Drug Court Audio Tape

BatBlog Obtains Audio Tape of Destiny Hoffman's Sentencing Hearing
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Here's the audio tape of Destiny Hoffman's sentencing hearing where Judge Jerry Jacobi sentenced Ms. Hoffman to 48 hours only to leave her in Clark Co. Jail for 5 1/2 months. Tape has Ms. Hoffman explaining her disputed urine sample to Judge Jacobi......What do you think ??


FOR STORYCLICK HERE


 

Breaking .........Seen This woman ??? Neither have the Police...

Seem like Clark County has a hard time keeping track of their prisoners. Those that are supposed to be released are held in jail for months at a time. Then this woman they just let walk out and take a smoke and she just kept going, going, gone... Wow Clark Co. continues to be a on going Keystone Kops adventure....

THE STORY CLICK HERE


 

OK Who Stole Clark Co.'s Web Site ???

 

Been out of town the last couple of day's and was informed by a friend that the Clark Co. website is up and missing, completely gone. Haven't had time for my mole at the court house to fill me in,  so readers what's going on ???  Did Clark Co. bounce a check to the webmaster  ??  Did the State shut it down like they did Judge Jacobi's drug court ?? Did John Perkins not like his Co. Commissioner picture and pull the plug  ???  Was it hacked in retaliation by those drug court defendant's that the Co. just left
in jail ???  What Gives ??

 In reality I read on the chatter that the Co. hired a firm owned /operated ?? by Leah Farris to maintain and upgrade the site. Supposedly Leah can't be reached....Say it ain't so Leah the BatBlog always liked you and here's offering you a chance to tell your side of the story. I know you used to read the BatBlog from time to time ...Here's hoping you'll stop in and tell us what happened.

 On a side note Co. Commissioner Rick Stephenson valiantly stepped forward and offered to reimburse the County for recommending Ms. Farris' firm , in the order of  4000.00 or so dollars. You should be commended Rick, this is probably the first time in the history of Clark Co. a politician has offered to repay what some may see as a mistake. Thanks Rick, but just offering to pay was enough for me. On the other hand maybe Judge Jacobi will take Mr. Stephenson's lead and offer to pay the millions of dollars his incompetency is going to cost us taxpayers for the drug court fiasco...but don't hold your breath on that one...

Election 2014 Part 3

Well summing up the races let's look at the two final Clark Co. Council races then the BatBlog will give their endorsements.

Clark Co. Council District 3- Danny Yost Incumbent Rep. tries to hold his seat against Joe Hubbard the Dem., Yost and the other new Rep.s on the council have done a good job with the mess they were handed. Yost had some personal problems that might hurt his campaign...Hubbard could capitalize and win the seat..

Clark Co. Council Dist, 4 - Rep. incumbent Steve Doherty faces off against former councilman Perry Smith. Smith never met a tax he didn't like, give Doherty the edge as the GOP tries to hang on to the progress they've made here recently...

There are some other races that we will discuss later as both parties can fill slots on races that are uncontested and independents can still get on the ballot for the general election ..Stay tuned

BATBLOG Endorsements
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U.S Rep. of Congress 9th Dist. - whichever Dem. wins the primary... Todd Young needs to go he's boring , bland and part of the GOP element that does nothing but create gridlock in Washington. He'll be hard to beat though, but lets hope him and Mitch McConnell meet in the unemployment line...

State Senator 46th Dist. - Charles "Chuck" Frieberger (D)
Circuit Court #1 Judge - Dan Moore (D)
Circuit Court #2 Judge - Laura Harbison (D)
Prosecuting Attorney Clark County - Jeremy Mull (R)
Clark Co. Clerk - Susan Popp (D)
Clark Co. Auditor - William Perry McCall (D)
Clark Co. Recorder - Zachary "Zach" Payne (R)
Clark Co. Sheriff - Matt Spainhour (I)
Clark Co. Commissioner 3rd Dist. - David Abbott (D)
County Council Dist.1 Barbara Hollis (D)
County Council Dist. 2 Brian Lenfert (R)
County Council Dist. 3  Danny Yost (R)
County Council Dist. 4 Steve Doherty (R)

** Special Endorsement - Republican at Large Convention Delegate Martina "Tina" Webster...Though we don't agree on a lot on national politics Tina I'm sure will make an excellent delegate and special thanks to her for providing me the list of candidates....

