Morley Swingle visits League of Women Voters

10 p.m.

Had to stop to file my story. Turns out the post-chat Q&A was the most intersting part of the evening, perhaps because I've heard Swingle speak in the past and have read one of his books, so some of the earlier material was familiar.

Mary Ellen Sharp asked Swingle for his take on converting the county to a charter form of government, especially in light of the undecided Sunshine Law suit between 2nd District Commissioner Jay Purcell and the commission.

The League of Women Voters will produce a report on a county charter, as the group did before Cape Girardeau converted to that form of government.

Swingle said a county administrator "would be more effective than three people arguing and squabbling," referring to infighting among the county's three commissioners and the lawsuit.

A part-time board of representatives would cost less, he said, and "You'd be getting people who really want to be public servants."

A county executive could cost as much as $100,000 a year, expect to have an administrative assistant and "the next thing you know, that person would have a big suite of offices,"he said.

The combined salary of the three county commissioners is more than $180,000. The commissioners have a full-time and a part-time assistant.

A chartered county would need its own attorney, he said. Swingle signed a 1996 contract to act as the commission[']s counsel, civil work which adds up to "1 percent of my time and 99 percent of my headaches," he said.

Nelda Steffen asked Swingle to explain why Ludwig wasn't fired, as a person in private industry would be after twice admitting to behavior that has been characterized as "low-level sexual harassment" by Swingle and another attorney hired by the county.

"They have bulletproofed elected officials," Swingle said, calling the situation "a nightmare" and "galling" but saying the two deputy auditors "are real professional and good at their jobs, and everything seems to be going OK. We'll wait for the next bomb to drop."

Asked about the relative success of the Network Against Sexual Violence, Swingle praised the agency, saying the medical specialists are well trained and service is "worth every nickel you put into it."

The League of Women voters have produced a local voters guide, available at a few limited spots around town, such as banks the public libraries.

The next event hosted by the League of Women Voters of Southeast Missouis is a candidate forum from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Career & Technology Center, 1080 S. Silver Springs Rd.

8:10 p.m.

He said he also admires Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren. Swingle said he wrote the first draft of "Scoundrels to the Hoosegow" with everyone's real names, but later changed some of the names.

8:02 p.m.

He's talking about Richard Jewel being accused of the Atlanta Olympic bombings. He sais the prosecutor has to remember that it's only ethical to speak through filing the charge.

"You can tell the media whatever's in your charging document but you can't try your case on the courthouse steps," he said.

He said he is not supposed to state opinions about whether a defendant is guilty or not.

He said sometimes reporters ask anyway and he thinks "Of course, you idiot (because charges have been filed), but I'm not going to say that."

7:55 p.m.

A case of a brutal rape of an elderly Cape Girardeau County woman, he said was resolved by a plea bargain because the victim was not positive in identifying the rapist. The rapist agreed to a 15-year sentence, of which he would serve "about 80 percent," Swingle said.

He's reviewing the case of Delores Luton, the Cape Girardeau millionaire who hired a hit man to kill her husband. She ended up being sentenced to 15 years in prison.

He said he talked with a witness for the defense who showed up at his office, complaining that Luton tried to bribe the man to throw the case. He took a statement from the man, but did not have to turn that document over to the defense team, he said.

7:50 p.m.

On plea bargaining -- it has a negative association, he said, but can be a valuable too -- like lowering a change in exchange for an agreement by the person charged to get counseling. But he said he tries to avoid reducing charges in the process of negotiating a plea bargain.

7:45 p.m.

The reason Swingle switched from pre-med to pre-law is that he didn't like chemistry, only to find DNA and chemistry are important to many cases. (Kids, this is why your parents say every class is important. I had the same experience with algebra...)

7:40 p.m.

Swingle said prosecutors cannot be sued -- they have "absolute immunity" -- against being sued for making a mistake in filing charges.

He has just recommended Robert Traver's books, "Anatomy of a Murder" and "Small Town D.A."

Also he recommends "Outrage" by Vincent Bugliosi and said O.J. Simpson's acquittal for the murder of his ex-wife and her friend was a great miscarriage of justice.

