Late For His Own Funeral

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A few observations from The State of West Virginia v. Mark Vance Halburn.
PutnamLIES.com’s legal corespondent was there to cover the hearing

Halburn was found guilty this afternoon by Magistrate Tim Halloran on charges of telephone harassment against WCHS Radio in Kanawha County Magistrate Court. He was fined $500 and sentenced to six months in jail.
He is free pending appeal.

As soon as he walked into the lobby of the Judicial Annex with his big headset on, things started going south for him.

Shortly after he arrived, they called him out and said they were going to tow his Buick. He argued with them and said he had permission to park there…. they said no, move it.
But the sign said…

His new court appointed lawyer Christopher Butch had only been appointed two days previously. His previous lawyer “left for whatever reason.”

Hmmm. Whatever reason could that be?

There was a DUI hearing before Halburn’s that they wanted to get out of the way, so Halburn was bumped until after that hearing. Halburn told Butch that he was going to run home to get a phone receipt and bring it back to show where he exchanged his phone. Butch told him he should have plenty of time, to go ahead.

The receipt was supposed to support Halburn’s story that his phone was randomly redialing numbers and that he didn’t call WV Radio that many times on purpose. Anyway, Halburn left and it’s not ten minutes that they decide they aren’t going to do the DUI hearing after all and are ready to start with Halburn’s hearing. Except Halburn wasn’t back yet, so the Judge and Butch discussed previous motions that  had been filed.

Halburn’s previous lawyer, Herb Hively, had earlier filed a motion to dismiss. Since he was no longer Halburn’s lawyer and couldn’t argue the motion, it was immediately dismissed by Magistrate Tim Halloran.

Magistrate Tim Halloran

So Butch says, “Then let’s go. As soon as he gets here we can have a hearing.”
Yep you heard that right.
Where was Halburn?

Halloran:  Where did he go?

 Butch:  He went to his house to get a receipt.

Halloran:  He went to his house? Was he at his house this morning? He could have brought it with him. I think it’s time to move forward. Get the witnesses and let’s go.

A dumbfounded Halloran continued, “Mr Halburn, not being present… I can’t… … can’t believe he walks out after he knew his hearing was here”

Bob Visotsky

After a reading of the charges, WV Radio Market Manager Bob Visotsky  detailed his contacts with Halburn and described the telephone harassment. “A lot more than eight calls.” He described the fear employees had for their safety, especially the secretary, who sat with her back to the front door.

Dale Cooper

Dale Cooper, WV Radio’s Operations Manager, described Halburn’s anger after not being put on the air because the show ran out of time. Halburn kept demanding he had a right to be on the air, and refused to accept any explanations.
“Way beyond anything I’ve seen before.” and “The disassociative nature of the calls were somewhat concerning, but there was no direct threat.”

Both detailed the company’s ban on taking any calls from Halburn.

Butch kept objecting and kept getting overruled.

Shortly after this, almost 30 minutes into the hearing, Halburn showed up. He was gone for almost an hour.
He was immediately instructed that his recording device need to be off. Halburn stated it was just his phone and he wasn’t recording. The judge had the bailiff take the phone anyway.

After a short break so Butch could get Halburn up to speed about what had transpired in his absence, Butch told the judge that Halburn said his previous lawyer filed a motion for a jury trial. Halloran told him that it was not filed in a timely manner.

Halburn then piped up and said, “He filed it right away.”

Halloran immediately interrupted Halburn and told him, “Let your attorney speak.”

Detective W.R. Anderson

At this point Fatlock whispered loudly to Butch to ask which direction the secretary’s desk faced.
No doubt, a brilliant piece of legal strategy meant to show she could not have seen him on the street of some such shit. “She said she saw me in the street.”

Charleston Police Detective William Anderson was then called. He testified to what he was told at WCHS and then about his contact with Halburn.

When asked by the Prosecutor if Halburn was cooperative, Anderson said,”He told me he was going out if state, leaving town, he made several excuses. I asked if we could set up a time and he was not receptive. He made reference to the phone calling on its own.
However, the individuals at WCHS heard his voice on every call when they answered.”

Butch then cross examines.
Butch: Wasn’t he out of state at that time?

Anderson: No, he told me he was going out of state.

Butch: But he wasn’t out of state?

Anderson: I’m assuming if he’s going out of state, he’s currently in the state.
He mentioned several times his phone made calls on its own. I didn’t understand what he was saying.
Butch: Did you have any reason to doubt that?

Anderson: The fact that he called the radio station 8 times before 11 am and that he’s done that for two years on multiple occasions, and my phone’s never made calls on its own, yes I doubt everything he said. I did not personally check his phone.

The Prosecutor had a couple of questions after that,

Prosecutor: Do you see Mr. Mark Halburn in the room today?

Anderson: Yes

Prosecutor: And was he the individual that you charged in the criminal complaint?

Anderson: Yes ma’am

The State then rested its case.

Then it was Halburn’s time to pontificate.



And of course when he goes to be sworn, the Quaker Oaf doesn’t swear, he affirms.
THE GOD HATING HEATHEN.

“This is a receipt from when I became aware my phone was making multiple repeat calls.
I brought it into Best Buy and exchanged the phone.”

Halburn’s main defense seemed to be that the reason he made all those phone calls was some sort of Repetitive Super Ass-Dialing. Or as he called it “Pocket dialing. More dignified.”

Defective phone. Nothing more, nothing less. Not his fault. But it never is, is it?

So, he took his phone to Best Buy, a week after a warrant had been sworn out against him and exchanged it for a new phone. Pretty handy.

Which turns the whole receipt thing into evidence of what appears to be an attempt to destroy evidence and obstruct justice.

You’d think if it was the phone’s fault, he would have kept as evidence to exonerate himself.
If it truly was a phone malfunction, there would have been repeated hangup phone calls. But that’s not what this was. He absolutely spoke to people each time he called, which isn’t a malfunction. He was plainly aware the phone had dialed and completed a call if he starts bitching at Dale Cooper or someone else.

The phone either misdialed and was a bunch of 2-second hangup calls, or calls that ended after the receptionist answered and heard nothing or random, muffled background noise like a pocket dial …or he deliberately dialed the station’s phone number and kept demanding to speak to someone repeatedly. Which, based on the testimony, is clearly what happened.

Then he brings up someone named Barbara Brooks who he says his phone Repetitive Super Ass-Dialed too. He claims he knows this person’s first and last name and they talk all of the time, but he don’t know who this person is. And oddly enough, she’s not there to testify.
Which sounds like she was just another person he invented on the fly.

He offered absolutely no evidence or testimony that the phone was defective. It’s just him speculating.

Then he attempted to offer another explanation for his calls to the station. He had this SMOKING HOT LEAD for a Pulitzer piece about Danny fucking Jones having about a half-foot of his Avalon past the yellow line on a curb, and as a journalist, he was trying to be objective in getting his side.

Magistrate Halloran wasn’t having any of it from the get go and found Halburn guilty.

After the hearing, Crisco was heard saying, “I just got railroaded.”
You know what he really got? Justice.

After the hearing, in the lobby, an attorney was talking to his client. The client saw Halburn and said, “That’s that Halburn guy. Better hope he isn’t going back to jail. That was my friend that beat his ass last time and he will do it again. That guy’s an ass. They won’t have him processed and his clothes changed before my buddy will beat his ass again.”

The real question is how can a guy who’s literally out on bond for at least one other charge not be in violation of that bond and be locked up right away?

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