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One last word , I was a little disappointed as I scanned the list of precinct committeemen I noticed a lot of the same old names . I was hoping some new fresh, young people would get more involved in this ground level entry, most precincts have only one candidate. Unfortunately that's just the way it is but be sure to vote.....

Election 2014 ...Part II

 Continuing
 on some of the other races....

Clark Co. Auditor - Republican incumbent Monty Snelling will face political newcomer local attorney William Perry McCall - Dem. in the fall. Snelling  the incumbent who has ran for several offices might face a stiff challenge from McCall. McCall has the qualifications to make a fine Auditor....

Clark County Recorder - Newcomer Dem. local businessman Lincoln Crum faces current Jeff city councilman Zachary "Zach" Payne. Crum seems like a fine fellow and should be a good campaigner but Payne having a little more political experience gets the edge here....

Clark County Sheriff - Crowded field of 3 Dem.s ,1 Rep. and an Independent Matt Spainhour... Current Sheriff's Dept. Brian Meyer looks like a shoo in in the Dem. primary but in the fall this one looks to close to call right now. You have to think Rep. Jamey Noel will be helped by the addition of Ind. Spainhour splitting the Dem. votes...Spainhour is popular and could win on his own as could Myers...a real dogfight in our opinion....

Clark Co. Commissioner Dist. 3 -  Can the GOP capture the Dist. 3. Commissioners race and have all 3 Commissioners Rep. probably for the first time in history. Rep. Bryan Glover another current Jeff City councilman will attempt to beat most likely David Abbot in the fall. The Dem. primary featuring John Perkins, Abbot and Dennis Ettel looks like an easy victory for David Abbot as Clark Co. voters more than likely put "Toxic' John Perkins to rest for good. The voters thought they did (2) years ago as Perkins was soundly beat in the primary only to have the "good ole boy" Dem. caucus place Toxic John into office. If Glover and Abbot face off in the fall should be a good race with a slight edge to Abbot....

Clark Co. Council Dist.1 - Incumbent Barbara Hollis Dem. faces off against Republican Shawn Billups. Hollis currently V.P. of the council will be a tough battle for Mr. Billups. Hollis has been around a long time and should win easily.

Clark Co. Council Dist 2 - Incumbent Bryan Lenfert Rep. faces former Clarksville City councilman Kelly Conn Dem. this fall. Lenfert has done an excellent job on the current council and should have no trouble with defeating County newcomer Conn.....

Tomorrow part 3

Election 2014 - An Early Look

Election 2014 is only a couple months away (Primary)  let's take an early look and some possible results...

U.S. Rep. in Congress 9th Dist. -  Crowded field in the both primaries (4) Democrats and (3) Republicans challenging incumbent Todd Young in the primary. Young hasn't done much of anything, but being incumbent and Rep. should carry him to victory in both primary and  the general election...

State Senator 46th Dist. - Rematch in the fall Ron Grooms Rep. Incumbent against Charles "Chuck" Freiberger Dem. Grooms beat him 4 years ago and will probably be reelected but I'm voting Freiberger. Grooms is a nice guy but too wishy washy, unless he's changed from his Jeff City Council days.

Circuit Court #1 Judge - In the Dem. primary, incumbent Dan Moore against Andrew "Drew" Adams. Moore should win, a generously nice guy and a good judge, no candidate as of yet for GOP but they could put one on the ballot in the fall. Moore will be tough to beat....

Circuit Court #2 Judge - Interesting race with all the drug court drama in place. Incumbent Jerry Jacobi  faces political new comer Laura Harbison in the primary. It's hard to imagine any scenario where Jacobi can win but then again this is Clark Co. If Jacobi wins it shows just how little attention people pay to politics and the news. If by some miracle Jacobi wins you can be sure the GOP will trot out a candidate to face him in the fall...Harbison wins big...


Circuit Court #3 Judge - Currently Incumbent Joe Weber is unopposed, Weber is popular and well known he would be difficult to beat if GOP comes up with a candidate in the fall election...

Prosecuting Attorney - Another interesting and could be a close race this fall deputy prosecutor Jeremy Mull Rep. faces Clark Co. Dem party leader Robert Bottoroff II . This one could go either way Mull has the experience working as a prosecutor under retiring Steve Stewart, The Batblog likes Mull...

