Last month, Office Johnna Seeton had cited the Philadelphia Gun Club for ill-treatment of animals regarding the pigeon shoots they held in March. I had written about Officer Seeton’s citations in an earlier post.
Officer Seeton issued five citations in this case.
“The five citations came as a result of two live pigeon shoots held at PGC in March of this year. Each citation represents a pigeon that was wounded by someone participating in the shoot at the PGC and also the live retrieval of these birds by SHARK. SHARK reps were stationed in boats in the Delaware River which borders the club’s property.This was not the first time Officer Seeton, of the PA Legislative Animal Network (PLAN), has filed a similar charge against this gun club. In 2010, the Officer filed a charge after a wounded pigeon was retrieved, once again, by a SHARK rep was stationed in a boat in the river.”
Officer Seeton requested from Bucks County DA David Heckler to be represented by her own attorney regarding this matter. This request would not cost the taxpayers anything.
This past Monday, the 21st, Officer Seeton received a letter from Heckler denying her request and has refused to allow Officer Seeton to be represented in court.
Because of these and past actions of DA Heckler, SHARK (Showing Animals Respect and Kindness) has filed ethics charges against DA Heckler on May 29th, 2012, to The Discplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, District 2 Office.
SHARK’S complaint deals with an inappropriate and unethical relationship between Bucks County, DA Heckler and Bucks County Attorney, Sean Corr.
In 2010, Officer Seeton filed a summary offense against the PGC for wounded pigeon that they left to die after a shoot held on their property. Attorney Corr was quoted as saying the following in a local newspaper:
“Philadelphia Gun Club attorney Sean Corr doesn’t dispute Seeton’s ability to file such a complaint. But the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office will ultimately decide whether to prosecute, he added. Corr declined further comment Thursday.”
Mr. Heckler began to speak very publicly about the case, in a series of stories published in the Bucks County Courier Times. The following was published on July 7, 2010, in an article titled “DA to meet with pigeon activists,” Mr. Heckler expressed his bias on the citation even before he met with Officer Seeton.
“On June 17, Seeton filed an animal cruelty citation against Philadelphia Gun Club.
However, the district attorney said he doubts Seeton will be able to show illegal activity by members of the club.
“I have a complaint from them which is, essentially, hot air,” Heckler said. “It is very specifically not a crime to shoot pigeons. However, I could certainly imagine things that you could do to a wounded pigeon that could be considered cruelty to animals.”
In the 2010 case, “District Attorney David Heckler has asked the court to dismiss animal cruelty charges against the PGC and instructed pigeon shooters there to make a $200 donation to the Bucks County Humane SPCA for a wounded bird that wasn’t immediately killed by hunters.”
At Heckler’s request, Bensalem DJ Len Brown said he won’t consider the complaint filed by Seeton back in June, 2010.
Heckler went on to say that he’s satisfied with Judge Brown’s decision; although, it wouldn’t sit well with Seeton and her anti-pigeon shoot colleagues and it was absorbing too many resources of the Court and the DA’s Office.
According to SHARK, “the irony of Heckler to use the media was using county resources to take complete control of Seeton’s case and dispose of it in a manner which benefited the client of his political paron, Sean Corr.
So what is the relationship between Heckler and Corr? Here is what SHARK states:
Mr. Corr is a donor and activist in the Republican Party of Bucks County. He is the brother of Pennsylvania State Representative Marguerite Quinn, as well as her one-time campaign manager. Mr. Corr was also given a taxpayer funded job as Bucks County Assistant Solicitor, which was controversial in that not only was the position unadvertised (suggesting it was a political patronage job) but that Mr. Corr had just a few months earlier pled guilty to attacking SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) President Steve Hindi when he was legally videotaping a pigeon shoot at the Philadelphia Gun Club (PGC) on December 5, 2009. Mr. Corr is the attorney for the PGC as well as being a pigeon shooter himself. That incident was caught on video and may be viewed at this link: http://tinyurl.com/85y3d2m.
Mr. Corr was one of the largest individual donors to the Bucks County Republican Committee in 2008 (he donated $2,500 in a single donation that year). The Bucks County Republican Committee heavily funded Mr. Heckler’s election campaign. The political connection, however, is much deeper than that. According to the following news article, regarding Mr. Corr’s alleged stealing of a political campaign sign from his sister’s opponent, Mr. Heckler was going to recuse himself from the case because of his ties to Mr. Corr:
“District Attorney David Heckler said he will likely forward the complaint to the state Attorney General because he has contributed to Quinn’s campaigns in the past and Corr has helped with Heckler’s campaigns.” http://tinyurl.com/ckaprqu
Mr. Heckler’s self-professed need to recuse himself from the Corr case demonstrated that there was a verifiable ethical conflict between the two men.
