to the citizens of Flint. My team will continue to fight this corruption. This is why we are pushing for this recall.”

Woodson’s language read:

“Mayor Karen Weaver, on September 22, 2016, signed an emergency waste collection contract with Rizzo Environmental Service(s),” reads the language filed with the Genesee County Clerk’s Office on Feb. 24.

The trash dispute lingered for months as Flint City Council members and Weaver’s administration fought over whom would haul Flint’s garbage.

In June 2016, Weaver’s administration asked the council to approve a $17.9 million contract with Rizzo Environmental Services but council members questioned the company’s integrity and later voted 8 to 1 to not support Weaver’s recommendation.

Flint City Councilman Eric Mays was the sole supporter of Weaver’s recommendation.

Ultimately, the council and Weaver’s team came to an agreement to continue using Republic Waste Services to haul Flint’s trash shortly after October 2016 reports that Rizzo was at the center of a federal corruption investigation.

Weaver said she is focused on doing her job and declined to comment on the recall issue.

“I am going to continue doing the job I was elected to do and will not be distracted,” said Weaver in a July 21, 2017, email statement.
Post Thu Aug 24, 2017 3:30 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message  Reply with quote  
untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Here we go again! When I wrote about Darryl Buchanan being ousted as Ombudsman, and when Woodrow Stanley was recalled, there was one common theme in the black publications. The popular black politician or appointee was being unfairly maligned and everyone was lying but that individual. The pastors quoted Stanley correctly and the city has not recovered from the uproar that occurred then. Even the large newspapers spoke about "black turning against black". They also featured the allegations of racism spewed by Stanley. When Buchanan was under investigation, the Courier, the Flinstonian, and the Flint Enquirer all condemned, often with no bylines, the black council and the two black females in order to protect Buchanan. With Stanley, the churches held highly publicized protests. It was disturbing to see Circuit Court Judge Archie Hayman seated prominently behind Stanley at these events. he was carerful not to make any statements.

Kincaid was the focus of a Stanley campaign ad during one campaign. The ad referred to KIncaid's "Big House" , referring to his northern home,using a term meant for plantation slave owners. Since then the pastors have criticized Kincaid for the 2000 budget rejection. Forensic auditors found the council was correct and the budget contained a $10 milon "phantom revenue"
Post Thu Aug 24, 2017 4:52 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message  Reply with quote  
untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Now the attack is on Gleason. In two Facebook sites, Word on the Street and Flint Indivisible, the focus s on a partial rendering op ed by Charles H. Winfrey. Winfrey donated to Weavers campaign and in 2016 was working on her campaign.

Citing the Flint Beat interview, Winfrey stated "he hardly sound like an impartial arbitrator. Steve Wonder can see Gleason has a slew of preconceved opinions of the Mayor"
I've heard that song before.
Post Thu Aug 24, 2017 5:09 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message  Reply with quote  
untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Winfrey called Gleason's role in the recall suspect. Gleason's role in the recall was to follow the law and meet the deadlines. City Clerk Inez Brown had the same mandate to perform her task in the time allocated.

Winfrey also criticized Gleason for referring to the police investigating signatures and media reported accusations that some officers used threats to be voter intimidation. He was not alone as social media had many of both races making the same comments.

There was also criticism on Facebook that Flint police, using Flint Police cars were collecting signatures to place Winfrey's daughter on the ballot in the 5th Ward. Winfrey denied any involvement.

Winfrey was the focus of an Ombudsman complaint written by Ramona Sain for campaigning in City hall . I interviewed an Interim Cost Center Manager who said he feared the loss of his job for speaking up. As an interim, he lost union protection. He stated he was pressured to buy a ticket to the Mayor's ball and Winfrey took him into a stairwell to get the payment. It was not on the campaign finance reports.
Post Thu Aug 24, 2017 5:33 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message  Reply with quote  
untanglingwebs
El Supremo

FLINT NEWS
Bad math could leave Flint recall election hinging on one signature


Updated on August 24, 2017 at 5:16 PM Posted on August 24, 2017 at 4:19 PM

Gallery: Judge: 'Math was off,' only one signature needed to call off Flint mayoral
By Oona Goodin-Smith ogoodins@mlive.com
FLINT, MI - A judge says the county clerk's "math was off" in counting recall petition signatures against Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, and that disproving only one signature may be needed to call the whole election off.

