"The Long Blue Walk" Author Norman A. Carter Jr. Describes Lessons He Learned Fighting Against Corruption as a Philadelphia Police Officer

By: Rich Bergeron

     I am not the only one concerned about how corruption can negatively impact even the smallest local police force or town government or prosecutor's office. Corruption is everywhere, and going through traditional channels to expose it often leads to dead ends and no changes in the status quo. More often than not, the whistleblowers face retaliation and backlash for simply wanting the rules to be enforced. 

     Norman A. Carter Jr. was a Philadelphia Police Officer for over 25 years. He was a decent, honest man who wanted to do the job to improve the community. Other officers who accepted bribes, took taxpayer money to invent fake crimes to pin on random citizens, and simply avoided real police work would often bump heads with Officer Carter. As a result, he ended up getting the worst assignments and making the most of them no matter how difficult of a circumstance his superiors tried to put him in. 

     Carter's book "The Long Blue Walk" is an inside look at a growing problem in this country. Police Misconduct plagues every state in this country, and some jurisdictions have gone to the extreme of "defunding the police." This is the perverse result of a citizenry who sees a handful of bad actors cast a bad light on entire departments and all the police personnel in an entire city, even those who have received commendations for excellent police work. Rather than deal with the few bad apples, some municipalities are voting to throw out the whole barrel. 

      Carter and I cover a lot of ground in this hour, but the greatest commonality between us is we both put our issues on the map with letters to the editor of our local newspapers. We have a great back and forth about the benefit of publicizing your struggles in fighting corruption and exposing bad behavior on a wider scale. It is the principle of sunlight being the best disinfectant. Listen for yourself right here: 

Judge James O'Neill III Denies Motion to Reconsider Denial of Motion to Dismiss on Speedy Trial Grounds

 

     

     I filed a motion to reconsider the denial of my recent motion to dismiss for speedy trial reasons on August 11th, 2021. The current prosecutor, Grafton County Attorney Tara Heater, filed no objection to my motion. Judge O'Neill, fresh off a vacation, denied my motion to reconsider on August 31st. 

     Am I surprised? Hardly. Judge O'Neill is still on vacation as far as I can see. This was no adequate response to the concerns, facts and precedent cases I raised. It was a one-page bare denial in the wake of the publishing of my most recent letter to the editor in the Laconia Sun. 

     New Hampshire Statute requires judges to retire at 70 years of age. Judge O'Neill is set to reach that milestone on March 30th, 2022. By April Fool's Day next year, he'll be on a permanent vacation. Meanwhile he's admitted to only completing 5 jury trials since April of 2020. He blames Covid-19 for the backlog his own incompetence and lack of a work ethic created in my case. He is consistently late with decisions on my motions while ruling fairly quickly on prosecutors' motions.  

     The state is paying a ridiculous amount of rent for the Laconia Courthouse complex where my trial is supposed to be held. The courts are not maximizing their investment and using this building to its full potential. Instead of finding a way to schedule my trial without violating my speedy trial rights, the state continues to give currently incarcerated defendants first priority when it comes to hearings and trials. The State, through Judge O'Neill's incompetent and biased rulings, is effectively indefinitely prolonging the denial of my speedy trial rights. This is a direct violation of my civil rights that I believe qualified immunity will not protect this judge from in the event I have to file a future civil lawsuit.

    Because the state cannot figure out a way to get rid of bad cases like mine or otherwise speed up the process to get to trial faster, I may be forced to wait another 2 and a half years for my trial. This is indefensible behavior on Judge O'Neill's part. These orders would not survive an appeal, and if that's not an option for me a Writ of Mandamus may be my last resort to loosen this old stubborn fool's grip on this case. I refuse to let a crooked system beat me by ignoring the facts and their ethical duties to be unbiased. 

    Stay tuned for new developments. Later this week we will feature a special audio interview with a genuinely honest career police officer who bucked the trend of corruption during his time working for the Philadelphia Police Department. 

