Kimball Mason deserves prison, but LONG jail time would suffice
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Our previously-esteemed city prosecutor, Kimball Mason, has finally admitted he stole items from the Idaho Falls police evidence room for his own personal gain. He also admitted he forged documents sometimes to get those items. An investigation has found he committed these crimes numerous times, he admits he did it numerous times, and yet he is only being charged with three of those counts!
What we have here fellow citizens is an old-fashioned a$$ covering in Idaho Falls. Pay close attention and you can hear the good old boy network grinding away. I say this with two things in mind:
1- How was he able to get items out of the evidence locker for so many years without getting noticed sooner? In one instance, he apparently changed a judge’s order right in front of the police officer to get extra items that he did not know were there until that police officer informed him. What is that police officer’s story? What happened to the checks and balances that would spotlight items are being removed from the evidence room to be used for city purposes, but which never arrive for city purposes? Who was in charge of the accounting redundancies that failed? Failing to pursue the accessories to Kimball Mason’s crime casts even the investigators as accessories.
2- How much jail time is Kimball Mason really going to earn with those three measly counts? I can appreciate that he was responsible for putting thousands of criminals into prison, so to send him to prison would be to essentially sentence him to death. However, he certainly deserves the maximum jail time allowable per his crimes.
Why does Kimball Mason deserve the maximum sentence? Yes, he did great things for Idaho Falls for many years, yes he was an upstanding citizen in other respects, and yes, as Mayor Jared Fuhriman stated, “…people make mistakes.”
However, Kimball Mason knew better than most everyone else that his actions were illegal, and the full consequences of his actions. He did not make a single mistake, he committed these crimes numerous times over several years. Kimball Mason had a GREATER responsibility to not commit those crimes, and he did it anyways several times. He gamed the system, he abused his position, and he now he is using his city connections to snooker Idaho Falls into a light sentence.
If he does not get adequate punishment, Idaho Falls citizens ought to run him out of town and protest at city hall for a full investigation into who enabled his crimes and who was part of letting him get off easy.
UPDATED STORIES:
Justice Served to Kimball Mason
Kimball Mason and his cronies almost got away with it
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Comments
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0 
0 I agree, Kimball Mason is a crook. He should have known better, and because of that his sentence should be maximized. Any prosecutor who seeks less than the maximum sentence should be flogged, as should any judge that sentences him less than the maximum.
If Kimball Mason were prosecuting someone else for the same crime, would he show any mercy? Absolutely not.
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0 0 You people do not know what you are even talking about. Kimball Mason is a great guy — who had some personal problems and screwed up. He will likely pay very dearly for his mistake. Just losing his license to practice law — and the shame and humiliation is punishment beyond what any court can do to him. The fact of the matter is this: Our jusdicial is bogged down by too many criminals and not enough police, prosecutors and/or jail space. Pleas bargins are so often done — in an attempt to get the job done — yet still lighten the load on the system when possible. These deals are made in most cases — with a prosecutor giveing tremendous consideration to victims — their families — and the community in general. One of the things that can most influence what type of “deal” can be offerred to offender is their lifelong past — criminal record and what impact — positive or negative the person has had on society. Mr. Mason had been an outstanding citizen — good parent — leader within his community, and to my knowledge — did society a hell of a lot more good than harm. This is the type of thing that makes him — in my mind eligibale for some mercy and understanding. The belief that because of his position he should pay a higher price is rediculous in my opinion. People make mistakes. Look very closely at what this one will actually cost him. Because of his great life history to this point — and his standing in the community — he has much to lose. And likely has lost it all. And he still gets convicted of multiple felonies — and loses his ability to work in the field for which he was trained and educated. Relax. He’s paying for it.
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0 0 A couple of comments:
1. Kimball isn’t using “Idaho Falls connections” to get off. He made a plea agreement with the IDAHO attorney general, not the Idaho Falls prosecutor. A judge from Bannock county will decide his fate and whether to accept the plea. You can argue that the deal is light (I think it is light) but don’t make up crap by saying he pulled strings with Fuhriman or someone to get off because no one in Idaho Falls had anything to do with it.
2. People wonder how Kimball fooled the police. Any police officer who verified every court order that came down would soon be crucified by the judges and clerks who issued the orders - so many come down that the system would grind to a halt if they did this. If it looks real, and Kimball made them look real, then the police are going to follow the order. Simple as that.
3. I agree Kimball was a bad prosecutor. But part of the problem is that Idaho Falls is so cheap. Most cities our size would have several full time prosecutors. Kimball only worked part time for the city. Which meant he didn’t have time to prosecute all the cases that came his way. Which meant he dismissed or plea bargained a lot of them. He was a lazy prosecutor in a setting which encouraged dumping cases. Not a good combination.
