(Slightly Revised from origional posting) It took a Nuckolls County jury almost a full ten minutes on Friday, January 22, to come back with a “Not Guilty” verdict in the Webster County case of the State of Nebraska vs Andrew Alber on a charge of “Attempted Third Degree Assault.”
Although arguments and examinations proceeded for over eight hours, the lightning speed at which the jury reached its verdict obviously confirms that the prosecution really added nothing of value to the discussion.
Nuckolls County Attorney, Timothy Schmidt, acting as special prosecutor for Webster County, alleged that Alber had committed the crime by plotting to entice Scott and Jeff Kort onto his property so that he could shoot them, a claim that apparently jurors quickly dismissed.
Animosity between the Korts and Alber goes back to an October 6, 2007 incident in the Blue Hill Tavern where Scott & Jeff Kort assaulted Mr. Alber. Despite numerous witnesses to the event, Webster County Attorney, Jerry McDole, selected not to charge either Scott or Jeff Kort in the incident.
Alber cried foul and protested with the Nebraska Bar Association.
Jerry McDole owns agricultural property near Red Cloud that is farmed by Ken Kort, the father of Scott and Jeff Kort (Kort and McDole also own ground in partnership). Alber felt that the failure to prosecute was an obvious show of favoritism on what should have been a slam dunk on a third degree assault charge. McDole should have excluded himself from the prosecution due to a conflict of interest.
Since the attack was on Mr. Alber, we cannot dismiss Alber's 2006 campaign for Webster County Attorney against McDole, where Alber gathered over 1/3 of the votes as a non-attorney and a write-in candidate, which obviously did no put him in the good graces of Mr. McDole.
Flash forward to January, 2009. On January 9, Scott Kort came to the home of Mr. Alber in the late evening hours causing damage to Mr. Alber’s property and threatening Alber and his family. Alber called law enforcement and remained in his home.
Alber filed for and was granted a restraining order by the District Court.
Between January 9 and January 23 (and beyond), the Korts continued to harass and attempt to intimidate Alber and his family by circling their home, driving by their farm property, following them around and more.
On January 23, Alber was flagged down in Blue Hill by Webster County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Martin. Martin reported to Alber that the Korts had alleged that Alber was following them around, calling them on their cell phones and harassing them. Alber told Deputy Martin his side of the story in which he expressed his concern for his family, his frustration with the process, lack of discipline administered by the system to the Korts and his willingness to defend himself if cornered.
On a related side note, Alber’s co-worker, Mike Hall, was verbally assaulted in Klancy’s Kafe and at his home on January 30 by Ken Kort. The incident went on for a considerable amount of time and was observed by many witnesses. Hall was targeted because he was a "friend" of Alber’s. When confronted at Hall's home home by law enforcement, Kort told the Webster County Sheriff's Deputy that he would "just call the County Attorney and get rid of him."
Now the story can finally transition to the actions of the real criminals in this sordid series of events. Webster County Attorney, Jerry McDole hand selected Nuckolls County Attorney, Timothy Schmidt to serve as special prosecutor for the January 9 incident concerning actions by Scott Kort, January 23 statements by Alber, and January 30 verbal attack by Ken Kort. As Mr. Schmidt failed to take action on Scott Kort’s case, Alber filed and won judgment on a civil suit for damages incurred to his property on January 9. Alber also inquired to both McDole’s and Schmidt’s office as to the criminal progress of Kort’s case. Apparently Alber’s insistence on justice was a bit too much for Schmidt to handle. Mr. Schmidt informed Alber that he had been doing his job for over 30 years and that he didn’t need any help from Alber. Alber responded that his lack of results indicated that he obviously did need some help. So, Mr. Schmidt allows Scott Kort to plead to the reduced charge of disturbing the peace.
Ken Kort was ordered to pay court costs and write an apology letter to Mr. Hall, an apology letter that read, “I’m sorry you were offended.” And Mr. Alber is dragged into court on trumped up charges with no real weight at a cost of thousands of Webster county tax-payer dollars.
Had the jury taken even an hour to deliberate, one might be able to justify the actions of McDole and Schmidt. But a ten minute deliberation only proved Alber’s accusation that Schmidt was incompetent and unable to effectively discharge his duties and says even less for McDole who had to agree to the case moving forward.
