Rich Bergeron: I'm a little guy standing up against a legal wall of corruption

To The Daily Sun,

Systemic failures in health care and law enforcement have reared their ugly heads in this great nation. We’ve all been left with a deeper sense of distrust for these institutions than we’ve ever had before in our tumultuous history. We suffer as a populace from an accountability problem. Things go horribly wrong in law enforcement and health care every single day, but it’s always the patient or the “criminal” who pays the ultimate price.

The negligent doctors and the “loose cannon” undercover types in law enforcement get to break the rules and then shrug their shoulders when someone dies or gets wrongfully convicted. None of their colleagues typically shame them or hold them accountable for their worst transgressions. Usually, their compatriots actually help them hide their most egregious mistakes. Do the right thing morphs into don’t get caught doing the wrong thing.

I represent myself in my own criminal case in Belknap County because nobody else can or will do what needs to be done to win my case. You always go into any court proceeding as a self-represented party with that “fool for a client” stigma. Judges will jump at the chance to talk down to you and disrespect you for not being familiar with every rule and point of law.

I have fared better than most defendants because I’ve seen the worst of corruption in the civil realm. I helped put one con man in prison for four years of his adult life. I prevented billionaire casino owners from achieving their childhood dream of owning an NFL football team. I watched a corrupt federal judge set in motion a chain of events in her court rulings that left a woman dead at her own hand from assisted suicide. I expect the worst of the worst behavior from lawyers of all stripes. They constantly deliver what I expect and more.

This is why I have a sanctions motion pending against Belknap County Attorney Andrew Livernois, his deputy, Keith Cormier, and Deputy Grafton County Attorney Tara Heater. It is a two-county misconduct spree brought to you by the State of New Hampshire, at your own expense as the people who pay the bills. I am the only one who will bother to hold these attorneys accountable for their lies and abuse of the public trust.

I have come to learn in my limited but complex legal experience that the only hope a self-represented party has lies in harnessing the forces of publication. Embrace the written and the spoken word. Tell your story. Everybody loves a David vs. Goliath tale of the little guy standing up on his own against a wall of corruption. I call it the equalizer. Start a blog (www.nhdrugtaskforce.com). The court usually won’t let you tell a long-winded story. Judges have to hear everything in certain language and by way of a certain protocol that few people can master. A free press is the perfect check and balance on judges and prosecutors who aren’t playing fair.

Rich Bergeron

Belmont