4. Lastly, to be quite honest Kimball will probably be punished much harder than most would. I still think his sentence is light but the simple fact of life is that the vast majority of people convicted of felonies (especially those of the non violent variety) don’t do prison simply because the prisons are full. They get probation and suspended sentences. The non violent offenders only hit prison if they violate their probation several times or if they have a lot of prior convictions or if there is an intense media spotlight on the case. Kimball will probably do more jail time than a normal person stealing the same amount would.
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0 0 “Kimball will probably do more jail time than a normal person stealing the same amount would.”
I would hope so. Kimball didn’t walk in to somebodies house and steal personal property he
was stealing evidence from a secure location. that is not even something a “normal” person
could pull off. so i feel “more jail time than a normal person stealing the same amount
would” is still not enough punishment.
as a prosecutor he knew better than anyone he was risking his family career and ultamatly his live when
he forged documents to steal evidence. i say thwor the book at him and let him rot in prison
not jail.
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0 0 Ok just to start out. Has anyone bothered to look at the constitution of the
state of idaho? I have. I did battle with mason over a gun that was illegally
siezed by the idaho falls police department. then when it was brought to their
attention that it was illegaly seized they passed the buck to mason. who’s reply
was to deal with it. that i has not the power or know how to do anything about it.
now think every single firearm in question was the result of a misdemeanor violation
(that is ALL mason handled for the city) and article 1 section 11 of the state
constitution is very clear
“No law shall impose licensure, registration or special
taxation on the ownership or possession of firearms or ammunition. Nor shall
any law permit the confiscation of firearms, except those actually used in the
commission of a felony.”
that being pointed out no mr mason was not acting solo. these guns were seized in
contrast to state law. the police department refuses to release these guns to their rightful
owners in contrast with state law. it finaly took a judges order for my gun to be released for mine to come home. and that took almost three years.
sorry mark i DO know what im talking about here. i lived it.
so who else was involved? i couldnt tell ya but it goes much deeper than one IDIOT.
and if mr mason worked only part time for the city why was his paycheck 112,000
dollars annualy? seems a touch high for a part time job. that takes ALOT of parking tickets to pay for.
i could go on forever on this but im sure you can see where it goes.
WHEN mr mason recieves his slap on the hand it hope it stings the face of every resident of idaho falls. because every single one of us will have been CHEATED out of justice.
oh but wait isnt equal justice under the law also provided by the constitution??
KIMBALL MASON MAY YOU FRY IN PEACE
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0 0 Is anyone else up for bringing back a good old fashioned public hanging? i think that may be a fitting end to this story.
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0 0 I admit, my interaction with Kimball was limited but it left a powerful impression.
My brother was killed while riding his bike in Idaho Falls and the driver
made an illegal turn in front of him while pulling an unregistered trailer.
Kimball refused to return my calls and never had any
interaction with the family prior to the day of the trial, which is when he
divulged that he would not press charges against the driver. I made many calls
to his office and even emailed him, trying to find out what was going on with the case.
From speaking with a local reporter I learned this type of behavior was not uncommon, Kimball
has refused to provide many other families with information about their cases. Moreover,
other people have been killed in similar accidents and the perpetrator of these
crimes were also not convicted or even charged. In my mind, this makes Kimball a
lazy, ineffective prosecutor. Perhaps he is a wonderful father and citizen, but
his professional demeanor was criminal (yes, he violated many
different canons of the American Bar Association and should have been sanctioned for
these issues alone. The roles and responsibilitiers of a prosecutor are public
information). Ironically, the attorney retained by Kimball was the same one the
truck driver used to avoid charges in my brother’s case. Coincidence? You decide.
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0 0 i’ve never had the opportunity to meet the guy but I’ve talked with other people that have and all say the same things. maybe we could just fix a noose to a bridge over the river and all watch him dangle.
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0 0 John,
I’m sorry about your brother. I remember that incident although I don’t recall what if anything the driver was initially charged with. What was the charge out of curiousity? Because Kimball only handled city misdemeanor cases and basic traffic citations. Vehicle manslaughter, such as the one in the news right now case involving the 72 year old who was killed by a kid high on meth while driving, is a felony. Your brother’s case would have been handled by the county as well if the driver had been charged with a felony. The fact that Kimball was involved makes me think the driver was only charged with a basic traffic violation.
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0 0 Chiasm,
Thanks. You are correct, the driver was to be charged with misdemeanor homicide but
that never happened because my Brother was resucitated at the hospital. The facts
of the case, in my opinion, deserved to be heard by a jury. Kimball
used a recent supreme court opinion to dismiss the case but the events of that
trial were quite different than the accident at hand. The truck driver in my Brothers
case did not receive a single infraction despite breaking several laws.
