The Provocateur: February 2020

Even though all Dede Evavold did was re-post an article already posted elsewhere, numerous Minnesota courts blatantly ignored her fist amendment rights, while first charging her criminal and then issuing a fifty-year protective order.

The whole thing started when David Rucki asked for and received an emergency harassment order because he claimed Evavold’s blogging harassed him.

“Respondent has engaged in online harassment of myself and my family in direct violation of court ordered probation. Respondent continues to post to a blog owned by Respondent about myself and my family, including false allegations, photos, and identifying information.”

At the time, and now, Dede Evavold was on criminal probation so, if in fact as David Rucki stated, she was violating that probation, she should have had that probation violated, but she didn’t.

Furthermore, while Evavold did operate the now defunct, as a result of this, website Red Herring Alert, Rucki does not list any of the offending posts which defamed him, or provided personal information.

Furthermore, most of the harassment order application is blank: because Evavold never confronted him in public, called him by phone, emailed him, no other threatening behavior, nor had she tried to visit him at home.

Ex-Parte Harassment Order by mikekvolpe on Scribd

In other words, though David Rucki said this, “My children are frightened and feel their privacy has been violated,” this was not through any direct contact, but David Rucki was arguing that blog posts frightened his children, and violated their privacy.

This even though he has been featured on 20/20, had Michael Brodkorb’s website dedicated to his case, and was cooperating with Brodkorb on a book which would be completed more than a year later. Furthermore, Red Herring Alert averaged less than one thousand clicks daily: TOTAL.

Not only was his harassment order granted, but it was granted on an emergency basis, ex parte by Judge Karen Asphaug. That is the recently retired, early, former Judge Karen Asphaug.

Asphaug appeared to be something akin to a personal judge for David Rucki. In 2009, he screamed and swore uncontrollably at two and three year olds, he even said to adults he dared to call the cops, "If any of you assholes ever call the police on me again, I'll raise holy hell."

That case also came in front of Judge Asphaug, after David Rucki was charged with disorderly conduct.

On the eve of trial, Asphaug dismissed the case for a lack of probable cause, despite no motion to dismiss being in front of her- called sua sponte- and even though there was numerous witnesses so that probable cause standard should have been met.

David Rucki's two oldest daughters- Samantha and Gianna- ran on April 19, 2013, because they were going to be forced to live with their father. Samantha describes why they ran below. The legal system in Minnesota- which has always catered to David Rucki- charged four people with crimes after the girls were found in November 2015.

His ex-wife, Sandra Grazzini-Rucki, Evavold, and Doug and Gina Dahlen, with whom the girls stayed.

Asphaug presided over all four cases and in a heavy handed manner, made sure any evidence of abuse was excluded from the case. In a sweeping motion in limine which she granted for the prosecution, I described the mountain of evidence Asphaug excluded here.

She also sentenced Evavold and Grazzini-Rucki to the maximum, one year and one day, even though neither had any criminal record and even ordered Grazzini-Rucki to serve it bits at a time over six years, while giving Evavold and eight year probation.

So, it's no surprise that she granted this emergency harassment order, ex-parte, even though the only harassment alleged was somehow through blog posts on an obscure blog.

Remarkably, as the presiding judge over Evavold's case, if Asphaug really believed she'd violated her probation terms, as Rucki suggested, she should have given her a probation vioation, not a harassment order.

The harassment order was indeed overkill because Evavold was restricted in which she could say by her probation.

Still on February 12, 2018, David Rucki's attorney filed an emergency motion asking for an emergency hearing. That motion is below.

Emergency Motion by mikekvolpe on Scribd

Remarkably, this motion was due to a blog posts published months earlier, and the blog post had been republished from another site.

The title of the blog post is, "Beaten Before Born: Sandra Grazzini-Rucki Assaulted While Pregnant

–Rucki Wanted to Kill Baby Because ‘Wasn’t Perfect’, and it describes how David Rucki raped his then wife during their marriage.

Remarkably, this particular article remains published on its original website and on my website and no one has ever asked me to remove it.

Still, Elliott treated this very seriously, stating in her emergency motion,

"Ordering Respondent to immediately remove the entire post titled “Beaten Before Born: Sandra Grazzini-Rucki Assaulted While Pregnant–Rucki Wanted to Kill Baby Because ‘Wasn’t Perfect.’”, dated December 18, 2017,from the Red Herring Alert Blog and /or any subsequent revisions to the post along with any reposts and/or posts to Facebook and Twitter."

