By Kenneth C. Rossignol
ST. MARY’S TODAY
LEONARDTOWN — Where is the Loot? This time the missing loot isn’t composed of a truck load of building materials like it was in 2002 when a police captain ended up without a job after he parceled out stolen property in police custody to his stepson.
Nope, this time, its cold hard cash, $20,000 in cash and a group of Leonardtown lawyers all say they don’t know where it went. So whats new about that?
In the last article about this case, there were enough names of barristers for a quorum at the bar association meeting.
On top of the missing money, there are a lot of lives being ruined, at least for now, some folks have lost their jobs, others may and some may be going to jail.
The incumbent States Attorney has his opponent in next year’s election in a vise and is squeezing.
Life in the Walled City is getting intense, with the coming election year, the investigation which wore out one Grand Jury and now is being brought to another and the human toll is beginning to stack up.
The owner of the Tiki Bar, a Solomon’s Island watering hole, pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon.
The attack by the bar owner was far more dangerous than previously reported. Police say that the weapon wasn’t fire in the air but aimed near the hunters, with bullets splashing in the water near them.
The case of Terry Clarke, who is awaiting sentencing by Circuit Court Judge Missouri, sparked the white collar crime probe into attorney John Mattingly and his business partner, Daniel Brown, after Brown allegedly offered a bribe to the victims of Clarke’s assault.
Clarke has been cooperating with the investigation into the actions of John Mattingly and Brown, according to his attorney, Shane Mattingly.
The St. Mary’s Deputy Sheriff who had loaned his gun to Clarke will soon return to duty after serving in Iraq in the reserves.
Deputy Randy Wood faces a trial board for his violation of policy for loaning his gun to Clarke, who is a convicted felon.
Life hasn’t gone too good for the deputy in recent years.
In another tale of woe involving a local attorney, Wood’s inheritance was wiped out by Leonardtown lawyer, Julian Isydore, who has since been convicted of theft and disbarred.
Wood now may lose his job after serving his country overseas in a war zone.
The importance of the actions of Deputy Wood concern law officers who worry that there could be underlying reasons for a sworn police officer to allow his weapon to be in the possession of a felon, who is blocked by law from purchasing or owning a weapon.
Did Wood conspire with Clarke in any illegal enterprise; did he provide protection to Clarke in violation of the law or otherwise compromise himself other than leave a firearm with a man convicted of a felony crime?
That Clarke was hotheaded enough to give a blast of gunfire close to the hunters after allegedly hearing shotgun pellets rain down on his home, is further evidence that the law banning convicted criminals from owning a gun is a good idea.
Clarke owns a multi-million diving business and had used attorney John Mattingly for a variety of legal matters over the years and when he was arrested on Dec. 29, 2007, he called upon Mattingly to help him.
Mattingly says he told Clarke that he would better off with a lawyer who is in good graces with States Attorney Richard Fritz, due to generous contributions to Fritz’s campaign funds and advised Clarke to show up in Leonardtown with a bag of cash, $20,000.00, perhaps in small bills, and Clarke did so, but all concerned say that they don’t know what happened to the money.
St. Mary’s Sheriff’s Captain Daniel Alioto was asked if he knew where the loot is, and he declined to comment.
Deputy County Attorney David Weiskopf told police that he witnessed the loot being used as a bribe with the victims of Clarke’s gunfire, according to court documents.
In addition to Clarke’s pending sentencing, the entire investigation may result in the disbarment of John Mattingly, who has been a spectacularly brilliant lawyer. Mattingly was formerly associated with Weiskopf in a law firm in Lexington Park, and once was a partner with Baldwin and Briscoe in Lexington Park. Sam Baldwin and Janice Briscoe, daughter of Circuit Court Judge John Hanson Briscoe, had formed a partnership with Mattingly for several years.
Brown said that Briscoe and Baldwin were jealous of the money that Mattingly made in his real estate partnership with Brown while they toiled on drawing up wills.
Brown said that Mattingly’s two partners didn’t care for Brown hanging around the office or his flamboyant lifestyle.
Brown, who has not been charged, was the subject of a police raid on his home on Sept. 24th allegedly on charges of obstruction of justice and witness tampering.
Brown denies those allegations, saying he was only attempting to settle a looming civil action.
With the possible firing of Deputy Wood for a serious breach of his responsibilities as a law officer and an examination of the actions of Weiskopf as the alleged witness to a bribe, this saga has so many trails of quirky turns and sudden loops that it is no wonder that confusion competes with consternation.
Of course, the question of where the loot went remains as investigators are silent on whether they know where it went.
The issue of Brown and John Mattingly, who is an officer of the court, influencing several Notaries Public, who are also officers of the state, in falsely swearing that they witnessed signatures when they did not, will also in coming months, land somewhere in public view.
Will those who affixed their false seals of Notary Public to deeds involved in transactions between sellers of land to Brown and Mattingly go to jail? Mattingly says there has been no fraud, no victims have made any complaint, that he took photos of those who were signing their names and of their driver’s licenses. He then had his secretary notarize the documents the next day.
What happened in the business practices of Graydon Sears LLC may not be the only such occasions of notaries not keeping in adherence with the law.
But at this time, they are the only ones with a full scale police investigation being conducted.
As to the view that laws of conduct for notaries can be skirted, the 9th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently voided a bank mortgage, due to it not being signed in the presence of a notary.
The office of the Secretary of State for Maryland published the following as part of the rules in a handbook for those who are Notary Publics.
Maryland law spells out what the terms are in the Notary Public Law and makes direct reference to an oath being made to God:
6) "Oath" means a sworn solemn statement of truth made under penalty of perjury by an individual who believes in and appeals to a Divine Being to evidence the seriousness of the individual’s actions or words.
Notary as Official Witness. To act as an official witness, a notary shall:(1) Obtain satisfactory proof of the identity of the individual signing the document;(2) Observe the signing of the document;(3) Date, sign, and seal or stamp the document;(4) Note the date the notary’s commission expires on the document; and (5) Record the notarization in the notary’s register of official acts
The criminal law of Maryland imposes fines and terms of imprisonment for the following wrongful conduct of any person, including a notary public. These criminal penalties are in addition to any action for removal by the Governor. Among the offenses particularly significant to notaries public are those which pertain to:
a. Unlawfully, falsely and corruptly affixing a public seal, such as a notarial seal, to any deed, warrant, or other writing.
b. Misconduct (malfeasance, misfeasance, nonfeasance) in office by improperly performing duties imposed by law.
c. Practice of law by one who is not an attorney admitted to practice by the Court of Appeals of Maryland. Of course, improper conduct by notaries public may involve violations of other laws. The three examples set forth above are mentioned to illustrate the care with which notaries public must perform their duties.
