Readers and followers of this blog have read our previous posts about Hiland.
http://badgovernmentinarkansas.blogspot.com/2016/05/faulkner-county-prosecuting-attorney.html
http://badaralcoholcontol.blogspot.com/2016/07/prosecutor-has-double-standard-for.html
http://badgovernmentinarkansas.blogspot.com/2016/10/records-indicate-20th-judicial-district.html
If his documented misuse of federal and state funds (and resulting federal investigations) and his refusal to investigate the head of his Drug Task force for illegally holding an elected office and voter fraud is not enough to cause concern about him, then the information that we are about to reveal to you should cause the public and the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee some concerns about his being appointed as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
Hiland has an employee by the name of April Mathis. Mathis is a case coordinator and her primary duty appears to be dealing with providing discovery to attorneys representing individuals that have been charged with criminal offenses and helping prepare subpoenas.
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| APRIL MATHIS - CASE COORDINATOR FOR HILAND |
A reader sent us a tip that Mathis had used her position to obtain sealed court records from another state, records that were of divorce proceedings of the current wife of Mathis' ex-husband.
We investigated and found that the allegation was in fact true. Mathis used her work email account, one that used her position title with the 20th Judicial Prosecuting Attorney's Office and the Arkansas state seal in her signature, to fraudulently obtain the sealed court records.
That is a violation of Arkansas laws, specifically Arkansas Code Annotated
§ 21-8-304.
§ 21-8-304.
Also using the Arkansas state seal to send unauthorized communications for
purposes such as fraud or harassment will be a Class A misdemeanor,
punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.
When the District Court Clerk in that Montana county, Peg Allison, found out that Mathis had obtained records from her office not for a case that was being prosecuted, but for Mathis' own personal benefit, she spoke with the judge that heard the case in Montana and he directed her to file an affidavit for the record about Mathis' pretense of an official request and to try and contact Mathis' boss, Cody Hiland.
Allison spoke with Courtney Cato, a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Hiland's office. Cato assured Allison that Hiland would call her back. He never did.
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| COURTNEY CATO - RAN INTERFERENCE FOR HER MISSING BOSS, CODY HILAND |
We spoke with Allison about this matter and asked if she ever had a conversation about this with Hiland.
She stated that she was finally able to catch up with him and was shocked that he stated it was not a big deal and that it was just one of those things that happens in a divorce. Allison stated that she was floored that he would not be more concerned and apologetic for Mathis' using the pretense of an official request to obtained sealed, confidential records.
Allison stated that what Mathis did is a violation of Montana laws. We asked her if they were considering bringing charges against Mathis and she said it was being considered.
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| PEG ALLISON - DISTRICT COURT CLERK, FLATHEAD COUNTY, MONTANA |
Mathis is a real piece of work. And like a lot of individuals that we blog about she is a liar.
We were able to obtain a transcript of a deposition in which Mathis perjured herself trying to cover up her illegal and unethical activity.
If the abuse of office and position by April Mathis to get those sealed court records from Montana was not bad enough, from records obtained by a Freedom of Information request to Hiland it appears that Mathis also used her position to run criminal checks on her ex-husband and his current wife.
Take a look at an email that Mathis sent her attorney James Barger.
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| JAMES BARGER - APRIL MATHIS' LAWYER |
If you think that Mathis could not do anything else to top what she did in requesting the sealed records using her position then your are in for a surprise dear readers.
There were numerous emails between April Mathis and a married Conway Police Department detective, Joshua Fulbright. These emails suggest that they were involved in some sort of hanky-panky.
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| DET. FULBRIGHT (on right) |
In
those emails they called each other "boo" and professed their love for
each other. Apparently Fulbright's pet name for Mathis was "Sugar Tits."
They used code words and sexual innuendos. Here a some examples.
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| THE PET NAMES MATHIS & FULBRIGHT USED SOUND LIKE AN OLD 90's TV SHOW |
We contacted Major William Tapley with the Conway Police Department on August 23rd and apprised him about the emails and offered to email them to him.