A local news reporter will hopefully be documenting similar accidents where people were either seriously injured or killed yet the defendants were never charged. I don’t think the driver intended
to kill Mark but certainly exhibited negligence (there were two other people in the car at
the time that said they did not see Mark despite an unobstructed view,
on a clear day, and Mark clearly had the right-of-way). I also discovered that paperwork
associated with case and filed with the court had been falsified. So, there seems to
be many aspects of Mark’s case that mirror what’s already been published. Not to mention
that we could not get any information about the case from Kimball despite
numerous requests.
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0 0 People working in law enforcement should be held to a higher standard, and do not deserve to plea for justice when they have spent years flaunting the very system they swore to uphold.
It is unthinkable that Mason Kimball will essentially walk away a free man after violating the faith and gtrust of the City of Idaho Falls and the people he was supposedly serving, even while he willingly committed felonies and violated the law and the oath he had taken as an officer of the court and an attorney.
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0 0 Kimball won’t be walking away a free man. Where do you get that from? Most likely he is going to do a year in a jail. You can make some valid arguments that he should more time but don’t make false points that nothing is happening to him when that is far from the truth.
Here is what would happen to the average citizen with no prior record. They would do NO jail time. They would get fined and get probation. And they would keep their day job most likely. Kimball has lost his job and all future jobs in his field, he’ll likely be doing a year in jail, he’s already paid restitution for all the guns but he’ll pay more in fines, and he’ll get probation. He’s going to get a much more serious penalty than a normal person with no criminal record would.
Another point many don’t realize. I hear a lot of people say how easy he’s getting off because he committed nineteen thefts and is only getting convicted of two. Thats totally normal with the system. No serial thief, be it a car burgalar, shoplifter, or whatever is ever tried and convicted of every theft. Thats because you have to have a seperate trial for each crime and thats gets very costly and time consuming. Its 110% standard operating procedure to accept a plea bargain on a few of the counts rather than try nineteen seperate cases which would bog down the courts for quite a while.
As you might guess by my comments I’m more than a bit familiar with the legal system given that I work in it. I know Kimball through work and on a few occasions was in court with him. I don’t personally like Kimball so don’t think I’m trying to defend him. I just don’t like it when mistruths get spread about the how and why of whats going on. It does nothing but get people upset without cause and then they spread more mistruths and soon there is a whole lot of anger where there shouldn’t be any.
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0 0 I appreciate your comments chiasm, and you obviously have some legal expertise and inside perspective to this contentious issue. One thing I don’t understand it the requirement for separate trials for each crime. Isn’t that when they label it ‘charged with 19 counts of whatever’? If he was charged with 2 crimes in this instance why wasn’t it two trials?
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0 0 I just found this site and I appreciate the forum for discussion. I have lived in Idaho Falls for over 45 years now and have known of Kimball Mason for quite a while. My experience with him has given me the opinion that he has an air of smugness and superiority about himself.
As I recall, he was elected Bonneville County Prosecutor multiple times, then I think it was 1992 when he was defeated in the election. During his tenure he had built relationships in the good old boy network which led to him receiving an appointment as city prosecutor, basically a sweetheart deal that was handed to him. It was renewed without opposition and probably would have continued to be so as long as he wanted. Even Mayor Fuhriman tried to sugarcoat his offenses, as an ex-police officer could you see him defending criminals he had arrested in the same way?
A big problem I have with the plea agreement is that I see a class conflict within the judicial system. Kimball Mason stole nearly 20 firearms (that we know of), forged signatures on official court documents, and carried on this charade over a period of years. And he is looking at a year at the most along with probation as I understand it. I have a son who was arrested for a felony several years ago. A couple of years ago he was picked up by the local police and had a firearm confiscated from him. The police later released the firearm to his step-brother. About a year ago my son was close to being paroled from prison and he knew he would have to get rid of the firearm. He arranged a deal to have the gun sold, it was a gun he legally owned. Remember, the police had taken it from him and checked it out, and then returned it to him. Two officers from the Department of Correction got wind that my son had been trying to sell a gun and convinced the Feds to file federal charges against him for being a felon in possession of a firearm. And get this, since my son has two felonies, they charged him with two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. They never accused my son of having physical possession of the firearm, since he was in prison at the time, but I guess that doesn’t matter. He is now facing 20 years in federal prison for trying to get rid of a gun he knew he couldn’t have, which the police had taken from him and then returned.
Something that really bothers me is that if they thought my son was breaking the law, then why didn’t they file the felon in possession of a firearm charge when they first confiscated the gun? Then when my son was released from prison last April he was jailed for a simple curfew violation less than 3 weeks after his release. They kept him in the county jail for months, then ended up serving an old arrest warrant they had laying around since before he even went to prison. So he ended up going back to prison again. Why didn’t they bring up all of the charges at once instead of setting him up to go back to prison after only a few weeks of freedom? That’s just not right. Oh, and by the way inmates cannot bring items into the prison, everything must be purchased there. So even though he was only out for a few weeks, he had to re-purchase all of his clothing, shoes, hygiene items, guitar, TV, etc. And these items must be purchased through the prison commissary, and they are grossly overpriced.