This set off a flurry of activity which eventually led to Evavold's arrest. One offending blog posts, which was simply a repost, turned into eighteen offending blog posts, with Lisa Elliott demanding Evavold remove more and more, as Evavold removed these blog posts.

The series of events are described on a subsequent unpublished opinion written by Judge Diane Bratvold (you can't be too proud of the opinion you wrote if you make it unpublished)

"The district court conducted an evidentiary hearing. Respondents relied on the affidavit and copies of the 18 posts from Evavold's blog. Evavold testified that she 'removed {Rucki's} address from the December post but admitted she did not otherwise change the post. In a written order, the district court found Evavold 'is in constructive civil contemtp' and instructed her to remove the 18 posts. Evavold did not comply with the order, and the district court subsequently issued a warrant for her arrest. She was taken into custody, but was conditionally releasted a few days later after the district court found she was attempting to comply with the court's order."

Kanning's order was so cursory- that order is found here- that an attorney Evavold was able to secure argued that the judge was required to show more work. His argument is below.

Objections by mikekvolpe on Scribd

Her attorney stated in part, "The blog posts, because they are not fighting words or true threats, do not constitute harassment under Minnesota law. The Minnesota Court of Appeals has analyzed the breadth of the statute in connection with a First Amendment challenge to Minn. Stat. § 609.748 and concluded that the statute only 'fighting words' or 'true threats' are covered. Dunham v. Roer, 708 N.W.2d 552, 566 (Minn. App. 2006) (“Because the harassment statute only regulates speech or conduct that constitutes 'fighting words,' 'true threats,' or substantial invasions of one's privacy, we conclude that the statute is narrowly tailored and is, therefore, constitutional.”) Id. In considering the statute as narrowly tailored, the Court of Appeals excluded the kind of interpretation used by Petitioners here."

That appeal was also denied, with the appeal's court finding no sympathy toward Evavold's 1st amendment rights, "Here the district court denied Evavold's motion to vacate the HRO after finding that Evavold's conditions of probation were 'no contact' with the Rucki children and that 'she was prohibited from referring to the children on social media.' The district court found that Evavold 'violated the terms of her probation by posting photos and information about the Rucki family. These postings included many references about David Rucki and his children.' The district court also found that Evavold 'has effective control over the postings on the {Evavold's blog}.' The court finally found that Evavold's conduct in making her posting was 'intended to terrify, threaten, and invade the privacy of {Rucki} and his minor children' and concluded that Evavold's conduct was 'harassment most evil'"

Get that, you can frighten people with blog posts on an obscure blog and it is "harassment most evil" even if you don't ever make contact with any of those you are accused of harassing.

Indeed, Minnesota even tried to charge Evavold criminally for all this.

The docket is below. As you will see by examining it, the state took the case until a trial date was scheduled, then it was cancelled on the eve of trial, and then dismissed.

Skip to Main Content by mikekvolpe on Scribd

Meanwhile, the HRO which Rucki had first filed in July 2017, was nearly about to expire.

In fact, the appeals court which gave no sympathy to Evavold's 1st amendment argument, only issued its decision on July 15, 2019, by the end of the month, that would expire.

Of course, the court caters to David Rucki so he reached out to his favorite Judge, Karen Asphaug, and on September 19, 2019, just two months after it had expired, Asphaug re-issued to harassment restraining order for another fifty years, to end in 2069, without even conducting a hearing, just responding to Lisa Elliott's motion.

Extended HRO by mikekvolpe on Scribd

Now, Evavold can't say Rucki's name or anyone related to the case for fifty years. Approximately a month and a half, on October 31, 2019, Judge Karen Asphaug announced she would be retiring from the bench early.

Thursday, February 20, 2020

On Action Radio with Updates

for more background find the story about Kara Witkowski here.

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Bloomberg Favors Financial Transactions Tax

The article is here.

Friday, February 14, 2020

Bitcoin Used in Money Laundering Scheme

The article is here.

Crypto-Currency Scam Targets Physicians

The article is here.

