Bellmont Mayor admits to perjury, skips out on court hearing –

Bellmont, IL. (ECWd) –

We attended a court hearing in Wabash County last Thursday in the matter of a Motion of Sanctions and attorney fees filed against Bellmont Mayor Gary Lance for his performance during his several attempts at obtaining Restraining Orders against people for posting the Truth on Facebook.

The Truth consisted of a video of him using the village tractor to spread rock on his private property.

Lance sought retribution against five individuals for exercising their First Amendment right to expose his felonious activities.

Attorney Jonathan Turpin represented the Movants in these Motions. There were five separate Motions to be heard.

During this Hearing, Mayor Lance did not appear, and when called on the phone, he claimed an attorney told him he did not have to appear – which may be true, he did not have to appear, but there is no way he could fight against attorney fees or sanctions without appearing.

Attorney Turpin did an outstanding job asking the right questions and soliciting answers from Lance over the phone during the hearing – essentially boxing him into a corner with his answers.

When asked about his location, he kept repeating that he was not in Bellmont.  Asked for his location again, he said Indiana.  Further questioning elicited a response of Rural King, and then after being asked for his specific location by the Judge he said, Princeton, IN.  It was clear he was being evasive.  Not missing a beat, Attorney Turpin asked the Judge to order Lance to provide a receipt for where he claimed to be shopping.  The Judge directed Lance to provide a receipt to the Court at the next hearing to prove he was actually where he told the judge he was located.  This is sure to be problematic considering Turpin was well prepared to prove he was in Bellmont.  We suspect any receipt he does bring to court will not reflect the time as directed by the Court.

During the Hearing, Lance admitted to perjury in the previous hearing and apologized for it by stating that he did use the village’s tractor, even though he stated in court (and under Oath) that he did not.  Due to that admission, a criminal complaint was filed with the Wabash County Sheriff’s office and we have been told it was forwarded to the State’s Attorney.

During a conference call outside the Courtroom, Lance was given the opportunity to resign from office, and have all of these Sanction Motions be voluntarily dismissed. He declined the offer.

Lance stated he needed to hire an attorney and requested a new hearing date, but he also said he did not have the money to hire an attorney. He was granted an extension, the next Hearing will be July 23, 2020.

These Sanction Motions include the following, nearly identical in all five Motions:

• Petitioner’s Verified Petition for an Emergency Order of Protection / Stalking No-Contact Order in the instant Cause, Filed on March 30th, 2020, the Petitioner without a reasonable belief as to the person(s) responsible for the acts complained of, and without making reasonable inquiry into the underlying allegations Plead wanton lies about the named Respondent, upon information and belief because of personal dislike for the Respondent or political differences between the Parties
• Petitioner falsely asserts that he believed that Bill Eblin was the person who was taking pictures and videos of the Petitioner’s property from the street. Further Petitioner pleads that the instant Respondent was partially responsible for taking pictures of signs at the Belmont Village Hall and posting the videos and pictures to social media outlets.
• Petitioner falsely asserts that he believed that Bill Eblin was the person who was taking pictures and videos of the Petitioner’s property from the street. Further Petitioner pleads that the instant Respondent was partially responsible for taking pictures of signs at the Belmont Village Hall and posting the videos and pictures to social media outlets.
• Petitioner admitted did not believe that the named Respondent was the person responsible for taking/making the photos and videos complained of within his Petition
• Petitioner admitted did not believe that the named Respondent was the person responsible for taking/making the photos and videos complained of within his Petition
• That after the dispositional hearing in the instant Cause, presiding Judge, Judge Dunn, granted leave for the Respondent to seek sanctions as a result of the admitted falsehood of the Petitioner’s testimony
• Petitioner later identified Judge William Hudson who wrote the allegations contained within his Petition, and that the Petitioner did not read the allegations before verifying them as true by his signature, but merely signed it.
  
• Petitioner at the time he made the assertions which are the subject of the instant Cause knew them to be false and such allegations were made admittedly in reprisal for political or personal differences, or for the Petitioner’s belief the Respondent’s made inquiry into the Petitioner’s official actions as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (Mayor) for the Village of Belmont

Having watched numerous attorneys in courtrooms across this state, it’s clear Attorney Turpin is well versed in the law and fully capable of a real Perry Mason style line of questioning. While his clients could not witness the one-two punches being delivered, due to not being able to be in the courtroom since they were witnesses, we assure them they had great representation.

Click a name to read the actual Motions for Sanction – Bill Eblin, David King, Susan King, Jon King, and Amber Banks.

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