Sorry for the rant, but what I am getting at is that Kimball Mason committed serious gun crimes time after time, year after year, and he is looking at a year at the most. My son, wrong though he might have been, was trying to do what he thought was the right thing (only one gun crime) and he is facing 20 years. Double standard? What do you think?
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0 0 You guys go suck a c*** (IdahoFallz.com admin edited). I knew him personally and he is a very good man. I realize he broke the law but the last thing he deserves is death. You are joking about this and it is a serious thing. He has a family too and he deserves better comments from the likes of you people.
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0 0 Kimball Mason deserves what he got and more. He is lazy and conceited and obviously thought he was above the law.
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0 0 From reading the PR this am it appears that Mason was giving or selling guns to city attorneys,
county prosecutors (current and former), police department employees, and probation officers.
Are we really expected to believe that none of these people knew what Mason was doing? Right
now I could care less about what Mason got or not. I’m more concerned that his actions were not
one of a single individual. He may be the guy that was stealing the guns but this web is getting
bigger by the day! This isn’t something that can be handled locally either. There really needs
to be an independent investigator from outside the area with no ties or relations to anyone involved
who can come in and really uncover just what was going on. The person can be from Boise, CdA,
SLC, or even the FBI for all that matters but as a citizen I’m sensing that a hell of a lot more
people were intimately involved in this that just Mason!
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0 0 I agree with Flat Lander, there are many other people culpable in the commission of these crimes and they
too should be held accountable. I believe the Mayor’s office also knew about these thefts and thus
facilitated their execution and should be investigated. Kimball’s sentence is fair considering the severity
of these crimes, even if he is a ‘nice guy with a family’. Sorry, the fact that he is a good guy does not
place him above the law, especially given his position in the judicial system.
How would you feel if one of your family members were harmed by someone cut lose by Kimball so that
he could steal their guns?
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0 0 I feel that everyone is game to their own opinion and each person here has one, and that is great. However, bottom line is that Mason should NOT have done this in the first place. It was legally and MORALLY wrong, and he knew that. If he did this then what else has he done and can he ever be trusted again by anyone? He stole and he lied, he should have known that he was going to get caught and he didn’t seem to care because , he just kept doing it. I feel that an example should be made of him. They are the ones that we are suppose to be able to TRUST and have FAITH in to protect us. I just makes me not trust any person that has to do with up holding the law. Just like the phrase goes, it just takes one bad apple to make all of them look bad. I know that everyone makes “mistakes” and some are really big ones but, how can any one say that this was a mistake? It wasn’t just one gun that he took, it was a lot over a long amount of time. He knew what he was doing and therefore he needs to be treated as the crime should be treated if it was some on off the street. We count on the law (from all sides Police, Judges, Lawyers….ect) to protect us and if he could get to them and take as many as he did for as long as he did then, how do we know some one with more harmful intentions isn’t going to get to them as easy as he did? There are more things to look at and I think that everyone needs to set aside the “type” of person that he is and, look at the bad example that he has given. As well as the lack of faith that he has given to everyone around him whether you know him or not. I don’t doubt that he wasn’t a good person but this “mistake” needs to be properly dealt with.
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0 0 I can’t resist telling Chiasm that he couldn’t be more wrong. The judicial system does not require that each charge be tried under a separate trial. The charges can be consolidated and tried as a single trial. The plea agreement is a necessary part of the justice system as it would be impossible to try every case at trial. However, don’t kid yourself that one of the reasons that some of the charges weren’t pursued was because it would have disclosed information regarding other individuals who were involved that the powers-that-be who appointed them didn’t want made public.
John Stosich was appointed by the comissioners. (How many guns did he have/hide?)
Kelly Mallard was appointed by the commissioners. (He not only had a gun but watched as bribes were being paid to KM)
Kimball Mason was appointed by the city council. (Need I say more on that one?)
Dane Watkins was appointed by the commissioners (yes, he knew about what Kimball was doing, he just didn’t have the backbone to take him on about it. Jimmie Caudle went to the AG’s office, who couldn’t investigate unless Dane invited them in. He finally had to because the suburban issue came out)
Chief Livesey was appointed by the city council. (Yes, he knew, or should have because it was his department who was cutting Kimball checks in exchange for getting money forfeited).
Jim Archibald was appointed by the commissioners. (He didn’t last six months before having to resign in shame)
Have we had any appointed official in recent history who has stood the test of legitimacy?