The acknowledgement from Mr. Heckler that he would need to recuse himself from prosecuting Mr. Corr raises serious questions about other prior and current legal dealings between Mr. Heckler and Mr. Corr. Specifically, Mr. Corr represents the Philadelphia Gun Club, which was charged with animal cruelty citations. If Mr. Heckler was going to have to recuse himself from prosecuting Mr. Corr, then how could he have any objectivity when prosecuting Mr. Corr’s clients, or for any deal brokered for that client with the District Attorney’s office?
The PGC holds live pigeon shoots, and SHARK video-documents these shoots. As we will show, Mr. Heckler took a singular personal interest in potential illegal activities that occurred at the PGC and offered them an umbrella of protection.
It must be noted that Mr. Corr and Mr. Heckler have a relationship beyond campaign donations and political campaigning: As Assistant Solicitor for Bucks County, Mr. Corr actually represented Mr. Heckler in court, adding to the concern that these two men should not work together on cases involving Mr. Corr’s clients:
“Acting in his capacity as a part-time Assistant Solicitor for Bucks County, Mr. Corr represented District Attorney David W. Heckler…”: http://tinyurl.com/c527sr5
Our complaint deals with a number of issues, including that Mr. Heckler interfered with and sabotaged efforts by a court appointed Humane Society Police Officer to prosecute the PGC for violations of state law, and that his office ignored numerous violations by the PGC and their members and thus afforded them protection from the law.
“
The acknowledgement from Mr. Heckler that he would need to recuse himself from prosecuting Mr. Corr raises serious questions about other prior and current legal dealings between Mr. Heckler and Mr. Corr. Specifically, Mr. Corr represents the Philadelphia Gun Club, which was charged with animal cruelty citations. If Mr. Heckler was going to have to recuse himself from prosecuting Mr. Corr, then how could he have any objectivity when
Sabotage of Charges
In June of 2010, Johnna Seeton, a court appointed Humane Society Police Officer, filed a summary offense citation against the PGC for a wounded pigeon that the PGC left to die after a shoot held on PGC property. In a foreshadowing of things to come, Mr. Corr was cited in a June 18, 2010 article published in the Bucks County Courier Times:
“Philadelphia Gun Club attorney Sean Corr doesn’t dispute Seeton’s ability to file such a complaint. But the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office will ultimately decide whether to prosecute, he added. Corr declined further comment Thursday.”
Mr. Heckler began to speak very publicly about the case, in a series of stories published in the Bucks County Courier Times. The following was published on July 7, 2010, in an article titled “DA to meet with pigeon activists,” Mr. Heckler expressed his bias on the citation even before he met with Officer Seeton.
“On June 17, Seeton filed an animal cruelty citation against Philadelphia Gun Club.
However, the district attorney said he doubts Seeton will be able to show illegal activity by members of the club.
“I have a complaint from them which is, essentially, hot air,” Heckler said. “It is very specifically not a crime to shoot pigeons. However, I could certainly imagine things that you could do to a wounded pigeon that could be considered cruelty to animals.””
Before meeting with or seeing any of the evidence, Mr. Heckler used the media to express his prejudice in favor of the PGC. This was just the beginning of Mr. Heckler’s improper use of the media to not only air his personal feelings, but to release information about the case without informing Officer Seeton.
The most egregious incident was in an article dated July 23, 2010, titled “DA: Activist won’t be allowed lawyer at hearing.”
“District Attorney Dave Heckler said Wednesday he won’t allow an attorney to represent Humane Society officer Johnna Seeton at a hearing unless there is some legal basis for her allegations of animal cruelty at Philadelphia Gun Club pigeon shoots.
Heckler met last week with Seeton, a longtime animal rights activist. Seeton is scheduled to appear in district Judge Len Brown’s courtroom on Aug 19, after filing a June 17 criminal complaint against the gun club, which is on State Road in the township.”
This was a stunning act by Mr. Heckler, as he had not informed Officer Seeton of his decision, nor, according to her, did he ever officially reply to her request.
Mr. Heckler met with Officer Seeton and her lawyer, then sandbagged both by releasing information to the media in what can only be called an attempt to discredit Officer Seeton and her case. The first time Officer Seeton knew about Heckler’s decision was when she read it in the newspaper.
In that same article, Mr. Heckler said: “’The statute provides that I can permit them to have an attorney and let them do whatever they could do, but I’m not really comfortable with that,” the district attorney added.”
