I’m sure that is what the reporter who called me a little while ago regarding Former Assessor Bill Postmus’ and Former Assistant Assessor Jim Erwin’s early morning arrests was thinking.  Well, yes, as a matter of fact I do believe this is just another attempt by a desperate district attorney to be re-elected and a governor-wannabe-again feeling the pressure from Meg Whitman.

Ramos will do anything to deflect from his own misdeeds.  And time will prove these charges are as trumped up as the last ones.

One thing comes to mind here and that is something Postmus keeps telling me.  He claims this whole corruption scandal is the result of Mike Ramos wanting to get at Jeff Burum.  He thought Erwin would roll on Jeff the first time.  If anything, their friendship seems stronger.  I expect today’s event to strengthen it even more.

I spoke with someone who knows a lot about filing criminal complaints to get their take on the new charges.  Among the things they mentioned to me is that the conspiracy element is too vague.  They stated that there has to be a great deal of specificity, not wide-ranging date spans.

Also, as another example, there must be a sort of “act and result” relationship.  When former county supervisors Jerry Eaves was charged in Federal court for receiving a bribe and William “Shep” McCook for making a bribe, they were not convicted.  Prosecutors could show that Eaves voted for the billboards and McCcok gave Eaves money or gifts, but they could not show that the gifts resulted in the billboards.

They also indicated that it is suspect that there is enough evidence to arrest the individuals on one side of a bribe but not on the other.  That would suggest their really isn’t sufficient evidence to begin with.

And finally, I was told there is no quid pro quo.  It is hard to argue that there is anything close to a more-or-less equal exchange—$102 million versus $100,000 at most.

It seems to me that the political person who profited most from the Colonies Settlement is Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt.  He received about $100,000 for his election campaign.  That is a direct benefit, unlike the benefits listed for Mark Kirk and Paul Biane.  Yet Mitzelfelt is never mentioned in the complaint.

One thing that seems to be forgotten is that the settlement agreement was approved by a judge.  So is Judge Christopher Warner a part of this big “conspiracy” too?

I find it interesting that Patrick O’Reilly, a competitor of sorts of Ramos’ campaign consultant, Dave Ellis, is now apparently on the verge of being named as a defendant in this case.  Ya think there might be a connection.  We know already that Ellis has undermined O’Reilly in regards to a contract with Sheriff Rod Hoops and his re-election campaign.  Well, Ellis is doing some very illegal things that Jim has been waiting for the right moment to break.  I bet the right moment is coming up very, very soon.

And finally, this brings Jim’s total bail to $600,000.  Murderer’s often don’t receive a bail that high.  He has made every court appearance, he has shown he is not a flight risk, and there is no evidence of continuing behavior, i.e., even if the charges are true they are old and there is no evidence of subsequent similar behavior.  Ramos is out of control.