After an hour of listening to attorney arguments on whether Flint Councilman Scott Kincaid should be allowed to run for both mayor and his council seat on Thursday, Aug. 24, Genesee Circuit Judge Geoffrey L. Neithercut casually mentioned that the "math was off" in calculating the margin by which the recall was declared.

Stating that recall leader Arthur Woodson turned in 8,848 signatures and that 3,098 were found invalid by the city and county clerks, Neithercut said 5,750 petition signatures were deemed valid by the clerks - the exact number of signatures needed for the recall to advance to the ballot.

The needed minimum of 5,750 signatures is derived from a figure equivalent to 25 percent of city voter turnout in the most recent governor's election.

l
Flint Mayor Karen Weaver is requesting that a judge order Genesee County Clerk John Gleason to call off November's recall election.

If Neithercut's numbers are right, Weaver would only need to disqualify one more signature on the petitions for the recall to be thrown out.

With the math up in the air, the judge requested an affidavit from Genesee County Clerk John Gleason's office detailing the number of signatures originally submitted by Woodson, as well as the number of signatures thrown out by both the city and county clerk's office.


After "four good looks" - including two checks from his office, one from City Clerk Inez Brown and another from Weaver - Gleason announced on August 3 that petitioners collected 5,870 verified signatures in favor of the recall.

"We had the numbers that we threw out," said Gleason. "We initially threw out several hundred, (Flint City Clerk Inez Brown) threw out about 2,000 more. (Weaver) was off, too. They said they were throwing out 1,200 when it was less than 1,000. I hang my hat on my elections supervisor. She's the best supervisor in the state and I trust her."

Exact numbers of discarded petition signatures were not immediately available from the county and city clerk's offices.


"More than 1,200 petition signatures should be invalidated because of signatures, addresses, and dates of several submitted petitions obviously lack validity and genuineness," Weaver wrote.

In court on August 24, Neithercut also requested that Weaver's attorney, Kendall Williams, bring forward the "handwriting expert" who claims 1,200 of the petition signatures were forged or otherwise manipulated.

In a challenge to petition signatures on July 31, Weaver said that Robert D. Kullman - a forensic document analyst at the East Lansing-based Speckin Forensic Laboratories - analyzed the thousands of signatures and deemed 1,200 to be disqualifiable.


"My examinations revealed changed/altered dates within the circulator signature block, dates on the signature lines that were after the date in the circulator signature block, information in the signature lines (addresses, zip codes, dates) that were not written by the signer," Kullman's analysis said.

Williams, noting that he is ready to disqualify over 100 petition signatures, told the judge that Kullman "lives Up North" but should appear before him on either Friday, Aug. 25, or Monday, Aug. 28, at the latest.

"I can make time in my schedule for that individual," Neithercut said.

During the lengthy hearing, Genesee County Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Celeste Bell - who represented Gleason in court - noted that the county elections officials who reviewed petition signatures did not have the resources to scrutinize signatures in the same fashion as a handwriting expert.

The judge also decided "not to shoot from the hip" in deciding whether Kincaid can run for mayor and his Ninth Ward council seat simultaneously in the upcoming election - a point which may be proven moot if the judge's math and Williams' claims prove true and the election is called off.
Post Thu Aug 24, 2017 5:40 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message  Reply with quote  
untanglingwebs
El Supremo

FLINT NEWS

Flint cop was on city's dime when he bought recall petitions with mayor's check
Posted August 24, 2017 at 05:07 PM | Updated August 24, 2017 at 05:07 PM


kris jones1.jpg
Flint Police Officer Kristopher Jones sits next to Flint Mayor Karen Weaver at a city council meeting on June 26. (Shannon Millard I MLive.com)

