PART ONE How key Starr witness plotted with Clinton enemies
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FALSE WITNESS | PAGE 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
In view of the way Hale ran his court and loan company, several former employees say they were surprised that Starr, while investigating President Clinton, depended almost solely on Hale's word in the Whitewater case. But the court workers said they weren't surprised Hale used his accusations against Clinton to get out of trouble he created for himself. "Hale impresses me as the type of individual that if he were on a sinking ship, he would have no compunction about hitting some old lady over the head to steal her life jacket," said M. Steele Holt, who worked in the municipal court's traffic section. Former court employees also contend that the case of Catherine Butler, a clerk they say Hale tried to frame, foreshadowed Hale's allegations against President Clinton when Hale faced a federal indictment and jail time. In 1991, Hale had Butler arrested on records tampering charges -- the day before she was to testify against him before the state's judicial discipline commission. According to Hale's version of events, the records tampering case started in April 1991 with a tip that he alone heard. "I received a call, at home, one night. Someone had told me that a clerk, or clerks, in my office, were fixing tickets," Hale said at a pre-trial hearing for the accused clerk, Butler. Hale said he then called the sheriff's office and the state police. Butler never testified against Hale in the judicial discipline hearing. Commissioners dismissed the complaint on a technicality, saying Hale had not been notified within 90 days of the time it was filed. Butler's own legal troubles evaporated when a judge threw out the case at a pre-trial hearing, saying no crime had been committed. Butler declined to comment on her case. But of Hale's testimony in the Tucker-McDougal trial, she said, "I would not call him a credible witness. That's about the nicest thing I could say about him." The Butler case left other court workers wondering whether one of them might be next. Afraid that Hale might accuse her of something, one of Butler's co-workers quietly went to federal officials for protection, according to Jeff Rosenzweig, a Little Rock defense attorney who represented the clerk. The same employee had earlier quietly alerted county officials about the Special Court Services operation. Rosenzweig spoke to Salon on the condition that his client not be identified. "I represented a court employee who had specific knowledge that the Catherine Butler situation was a frame-up and who feared that [she] might be similarly framed," Rosenzweig said. Rosenzweig took the client to the U.S. attorney's office. "We gave them copies of relevant documents so that if anything happened to my client, the U.S. attorney would know what was going on," Rosenzweig said. For Rosenzweig, who had once practiced as a public defender in Hale's municipal court, the Butler case and the fallout for his client were part of a long history with Hale. "Hale and I just didn't get along," the defense attorney said. Rosenzweig was among the lawyers who earlier filed motions challenging the constitutionality of Hale's court. Hale never forgave him for that action, Rosenzweig said. The municipal judge routinely moved Rosenzweig's cases to the bottom of the docket, the lawyer said. At times Rosenzweig had to bring his own lawyer into court as a witness. "On two occasions, Hale tried to find me in contempt without a court reporter present," Rosenzweig said. "Both times, I had a lawyer there with me and when they stood up, Hale backed down." One of those times, Hale ordered the bailiff to arrest Rosenzweig. In light of Hale's Whitewater role, Rosenzweig said, one incident in the municipal court stands out. During the hearing of a hot check case, Rosenzweig was unable to find the checks in question among other documents entered into evidence. Hale earlier had the documents at the bench. "Hale starts yelling at me in court about how I had stolen the evidence and how he was going to get me for destruction of evidence," Rosenzweig said. Flustered, the lawyer went to the bench and began shuffling through other exhibits. "I'm lifting things up, and I pulled open a drawer on the bench and the checks were there," Rosenzweig said. "He had taken them off and put them in the drawer himself. He just literally tried to frame me.
"Hale will say whatever he needs to
say or do whatever he needs to do if it will help David Hale,"
continued Rosenzweig. "He framed Catherine Butler. He tried to frame
me." And, Rosenzweig says, even though he admits that he has no
evidence to substantiate his suspicions, he will always believe that
David Hale also tried to frame the president of the United States.
Michael Haddigan is a reporter for the Arkansas Times. Murray Waas is an investigative reporter for Salon. |
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