Isaac Culver Deserves His New Day in Court
Unfortunately, Isaac Culver’s fate was settled quickly and brutally a few months ago after his almost year long wait for his day in court. Like Cliffard D. Whitby and Harold Knowles, Esq., Culver’s case is also included in an endless and expensive series of lawsuits from the Bibb County School Board in their obsessive revenge tour against Dr. Romain Dallemand and his Macon Miracle. Here’s an update and refresher on his case. He begins the appeals process in the Middle District Federal Court on Monday, November 5, 2018. He is seeking an overturned verdict and full acquittal. In July 2018, he was convicted in a jury trial on 13 criminal counts related to the purchase of L300 NComputing devices for the Bibb County School District.
Following the trial and receipt of the trial transcript, it was clear that he required capable counsel to present all the facts that had either been left out or not properly presented to the jury to ensure that an overturned verdict would be delivered. Culver has new counsel, attorneys, Dimitri Dube and Gabriel Reyes, who are currently executing the strategies put forth to compel the judge to overturn the July jury verdict. Culver deserves his day in court. Throughout the entire court proceedings, few believed there would be a guilty verdict due to the lack of the evidence presented by the federal prosecution in the case. Like the Whitby/Knowles case, Culver’s character witnesses also read like a “Who’s Who”, a former US Congressman and Macon Mayor, The Honorable Jim Marshall, Sam Hart, Sr., Chairman of the Macon Water Authority, Ben Hinson, local businessman and philanthropist to name a few. Culver has been an entrepreneur in Middle Georgia for nearly three decades, landing his first contract with the Bibb County School System when he was his late twenties.
Here are some of the major concerns that have been presented:
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The judge is aware that the conviction was factually inaccurate for two points; both at trial and since, it has been proven that the L300 NComputing devices were purchased appropriately as the devices are sold only without mice and keyboards. Secondly, the price of the devices has been documented to have a current value of $187.20. This compares to the sale cost of those devices at $149.... six years ago!
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Several Procedural Issues.... the prosecution illegally changed the grand jury indictment at trial. To make any amendment, there is a legal requirement that the amended charges have go back to the original Grand Jury and ask to be amended by them.
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Substantiated Juror Malfeasance... at least two jurors (including the juror foreman) are confirmed to have contributed to severe acts of jury misconduct.In the most complicated of juror misconduct, the juror foreman was in communication with his wife; who was consorting with the prosecution during the trial.... Communicating the desired outcome of a guilty verdict. Additionally, the juror foreman and his wife provided the prosecutor with a gift after trial. Because of this, Culver’s constitutional right to a fair and impartial trial by jury was not met.
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For the entirety of his trial preparation based upon the indictment a joint defense was prepared. In a highly unlikely set of legal events, three days before the trial the judge granted a severance of the trial to the benefit of the prosecution. In nearly all relevant circumstances, judges always guarantee a 30-day continuance. Culver was not afforded such a common response.
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It has come to the attention of his new legal team that his former counsel put a motion before the court. That counsel filed a motion with the court stating that he would be ineffective counsel and was unable to represent him. He begged and pleaded with the court to allow him more time to prepare but was denied. This communication was not shared with Culver prior to trial.
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A dead man' lies should never have been allowed to talk via deposition. Former IT Director, Tom Tourand's deposition should not have been allowed at his trial. Unbeknownst to Culver and his attorney, Tom Tourand who was a part of the BCSD (Bibb County School District) civil trial had been interviewed on at least three occasions prior to being deposed in the civil trial with Bibb County. It is clear, based on the review of his FBI interview documents, that Tom Tourand was led by interviewers to misrepresent the facts of the purchase and installation of the L300 NComputing devices. Uniquely, after giving his deposition responses, Tom was released from the lawsuit... giving him at least 7 million reasons to lie. Since he could not be cross examined at trial, the law says that prosecutors knew this should not have been introduced.
Isaac Culver deserves another day in court. Isaac Culver deserves a new day in court. The Macon-Bibb County community should be outraged at these outlandish and frivolous lawsuits. Isaac Culver has served on many community boards, foundations, and was recently named the Chairman of the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce until he resigned to manage his life, family, and business due to the lawsuits.
"Justice delayed is justice denied" is a legal maxim meaning that if legal redress is available for a party that has suffered some injury, but is not forthcoming in a timely fashion, it is effectively the same as having no redress at all. This principle is the basis for the right to a speedy trial and similar rights which are meant to expedite the legal system, because it is unfair for the injured party to have to sustain the injury with little hope for resolution. We hope Issac Culver's day in court will yield an opportunity for true justice and fairness to prevail. His hearing is scheduled for Monday, November 5, 2018 10:00am the the federal court house on Mulberry Street.
To get a copy of the motions discussed on this page, click on the link below to access s the Pacer system.