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Thursday’s Tirade III

Sedona, AZ – By Tommy Acosta…

So the news is out. The Sedona City Attorney has moved to dismiss the charges against Cliff Ochser stemming from an alleged-threatening letter sent to former-Sedona mayoral candidate Matthew Turner.

Like who didn’t see this coming? Like I said in my previous article on the case, Mr. Turner and the city attorney would have positioned themselves and the city for extreme embarrassment had they decided to go to trial.

If the case had gone forward, which seems unlikely at this writing but one never knows, the soft-white underbelly of sexual solicitation on the Internet would have been exposed, sliced open, vivisected, entrails and all, in a manner that would have brought great shame for some and great delight for others gleefully anticipating x-rated exposure.

The dismissal rests on one very saline point – whether the case is dismissed with or without prejudice. One protects Mr. Ochser from charges being re-filed at some future date and the other does not.

One can assume Mr. Ochser will demand the charges be dismissed with prejudice so that the city will not be able to do so should counter charges against the city be filed upon such dismissal.

From a strategic point of view, the city will not risk the embarrassment no matter what by going though with a trial. The city attorney is not in a comfortable position.

If Mr. Turner’s health is indeed an issue, then he would be further compromising it by taking the stand in a trial that will humiliate him in a manner far worse than allegedly threatened in the letter that is the subject of the case.

What will be very interesting is the aftermath of the dismissal. Questions will be asked as to what was the city’s motivation for so aggressively pursuing misdemeanor charges against one of its citizens.

Upon the dismissal of the charges, the Sedona-Verde Valley Times will print an “exclusive” interview with Mr. Ochser and detail the history of the case, so stay tuned.

Moving on, chemicals will once again be used to control weeds in Sedona. It seems the less-lethal alternative is not cost effective. Oh well. For those who are sensitive – get your masks out because with all this precipitation we are having it will be a banner spring for weeds in 2009.

People are concerned the city voted to spend $400 grand-plus for consultation services on  changes for West Sedona. Spending that kind of money in the face of a looming economic tsunami does seem a bit out of touch with reality. But then again, this is Sedona. What’s reality got to do with anything around here anyway?

For you Obama fans out there. Does Cheney congratulating Obama for his choices on his national-security team cause any eyebrows to be raised? Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. What’s next? A draft?

1 Comment

  1. Bonnie Blew says:

    My, My, My – what next??

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