Joseph Marcy's Conviction Vacated

A Pennsylvania man convicted of molesting his daughter has taken a giant step toward freedom.

Joseph Marcy was featured in my article in The Daily Caller in January.

In 2012, he was convicted of molesting his daughter, but shortly after his conviction, she recanted.

Here is more from the article.

Marcy said shortly after his conviction he received a letter from a relative stating that his daughter had recanted.
John Hakim, an attorney in Pennsylvania assigned to handle Marcy’s appeal, said the letter would not have been enough on its own to file an appeal, but it led to a full investigation before he filed an appeal, known as a Post-Conviction Relief Act (PCRA) petition.
Hakim said he faced an uphill battle, “PCRA to get a victory in one is pretty rare. It is not a common occurrence.”
In 2015, a PCRA hearing was held in front of the same judge, Judge Joseph Augello, who presided over the criminal trial.
...
The Luzerne County DA also argued that Marcy’s daughter described her abuse at trial in graphic detail, something she wouldn’t be able to do if it was fabricated.
“She recalled that she previously testified the Defendant peed in her mouth, that she made a hand motion on his ‘pickle’, that the Defendant’s ‘pickle’ was hairy and that his ‘pickle’ went in her butt,” the DA said in their appeal, “However, she said those things were lies. But when asked how she would know those things as a six year old, i.e. that liquid would go in her mouth, that the Defendant’s ‘pickle’ was hairy, to make a hand motion, and that his ‘pickle’ was in her butt, she could not say how she knew those things.”
Hakin said that while the DA’s office made those arguments, the judge heard their argument, the recantation, and the judge determined the recantation was credible.

The conviction was vacated in 2015, but Marcy remained in prison under a bond he couldn't afford.

The prosecutors appealed the decision and another appeals court, the Pennsylvania Superior Court, reinstated the conviction on a legal technicality.

Rather than addressing the substance of the recantation, the Pennsylvania Superior Court argued that Marcy did not submit his appeal in time.

In 2017, he appealed to the federal system.

His appeal wound up in front of Magistrate William Arbuckle however his appeal languished from May 2017 until 2020 with no resolution.

On February 7, 2020, Judge Arbuckle rendered his decision which is below.

Marcy Court by mikekvolpe on Scribd

In the decision, Judge Arbuckle states, "Accordingly, for the foregoing reasons, upon consideration of this Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, and the Response in Opposition to this Petition, IT IS RECOMMENDED that

(1)

The Petition (Doc. 1) be CONDITIONALLY GRANTED;

(2)Petitioner’s conviction and sentence be VACATED;

(3)The Commonwealth be directed to either retry Petitioner within 120days, or release the petitioner; and,

(4) The Clerk of Court be directed to CLOSE this case.

While good news for Marcy, this is not the end of the appeals process. Both sides have twenty days from Judge Arbuckle's order to challenge. If the prosecution does challenge the decision, a full district judge will decide after that.

Marcy remains in prison however because his daughter has recanted if this decision does stand it will render any new trial unworkable and he should be home within 120 days of the order becoming final.

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Melissa Diegel on Northwest Liberty News

Also, check out my article about Melissa here.

Man Convicted of 1995 Double Murder May Indeed Be Innocent

(Lindy Morelli)

Though Kevin Tower is sentenced to life without parole, the steadfast support of a nun has him on the brink of freedom.

On December 19, 1996, he was sentenced to life without parole for the July 1995 murders of his uncles Ron and Paul Tower.

Since 2014, Lindy Morelli, who works at Lighthouse Outreach Center in Scranton, Pennsylvania has been in contact with Tower while helping with his defense.

She has contacted experts like forensic pathologist Werner Fitz, gotten records from Mecosta County Jail, and convinced a witness to come forward and recant her testimony.

“She resurrected it,” said Tower, in an interview from prison, of Morelli’s help in his defense. “The people we have now are very good.”

They both said he’s now on the brink of freedom.

In August 2019, his defense attorney, Anastase Markou, filed an appeal asking to reverse the decision.

In the appeal, Tower’s defense argues that the state’s key witness has recanted her testimony and now says the prosecutors threatened her with a long prison sentence if she did not implicate Tower.

The Murder of Ron and Paul Tower

Ron Tower, 42, and Paul Tower, 58, lived together on a farm in a desolate part of Remus, Michigan.

