| ► Washington Post – 06/30/02 – Ohio Justices Scrutinized Over Credit Card Use |
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Washington Post – June 30, 2002 – Ohio Justices Scrutinized Over Credit Card Use By Kari Lydersen
Self-described government watchdog David Palmer thinks four Ohio Supreme Court Justices have been using state credit cards to buy gas for their own vehicles.
On June 21 he filed 28 felony theft-in-office municipal [court] complaints against the justices, based on public records showing they regularly pumped seven to 10 gallons more into their state vehicles than those gas tanks could hold.
Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer of Columbus, one of those Palmer has accused, says Palmer is “an angry man” who has misinterpreted the records in one of his many quests to discredit public officials.
“What he’s suggesting is my wife would follow me to the gas station, and I would pump five gallons into our personal car,” Moyer said. “Believe me, we don’t do that.”
Palmer, 58, a disabled veteran from Columbus, said he became embittered about the legal system after trying to win compensation for his wife, who was seriously inured in a 1987 accident. Since then he has filed countless complaints against state and local officials.
A July 15 hearing in Franklin County Municipal Court is set. Moyer expected that complaints to be dropped before then, once the justices show documentation explaining the alleged over-pumping.
The records show Moyer once pumping 25.5 gallons of gasoline into a car with an 18.5 gallon tank. Moyer say the records aren’t receipt from specific gas stations but estimates drawn from gas expenditures over an entire year.
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