Congress Asked to Investigate Complaint Against Four Colorado Federal Judges

Denver, CO -- (ReleaseWire) -- 06/01/2017 --The 10th Circuit Judicial Council has failed to respond to an August 18, 2016 judicial complaint appeal related to alleged misconduct of district court judge Christine M. Arguello, and 10th Circuit appellate judges Harris L. Hartz, Bobby Baldock and Jerome Holmes (Dist. Colo. case no. 09-cr-00266-CMA, 10th Cir. case no. 11-1487). A Just Cause is now asking select members of Congress to inquire into why the 10th Circuit refuses to answer on the complaint that has been pending for nearly 10 months.

The complaint (http://bit.ly/2s863pr) filed through A Just Cause by the defendants known as the IRP6 (David A. Banks, Demetrius K. Harper, Kendrick Barnes, Clinton Stewart and David A. Zirpolo) alleges that Arguello, Baldock, Hartz and Holmes engaged in misconduct when they "intentionally departed from and showed a willful difference to prevailing law then attempted to hide their improprieties by using conjecture manufactured by [Assistant United States Attorney Matthew T. Kirsch] in an attempt to cure gross statutory and constitutional violations that occurred during trial."

"Trial transcripts referenced in the complaint show indisputable evidence that these judges conspired with Kirsch to affirm a wrongful conviction and send these men to prison for 7 to 11 years," says Lamont Banks, Executive Director of A Just Cause. "These judges brazenly and overtly disregarded a federal statute, 10th Circuit and United States Supreme Court law, and the 5th and 6th Amendment rights of the defendants," adds Banks.

The violation of the defendants 5th Amendment rights and mishandling of the appeal were so egregious and unprecedented, it motivated former federal appeals judge H. Lee Sarokin to decry the injustice in the Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/judge-h-lee-sarokin/the-case-of-the-missing-t_1_b_5340397.html) which was included as part of the judicial complaint. "With all this uncontroverted evidence, the (10th Circuit) Court of Appeals certainly has enough evidence to conclude that the (5th Amendment) right against self-incrimination indeed was, violated by the trial court," said Sarokin. Sarokin also spoke about the case in the Washington Post (http://www.wapo.st/29jXqSC) and, as a playwright in his retirement, Sarokin wrote a thought-provoking play titled "The Race Card Face Up" where professional actors portray the IRP6 in a reading of the play on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y94O5mMJqHU).

The "Race Card Face Up" is based on Judge Sarokin's conclusion that the IRP6 were prosecuted and imprisoned for failing to pay corporate debts and actual events that took place during trial where Judge Arguello maliciously abused her power against the IRP6 defendants who were representing themselves. The play deals specifically with Judge Arguello violating the six defendants 5th Amendment rights by forcing them to testify against their will after threatening to terminate their defense if they didn't comply. What shocked and disturbed Sarokin was that when the six helpless men requested the transcript of Judge Arguello's threats that forced them to the stand, Judge Arguello denied them and then the transcript mysteriously disappeared and was not available for their appeal. Without the transcript, 10th Circuit judges Baldock, Hartz and Holmes said the men "voluntarily" testified and sent them to prison anyway.

In a letter to U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts (http://bit.ly/2sfjTpr), A Just Cause expressed concern about the 10th Circuit harboring "deep-rooted bias" against the IRP6 defendants based on "scathing public criticism" of the judges on the Internet and asked that the complaint be transferred to another circuit for an impartial review. The request to Justice Roberts was based in part on 10th Circuit Chief Judge Timothy Tymkovich's original response that there was not sufficient evidence to "raise an inference of misconduct" when the trial record clearly shows indisputable evidence that the judges violated the defendants 6th Amendment rights by disregarding an unambiguous federal statute that included very detailed and specific instructions from Congress.

"If Judge Sarokin, a former federal appeals judge, recognized the constitutional violations and gross mishandling of the case by Arguello and Kirsch, why did his active 10th Circuit peers, judges Baldock, Hartz and Holmes not only disregard the law and Arguello and Kirsch's misconduct, but affirm the wrongful-conviction of the IRP6 and send them to prison?" asks Banks.

"The refusal to answer the complaint by the 10th Circuit indicates that there is a concerted effort to cover-up misconduct to protect judges and prosecutors. They could care less if these six men have been wrongly-imprisoned for nearly 5 years and that their families are suffering and crying from this unbelievable injustice," says Banks. "Justice delayed is justice denied and A Just Cause will not relent in our efforts with Congress to investigate this matter to get justice for the IRP6," says Banks. "I encourage everyone to watch the "Race Card Face Up" on YouTube and read the Washington Post article to hear the complete story and truth about the IRP6 case and help A Just Cause free the IRP6," concludes Banks.