CODY HILAND IS IN TROUBLE YET AGAIN - WILL HIS SHENNIGANS BE DISCUSSED AT HIS CONFIRMATION HEARING?

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.  

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.

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.

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.

 

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.

 

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. 

 

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.

 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.

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.

************

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.

************

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.

 

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. 

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.

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.

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?


 

GREENWOOD POLICE OFFICER THAT OVERSEES DWI ARRESTS IS ARRESTED FOR A DWI ACCIDENT

Regan Wayne "RJ" Whitworth Jr., a seven year veteran with the Greenwood Police Department, was placed on administrative suspension yesterday after an arrest in the early hours of Sunday morning on DWI charges.

Officer Whitworth was arrested for suspicion of DWI following a vehicle accident in Lavaca. Greenwood police chief Will Dawson said that Whitworth, who was arrested by the Arkansas State Police, will remain on suspension during an internal  internal investigation into the accident and subsequent arrest.

Whitworth was booked into the Sebastian County Adult Detention Center at 4:48 a.m. Sunday morning and was released at 6:09 a.m. after posting a $1,000 bond. Whitworth was booked on a DWI misdemeanor charge.

  

(Information scoured from InsideFortSmith)

OFFICER WHITWORTH'S MUGSHOT

 

Before joining the Greenwood Police Department, Whitworth was an Auxillary Officer with the Sebastian County Sheriff's Office.

Whitworth was named the police department's Officer of the Year in 2015, and on two occasions prior to that won the agency's DWI Detection Award, according to information posted on its Facebook page. Whitworth "oversees all operations of the departments breath alcohol Intoximeter," according to the police department website.

A request was made to the Arkansas State Police for video from the trooper's dash camera that responded to the accident.

 Stay tuned for updates.

911 CALLS MADE BY ASA HUTCHINSON III RELEASED BY ARKANSAS STATE POLICE.

WILLIAM ASA HUTCHINSON III WAS SO DRUNK HE FORGOT HE CALLED 911 ONCE SO HE CALLED A SECOND TIME

Last week we posted video of the third DWI arrest of William Asa Hutchinson III, son of Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.

http://badgovernmentinarkansas.blogspot.com/2017/08/video-from-arrest-of-asa-hutchinson-iii.html

With some dogged prodding, we were finally able to get the Arkansas State Police to provide all the 911 calls that were referenced in the report regarding the accident investigation. 

Asa III called 911 shortly after the accident.  He was not sure where he was exactly and he told the 911 operator that he was heading north.

Then a passerby called to report the accident and told the same 911 operator that the accident occurred in a south bound exit lane off I-49.

Too drunk to realize that he had already called 911 once, Asa III called 911 a second time, much to the shock and amazement of the 911 operator. 

Then a Fayetteville Fireman called 911 dispatch to report that Asa III was intoxicated and gave specific details where the accident had occurred.

Asa III's speech is slightly slurred, not nearly as slurred as it was a little later when the State Trooper arrived, but it is clear that he is not all there.

 

VIDEO FROM ARREST OF ASA HUTCHINSON III IN JANUARY 2016 REVEALS STARTLING INFORMATION - ASA III HAD A GUN IN HIS POCKET AT TIME OF ARREST AND NO PERMIT TO CARRY A CONCEALED WEAPON - ASP MUM ABOUT WHY HE WAS NOT CHARGED IN CONNECTION WITH THE WEAPON

We posted back in July that Asa III was able to get off his 3rd DWI conviction due to a mistake by the arresting Arkansas State Trooper.  

 

https://badgovernmentinarkansas.blogspot.com/2017/07/governors-son-gets-off-third-dwi.html

After we learned of the decision to overturn that conviction, we requested documents from the Arkansas State Police that were mentioned in the case, namely the dash camera video and 911 calls.

We finally obtained the video from the dash camera from the trooper's car, we learned that Asa III was so drunk he didn't know where he was and was walking around with his pants unzipped.  Sloppy drunk.