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| MAJOR WILLAM TAPLEY - CONWAY POLICE DEPARTMENT |
Tapley told use that he had received them late last week (the same time we received the FOI response from Hiland) and told us that an investigation concerning was currently underway. Apparently someone that works with April sent or leaked them while getting the response to us prepared.
We left Detective Fulbright a voicemail message requesting comments about the emails and he has yet to return the call.
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Hiland's letter to us that accompanied the thumb drive sent with several hundred pages of emails stated that some of Mathis' emails were being redacted due to attorney-client privilege.
Apparently Hiland missed discussions about the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act in law school and in continuing education seminars.
The AFOIA has no exception for attorney-client privilege and the rule of evidence he asserted has no bearing whatsoever on a FOI request; it is applicable in litigation and objections to discovery requests.
We apprised Hiland of this back on August 24th and he has not bothered to respond.
So, we will be filing another lawsuit against Hiland and expect that he will once again have to provide the requested information.
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We have information that a complaint has been filed with the Conway Police Department and that an investigation is being conducted and steps have been taken to seek a Special Prosecuting Attorney to review the matter of Mathis using her position to obtain sealed recorded by fraud.
A complaint has been made to the Arkansas Ethics Commission about Mathis using her office for personal gain or benefit as well as one a complaint with the Arkansas Supreme Court Office of Professional Conduct against Hiland.
***UPDATE 8/30/17 - 6:00 PM***
Hiland caved in and sent the emails (unredacted) that he had previously erroneously claimed were being redacted to to a Rule of Evidence that had nothing to do with a FOI response.
Here is what he said.
Hiland cites a case from 1990 and quotes from a well known treatise on the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. What Hiland did not do is quote from the first part of that particular paragraph from the book. And we using the more recent and famous case of Pulaski County v. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 370 Ark. 435 (2007) ....
In this case the Court found in favor of open records and released emails of a Pulaski County employee that revealed embarrassing personal information about an intimate relationship with a vendor.
http://opinions.aoc.arkansas.gov/WebLink8/0/doc/168156/Page1.aspx
While Watkins and Peltz say using that argument is a stretch, that is just their opinion and the courts have for the most part followed the language and intent of the statute.
Then Hiland says that Mathis did not object to the release. Damn straight she didn't because she couldn't.
She did not object to our AFOIA request asking for copies of her emails from November 2016 through March 2017 and seek an Attorney General's Opinion before he released hundreds of her emails.
For the record, Hiland sent redacted copies of emails between Mathis and her attorney James Bargar using her work email. But he also sent several unreadacted pages of those same emails as well. We just did not have all of the pages.
One of those emails appears to indicate that Mathis may have used her position to run record checks on her ex-husband and his new wife.
Had we gone to court over these emails, no doubt and in camera review by the judge would have resulted in our winning the suit and getting the emails.
Hiland couldn't argue his way out of a paper bag, that's why he has an office full of deputy's that handle cases they prosecute.
Hiland has not saved himself any embarrassment at all.
***UPDATE 09/02/17-2:00PM***
As expected, the Arkansas Ethics Commission accepted the complaint about April Mathis violating the law using her position to obtain sealed court records from another state. The records concerned the divorce of her ex-husband's new wife.
You can read the complaint submitted to the Arkansas Ethics Commission by clicking here.
We will have additional posts coming out shortly that will go further into the involvement of Faulkner County Circuit Clerk employee Nancy Eastham.
***UPDATES***
(1) According to information provided to us by several reputable sources, Det. Fulbright has sought legal counsel from Conway attorney Molly Lucas. Lucas has represented other city of Conway public employees when they have gotten themselves in a spot of trouble. Lucas represented Richard Powell, a Conway Fire Department captain, when he was arrested for harassing communications.
Although Lucas said Powell was innocent, he admitted harassing the victim in order to get a deal from the court and had to apologize to the victim and seek psychological treatment.
We understand that Fulbright's now estranged wife has also sought the legal services of Little Rock attorney Scott Morgan.