7:35 p.m.

"This really is an interesting job," Swingle tells the cluster of people sitting before him. "The boring cases I give to Julie (Meiners),"

This draws a chuckle.

Swingle talks pretty fast.

7:30 p.m.

Swingle is telling a story about a man dubbed the "Railroad Killer." The short version is a man who'd spent a significant amount of time searching for the Railroad Kller ended up shooting someone who seemed to be trying to break into his home. Turned out it was an under-the-influence neighbor who had been trying to get in -- authorities suspected she was confused about where her house was.

Swingle said he used "defense of premises" rules to make his charging decision. He said the amount of news coverage was significant and "it did become clear to me he was reasonably trying to stop a burglary of his home."

But not everyone was happy with his decision.

He said the recent case of the Cape Girardeau police officer who shot a man four times just outside of a Main Street bar was not charged because "clearly the officer reasonably believed" that he and others were at risk.

"To his credit," Swingle said the victim admitted he was at fault for carrying the BB gun, which he used to try scaring another man. Swingle said he decided the man who was shot had been punished enough and didn't need to be charged with a crime, "especially since he's been man enough to accept responsibility."

7:20 p.m.

Swingle is talking about how a lawyer can represent a person who seems obviously guilty ... and says it's because they are innocent until proven otherwise.

He just reviewed the case of the of parole absconder officer who shot a man he was trying to detain on Feb. 14. He said it's not fun to lose a case.

Now he's talking about a man assigned to do community service at a Humane Society site. The man stole a pit bull, after setting a bunch of other dogs free. Swingle said he decided not to charge the man, despite the theft and the man having broken his parole by drinking. The dog man would have faced up to 14 years in prison if convicted. Swingle said the evidence was strong that he committed a crime; but he did not have a strong criminal history and that he had to consider what message -- would it be a deterrent -- whether the man would aid criminal justice in solving other crimes ... he has a list of 14 points used to review while making the charging decision.

In this case, one he included in his first book, he didn't charge him with the larger charges of burglary and stealing but the man did get extra probation for DWI.

7:15 p.m.

Swingle opens by talking about his professional hero, Robert H. Jackson.

He's talking about his first jury case was over a motor vehicle accident for an insurance company. He said he felt bad arguing that a driver, "a little old man" was negligent when he felt otherwise.

7:10 p.m.

Sharp has just started the meeting, apologizing for the small number of folks here. Apparently she received a flurry of late calls from members who couldn't make it. She reminds us that today is Yom Kippur and that the League typically does not meet on this religious holiday, but the group does not currently have any Jewish members. But she wanted to acknowlege the day in any case.

7:01 p.m

Shiela Pardee, the League's chairwoman of voter education tells me she and other League members have been visiting places like the Career & Technology Center, to promote voter registration.

She said it's wonderful that this year, there are plenty of ways to get educated.

Pardee is a Southeast English professor. Burns is a former English prof at Southeast.

6:51 p.m.

Julie Meiners, assistant prosecuting attorney, just arrived with Morley Swingle. Julie is speaking to a Notre Dame Regional High School business law class next week, so she's tagging along tonight as preparation.

Jo Boettcher, co-chair of Finch's campaign, just joined us.

6:45 p.m.

I've just settled into my spot. Linda Burns, the League's 2nd vice president and Mary Ellen Sharp, co-president, have already set up the room. There's room for about 30; 10 League members are expected.

Rock Finch, candidate for the Cape Girardeau County Commission 2nd District seat, just arrived. He knows Bob Burns, Linda's husband. Everyone is catching up. He said he wanted to be here to hear Swingle and support him.

"Go, Morley, go!" he said.

The League's membership chairwoman, Nelda Steffen, has just arrived.

Sharp just shared that you can find a copy of the state voters guide here.

6:00 p.m.

I'll be live blogging just after 7 p.m. from the League of Women Voters meeting.

Cape County prosecuting attorney Morley Swingle will be discussing his job, according to Mary Ellen Sharp, League co-president, along with Jan Miller.

"We know questions will come up about current affairs -- the county charter and, I imagine, something will come up about the Sunshine Law," she said.