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By Marc, November 4, 2011 11:01 pm

In case you missed it earlier today, the petition for a Writ of Quo Warranto by David Johnston, challenging Eric Olsen’s residency, was dismissed on procedural grounds by Judge Ferris. It wasn’t dismissed because it lacked merit, as some sources wrongly reported. It’s a BIG distinction!

Olsen’s legal residency was not decided in today’s hearing. The judge did not make a finding that Olsen was a legal resident of Stafford. You can read more about today’s hearing here.

In this post, I want to address the hypocrisy that is Eric “Law & Order” Olsen. At today’s hearing, Judge Ferris advised Olsen that he had a right to a jury trial if he so wished. Olsen said that he didn’t want a jury trial and that he was fine with a bench trial, before launching into a challenge of the whole hearing on procedural grounds.

This is the same guy that had the following to say, when he announced his run for Stafford County Commonwealth’s Attorney:

I’ve tried many jury trials ladies and gentlemen. I can tell you that there is no better arbiters of justice then twelve citizens chosen at random, asked to come into court and take a day off and decide the facts of the case and administer justice. I believe in the jury system.

What a hypocrite! This is just another example of how duplicitous Olsen can be.

The topic of jury trials is somewhat complicated for the average person, but it’s an important one to understand. The Commonwealth of Virginia is part of a minority of States that allow the Government to force a jury trial. If the Defendant wants a jury trial then under the Constitution he/she can have one, but the Defendant also has the right to waive that right. If a Defendant waives their right to a jury trial, the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office does not need to insist on a jury. Why you ask?

First and foremost, jury trials are slow and expensive. Every other jurisdiction in the Commonwealth understands that fact. So they have jury trials about 15 percent of the time while Stafford has them about 95 percent of the time.

As the Free Lance-Star previously reported:

Olsen and Chichester have relied heavily on jury trials throughout their careers. In fact, Stafford was second only to the massive Fairfax County in the number of juries convened in 2010. Stafford had 79, according to figures compiled by the state Supreme Court.

Spotsylvania County, with a population similar to Stafford’s, had 13 jury trials last year.

This is a point of pride for Olsen, who prefers to let county residents determine the outcome of trials.

Yeah, Olsen takes pride in jury trials as long as they don’t involve him. Something is seriously wrong with this picture. Fairfax County is massive and Stafford has the second most jury trials to them?!

Jury trials are typically very slow and it could take an entire day to try a jury case. In Fredericksburg, where bench trials are the rule, Judge Willis can knock out six trials to Stafford’s one. Plain and simple, jury trials just clog up the entire system. As Independent Stafford County Commonwealth’s Attorney candidate Tim Barbrow puts it,

In addition to the cost of a jury trial to the taxpayer, the policy of requesting a jury trial in nearly every criminal case puts a strain on the entire judicial system. The Circuit Courts also hear a wide variety of civil cases including divorce, child support, custody, adoption, lawsuits between private parties, condemnation, and personal injury and medical malpractice. By tying up the Court’s docket with unnecessary requests for jury trials in the majority of criminal cases, most of which never go to trial, the citizens of Stafford County often have to wait months if not years to have their civil cases heard.

Jury trials are incredibly expensive. Each jury costs the taxpayers of Stafford County about $2,300. That doesn’t sound like much for one trial, but Olsen and Chichester ask for a jury trial in nearly every case. The Clerk of the Court spent ¾ of a million dollars on jury trials last year. That is money coming directly from the taxpayers of Stafford County.

Olsen likes to say that the money is from Richmond and not Stafford, but he is flat wrong. Go ask the Clerk of the Court!

I’ve said it time-and-time again, we need to start making smarter fiscal decisions in the county; otherwise, we will continue to divert funds away from education, transportation and public safety (e.g. see the wasteful public radio communication system). If a Defendant doesn’t want a jury trial, don’t force one on taxpayers!

