I imagine you have been following the follies here in town- it is spectacular, and hard to get away from. I won’t deal with the events in Ferguson- that is too horrific. But as to the digital scandals in progress the Attorney General joins the former Secretary of State and the former Director of the EPA with the revelation that he has a couple bogus addresses on which he presumably did some government business.
He was going by the handle “David Kendricks” on his undisclosed government email accounts. That was a combination of the names of two members of the legendary MoTown group, the Temptations: Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin. Sometimes he was henryyearwood@usdoj.gov for variety, and there is another alias floating around some place, according to the New York Daily News.
I thought I might drop him a line of sympathy, but there is no reason to tempt fate, at least not until his replacement is confirmed.
I am sure there are all kinds of really important reasons for using fake names and addresses in government, though I can’t come up with one at the moment. I am sure everything will be sorted out presently and everyone will be happy. It would be easier to tee off on the Secret Service for the latest exercise in poor judgement, but I want everyone safe.
What I did want to stress this morning is that if things seem out of control in DC, it appears to be infectious. Down in the Country, we have had a rash of events that are just as outré.
For example, I think I told you about the incident that happened back in 2012 in which a former Culpeper police officer was convicted of manslaughter. He shot a Sunday school teacher at the Epiphany Catholic School parking lot of East Street. He was responding to a call about a suspicious person.
The case popped up this week since his last appeal to the US Supreme Court is going to be heard. This isn’t a real good time to argue justification in shooting unarmed people, and it is not going to fly, according to the smart money. He will have to serve a three year sentence.
In his defense, it should be noted that the Sunday School teacher cranked up the window of her Jeep on his hand and attempted to drive off with him attached to her car.
.
There was also a recent double murder with no suspects- at the moment. A guy from Delaware with a local girlfriend told the manager of the PNC Bank in Stafford that he thought someone was gunning for him, and got a safety deposit box in which to stash two Samsung Galaxy smartphones. The woman with him was reported to have been weeping.
Shortly thereafter, a family visiting Mountain Run Lake Park west of town last month found a car with the driver’s side window smashed in and the Delaware guy and the woman dead of gunshot wounds inside. That was news this week because the Sherriff’s department got a warrant to recover the phones, which may have the crucial information on them. I will keep you updated on what happens.
Then, the County IT Systems Admin guy just filed charges that the County Prosecutor grabbed him inappropriately. It is a complex story, unlike the case of our former Mayor who was convicted of sexual battery for hugging the Social Services director for seven seconds.
That was weird, but this one is, too.
It seems the Virginia statute of limitations for “battery” is two years and was just about to expire. The SysAdmin guy claimed that the prosecutor grabbed him after he locked her out of the digital case files at the Sheriff’s request. I have no idea why he did that- he himself just got a hefty settlement after the city manager said some nasty things about him and she got fired- but the SysAdmin is looking for twenty-five grand plus legal costs for the pain and mental distress.
“If I truly harmed him and caused $25,000 in injuries, why wait two years, if I hurt him that bad?” she was quoted as saying yesterday in the Clarion-Bugle.
The files in question had been central to a capital murder conviction in 2012, which was overturned by a federal judge who cited “outrageous misconduct” by police and prosecutors. The prosecutor at the time resigned abruptly and we elected the current prosecutor who claims the battery charge is an attempt to torpedo her chances at re-election this November.
I don’t know what to think, but I am going to vote for sure. Some times a vote can actually make a difference down in the country. I have pictures of all these people, but I am not going to go there. We all have to live together down in the country .
Copyright 2015 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
Twitter: @jayare303