O-SenseSometimes people do things that just make you shake your head.
Last week I was shown the single weirdest legal document I have ever seen. You can view it here.
This is a “Verified Petition” filed by Bonneville County Republican chair Doyle Beck and his sidekick, Region 7 chairman Bryan Smith, asking a state court to order the deposition of some of their political opponents for the purpose of “perpetuating their testimony”. In essence, it is a request for authorization of a fishing expedition to find something that might be the basis of a lawsuit.
Named as potential deponents are State GOP chair Steve Yates, former Region 7 chair Marsha Bjorn, past Region 7 fundraiser Richard Larsen, former Idaho legislator and Rexburg resident Doug Hancey, Idaho Falls-area education and agriculture advocate Stephanie Mickelsen, former GOP state senator Ann Rydalch, and Beck challenger/Idaho Falls attorney/Ammon city council member Sean Coletti.
Their crime? They are working (at least Beck and Smith believe they are) to replace Beck and Smith when Bonneville County’s GOP and Region 7 reorganize after the May 17 primary. In other words, this measure is targeted at stopping political activity that targets Mr. Smith and Mr. Beck.
That seems to fly right in the face of the First Amendment’s protection of free speech and the right of free association, but neither gentleman would ever let the Constitution get in his way. These are the same folks who support abolishing the Seventeenth Amendment, which allows the people to elect their U.S. Senators.
The Petition claims that a “secret society” known as the “Idaho Prosperity Project” seeks to replace Beck and Smith. Presumably they believe that the above-identified individuals are tied to this “group”. I’ve talked to several of the named folks and none have the foggiest idea what the “Idaho Prosperity Project” is. I suspect I already know that the answer to any deposition questions would be, “I don’t have the foggiest idea what you are talking about.”
Most secret societies I know also don’t have a website but this one does (you can view it here). According to its website, “[t]he Idaho Prosperity Project is a collaborative effort of the business community designed to help employers provide information about candidates, issues and elections to their employees.” There is not a single mention of an effort to target Beck or Smith. Apparently they rank in importance below informing the business community about national and state politics.
Attached to the Petition is a purported campaign plan (to me it reads like an obvious fake) that claims the sinister motive of changing “the balance of power in Idaho politics to favor a stable, constructive majority.” Presumably that is supposed to mean electing anybody but Smith and Beck who have turned the area GOP into a laughingstock (If there is such a “sinister group”, please contact me, I would LOVE to contribute).
As someone who has written numerous campaign plans, this is ludicrous on its face. This undated document outlines a wildly expensive (estimated cost of $100,800) door-to-door effort to identify voters who will support “good” candidates over a multi-month period (through an Idaho winter?? Given our recent weather I feel sorry for the BYU-Idaho students who are supposed to be the door-to-door walkers – maybe I could buy them earmuffs). Ironically, the data source for this project is supposed to be i360 which is an organization controlled by the highly conservative Koch brothers (learn more here).
Further, Bryan Smith just wrote a letter specifying that the “secret group” never raised the money, thus explaining the lack of any effort to implement this plan. It is hard to see the need to depose political opponents when the supposed effort didn’t occur.
This measure was filed December 15, 2015. It was only just set for a hearing before Bonneville County senior judge Richard T. St. Clair on April 7. From the docket, the source of the delay seems to be that three local judges declined or were removed from the matter. Apparently much of the local judiciary doesn’t want to touch this with a 10-foot pole.
The basis of the Petition is Idaho Rule of Civil Procedure 27(a)(1) which provides:
A person who desires to perpetuate testimony or that of another person regarding any matter that may be cognizable in any court of the state of Idaho may file a verified petition in the district court in the county of the residence of any expected adverse party. The petition shall be entitled in the name of the petitioner and shall show: 1, that the petitioner expects to be a party to an action cognizable in a court of the state of Idaho but is presently unable to bring it or cause it to be brought, 2, the subject matter of the expected action and the petitioner's interest therein, 3, the facts which the petitioner desires to establish by the proposed testimony and the reasons for desiring to perpetuate it, 4, the names or a description of persons the petitioner expects will be adverse parties and their addresses so far as known, and 5, the names and addresses of the persons to be examined and the substance of the testimony which the petitioner expects to elicit from each, and shall ask for an order authorizing the petitioner to take the depositions of the persons to be examined named in the petition, for the purpose of perpetuating their testimony.
This measure was filed by attorney Christ T. Troupis of Eagle. He had recently filed for a position on the Idaho Supreme Court. Based on this filing, I think Idaho avoided a potential disaster when he decided not to run last week.
I hear the whoop of black helicopters on this one . . .
Steve Taggart is an Idaho Falls attorney specializing in bankruptcy (www.MaynesTaggart.com). He has an extensive background in politics and public policy. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