This is another example of Olsen saying one thing and doing another. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

On November 8, let’s vote for a new direction by casting a vote for Tim Barbrow!

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By Marc, November 2, 2011 4:37 pm

Unless you have been living under a rock, you are no doubt already aware of the lawsuit filed this past Friday by Stafford County resident David Johnston challenging Eric “Law & Order” Olsen’s qualification to be on the ballot as a candidate for the Office of Commonwealth’s Attorney for Stafford County. The challenge is based on the assertion that Olsen has never established residency in Stafford County.

Yesterday, we wrote about a new wrinkle in the residency challenge. LeavingMyMarc.com first reported that Eric Olsen was registered to vote at 133 Onville Road in Stafford County (at least as of September). This is despite the fact that he has never lived there. As recently as Saturday in the Free-Lance Star, Olsen still maintained that he legally resided at his illegal garage apartment off Poplar Road:

Olsen said the Fredericksburg home is for sale. His wife and their children live in the city home while Olsen is renting an apartment in a home on Poplar Road.

According to the Virginia State Board of Elections:

Under the Virginia Constitution, a prospective voter must be a resident of the precinct where he seeks to register. In order to establish “residency”, a prospective voter must show that (1) he has an actual physical place of abode in the precinct, and (2) he is domiciled there.

He is clearly not domiciled at 133 Onville Road, nor has ever been domiciled there. He has repeatedly claimed to be living at 1257 B Poplar Road in a purported “illegal” garage apartment.

We still maintain that he has never abandoned his domicile in the city of Fredericksburg, despite where he claims to be living right now, and believe that Olsen is not a legal resident of Stafford County; thus, he is not able to run for the Commonwealth’s Attorney position in Stafford County.

Putting all of this aside for a moment, Olsen now claims on his website that his campaign headquarters is now located at 133 Onville Road, Stafford, VA 22556. James and Karen Moncure currently own this home. So what’s the problem? The problem is that none of Olsen’s campaign finance disclosure reports show any expenditure to the Moncure’s for rent. His reports also do not show any sort of In-kind contribution from the Moncure’s for the headquarters. So what is Olsen trying to hide? And, so we have another example of what appears to be him breaking the law!

The reality is that the Moncure’s could sure use some money from Olsen, so they can pay off the taxes that they owe. According to the Treasurer’s Office, they owe $624.23 (which includes interest) in outstanding taxes on this property.

So exactly who are James and Karen Moncure? They’re relatives of Daniel Chichester. Chichester is pulling out all the stops and calling in all of his family connections to ensure that his handpicked successor wins.

For the past 72 years, Chichester and his dad have run the Stafford County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. He will stop at nothing to make sure that that his family legacy lives on through Olsen, even if that means helping him to cheat the system in an effort to establish residency in Stafford County.

If this was anyone else pulling this sort of stuff, you could rest assured that Chichester and Olsen would be throwing the book at them. You see there are those with family connections that are “above the law” and there is everyone else. In Stafford County, we call this the good ‘ol boy network.

Is it too much to expect that someone running for Stafford County Commonwealth’s Attorney, to become the chief law enforcement officer, should be held to the highest of standards? This continued skirting of the law by Olsen raises serious questions on his integrity and trustworthiness (i.e. “Law & Order”-gate, illegal campaign donation from a foreign national, his residency and not reporting his campaign HQs on his campaign finance reports). Olsen should be held to, at least, the same standard as he holds others – which are exceptionally high.

It’s time to put an end to the 72-year-old dynasty and vote for an individual who holds himself to the very highest ethical standards and is respected amongst all citizens, regardless of party, as being fair and having the best interests of the community at heart. That’s why we will be supporting Independent candidate Tim Barbrow for Stafford County Commonwealth’s Attorney on November 8. The choice couldn’t be any clearer!

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By Marc, September 19, 2011 4:37 pm

Left: Eric Olsen (R-Stafford), Right: Urs Kirchhofer

I’m bewildered by how someone who is running to be Stafford County Commonwealth’s Attorney continues to thumb his nose at the law?

