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| JUDGE-ELECT JIM O'HERN AND BRANDI GIBSON, A/K/A BRANDI CANNON |
On December 2nd, District Judge-elect James Edward O'Hern of Fort Smith and a female he described as his on and off "girlfriend" of several months were in Little Rock at the sketchy Extended Stay on Kanis Road.
Hotel management was inspecting rooms (apparently that's a thing at seedy motels/hotels) and when they entered O'Hern's room they smell cigarette smoke and saw a large massage table.
Tammy Coleman, the general manager, and Rebecca Mills, the assistant general manager, noticed a coke can with ashes on it that had apparently been used as an ashtray. Mills noticed ashes on a nightstand and opened the drawer. She found a cigarette butt and small baggie with some white powder in it and a mirror with white residue on it.
They also noticed a wallet with cash sticking out of it.
Both Coleman and Mills quickly left the room and when they returned to the front desk they cancelled the room keys and called the police.
Gibson/Cannon had been outside, returned and tried to open the door. She found her key card no longer worked, and proceed to the front desk to raise hell.
Gibson/Cannon told Coleman her key card wouldn't open the door and Coleman told her she and O'Hern had been kicked-out for smoking in the room and told Gibson/Cannon that if she wanted her stuff back that was in the room she would have to pay a $250.00 penalty fee for smoking in the room.
Gibson/Cannon called O'Hern to tell him about what was going on when LRPD arrived.
LRPD officer Troy Dillard went into the hotel room with Coleman and he was shown the small bag of a white crystallized substance Coleman and Mills found in the nightstand drawer.
Both O'Hern and Gibson/Cannon were taken into custody and transported to the nearby Northwest LRPD Substation for questioning by detectives.
This is the un-redacted incident report filed by Officer Dillard.
Hotel management was inspecting rooms (apparently that's a thing at seedy motels/hotels) and when they entered O'Hern's room they smell cigarette smoke and saw a large massage table.
Tammy Coleman, the general manager, and Rebecca Mills, the assistant general manager, noticed a coke can with ashes on it that had apparently been used as an ashtray. Mills noticed ashes on a nightstand and opened the drawer. She found a cigarette butt and small baggie with some white powder in it and a mirror with white residue on it.
They also noticed a wallet with cash sticking out of it.
Both Coleman and Mills quickly left the room and when they returned to the front desk they cancelled the room keys and called the police.
Gibson/Cannon had been outside, returned and tried to open the door. She found her key card no longer worked, and proceed to the front desk to raise hell.
Gibson/Cannon told Coleman her key card wouldn't open the door and Coleman told her she and O'Hern had been kicked-out for smoking in the room and told Gibson/Cannon that if she wanted her stuff back that was in the room she would have to pay a $250.00 penalty fee for smoking in the room.
Gibson/Cannon called O'Hern to tell him about what was going on when LRPD arrived.
LRPD officer Troy Dillard went into the hotel room with Coleman and he was shown the small bag of a white crystallized substance Coleman and Mills found in the nightstand drawer.
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| LRPD OFFICER TROY DILLARD |
Both O'Hern and Gibson/Cannon were taken into custody and transported to the nearby Northwest LRPD Substation for questioning by detectives.
This is the un-redacted incident report filed by Officer Dillard.
Gibson/Cannon was charged with possession of methamphetamine and O'Hern was released pending further investigation.
On December 12th, David Sachar, Executive Director of the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission, filed a complaint based on the police report. An investigation is underway on the incident by his agency.
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| DAVID SACHAR - EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR JUDICIAL DISCIPLINE & DISABILITY COMMISSION |
He's been duly elected and is eligible to be sworn in on January 1. Nothing changes at this point except I can acknowledge there are allegations and we have filed a complaint," said Sachar.
What about the further investigation of O'Hern by LRPD?
They dropped the investigation shortly after releasing O'Hern back on December 2nd.
How do we know that? We obtained the investigative file from LRPD.
The file reveals the poor job detectives did in questioning O'Hern and Gibson/Cannon and not confronting them with inconsistencies in their statements.
O'Hern claims in his statement that Gibson/Cannon is his girlfriend and refers to her as Brandie Cannon. He claims that she is in advertising and does business on the internet. She claims that he is only her attorney and friend.
The registration sheet shows both their names and has Gibson/Cannon's address listed. It states the employer is Walmart.
O'Hern claimed he reserved the room for her on November 27th because she didn't have a credit card. He stated that he had come to Little Rock for a noon meeting on December 2nd and only stayed one night with her. O'Hern stated that he had loaded his stuff in his car earlier that morning and was at Sonic getting some lunch to carry to his noon meeting when she called to have him come back to the hotel to help her get her stuff and pay the penalty fee.