Lucas will be featured in an upcoming post on our Bad Attorneys in Arkansas blog. She is also facing several complaints with the Office of Committee on Professional Conduct with the Arkansas Judiciary and a defamation lawsuit from the publisher of this blog.
(2) James Bargar, the attorney for April Mathis, has filed another motion in her continuing domestic relations case (custody and visitation issues) that makes reference to this blog.
Bargar might want to make a FOI request to Hiland himself and see exactly what was on those two thumb drives that were provided to us in response to our requests for documents regarding April Mathis.
More to come on this - stay tuned for updates.
***UPDATE - 09/14/17***
Who knew that attorney Bargar was into PSA's? Maybe he is trying to protect his client April Mathis and hide her illegal activities from future employers. Breaking the law is not a technicality Jimbo and your client has broken several.
Too bad for April that the internet never forgets.
***UPDATE 9/18/17***
(1) Sources report to us that Conway shyster Molly Lucas has been calling around trying to get information about the publisher of this blog and how to defend against defamation lawsuits. She has posted on lawyer list servers seeking help from attorneys with experience in that field.
Maybe Molly needs to get her checkbook out and try and work out a settlement that might prevent a lawsuit and material from being made public that could sink her career.
(2) Hiland's Hoochies
Thanks to a reader, we learned that April Mathis is on several hook-up sites and claims to be an Art Curator. She might be an archivist, but it ain't art she collects from what we hear.
April is not the only female in Hiland's office to use those hook-up sites.
We found Sirena Moix, Hiland's office administrator is looking for some lovin' too. Sirena says she loves to laugh. Hey Sirena, look at that first picture of April. We are still laughing at it.
(3) Readers reported that April is spreading the falsehood that she brought Judge Mike Maggio down. Pure bullshit. We called up David Sachar with the Judicial Discipline & Disability Commission and as we already knew, he told us that he was the person that filed the complaint that led to Maggio's removal. Sachar credits Matt Campbell, the attorney and author of the Blue Hog Report blog with making Maggio's situation public and uncovering the activity that resulted in Maggio going to prison. Sachar stated that neither Hiland nor April Mathis reported anything about Maggio until he called Hiland and asked him if he had anything on Maggio. By the way, Hiland is ethically and legally bound to report the matter that he passed on to Sachar - but he never did. Neither did April for that matter.
(4) Attorney Barger.
Sheila Bellott spent more than 10 years as the Faulkner County 911 Officer Emergency Director, but for the past several years, according to complaints filed, Bellott has been reportedly sexually harassing four employees.
The complaints range from discussing her sexual encounters, to her alleged inappropriate relationship with the county administrator, even taking multiple hour-long breaks on the taxpayers’ dime to get her nails done, according to one complaint.
Expect a more detailed post about her in the near future.
***UPDATE 9/22/17***
Several readers sent messages to us that reported that April Mathis was apparently demoted from being Hiland's case coordinator back to dealing with hot check cases. We also were advised that Mathis often has her children at her office, which was found in her emails we obtained via a FOI request.
A reasonable and sane person would not believe that taking your children to work with you at an office that deals with child porn, rape, murders, is a proper atmosphere to have children present.
Mathis has been telling her circle of #nodrama friends (bad news for April - one of these is a mole) that she will be going to D.C. with Hiland when is is confirmed as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
We doubt that as she was not listed in an article that was featured in the Log Cabin Democrat in June 2016. You can view the full article by clicking here.
Why would Hiland take an unimportant piece of baggage like Mathis with him anywhere?
We will have additional posts coming out shortly that will go further into the involvement of Faulkner County Circuit Clerk employee Nancy Eastham.
***UPDATES***
(1) According to information provided to us by several reputable sources, Det. Fulbright has sought legal counsel from Conway attorney Molly Lucas. Lucas has represented other city of Conway public employees when they have gotten themselves in a spot of trouble. Lucas represented Richard Powell, a Conway Fire Department captain, when he was arrested for harassing communications.
Although Lucas said Powell was innocent, he admitted harassing the victim in order to get a deal from the court and had to apologize to the victim and seek psychological treatment.