By Oona Goodin-Smith | ogoodins@mlive.com
FLINT, MI – A Flint police officer was on the city’s dime when he used a check from Mayor Karen Weaver’s campaign funds to purchase copies of the recall petitions his department is investigating.
Despite a statement through city spokesperson Kristin Moore that Officer Kristopher Jones was “on (his) own time” when he purchased a stack of recall petitions at 1:11 p.m. on Friday, July 7, with the mayor’s campaign money, his time card shows otherwise.
Records obtained by MLive-The Flint Journal through a Freedom of Information Act show that Jones not only worked his usual 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift on July 7, but also picked up three additional overtime hours that day, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
No breaks were reported on the time card.
An overtime report from the day explains Jones, a member of the city’s Crime Area Target Team, a specialized unit created by Police Chief Tim Johnson to proactively deter violent crime, was conducting “surveillance at a location in the city of Flint” during the shift.
Flint police were not immediately available for comment on the matter, Moore said.
jonesovertimereport.jpg
A copy of Flint Police Officer Kristopher Jones' timecard from Friday, July 7, 2017, obtained by MLive-The Flint Journal via Freedom of Information Act request.

Receipts previously obtained by MLive-The Flint Journal through a FOIA request show Jones made the petition purchase with a $194 check from “Friends of Karen Weaver” – the mayor’s campaign account – at the Genesee County Clerk’s Office at 1:11 p.m. on July 7.
Courthouse surveillance video – also obtained by MLive-The Flint Journal through a Freedom of Information Act request – shows Jones entering the county courthouse, where the clerk’s office is located, at 12:53 p.m. on July 7 and leaving 20 minutes later, at 1:13 p.m.
Jones, who was wearing his police badge on his belt at the time of the midday transaction, according to County Clerk John Gleason, did not deny the events and instead said through city spokesperson Kristin Moore that he was “on (his) own time” when he purchased the stack of recall petitions.

Nearly two weeks later, on Thursday, July 20, Gleason -- who said he took notes of his office's interactions regarding the mayoral recall petitions -- said Jones returned to the clerk’s office, where the officer questioned the clerk secretary and two elections officials in connection to the police department’s investigation of the recall petitions.
Jones is often seen in close proximity to the mayor at City Hall, and was one of the officers seen arresting six people at the city’s contentious town hall meeting on the future of Flint’s water source in April.
The six were released from the city lock-up the morning after the arrests and the case was never prosecuted.
Campaign records also show the officer donated $120 to the mayor’s campaign in June.
Clerk July 7 recall bill-page-0.jpg
A receipt from the Genesee County Clerk's office showing Jones' walk-in purchase of the recall petitions using a $194 check from Mayor Karen Weaver's campaign fund.

In the midst of a criminal investigation by Flint police into the validity of the recall petitions, University of Detroit Mercy Law Professor Larry Dubin said the officer’s actions of spending money from the mayor’s campaign may overstep investigation boundaries.
“Certainly, if true, that could cross a boundary of needed independence from the police department,” said Dubin, who specializes in ethics in government and lawyers. “It would seem that the mayor’s office should not be participating financially in the investigation of the potential fraudulent inducement that possibly incurred with respect to her office. Any investigation into the mayor’s office should be conducted by an entity that is independent of the mayor’s office.”
While he declined to comment directly on any allegations being made in the potential recall of Weaver, Fred Woodhams of the Michigan Secretary of State’s office said previously that, “speaking generally, state law prohibits the use of public resources, including staff time and physical items such as computers, to support or oppose a candidate or ballot question.”
-0385429d8dcc860e.jpg
In this Thursday, April 20, 2017, photo, Flint police Officer Kristopher Jones removes resident Leah Palladeno, in handcuffs, from a town hall meeting at House of Prayer Missionary Baptist Church, related to the city's crisis with lead-tainted water, in Flint, Mich. Jake May I MLive.com