Three weeks ago, I discovered what appeared to be an illegal campaign donation to Eric “Law & Order” Olsen (R-Stafford) from a foreign national – this on the heels of “Law & Order-gate.”

According to sources close to his campaign, he claimed that he did not know that he wasn’t allowed to accept donations from foreign nationals. Are you kidding me!

This isn’t Olsen’s first run for office – after all he ran for the same office in the city of Fredericksburg in 2008 (and lost). I guess if things don’t work out in Stafford, there’s always Spotsylvania County…

The Virginia State Board of Elections has now confirmed that the contribution “was in fact from a foreign national.” They also indicated that they’ve “been told that this contribution has been returned to the donor.”

So will retiring Stafford County Commonwealth’s Attorney Daniel Chichester launch an investigation of his handpicked successor? I’d say the odds aren’t great. If this was anyone else, I have to believe that Olsen and Chichester would be pursing him or her with great vigor.

I won’t be holding my breath.

Thank goodness voters have a choice on November 8th. We need a candidate who is as concerned with following the law as he is in enforcing it. Tim Barbrow (I-Stafford) is just that person.

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By Marc, September 3, 2011 10:40 am

According to the Virginia State Police, crime was up in Stafford County for the fifth straight year. It wasn’t just up, but has soared by 60% since 2005. Worse yet, when strictly looking at violent crimes, crime has soared a whopping 66% over that same time period. Violent crimes include the following subcategories: Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter, Forcible Rape, Robbery and Aggravated Assault.

At this point, you must be asking yourself how this stacks up in our region? For comparison purposes, let’s take a look at Spotsylvania County.

Table 2. Population/Demographics of Stafford vs. Spotsylvania County, Source: U.S. Census Bureau

As you can see from Table 2, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population and demographic makeup of the counties are nearly similar over the last 10 years. Additionally, Spotsylvania is a neighboring county in our same region. So we would expect a pretty similar rise in crime, correct? WRONG. Over the last 5 years, in Spotsylvania, overall crime has actually fallen 1.5%. In Stafford, overall crime has soared 60%! During the same time period, in Spotsylvania, violent crime has slid 25%. In Stafford it has soared a whopping 66%!

Stafford is clearly headed in the WRONG direction. Worse yet, according to Stafford County, the Sheriff’s office budget has increased by 52% since 2005. Even worse, the Commonwealth’s Attorney budget has increased by 82% since 2005. I’d say that taxpayers are NOT getting a good return on their tax dollars!

The rise in the Commonwealth’s Attorney budget could have something to do with their practice of asking for jury trials too often. Last year alone, they requested 600% more jury trials than Spotsylvania County. In fact, they were second to only Fairfax County in the number or jury trials held last year.

Don’t get me wrong; I don’t necessarily take issue with the budget increases so long as they are producing results. After all, public safety goes hand-in-hand with providing a safe learning environment for our children – which is an issue that is extremely important to me. We can’t keep throwing money at our problems and getting zero accountability in return.

For 72 years the Chichester family has controlled the Commonwealth’s Attorney office. Daniel Chichester has now endorsed his top prosecutor, Eric Olsen, to take the family reigns. Likewise, Sheriff Charles Jett has held his post for 11 years. Sheriff Jett was recommended by Sheriff R.M Williams who was recommended by Sheriff Ashby and so on. Talk about a good ol’ boy network.

It’s time that Stafford citizens demand accountability and ends these family dynasty’s. It’s not even about how long these families (or networks) have served. It’s simply about results and they are not there.

It’s time to sweep the courthouse clean and elect Tim Barbrow (I-Stafford) as our new Commonwealth’s Attorney and Chuck Feldbush (I-Stafford) as our next Sheriff on November 8, 2011. Stafford is in dire need of a new direction. We need a return of accountability and results!