Later that evening, their neighbors heard what they’d later testify to as gun sounds from the Tower farm.

They were last seen alive in the afternoon of July 5, 1995, by their friend Terry Wernette; they were with Kevin at the time.

After Paul did not show up for work, a neighbor went to check and found a note purportedly from Ron and Paul, misspelling Saturday.

“Went to. Detroit be back Satureday (sic),” the noted stated.

Blood was found on their farm on July 13, 1995.

Kevin was arrested on July 19, 1995, when it was discovered he had cashed checks from Ron Tower’s account in the days after the murder.

Ron and Paul Tower’s bodies were found on July 26 in a field nearby their homes; they were found with bullet wounds to the head and Paul Tower also had stab wounds to his face, according to an autopsy.

Kevin Tower was also charged with murder after the bodies were found.

The Evidence against Kevin Tower

Tower said he was convicted largely based on three pieces of evidence.

Most devastating was the testimony of Becky Cochrane, a female friend.

Cochrane testified that she went with him when he cashed some of his uncles checks in the days after they disappeared; she further testified to seeing a big bloody knife in Tower’s car.

Kevin Tower was asked by police to write what was written on the note and he misspelled Saturday in the same way.

Finally, letters sent from prison by Tower contained what the prosecution called incriminating statements; he said in one, “it was a mistake,” referring to his uncles’ murders.

The Rebuttal

Tower said most of the case has disintegrated since he was convicted, however, his lawyers are currently arguing that Cochrane recanted her testimony and prosecutors withheld their cooperation agreement with her.

On August 23, 2019, according to court records, Markou filed an appeal.

Markou said the appeal has already cleared several legal hurdles.

“I had to ask them to appeal,” Markou said, “You don’t get an automatic right.”

Markou said that the appeals court issued an order granting the appeal.

That appeal argues that Cochrane, in an affidavit, recanted her testimony and stated prosecutors had secretly made a deal with her for a lighter sentence in exchange for testimony against Tower.

“In December of 1995, Mecosta County Chief Assistant Prosecutor John B. Sullivan visited me at the jail without my attorney being present. Prosecutor Sullivan convinced me that I would face a long prison sentence if I did not fully cooperate and fully cooperate meant me testifying favorably for the prosecution at Kevin Tower’s trial,” Cochrane said in an affidavit filed on April 1, 2016. “On the second day of my testimony, I was asked by Prosecutor Sullivan if I had a deal with the prosecution and I answered no. But I lied. I did have a deal and did receive promises from the prosecution.”

John Sullivan is now in private practice in Michigan and did not respond to a message left at his office.

The Mecosta County Prosecutor’s Office and the Mecosta County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to messages left at their offices.

Of testifying about seeing the knife, she stated in the affidavit, “The detectives and prosecutor told me I had to have known about the knife in Kevin’s truck and blood in the trunk of the car Kevin was driving. I was interrogated for two hours and they wouldn’t let up. I finally agreed to testify and said, ‘Fine, there was a knife in the truck.’ I was then bonded out of the jail on another conditional ‘PR’ bond.

PR stands for personal recognizance, or a bond with no cash.

Cochrane declined to comment further on her affidavit when reached through Facebook messenger.

Tower’s attorneys are arguing that this change in testimony amounts to new evidence, and they also argue that by withholding details of the plea deal the prosecution illegally withheld the terms of the deal.

“Rebecca Cochrane has admitted in a sworn Affidavit that she had an agreement to testify against Mr. Tower that was not disclosed to the defense.” Markou state in his most recent appeal. “This Affidavit contradicts the People’s response to trial counsel’s request for any plea deal or grant of immunity given to Ms. Cochrane.”

While Tower’ attorneys submitted the appeal in August, prosecutors did not respond.

Markou said the next step is for oral arguments.

Tower said that he had been told ahead of time that the note purportedly written by his uncles had Saturday misspelled and spelled it the way he thought law enforcement wanted.

The appeal also argues that letters he wrote from prison also should never have been allowed into the trial.

The letters were only allowed because prosecutors claimed he was on suicide watch.

“The letter and therefore the transcripts were admitted because the trial court found that Mr. Tower was on suicide watch and that jail policy permitted the review of outgoing letters under such circumstances,” the appeal stated.

