UNCOVERED: Earle B. Turner Cleveland Clerk of Courts

Submitted by pavman on Mon, 11/21/2011 - 14:08.

 Cleveland Plain Dealer reports today, November 21, 2011, "Cleveland Municipal Court fines disappear; in 9 cases, fees dismissed by 1 clerk."

I'm a private investigator, I own a private investigative company, I have other private investigators that work for me, I have friends in private investigations.  We investigate.

...and we've been investigating Earle B. Turner's office.  We found many anomalies in the Cleveland Muni Clerk of Courts office, well beyond anything that's been publicly reported, yet.  But does anyone care? We've combed through thousands of public records, interviewed past and present employees, spoke with many who've had dealings with the Cleveland Municipal Clerk of Courts Office.

What the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported today was the result of our investigation.  We also discovered what they reported in recent articles over the past month.   We turned all of the evidence over to the media... months ago.  But they won't print it.  Here are a few things we found:

  • We found many more than 9 cases with monies that appear, according to official court docket, to have been tampered with.  Not just at the hands of fired clerk Aisha Muhammad, and not just in 2010.  We found an ongoing pattern going back years.  Those involved are doing something illegal, or they are incompetent.  Either way, it has no place in our courts office.
  • We found many Cleveland Municipal Clerk of Court employees with currently active warrants, according to the official court docket.
  • We found traffic violations for people connected with the court, that ordinarily result in fines, being changed to community service.
  • We found traffic violations with points not sent to the BMV... well before the time frame the court was implementing a new computer system.
  • Ordinarily when someone is charged with a felony, they are first processed through the Cleveland Municipal Court.  The case is then 'bound over' or transferred to the Cuyahoga County Court.  We found someone charged with a felony which the Cleveland Municipal Clerk of Courts office failed to bind over.  They let the accused felon go free, they apparently just 'lost' the file.  This person also rented an apartment owned by Earle B. Turner, and owned a business together with a reverend from the same church Earle Turner belongs to.
  • We found a Cleveland Muni Clerk employee that went to prison, and when released came back to position.

There's a lot more.  And for my safety, evidence about these issues and others has been disseminated to other people.

 
We are not politicians slinging mud, we are private investigators that uncovered indisputable facts.  Some in my campaign are angry the media didn't report what we found before the election.  They still haven't reported most of it.   But I've come to the realization it continues to be withheld due to political reasons, or perhaps out of plain old fear of retaliation.  And no matter what anyone writes, the system will not change, so why should they risk it?
 
This isn't about writing negative about Earle B. Turner, or the Cleveland Muni Clerks office, the City of Cleveland, or our government.  This isn't about exposing something that isn't true - if they didn't do all these things, there'd be nothing to write about.  This is about making our city safer, about doing what is right for the public.  Right for all of the constituents, not just a few lucky enough to be 'insiders'.  We should all be 'insiders'.  The politicians should be embarrassed at the current state of affairs, instead they huff and puff, ignore, gloat and threaten.
 
We still have the same old 'politics as usual' here in Cuyahoga County.  They're all happy with the system just how it is, it keeps them employed... on our backs.  Look at our government... most employees either know someone, are friends or relatives with someone, or someone owed a favor.  Those in power will do everything necessary to keep it that way... to the public's detriment.  And unfortunately, human nature will lead people to vote for a recognizable name rather than do a little research. 

Cleveland, you elect the government you deserve.

C'est la vie.

ELECT PAVARINI
by PHIL PAVARINI, JR.

 

 

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