By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
A federal judge in Indianapolis has tossed a lawsuit by a local attorney who claimed FBI agents conspired with the former Delaware County prosecutor to frame him for a crime — namely bribing a witness in a client’s case, according to the Muncie Star Press
In July 2010, attorney Michael J. Alexander filed the lawsuit alleging FBI agents Neal Freeman and James Randall Howard and others “entered into a conspiracy to falsely accuse (Alexander) of a conspiracy to commit bribery,” the paper reported.
It all began in February 2008 when Alexander was charged with bribing the witness. The following year, a local jury deliberated for an hour before finding him not guilty, the Star Press reported. In a separate trial, Alexander’s client and an an investigator for Alexander were convicted of bribing a witness.
Last April, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Young dismissed the case against the county prosecutor. Last week, he dismissed the suit against the agents, the Star Press reported.
The paper reported that the the judge ruled that Alexander “failed to sufficiently allege a constitutional violation.”
“Alexander had claimed that after sending Adrian Kirtz, the alleged recipient of the bribe, to Alexander’s law office wearing ‘electronic monitoring equipment,’ the FBI agents “hid, manipulated or destroyed the recordings” that showed the attorney was not aware of the bribery conspiracy,” the paper reported.
It said Alexander claimed he was targeted because of his public criticism of the Muncie-Delaware County Drug Task Force.
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