The powers-that-be moved heaven and earth to protect themselves and their appointed ones. Appointed people are not subject to the ballot box, but the ones who appoint them are. There’s a very “good” reason why all of the charges weren’t brought forward. Self-protection being a main one.
Now, we’re going around again because in spite of everything they did, the information came out anyway and they have to prosecute Kimball again. Let’s hope they prosecute them all this time.
And let’s hope that we as the voters make our elected officials painfully aware that we are no longer going to tolerate their appointing people based on cronyism, religion, political party favoritism, but rather on the merits of the individual. Make them bring the process of appointing people out into the open BEFORE the choice is made rather than after. There are two more appointments pending as we speak. For God’s sake, speak up and be heard! I don’t want to do this again, do you?
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0 0 I haven’t read anything about the new charges that might be brought against Kimball (albeit well deserved and long overdue); is this information posted on any website? I agree, all involved should be held accountable this time but it’s unlikely to happen given the prevailing ineptitude.
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0 0 What I can’t believe is that everyone is so concerned about what he stole. I am worried about all the false judgements he has imprisoned people for. I think all of his cases should be reviewed by the courts and people wrongfully prossecuted thru Kimball should be retried. They need to find out how many people his cronies framed and how many times he took a bribe to get rid of it. He is a bad man and I do believe he deserves the death penalty.Firing squad would be nice. I wish his cronies would stop coming on here and defending his actions. Because they are going to find all of you too and put you all behind bars with him. Kimbal Mason isnt a good man at all. He is a sick man with some really sick power issues. He is going to pay for everything he did and has done. God will meet him some day. And satan will welcome him home.
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0 0 Wow. I have wondered about the focus on the items, too in the sense of how many cases got screwed up by missing evidence. Isn’t that the value the items held at that point, even more than monitary?
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0 0 So who thinks we should have his convictions looked at? since he also took alot of bribes? i think so . lets get everyone to call the internal affairs office and the bars association.
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0 0 Whether we like the rules of the court or not, the fact remains that unless the defendant asks that his case be reviewed, it will not happen. No one can possibly believe that the court would voluntarily subject itself to an audit of all of KM’s cases. The defendant, by himself or through his attorney, has to file with the court and ask that his/her case be reviewed and cite the basis for the request. There are strict timelines regarding appeals, but a strong case could be made to exempt a case involving KM from timeliness issues.
Another thing you need to understand is that not many attorneys ask that the defendant’s property be returned. It is a separate request from the other parts of the criminal procedures that usually takes place after sentencing, although it can be filed at any time after the property was seized. That’s why so many people lost their property. Their attorneys weren’t asking that it be returned, and the average citizen doesn’t know how to go about getting it back by himself.
I don’t believe cases were screwed up over missing evidence. The items taken by KM weren’t taken until after the cases were finished. At least that’s the way it appears in the AG’s report.
As for holding him and his cronies accountable, complaining on this website isn’t going to cut it. We have to go to our commissioners, the attorney general, the ballot box, and demand that justice be done. Send a letter to the editor detailing how you won’t vote for any elected official who doesn’t stand up and voice his support for a complete disclosure of the facts/people in this catastrophe.
Write the judge. He has retained jurisdiction over the sentencing. He can still require that KM serve the full five years instead of six months.
The people we elected work for us (although they hate being reminded of that fact). If we demand that they clean up this mess, they will do it. If they don’t, we could always vote them out of office. What a unique concept! Is there any new blood downtown? I can’t think of anyone in office right now who hasn’t been on the public payroll for years. Maybe it’s time we vote them all out!
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0 0 kewl - Yes Kimball Mason definetely deserves to be punished for his crimes, and should have to serve his time in prison. However, I hardly think his crimes warrant the death penalty. That is a little extreme. Nobody was physically harmed by any of his actions.
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0 0 PLEASE! If anyone finds out and as soon as anyone finds out the date that Kimball Mason will be seen again by the judge (the 180 day rider thing), please post it here.
I’ll try to get the day off to attend and I’m sure others would also.
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0 0 Guest,
I hardly consider “phsyical harm” as a criteria for incarceration. And I wouldn’t be so sure of that no one was physically harmed. Didn’t a sexual offender go uncharged due to km’s negligence? How many kids were sexually molested because KM didn’t do his job? Yes, mistakes happen, but if KM wasn’t so busy shopping in the property room, he might have been a tad more diligent about his contractural, ethical, moral, assigned duties, like prosecuting criminals.
I don’t remember the exact statistics, but aren’t some 70+ % of criminals non-violent offenders? If we use that no one was physically harmed as an excuse to release KM, then what about the other 70+ % of individuals who are now in prison/jail? Do we let all them go too after six months?