Mr. Schmidt was obviously offended by Alber’s statements and attempted to retaliate by maliciously prosecuting Alber. Because the pride of Mr. Schmidt had been wounded, Webster County tax payers are saddled with the thousands of dollars in court costs to include jury fees, witness fees, formal depositions, special prosecution fees, a court appointed defense attorney, travel costs to Nelson, and much more. Preliminary estimates suggests costs may exceed $15,000. How do you think Mr. Schmidt’s pride is holding up now that he was absolutely disgraced and humiliated in court?
Alber has indicated his intent to file a formal complaint with the Nebraska Bar Association regarding the actions of these two lawyers.
32 comments:
Checking County records on line both Ken Korts name and Jerry McDole's name appear on the same piece of property, worth about half a million dollars, obviously some sort of business partnership. But what are we doing? trying to explain the obvious?
My favorite part of the trial was during closing arguments when the prosecuting attorney called Scott and Jeff Kort, his star witnesses, "not good people", "not the type of people you welcome in your home". Maybe, like Alber suggested when he was on the City Council, they should not be welcome in our community.
What room do you have to say that when ex city council Alber was worse when he was their age and nothing was done with him. I am sure glad that he isnt in office anymore as it sure made the town look bad when he did what he did when he was in office in business places.
Anonymous January 23, 2010 7:19 PM,
First, slow down and proof read. Make sure you can understand what you wrote, let alone the rest of us. Second, when Alber was young, he was charged and prosecuted for any crimes he commited as were the other "rebels" of the age. Third, the mischief that Alber stirred up in his youth, pales in comparison to the crimes committed by Scott and Jeff. And fourth, whad did he do "when he did what he did when he was in office in business places"?
Anonymous II January 23, 2010
"what room do have to say that"! What "that" are we referring to? Anonymous just previous to you said the prosecuting attorney called Scott and Jeff Kort "not good people and not the type of people you welcome in your home" direct quotes from what was said in open court by the attorney, about his own witnesses? Does he have a right to quote him? Maybe it's not a right, maybe a duty. Probably not in your opinion. But to a lot of us your truly uneducated opinion doesn't really matter! What right do I have to say that, it's called freedom of speech the same that you are exercising even as you lie.
Why slighly revised from original posting?
Mr. Schmidt's pride is most likely just fine. with his level of expertise this can't be the first time he has been humiliated in court or elsewhere. To be bothered by what he has done, stealing money and resources from the county to settle a personal grudge, he would need a conscience. I would think him even more lacking in that area than in the legal expertise level.
why slightly revised from original post?
The origional post suggested that Scott Kort had agreed to a plea bargain to a reduced charge of disturbing the peace after the October 2007 assault. Even though Kort testified to this in court, further investigation confirmed Kort was NOT charged in that incident. He had plea bargain on an unrelated assault charge.
Mention of the ppropter co-owned by Kort and McDole was not made in the origional post.
Mention of Alber's 2006 campaign for County Attorney was not included in the origional post.
Ken Kort's statement on January 30 to the Webster County Sheriff's Deputy was not included in the origional post.
The $15,000 estimate was not included in the origional post.
The origional post said Schmidt claimed to have been practicing law for 20 years. He actually said 30 years.
Some gramatical and context changes were also mad.
I bet if Mcdole was thouroughly investigated it wouldn't take a jury 10 minutes to fire him. He could never get away with what he does in larger venue.
How many times has the charge of attempted third degree asault been brought against a person in either nucholls counties? Or was this a first, maybe a first for Nebraska?
How many crimes have been prosecuted in Webster County in the past year?
How many law enforcement reports have been submitted to the County attorney and not been prosecuted regardless of the evidence and then this one makes it to a jury trial? Is there something amiss here?
Maybe the moral to the story is that we should just be happy with plea bargains since our county attournies are incapable of conducting a trial.
I think you are wrong, we should never "settle" for a plea bargain, we should settle for a "real" county attorney.
"Settling" is admiting we are not worthy of anything more. Some of us believe that we deserve better.
Some of us believe there is a better way. If we "settle" we will never have better and will probably get even less, and less, until the point is finally reached where we will refuse to settle. How long will that be? I guess it's up to you, and you and you.
