THE WHOLE TRUTH?
A lot of Marion County residents are scratching their heads at the latest developments down at city hall. No, it doesn’t involve Council President Monroe Gray. Although the latest news regarding him is that an arbitrator is ordering him to pay $600,000 to his former business partner as a result of a labor dispute, but I digress.
This involves City-County Council Member Ron Gibson. A local judge dismissed disorderly conduct and battery charges against him for the allegedly shoving an off duty Marion County detective during Black Expo last year. Gibson and his attorneys say the charges were dropped because there was not enough evidence to secure a conviction, particularly that several witness depositions did not back up Jean Burkert’s story. However sources within the police department are telling me a different story.
My sources say the internal affairs report confirms the detective’s version of the events. In addition they also tell me that several witnesses were “encouraged” to change their testimony over time and that the manager of the bar where the incident occurred might have fallen under undue pressure and influence. Also the city’s legal department came under heavy criticism for their role in events and the special prosecutor in the case is quoted as saying he has never seen politics play a role in a criminal case like he did in the one involving Gibson.
Believe whom you will but my sources in this area tend to be pretty reliable. The sad part of all this is the only way we may ever get to the real truth is if a grand jury or the FBI gets involved. Who knows, that day may be closer than we think.
