Tammy Dixon is a legal secretary at the law offices of Frank Bruzzese (Assistant Jefferson County Prosecutor), Jane Hanlin (Jefferson County Prosecutor) and Jefferson County Assistant Prosecutor Jeff Bruzzese who seems to be disappointed in the Ohio Attorney General's handling of the grand jury investigation and subsequent indictments.
https://twitter.com/jeffbruzzese
17 JAN 2014 - AUTHOR EDIT:
After I wrote this blog, Mr. Bruzzese took to Twitter to discuss it. At 8:44 PM EST Bruzzese @'d me on Twitter. I have had him and his crew blocked for a very long time and didn't see the tweet come up in my mentions.
Later I had replied to another Twitter account who had tweeted to ICE alleging that I am an illegal immigrant. My response was snarky because really...you couldn't make this crap up. Mr. Bruzzese responded to my tweet in kind. Note, at no time did I mention him.
Bruzzese continues to voice his professional opinion.
I have since blocked him...again. Aren't there ethical codes in place for this kind of behavior?
Posts
I have said this before and will say it again. I am not so sure it is proper for anyone employed by Jefferson County whether Courts or LE to participate in a Twitter war regarding Steubenville and the after math of the rape case. . Especially when there is constant talk of law suits coming. However all those hiding behind their user names will then have to use their given names.
ReplyDeleteI certainly hope the Ohio Attorney General takes note of this behavior. I have lived in many places all over the US and the world in all my life I never saw anything like this until I moved to Steubenville 30 years ago. Thankfully I had sense enough to leave again.
Sad, these are supposed to be representatives of justice; yet they lack any compassion for the victim of a crime. The politics run deep in that town and Bruzzese is only one of a few family names that are a virus festering in that town and infecting everyone else. The Ohio AG did his job why couldn’t the prosecutors and LE do there’s?
DeleteTo see this type of crying from prosecutors never the less, is disgraceful, and they should be disbarred for their lack of professionalism and ethics.
How unproffesional of those people to be gossiping like that. For the world to see. Do they realize normal people reading that sort of drama just makes us see their pettiness and narrow mindedness?
ReplyDeleteThis is what happens when people think they are better than anyone else on earth. They get nasty and it becomes addictive . They right now just can't help themselves. Maybe they should all go to therapy?
ReplyDeleteQuestionable ethics displayed.
ReplyDeleteThis should make some very interesting reading. There certainly are some questionable ethics displayed by staffer of the Court.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.uscourts.gov/uscourts/RulesAndPolicies/conduct/SocialMediaLayout.pdf
I watched the above antics of Jeff as it went down. I was seriously embarrassed for him and his childlike behaviour. Jeffy and his crew of shrews continue to blame Prinnie for the total dislike of Steubenville by the masses. They are all dumber than a box of rocks! I can't comprehend why they do not get that it is the above asinine behavior that has Stupidville viewed in such bad light.
ReplyDeleteYou know Prinnie, I am really confused as to why they care what you say or don't say, what you believe or don't believe. They say you are insignificant, they say you have 4 or 5 followers who have many socks. If that were really the case why do they go above and beyond, with stalker like behavior? I mean wtf?
ReplyDeleteThat is a real good question.... why do they care? If what they say is true about not caring , why do they care so much? Would one of them like to come forward with a response to that? I mean as long as you are shouting insults and things that are unbecoming professionals, why not tell the public why you continue with this behavior towards someone you call irrelevant?
DeleteWhy would a few staffer of the Court be the ones speaking for a whole City. Secondly, why would the Shrews as a whole smear prinnies family. If they did not care. Jealousy is such an ugly. I find it very unbecoming for professionals to behave that way. Especially the ones representing Jefferson County one would think one would think that they would have been reminded that their behavior is unacceptable. A handful of individuals do not speak for a whole City. I do understand only to well why residents are afraid to speak out.
DeleteI also agree with anon above WHY not tell the PUBLIC why they continue with their behavior toward someone they call irrelevant. Going as far as questioning whether Prinnie knows who her biological father is.
As her Mother I have been drug through the mud as well. I feel this will be the year for good things to happen and remind myself that my Daughter has class. In the meantime they can talk all they like. My message to all off them is this: The behavior you exhibit makes you look like fools and shows the public your character and who you are.
I think it is highly unprofessional for an assistant prosecuting attorney to attack the Ohio State Attorney General on a social media website. There are proper avenues for such issues and as an attorney Mr. Bruzzese should know this.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.uscourts.gov/uscourts/RulesAndPolicies/conduct/SocialMediaLayout.pdf
ReplyDeleteMakes for good reading, I've taken the liberty of posting some excerpts.
"The five Canons of the Employee Code state:
1. A judicial employee should uphold the integrity and
independence of the judiciary and of the judicial
employee’s office.
2. A judicial employee should avoid impropriety and
the appearance of impropriety in all activities.
3. A judicial employee should adhere to appropriate
standards in performing the duties of office.
4. In engaging in outside activities, a judicial employee
should avoid the risk of conflict with official duties,
should avoid the appearance of impropriety, and
should comply with the disclosure requirements.
5. A judicial employee should refrain from inappropriate
political activity."