What is gained by all of this? Did McDole cause the problem?No. Did Schmidt cause the problem? No. The problem was caused by the need to get even.McDole had a legitimate conflict of interest and did the right thing.Schmidt no doubt did his best with the evidence he had.He was probably trying to prevent the "Hatfields" and "McCoys" from killing each other.GROW UP!
THe point is this witch hunt cost the tax payer's of Webster County $15,000
The prosecutor actually alluded to the Hatfields and McCoys in closinmg arguments ... and then explained himself to the jury as if they didn't understand him.
Did McDole caue the problem? YES
Did Schmidt cause the problem? YES
first, identify the problem, lack of fair and just prosecution. Malicious prosecution for something that is not and never was a crime. Proceeding with prosecution with no hope of conviction. Misuse of public funds. And the list could go on.
"The problem was caused by the need to get even." (comment by anonymous)
That is a fact McDole felt the need to get even with Andy for him running against him in the election.
Yes the problem was caused by Mc Dole wanting revenge against Alber. You the tax payer paid for Alber's entertainment. Is that what you expect of your County Attorney?
Andy Alber
Schmidt claimed that Alber made threatening phone calls to Scott and Jeff Kort. Jeff Kort stated that Alber had never called him. Scott said he had received calls from a private number he believed to be Alber. Schmidt told the defense attorney that he had subpoenaed phone records but never produced those records in court. The fact that Schmidt had the records which proved that Alber had never called Scott Kort and continued forward with this witch hunt is criminal.
The fact is Schmidt knew there was no possible way he could convict Alber but continued anyway. All this at your expense.
Andy Alber
Schmidt had no evidence, therefore no case. His action should have been refusal of the case. If no one would prosecute the case Webster Co. would not have spent $15,000, more or less and we wouldn't be talking about this.
McDole shouldn't have used Schmidt to forward his evil agenda, he did, Schmidt conspired with him, crime is called conspiracy, he is a criminal, now a court needs to recognize it.
People of Webster and nucholls counties need to recognize how their money is spent.
Is it public knowledge what the County attourneys wages are? I assume part of the reason we have such a poor one is because Webster County does not pay well. Better pay would mean better qualified people to run for the job.
The County Attorney's salary is information that is available to the public.
Yes, in a county such as Webster or Nucholls that pay does not amount to much, as lawyer's fees go. But another big problem is that an attorney must accept low wages, but is free to have a private practice as well.
He must live within the county. How many attorneys live within the boundries of Webster County? How many of those are willing to take on the duties of county attorney?
So if you get paid very little for working for the county and more for work done in your private practice, which are you going to take care of first/best.?
And if there is only one attorney in the county that will take the job? If the attorney runs unopposed what are the tax payers/voters going to do?
We need a law change.
Counties need consolidated or at least districts made so that an attorney can be district attorney for two or more smaller counties and give them just representation.
The county/district attorney needs to have one job, that of taking care of the legal needs of the county/district. That job needs to pay enough to make it interesting to qualified attorneys.
Being able to have a private practice as well leaves too much room to neglect the needs of the county. The pay is about the same whether he does the job or not. So collect the money from the county and do as little as possible?
There is a problem and we need legislation to take care of it.
We can't solve the problem without the help of our state legislators.
So many of the posts on here in regards to this issue are taking aim at parties that were not even the source, McDole and Schmidt. Although their actions in some cases appear to be in complete contrast to those oaths and ethics that accompany the office, they are not the heart of the true issue. The true issue is the continual behavior by the same people. Kort and Alber. To prove my point, take every story that involves these players out of the media and try to insert a story that is similar, that involves other people, and with this type of repetitiveness. I think not. Is it possible to have issues within Blue Hill or Webster County that do not involve either of these parties? I guess that is up to them. They should count their blessings that they live here in little old Blue Hill. Had this type of behavior occurred in Lincoln or Omaha they would either be dead or in prison. Instead of lambasting our county law enforcement for their inadequacies, you should be thanking them for them! Of course though, neither party will allow the other to 'one-up' them nor will they ever understand their role in society.
Anonymous said, "What is gained by all of this? Did McDole cause the problem?No. Did Schmidt cause the problem? No."
If McDOle had prosecuted all those accountable from the very first offense, it would have never escalated to this point.
"Instead of lambasting our county law enforcement for their inadequacies, you should be thanking them for them!"
