presence
01-30-2013, 09:51 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/ruling-in-john-leopold-trial-expected-today/2013/01/29/36ec7680-6a47-11e2-ada3-d86a4806d5ee_story.html
Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold was convicted Tuesday of misconduct in office after a lurid trial (http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-01-15/local/36384932_1_john-r-leopold-county-executive-severna-park) that featured testimony about his secret sexual trysts and county employees forced to drain his catheter bag even though he could have done it himself. Ultimately, Circuit Court Judge Dennis Sweeney convicted Leopold of misusing his security detail and his scheduler to perform personal and political chores.
Sweeney described the behavior of the second-term Republican as “outrageous, egregious and wildly beyond” any authority he has as county executive and said his treatment of his scheduler, Patricia Medlin, (http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/maryland-news/john-leopold-trial-anne-arundel-employee-says-she-had-to-drain-county-execs-catheter/2013/01/18/1a5fc5d0-61a0-11e2-9940-6fc488f3fecd_story.html) in particular was “predatory and cruel.”
But Sweeney acquitted Leopold of a more serious charge of misappropriating funds. He also was acquitted of the more salacious charge of using his security detail to ferry him to sexual encounters with a county employee (http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/john-leopold-trial-police-officer-says-he-delivered-county-exec-to-sexual-encounters/2013/01/22/c9082e98-64ba-11e2-b84d-21c7b65985ee_story.html) in a bowling alley’s parking lot and then helping him conceal the liaison from his live-in girlfriend. The judge said that the officers were required to guard Leopold regardless of the purpose of his trip, no matter how tawdry.
Still, the conviction will probably end a political career that has spanned more than 40 years and two states. Leopold represented the county in the House of Delegates for two decades before being elected county executive in 2006. He also was a state lawmaker in Hawaii and ran unsuccessfully there for governor.
Officials said the law mandates Leopold’s immediate removal from office as head of the state’s fourth-largest county. But even so, officials plan to use a provision in the county charter to ensure that he leaves. County Council Chairman Jerry Walker said that on Wednesday, he will introduce a bill for removal. The full council would then vote on it Monday. Five of the seven council members would have to consent in order for the bill to pass.
“It is a very sad situation we find ourselves in,”
Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold was convicted Tuesday of misconduct in office after a lurid trial (http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-01-15/local/36384932_1_john-r-leopold-county-executive-severna-park) that featured testimony about his secret sexual trysts and county employees forced to drain his catheter bag even though he could have done it himself. Ultimately, Circuit Court Judge Dennis Sweeney convicted Leopold of misusing his security detail and his scheduler to perform personal and political chores.
Sweeney described the behavior of the second-term Republican as “outrageous, egregious and wildly beyond” any authority he has as county executive and said his treatment of his scheduler, Patricia Medlin, (http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/maryland-news/john-leopold-trial-anne-arundel-employee-says-she-had-to-drain-county-execs-catheter/2013/01/18/1a5fc5d0-61a0-11e2-9940-6fc488f3fecd_story.html) in particular was “predatory and cruel.”
But Sweeney acquitted Leopold of a more serious charge of misappropriating funds. He also was acquitted of the more salacious charge of using his security detail to ferry him to sexual encounters with a county employee (http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/john-leopold-trial-police-officer-says-he-delivered-county-exec-to-sexual-encounters/2013/01/22/c9082e98-64ba-11e2-b84d-21c7b65985ee_story.html) in a bowling alley’s parking lot and then helping him conceal the liaison from his live-in girlfriend. The judge said that the officers were required to guard Leopold regardless of the purpose of his trip, no matter how tawdry.
Still, the conviction will probably end a political career that has spanned more than 40 years and two states. Leopold represented the county in the House of Delegates for two decades before being elected county executive in 2006. He also was a state lawmaker in Hawaii and ran unsuccessfully there for governor.
Officials said the law mandates Leopold’s immediate removal from office as head of the state’s fourth-largest county. But even so, officials plan to use a provision in the county charter to ensure that he leaves. County Council Chairman Jerry Walker said that on Wednesday, he will introduce a bill for removal. The full council would then vote on it Monday. Five of the seven council members would have to consent in order for the bill to pass.
“It is a very sad situation we find ourselves in,”