ABC ENFORCEMENT DIRECTOR BOYCE HAMLET SANCTIONED PRACTICE OF MINORS USED BY AGENTS LYING ABOUT AGE TO PERSUADE OUTLETS TO SELL ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES - ABC ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR BUD ROBERTS PUTS A STOP TO IT
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In previous posts we exposed how the ABC is breaking the law by having under age kids go into stores, restaurants and bars and try to or actually purchase alcoholic beverages.
Our previous posts:
Arkansas law specifically prohibits persons under 21 years of age from purchasing or possessing alcoholic beverages. There are no exceptions noted in the law to allow minors or law enforcement agencies to "break" the law for enforcement purposes.
A Congressional Report said the exact same thing that we have said:
When tainted ABC Enforcement Director Boyce Hamlet came on board, he changed the procedures for the use of cooperating minors.
Legal scholars and court cases have found problems with such activity and there is much controversy in the use of this illegal tactic.
Another problem for the ABC and the prosecution of individuals that were entrapped is that if the ABC or the Prosecuting Attorney does not make the required disclosure that Hamlet as ABCE director has issues with credibility and honesty that affects his agents, the rights of these alleged offenders have been violated under Brady vs Maryland.
This was pointed out by Judge Mackie Pierce in a case that concerned Hamlet.
LINK TO FULL DOCUMENT
Even Little Rock Police Chief Kenton Bucker weighed in this week in an interview with the Arkansas Times on individuals in law enforcement, like, Boyce Hamlet, that are liars.
This issue hit the fan on February 10, 2016 when the ABC conducted one of their illegal minor entrapment stings at a randomly selected licensed locations, including Rack-Um at 2817 Cantrell Road in Little Rock .
ABC Enforcement Agent Aaron Farmer and Michael Turner, a Bryant police officer, were selecting random sites and using a cooperating minor to try and purchase alcoholic beverages.
Officer Turner gave the minor $20 cash and told the him that if he was questioned about his age, he was to lie.
The cooperating minor was asked for his ID by Rack-Um employee Christie Dishler. The minor told Dishler that he "forgot it" it. Dishler then asked him his date of birth and the older than 21 years looking guy gave her a fake one that put him over 21 years of age.
With Officer Turner shaking his head in agreement, the pair was able to persuade her to serve him up a beer. The minor paid her, and stiffed her by not giving her a tip, and Turner sent a text message to Farmer that they had successfully convinced the server to violate the same law they were violating.
ABC Enforcement Agent Farmer entered the establishment and informed Dishler she had served an alcoholic beverage to a minor and she was being cited for unknowingly serving alcohol to a minor.
Officer Turner's presence with the ABC and cooperating minor's could be a huge problem for tainted ABC Enforcement Director Boyce Hamlet.
Turner has a documented history of on-the-job problems and was actually sued for Civil Rights violations and settled that suit to stop it from going to court.
The civil suit made reference to Tuner's sketchy past:
Turner was actually fired from the Mineral Springs Police Department
According to credible sources, some issues with Turner involve his interactions with females. Turner is also reported to have lost a part-time job with a school district because he was getting too friendly with female students.
Other sources have told us that Turner is a patrolman and writes a lot of tickets, and that is the source of some of the complaints about him. Once again, observant readers will have noticed that Turner's radar operator certification expired in 2014 and if he is writing speeding tickets, that poses a huge problem for the Bryant Police Department.
Turner's history and association with ABC Agents and the illegal operations involving minors is problematic for the ABC in that some of the minors the ABC uses are females and if the allegations are valid, the ABC is putting those minors at risk.
The ABC then sent a notice about the March 15 hearing to the Rack-Um permit holder, Steven Maddox, and an offer of settlement that consisted of a $350.00 fine and a 90 day probation period.
Rack-Um had never been cited by the ABC for any violation since it opened in 2013. Very impressive for an establishment in Little Rock, especially in that is basically a pool hall that often is packed with younger than older aged patrons.
At this point our observant readers will have noticed that the ABC report concerning the alleged violation lists the permit holder as Daniel C. Cossitt.
This is surprising as back in June 2013, Cossitt requested that the permit for the establishment be in Maddox's name.
Accordingly the ABC did just exactly that.
So why was the old permit holder listed on a report of an alleged violation six months after the permit listing Maddox was issued???
Did Rack-Um still have the old permit posted? If so that is a violation of ABC rules and regulations. If the old permit was displayed why were they not cited?
Is ABC Enforcement so screwed up that they don't have accurate information available to the ABC Enforcement agents?
We don't know about the permit Rack-Um had displayed when the alleged violation occurred, but we do know for certain that ABC Enforcement is definitely screwed up.
We pointed out in a previous post how ABC Enforcement agents shut down multiple establishments in NW Arkansas because they did not have accurate information about permits.
With the ABC settlement offer to Rack-Um on the table, the ABC was sure that they had pocketed an easy $350.00 by setting up a law-abiding establishment by violating the law when using and encouraging a minor to purchase alcohol and lying about the minor's age to do so.
So when the ABC received a call and email from Maddox requesting a hearing they were surprised. Maddox had been told that if he requested a hearing and told their side of the story, they might get a brake and a lower fine.
So a hearing was set for April 6, 2016 and to no one's surprise, except possible Maddox, the ABC found a violation and imposes a $500.00 fine.
Here again our observant readers will note that the "Facts" paragraph fails to mention that the the minor was instructed to lie about his age if asked and did so in this particular case.
Maddox did not have an attorney representing him before the ABC and it is understandable that he did not present evidence that the minor lied about his age and appeared to look older and the server confused him with another regular customer.
Any capable attorney would have reemed the ABC and the witnesses against Rack-Um and walked out of the hearing with the allegations dismissed.