What sense does that make?
While we are at it, lets thank teacher who fail to teach, doctors who fail to heal, radiologists who report false findings on our medical records, ministers who fail to minister, mechanics who put us back on the road in defective cars lets thank them all for their inadequacies! We want to live in an inferior society, don't we? Encourage lawlessness, that is moe the American way?
Or more the Blue Hill or Webster Co way?.
Lets get back to the facts. Tim Schmidt and McDole had telephone records to prove that Andy had never called Scott or Jeff Kort but yet he claimed that Andy made calls to both Scott and Jeff trying to lure them to his property to shoot them.
Schmidt and McDole spent thousands of your dollars trying to intimidate Andy. They Knew without a doubt he was not guilty of any crime but schemed together to commit criminal acts against him and the county. You the tax payer will pay the price for their actions.
Andy walks away free. He is not guilty of any crime. He spent less than a hundred dollars. He is laughing his rear off after proving Schmidt and McDole are not qualified to act as an attorney.
It looks as if McDole and Schmidt did do something wrong. It was wrong to hide the phone records that prove Alber did not call Kort. It was wrong to proceed with the case after he knew Alber had not called to try to lure Scott and Jeff to his property . It was wrong to cost the taxpayers that amount of money knowing he was not in the pursuit of justice but rather in the pursuit of revenge. It was wrong to waste the time of the people who were forced to be jurors. It was wrong to waste the time of the people who were spooned as witnesses. It was wrong to bring the charge in the first place knowing he could not get a conviction. It was wrong to use the office of the County Attorney as his license to attack.
Alber did nothing wrong . The Jury saw through the BS and found him not guilty. Face the fact Alber is not the one to blame, he did abide by the law. However the kort boys are guilty of several crimes pointed out in this case which they have never been charged with. That is why it is wrong for McDole to use his office as County Attorney to protect them from the law.
Yes McDole and Schmidt did do something wrong.
Sorry Brad but you do not have the facts. I do
Andy Alber
". . Nor will they ever understand their role in society" ???
Have you decided that you are in a position to assigned to them what their role in society is/should besince you have such a good understanding of the whole situation ? Do you understand your own role in society? Is it "judge"?
Then look at the facts.
This court case was based upon events alleged to have happened between January 9 and January 23, 2009. No other events.
The orginal post here was not about "Mistakes of the Past" it is about what is happening to Webster county in the present.
Open forum is now available on this website for those who want to introduce other subjects into the conversation.
Right now Webster County is faced with a bill for legal services that were unnecessary and probably even criminal, McDole's friend Schmidt will probably bill Webster County $5,000 to %6,000 for handling the prosecution. basically a gift from one "good old boy" to another. McDole and Schmidt ARE the source of the problem. That was what the orginal post was about. That was the "source" of the problem, that is a problem created and pursued by McDole and Schmidt.
In regards to "Mistakes from the Past" as written by anonymous, let me guess these mistakes were McDole's fault to? So, for clarification purposes, McDole and Schmidt encouraged an individual to make prank phone calls(from a child's cell phone) and lure people to his property? Wow, these men have special powers that cause adults to loose their sense of right and wrong! Grow up, be a man and take ownership for your actions without letting the state pay the bill!!!!!!!!! it's about time don't you think, you only get so many freebies in life, right?
To anonymous January 29, 2010 10:22 PM; Schmidt subpoena'd the phone records and did not use them in court because these mystery prank phone calls were never made. So, I was wodering who was suppose to "Grow up, be a man and take ownership for your actions", and what actions they were suppose to take responsibilty for?
"made from a child cell phone" where did that come from, Never heard anything about "(a child's cell phone) tell me more. When did this childs cell phone come into the conversation. I thought they were pretending that Andy used his cell phone, thats what they said. Oh, I get it thats where the pretending comes in. he used a childs cell phone and pretended to call them. They were pretending Andy made the calls, And they pretended they got them and were bothered by them and might have attacked Andy because of the pretend phone calls from the childs cell phone. I get it. And the phone records didn't come out in court like they were supposed to because they were just pretend phone records to go with the pretend phone calls. And pretend records are hard to find. Okay, so now lets pay all the bills for this with pretend money.
"You Only get so many freebies"
Does that mean the Get Out of Jail free Card have all been used up?
I doubt that.
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