Closing arguments to begin
Closing arguments in the defamation case of former Butler County Commissioner Jim Eckstein were to begin today, but could be delayed if attorneys call any last-minute witnesses.
Attorneys for Eckstein rested their case in county court Wednesday afternoon after another day of testimony in which the former commissioner visibly frustrated lawyers representing the plaintiffs.
In the morning, an audiotape of a state police internal affairs investigator interviewing Eckstein was played.
Eckstein stated in the interview that a corruption rumor involving former county Commissioner Dale Pinkerton may be true, but did not explicitly state it was fact.
The interview was by Cpl. William Myers on March 29, 2012. When Myers asked Eckstein if he believed the rumor was true, Eckstein was noncommittal.
“It may be,” he said.
Eckstein is accused of spreading a rumor that Pinkerton gave county human resources director Lori Altman an extra 20 percent pay hike in exchange for a drunken driving stop going away.
Pinkerton and the Altmans are suing Eckstein in separate civil complaints being tried in court simultaneously.
Myers in 2012 was investigating whether state Trooper Scott Altman, who is Lori Altman's husband, was complicit in such a scheme. Altman subsequently was cleared in the case.
During the audiotaped interview, Eckstein vehemently denied he was accusing Scott Altman of interfering with a DUI arrest.
“I never said it was Altman,” Eckstein said.
He added there was no indication the rumored officer was even with state police.
Eckstein explained to Myers that Bonnie Gould, a former union representative at the Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center when it was county-owned, first told him about a rumor that police brought Pinkerton to Butler Memorial Hospital in 2009.
Eckstein said Gould heard the rumor from a registered nurse she did not identify.
According to the audiotape, Eckstein said he discussed what could have happened with Pinkerton at Butler Memorial.
“If you had a problem, you don't show up with a police officer,” Eckstein told Myers.
He then recalled talking to Beverly Schenck, a former Center Township supervisor, about Pinkerton's hospital visit.
Eckstein said Schenck's late husband, Michael Schenck, saw Pinkerton in a wheelchair at the hospital when Schenck went to see his wife while she was being treated there.
During prior testimony, Pinkerton said he went to the hospital that year after a fainting spell. He said there was no police escort, and he was not in a wheelchair.
On the recording, Eckstein admitted he had no first-hand knowledge there ever was a DUI stop.
During live testimony, he said there were two rumored DUI stops, one in 2009 and one in 2011.
A state attorney general's office found no evidence of wrongdoing.
During the audiotape, Eckstein said he opposed Lori Altman's 2011 pay raise.“I think it's a bunch of gobbledygook,” he said.Eckstein said to Myers that he hoped the attorney general's office investigates the rumor since state police were only interested in whether Scott Altman was guilty of any impropriety.“Can't somebody in state police do that,” he said. “It saddens me it's not going to be investigated.”On Wednesday afternoon, plaintiffs' attorneys returned to questioning Eckstein over what he knew, when he knew it and what actions he took regarding rumors in 2009 and 2011 involving Pinkerton and alleged DUI arrests.Al Lindsay, who is representing the Altmans, spent about an hour trying to get Eckstein to acknowledge that he had no factual knowledge of an alleged DUI incident in 2011 involving Pinkerton.The exchange continued until Judge Kelley Streib told Eckstein to answer the question using “yes or no,” but the former commissioner refused.“It's not a yes or no question,” Eckstein said. “At certain times, I knew that. At certain times, I didn't know that.”Attorney Doug Linn, who represents Pinkerton, returned to the transcripts of Eckstein's statements to state police and an investigator from the state attorney general's office.Eckstein reiterated the reports were wrong in their assertions that he was telling people the charges against Altman and Pinkerton were true.“I don't think, I know it's not correct,” Eckstein said of the attorney general investigator's report.He was less sure when pressed by Linn on other matters such as how he heard Pinkerton being pulled over in a 2009 DUI and whether he discussed a similar 2011 rumor with his former confidant, Itzi Mezli, during a meeting in his office in early 2012; and when he first heard of the 2011 rumor.Eckstein also struggled to answer questions from Linn regarding his opinion of the manner in which he was made aware of the DUI rumor.During the state police interview, Eckstein said he believes the information came from a registered nurse who had violated HIPAA, a federal law regulating what information medical professionals and institutions are allowed to release to third parties.Eckstein has said throughout the trial that he was “doing his job” telling people about the attorney general's office investigation.Linn asked Eckstein if he believed that still applied if he thought the information came to light through such a violation.“It's everybody's right to receive and use information that came to you through a possible HIPAA violation?” Linn asked.Eckstein effectively refused to answer the question multiple times, saying he wasn't sure whether the nurse had seen Pinkerton inside or outside the hospital and wasn't sure if that made a difference regarding such a possible violation.In the morning, Eckstein stressed he never accused Pinkerton of covering up a DUI in the political signs that Eckstein posted on his pickup or on leaflets that were distributed to the public.“I didn't do that,” Eckstein said.He said two witnesses who testified against him, Itzi Meztli and Steve Hively, are disgruntled former supporters.Eckstein said Meztli left his 2011 campaign after Eckstein arrived much later to a commissioner candidate forum, leaving Meztli waiting.According to Eckstein, Meztli also was not happy with Eckstein's performance at the forum.Eckstein said the fallout with Hively happened after he asked the supporter not come to another person's home for a meeting.
