Aeronautics director got break in Bismarck,ND

Okay well this has nothing to do with the Fargo Moorhead area but it is within the state of North Dakota and is very outrageous that it was allowed. In reading the story about the aeronautics director Gary Ness and Gary Ness was caught by video stealing about 1700

dollars that was laid down on the counter from some women. This is consider a felony in ND where you can not be bailed out of jail unless you see a judge. Gary calls in a favor probably using his attorney to have a friend of his which is a judge to come and preside over the bail hearing. Mind you Gary was not even charged yet by the prosecution. How can a person be bailed out without even knowing the charges? This was a huge step over bounds by the judge and he should excuse himself from the case and being a judge. If this were to happen with anyone else they would not get this type of treatment. They would have stayed in jail the entire time until processing was done. Is this what this country is coming too. Unfair politics and now judges (ones that are suppose to uphold the law to the furtherest extent of the law) are holding special meetings for friends. Now on top of all this the bail bond hearing was not even on the record. So what really happened in that meeting now that there is no record of it. This should be of public interest. The judge was South Central District Judge Robert Wefald and DA is Richard Riha. According to a statement by the judge in the In-Forum it was stated “Wefald said he knows Ness personally, and the two men work out at the same Bismarck health club. No recording was made of what was said at the Friday hearing, which Wefald said was an oversight. “It wasn’t my plan not to make a record” of the hearing, he said.” This is unbelievable that the law can be bent when favors are called in from good friends. Then people wonder why the government is so corrupt and no one trust them.

Updated July 20th – I sent an email to the governor’s office which is found below in quotes. Now this is the office that appoints the judges in the state of ND.

“I want to express my dishearten feelings about Judge Robert Wefald from the Bismarck, ND area. He recently held a special bond hearing for the director of Aeronautic Gary Ness. This special favor was called in on behalf of Ness’s lawyer and because the judge and Ness are work out buddies he held a special meeting off the record saying it was an over sight. There is some extreme issues represented in these facts. One is there is no record of who is responsible for what. He could have simply just fled and there was nothing the state could do about it. Second no charges were even filed yet so how can the judge make a logical decision on what if any bond should be made? There is a process here that must be followed and this did not happen. Third, where does the corruption stop when people can call in special favors when they are connected to government officials and use that connection to abuse the laws that are suppose to govern everyone? This is just one more corruptible act after another. I am asking you to investigate this matter with the Attorney General and remove the people necessary to restore the fair and right justice system that the USA and ND was built on and US citizens can be proud of.”

I get a response from Monty Ann Rauser which stated the following: “Thank you for your email to Governor Hoevens office regarding a recent District Court decision by Judge Wefald. I am sorry but this is not an issue that we can assist you with. The Governor does not have jurisdiction in court matters.”

This response is dishearten as well. First they deny that they have any power over the court system. Then they provide no input of who is over the court system. They have no power but are the ones that appoint these people? Complete denial by the governor’s office is unacceptable to the constituents of ND. This is why more people need to question their government and get answers from them which most of the time they don’t want to do. That is their job is to give answers and not create a rouse to get people to look the other way. I will update this when I get a response from the below email.

My email back to Monty: “If I am understanding your response he has no jurisdiction over someone that he appoints to the court? The governor is the one that appoints these judges. If he does not have any jurisdiction as you have stated then who does? I am certain that the governor’s office can provide this information. Please provide contact information that should have been provided in the first email instead of putting up a road block and just dismissing that he has no jurisdiction. The fact that I know he appoints them is found at the links below which one is right from the governor’s own website.”

http://www.ndhrc.org/Goals/TransformPL/Developments/LetterMay162003.htm
http://governor.state.nd.us/media/news-releases/2006/02/060209.html

I also believe that he does have jurisdictions over the board of the aeronautics which he also appoints but my questions are still not answered from my initial email. I appreciate those to be answered as well. I await your response.”

Another update: Again leave it up to ND aeronautics board to suspend the director with pay. So who is paying this guy’s salary? – The tax payers. Where does the insanity stop. If any other person got charged with a crime they would be lucky to keep their job let alone be paid for being on administrator leave and not working for the money. I never understand that with the government that they allow administrator leave with pay. I have no issue with putting them on leave but they either cash in their vacation time or take it without pay. And then the government ask why they have budget issues.