This was one time when Morelli’s help was invaluable.

Tower said that he had always known he was not on suicide watch, but he could never prove it.

Morelli said she was able to make calls to track down former guards to get their statement as well as making open records requests until they had the evidence to prove it.

“He clearly asserted that the People failed to disclose to the Court, during the evidentiary hearing and at trial, that Mr. Tower was not on suicide watch.” His appeal stated. “He provided the relevant case law in support of why this type of due process violation warrants a reversal of his trial.

“Further, on the factual side of the argument, Mr. Tower attached the witness summaries of his former correction officers, his actual jail placement records, and several other documents which supported his claim that he was not on suicide watch when he sent the letters.”

Tower said that two factors complicated the introduction of the letters. He did not testify at trial and the judge instructed the jury instructed to interpret the letter with leeway.

Tower said the judge told the jury that the letter was, “open to interpretation, however you want to make of it,” Tower said he remembered the judge instructing.

Air-Tight Alibi

Beyond what is in the appeal, Tower said that in any new trial he would have an air-tight alibi.

Tower said he was watching movies with his sister during the evening July 5, 1995.

“I was fifty miles away,” Tower said, referring to his whereabouts at the time of the murder.

In fact, his sister testified at trial, but Tower thought the jury did not believe her since she was a family member.

At Tower’s trial, his uncles’ neighbor, Ronda Havens, testified she and her family heard gun shots on the evening of July 5, 1995.

“We were getting ready to set off fireworks at our house. And, when I pulled in the driveway, when I got out, I heard some gun shots. And my husband said, ‘go inside the house and see if anybody reports them’ because there was quite a few shots,” Havens said at Tower’s trial, referring to the evening of July 5, 1995.

In 2003, he tracked down receipts from the video store and submitted them for an appeal.

Tower provided copies of the receipts to me.

The receipts had him purchasing movies twice on July 5, 1995, once at 5:47PM and then at 10:22PM.

He said prosecutors then argued that the time of death could have been as late as July 19.

Morelli was able to track down the services of some of the best forensic pathologists to challenge that assertion.

She sent Tower’s file to Werner Spitz.

Spitz previously reviewed John F. Kennedy’s autopsy in 1975 for the House Select Committee on Assassinations.

He’s testified in the criminal trials of Phil Spector and Casey Anthony, along with O.J. Simpson’s civil trial.

In a letter, Spitz said that July 5, was the most likely day of death.

“In consideration of the ambient temperature, rain, etc., I estimate the post mortem interval (PMI) to be consistent with somewhere around three weeks, which would be in keeping with the period of when they went missing until their bodies were found,” Spitz said in a letter from September 21, 2015.

Another forensic pathologist, Timothy Huntington, did a forensic examination on October 9, 2015, and concluded, “Based upon the foregoing and a reasonable degree of scientific certainty, the estimated post mortal interval is 9 to 22 days, placing the estimated time of death between 5 July and 18 July 1995, with death of victims most likely occurring between July 5-7, 1995.”

Tower said he is confident that in a new trial between the forensic conclusions, his neighbors’ testimony of hearing a gun shot on the evening July 5, and his movie store receipt, he now has an air-tight alibi.

Morelli’s Quest

Morelli, who has been blind since she was very yount, said she is technically not a nun because she took her vows through the Bishops and not the church itself, but she performs the same duties.

She said she has been visiting prisoners since the late 1980s but only in the last seven years has she focused in the wrongfully convicted after reading Anything You Say by Chris DiStefano, with whom she remains friends.

She said she was often frightened having to call experts, prisons, and attorneys.

Of the work, she has done on Tower’s behalf she said, “I knew it was God’s will; I knew it was my calling.”

She said that everyday Tower is in prison is all consuming torture that will only end when he is released.

Monday, February 10, 2020

On Northwest Liberty News "Anatomy of a Smear"

The background documents are below.

1) https://www.thedailybeast.com/cynthia-abcug-qanon-conspiracy-theorist-charged-in-kidnapping-plot

2) http://missinginminnesota.com/fact-vs-fabrication/

3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRCulTBdqHQ&t=377s 3:10 through 4:52 and 4:52-7:10

4) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neZZlnsWMmM&t=2257s 37:35-39:20

5) https://discussglobal.com/melissa-diegel-denied-bail-victims-fearful/

6) https://dailycaller.com/2020/02/05/cmu-prison-terre-haute-rodney-hamrick-robert-david-neal/

Global Universities Offer Trading Related Courses

The article is here.

