Dr. Toelle innocent until proven otherwise

It grieves me to see how the news media and the legal system is destroying the reputation of my gastroenterologist, Stan Toelle, with front page news articles. Will the Press publish similar front page headline reports when he is acquitted or the charges dropped? I doubt it.

A little background: I am an attorney who worked with United States Attorneys enforcing Medicare and Medicaid fraud and abuse cases when I actively practiced law. Using heavy-handed procedures granted by statute such as civil forfeiture laws designed to catch and cripple indicted criminals, and secret grand jury proceedings in which the classic description is that “a prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich, since the only evidence presented is favorable to the prosecution,” a prosecutor is able to pressure defendants and include defendants who may only have a peripheral relationship to any crime or crimes committed. Once a trial is held or defense information is presented, often the indictments fail or acquittals occur. Prior events or resolved issues may have no relation to current allegations.

We don’t know if Dr, Toelle is guilty of any charges being leveled against him. Yet, the Press, in an apparent feeding frenzy, is destroying Dr. Toelle’s reputation and “piling on” by seemingly validating the heavy-handed civil forfeiture tool the United States Attorney is using to crush his victim before trial. By seizing assets allegedly related to the alleged crimes, the intention is to preclude the victim from defending himself and forcing an outcome favorable to the prosecution. Similarly, by indicting many, some of whom may be only peripheral to any alleged crimes, or, in truth, perhaps entirely innocent, the United States Attorney hopes to elicit evidence, regardless of truth or fairness, to enable a successful conviction and a prosecutorial notch in the Office’s belt.

We should withhold judgment until the conclusion of the trial in which the defense case is presented.

Moreover, we should remember that the U.S. Attorney could target any one of us, using similar tactics, should we be related to or have business dealings with someone the U.S. Attorney targets. We should also pray for the truth to be revealed, and a fair, equitable and appropriate outcome based on the entire body of evidence presented, rather than only on potentially biased presentations of presumed facts.

Tom Stuber is a Hauser resident.