Biased?
This week's Maplewood Review features an article by Alex Davy about the verdict in Sherrie Le's lawsuit against Maplewood. It provides a good recap, if you're not up for reading the entire decision itself.
In the article, Councilmember Hjelle, who had previously characterized Judge Gearin as misinformed and "stupid," suggested that the judge was biased against the city because of the recent arrest of her sister. Her sister was illegally operating a business in Maplewood, Wipers Recycling, without a certificate of occupancy. Maplewood observers may recall that Mayor Longrie, former Councilmember Cave, and Councilmember Hjelle himself touted the relocation of this business to Maplewood last year (Cave described her role as "instrumental"). If Mr. Hjelle had any concerns prior to the trial about possible judicial bias in favor of Maplewood, because of the defendants' relationship to this business, I am not aware that he ever brought them forward.
In the article, Councilmember Hjelle, who had previously characterized Judge Gearin as misinformed and "stupid," suggested that the judge was biased against the city because of the recent arrest of her sister. Her sister was illegally operating a business in Maplewood, Wipers Recycling, without a certificate of occupancy. Maplewood observers may recall that Mayor Longrie, former Councilmember Cave, and Councilmember Hjelle himself touted the relocation of this business to Maplewood last year (Cave described her role as "instrumental"). If Mr. Hjelle had any concerns prior to the trial about possible judicial bias in favor of Maplewood, because of the defendants' relationship to this business, I am not aware that he ever brought them forward.
Labels: council politics, media
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