What kind of meeting does an attorney have at noon that he carries hamburger and tater tots from Sonic to eat?
According to the Arkansas Court Electronic Filing System he hasn't had a case in Pulaski County in years.
Did LRPD ask what kind of meeting he was in town for and get confirmation of that meeting? Nope.
His arrest caused him to miss that noon meeting, whatever it was.
Did they check that he was only in Little Rock for one night? Nope.
O'Hern also told the police that he was divorced.
That is a lie. O'Hern is still married. He filed for divorce after he was elected a District Judge.
His estranged wife, Teresa Mullings-O'Hern did not file an answer to the divorce complaint until after he was arrested in Little Rock with his girlfriend, errr...mistress.
We learn from her answer and counter-claim that not only is Judge-elect O'Hern a cheater, he's also a SOB as he locked his wife out of their marital home and denied her access to personal possessions.
If Judge-elect O'Hern lied to LRPD about being married, what else did he lie about?
O'Hern would have been better staying overnight with his son that lives in Little Rock, Adam.
Adam works at a veterinarian's office and is used to dealing with dogs like his dad.
His dad's girlfriend follows him on Facebook. Creepy.
Brandie posted this back in October.
Let's look at the statements that O'Hern and Gibson/Cannon gave to LRPD detectives.
The narcotics detective began the first interview with Gibson/Cannon at 1:10 PM. It was over at 1:17 PM.
Well, it appears that Brandie might be in advertising, but what she is advertising isn't sold at Walmart. What was she doing with a massage table and a lot of cash and having about eight people in her room, that didn't use their real names, since she checked in?
We have a pretty good idea.
The interview with O'Hern began at 2:48 PM. It was over at 2:54 PM.
No tough questions and no questions about the meeting O'Hern supposedly had that he missed.
No questions about the massage table or what Brandie's advertising business entailed.
We did learn that O'Hern must like burgers. He went to get one before he was arrested and he met his mistress at a hamburger joint.
LRPD cut O'Hern loose and he hauled ass back to Fort Smith.
The second interview with Brandie began at 2:17 PM. It was over at 2:23 PM.
It's clear that Brandie was/is going to take the fall for O'Hern.
It's also clear the the detectives believed that Brandie was engaged in some criminal activity at the hotel that involved visits from other individuals, probably men.
The couldn't charge her or O'Hern with any offense related to the "business" she was conducting, but they should have taken O'Hern up on his offer to take a "piss test".
Nothing will come of the investigation from the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission. They can have a well prepared and documented complaint and do nothing (we have a story about that coming up in next days).
Gibson/Cannon will probably get probation and be told to stay in Oklahoma.
Fort Smith will get a fine ethical, honesty and credible district judge. Not.
We hope his wife takes him to the cleaners in the divorce.
His dad's girlfriend follows him on Facebook. Creepy.
Brandie posted this back in October.
Let's look at the statements that O'Hern and Gibson/Cannon gave to LRPD detectives.
The narcotics detective began the first interview with Gibson/Cannon at 1:10 PM. It was over at 1:17 PM.
Well, it appears that Brandie might be in advertising, but what she is advertising isn't sold at Walmart. What was she doing with a massage table and a lot of cash and having about eight people in her room, that didn't use their real names, since she checked in?
We have a pretty good idea.
The interview with O'Hern began at 2:48 PM. It was over at 2:54 PM.
No tough questions and no questions about the meeting O'Hern supposedly had that he missed.
No questions about the massage table or what Brandie's advertising business entailed.
We did learn that O'Hern must like burgers. He went to get one before he was arrested and he met his mistress at a hamburger joint.
LRPD cut O'Hern loose and he hauled ass back to Fort Smith.
The second interview with Brandie began at 2:17 PM. It was over at 2:23 PM.
It's clear that Brandie was/is going to take the fall for O'Hern.
It's also clear the the detectives believed that Brandie was engaged in some criminal activity at the hotel that involved visits from other individuals, probably men.
The couldn't charge her or O'Hern with any offense related to the "business" she was conducting, but they should have taken O'Hern up on his offer to take a "piss test".
Nothing will come of the investigation from the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission. They can have a well prepared and documented complaint and do nothing (we have a story about that coming up in next days).
Gibson/Cannon will probably get probation and be told to stay in Oklahoma.
Fort Smith will get a fine ethical, honesty and credible district judge. Not.
We hope his wife takes him to the cleaners in the divorce.