On Socialutions

Bye Bye "Footprints in the Snow"

More than three years after its first broadcast, Investigation Discovery, part of the Discovery Networks, network of cable networks, replayed the disgraced and discredited "Footprints in the Snow" where 20/20 tried to make it appear as though there is no evidence of abuse on the part of David Rucki against his family, but it seems that is not likely to happen again.

Here is what Aimee Buck from the Discovery Networks sent me.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We were unaware until your outreach on Friday that there was anything called into question in this program, and we are currently looking into the claims you presented with the producers at ABC News. While we investigate further, Investigation Discovery has removed “Footprints in the Snow” from our schedule. Thank you for reaching out.

I was on Victurus Libertas about this case. Starting at 37:35 they do an excellent job of showing how misleading this is. That broadcast is below.

More evidence of David Rucki's violence is below.

Druck i Police Reports by mikekvolpe on Scribd

Below is twenty-five more pages of abuse allegations made to CPS.

SamiRucki by mikekvolpe on Scribd

That includes page fifteen where Nico said when he was eight years old his father stuck a gun to his head. That is quite different from what he told the court and 20/20

Sunday, February 9, 2020

Commissioner Stump Weighs in SWAPs

The article is here.

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Inside The ‘Black Site’ Federal Prison Where An Insurance Scammer Was Allegedly Killed By A Jihadi

The article is here.

On America Trends

Two segments both below. Find more on the four stories below.

1) https://abcnews.go.com/US/nypd-cop-fiancee-allegedly-froze-year-autistic-son/story?id=68525985 In that story, the boy's father and his girlfriend are charged with killing the eight year old and the boy's biological mother is saying that she warned CPS and family court repeatedly. Here's a quote, "Every time I kept telling the judge, 'if you're not going to remove the children, they are going to die under his care and custody,'" said Zubko Valva to the station. "There was evidence, hard evidence. Reports filed. Children were telling me too about the abuse." If that sounds familiar, that's basically what happened to Kara Witkowski, the Judge Dalton victim.

2) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ledell-lee-execution-family-aclu-innocence-project-seek-dna-test-fingerprints-lawsuit-jacksonville-arkansas/ that is about Ledell Lee. That is a potential wrongful conviction but the twist is he was executed in 2017; now Innocence Project has filed a new brief which they say will lead to proving his innocence. They want evidence tested I believe.

3) https://www.fox29.com/news/delaware-county-social-worker-charged-with-coercing-client-into-prostitution that one everyone is also talking about. A social services case worker, same as CPS, is charged with coercing a parent into prostitution with the dangle of getting their kids back.

4) Update on Rucki case. I recently wrote this, https://theeprovocateur.blogspot.com/2020/01/new-document-shows-case-fixing-in-rucki.html I found a document which shows collusion. It's gets a little complicated but in a document David Rucki says, "father will have full custody, mother will have no contact unless supervised."

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Ubiquity Thematic in House Hearing on Mobile Payments

The article is here.

Court Goes Haywire for David Rucki et al

Things have seemed to turn for David Rucki in court.

Specifically, recently, a judge, Jerome Abrams, seemed to have a bit of a hissy fit while writing a January 2020 order.

Order-Other 1-17-2020 14.49... by mikekvolpe on Scribd

In that order, Judge Abrams begins in a most bizarre manner, by stating, "The court has been left in an unusual posture since the decision of Deirdre Evavold to "quit" participating as a defendant in this case."

Evavold is one of several defendants being sued by David Rucki. A previous filing from the suit, which lists all plaintiffs and defendants, along with a summary of the case, is below.

State Farm's Summary Ju... by mikekvolpe on Scribd

Evavold withdrew as a defendant, meaning she would lose by default, previously. Somehow, Judge Abrams claims this made things more complicated.

Evavold is not the only litigant who the judge admonished in his order. He also admonished State Farm, drawn in because they provide homeowner's insurance coverage to Evavold.

