OUR VIEW: Ghazey Aleck’s ‘campaign sign’ argument is silly

The opinions expressed in the weekly “Our View” editorial represent the viewpoint of The Clare Sentinel. We encourage our readers to share their views, pro or con, on this or other issues of general interest. Send letters, 400 words or less, to the editor at: newsroom@claresentinel.net or via mail to: P.O. Box 237, Clare, MI 48617.

     Defense attorney Ghazey Aleck II argues that the Clare County Prosecutor’s Office should be disqualified from prosecuting a criminal case against his client, Patrick Boggs.
     Why? Because the citizen, who filed criminal complaints against Aleck’s client, is “guilty” of having had a campaign sign in his yard last year for then-candidate Michelle Ambrozaitis, now the current prosecutor.  Or so goes Aleck’s contention.
     Despite the fact that Aleck’s contrived straw-man argument holds water like a steel sieve, that didn’t prevent him from making it with a straight face, twice, in court in Harrison; first in 80th District Court on Sept. 18 before acting District Court Judge Roy G. Mienk, and then in 55th Circuit Court last week, Monday, Dec. 21, before Judge Thomas R. Evans.
     Mienk granted Aleck’s request that the local prosecutor’s office be replaced with an outside special prosecutor, but fortunately, Ambrozaitis’ office countered with two arguments in Circuit Court:
One, the 80th District Court does not have the jurisdiction to disqualify the prosecutor’s office. And, two, citizens have the right to support whomever they choose when they vote, a reference to Aleck’s claim of bias because of the campaign sign.
     Judge Evans, for his part, said, “In lieu of granting the motion to strike the appellant’s brief in support of appeal, the Court will give the plaintiff (Prosecutor’s Office) 14 days to file an amended brief in support of the appeal.” Aleck will then have 21 days from when the Clare County prosecutor’s brief is completed to prepare a response.
     So what does this all mean? In short, Evans will decide whether the local prosecutor’s office can do the job it was elected to do, i.e. prosecute Aleck’s defense client, Patrick Boggs, whose criminal charges include allegations that he stalked the minor son of local resident Joseph Russo Sr. Stalking is punishable by one year in jail and/or $1,000 in fines and up to five years on probation. Boggs, a state prison guard in St. Louis, Mich., is charged with incidents that occurred between March 1, 2008, and April 23, 2009.
     No one can deny the fact that Aleck has provided an aggressive defense of Boggs. It’s what defense attorneys do. However, what’s  scarier than all get-out is the ramifications behind Aleck’s line of reasoning for disqualifying a prosecutor bringing cases to court.
     It would set a ludicrous precedent whereby the local prosecutor would bow out any time a citizen filing a complaint happened to have have planted a campaign sign for a sucessfully elected prosecuting attorney. We assume Aleck wouldn’t have protested if the citizen filing the complaint against his client had had a campaign sign for Norm Gage, the unsuccessful incumbent Democrat prosecutor who lost to Ambrozaitis, Republican challenger, in November 2008.
     Was Gage ever disqualified on similar grounds when he was prosecutor? Or how about Ghazey Aleck, a one-time former Clare County prosecutor himself and fellow Democrat? Don’t think so.
     If Aleck prevails, you might ask why do we even bother to hold elections in Clare County if the citizens’ support in a prosecutor’s race disqualifies the winner from doing the job the majority of citizens elected the person to do?
     We’re hopeful that common-sense jurisprudence will prevail so that Boggs can proceed to trial without further delay, with Aleck as defense counsel and Clare County providing prosecution.

The opinions expressed in the weekly “Our View” editorial represent the viewpoint of The Clare Sentinel. We encourage our readers to share their views, pro or con, on this or other issues of general interest. Send letters, 400 words or less, to the editor at: newsroom@claresentinel.net or via mail to: P.O. Box 237, Clare, MI 48617.