Mr. Heckler’s comfort level was hardly a legal basis for denying a court appointed officer her own attorney, yet he cut off her best chance of prosecuting the citation anyway. Mr. Heckler then did something extraordinary; he cut a deal with Mr. Corr and brought the entire process to a close.
August 12, 2010. The Bucks County Courier Times:
“District Attorney David Heckler has asked the court to dismiss animal cruelty charges against the Philadelphia Gun Club and instructed pigeon shooters there to make a $200 donation to the Bucks County SPCA for a wounded bird that wasn’t immediately killed by hunters.
At Heckler’s request, Bensalem District Judge Len Brown said he will no longer consider the June 18 complaint filed by Humane Society officer Johnna Seeton.”
Mr. Heckler went further by issuing a two-page press release that stated the following:
“I have elected to resolve this particular dilemma by recommending to Judge Brown that this summary prosecution be dismissed upon proof by the defendant Gun Club that they have paid the costs of prosecution and have made a contribution of $200 to the Bucks County SPCA.
While this does not meet with the approval of Ms. Seeton and her anti-pigeon shoot colleagues, I am satisfied that it is a just and appropriate disposition of this matter, which has already absorbed too many resources of the Court and the District Attorney’s Office.”
The irony of Mr. Heckler complaining in his press release that this case “absorbed too many resources” of his office cannot be overstated, as it was Mr. Heckler himself who used county resources to take complete control of Ms. Seeton’s case, and dispose of it in a manner which benefited the client of his political patron, Sean Corr.
It is critical to understand that the charge Officer Seeton filed was a summary offense, the bottom tier of criminal charges. That the District Attorney personally involved himself with such a small citation, to the point of where he used the media to make his case and release information to undercut Officer Seeton, is highly suspicious and would be akin to a DA fixing a speeding ticket for a friend. That is exactly what Mr. Heckler did. It appears he is going to do it again.
On April 30, 2012, Officer Seeton filed five animal cruelty citations against the PGC relating to two pigeon shoots held in March of 2012.
On May 16, 2012, Mr. Heckler responded to Officer Seeton’s request that former Assistant District Attorney Stephen Geday be allowed to represent her in court. His letter, short and curt, and with no explanation, read: “Your request is denied.”
In Officer Seeton’s entire 14-year career as Humane Society Police Officer, the only time she has been denied representation by her own attorney has been under Mr. Heckler, and he denied her this reasonable and fair request twice.
It is clear, by his own actions, that Mr. Heckler has taken an extraordinary personal interest in subverting and undermining the legal actions of Officer Seeton and by doing so, has used his office and authority to protect the Mr. Corr’s client.
Mr. Heckler Protected PGC Members from the Law
Throughout the time SHARK documented live pigeon shoots at the PGC, there were a number of incidents of illegal activity by members of the PGC that both the Bensalem Police and Mr. Heckler’s office either refused to investigate or covered up.
These incidents included the following:
•PGC members driving their vehicles with their license plates covered. This was a clear violation of PA state law. Though we had video and photographs, no action was taken.
•PGC member and attorney Richard Shackelton yelled, “Go fuck yourself you rotten cunt,” to a female activist as he recklessly drove his SUV past her. After both the police and Mr. Heckler refused to charge the man, the activist, a Pennsylvania lawyer, tried to file a private criminal complaint. Mr. Heckler’s office denied it, citing “Insufficient Evidence.”
That was astounding as not only was the entire incident captured on video, but Mr. Shackelton never denied his actions. On the contrary, he took pride in it. On two further occasions, the first at a public meeting in New Jersey where he said he said: “I’m happy to say that, what I said, I meant every word of it,” and the second which was broadcast on NBC news, when he went further and said: “I think that’s what she is and I think she deserved it.”
For Mr. Heckler’s office to say there was “Insufficient Evidence” in this case after the perpetrator admitted to it on television was a slap in the face of the woman who was the target of this heinous verbal assault. Mr. Heckler’s refusal to allow the private complaint to move forward was seen as a directed insult against this woman, and another example of how his office would go to any length to safeguard the clients of Mr. Corr.
•PGC secretary Donald Kass drove his car recklessly at a female activist, nearly hitting her. Even though this was caught on video, no action was taken against Mr. Kass.
• Starting in early 2010, SHARK personnel and other citizens have on numerous occasions had boats legally on the Delaware River videotaping the PGC shoot and retrieving wounded pigeons from the river. PGC members and employees knowingly fire at and hit the boats and their occupants with shotgun discharge, and additionally dump that discharge into the river. As with every other incident, there is overwhelming video documented evidence. Nevertheless, the police and Mr. Heckler refuse to prosecute.