This isn’t the first time that the Flint police department’s involvement in the mayoral recall efforts has come into question.
After distributing a press release stating that the department was investigating a formal criminal complaint alleging that residents were tricked into signing the recall petition against Weaver, police were spotted knocking on doors in the community to question voters on whether they signed to remove the mayor.
For 88-year-old David Peterson, the visit to his Flint home from law enforcement on Thursday, July 27, "seemed a little odd."
"I knew I wasn't in trouble because I hadn't done nothing," said Peterson, who said that the officer joked that he was "here to arrest" him when Peterson's daughter let him in the house.
"(The officer) said, 'What I'm here about is signing the recall petition.' I said, 'Yeah, I signed it, and for my wife, too. She has dementia.' Then he left," said Peterson.
Flint police spokesperson Det. Tyrone Booth previously confirmed that the department is actively investigating the formal criminal complaint into the petitions, but declined to comment on the alleged house calls, citing an open investigation.
But Gleason - who oversaw certifying signatures on the recall petitions - called the alleged police visits "voter intimidation."
"It scares the bejeezus out of folks when the police are knocking at their doors ... that's how they intimidate voters," said Gleason. "You ought to be calling the cops, the cops shouldn't be calling you."
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton confirmed on Thursday, Aug. 24 that the criminal investigation is still in the hands of the Flint Police Department, but declined to comment further.
Despite dispersing the release to local media containing allegations against petitioners, the city refused to release a copy of a criminal complaint to MLive-The Flint Journal – requested through the Freedom of Information Act – citing the open case’s active investigation.
A motion filed by Weaver on Tuesday, Aug. 22, asking Judge Geoffrey Neithercut to order Gleason to explain why the recall should move forward or else throw it out, notes that “several individuals” have noted have noted that their "signatures were obtained through fraud, deceit and misrepresentation" and that they are willing to testify to the fact under oath.
Weaver’s attorney, Kendall Williams, claims that Gleason ignored “overwhelming evidence of grossly illegal behavior by the petition circulators” and that November’s recall election should be discarded.
In a surprise to all parties in the courtroom on Thursday, Aug. 24, Neithercut noted that the county clerk's math may be "off" in calculating the number of validated recall signatures and that the mayor may need to disprove but a single signature in order to nullify the tumultuous recall election.
Post Fri Aug 25, 2017 1:39 am 
 View user's profile Send private message  Reply with quote  
untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Terry Bankert
3 hrs ·
Connect with MLive.com
·
#Flint- CITIZENS TRUST IN FLINT GOVERNMENT is focused in the Courtroom of Judge Neithercut.My take away thoughts.
1.The recall law is flawed . Our State representatives must amend it,
2. The Flint Police have acted badly in this recall drama.
4. Kincaids right to ballot access should be liberally construed.
5. Mayor Weavers recall could set aside the results of a regular election. The law and procedures must be narrowly construed to protect that election result.
6. The Best local lawyers are either on the bench or representing the parties,
7. There are lessons to be learned here but sadly they will pass blind eyes and fall on deaf ears,
@TerryBankert
Post Fri Aug 25, 2017 9:34 am 
 View user's profile Send private message  Reply with quote  
00SL2
F L I N T O I D

'Bad math' solved: Flint mayor must disprove 121 signatures to stop recall
Posted on August 25, 2017 at 5:11 PM
By Oona Goodin-Smith, ogoodins@mlive.com

FLINT, MI - While a judge has not yet ruled on the validity of the signatures on petitions to recall Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, the problem of "bad math" has been solved.

After Thursday's claims "the math was off" in the recall election, which left a courtroom wondering whether Flint's mayoral recall could hinge on a single invalidated petition signature, the county clerk's office showed its work in Genesee County Court on Friday, Aug. 25.

Reading from an affidavit requested by Circuit Court Judge Geoffrey L. Neithercut, Genesee County Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Celeste Bell - who represented County Clerk John Gleason in court - detailed the number of petition signatures submitted in the recall.

Bad math could leave Flint recall election hinging on one signature

Recall leader Arthur Woodson initially submitted 8,848 signatures to the county clerk's office in June, Bell said.

Gleason's office then threw out 693 signatures, passing along 8,155 to Flint City Clerk Inez Brown.

Brown's office - who Bell noted had the job of proving the registered voter status of each petition signee - discarded 2,204, leaving 5,951 valid signatures in the recall, said Bell.

Woodson needed a minimum of 5,750 signatures - a figure equivalent to 25 percent of city voter turnout in the most recent governor's election - to place the recall on the November ballot.

