For those who remember back in the fall, Maggie Osborn filed charges against Leon Artus for allegedly "trying to run her over with his truck" on her "deeded right of way". She had made the same complaint about a neighbor of hers, and the police refused to file criminal charges in that case, but were quick to arrest Mr. Artus for the same offense.
According to the Judge, Mr. Artus had filed a Motion to dismiss because he has been unable to get basic discovery. On Jan. 21, 2010, the Judge held a 2 hours hearing on his Motions and issued a Court Order for the prosecution, the police dept., and Mrs. Osborn to produce certain items, such as; call logs, the umbrella Mr. Osborn used, the pictures taken by Mrs. Osborn, etc.
According to the Judge, her Order was very specific, and Mr. Artus "was right" that he didn't get them. The police were ordered to produce an "original, unredacted call log of that day". instead, they apparently produced a type written copy of the hand written original, and the Court declared "that is not what I Ordered", and "how can we tell if this has been edited as it is not the orignal?"
Based on the prosecution's failure to produce these basic items, and their violation of the court's order, the Court dismissed the case before the start of trial.
Congratulations Mr. Artus.
Atkinson Town Hall
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44 comments:
GO LEON !!!!! WE ARE SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!!!
Leon is a good man and i am happy they threw out the case it was a bunch of bs from people who are known fro there lying and cheating.
Consentino didn't supply court ordered documents. The Police chief did not do his job, or worse.
That is a beautiful thing they can't even cover up there lies they suck so bad...congrats leon at least the jugde saw through them. for the liars and cheaters they are. The cheif and the Osborns!
Dagnabbit dat's some top notch police woik theyah for ya folks. Yer tax dollers at woik. hey dey wuz bizzy given senyers rides.
LOL THAT WAS GREAT
I heard Mark Accird was there passing notes to Leon across the bar, and that he was talking to Det. Farrar, does anybody know if this is true? What was going on there?
Why are the Osborns living in Atkinson illegally. When are the selectmen going to do something about that.
they are not going to do anything about the osborns living in thers home illegally or there kids going to our schools. nothing is going to happen untill people start asking questions.
so let me get this straight...
Maggie accuses Leon of trying to run her over.
PD arrests him based on her complaint?
Was there any investigation?
He has to go to court to get them to produce call logs, and arrest reports and stuff
They don't produce them, or when they do they are doctored
and the case is dismissed.
This is the quality work our PD does for almost $800,000?
Thank God it wasn't a murder case!
We have a full time Detective on the force. FULL TIME. How busy can this guy be? Det Farrar, what exactly do you do 8 hours a day? Look for lost guns? What the heck am I paying for a full time detective for when we get, I'm not sure how to describe it?
I don't care who's right or wrong on the case. I'm paying for a full time detective and I'd like to see evidence the guy actually does SOMETHING. OMG. What a pathetic display of incompetence.
Just My Opinion
Could I focus the attention here on something in the story.
The Atkinson police were asked to provide the original unredacted call log. That's a very specific request, and a very simple one at that. Leon had already asked for it in discovery, and the Atkinson police had ignored that as well.
Obviously, the chief is hiding the call log for some reason. Once again, the highest law enforcement officer is refusing to follow basic legal procedures, and ignoring explicit orders from a judge,leading to charges being dropped.
Are our selectmen going to call the cheif in and:
1) Request that he submit the original call log to them so that they can inspect it to determine why the chief is hiding it from a judge's inspection?
2) Ask the chief why he was ignoring basic discovery procedures?
What the he'll is going on in our town? Are our selectmen really going to sit quietly while this happens?
God forbid I should ever call the police here in Atkinson and make a report. I understand they can remove information or add information to the police logs to favor whoever. Where is justice?
No justice in Atkinson for anyone. But trumped up police logs there are pleanty of.
This makes me want to vomit.
This is the lowest stuff I can think that a town police chief and a Town detective can do. And if our selectmen do nothing about it they are also at fault.
I hope Mr. Artus sues them so hard their teeth fall out.
" The police were ordered to produce an "original, unredacted call log of that day". instead, they apparently produced a type written copy of the hand written original"
I hear they first removed (redacted) information from the police logs and when the judge insisted on the originalpolice logs the APD made up type written "summaries"?
WTF! How can a judge tell if information is withheld and when typed out added to or modified if you don't have the original legal police log ANYWHERE for the judge to evaluate?
If information was not withheld or added to, then why didn't APD provide the court mandated police logs they were Point Blank ordered by a judge to produce?
Because they are the Atkinson mafia!
This is a serious problem. The police refused to supply copies of the police log when ordered by a judge. The police don't seem to take court orders seriously.
