Comments on Advance Indiana™: Special Prosecutor's Decision On Bolejack Makes No Sense

Here's what the criminal statute for official misc...

2006-10-16T22:40:00.000-05:00

Here's what the criminal statute for official misconduct says:

35-44-1-2 Sec. 2. A public servant who:
(1) knowingly or intentionally performs an act that the public servant is forbidden by law to perform;
(2) performs an act the public servant is not authorized by law to perform, with intent to obtain any property for himself or herself;
(3) knowingly or intentionally solicits, accepts, or agrees to accept from an appointee or employee any property other than what the public servant is authorized by law to accept as a condition of continued employment;
(4) knowingly or intentionally acquires or divests himself or herself of a pecuniary interest in any property, transaction, or enterprise or aids another person to do so based on information obtained by virtue of the public servant's office that official action that has not been made public is contemplated;
(5) knowingly or intentionally fails to deliver public records and property in the public servant's custody to the public servant's successor in office when that successor qualifies; or
(6) knowingly or intentionally violates IC 36-6-4-17(b);
commits official misconduct, a Class D felony.

I guess Brown concluded it's not illegal to give a $414,000 grant to your best friend, who has no demonstrated experience to carry out the purpose for which you gave him the grant, provide misleading and inaccurate information about how you went about awarding that grant, not obtain board approval for the grant, and someone prepared minutes to give the appearance the board had approved the grant. The statute creating the ICJI, specifically says the Board's powers, among other, include:

(5) receive, expend, and account for state funds made available for the purposes of this chapter;
(6) apply for and accept gifts and grants (which must be administered as public funds) made for the purposes of this chapter;
(7) enter into lawful agreements as required as a condition for receiving gifts, grants, or other funds for the purposes of this chapter.

Doesn't appear to me that the law was followed if the Board didn't authorize the grant.

I have known Barry Brown since undergraduate days....

2006-10-16T20:46:00.000-05:00

I have known Barry Brown since undergraduate days. He is a former Monroe County prosecutor. His record and his professionalism are unquestioned. His best friend is a Republican Superior Court judge down there. He won re-election by huge margins and has the admiration of both sides of the aisle.

The problem here may be the evidence, but I don't know.

I believe he may be the same special prosecutor who indicted Ron Gibson, but I could be wrong.

He's forgotten more about criminal law than most of us will ever know.

I have no dog in this hunt, but don't go doggin' Barry Brown. He's a good man.

At the risk of sounding smug, I went back and chec...

2006-10-16T20:00:00.000-05:00

At the risk of sounding smug, I went back and checked my Indiana Barrister blog, and lo and behold, we reported back in May that Heather's deal was likely more mismanagement than misdeeds. It will be interesting to see what the reaction is in the Black community. So much for conspiracies.

My understanding is he is a former Democratic Monr...

2006-10-16T18:22:00.000-05:00

My understanding is he is a former Democratic Monroe Co. prosecutor.

Just for the record what political persuasion is M...

2006-10-16T17:12:00.000-05:00

Just for the record what political persuasion is Mr. Brown?