Dearborn County Prosecutor
Aaron Negangard
Courthouse Offices
215 W. High St.
Lawrenceburg, Indiana 47025
Dearborn County Attorney
Jack Gay
755 N. State Street
P. O. Box 552
North Vernon, IN 47265
July 14, 2010
Re: Unethical Conduct of Dearborn County Prosecutor Aaron Negangard
Dear Public Officials:
On July 12, 2010, I sent a letter via fax, email, and U.S. mail, to different government officials concerning my public record request, which was denied by Dearborn County (IN) Prosecutor Aaron Negangard. In a letter dated July 6, 2010, I requested copies of the records pertaining to the Dearborn County Special Crimes Unit investigation of my internet writings, which began in October of 2009[1]. On or about June 9, 2010[2], my family court lawyer informed me that Judge James D. Humphrey recused himself from my custody case, claiming that there was an investigation pertaining to Judge Humphrey and me. As Judge Humphrey refused to release any details of the alleged investigation and made no mention of the alleged investigation in his order of recusal, I filed my request to determine if there was truly an investigation as it would be vital evidence in a future custody hearing. Mr. Negangard denied my request claiming that Indiana law prohibited the release of Investigatory records. My response dated July 12, 2010, challenged Mr. Negangard’s statements as Indiana Code and Indiana case law has established that all Investigatory records are subject to release at the discretion of the appropriate agency provided that they are not excepted under IC 5-14-3-4(a)[3]. Taking into consideration the suspect nature of the accumulative circumstances, I contacted other county officials to inform them that if Mr. Negangard conducted himself in an unethical and/or illegal manner as the head of the Dearborn County Special Crimes Unit, the county may be in jeopardy of losing state and/or federal grants that fund the Unit. At approximately 10:43:36 AM, I emailed my July 12, 2010 response to Mr. Negangard’s denial to several Dearborn/Ohio County officials. At approximately 4:46 PM that same day, Mr. Negangard sent the following email to the same officials and copied me to the email as well (copy of email attached hereto):
To all county officials:
Please be advised that Dan Brewington is currently under investigation by the Dearborn County Sheriff's department. Once he was advised of this by Judge James Humphrey who had to recuse himself from his case only recently he has attacked me or my office. I take this an effort to get me not to do my job of prosecuting those who violate the law. I assure you his efforts will not succeed. If he has violated the law then I will make every effort to prosecute him. However I will point out that this matter is still under investigation and until such time he is convicted he is presumed innocent. He is also incorrect regarding his request. He clearly asked for records pertaining to his investigation that are not to be disclosed under Indiana law. If any of you need any further information regarding this matter. Please do hesitate to contact me.
Aaron
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
There are many disturbing aspects about Mr. Negangard’s email. The most obvious is the fact that he sent the email from his Verizon Wireless Blackberry which suggests that he may have been too emotionally impatient to wait to get to a computer. Emotion seems to be a driving force in writing this email as Mr. Negangard felt that it was necessary to not only offer a quick response, but to attack me for questioning his interpretation of laws pertaining to the release of public records. Mr. Negangard is correct in stating that I may not be entitled to records relating to pending investigations. I incorrectly assumed that Mr. Negangard’s “secret” investigation of my internet writings would not take over nine months to decide if a crime had been committed. Mr. Negangard’s emotionally charged email attacking me raises several concerns.
1. How could an investigation of a person’s writings span nine months or longer? At the time of the “alleged” investigation, I probably had 30,000 to 40,000 written words on the internet. I informed Detective Kreinhop at the time that all of the written material was on the internet. I instructed Detective Kreinhop to tell Prosecutor Negangard to file charges if he felt that my writings violated any criminal statutes. No charges were ever filed. It wasn’t until Mr. Negangard’s July 12, 2010 email that I had written confirmation that the investigation was still pending.