While they may have been drawn in, State Farm then proceeded to demand they be able to depose, Evavold and her husband, even though her husband wasn't even being sued; they even wanted for Lisa Elliott, David Rucki's attorney, to be able to depose her on the same day.

The judge continued, "State Farm takes the position, in an unhelpful response to the court, that it should enter a finding of no coverage," meaning State Farm shouldn't be forced to pay whatever damages David Rucki proves.

Judge Abrams then noted that on November 1, 2019, he ordered the parties to agree on terms to dispose of the case or to draft all the issues which were still unsettled.

State Farm, as Evavold's insurer, was still left, but Evavold was not.

There was no agreement, and this also seemed to irritate Judge Abrams.

"Again, not surprisingly, the parties formally set forth what they disagreed about in correspondence, in response to this court's order.

"As a consequence of these divergent viewpoints, the Court is left without the ability to formulate a plan, as the parties cannot agree on the issues which remain in these cases, the timing of any future events, nor a process under which these matters can be directed to a fair and orderly resolution."

There was a February 3, 2020, trial date scheduled but that was postponed until at least June, however, Abrams also requires agreement on numerous issues which there is no agreement yet as well.

The History

On April 19, 2013, David and Sandra Grazzini-Rucki's two oldest daughters- Samantha and Gianna- ran and disappeared.

They were found in November 2015 and because David Rucki had a custody order giving him sole custody; Sandra Grazzini-Rucki and others were charged with crimes.

In 2016, all those charged with crimes were either convicted or plead guilty.

Doug and Gina Dahlen, with whom the two girls stayed willingly, plead guilty; SGR and Evavold, who recommended the Dahlen's to SGR, were found guilty in trials.

David Rucki, the courts, and the media all claimed that SGR was "alienating" him from his kids and that's why all five of his kids rejected him and why the two girls ran.

SGR and all her kids, at various times, all said David was abusive, as in this audio recording made by his daughter, Samantha, where she said he choked her mother with an organ leg, choked her sister on a couch, and made comments about Samantha's breasts and ran his hands up her leg. (Starting at 4:51 until 7:10)

Below are 99 pages of incidents of violence by David Rucki.

Druck i Police Reports by mikekvolpe on Scribd

Despite that, as I said, there were convictions or guilty pleas; as such, David Rucki has since been systematically approaching those considered by the law perpetrators against him and demanding civil settlements as well.

He, I was told, approached the Dahlen's and settled, in a conveniently sealed settlement, for six figures.

This lawsuit in which Judge Abrams now has a hissy fit in was presumably the next step.

Everything was moving nicely along. On May 10, 2019, according to the docket, which is below, a judgment was entered.

Ruc Kiev Avold by mikekvolpe on Scribd

Then, on September 27, 2019, he issued a "Findings of Fact, Conclusion of Law, and Order."

That order is here.

While there was a judgment, a summary judgment in fact, it was still not entirely clear who needed to pay, particularly State Farm or Evavold.

Also, while Judge Abrams issued a summary judgment, this was only on most of the case, he left one part undecided, the issue of whether or not Evavold falsely imprisoned the two girls.

The audio previously referenced was made shortly after Samantha ran. It is below, again, you decide if she ran willingly or was falsely being imprisoned.

The dispute over whether the girls were falsely imprisoned should not have caused, in my opinion, as much confusion as it has.

Since that May 10 judgment, things have slowly deteriorated, but especially, since I had a conversation with LeHoan Pham, an attorney who represents State Farm in this, in September.

I wanted to know why he was desperately trying to depose his insurance company's client; if State Farm represented Evavold, it didn't seem like a good look that the insurance company would try and depose her.

Even worse, Pham filed a "joinder motion" with Lisa Elliott, David Rucki's attorney. Here is the motion

I wrote more about the situation with Pham here.

Since that conversation, all hell has broken loose in this case.

Pham continued to try to have Evavold and her husband deposed.

Deirdre Evavold Letter by mikekvolpe on Scribd

Evavold blew off that deposition and when Pham tried to have Judge Abrams force Evavold to sit for a deposition, Abrams did not take him up on his offer, instead ordering the terse order below, which he issued on November 1, 2019.

RuckiRuckStateFarmRucki 11-... by mikekvolpe on Scribd

In the order above, Abrams asked all parties to reach an agreement or submit their lists of items on which they disagree.

