Court Ruling Implicates Dearborn County Prosecutor F. Aaron Negangard in Grand Jury Abuse

Dearborn County, Indiana – In a recent court order from the Dearborn County Superior Court II, Special Judge Brian Hill ordered Chief Court Reporter Barbara Ruwe to copy and paste portions the official audio from a grand jury investigation that took place on 2/28/11, 3/01/11, and 3/2/11. On 2/15/11, Dearborn Prosecutor F. Aaron Negangard named Dan Brewington, of Norwood, Ohio (Cincinnati), a target of a grand jury investigation for criminal defamation arguing Brewington made (according to transcripts) “over the top, um, unsubstantiated statements” about Dearborn Court Officials. Brewington was named a target of the investigation just five days after the Indiana Supreme Court’s 2/10/11 dismissal of a complaint Brewington filed against Negangard. Brewington, whose story is featured in the documentary DivorceCorp currently on Netflix, was indicted, convicted, and served a 2.5 year prison sentence. Brewington is now crying foul and seeking access to the audio behind the grand jury transcripts submitted during Brewington’s trial claiming that the grand jury records were altered. After providing conflicting reasons why not to release the audio, Brewington filed a complaint to against Hill with the Office of the Indiana Public Access Counselor (PAC). The PAC’s advisory opinion agreed with Brewington that Judge Brian Hill erred in not ordering the release of the audio. Rather than provide the entire official audio record of the proceedings, in a filing dated 4/20/16, Judge Hill ordered Ruwe to cut and paste audio from Brewington’s three day grand jury proceeding. Hill ordered the reconstruction of the official record after an unnamed source advised Hill that Brewington’s grand jury “also heard evidence in four to five other Grand Jury proceedings during this time, often going back and forth between all of the cases” thus restricting the release of the audio to “only the matter regarding Daniel Brewington and no other Grand Jury proceedings.” In a recent blog on www.DanBrewington.blogspot.com, Brewington’s new request for public records allege the grand jury transcripts make no mention of Prosecutor Negangard instructing the grand jurors when he switched back and forth from Brewington’s case; making it impossible to determine whether Negangard presented unrelated evidence against Brewington, altered the grand jury record, or if the other grand jury proceedings ever took place. [Note: Transcripts from Brewington’s grand jury are void of any procedural instructions to jurors and demonstrate Negangard disappearing and reappearing from the record in the middle of witness testimony without explanation.] Transcripts from a 7/18/11 pretrial hearing in Brewington’s case show Deputy Prosecutor Kisor telling Judge Hill the prosecution would provide specific evidence of criminal activity if “particularly” requested by the court while advising Brewington’s attorney that the prosecution’s case relied on the complete transcripts of the grand jury proceedings. Now it appears the record that Kisor stated should form the foundation for building Brewington’s criminal defense was incomplete or altered from the beginning. As of the date of publication of this article, neither Negangard nor Hill have responded to Brewington’s latest request.