It's bad enough that they hide public police information from the residents but when they are ordered to give it to a defendant and they don't and they would rather let the case get thrown out than comply,is hinting that there was another issue more important to them here.
If I were the defendant, I would be looking at filing a lawsuit for false arrest and collusion by the police and the accusers, the Osbornes.
What kind of police state do we live in?
There is something very serious when the top police authority in town can break the law without any consequences.
Why are the selectmen protecting him?
The selectmen can’t continue to hold their noses any longer! The abuse is so blatant; they cannot deny that they don’t know.
When Consentino is finally exposed to everyone for the tyrant and lawbreaker that he is, they don’t want to be viewed as carrying the water pails for him.
The selectmen should ask the state to come in and investigate what has been going on for a long time.
How much police chief corruption are the selectmen going to tolerate? Bennett's ties and loyalty to Consentino were an issue during the selectman campaign with Bennett assuring everyone that he would not allow his friendship and loyalty to Phil get in the way of his insisting on ethical behavior from Consentino.
Now Bennett is winking at Phil AGAIN defying court orders. Sadly, Bennett is proving to be as corrupt as Consentino.
Childs has always been in Consentino's pocket -- nothing new there.
What about Friel -- who was initially urged to run for selectman by Consentino? Friel's failure to stand up to Consention isn't surprising. After all, 'you dance with whoever bought you to the dance.'
Consentino should be removed as Chief. He has disgraced the town long enough.
This isn't the first time Phil has defied a Court Order! He WAS found in Contempt of court for doing the same thing!
from someone who was in the court;
Quote of the day:
From the DA; "What do you expect me to do? I asked the police for the information, that is what they gave me. How can you hold Me in contempt for that?"
From somebody in the court on Jan. 21;
Quote of THAT day;
From the judge; "If they(the PD)keep social security numbers and personal information in call logs, then somebody needs to show them how to keep logs." said in response to prosecutor claim that logs were blacked out to protect personal information like social security numbers.
Don't say "they" and lump all the police officers in this town together. Let's not forget that there are hard working, knowledgable, and professional officers working in a tough politically charged environment. It's too easy to dump on the rank in file officers. If you have a beef, then say exactly who it is with...say it loud and say it proud..but don't disrespect every officer that works for this town.
I didnt say "they" the judge did. And she was saying it because Phil told the prosecutor that he had to block out the call logs because they had personal info and social security numbers. Like a robot, she just accepted that dumb ass excuse.
What do you expect Phil has never had any formal training to be a cop. He never went to the police academy or anything
I have to say that unless the rank and file stand up for what's right, they ARE part of the problem. Stop excusing them.
This isn't the first time Consentino has doctored or destroyed evidence when ordered to produce it for the court.
I could be wrong, but I seem to recall that there was a very big scandal concerning Consentino's destruction of evidence when Carol Grant sued the town.
One of the charges was Consentino had illegally taped Mrs. Grant over her stated objections after she filed a complaint against him. He taped her to try to intimidate her. Grant wasn't intimidated and proceded to immediately file in court for the tape, or a copy of it as part of discovery against Consentino's illegal behavior.
Consentino ignored the supoena and refused to turn over the evidence against him for several months, claiming it was his private property. When Grant went for a contempt motion against him, he then pulled an 'Oops! I accidentally destroyed and erased the evidence tape.'
Consentino is as corrupt as they come. He needs some prison time to show that accountability for illegal behavior and evidence destruction also applies to him.
You are mostly right;
It was a non-public meeting on Dec. 27, 2005. The purpose of the meeting was for Carol Grant to inform the selectmen of the chief's alleged abuse of authority.
Remember that at this time he was already under three Court Orders from my case not be be in the room when these matters are discussed.
Instead he sat in his selectmen's chair, and put a tape recorder on the table, claiming he was recording her for "possible future legal action". She protested and he told her she could leave then. Jack and Fred said nothing. She made her complaint, and less than 5 minutes into it, and with Lt. Baldwin and Off. Fardella standing at the two doorways of the meeting room, Chief stood up smacked the table open palm, and roared to get her out of here! The officers escorted Carol, Ken, and Eddie in his wheelchair from the building, not even allowing them to stop in the lobby to put Eddie's coat on.
Dec. 29,2005 Chief is quoted in the Eagle Tribune saying that he "taped her for possible future legal action".
Carol files a preservation letter with the town, notifying them that she is filing suit, and they need to preserve that tape.
Russ writes back saying it is the chief's personal property.
She file a subpoena, Russ answers it claiming they don't have a tape.
She file a motion to compel, Sumner answers, attaching a letter from chief saying the tape was "accidently recorded over".
In interrogatories, under oath, chief states, he doesn't have the tape anymore
In interrogatories in my case, he states the machine malfunctioned and never recorded a tape.