I wrote more about it here.

When there was still disagreement, he threw the hissy fit.

Evavold is out, there's no agreement, and there is now only a tentative timeline to finish this case.

Evavold Criminal Charges Thrown Out

Meanwhile, long simmering criminal charges against Dede Evavold were also recently dropped.

Below is a correspondence from the prosecutor.

Campbell Knutson by mikekvolpe on Scribd

This is a case I have reported on previously.

Originally, someone took a photo of Michael Brodkorb's wife. That photo wound up on Twitter, where it remained. It's below.

Sarah @mbrodkorb should be immediately brought in for questioning. I hope #grazzinirucki subpoenas her!! ....walls r falling for Dave Rucki.....Minnesota keep covering we will keep documenting......#grazzinirucki #evavold @missinginmn pic.twitter.com/e3jBNYvFdf
— Jane Johnson (@johnsonmedia2) August 14, 2018

Even though Twitter finds nothing wrong it, Brodkorb was able to get a protective order against Evavold, and others, but particularly Evavold.

Brodkorb is David Rucki's smear merchant and propagandist. He publishes the website Missing in Minnesota, where he dedicates himself to smearing SGR and anyone who supports her.

He mentioned Evavold's fracas with him on the site.

A judge in Dakota County scheduled Dede Evavold’s criminal trial for March 23, 2020, on a criminal charge of violating a Harassment Restraining Order (HRO) filed against her by Michael Brodkorb. Evavold was charged in May after she attempted to contact Brodkorb for assistance in restarting her blog after WordPress suspended it for violating their terms of service.
Evavold’s criminal trial was scheduled during a hearing today at the Dakota County Northern Service Center in West St. Paul, Minnesota. An evidentiary hearing was also scheduled for February 28, 2020.

Brodkorb was granted an HRO against Evavold last year for her involvement in surreptitiously obtaining and later distributing a photograph of Brodkorb’s wife and minor children online.

This is despite the fact that Evavold was only shown to have received a copy of the photo. That order is here.

Then, Evavold contacted Brodkorb's attorney, which Brodkorb claimed violated the harassment order.

Initially, prosecutors agreed.

Here is an email from Elliott Knetsch from June 26, 2019, Ms. Evavold-

We are in receipt of your correspondence below. Please be advised that anything you say or send to us may be used against you in court. You may wish to consult with an attorney before sending us any further correspondence.

After careful consideration, we will not be dismissing the charges at this time.

That same Knetsch on January 22, 2020, told Brodkorb in the above letter, "I have reviewed the above referenced police report and after serious consideration, I have decided not to file criminal charges against Mrs. Evavold for this incident."

Remarkable.

Judge Karen Asphaug Out

(Judge Karen Asphaug)

Here is an item which flew under the radar for a while.

As of October 31, 2019, Judge Karen Asphaug has announced her intention to retire.

Who is Judge Karen Asphaug?

She presided over the criminal trials of SGR, Dede Evavold, and the two Dahlen's.

She has materialized in David Rucki's world many times.

In this article, David Rucki screamed uncontrollably and swore at two and three year olds. Then, when his neighbors threatened to call the police, he said, "If any of you assholes ever call the police on me again, I'll raise holy hell," according to the police report.

Judge Asphaug was the presiding the judge, who dismissed the case inexplicably for a lack of probable cause, though there were several witnesses who gave police statements, on the eve of trial in February 2010.

She also recently granted David Rucki a fifty year harassment order against Evavold. That protective order is below. That order was signed on September 9, 2019.

Extended HRO by mikekvolpe on Scribd

As such that that order expires in 2069. It forbids Evavold from saying David Rucki and his children's names anywhere publicly, particularly not on social media.

I described Asphaug's role in David Rucki's corruption in more detail in the video below, starting at 41:15.

Now, she is out as a judge. Here is from the announcement, "The vacancies will occur upon the retirements of the Honorable Lawrence Clark and the Honorable Karen Asphaug. The position created by Judge Clark’s retirement will be chambered at Red Wing in Goodhue County. The position created by Judge Asphaug’s retirement will be chambered at Hastings in Dakota County."

That announcement was made on October 31, 2019.

It seems one of David Rucki's favorite judges will not be around to do him more favors.