► Judge Carlos Bea of the 9th Circuit; moron ethical elf Print

Judge Carlos Bea of the 9th Circuit; moron ethical elf 

In 2005, David Hinkson of Idaho was indicted for allegedly attempting to hire Elven Swisher to kill a federal judge, a US Attorney and an IRS agent. In 

addition, Mr. Hinkson was charged with failing to file and/or pay federal income taxes for several years. It should be noted that Hinkson believes that the federal income tax is unconstitutional and apparently based his conduct on that belief.

 
In 2006, a jury trial was held in federal court in Idaho and based primarily on the testimony of Elven Swisher, David Hinkson was found guilty and subsequently sentenced to 33 years in prison for hiring Swisher as a hit man and 10 years for tax evasion.
 
At the trial, Mr. Swisher offered the following testimony in support of the government’s charge that Mr. Hinkson had attempted to hire him to kill the three aforementioned persons.
  • He was a decorated Korean War Veteran
  • He received and actually wore a Purple Heart for combat injuries he suffered in the Korean War
  • Pulled out a copy of his DD-214 (Discharge document) to support his testimony that he was a decorated war veteran
After the trial concluded, Mr. Hinkson’s attorney discovered that Swisher had given a new meaning to the “perjured testimony.” It was discovered that Swisher had never served in Korea, that his DD-214 was a forgery, and that he had filed false documents with the VA to obtain a disability retirement. What a guy!
 
Swisher was born in 1953 and the Korean War began in 1950 and concluded in 1953. Therefore, he would have been 13 years old when it started and 16 when it ended. I served in Korea and I don’t recall running into any 13 year old combat veterans donning Purple Hearts.
 
Subsequently, Swisher was criminally convicted of lying to federal officials, wearing fake medals and defrauding the VA of benefits for combat injuries. (Adam Liptak, NY Times – 11/29/10)
 
After discovery of Swisher’s serial frauds and perjury, Hinkson’s attorneys were successful in having the conviction for hiring Swisher as a hit-man reversed. However, when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reviewed the matter en banc (all members of the court) in 2009, they originally voted 9 to 4 to uphold the conviction. The Court again reviewed the 9-4 decision in 2010 after Swisher’s conviction. At this time the vote was 5-4 to retain a conviction that clearly came about as a result of Swisher’s false testimony.
 
In the recent ruling, Judge Bea wrote that there was no reason to think the jury would have come out differently had it known of “Swisher’s routine, rather than heroic, military history.” Put simply, this certified buffoon (my apologies to buffoons) had the chutzpah to state that the jury would have found Hinkson guilty even if it knew that Swisher had repeatedly perjured himself at the trial.
 
Judge Bea’s asinine statement was proven false when juror Ben Casey said, “I was surprised to hear that Mr. Swisher was allowed to tell such lies which created the impression that he would be a good ‘hit man’ candidate based on having been a decorated combat veteran.” (Liptak, NY Times) “These lies discredit him as a witness and therefore discredit the rest of his testimony,” Casey said.
 
It is indeed unfortunate that someone of Judge Bea’s ilk (FYI: Judge Bea, Ilk is not defined as a Male Elk) is allowed to sit in judgment of others. If provable false testimony used to criminally convict someone is not sufficient for a complete reversal and/or exoneration, than what in the hell is?
 
As we speak, Mr. Hinkson is appealing the obscene ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court. Hopefully, the Court will grant review and reverse this deplorable ruling and order that Mr. Hinkson receive a new trial. I can assure you that the U.S. Attorney in Idaho isn’t likely to call Swisher as a prosecution witness at a new trial. In fact, I’m confident that the government will not retry Hinkson, thereby allowing him to serve a few years on the tax evasion case rather than a life sentence for glaring miscarriage of justice.