CoiNuts travesty revisited

Congratulations to Kevin Mitchell for demonstrating to our community that if you are a con-man, scam artist or hustler you are welcome in Kootenai County, Idaho, and you should have absolutely no fear of being brought to justice by Mr. Barry McHugh the head prosecutor of Kootenai County. As I sadly write this letter I can't help looking at the CoiNuts victims list containing the names of more than 50 of Mitchell's victims who were taken by this man with a total monetary loss of more than $1.4 million. Digest that fact for a moment. If one were to look into this case you would find that the facts and allegations began to mount many months ago at which time the case was presented to Mc Hugh and his folks by the Coeur d'Alene Police Dept. In McHugh's infinite wisdom he decided that this set of circumstances did not warrant prosecution as intent, he felt, could not be shown.

Fast forward to March of 2013 when Barry finally stepped forward, on his white charger, stating that he finally realized, due in part to public pressure, that the CoiNuts case was too complicated for the deputy currently assigned the case and he was assuming command along with Deputy Tara Jalali. No doubt a sigh of relief was heard county wide when the great unwashed public realized the main man was taking over. We all had our hopes up. During this period McHugh made such statements to the Press as "In a case like this it's not the best to hurry the process.(Mar. 13, 2013). He also stated "We are going to take a look at all information available and make a sound charging decision."

And now we fast approach the punchline when on Jan. 17, 2014, Mitchell appeared in Judge Haynes' court. Guess what, people?

Nothing is going to happen to Kevin Mitchell. Why you ask? Because the case against CoiNuts and the Mitchell clan is being vacated which in essence means DROPPED. That's right dropped because Mitchell has stated that he is willing to enter into negotiations to find the money to repay the victims.

It was very gratifying to read that Mitchell stated in court that negotiations were probably the best way to handle the matter. Don't know about you but at this point I began to experience a gag reflex. Let us be clear this is a case of grand theft with a definite pattern. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been stolen from these victims. As mentioned in an earlier letter I have laid the facts of this fiasco before a retired judge friend of mine who has a great deal of experience in these matters and found it difficult to believe that this fiasco had been handled in this manner.

I would suggest to Barry McHugh that when his term is up he consider entering private practice for I believe that the (CNVA) CoiNuts Victims Association will not forget his mishandling of this case. The last question remains as to why did Barry drop this case? I offer three possible reasons. (1) Mitchell was flipped and turned into an informant. (2) Mitchell is on the witness protection program from another jurisdiction. (3)The Kootenai County prosecutor does not have the talent, drive or will to take this matter to a jury where he would be deathly afraid of losing. If I had to choose I select door No. 3.

In conclusion we need to thank David Cole of the Cd'A Press for keeping this tragedy in the public's eye. I think that the managing editor of the Press and Mr. Cole should look Barry McHugh in the eye and ask him why he let this case go down the drain. The power brokers of the local Republican Party should start looking around for McHugh's replacement prior to the next election for, I believe, the victims and their friends and family members will certainly not forget Barry McHugh.

Michael J. Murphy is a Hayden resident.