2. What is the relevance of mentioning Judge James D. Humphrey in Aaron Negangard’s July 12th email? The fact that Judge Humphrey recused himself from my case raises some very serious issues. A large part of my internet material involves Judge Humphrey and his actions in terminating my parenting time with my three and five year old children. Despite the fact that I cared for the children nearly half of the time during the course of their lives without any allegations of abuse or neglect, Judge Humphrey ripped the children from their father because I publicized the conduct of Judge Humphrey’s expert, Dr. Edward J Connor[4]. In his August 18, 2009 orders, Judge Humphrey wrote, “The Court is most concerned about husband’s irrational behavior and attacks on Dr. Connor.” When Dr. Connor and the Court refused to provide me access to Dr. Connor’s case file from Dr. Connor’s custody evaluation in accordance with Dr. Connor’s contract and IC 31-17-2-12, I began writing about the situation. As my actions were neither criminal nor in violation of any court order, Judge Humphrey terminated my ability to see my three and five year old children in an apparent retaliation for speaking out about Dr. Connor’s unethical conduct. When I continued to speak publically about the situation following Judge Humphrey’s orders, I became the subject of a secret investigation by Aaron Negangard and the Dearborn County Special Crimes Unit.
3. Why and how does Judge Humphrey know about the details of the investigation of me when Mr. Negangard claims that I am not privy to the information? Mr. Negangard stated in his email that Judge Humphrey had to recuse himself from my case. How did Judge Humphrey come to the conclusion that presiding over my case conflicted with the investigation of my writings? Did Negangard tell Judge Humphrey? Why is Judge Humphrey entitled to the information while Mr. Negangard claims that there are laws that prohibit him from releasing the information to me? If Negangard claims that it was necessary to interview Humphrey for the investigation, what event prompted the sudden necessity to interview Humphrey approximately nine months after the alleged investigation began? I find it hard to believe that Negangard waited nine months to interview Humphrey when Humphrey had been one of the main topics of my writings. The most pressing issue is the fact that Aaron Negangard apparently discusses the nature of ongoing investigations with, at least, one judge in Dearborn County. How can anyone be guaranteed that they will have a fair trial when Negangard has demonstrated that he shares information with judges regarding secret investigations even before any charges have been filed? It is frightening to even try to speculate about the civil rights atrocities that may have been committed in Dearborn County if this isn’t the first time that Aaron Negangard has had ex parte communications with a judge, regarding an ongoing “secret” investigation, BEFORE the filing of charges and the commencement of a trial.
4. “Once he was advised of this by Judge James Humphrey who had to recuse himself from his case only recently he has attacked me or my office.” –Prosecutor Negangard. In an attempt to decipher Mr. Negangard’s message, which was sent from his Blackberry, I assume Mr. Negangard is suggesting that I took some form of retaliatory measures against Mr. Negangard and/or his office only after Judge Humphrey’s recusal on June 9, 2010. As an elected official, Negangard is well aware of the everyday public scrutiny that comes with the job. As a lawyer, he knows the term “attack” is used in the course of everyday courtroom procedure[5]. Mr. Negangard “attacks” the credibility of witnesses and suspects during the course of his everyday job of trying to prosecute people but somehow suggests that a non-attorney “attacking” his credibility outside the protections of the courts is somehow unfair. I began questioning the conduct of Mr. Negangard and the Special Crimes Unit in November 2009. I have written and posted thousands of words questioning why Aaron Negangard ordered an investigation of my written material, which is void of any criminal misconduct and is protected by the First Amendment. Mr. Negangard is well aware of the legal recourse that he, Dr. Connor, and Judge Humphrey have as they are free to take civil action against me for defamation, slander, libel, etc… if they feel I have unfairly judged them. Rather than take civil action against these alleged “attacks”, Mr. Negangard felt the need to inform the officials of Dearborn County that I am the subject of a perpetual investigation, while Negangard refuses to tell me who made the complaint or any details to the nature of the alleged investigation. I do know that as long as Negangard claims the investigation is still pending, he will not have to release the information in the Investigatory file.
