What’s in the Trash, Stays in the Trash, According to Judge

Federal judge Gregory Frost on Monday rejected the attempt by John Freshwater and attorney R. Kelly Hamilton to have previously issued sanctions lifted.

Frost sidestepped the various issues raised in the dispute and went to what he believed could resolve the matter—the credibility of the parties involved in Doe v. Mount Vernon Board of Education et al.

With $28,737.50 at stake, Frost decided against Freshwater and Hamilton because Freshwater testified to having pulled items back out of the trash.

“The Court finds Freshwater’s explanation is untenable and that it taints the credibility of his entire testimony,” Frost wrote.

Freshwater had merely explained in the federal hearing, like he had in the administrative hearing, that he pitched some items into a garbage can in his barn and then retrieved the items when his attorney requested them.

Frost also focused on a similar, though separate, situation. This time, Frost wrote that it couldn’t be true that Freshwater both put the item, a Tesla coil, in a trashcan and also gave the item to his attorney.

In research done by AccountabilityInTheMedia.com, it was found to be physically possible to place something in a trashcan and then remove the item.

Perhaps for a person such as Howie Mandel, with germaphobia, it would be psychologically impossible to remove an item from a trashcan.



(Mandel talks about his fear of germs.)

Mount Vernon City Schools’ superintendent Steve Short and Mount Vernon Board of Education attorney David Millstone both testified on behalf of the plaintiffs. Neither one mentioned anything about having every removed something from a trashcan.

“The Court has no uncertainty whatsoever as to the truthfulness of the testimony of these two witnesses,” Frost wrote.

Frost did not include any details about the testimony of Short or Millstone.

Other than the trashcan issue, the only other issue Frost offered as the basis of his decision involved the dispute over whether Hamilton delivered two affidavits on April 30, 2010 to the plaintiffs’ attorney Douglas Mansfield.

It was a matter of Hamilton’s word against Mansfield’s and his two associates. Even at that, Frost wrote that he didn’t even have to include Hamilton’s side of the story in his deliberation on the matter.

Frost wrote that Hamilton didn’t properly word his affidavit about the affidavits. What Hamilton wrote in his brief about the affidavits Frost did find to be properly worded. However, Frost wrote that statements made in a brief cannot be considered “evidence.”

While Hamilton was in the federal hearing, he said a couple of times that if Frost had particular wording he was looking for on any matter to direct him in what would satisfy the court. Hamilton told the judge that he was not trying to be evasive in how he responded to the various issues.



(The Trial by Franz Kafka, starting at 1:07 in video, provides a sense of the legal proceedings regarding Freshwater.)

Frost went ahead and wrote in his decision:

“And, it appears to the Court that the language utilized in Attorney Hamilton’s affidavit is carefully crafted to appear to state that he attached the affidavits to Exhibit 161 but does not actually state such. Moreover, although the affidavit does not state that Attorney Hamilton attached the affidavits to Exhibit 161, to the extent that the affidavit was meant to state such, the Court finds the testimony unbelievable.”

Credibility of judge Frost

During the federal hearing conducted on July 29, Frost did acknowledged twice, after being pressed, that he had been mistaken on something.

One issue had to do with who Freshwater’s attorney was in Doe v. Mount Vernon Board of Education et al. The other was regarding the wording of the 2008 requests by the plaintiffs for the production of documents.

AccountabilityInTheMedia.com previously reported on Frost’s odd decision in April to grant the plaintiffs, the Dennis family, standing in regard to their claims of Establishment Clause violation. (See the article, “Christian Family Objects to Bible in Classroom.” )

The Dennises state in their lawsuit that they are Christians. The Bibles and Ten Commandments that were in Freshwater’s classroom, if seen as religious articles, were from the Dennis’ own religion. In order to have standing, the Dennis’ legal interests have to have been invaded by the presence of these items.

Frost, nonetheless, granted the Dennis’ standing.

Related document:

August 2, 2010 opinion and order by Frost on motion for reconsideration of sanctions. (Doc# 120) 28.32 KB PDF.