Elsebeth Baumgartner
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Dr. Elsebeth Baumgartner (born May 12, 1955) gained notoriety when criminal charges where filed against her for criticizing Ohio government officials and accusing them of corruption.
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[edit] Background
Baumgartner is a former patent attorney with doctorate degrees both in law and in pharmacy. Dr. Baumgartner graduated first in her entering class from the University of Toledo College of Law. She is currently the CEO of Cleveland Genomics, Inc. (which provides DNA sequencing services); however, the company has "withered and died" as Dr. Baumgartner's time has been consumed by legal matters.[1] She has two adult daughters and is married to pharmacist Joseph Baumgartner.
[edit] Accusations of Corruption
Baumgartner has compiled a laundry list of accusations against officials in various Ohio government officials and state employees, from teachers and school boards all the way up to the Ohio Supreme Court. A partial list is presented here in chronological order:[1]
[edit] Benton-Carroll-Salem school district
Sometime after 1999, Baumgartner began attending meetings of the Benton-Carroll-Salem school district where her daughters were both attended high school. At the time her husband Joe was serving his third term on the school board as well. Baumgartner was upset with the differences in funding between her daughter Jessica's track team and the football team. She called the superior funding for football a "jockocrasy". She claimed that athletic director Gary Quisno unfairly favored men's sports and she was upset that he collected two salaries for his work as head football coach and athletic director. She also claimed that Quisno intimidated her daughter in retaliation for Baumgartner's speech. In the following weeks, Baumgartner expanded her allegations to claim that the school district was paying kickbacks to a number of contractors and that every member of the school board was complicit in this scheme. The board declined to perform an audit, and neither the local police nor the FBI wished to investigate Baumgartner's claims. She went on to use a legal technicality to file a criminal complaint against the county prosecutor, the police chief, every member of the school board, and Beverly Brough, a woman with whom Baumgartner had an unrelated dispute. The complaint alleged a conspiracy between these actors in an organized crime ring.
[edit] Erie County and Kevin Baxter
Baumgartner's next target was Erie County prosecutor Kevin Baxter. She was contacted by Edward Baxter, Kevin's estranged brother, who asked Baumgartner to investigate Kevin Baxter, charging that he was addicted to cocaine. She was also contacted by Krista Harris, who claimed that Kevin Baxter had held her as a "sex slave" and tried to convict her on false accusations of embezzlement. Baumgartner became Harris's lawyer and invoked a number of unorthodox legal techniques. She was able to have the prosecutor, Dean Holman, thrown off the case by claiming that he was working in concert with Kevin Baxter. Her legal maneuvers included a subpoena to Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Moyer. However, Baumgartner erred by listing herself as a witness in the case, and was disqualified as Harris's lawyer. She was later kicked out of the courtroom entirely for continuing to communicate legal advice to Harris. Harris was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison.
[edit] Baumgartner goes on trial
Ottawa County prosecutor Mark Mulligan (whom Baumgartner had run against in the prosecutorial election) filed charges of making false statements against Baumgartner after she began accusing officials of the Island Rocket ferry line of smuggling illegal drugs. Kevin Baxter was a part owner of Island Rocket. A jury found Baumgartner guilty of making false statements and Judge John Adkins ordered a psychological evaluation of Baumgartner. He also barred her from making accusations against public officials. Finally, the Ohio Supreme Court disciplinary board temporarily suspended her license to practice law (see below).