The Trooper noticed that when he asked for his driver's license and recommended that Asa III zip them up. 

We also learned that Asa III was packing heat and never told the Trooper he was carrying a loaded concealed handgun until after he was handcuffed.

Asa III said that his concealed carry permit had expired. That means that he had no permit at the time of his arrest. 

If you have a driver's license and it expires and you get pulled over for something, that old expired license will get you a ticket and chances are the cops will tell you to call someone to come get you.

Why would he, an attorney, fail to renew his permit?  Maybe he was in an alcoholic or drug stupor and just didn't give a shit.  Maybe since his daddy is the Governor he feels that he is not bound by the same laws the rest of us here in Arkansas are.  That Good Ole Boy System again.

When the publisher of this blog obtained a CCL, his training included that if he was stopped by any officer he was to announce that he had a CCL and was carrying a weapon, if he was carrying when so dealing with law enforcement officers.

Usually if you get caught carrying a concealed weapon when you arrested for committing a crime, like DWI, you also get charged with the offense of carrying a weapon.

The Trooper did not list that as a charge and as of the time this was posted the ASP had no answer as to why Asa III was not charged with the additional offense.

We have to wonder if this had been anyone other that the son of the Governor would this matter have ended differently.

You know the answer.

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION WITHOLDS INFORMATION FROM ARKANSAS STATE POLICE - UNTIL THE ARKANSAS TIMES FOUND OUT

TUCKER MAXIMUM SECURITY UNIT

Two corrections officers were assaulted and warning shots were fired by a guard when at least three Tucker Maximum Security inmates managed to escape from locked individual holding pens in a recreation area on July 22nd.

The fact that shots were fired wasn't disclosed by prison officials to State Police officers who arrived to investigate. That came out on July 31st after the Arkansas Times inquired about a tip on the incident.

In a revised statement to cover their ass, Correction Department spokesman Solomon Graves said a corrections officer “fired three (3) warning shots which did not strike any individuals.”

ADC MOUTHPIECE SOLOMON GRAVES

The shots were fired during a breakout of at least three prisoners from individual holding units in a recreation area.

The shots followed assault of two correctional officers attempting to handcuff an inmate, Graves said. “The two officers were assaulted by other inmates who were attempting [to] flee the recreation area. During the incident, at least one other inmate gained access to a secured recreation pen and assaulted another inmate.”

The inmates are held in individual locked units in the recreation area and so access by other inmates indicates a breach of security within the prison. The State Police said at least two inmates escaped from their units and one entered the unit of a third inmate and stabbed him. The tip on the incident to the Arkansas Times indicated more inmates may have been on the loose inside the prison.

The State Police were called to investigate the assault on officers, but they were not aware a gun was fired until this July 31st, after the Arkansas Times contacted them and advised them the gunfire.

“The State Police investigation was still active,” spokesman Bill Sadler told the Arkansas Times, “but, nobody offered any information about shots being fired."

 

BILL SADLER - ASP PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER

“Based on your question and some additional questioning of ADC we learned this afternoon that 3 shots were fired,” Sadler also told the Arkansas Times.

The assault of the officers occurred at 8:57 a.m. and State Police were called at 9:10 a.m. The two investigating ASP officers were not told about the gun shots.

When called initially by the Arkansas Times on July 31st this, prison spokesman Graves said he was aware that some inmates had “managed to slip out of their cages” but said that no shots had been fired. Later that same day, he revised the statement to say shots had been fired.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHOTS WERE FIRED!!!"

Asked why the State Police hadn't been told about gunfire initially, Graves said,  “The Department will be conducting an internal investigation into the incident, parallel to ASPs investigation, to include the firearm discharge. Answering those questions now would be premature.”

Right.  Spin it Solomon.  You know you were made to look like a fool and the guards did not want anyone to know that they discharged a firearm.

Stay tuned for updates.