I think “death penalty” sounds a little harsh, but you have to understand that the people in this city are so intensely disappointed and disgusted, not only with km, but with all his supporters and co-horts, that they are reacting strongly - thank god. Would you rather no one reacted at all?
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0 0 I never said he should be released, I totally agree he should be in prison. I only said that the death penalty was not warranted by his actions.
I was not aware that a sexual offender had gone uncharged because of him. I guess that is a different issue.
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0 0 I just don’t think whether physical harm was committed or not was a criteria in how km handled any of the cases he prosecuted. It shouldn’t be a criteria now. Since causing physical harm to someone would usually result in felony charges, that charge would be handed over to the county as km didn’t handle felonies. It just doesn’t apply in any way I can see.
But again, I agree that “death penalty” is a bit overboard. But I do believe you’re taking it too literally, although I have seen the county prosecutors drooling to fire up ol’ sparky on a lot of cases they handle. They want to throw the book at everyone who comes through their doors. Now the shoe’s on the other foot. It isn’t a big surprise that people, many of whom have had to deal with the overzealous crowd in the prosecutors’ offices, are wanting a little vengeance.
Personally, I’ve never been charged on either a city or county level, but I am familiar with the emotions that go along with seeing someone get a little back of what they’ve been dishing out. It’s hard to remain above those primitive feelings. And there’s times when you just don’t want to pull yourself above them. Working their way through these feelings will give them a chance to heal. Allow them that. Healing is what we’re all trying to accomplish although I doubt that can happen until the entire wound is purged of its infection. There are a lot more people who were part and parcel of this disaster who should be held accountable. Until they are, I doubt anyone can fully be healed and learn to trust our local officials again. That is something I don’t think the powers-that-be are taking into consideration. They truly believe if they can get this mess back below the radar, then we’ll be back to business as usual before you know it. On the contrary, to any of them who may be reading this, I say to you that none of you will ever be trusted again until you insist anyone and everyone who was complicit in this be required to answer for their involvement. Covering it up won’t make us trust you, quite the opposite. It may cause more embarrassment, but it would make us believe that you have the best interests of the community at heart, rather than your own political career. And besides, we don’t want to go back to business as usual. Business as usual didn’t work for us before and it won’t ever work for us again. If you can’t get your head around that, it’s time to step down.
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0 0 As per Innsider Observer’s comments, we did ask the AG and Bar Association to investigate Kimball’s actions (in our case) but they both declined. As the defendant in our case was deceased, we ask on his behalf citing various infractions of the legal canons. The Bar Association basically told me to get lost and when I pressed harder, they refused to acknowledge my request or answer our calls. I would be happy to provide copies of this information to any news organization as a means to substantiate this cover up. The AG said they could not investigate unless invited to do so by Dane Watkins, which never happened. I agree, people need to raise the level of awareness so these actions do no pass un-noticed, I’m just not sure whom to contact. We also contacted the Mayor but she also dismissed our concerns, to no great surprise. I finally turned to the local new organizations (TV, paper) and only the Post Register was interested in following up on the story.
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0 0 John,
Did the defendant have an attorney either for his criminal case or his estate?
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0 0 look at the Kimball mason updates he is in deep sh!t now
http://www2.state.id.us/ag/newsrel/2006/nr_sept062006.htm
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0 0 Observer,
My apologies, I meant to say the victim was deceased, not the defendant. Anyway, the defendant’s lawyer was Fred Hoopes, who also represented Kimball Mason in his criminal proceedings. Coincidence??
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0 0 No, you can’t read too much into that. Every criminal defense attorney in town would have had dealings with km. Then when he needed an attorney for his own defense, he would have to turn to one of them.
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0 0 Here’s the media release from the state AG’s office:
http://www2.state.id.us/ag/newsrel/2006/nr_sept062006.htm
Date: September 6, 2006
Media Contact: Bob Cooper
(208) 334-4112
Kimball Mason Charged With 13 Additional Felonies
- Attorney General asks court to impose full prison term from previous sentence.
(Boise) – The Attorney General’s Office today filed a new criminal complaint charging former Idaho Falls City Prosecutor Kimball Mason with 13 additional felonies. In a separate filing, the Attorney General asked Judge William Woodland to relinquish jurisdiction over Mason and order Mason to serve the remainder of the one to five year sentences imposed on May 30, 2006.
The new complaint, filed in Seventh District Court in Bonneville County, Magistrate Division, charges Mason with seven counts of grand theft by possession of stolen property and six counts of forgery or, alternatively, falsifying a public record. Senior Seventh District Magistrate Judge Robert Brower, of Blackfoot, issued a warrant for Mason’s arrest. Bond was set at $500,000. Idaho Department of Correction officials, who currently have Mason in custody, are expected to surrender him on the warrant to answer the new charges soon. If convicted, Mason faces a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison on each of the 13 counts.
