DA Oakes

Everyone knows that politicians talk out of both sides of their mouth. We hear DA Greg Oakes does a lot of that.

"I have complete confidence in the Sheriff Department to fully investigate this case." ~ District Attorney Gregory Oakes, June 30, 2014.

"He questioned the integrity of the department and it's investigator." ~ federal public defender Lisa Pebbles referring to a conversation with DA Greg Oakes, January 2015.

So... which is it?

This is the DA who we are told made public the residence of Tonya Priest, the woman who came forward and is credited with the reopening of this whole mess.

Now, Tonya has to go back into hiding. Her life has been put in jeopardy.  Ummm, was that a little slip of the tongue on the DA's part?

Tonya should sue the county. They should at least pay for her relocation expenses.

Linda Lockwood... again

Syracuse. com has over 250 comments ever since Legislator Linda Lockwood came out with her statements about the Heidi Allen/Gary Thibodeau cases.

Not a lot of people are happy with her. Some have made remarks about her being powerful because she's the vice chairman of the legislature.

Being the vice chairman of the legislature is a nothing position. It's known to be a political pacifier- in other words- a title to quiet a legislator who wants more than he or she is worthy of having.

There's no power in the position. All the vice chairman is required to do is to fill in when the legislature chairman is absent. And that rarely happens. 

Being the chairman of a committee is no big deal either. Run a meeting once a month. There's no clout, no nothing.

What people don't realize is that county administrator Phil Church runs the show.  There's been rumblings that the legislators are going to strip him of some of his powers-- powers that should be in the hands of the legislators anyway.

Throwing Baby out with the bath water?

We heard that Michael "Baby" Backus might have competition for his county GOP chairmanship seat.

Seems there aren't too many pleased with him--in part because he lies too much and because the Party is in a shambles.

Of course, if Backus loses his chairmanship, one-half of his self-importance is lost with it.

We also hear there's going to be some Republican primaries in the legislature races this year.

One thing's for sure, one of the Party's had better find someone to run against DA Greg Oakes because getting signatures on nominating petitions isn't going to be easy, and we've been told by some Republicans that they won't carry for Oakes because they don't want to get egged when they go to doors.

Can't say we blame them. Oakes and the Sheriff are about the most unpopular people in the county right now. 

They're even more unpopular than the Baby.

The big fish story

Ask anyone who knows Michael Backus and they'll tell you that:
1. He's a name dropper
2. He's the master of deception
3. He probably wouldn't know the truth if it hit him in the face.

Backus, before becoming the big shot County Clerk and Chairman of the Republican Party, worked for John McHugh when McHugh was the congressman. McHugh is now the Secretary of the Army.

Back when the FBI was here investigating the now-deceased former clerk George Williams, Backus was trying to find out what else ( or who else) the feds were looking into. 

He told people that he had a Washington contact who could find out (McHugh?). And, he was dumb enough to put it in a text message to someone. Nothing like leaving a stupid electronic trail.

When asked why he didn't just check with the Syracuse office of the FBI, Backus said he would go straight to his Washington contact (according to the text message).

Now, anybody with half a brain knows that no one, not even the President, goes snooping in an FBI file. Certainly, no Washington official is going to jeopardize his or her career to break into an FBI agents computer for anyone, let alone someone from a Podunk County. 

FBI agents can't even get into one another's files, and it's doubtful that they even know that much about what their colleagues are working on. They do operate under extremely guarded conditions.

Imagine the national security breaches that could occur if anyone from anywhere could call someone they knew in D.C. to find out anything about an FBI investigation on anyone.

The person who received the text messages was in a position to know that it could have serious consequences if indeed someone in D.C. accessed a case file, so it was turned over to the feds.

Know what they said?  "He's full of shit."

We believe them. 

In fairness, Backus never told anyone that we know of that it was McHugh who was allegedly getting the lowdown for him, but those who were told did have suspicions that it was McHugh because Backus drops McHugh's name frequently.

In any event, no one believed Backus could find out anything about an ongoing FBI investigation and passed it off as one of his big fish stories.

We hear he just recently got caught in another lie that he told his caucus and that one of the legislators is going around showing proof that what was said was indeed a lie.  We'll have more on that as we get more details. 

Do you have a Backus lie to share? 

Linda Lockwood

Well, if you read Syracuse.com today, you'll see that the not-so-smart Legislator Linda Lockwood sees no reason to have an investigation into the Sheriff's Department's handling of the Heidi Allen case.

Now, most everyone likes Lockwood because she's a nice woman, but ask your legislator what they think of her, and you'll most likely hear that she's not the sharpest took in the shed.  

Lockwood often has to ask to have things explained to her more than once. More importantly, she always does what she's told, even if she doesn't agree with it. 

But, it's not up to Linda Lockwood to decide if the AG or the Inspector General will investigate.

There's probably enough people in the public who have already made requests.