[edit] Flight and Jail Time
Baumgartner attempted to avoid her sentencing by fleeing to Texas, where she tried again, unsuccessfully, to contact the FBI to have her various rivals investigated. Her husband convinced her to return to Ohio, where she was jailed for six months for fleeing the state. While in jail she caused difficulty for her jailors, by, for example, clogging the toilets with paper cups. She also filed numerous lawsuits on her own behalf and for her fellow prisoners, to the point where Mulligan had Baumgartner declared a "vexatious litigator" and had her banned from filing lawsuits in the state of Ohio (a rare designation applied to only 44 people).[citation needed]
[edit] Current charges
The specific criminal charges against Dr. Baumgartner are intimidation, retaliation, falsification and possession of a criminal tool (the criminal tool being a laptop computer) for her criticizing Ohio government officials and accusing them of corruption, such as against retired Judge Richard Markus.[2]
She is currently facing criminal charges in the U.S. state of Ohio carrying maximum prison sentences of 66 years and 6 months in one case, and 42 years and 6 months in another case. As of Aug. 21, she has been sitting in Erie County Jail after retired visiting court judge Richard Knepper, who had already disqualified himself from her case, jailed her. [3]
[edit] Criminal history
Dr. Baumgartner had previously served 231 days in jail on the charge of falsification for accusing Ohio government officials of corruption at a Port Clinton City Commissioner's meeting (i.e., a city council meeting). [citation needed] Ten of those days were spent where she was allegedly being held incommunicado, having been denied access to legal counsel, visitors, clergy, the opportunity to make a phone call, and not allowed to send mail out or receive mail.[citation needed]
[edit] Disbarment
In 2003, Dr. Baumgartner was permanently disbarred as an attorney for accusing Ohio government officials of corruption in a hearing where she was not allowed to be present and where the sole evidence against her was those who had been accused of corruption denying the charges.[4] In December 2005, Dr. Baumgartner was committed against her will for 39 days to the North Coast Hospital under court order for a mental evaluation, even though Ohio state law requires that a person released on bond, as Dr. Baumgartner is, be evaluated on an out-patient basis. She was found competent. Two times previously she had been psychologically evaluated, and each time found competent. [5]
[edit] Criticisms of Dr. Baumgartner's Treatment
A number of critics of the actions taken against Dr. Baumgartner by the Ohio judiciary contend that she is being made a political prisoner in order to silence her and punish her for speaking out on government corruption by the very parties accused of corruption as a means to protect themselves from the legitimate consequences of their crimes and to make an example out of her by creating a chilling effect to intimidate others from speaking out against their corruption. [6][7][8] These critics note that she has already been jailed for peaceful political speech and that the Ohio government is currently attempting to imprison her for a total of 109 years for peaceful political speech. Such critics further contend that even if all of her accusations were false that a person ought not be made a criminal or suffer imprisonment for mere peaceful speech (i.e., not threatening to aggress against another), even if said speech is false, and that the ultimate reason for the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is precisely so that people can be free to criticize the government and officials in government, and say things which said officials greatly dislike, without fear of retaliation by the government.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Klaus, Jared. "The Pest", Cleveland Scene, New Times Inc., 2006-05-03. Retrieved on 2006-09-13. (in English)
- ^ Ohio Free Speech Trial Gets a Continuance. North Country Gazette.
- ^ Commentary - Justice Denied. North Country Gazette.
- ^ Court disbars Baumgartner. - Opinions and Case Summaries. Supreme Court of Ohio.
- ^ Trial Monday In Ohio Free Speech Case, More Charges Lodged. North Country Gazette.
- ^ 'Blogger Favors Freedom First. www.thepriceofliberty.org.
- ^ Judicial Tyranny Continues In Ohio Free Speech Case. North Country Gazette.
- ^ Greg Szymanski. Ohio Attorney Persecuted And Jailed For 232 Days Under Nazi-Like Treatment Right Here In America. Arctic Beacon.
[edit] External links
- Disbarment proceedings, Disciplinary Counsel v. Baumgartner
- Interview of Dr. Elsebeth Baumgartner by Greg Szymanski, on the radio program Investigative Journal, March 24, 2006, MP3, first part, second part
- Interview of Dr. Elsebeth Baumgartner by Greg Szymanski, on the radio program Investigative Journal, March 29, 2006, MP3
- "Three Dirty Words--First Amendment Rights," North Country Gazette, March 21, 2006
- "Judicial Tyranny, Misconduct Continue In Ohio Courts," North Country Gazette, October 14, 2005
- "Ohio Bloggers Charge Prosecutorial Misconduct, Seek Dismissal," North Country Gazette, October 16, 2005
- "Judiciary Gone Amok In Northern Ohio," North Country Gazette, March 31, 2006