County Clerk - Interesting primary race between two solid Democratic candidates former Judge Steven Fleece and Susan Popp...this is another tough one to call, Fleece probably more qualified but Popp is younger it will be close, slight advantage to Fleece. Republican Kelly Harrod has no chance against either Dem. in the fall. Kind of wonder why the Dem.s would let 2 strong candidates run against one another...

End Part I see more races tomorrow

Drug Court Comments

*********************************BREAKING UPDATE********************************************
The BatBlog has obtained a copy of the class action suit filed against Clark Co.

 go to  Drug Court Lawsuit

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 I received an interesting comment from an anonymous poster yesterday, he/she brought up some good points that I would like to share then make my comments on it . I want to thank this poster it was a well written, thought provoking post, thanks again for sharing...

Anonymous said...

One problem for the plaintiffs, all were subject to harsher, longer sentences. The end result for these people is their drug court time was cut, their cases dismissed. Example, if the underlying fact is that Destiny Hoffman did violate the terms of drug court, then she rightfully was due to serve years in prison. As it happened, she did 5 months and is out from under the Drug Court obligations. So, how, exactly, was she actually damaged?

Second, Jacobi (according to the reports) is the one who actually started the ball rolling by asking Chief Judge Carmichael to conduct the investigation that revealed the violations. One assumes that by having the findings come from another source than himself he removed any taint of bias that Knoebel might have leveled against him that he was scapegoating her or firing or disciplining her for some reason other than gross mismanagement of the program that was, after all, her direct responsibility. One might reasonably say that Jacobi's only failing was not acting sooner.

As for the 'false arrests'. First, what is the difference to the person arrested if they were arrested by a policeman or by a Court bailiff who, technically, does not have the authority to execute an arrest warrant? I am not sure.

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So, what is REALLY going on? Some jaded observers can't help but notice that this all is emerging in the POLITICAL season. Couple things here, why does the PROSECUTOR get a pass? Aren't they the "Ultimate Law Enforcement Authority" in the county? The Jail issues a population sheet every Monday. Did the Prosecutor's office simply not notice these 'uncharged detainees'? Isn't the purpose of issuing that sheet so that the people who need to know (ie the prosecutor for example) will be cognizant of who is in the clink?)

The way this has been played out in the Media, the prosecutor and some others who one might otherwise imagine SHOULD HAVE KNOWN much earlier are portrayed as "Heroes". How convenient...for them!?
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Lawsuit is interesting too.....interesting that all those named ....do not include the Drug Court Board. Yeah, the prosecutors and defense lawyers and others who were supposed to direct the activity of the Drug Court. Weren't they supposed to be overseeing the Drug Court? Why have they been given a pass from being sued in Federal Court? Why hasn't the media even told us WHO they are?

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First of all good post and I agree with a lot of what you said especially the part concerning the prosecutor's office and the Drug Court Board. Why were they seemingly given a pass in this whole affair ?? If I were the attorney for the plaintiffs, I would be including both the prosecutor and the board in the lawsuit. having them share in the culpability of the wrongs allegedly done to these alleged victims. Show the whole system from judge, corrections, and prosecutor failed to do the proper thing and were negligent. I would think that would only help their class action suit.

Where I disagree is you seem to minimize the damages inflicted upon the victims per your example of Ms.Hoffman. I believe she was found to have submitted a urine sample that was questionable, not positive. While not knowing the details of her sentencing, I hardly think that would precipitate "years in prison" as you stated. Also don't forget she was allegedly not allowed counsel to represent her and no hearing ever occurred. This is a basic rights violation.of rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Also we can't have just any bailiff or other court employees going around and making arrests, there is a procedure and system in place for making arrests and supposedly it was not followed in this situation.

Finally you seem to give Judge Jacobi a pass in this situation because he initiated the investigation. I' m not buying that, he may have been initiating the investigation only to cover his ass . I just have a hard time believing he wasn't aware of what his employees were doing. I think he may have hired the investigator just to make it appear he wasn't aware after the alleged violations occurred and knowing the story was coming out. I could be wrong but I just don't see an employee of a judge not following the judges lead on how to conduct and administrate a program like this.  

I do have a question for our legal minds out there. If criminal charges are filed against any of Judge Jacobi's employees could he be compelled to testify ??? Or does his immunity extend to testifying ???

Also could he be compelled to testify in civil court ???