5. “I take this an effort to get me not to do my job of prosecuting those who violate the law. I assure you his efforts will not succeed.” –Prosecutor Aaron Negangard. Need I remind people that Aaron Negangard is a lawyer and the Dearborn County Prosecutor who surely understands the concept of burden of proof in a court of law? Other than me testifying that my intentions in submitting a public records request and questioning Mr. Negangard’s interpretation of law were an attempt to subliminally disable the Prosecutor’s ability to protect the public, Mr. Negangard should have no reason to offer wild speculations as to my “true intentions” of trying obtain information regarding the nature of the ongoing investigation of my writings. Negangard is either delusional or he is trying to instill some sort of fear in the public that I have the ability to undermine the criminal justice system in Dearborn County. Mr. Negangard’s baseless speculation suggests that he is using his position and stature as Dearborn County Prosecutor to somehow diminish the issues that I raised about the secretive nature of the investigation of my writings that criticized Judge Humphrey and Dr. Edward J. Connor. Mr. Negangard’s letter is similar to an ex parte letter that Dr. Edward J. Connor sent to Ripley Circuit Court Judge Carl H. Taul in September 2008. After determining that Dr. Connor was less than truthful in his reasoning as to why he would not provide me with a copy of the case file from his child custody evaluation (go to www.danhelpskids.com for examples of Dr. Connor’s unethical conduct), I sent a letter to Dr. Connor stating, “The game is over Dr. Connor and the Court has ordered that the ‘delivery to counsel representing a party is the same as delivery to the party personally’ so your argument has no factual or legal basis.” Dr. Connor had claimed that he did not have to provide me with a copy of the case file because I was not represented by an attorney. In an apparent attempt of self preservation, Dr. Connor sent an ex parte letter to Judge Taul stating, “[Dan Brewington’s] statement in his letter dated 9/5/08 that ‘the game is over Dr. Connor' appears rather threatening and implies that I and/or the Court do not take this matter seriously, which is certainly not the case.” Judge Taul later recused himself due to the ex parte communications with Dr. Connor. Rather than accept responsibilities for his actions, Dr. Connor tried to portray me as a dangerous and irrational person by “manipulating” the truth. Like Dr. Connor, Aaron Negangard offers wild speculations in an attempt to harm my credibility and to “smokescreen” the obvious intentions of my requests.
6. Please be advised that Dan Brewington is currently under investigation by the Dearborn County Sheriff's department. –Prosecutor Aaron Negangard. It was my understanding the investigation of my internet writings was spearheaded by Prosecutor Aaron Negangard and the Dearborn County Special Crimes Unit. It is also my understanding that the two entities are somewhat separate when it comes to federal funding, public election laws, etc… Now it appears that David Lusby and the Dearborn County Sheriff’s Department is in charge of the investigation only further distributing the potential liabilities for damages in the case that Prosecutor Aaron Negangard and/or some of the people close to the investigation have participated in any form of unethical and/or illegal conduct. If Sheriff Lusby has always headed the investigation, then it calls into question why Detective Kreinhop told me that Aaron Negangard was in charge of the investigation.
7. If he has violated the law then I will make every effort to prosecute him. However I will point out that this matter is still under investigation and until such time he is convicted he is presumed innocent. –Prosecutor Aaron Negangard. Fortunately, Aaron Negangard was gracious enough to remind people that I am innocent until convicted. Unfortunately, he forgot that he is supposed to charge me with a crime before he can speculate about a conviction. Negangard's "McCarthy-istic" paranoia and approach to monitoring my internet writings is not going to turn up any criminal misconduct. If Negangard truly felt that I posed some kind of threat to Dearborn County, why hasn’t he sought any indictments for my “alleged” criminal behavior? If Negangard found that my writings did not violate any laws at the time of the alleged complaint, it would be unethical and/or possibly illegal to conduct an open ended investigation so he can “stalk” the internet in the hopes that he might catch me doing something illegal. It appears that Mr. Negangard has resorted to tactics similar to those of former U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy; if all else fails, accuse your opponent of being a “Commie” and try to convince the public that your opponent presents a real danger to their safety. I obviously am not, nor have I ever been a member of the communist party, and I present no danger to the citizens of Dearborn County. More importantly, I am not an “opponent” of Mr. Negangard, but for some reason he continues to treat me like one. Many people who are close to me are very concerned about Mr. Negangard’s potential to abuse the law to cause me further harm. I recently filed a complaint against Mr. Negangard with the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission and later submitted a request for the records pertaining to the investigation that Mr. Negangard initiated against me. When I challenged Prosecutor Negangard’s interpretation of the laws governing the release of public records, he lashed out and guaranteed that he “will make every effort to prosecute [me].” Rather than keeping his threats “in house” with Dearborn County officials, he copied me to the email as if it were some kind of a warning shot.