From my vantage point, it appears the bashing of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine would be inappropriate political activity. He is an elected official but what do I know I don't hold a Harvard law degree.
More excerpts:
"Not demonstrating special access or favoritism (Canons 1
and 2)
E.g., commenting favorably or unfavorably on a legal
blog about the competence of a particular law firm"
"Not commenting on pending matters (Canon 3)
E.g., posting a comment on a legal blog that pertains to
issues in a pending case, even if the case is not directly
mentioned"
"Not detracting from the dignity of the court or reflecting
adversely on the court (Canon 4)
E.g., posting inappropriate photos or videos on social
networking sites"
"For certain judicial employees, avoiding activities that
involve controversial issues that may appear before the
court or that involve organizations that frequently litigate
(Canon 4)
E.g., circulating an online petition regarding a highly
contentious state ballot measure"
Most important excerpt:
"Common sense and the integrity of the judiciary–
Canons 1 and 2
• Judicial employees are expected to avoid impropriety
and conduct themselves in a manner that does not
detract from the dignity and independence of the
judiciary. These principles extend to social media
activities. Common sense counsels discretion in the
nature and subject matter of Internet postings."
In one word: Professionalism
IMO, he clearly lacks professionalism. The accusation that I created a "perception of corruption" about Steubenville is laughable at best. It is WELL documented that Steubenville has had a corruption image long before my time -- and I didn't even go into Tire Gate, or Sheriff Fred's federal indictments. Why didn't people in town trust their law enforcement and prosecutor? Sure wasn't because I told them not to.
DeleteI don't have as much as an inkling as to what Tire Gate might be about but as someone who lives here I am intrigued and would love for you to elaborate further if possible. The resident's distrust of Steubenville city officials goes far deeper than just this case and for anyone to say differently is completely wrong, in my opinion. One would expect the DOJ to intervene and enter into a consent decree in a large city such as Los Angeles so when it happens in a much smaller town like Steubenville there's has to be good cause in my opinion. Being Steubenville is such a small town I suppose it wouldn't be that unlikely for there to be family members and/or friends of those who have filed lawsuits alleging civil rights violations still living in the area. Once trust is lost it is one of the hardest things to earn back if it ever can be fully earned back. There are many good, honest, and hard-working people in Jefferson County unfortunately ever community has their fair share of village idiots. Sheriff Abdalla is one of the good ones and he wasn't convicted. Anyone can vouch for that.
DeleteI like Sheriff Abdalla. He made sure that he was at the rallies and did speak to the people gathered there, and made himself available to answer questions. I applaud him for that, and it is obvious that he genuinely cares about crimes against children. I've seen him choke up when discussing crimes against children.
DeleteYou're very correct in that when you lose trust it is hard to gain back, and when the City did really nothing IMO to calm rumors in the two weeks before I ever heard of or wrote about the case. People were desperate for information. They were discussing it on other local forums before I wrote about it. And yes, sadly that distrust goes WAY back. There were a lot of things that could have been done differently by all of us.
Tire Gate -- there was a tire company from across the river that an employee was stealing tires and selling them - involved someone from law enforcement.
There may be a new emphasis at the federal level concerning the use of social media by judicial employees and others.
ReplyDeleteHere are two additional links to recent media stories on the effects of certain types of social media use by government employees. Interested persons may wish to read and consider for themselves. Both stories are from September 17, 2013. Some may recognize the cases mentioned.
Reversal of Danziger Bridge convictions a 'bitter pill' for Hurricane Katrina survivors
For many metro area residents, the day when former police officers were convicted for their roles in gunning down unarmed people on the Danziger Bridge after Hurricane Katrina marked a cathartic moment.
On Tuesday, however, a federal judge toppled those hard-won convictions, not citing faulty evidence, but because of the "grotesque" conduct of prosecutors who never even talked to the jury.
In an order upending one of the region's most important civil rights cases in years, U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt granted a new trial for five former New Orleans Police Department officers convicted in the Danziger Bridge shooting and the subsequent cover-up.
In a 129-page order that blasted former prosecutors in then-U.S. Attorney Jim Letten's office, Engelhardt pointed to "unprecedented events and acts" that "has taken the court on a legal odyssey unlike any other."
The order granted a new trial for former police officers Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Robert Faulcon and Anthony Villavaso as well as Arthur Kaufman, who was convicted of orchestrating the cover-up after being assigned to investigate the shooting.
From improper online posts, scandal grew to mire an U.S. attorney and Justice Department
It seemed like a far-fetched allegation when it surfaced in March 2012: A prolific and caustic commenter on NOLA.com, "Henry L. Mencken1951," was a prosecutor in then-U.S. Attorney Jim Letten's office who used online comments to disparage federal targets. Soon, Sal Perricone was unmasked as the author, unleashing a chain of events that forced Letten out of office, ignited an internal investigation and led to the sudden end this year of the sprawling River Birch probe.
Yet few court observers had expected the legal bombshell that came Tuesday.
Citing Perricone's and other instances of prosecutorial misconduct, U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhard order a new trial for five former New Orleans police officers convicted in the Danziger Bridge shooting and cover-up after Hurricane Katrina.