News-Herald Catches Mayor Andy Gardner’s Supporters in Lie Under Oath in Suit Against Fellows

Excerpt from the article:

“On June 18, the News-Herald issued a correction to its story about the lawsuit filed by Mayor Andy Gardner’s supporters—Tony Miller, Vicki Miller, Jeffrey Fruscella, Steve Crone, and Jack Hay—which seeks to remove 18-year Councilwoman Nancy Fellows from office.  Miller and his cohorts claimed under oath that Fellows is under investigation by County Prosecutor Charles Coulson, the Ohio State Auditor’s Office, and the Ohio Ethics Commission.  The News-Herald originally reported this claim without verification, but the newspaper has since contacted these agencies and they refuted Miller and friends’ claims.”

*****

[LFC Comments:  We have several problems with this story.  Why would the News-Herald print a story  that they had not verified?  That is very questionable journalism.  Did they use the original story for their newspaper mailed to their subscribers? If they did, how would the correction be seen by those subscribers?  They have, unintentionally, aided in the smearing of Nancy Fellows.

One would also ask why would five people lie under oath when the verification of their claims could be so easily debunked?   In our opinion, they have brought dishonor to their family names, the Willoughby Hills Council and Administration.

We would expect a written public apology to be forthcoming from these individuals.  Mayor Gardner, what say you?

We have not seen the actual complaint filed.  However, if the statement about the investigations are indeed included in the complaint, the 5 individuals may want to amend their original complaint.  Our guess is that the courts do not like sworn statements that are not factual. No legal advice…just stating the obvious.

*****