The totality of illegal and dangerous actions taken by Mr. Corr’s PGC client, and the highly improper protection afforded them by Mr. Heckler’s office demonstrates a dire situation in Bucks County.
Retaliation by Mr. Heckler
Everything that we have written about so far has been related to the Philadelphia Gun Club and how Mr. Heckler either directly, or through his office, protected and served the clients of Sean Corr. Throughout that contentious time, Mr. Heckler’s action expressed a growing disdain for the safety of SHARK activists. That prejudice was about to reach a far darker depth.
On February 22, 2010, SHARK held a protest in front of a Carlton Pools’ store in Warminster Township, which is in Bucks County. Carlton Pools is owned by Joseph Solana, who also holds live pigeon shoots on his commercial hunting ground property (hence the reason for the protest).
Our protest was both legal and peaceful. However, Robert Olsen, Operations Manager for Carlton Pools, was angered by our presence and threatened us numerous times that day.
The first incident occurred when Mr. Olsen drove his SUV right at Mr. Hindi as he entered the Carlton Pools parking lot. The second incident happened when Mr. Hindi was in his van and prepared to leave. Mr. Olsen drove his SUV dangerously close to Mr. Hindi’s van, uttered threats, and then sped away. The third and most dangerous incident happened soon after.
Mr. Hindi followed Mr. Olsen after the near hit to get video evidence of his vehicle. Olsen stopped in the middle of a side street. After Mr. Hindi said, “Are you trying to intimidate us?” Mr. Olsen, “Anyway anytime I can.”
Everything that happened was captured on video, which was being taken by SHARK Investigator Janet Enoch.
Mr. Olsen subsequently grabbed at and assaulted Ms. Enoch. Mr. Hindi responded by pushing Mr. Olsen away from Ms. Enoch. Mr. Olsen then pulled out a loaded handgun and pointed it at Mr. Hindi, ordering Mr. Hindi to, “Get down on the ground, mother fucker.” Shortly thereafter, Mr. Olsen and two companions sped away in Mr. Olsen’s vehicle.
Even though Mr. Olsen stated his intent to intimidate Mr. Hindi and Ms. Enoch, that he assaulted Ms. Enoch and drew a loaded weapon and pointed it at Mr. Hindi on a public street, Mr. Olsen was charged with only two minor violations. Mr. Olsen was never charged with any firearms violations or assault. In fact, Mr. Hindi and Ms. Enoch each were faced with more charges by Mr. Heckler’s office than their assailant was.
In the end, Mr. Heckler only charged Mr. Olsen with two minor citations; reckless driving and fighting (neither mentioned the gun or that he had assaulted a woman). This is eerily similar to how Mr. Heckler’s office reduced Mr. Corr’s assault charge so it became almost meaningless.
By way of comparison, just one month after Mr. Olsen drew his weapon in public, a Bucks County resident, Eddie Lee Simmons, pulled a handgun on a snow plow operator who had just buried his car in snow. Mr. Simmons was sentenced to three months in jail.
Mr. Simmons was African-American who apparently had no political connections. Mr. Olsen was white and worked for a Bucks County businessman who, like Sean Corr, had donated to the Bucks County Republican Committee. Mr. Simmons spent time in jail for brandishing his handgun in public. Mr. Olsen was never even charged when he committed the same crime.
Nearly the same crime, yet polar opposite choices made by Mr. Heckler on how to prosecute, or not prosecute, each of them.
Conclusion
The evidence shows:
• That Mr. Heckler used his power to benefit the client of Mr. Corr, the Philadelphia Gun Club. Mr. Heckler personally intervened in favor of the PGC and against a court appointed Humane Police Officer by leaking information to the media about a case and when he gave Mr. Corr’s clients a sweetheart deal to get rid of the citation. Furthermore, by denying that officer’s request that she be represented in court by her own attorney, Mr. Heckler, on two occasions, denied her the ability to properly prosecute her citations against the PGC, an act unprecedented in that officer’s long career.
• That Mr. Heckler persecuted those who oppose him and treated victims of members of the PGC with disrespect and indignity. This includes filing charges against Mr. Hindi and Ms. Enoch when they were the victims and claiming “insufficient evidence” when a PGC member had verbally victimized a woman and admitted what he did on a television newscast.
• That Mr. Heckler showed extreme prejudice when he let one man escape the law and another spend time in jail for committing the same crime, brandishing a handgun in public.
We believe that Mr. Heckler has acted unethically and should be held accountable for the misuse of his office, and for the clear prejudice he has shown. We believe he should be sanctioned and impeached from office, for when those entrusted with power and authority abuse that trust, the law is rendered meaningless.
All relevant documents mentioned in this report are available upon request.