Judge James D. O'Neill III Denies Motion to Dismiss, Shows Continuing Bias Toward Prosecutors

   

Speedy Trial rights are a fundamental part of the United States Justice System. I filed a fairly straightforward Motion to Dismiss my case recently based on the violation of these rights. I included these four exhibits: 

Exhibit 1: Superior Court Speedy Trial Policy

Exhibit 2: Case Summary 

Exhibit 3: Deputy Grafton County Attorney Tara Heater Says She's Ready for Trial

Exhibit 4: Bare Response By Attorney Heater to Second Motion For Sanctions

     I had a strong feeling the Judge James D. O'Neill III would find some reason to deny this effort like he has with virtually every other motion I've filed. Initially, as required in the Speedy Trial Policy for the Superior Court, the state scheduled a hearing on this motion. Judge O'Neill cancelled the hearing with no explanation other than a cryptic notation explaining "hearing not needed." I had a good idea that this was not gong to end well as far as me getting any dismissal. At the time he was mulling the whole thing over he also received the news that my judicial conduct committee complaint against him had been summarily rejected by his colleagues. 

     Deputy Grafton County Attorney Tara Heater filed an objection to this motion to dismiss after filing no response at all to my request to recuse Judge O'Neill. The judge kept himself on the case anyway. Attorney Heater's multiple mistakes and failures to recall pertinent details of the case were only partially explained away in a quick "Motion to Amend" that she had to file. 

     I reminded Attorney Heater in my reply brief that she left a few other mistakes out of her motion to amend. I did also make a mistake in my own pleading, though. I didn't consider the motion to amend filed by the prosecutor to be a motion at all. I guess it seemed more like a confession to me. At any rate I insisted she was asking for a motion to be granted when there was no motion pending from the prosecution. 

     

     Although I had no reason to object to her motion anyway, it could have been an "assented to" motion that wouldn't need a judge's approval if I had a better relationship with the opposition. Unfortunately, I cannot trust anyone who would lie and initiate in a coverup as part of her entry into the case. This probably would have bolstered my argument on the idea that the delay represents "actual prejudice" if I had been able to raise it at the cancelled hearing. Her having to correct the record in the first place prejudices my case. I'm dealing with a prosecutor who doesn't know what she's doing and admits to needing the defendant's "help."

    Judge O'Neill's order on the motion to dismiss ignored lots of legal points, valid precedent cases, and the facts revealed in the case summary about the behavior of the prosecutors. He considered all the 17 months of contested delays to be directly related to Covid-19 despite the record revealing otherwise. He even specifically stated at the first sanctions hearing that the Covid-19 situation was a "significant problem the state is facing."

    The pandemic has never been a problem as far as me pressing my case. I've never seen it as an obstacle at all in meeting all my deadlines and appearing for all in person and remote hearings that were scheduled. The Covid-19 delays are the state's problem, as Judge O'Neill articulates so well in the above clip. The state should be worrying about more serious crimes and more dangerous criminals. They should be using this pandemic to jettison junk cases like mine, and instead they are treating me like I'm a threat to society. The state is instead only using this virus as a crutch, an excuse to engage in further incessant delay.  

    Judge O'Neill also made enough additional mistakes in his order to make for an excellent motion to reconsider. I will definitely be filing that in the near future. 

    I always have a Plan B for these scenarios (since it's always my expectation to lose every motion), but I definitely felt fundamentally wronged  by this latest order. I couldn't wait to draft a formal response for the courts that would adequately express my frustration. I felt there needed to be something a little more urgent. I decided another letter to the editor was in order, and the Laconia Sun put it in the centerfold spot right under the political cartoon in this weekend's paper:

Rich Bergeron: Judge's retirement will make way for justice | Letters To Editor | laconiadailysun.com

     Stay tuned as this story develops. We are not done fighting this one by any means. I will not let this judge's bias and lack of ethics and morality stop my march to justice. I actually want a  trial, but I thought the state would want to take advantage of an easy way out. Now, since they refuse to dismiss the case, we'll see if they will actually schedule me for trial or subject themselves to another motion to dismiss on speedy trial grounds. 

Toothless NH Judicial Conduct Committee Refuses to Investigate Report on Judge O'Neill

Despite knowing it wouldn't amount to more than a fart in the wind as far as the committee was concerned, I filed an extensive report on judicial misconduct regarding Judge James D. O'Neill recently. 

