05222016 - News Article - EDITORIAL: Outside agencies needed for BMV court probe

EDITORIAL: Outside agencies needed for BMV court probe
The Times Editorial Board
May 22, 2016
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/editorial-outside-agencies-needed-for-bmv-court-probe/article_32cd8c69-4dc8-5c5e-a11a-be0594eb002c.html

More than political embarrassment is emerging from the alleged drunken driving arrests — and subsequent plea deals — involving politically connected Region union official, Randolph "Randy" Palmateer.

The web became more tangled earlier this month when local prosecutors and court officials discovered potentially hundreds of cases out of Lake Station City Court in which driving infractions weren't reported to the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles, as is required by law.

Now Region officials are calling on the Indiana State Police to investigate.

The eyes of outside agencies are desperately needed to objectively sort through this mess, and the state police and federal investigators should dive in to the fray.

The Lake Station discovery followed a finding that Palmateer's 2011 drunken driving case — which was subsequently pleaded down to the lesser charge of reckless driving — never was reported to the state BMV as is required by law.

Palmateer received a nearly identical plea deal following a March drunken driving arrest, later pleaded down to reckless driving in Hammond City Court.

Now Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter tells us as many as 1,000 driving infractions possibly weren't reported from Lake Station court to the BMV between 2008 and 2012.

The Lake Station court clerk at the time, Miranda Brakley, already awaits sentencing on a federal theft charge for illegal actions she took when she held the office.

Now some local authorities, including Carter, are pointing fingers at Brakley.

Her attorney, Tom Vanes, told us she’s a convenient scapegoat for errors that could have been made by other clerk personnel.

Unraveling what really happened here is going to require the detail-oriented eyes of an unbiased outside agency.

Were special deals being cut to some clients in which records of driving fractions weren't sent to the BMV, and thus never went on those offenders' driving records?

How much did the clerks, judge, prosecutors, defense attorneys or other court personnel know about this?

In Palmateer's 2011 case, the charges initially were filed in Crown Point City Court. They were later moved by request of his defense attorney to Lake Station City Court.

If a change of venue truly was needed, why was the case moved to Lake Station and not the Lake County courts?

There are too many questions — and far too many potential conflicts at play — for this probe to be handled in house.

To state and federal authorities: Lake County taxpayers require your help.