The county clerk's office then accepted 81 of the 1,200 signatures Weaver challenged, leaving a final tally of 5,870 valid signatures, Bell said.

That means Weaver must now disprove 121 signatures in order to strike November's recall election, Judge Geoffrey L. Neithercut said.

The math error, said Weaver's attorney Kendall Williams, derived from a mistake on the complaint he filed with the court, asking Neithercut to order Gleason to call off the election.

"It was on the complaint that was filed," Williams said after Friday's hearing. "The total number was correct, but the number of invalidated was incorrect."

However, Williams said there's "plenty of evidence" he's prepared to show the court in order to toss the 121 signatures.

Flint Mayor Weaver asks judge to order county clerk to call off recall

The attorney - who is representing Weaver as a political candidate rather than as an agent of the city - said he has at least 50 petition signees willing to testify that they were misled or duped into signing the recall petition against Flint's embattled mayor.

Williams noted that the signatories willing to testify have no relation to the ongoing Flint police criminal investigation into the potentially fraudulent petitions, and said that citizens who felt they were tricked into signing the petition have reached out to the mayor's office.

"They've had people call and say, 'Hey I didn't write my name on this,'" Williams said. "Not involved with (the police investigation) at all ... We've got a list of people. That's what we've been doing, frankly, since this was done, we've been trying to gather the evidence because I can't come to court with allegations, I have to have the evidence to support this was done."

Flint police making house calls in mayoral recall petition probe

In court on Aug. 25, Robert D. Kullman - the handwriting expert who Weaver hired to analyze the thousands of signatures and deemed 1,200 to be disqualifiable - took the stand to explain his procedure.

Noting that he did not have knowledge of recall election law, Kullman said he pored over the petitions looking only for handwriting similarities, such as home addresses or dates being written by the same person multiple times.

Petition signers are required to write their own address and zip code, Williams stressed.

"I went through and listed my findings - I'm not sure if they're of value," Kullman said, noting that even with photocopies of the petitions, he could determine the handwriting similarities "with a high degree of scientific certainty."

After roughly an hour of testimony from Kullman, Genesee County Elections Supervisor Doreen Fulcher was called to the stand.

Testifying for nearly 90 minutes, Fulcher explained that her team of three staff members in the clerk's office worked to analyze each of the petition signatures - comparing an online Qualified Voter Signature (QVF) with the petition signature for verification.

"We have no official (handwriting analysis) training ... but we've been doing this for many years," Fulcher said. "We've seen a lot of recalls."

At the end of the Fulcher's testimony, Neithercut noted that, despite Gleason's requests to expedite the process, he's "not going to move very fast on this."

The next court date in the case is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 29, at 9:30 a.m., where Williams said he plans to introduce testimony from witnesses who say they were tricked into signing to recall the mayor.

Source: http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2017/08/recall_bad_math_solved_mayor_w.html
Post Fri Aug 25, 2017 9:55 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message  Reply with quote  
untanglingwebs
El Supremo

I followed the Ombudsman case in Neithercutt's Court and was concerned that outside influences were in play. Finally, Neithercutt recused himself as a contingent of Buchanan supporters showed up at his home on a Saturday morning to discuss Buchanan. His wife and child were upset and frightened by this intrusion in their private life.

What I don't understand is why he allowed these individuals, and one was an attorney, to get away with this. Is there no remedy for those who push ex parte communications? Neithercut admitted he hd had man calls trying to influence his decision.

There is no doubt in my mind that the same type of attempted communications are happening again. Is Neithercutt strong enough to make the right decision without being influenced by either side. Will he accept a he said-she said type of argument of fraud without some kind of documentation,especially since the police were so involved in the investigation.
Post Sat Aug 26, 2017 11:49 am 
 View user's profile Send private message  Reply with quote  
  Display posts from previous:      
Post new topic Reply to topic

Jump to:  


Last Topic | Next Topic  >

Forum Rules:
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

 

Flint Michigan online news magazine. We have lively web forums

Website Copyright © 2010 Flint Talk.com
Contact Webmaster - FlintTalk.com >