Here are the exhibit links:

EXHIBIT 1, EXHIBIT 2, EXHIBIT 3, EXHIBIT 4, EXHIBIT 5, EXHIBIT 6, EXHIBIT 7, EXHIBIT 8, EXHIBIT 9

The committee discussed the complaint and dismissed it by simply claiming they had no jurisdiction. I suspect their lack of interest is directly related to the fact that Judge O'Neill is set for a forced retirement as of March 30, 2022. He is an alternate member of the committee. They are not going to go after one of their own on his way out the door:

http://sos.nh.gov/GC2.aspx (See Page 156, Judge O'Neill entry)

https://casetext.com/statute/new-hampshire-revised-statutes/title-51-courts/chapter-493-a-retired-judges-judicial-referees/section-493-a1-c-retired-justices-over-70-years-of-age

This report was not really for the JCC, though. It was for you: my loyal, worldwide audience. If the powers that be don't want to try to change the system for the better, people like me will have to change it in our own way. If you have your own complaints about Judge James D. O'Neill III, please send any information and documentation you have to boxer_47@yahoo.com. 

Judge James D. O'Neill III Denies Motion to Recuse with No Objection From Prosecution and No Hearing Held

Judge James D. O'Neill III again ignored affidavit evidence and showed a severe bias toward the interests of the state in his ruling on my motion to recuse him. He will not step down, and he supports his decision by focusing on the idea that a party's disagreement with rulings on pleadings alone do not constitute a basis for recusal. He also copies a big chunk of law from my own motion to recuse him to compile this order, but he spins it with a whole lot of garbage legalese and a compromised view of the case. 

Here lies the problem: Judge O'Neill is once again completely ignoring the motion's affidavit evidence. 

He actually uses some interesting language to fully admit his "look the other way" attitude about the facts behind this request: "The court further notes a number of pejorative allegations and/or comments submitted by the Defendant concerning age, past and present politics, lack of accomplishment and an alleged admission by the State concerning favoritism by the Court that are neither accurate and/or deemed relevant to the pending question(s) before the court and were not nor will they be considered by the Court in future proceedings." That's a lot of gibberish to explain what he really means here: "The facts do not concern me." 

The rules of criminal procedure say the facts should concern Judge O'Neill, as I lay out in great detail through my Motion to Reconsider Judge O'Neill's Denial of my motion to recuse him. If facts are laid out in affidavits by one party and the other party does not refute the testimony with their own sworn account of events, the affidavit-sworn facts should naturally be given the most weight in the proceedings. 

Judge O'Neill does things his own way. He considers every word out of a prosecutor's mouth and every sentence he or she ever writes on paper in this case to be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. He might as well sit on the bench wearing a sandwich-board sign that reads: "No formalities or hard work required, good old boys and girls of the system. In Corruption We Trust!"

Judge O'Neill will most likely deny this most recent motion as well, but that's what I actually need him to do in order to cement his bias once and for all. Any judge who was willing to look at these facts from a disconnected perspective would step down in this scenario. He's fighting hard to hold onto this case, and he is continuously ruling in a manner that betrays his boiling hatred for me and pro-se parties in general. 

I am an outlier in the judge's neat little system where everybody is at the mercy of the way things have to be and the way they've always been. I am the guy who walks in and says, "Not today, Your Honor." I don't need money or a government provided slave to the system to help me craft a good defense. The truth is the best defense, and I know that better than anyone.  

My original prosecutor self-destructed and re-assigned the case before the ACLU embarrassed him in court. He took the entire county attorney's office off the case. His replacement, Tara Heater, immediately withdrew a truly flawed and unconstitutional request for a prior restraint on free speech. She then immediately tried to settle the case by dropping the charges down to a single count of possession. She's done very little legwork to defend against my allegations and evidence of prosecutorial misconduct. She's done even less work to actually advance this case to trial.  

I want a trial. I'm not letting them avoid accountability for their mistakes on this one. I want to confront my accusers. I want them to answer for their lies. I want them to face the consequences of the broken system they perpetuate with their dishonest behavior. But this system will never punish the insider traders if it does not undergo serious, monumental changes. 

