Liberal website 9B News launched a scathing attack on Sheriff’s candidate Dave Schuman just six days before the election. They called him a liar, manipulator, fraud, and worse. The basis of the attack was supposed to be based on a Freedom of Information Act disclosure that the author admits he never totally read but then somehow blows up to the point that Hunter Biden could be nominated for sainthood.
While there hasn’t been time for an in-depth, thorough reading of the documents and no official investigative findings have been made public…
Schuman’s credibility as a peace officer formally questioned
OK. Stop right there. The author hasn’t read the FOI information thoroughly. Furthermore, the author is not making the FOI request available as part of his article. In other words, there is zero corroborating evidence to back up the claims in this article.
Folks if you really have the goods on Dave Schuman then put them out there. What happened to “we report, you decide”? Clearly reporting the news is not enough, they have to tell us how to interpret it too.
The timing of this really stinks.
Per the article, the county prosecutor wrote a letter to the Idaho Peace Officer Standards and Training Academy. All we have as the basis of this article is an accusation. Schuman has always maintained that he was set-up by supporters of Travis Stolley.
If you recall, Stolley was flamed for not prosecuting an incident involving photos of a girl’s privates being emailed to an out of state adult. It is wrong, but in this county, deputies are given wide discretion on complaints and frequently do not document complaints or their outcome. This has been a constant gripe of candidate Jon VanGesen.
Low and behold, look at this line from the article.
Attached was a pages-long memorandum of record reference Ben Apo as regards allegations of conflict and financial discrepancies in reference to American Legion Post 55 and and Seniors Center that were never turned in for prosecution though there were concerns of potential crimes committed.
The pot here seems to be calling the kettle black. It is clear that the current sheriff might be a nice guy, but he doesn’t run a professional crew. Please note that both Stolley and Schuman have the same boss. It appears that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
The article also attacks Schuman for being a liar concerning several matters without any substantiation: except one specific.
“I am attaching a letter regarding my concerns regarding Deputy Schuman’s veracity pursuant to Giglio,” prosecuting attorney Andrakay Pluid wrote. By calling the question, she is telling the court she cannot trust this officer to testify in a court of law sufficient to maintain the integrity implicit in the pursuit of justice.
“The Brady and Giglio precedents require police officers to be especially careful to avoid any actions or statements that could compromise their credibility,” the Nevada law firm GGRQM explains on their website. “The prosecution is legally required to disclose any misconduct or compromising information regarding the witness to the defense attorney, who will then use it to impeach the law enforcement witness on the stand. The end result can be the loss of what would have been a strong case.”
While murky to the layman, the principles in Giglio and Brady go to the heart of jurisprudence and the fundamentals of due process. An officer “Giglioed” or Brady listed won’t go to jail, but won’t be trusted to testify in a court of law. Worse yet, any testimony given in their career becomes suspect and open to challenge. For all practical purposes, their effectiveness as a peace officer ends.
Folks this is a thermonuclear charge to level at Schuman but is never substantiated in the article. Again, no supporting documents or an actual copy of this letter has been made available to the public. Furthermore, Schuman is under investigation for something, but no findings have been released.
The article also drops this accusation, again without specifics.
Allegations of falsified canine training records and of falsified personal training records; of false statements released to the public to bolster his campaign for sheriff.
Ok dear readers, let me ask one question.
Put yourself in Schuman’s shoes for a second. You are running for office. You know that you are under investigation by your employer. The things you are accused of would disqualify you from serving in the office for which you are running. If these accusations were found to be true, it would ruin your reputation. Given the above, why would you stay in the race?
Folks, Schuman either thinks he is not guilty, or he is trying to pull off one hell of a bluff. I’ve seen him at several events over the past few months and his public speaking has gotten much better. He sure seems to believe that he is the best guy for the job and doesn’t back down from a fight.
My response to the 9B article on Facebook was thus:
If these assertions are true, Dave Schuman should have withdrawn from the Sheriff’s race. So either he thinks that he will be found innocent or he’s holding two duces, threw everything into the pot, and is bluffing that he has a full house.
Since Dave gets to live amongst us after this race is over, I think it likely that Dave believes he will be found innocent. We won’t know the whole story until the report is issued.
That people are willing to condemn him without all the facts in hand less than a week before the election is more of a reflection of your character than it is Dave’s. Lastly, lest you accuse me of being a blind follower of Schuman, a different candidate’s sign is in my front yard.
Meanwhile, Travis Stolley is hiding in the basement and not doing any public appearances. He refuses to go to any candidate forums. His last public event was over a month ago. This is odd behavior for the guy blessed by the good ‘ole buys in the county. It seems presumptive that Stolley has this in the bag.
The Facebook thread on this article has some comments that smear Schuman even more. (Please note that they are from a group that requires membership so I can’t figure out how to link them to this post.) Currently there are over 100 comments, but these go way beyond what was on 9B. This seems to be an example of a “whisper campaign” otherwise known as gossip.
[Dave Schuman’s] certificates were on file at the sheriff’s office and they just came up missing, supposedly by a computer crash at the sheriff’s office. How convenient
Dave had three certifications that were lifetime certifications. These were before the county started supplying training through whomever, and those trainings were to be updated yearly. By law, those records have to be kept for 10 years before purging them. It was 17 years ago Schuman was a K9 officer.
So, if the county is saying Dave was not certified to be a K9 officer, but they allowed him to do drug stops and arrest people for drugs, then they were in the wrong. Now suppose the county wanted to push this, don’t you think everyone that was arrested would have a legal recourse on the county? It would probably bankruptcy our county and those in charge would probably go to prison.
That’s the latest chapter on the sheriff’s race. Oh, 9B News is endorsing Travis Stolley. No surprise there.