I'm SD, and the opinions expressed in this posting are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of anyone else, but they might reflect yours.
In this world, you can divide evil-doers into two groups: the bad and the worse. In my last "shootin'" column, I mentioned that Lin Wood was so scummy, even the lawyers who worked for the Haddon Law Firm didn't like him. And to show why that's saying so very much, let me remind you of just how scummy Hal Haddon, Bryan Morgan and Lee Foreman are.
Even before this case came down, Haddon and Co. were infamous for the motto that was engraved on a bronze plaque right above the backdoor of their office building: "reasonable doubt for a reasonable price." The meaning of that phrase is ominously clear: "pay us enough money, and we don't care if you did it; we'll use any dirty trick available to us to make sure you walk." And if that's not clear enough for you, let's look at some of the people they have defended: Kobe Bryant, Charlie Sheen, the Midyettes and other dubious types. They were also the lawyers of choice for one of the more questionable presidents of my lifetime, Bill Clinton.
And the largesse that they received from their clients provides a lifestyle that would make Donald Trump blush, to say nothing of Clarence Darrow. As Chuck Green pointed out, their office building is bigger and more lavish than the governor's mansion, complete with an Olympic-size swimming pool. As they say, size matters, because the size difference between the two buildings is symbolic of the kind of power that these people wield. But as you can see, they obviously never heard the old saw about having to use power with responsibility. And the best illustration I can give you is how they conducted themselves in this case.
There's one incident in particular that sums up the whole awful mess. And that is how the Haddon law firm intentionally tried to sabotage, intimidate and ruin the life of Tom Miller.
I won't mention any names, but some people have a thing about dismissing what they claim to be "conspiracy theories." Which strikes me as odd, because IDI, with John Ramsey himself in the lead (as ST was helpful enough to point out), has been promoting the biggest conspiracy theory this side of the "Loose Change" crowd. But I digress.
So I guess my question becomes, "at what point does conspiracy theory become conspiracy fact?" Because this one WAS established as fact in a court of law. Let me break it down. Tom Miller was a handwriting analyst in the state of Colorado. He analyzed the ransom note and believed he pegged the writer: Patsy Ramsey. Because of that, and because of his reputation for accuracy, Miller was targeted for dirty tricks by the private investigators Haddon hired to keep his clients from going to prison. That's the first part of the conspiracy fact. The second part came when Haddon called in a political favor to the District Attorney in the neighboring county to have Miller jailed on a bogus charge so that Haddon would have something to impeach his credibility if he were ever called to testify against Patsy at her trial.
And they might have gotten away with it, if they had covered their tracks a little bit better. But arrogance is the flaw of power, and Miller's lawyer called PI David Williams and Lee Foreman himself to the stand, where they admitted on the record to exactly what I just told you. For all I know, it may be legal, but it's damn sure not ethical, and they were never taken to task on it.
Oh, and another thing: there are those who say (and they know who they are) that Tom Miller was not qualified as an analysis. Well, I guess the CO court system didn't get that memo, because he'd BEEN accepted several times before. It should be fairly obvious to anyone with half and eye to see and half a brain cell to think that they targeted this man BECAUSE he was qualified and would probably have put a nail in the coffin. But money and politics were more important than truth. And if I had my way, we'd be DOING something about it. Maybe a little fear would smack some ethics back into the legal profession, because from where I'm standing, the state of the law in 2013 SUCKS! And I'm damn sick and tired of it! Hal Haddon, you can go to hell, and take your rotten friends and clients with you!
That's my opinion. That's my stance. That's my commentary. Do what you want with it.
In this world, you can divide evil-doers into two groups: the bad and the worse. In my last "shootin'" column, I mentioned that Lin Wood was so scummy, even the lawyers who worked for the Haddon Law Firm didn't like him. And to show why that's saying so very much, let me remind you of just how scummy Hal Haddon, Bryan Morgan and Lee Foreman are.
Even before this case came down, Haddon and Co. were infamous for the motto that was engraved on a bronze plaque right above the backdoor of their office building: "reasonable doubt for a reasonable price." The meaning of that phrase is ominously clear: "pay us enough money, and we don't care if you did it; we'll use any dirty trick available to us to make sure you walk." And if that's not clear enough for you, let's look at some of the people they have defended: Kobe Bryant, Charlie Sheen, the Midyettes and other dubious types. They were also the lawyers of choice for one of the more questionable presidents of my lifetime, Bill Clinton.
And the largesse that they received from their clients provides a lifestyle that would make Donald Trump blush, to say nothing of Clarence Darrow. As Chuck Green pointed out, their office building is bigger and more lavish than the governor's mansion, complete with an Olympic-size swimming pool. As they say, size matters, because the size difference between the two buildings is symbolic of the kind of power that these people wield. But as you can see, they obviously never heard the old saw about having to use power with responsibility. And the best illustration I can give you is how they conducted themselves in this case.
There's one incident in particular that sums up the whole awful mess. And that is how the Haddon law firm intentionally tried to sabotage, intimidate and ruin the life of Tom Miller.
I won't mention any names, but some people have a thing about dismissing what they claim to be "conspiracy theories." Which strikes me as odd, because IDI, with John Ramsey himself in the lead (as ST was helpful enough to point out), has been promoting the biggest conspiracy theory this side of the "Loose Change" crowd. But I digress.
So I guess my question becomes, "at what point does conspiracy theory become conspiracy fact?" Because this one WAS established as fact in a court of law. Let me break it down. Tom Miller was a handwriting analyst in the state of Colorado. He analyzed the ransom note and believed he pegged the writer: Patsy Ramsey. Because of that, and because of his reputation for accuracy, Miller was targeted for dirty tricks by the private investigators Haddon hired to keep his clients from going to prison. That's the first part of the conspiracy fact. The second part came when Haddon called in a political favor to the District Attorney in the neighboring county to have Miller jailed on a bogus charge so that Haddon would have something to impeach his credibility if he were ever called to testify against Patsy at her trial.
And they might have gotten away with it, if they had covered their tracks a little bit better. But arrogance is the flaw of power, and Miller's lawyer called PI David Williams and Lee Foreman himself to the stand, where they admitted on the record to exactly what I just told you. For all I know, it may be legal, but it's damn sure not ethical, and they were never taken to task on it.
Oh, and another thing: there are those who say (and they know who they are) that Tom Miller was not qualified as an analysis. Well, I guess the CO court system didn't get that memo, because he'd BEEN accepted several times before. It should be fairly obvious to anyone with half and eye to see and half a brain cell to think that they targeted this man BECAUSE he was qualified and would probably have put a nail in the coffin. But money and politics were more important than truth. And if I had my way, we'd be DOING something about it. Maybe a little fear would smack some ethics back into the legal profession, because from where I'm standing, the state of the law in 2013 SUCKS! And I'm damn sick and tired of it! Hal Haddon, you can go to hell, and take your rotten friends and clients with you!
That's my opinion. That's my stance. That's my commentary. Do what you want with it.