That dumb comment alone could cost Lockwood the election. Why would any public official not want an investigation when so much questionable evidence has surfaced?

Lockwood needs to get out from under the covers.

A way out for the county

It's no secret that county officials are worried about a big payout to Gary Thibodeau. They've checked their insurance policy and the Republicans, we are told, were ensured in one of their caucuses that the county is covered. But will insurance pay if it's found to be a wrongful conviction?

The county has an easy way out.  The judge can rule Thibodeau get a new trial, then DA Greg Oakes can say that time has been served in the interest of justice, and Thibodeau can walk-- but he won't have a case against the county.

It's doubtful that the county will want this case to go to federal court because if there is wrongdoing on the part of OCSD that's where it's sure to come out.

Time served is the best way to sweep this entire diabolical under the carpet.

The plot thickens...

We hope to get to the Michael Backus big fish lie tomorrow. We've had to keep postponing it because of breaking news in the Thibodeau case.

Today's news is a real eye-opener. An eye witness to the kidnapping has come forward.

Some are criticizing the man for keeping silent all these years. Sadly, it's a case of someone trusting that the Oswego County Sheriff's Department knew what they were doing and did so honestly.

Also, it's really hard to identify someone whose looks have changed until you finally see a photo of them.

The man is willing to take a lie detector test as long as it's not administered by the OCSD which shows the lack of trust of the department is growing. 

The public has become fearful of even being pulled over by a deputy-- any deputy. And some said if they ever needed to call 911, they would request the state police.

This is sad for those within the department who do a good, honest job. Unfortunately, the public clumps them together as one.

Please, keep comments to topic and no personal insults. This isn't the Syracuse.com forums. 

Tonight or tomorrow we will have the BBL (Big Backus lie). 

Will Oakes really do it?

Earlier this week, District Attorney Gregory Oakes said he offered to call the state attorney general's office to look into the  sheriff's and prosecutors' handling of the investigation. Offered is one thing, doing is another.

Did he, will he? Surely, a request from a district attorney would be entertained by the AGs office. 

It's odd that Oakes would offer this as in the past he's been so adamant that Gary Thibodeau is guilty and that the investigation was conducted properly.

Now, one questions if he's concerned over his next reelection and that's why he's had a change of heart? He's taking a public lynching and a few Republican Committee members said they are adamant that they won't support him next time around.

And it's not just the way he's handling the Thibodeau hearing. Lawyers have been complaining about Oakes since he took office. They allege he's rarely in his office, hard to get ahold of, and has been throwing drug peddlers into drug court, among other things. 

Oakes is not too popular for going after Judge Walt Hafner, who is one of the popular judges in Oswego County, and he's well liked because he refuses to be a a patsy for the Republican Party. Oakes latest complaint against Hafner caused Hafner to have to recuse himself from hearing criminal cases handled by the DAs office. How much is the vendetta against Hafner costing the taxpayers?

On a final note, why is it that there was no other judge available to cover for Judge King's cases in Lewis County?  Thibodeau's hearing was scheduled way back in November. Did anyone really expect it to last only a week? 

Piss poor planning on the part of the Unified Court System... 

Court official scheduling the Thibodeau hearing

Investigator James Pietroski

Investigator James Pietroski gave rather weak testimony in court yesterday and some of it just didn't make sense. His self-proclaimed investigation techniques are unprecedented. 

Pietroski apparently didn't find it necessary to ask Breckenridge his whereabouts on the day of the abduction. Okey... that would make sense. NOT.

Given that Wescott sent messages to others saying she was fearful for her life, it really doesn't make sense that she and Tonya Priest would concoct some story. 

But there's not much to this case that isn't strange. The judge takes a lot of recesses and ends early each day. As our poll shows thus far, there's not a heck of a lot of faith in him. 

If Lisa Peebles has a smoking gun, or even a loaded one, she has yet to show it. 

One good thing to come out of this is the possibility of renewed discussion to get rid of the Sheriff's Department. Under state law, counties do not have to have sheriff patrols, only a jail.

A decade ago legislators talked about abolishing the department. The public has lost faith in them, and it's a shame for the good deputies out there. Unfortunately, they all get lumped together.

Sadly, our DA's office has become a laughing stock. No doubt Greg Oakes is going to be a one-term DA.  And it's not just this case. Lawyers have told us that he is sending drug dealers to drug court instead of jail. And we know someone who has something powerful against Oakes that is being held back for the right time. 

Have a good weekend, and please, remember our comment policy. 

Judge Dan King

Seriously, is this judge for real? He's not letting Lisa Pebbles ask questions that would lead to pertinent information.

It seems like he doesn't want the truth to come out. Of course, Judge Tormey assigned a judge who's only been a judge since 2012 and who comes from Lewis County with a population more than four times smaller than Oswego County. And a county that's controlled by Jefferson County that conducts business at the Elk's Club in Watertown.

Something is terribly wrong with this.