We understand that Fulbright's now estranged wife has also sought the legal services of Little Rock attorney Scott Morgan.
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| SCOTT MORGAN |
Lucas will be featured in an upcoming post on our Bad Attorneys in Arkansas blog. She is also facing several complaints with the Office of Committee on Professional Conduct with the Arkansas Judiciary and a defamation lawsuit from the publisher of this blog.
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| MOLLY LUCAS |
(2) James Bargar, the attorney for April Mathis, has filed another motion in her continuing domestic relations case (custody and visitation issues) that makes reference to this blog.
Bargar might want to make a FOI request to Hiland himself and see exactly what was on those two thumb drives that were provided to us in response to our requests for documents regarding April Mathis.
More to come on this - stay tuned for updates.
***UPDATE - 09/14/17***
Who knew that attorney Bargar was into PSA's? Maybe he is trying to protect his client April Mathis and hide her illegal activities from future employers. Breaking the law is not a technicality Jimbo and your client has broken several.
Too bad for April that the internet never forgets.
***UPDATE 9/18/17***
(1) Sources report to us that Conway shyster Molly Lucas has been calling around trying to get information about the publisher of this blog and how to defend against defamation lawsuits. She has posted on lawyer list servers seeking help from attorneys with experience in that field.
Maybe Molly needs to get her checkbook out and try and work out a settlement that might prevent a lawsuit and material from being made public that could sink her career.
(2) Hiland's Hoochies
Thanks to a reader, we learned that April Mathis is on several hook-up sites and claims to be an Art Curator. She might be an archivist, but it ain't art she collects from what we hear.
April is not the only female in Hiland's office to use those hook-up sites.
We found Sirena Moix, Hiland's office administrator is looking for some lovin' too. Sirena says she loves to laugh. Hey Sirena, look at that first picture of April. We are still laughing at it.
(3) Readers reported that April is spreading the falsehood that she brought Judge Mike Maggio down. Pure bullshit. We called up David Sachar with the Judicial Discipline & Disability Commission and as we already knew, he told us that he was the person that filed the complaint that led to Maggio's removal. Sachar credits Matt Campbell, the attorney and author of the Blue Hog Report blog with making Maggio's situation public and uncovering the activity that resulted in Maggio going to prison. Sachar stated that neither Hiland nor April Mathis reported anything about Maggio until he called Hiland and asked him if he had anything on Maggio. By the way, Hiland is ethically and legally bound to report the matter that he passed on to Sachar - but he never did. Neither did April for that matter.
(4) Attorney Barger.
Thanks to another reader we were advised that he is also representing Shelia
Bellott, another Faulkner County employee that is accused of sexual harassment and is under investigation.
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| SHIELA BELLOT - ACCUSED SEXUAL HARASSER |
Sheila Bellott spent more than 10 years as the Faulkner County 911 Officer Emergency Director, but for the past several years, according to complaints filed, Bellott has been reportedly sexually harassing four employees.
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| BELLOTT IN UNIFORM |
The complaints range from discussing her sexual encounters, to her alleged inappropriate relationship with the county administrator, even taking multiple hour-long breaks on the taxpayers’ dime to get her nails done, according to one complaint.
Expect a more detailed post about her in the near future.
***UPDATE 9/22/17***
Several readers sent messages to us that reported that April Mathis was apparently demoted from being Hiland's case coordinator back to dealing with hot check cases. We also were advised that Mathis often has her children at her office, which was found in her emails we obtained via a FOI request.
A reasonable and sane person would not believe that taking your children to work with you at an office that deals with child porn, rape, murders, is a proper atmosphere to have children present.
Mathis has been telling her circle of #nodrama friends (bad news for April - one of these is a mole) that she will be going to D.C. with Hiland when is is confirmed as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
We doubt that as she was not listed in an article that was featured in the Log Cabin Democrat in June 2016. You can view the full article by clicking here.
Why would Hiland take an unimportant piece of baggage like Mathis with him anywhere?