But Maddox was persistent. After the decision, he appealed the decision, in an unconventional fashion (remember he is not an attorney).
And so an appeal was set.
But before the hearing took place, ABC Administrative Director Bud Roberts looked further into the matter and determined that tainted ABC Enforcement Director Boyce Hamlet's decision to permit and encourage his agents to allow cooperating minors to lie about their age if asked (most all other state's prohibit the practice) dismissed the violation and reversed his April 21st order fining Rack-Um.
This pissed Boyce Hamlet off so much that he complained to the Governor's office. They told Hamlet to calm the f@@k down and had him stop telling cooperating minor's that they could lie about their age.
Since then, Hamlet has kept his distance from Roberts acting like a kid that has had his ass whipped and his feelings hurt on the school playground.
The governor needs to accept the fact that he made a terrible mistake in appointing Hamlet and get rid of him and appoint someone with unquestionable credentials and experience to restore public confidence in ABC Enforcement.
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| ABC AGENT AARON FARMER AND OFFICER MICHAEL TURNER |
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| TURNER DRESSED AS A REDNECK FOR UNCOVER WORK |
Officer Turner gave the minor $20 cash and told the him that if he was questioned about his age, he was to lie.
The cooperating minor was asked for his ID by Rack-Um employee Christie Dishler. The minor told Dishler that he "forgot it" it. Dishler then asked him his date of birth and the older than 21 years looking guy gave her a fake one that put him over 21 years of age.
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| CHRISTIE DISHLER |
With Officer Turner shaking his head in agreement, the pair was able to persuade her to serve him up a beer. The minor paid her, and stiffed her by not giving her a tip, and Turner sent a text message to Farmer that they had successfully convinced the server to violate the same law they were violating.
ABC Enforcement Agent Farmer entered the establishment and informed Dishler she had served an alcoholic beverage to a minor and she was being cited for unknowingly serving alcohol to a minor.
Officer Turner's presence with the ABC and cooperating minor's could be a huge problem for tainted ABC Enforcement Director Boyce Hamlet.
Turner has a documented history of on-the-job problems and was actually sued for Civil Rights violations and settled that suit to stop it from going to court.
The civil suit made reference to Tuner's sketchy past:
Turner was actually fired from the Mineral Springs Police Department
According to credible sources, some issues with Turner involve his interactions with females. Turner is also reported to have lost a part-time job with a school district because he was getting too friendly with female students.
Other sources have told us that Turner is a patrolman and writes a lot of tickets, and that is the source of some of the complaints about him. Once again, observant readers will have noticed that Turner's radar operator certification expired in 2014 and if he is writing speeding tickets, that poses a huge problem for the Bryant Police Department.
Turner's history and association with ABC Agents and the illegal operations involving minors is problematic for the ABC in that some of the minors the ABC uses are females and if the allegations are valid, the ABC is putting those minors at risk.
The ABC then sent a notice about the March 15 hearing to the Rack-Um permit holder, Steven Maddox, and an offer of settlement that consisted of a $350.00 fine and a 90 day probation period.
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| STEVEN MADDOX - RACK-UM MANAGER & PERMIT HOLDER |
Rack-Um had never been cited by the ABC for any violation since it opened in 2013. Very impressive for an establishment in Little Rock, especially in that is basically a pool hall that often is packed with younger than older aged patrons.
At this point our observant readers will have noticed that the ABC report concerning the alleged violation lists the permit holder as Daniel C. Cossitt.
This is surprising as back in June 2013, Cossitt requested that the permit for the establishment be in Maddox's name.
Accordingly the ABC did just exactly that.
So why was the old permit holder listed on a report of an alleged violation six months after the permit listing Maddox was issued???
Did Rack-Um still have the old permit posted? If so that is a violation of ABC rules and regulations. If the old permit was displayed why were they not cited?
Is ABC Enforcement so screwed up that they don't have accurate information available to the ABC Enforcement agents?
We don't know about the permit Rack-Um had displayed when the alleged violation occurred, but we do know for certain that ABC Enforcement is definitely screwed up.
We pointed out in a previous post how ABC Enforcement agents shut down multiple establishments in NW Arkansas because they did not have accurate information about permits.
With the ABC settlement offer to Rack-Um on the table, the ABC was sure that they had pocketed an easy $350.00 by setting up a law-abiding establishment by violating the law when using and encouraging a minor to purchase alcohol and lying about the minor's age to do so.
So when the ABC received a call and email from Maddox requesting a hearing they were surprised. Maddox had been told that if he requested a hearing and told their side of the story, they might get a brake and a lower fine.
So a hearing was set for April 6, 2016 and to no one's surprise, except possible Maddox, the ABC found a violation and imposes a $500.00 fine.
Here again our observant readers will note that the "Facts" paragraph fails to mention that the the minor was instructed to lie about his age if asked and did so in this particular case.
Maddox did not have an attorney representing him before the ABC and it is understandable that he did not present evidence that the minor lied about his age and appeared to look older and the server confused him with another regular customer.
Any capable attorney would have reemed the ABC and the witnesses against Rack-Um and walked out of the hearing with the allegations dismissed.
But Maddox was persistent. After the decision, he appealed the decision, in an unconventional fashion (remember he is not an attorney).
This pissed Boyce Hamlet off so much that he complained to the Governor's office. They told Hamlet to calm the f@@k down and had him stop telling cooperating minor's that they could lie about their age.
Since then, Hamlet has kept his distance from Roberts acting like a kid that has had his ass whipped and his feelings hurt on the school playground.
The governor needs to accept the fact that he made a terrible mistake in appointing Hamlet and get rid of him and appoint someone with unquestionable credentials and experience to restore public confidence in ABC Enforcement.