The thing that needs to be established here is that I have never been charged, arrested, or convicted of any violent, threatening, or menacing behavior. I have never been held in contempt of court. I have never been sued for slander, libel, defamation, etc… This alleged investigation isn’t about racketeering, money laundering, drug trafficking, etc… it’s just an attempt to harass someone for exercising their First Amendment Rights. The only thing I am guilty of is challenging a court system to protect my young daughters’ ability to grow up spending equal time with divorced parents. When I began to question the family court system, suddenly people in the “system” tried to portray me as being irrational or dangerous, just as Aaron Negangard has tried to do. If my writings are causing Aaron Negangard severe emotional and psychological trauma, chances are he probably did something wrong. There is no evidence of me being “potentially dangerous” to my children or their mother. It was Dr. Connor who first claimed that I may be “dangerous” when I presented to the Court and to the public that Dr. Connor did not tell the truth in matters involving children and the court system. During the course of a two and a half year divorce, no one accused me of being a bad father. I’ve had lawyers accuse me of intimidating them. Judge Humphrey claimed that I tried to intimidate him and his staff. An appellate lawyer argued that I was not an aggressive litigator but I was just using the system to drive up legal costs. I spent a year and a half trying to obtain evidence that I was entitled to. I requested a copy of Dr. Connor’s custody evaluation case file on March 6, 2008 and I still don’t have it. Dr. Connor’s contract said I was entitled to it. IC 31-17-2-12 says I am entitled to it. Dr. Connor claimed he wouldn’t give it to me because I was not a lawyer. Judge Taul stated that the order to release was for Dr. Connor “to release that which he is required to do under Kentucky law” when obviously there is no such order on record. Judge Taul recused himself for engaging in ex parte communications with Dr. Connor. Judge Humphrey was angered by the fact that I publicized Dr. Connor’s unethical conduct. During the final hearing of my divorce, no one mentioned terminating my parenting time with my children. Two and a half months after the final hearing, during which I cared for my children nearly half of the time as I had done throughout the course of a two and a half year divorce, Judge Humphrey terminated my parenting time with my three and five year old daughters. There are no words to describe the horrific nature of Judge Humphrey’s evil and vindictive decision. I’m sure that Judge Humphrey felt that I would resort to some kind of violent or threatening behavior like most parents probably would if they had their children stripped from them for no reason, just so he could rationalize his decision. Unfortunately for Judge Humphrey, I owed it to my daughters and myself to remain calm and steadfast in dealing with the situation. When I began to exercise my First Amendment Right to free speech, Aaron Negangard began investigating me. Now Negangard is claiming that I am irrational and he is attacking my credibility. I am the same person that Dr. Connor claimed to have difficulties communicating with because I had “severe ADHD” and Dr. Connor testified that he found my writings confusing and difficult to follow. Dr. Connor claimed that joint custody was not an option because of my communication deficiencies that were attributed to ADHD. Now, Aaron Negangard is accusing the ADHD kid, who Dr. Connor claimed to have difficulties with speaking and writing, of trying to undermine the entire Dearborn County Criminal Justice System by intertwining some sort of psychological warfare into my writings. The common denominator in the equation is that these officials continue to grow more enraged with the realization that I am a law abiding citizen that isn’t going to be baited into doing something illegal by disgruntled “professionals” associated with the court system. The irony of the situation is that it appears that these “professionals” continue to do things to try to bait me into resorting to illegal activity, yet they continue to become more enraged when I rise above their antics and publicize their actions. Then they claim that I am the dangerous one.