On the witness stand in the Grant case, in response to questions about the taping incident, he took the FIFTH something like 25 times. Protection from self incrimination. Which, by the way, you can not invoke unless you have done something criminal.
To Anon February 24, 2010 8:43 AM
Amen to that.
It's obvious or should be obvious to every resident of the Town of Atkinson, that Mr. Consentino has to be fired for using his position to "railroad" innocent taxpayers who disagree with him into the legal system with false allegations. That abuse of power must be stopped, and Consentino held accountable.
It's also obvious that our selectmen will do nothing to correct the illegal actions of their police chief, and bring him under control and finally fire him.
It appears that Mr. Artus beat Consentino at his own game, and I hope he will do what every citizen should do when this injustice is allowed to prevail, and file another lawsuit against the police chief that had no respect for the law, or Mr. Artus's rights. He has the constitutional right to do so for relief, if the town father's hid in the back room of town hall and do nothing.
If Mr. Artus decides to file suit, I believe he will win and win big. If he does, I don't want to read here on this blog from anyone that complains that he used those resources. If he does sue, the selectmen have no one to blame but themselves.
I commend Mr. Artus for following his beliefs, courage under difficult times, and convictions. I for one would like to see him file suit and will support him in his efforts. I believe all taxpayers should support him. If Consentino is allowed to remain in office, anyone of us could be his next victim. I’m not sure I could do what Mr. Artus has done under those circumstances. How about you?
jmho
Thank you to anyone that has spent their own money in legal fees attempting to resist and expose the corruption that has become an accepted part of life in Atkinson.
May we be blessed (someday) with leaders that have the courage to do their job and stop this type of abuse...
What about the Osborne's? They are the ones who originally filed the complaint against Artus that the PD acted on.
The DA said in court that Mr. Osborne was not going to testify against Artus, he was going to take the FIFTH. He accused the man then won't attest to it in court. It sounds like the complaint itself might be the main problem.
chie will be in the police station all his life he is going to run the seniors from the police station with his pal bill .so when he retires he won;t be far awayfrom calling the shot;s
we need to come together as a community and demand the truth
Just dont let Phil find out. He doesn't like people who tell the truth about his shenanigans.
Anyone wonder HOW MANY innocent people Consentino railroaded through the legal system and ruined their lives? Might be time to investigate all his arrests and talk to those people.
I think we need to all come together and show this coward that we are not scared of him. We as in the town of Atkinson. We need to start asking some deep questions and not just give up and walk away. We need to stick together!
Yes, and I believe that's what we've been seeing in town lately.
Why did Daniel Osborn take the 1/5when he was the one that filed the complaint and had Consentino arrest Artus? Consentino must have been upset when Osborn did that. Are Consentino and Osborns friends or did Consentino set up Osborn and Osborn threw Consentino under the bus when they realized that Artus could prove they lied?
I'm confused. If Osborn took the fifth, what did they need to hide? What is Osborn and Consentino not telling us? What is the real truth of this story? There is more here than we are being told. My guess is Artus had the goods on them and the rats fled the sinking ship before Artus got the truth out in court.
jmho
The better question is why did the PD arrest him, and the prosecutor push this with no evidence, no investigation, and no testimony from the complainant.
Especially when Maggie made the exact same complaint about another neighbor one month prior, and the police said it was a civil matter and they wouldn't press charges in that case?
Sounds fishy.
Fishy? I think not. Consentino arrested him as retailation for Artus filing suit against him for civil rights violations. Once again Consentino's temper over ruled his common sense. Our police chief is a danger to our community. The man has no values.
mo
Why would anyone be surprised? Consentino has run a POLICE STATE in this town for years. He has no problem ruining peoples reputation who stand up to him. I agree, Consentino is a danger to our community and our rights.
jmho
Leon, be careful when you partake in your cocktail parties, big brother is watching out for you!
Was that a threat against Mr. Artus?
Looks like Anon March 3, 2010 2:21PM proved Anon's February 26, 2010 9:53 AM point.
Is Anon March 3, 2010 2:21PM saying Consentino with Osborn's help is going to go after Mr. Artus again with more false charges?
It' happened before and it can happen again. Let's watch and see if they actually follow through. If it does, it will be continued proof that Consentino is the aggressor in this town, not the innocent citizen.
When will the taxpayers finally cut this man’s leg out from under him, and put him out to pasture where he belongs? How long will they put up with the bully with a badge?
I hear the Osborns have more trouble coming their way. Couldn't happen to better people.
My RESEARCH says the OSBORNS are going DOWN FOR THE COUNT. I hear the odds are 20/1 that I'm right. Anyone want to bet? How about it MAGPIE......wanna bet?
My RESEARCH also says CONSENTINO is going down with you. WANNA BET PC?
mo
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