The District Attorney in Eric Pepin’s case, ran against a sitting judge in an election that took place soon after Eric Pepin’s trial ended.
He won and became a judge. Did Andy Erwin use Eric Pepin’s case, and possibly others like it, as a way to exploit them for his own gain? How much abuse of state power do we tolerate and what are other people in similar positions capable of? Who is protecting us, the people, from those who are supposed to be protecting us?
Hear how the police used their power in Eric Pepin’s case and ask yourself… how many are out there who didn’t get a chance to speak?
The election did raise some eyebrows, with Blue Oregon asking in an article, “Did Andy Erwin dupe Washington County?”
My belief is he did a lot more then they are claiming and he got away with it.
Blue Oregon did some research and uncovered what Eric Pepin and many of his legal advisers would later believe to be true – Erwin used the case to play to his donors and voting base.
“A few weeks ago, a reader sent me a tip about looking into Erwin’s campaign finances. Since this was a race on my own ballot, it intrigued me enough to surf over to Orestar and check it out. A look at Erwin’s campaign finances via Orestar does show some rather unsavory connections.
It’s pretty clear this wasn’t one of your run-of-the-mill races. Erwin ran this like a legislative race. He even had a campaign website. None of the other circuit judge candidates had them, that I can find.
On Erwin’s website is a rather odd letter that Rogers apparently sent out to criminal defense attorneys in March. The letter accuses Steve Doell and Crime Victims United of “weighing in” on the race with a huge donation to Erwin (which Erwin denies). It further accuses Doell and Kevin Mannix of asserting themselves into these sorts of races, a charge that Erwin further denies.
On 5/13/08 (one week before the election), Erwin’s campaign received $10,000 from Loren Parks. For those still unaware, Parks has a penchant for bizarre, right-wing campaigns and candidates (not to mention Parks’ fantabulous claims about how he can cure female frigidity by hypnosis warning: NOT family-friendly). Parks dropped $175k to Mannix in July . In fact, Parks is one of Mannix’s most generous benefactors. Why would Parks be dumping that much cash into a nonpartisan, judicial race? And why right before the election?”
The web gets more tangled for Erwin, which you can check out here:
http://www.blueoregon.com/2008/09/did-andy-erwin.html
Eric Pepin as someone promoting “meditation”, a tradition not normally understood by mainstream conservative Christianity, living an alternative lifestyle, would be an easy target to rally behind with tabloid-like reporting and headlines from an assisting reporter.
With Erwin using the power of his position and all the resources of the state – who has the wealth to combat that? How can you prove your innocence when you were charged with a crime without evidence?
Erwin as an experienced attorney would know exactly what Eric Pepin’s chances were. He could have also made an educated case that most people, in that position, would cave and negotiate a deal rather than risk prison… even though they know they are innocent. The state simply holds too much power.
It would be a way to strong-arm a conviction and score an electoral victory for his upcoming race.
NEXT: Who Accused Eric Pepin and Why?
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