On April 19, 2006, Mason entered a plea of guilty to two felony counts of grand theft and one felony charge of falsifying a public record. The charges related to Mason’s unlawfully taking possession of firearms from the Idaho Falls Police Department evidence custodian and to Mason falsifying a court order authorizing the release of a firearm to himself. Pursuant to the plea agreement, Mason admitted in court that he had stolen 16 other weapons from the Idaho Falls Police Department. He also agreed to truthfully disclose the disposition of other weapons that had been turned over to his possession and that could not be accounted for in the investigation.
On May 30, 2006, Judge Woodland sentenced Mason to three concurrent one to five year prison sentences. The court retained jurisdiction and Mason entered a 180-day evaluation program at the North Idaho Correctional Center in Cottonwood. The effect of the motion filed by the Attorney General today, if granted, would be that the court would release its retained jurisdiction over Mason and he would immediately serve the remainder of the one to five year prison sentences imposed by Judge Woodland.
Seven of the new charges in the complaint allege Mason was in possession of four of the missing guns from the initial investigation as well as three other guns taken from Idaho Falls Police Department evidence. Mason is now charged with seven counts of grand theft by possession of stolen property relating to those weapons.
The additional six new felony charges allege that Mason used two judges’ signature stamps on orders forfeiting firearms to the Idaho Falls City Prosecutor’s Office. The complaint alleges that Mason used the signature stamps without the authority or approval of the judges.
The memorandum filed with Judge Woodland today also states that the Attorney General is addressing, in a separate and ongoing investigation, allegations that Mason used the signature stamps of magistrate judges in other cases he handled as a contract attorney for various counties within the Seventh Judicial District.
The Attorney General noted that a criminal complaint is merely a formal accusation of a crime and that defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The Attorney General’s Criminal Law Division is serving as special prosecutor in the Mason cases at the request of Bonneville County Prosecuting Attorney Dane Watkins, Jr.
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0 0 John
You need to ask the defendant’s attorney to re-open the case, it sounds like. Have you tried that?
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0 0 Observer,
I’m not sure what motivation the defendant’s attorney would have to re-open the case as his client walked away from a vehicular manslaughter charge with a clean record and small fine (recall the driver/defendant killed a bicyclist). Either way, it sounds like KM is in more trouble, I can only hope others involved will also be held accountable too (not betting the farm on this one though).
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0 0 John,
Have you considered suing in the civil courts?
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0 0 Just so I’m clear, where does the Mayor and City Council fit into all of this? It would seem to me they were Mason’s “supervisor or boss.” But, I might be wrong.
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0 0 The mayor and city council appointed Kimball Mason to be the city prosecutor. He had an annual renewable contract for this position. No one has been able to get their hands on a copy of his contract. But somewhere in that contract should be a provision regarding the oversight of his work.
No one who works for the government would work without some sort of oversight, at the very least.
Without the contract, no one would have any way of knowing who on the council was responsible for monitoring his work.
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0 0 Ok, here’s my question… How did KM get hold of two different judges signature stamps? He HAD to know that it was wrong to use them. Furthermore, are our local judges implicated in this crime ring too? I agree with the statement made earlier that someone from far away needs to come in and ferret through the whole mess. The more it gets looked at the more questions come up. I agree with many people here that they need to throw the book at Kimball. There’s nothing worse than corrupt government officials. They should make an example of him, and anyone else involved with this issue.
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0 0 He had magistrate court judge stamps, not district court. I suppose it’s possible that he either took them from the clerk’s stations or maybe he even ordered them from the stamp-maker.
I doubt the judges had any idea. There has been no evidence, directly or otherwise, that they were remotely aware of what was happening.
The police chief and county prosecutor are another story.
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0 0 We did file a suit against the defendant and there was a small settlement but due to ‘legal issues’ (as per our attorney..who was a part-time prosecutor) our options were limited. I had another attorney look at the case out here and his comments were that we were the victims of small town politics (what a surprise!). Unfortunately, hind sight is always 20/20 and unless you deal with these things on a daily basis it’s impossible to have the perspective to know better. I guess we would need clear and convincing evidence that KM or others were negligent in their duties wrt to our case (this might be coming). I can only hope there is a higher court of justice that will deal with these issues. It’s frustrating that although we contacted all the right people, we were brushed aside and told to go away.
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0 0 John,
Was Drew Pendlebury your attorney?
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0 0 No, it was another attorney that works at bigger Idaho Falls law firm.
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0 0 I would think it would have been a tremendous conflict of interest for a prosecutor to have taken a civil case in this matter. Whether or not he worked part-time or full-time, he was conflicted. I feel bad that he didn’t make you aware of that. Time issues can be waived in an appeal of the findings which should include this conflict.