A person should not have to live life with the understanding that there is the potential that they can be unlawfully arrested for speaking out against the Dearborn County Prosecutor’s Office. Unfortunately, I cannot control the actions of less than scrupulous public officials but I can continue to warn people about the travesties that occur in Dearborn County. Mr. Negangard likes to portray me as a villain for “attacking” him and his office but Mr. Negangard has failed to mention that many of my writings include an open “invitation” to Mr. Negangard to file charges against me if he believes that I have done something wrong. Mr. Negangard has yet to file any charges but continues to “conduct” an open ended investigation in the hopes that I will do something wrong, because if he fails to charge me with anything, he’ll have to answer to the voters and other county officials as to why he continues to waste financial resources on investigating my internet writings. If he closes the investigation, he will probably have to give me access to the Investigatory file. Aaron Negangard knows that my ability to see my children is hindered by the fact that I am unable to demonstrate to the family court why I am being investigated. Aaron Negangard doesn’t care about my children. Neither do Dr. Connor, Judge Taul, and Judge Humphrey. It seems like these people believe that keeping my children fatherless is a small price to pay for keeping the lid on whatever they are trying to conceal from the public. I can guarantee that Mr. Negangard’s shallow threats of prosecution are not going to deter me from speaking publicly about the Dearborn County Court/Justice System.
I invite people to visit www.danhelpskids.com and www.danbrewington.blogspot.com to review letters and court documents that support my statements. Everything I do is well within the boundaries of the law. Unfortunately, Dearborn County Prosecutor Aaron Negangard actively condemns freedom of speech when it questions government accountability. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. If any government official believes the above conduct to be a “color of law” violation, then I would expect them to contact the appropriate offices of the Office of the Indiana Attorney General and the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Very truly yours,
Daniel Brewington
cc: Sheriff David Lusby
Dearborn County Commissioners
Mike Kreinhop
Dearborn Circuit Court
Mayor Bill Cunningham
Sheriff Thomas Grills
The Dearborn County Register
State Senator Johnny Nugent
State Rep. Bob Bischoff
U.S. Senator Richard Lugar
Ryan Ray, Esq
IN Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission
Indiana ACLU
[1] On October 8, 2009, Special Crimes Unit Detective Mike Kreinhop left me a voice mail stating “I was calling to see if I could meet with you sometime, uh, concerning um… a complaint that’s been made against you con… on some writings that you have um… made, and uh… I wanted to get your side of the story if you will.” After Detective Kreinhop refused to tell me who filed the complaint and the nature of the alleged investigation, I told Detective Kreinhop that the writings were self explanatory and I would not be meeting with him if he was not going to tell me why I was needed for questioning.
[2] Judge Humphrey recused himself less than a week before a custody hearing that would move me closer to being able to see my children. On August 18, 2009, Judge Humphrey terminated all of my parenting time with my three and five year old daughters despite there being no evidence of abuse, neglect, domestic violence, drug or alcohol addiction, etc… For more information on the actions of Judge James D. Humphrey go to www.danhelpskids.com.
[3] Examples of public records excepted under IC 5-14-3-4(a) are medical records; records containing trade secrets; social security numbers; a photograph, a video recording, or an audio recording of an autopsy, etc…
[4] Dr. Edward J. Connor Psy D, operates out of Erlanger, Kentucky and often serves as a court appointed expert in both civil and criminal trials. Dr. Connor is currently serving as the court appointed mental health evaluator in the Andrew Conley murder trial. Judge James D. Humphrey appointed Dr. Connor to evaluate the defendant and Aaron Negangard is the prosecutor in the trial.
[5] i.e.: Rule 607 of the Indiana Rules of Evidence state, “The credibility of a witness may be attacked by any party, including the party calling the witness.”