Grafton County should not have to clean up Belknap County's mess. Yet taxpayer money is flowing right into that cause. For what? Where are the concerned citizens calling for jailtime in my case? Where is the victim in all of this? There are no victims other than me for what the state subjected me to in order to try to snag a guy who was basically protected by law enforcement. So, I am paying the price now because I called out crooked cops. I was willing to cooperate to put those criminal sources in law enforcement out of a job and into a prison cell if need be. Belknap County Attorney Andrew Livernois told me to get a lawyer and disrespected my choice to represent myself. I soon found out why:

Former Sandown police Sgt. accused of misconduct | Local News | eagletribune.com

Inmate lawsuit alleges Rockingham County jailhouse beating - News - seacoastonline.com - Portsmouth, NH

Lawsuit targets Alton police officers - *GJ_CITIZEN_NEWS - fosters.com - Dover, NH

Fired Gilmanton police sergeant will get his day in court | Local News | laconiadailysun.com

Peter Dascoulias | Opinion | laconiadailysun.com

And who could forget the relevant experience of settling this case for the town of Gilford, New Hampshire: 

Town of Gilford settles with strip club owner for $118,000 | Local News | laconiadailysun.com

That case happened to involve some of the same Drug Task Force agents who made up the case against me. Livernois is a career cover up artist. His history does not lie. 

Andrew Livernois is not the guy who should be leading Belknap County into a period where law enforcement reforms will be crucial to regaining the public trust. Judge O'Neill likes him anyway. They have a lot in common--all except for the fact that Livernois never developed friends in high enough places to get him a seat on the bench. 

Motion to Recuse Judge James D. O'Neill III Officially Filed

 

A motion to recuse Judge James O'Neill III from my case is now my last shot to try to gain equal footing with the prosecution. The motion lays out my reasoning for asking Judge O'Neill to step down. Hs bias permeates the case and makes it impossible to proceed without getting him removed from the case. 

Please reach out to me at boxer_47@yahoo.com if you've also had problems with Judge O'Neill. I am preparing a report to send to the NH Judicial Conduct Committee. It is not enough that Judge James D. O'Neill III is only prevented from ruling in my case. He should be removed from the bench for his "look the other way" mentality when it comes to prosecutorial misconduct. 

If you've been before Judge O'Neill recently (in the past year), please fill out this Survey to let his superiors know how he's really performing his duties:

JAMES D. O'NEILL, III, ASSOCIATE JUSTICE: JUDICIAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION-2021* Survey (surveymonkey.com)

Judge O'Neill Strikes Down Sanctions Again, Looks the Other Way on Prosecutor Misconduct and Clings to Technicalities

     Judge James D. O'Neill III has no time for holding prosecutors accountable for rules of attorney conduct. His latest ruling on my most recent sanctions motion is simply a case study in cronyism. This is how you toe the political line as a state-loving judge. This is how you prove you're unfit for the bench. Rulings like this make you wonder how Judge O'Neill even got a hold of a gavel in the first place. It's a good thing there are archives out there with gems like this story about how very lucky Judge James was to get his robe in the first place: 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1988/12/24/a-pussycat-with-claws-sununu-leaving-mark-in-home-state/695616c3-8296-4029-867e-a841eb4be72c/

The most compelling paragraph of that piece is this one:

"The bar went ahead with its evaluation and, in a letter to Sununu, Tober wrote that many lawyers had described O'Neill as "demeaning" and "intimidating," and that the association's board of governors "could find no evidence of the requisite fairness and respect . . . that are the hallmarks of our courts.""

It only took a little bit of digging around and asking the right people questions to also secure this confirmatory report: 

https://www.slideshare.net/fightnewsunlimited/judge-james-d-oneill-and-the-truth-about-how-he-earned-his-place-on-the-bench 

Politics trumped logic and experience when it came to this judge's appointment. Politics are still influencing Judge O'Neill's decisions to this day. He won't do anything about attorneys who lie and misrepresent the law, because he's actively misrepresenting himself as a competent, unbiased judge. He didn't respect the rules of the game to get where he is, so why would he hold prosecutors to any code of conduct? 

I suppose I need to cater to this judge's appetite for technicalities. I'm sure I can think of a few technicalities that could lead to a dismissal. At the very least, more people should be aware of his history in this county. They don't call him "No Deal" O'Neill for nothing. 

If you've appeared before Judge O'Neill recently, take some time to fill out this survey: 

JAMES D. O'NEILL, III, ASSOCIATE JUSTICE: JUDICIAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION-2021* Survey (surveymonkey.com)