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0 0 Here is the question for the innocent community victims now, how many innocent community victims are not innocent anymore because KM? Could his better judgment and code of ethics allow him to forge or doctor evidence? If you’ll forge a judge’s stamp and steal evidence, will you fabricate, falsify or tamper with evidence that will work solely in your favor? No probably not I am sure that is where he drew the line. Ya right. I met KM once and had one personal dealing with him, it was in traffic court in 2000, I wanted to discuss a speeding ticket with KM. KM said come before court I will talk with you then. I came 30 minutes early and discussed what he called a “bail forfeiture” of $100. I paid the speeding ticket it was cheaper, I knew the 100 bucks would never find its way into Bonneville County. KM’s selling point to me was that it will stay off your driving record and your increased insurance rates will easily offset the $100. You think that was his first time he had offered anything like that? I knew to talk to him, I knew there was something that could be done. He was a Member of the church so you can count on him right? My father’s attorneys gave me the advise to see KM, their office is less than a football field away. I grew up in IF, my father was a Bishop in a local ward for years, and a farmer with ties to the community for generations. I used to see the good old boy network everyday at it’s peak performance. If I so desired I could be a ranking member, I moved from IF to a city where the good old boy network doesn’t run crap. NOW PEOPLE - what about the surrounding circumstances and others involved, like some high level PD personel, Public Defenders and court officials? Do you think in a criminal proceeding with KM as prosecutor and JS as Public Defender anything close to the level of representation by JS would have met the minimal of standards and ethics outlined by the Idaho State Bar? JS hides/holds guns for the prosecutor? Doesn’t anyone find that crazy even after KM was arrested? IF cops and government needs a reality check. You have got to hand it to our officials, after the public investigation was started and the cream just started rising to the top, they stopped when Lee Harvey Oswald aka KM showed up. Why stop churning we almost have butter. Why have they not investigated more? Who is driving that bus, check his references? In IF a witch hunt was easy to find, my fellow townspeople ,please don’t fail me now! This one will pan out. Can one man have that much universal control and access to our county courthouse? Come on.. you think this was all him all alone? If you do, let me ask you this; how would you explain to your wife, family and friends your rapidly growing gun collection? More questions that have answers to bring more questions. And what about the wife? How could there not be an investigation into her or the oldest son that was video taped taking guns from the house to two different vehicles. So if the cops took 40 firearms from KM how many came out before the cops got there? How many guns does a person have before someone says, “hey whats with the guns?” You would think that your wife would want to know or knew. The IFPD Sheriff’s Dept. is the oldest of the good old boy networks. IF needs a New Orleans style clean up. The Feds should actively investigate all the people involved and investigate branched off questions that trail off into cans-o-worms. One more important thing, now that a prosecutor has been found guilty of evidence theft/tampering and forging several judges’ stamps/signatures, same thing, are all the cases with KM as prosecutor going to be examined again to make sure that the found guilty are truly guilty or are the hypocrites in IF going to say,”wow that costs so much and we don’t know for sure he did that, too” and the true victims, the ones he may have falsely convicted of crimes they didn’t commit, what of them, because you have to wonder. Really, would you put it past him? As concerned citizens of Idaho Falls, the self proclaimed victims in this case, are you going to demand that all his cases involving the loss or suspension of any right, privilage and item of value be reexamined. There may be people whom have been or are incarcerated now because of KM? Don’t you think that would be a whole lot worse than just reading or watching something that tells you that some prosecutor you don’t know whom sends criminals to prison is now a criminal? Wow, how painful I am shocked, poor me I am a victim, “I want justice.” Well put your money where your mouth is, make sure anyone he has dealt with was not taken advantage of, take focus on the cases he prosecuted, you will find more victims I promise. Do you think if the prosecutor, KM, a admitted gun addict, wanted the defendant’s gun in evidence which is KM’s personal gun give away extravaganza, would the defendant be more likely to be found guilty? Add JS for support and The President of the LDS Church would place that bet. A defendant must be found guilty to add guns to the KM collection or the state would have to return the property to the rightful owner. Demand an investigation by an outside federal agency, the Blackfoot cops aren’t going to find anything on the IF cops nor Pocatello, Moscow nowhere in the state will you find a true investigation. Time is important here, the structure of the Good o’le Boy network is changing and the paperwork trail to find it are growing cold or shredded because they have had plenty of time. I have nothing to gain from writing this, but it touches on a subject that needs to be addressed in Idaho Falls and smaller communities like ours, spring cleaning needs to happen occasionally or you’ll never get the cockroaches out.
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Kimball Mason is a crook and should spend time in a federal prison..how many other people coulod avoid a lengthy sentence after pleading guilty to 3 felonies? He was also an awful, lazy, prosecutor with no empathy for the victim’s families.