Brizzi’s Next Move: Legal Advice and Reputation Management?

December 30, 2010 7 Comments

Last night, WTHR published an interview with outgoing Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi that literally made us laugh out loud. We actually thought it was a piece from The Onion.

You can read the full article and watch the interview but below is a little summary of what we thought the article should actually have said. (NOTE:  This is satire, folks.)

Indianapolis – With his last day on the job Friday, Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi is ready to move into his next stage of delusion and believes that people will actually pay him, of all people, to provide them legal advice and tips on reputation management.  

Brizzi says he’s formed Carl Brizzi and Associates, LLC, “under the idea that bad things happen to good people. A lot of times people need help with the legal consequences, but there are also non-legal consequences.” Riiight.  Most people who end up in trouble are usually minding their own business and they need a nice guy like Carl Brizzi to help clear their good name!

Brizzi was thought to be a rising star in the Republican Party after winning a second term in 2006 and being the only Republican to win in Marion County that year.  As it turned out, Brizzi was about to experience a very public implosion and permanently ruin any chance of running for office or being respected in Indianapolis ever again.

Brizzi had some problematic real estate deals, plea deals for defense attorney friends, and many other questionable situations.  He also was good friends with Tim Durham whose businesses were raided by the FBI and is a part of an ongoing investigation.  Brizzi also sat on Durham’s Fair Finance Board for a few weeks which was a really big mistake. Republican leaders asked Brizzi not to run for office and eventually even asked for his resignation.  Brizzi refused and made sure he got his pension by finishing his term.

Brizzi, whose arrogance really knows no bounds, wouldn’t rule out another run for office.  Most Republicans would rather walk over hot coals than see Brizzi’s name on a ballot but Brizzi has nearly $500,000 in his campaign accounts still.

“We’ve been using it to support some candidates from around the state, those who will take it. There are some who returned it – and maybe live to fight another day,” said Brizzi.

Two Republicans who received money are City-County Council President Ryan Vaughn and Mr. Clean Ethics award recipient himself, state Sen. Mike Delph. As we write this, they are probably having their treasurers’ cut checks to return those contributions.

As for who Brizzi will support in the mayor’s race?

“I don’t know. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Mayor Ballard but I wanted to be Mayor so I’m still kind of mad I didn’t run in 2007.  On the other hand, I don’t like Melina Kennedy.  She ran against me—can you believe someone would do that?!  But I’ve beaten her before so maybe I can run against her in 2015.  Er, I mean, she’s a super-tough opponent and she’s qualified,” said Brizzi.

Filed under Carl Brizzi

Curry Cleaning House

December 28, 2010 28 Comments

As we told you earlier, folks at the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office (MCPO) have been waiting to hear who will get the boot from incoming Prosecutor Terry Curry.  We speculated some division heads might get a pink slip, and as of yesterday, a few were told to clean out their desks by this Friday. 

Most were normal suspects, but two on the list we got were somewhat of a surprise.  Curry told Larry Brodeur, Chief of the Narcotics Division and Ed Zych, DUI Prosecutor to hit the road yesterday. 

Brodeur was instrumental in bringing to light the sweetheart plea deal between outgoing Prosecutor Carl Brizzi and his business partner who also is a defense attorney, Paul Page.  That case involved a steroid dealer represented by Page.  Despite Brodeur’s strongly worded email to Brizzi warning him against such a lenient plea deal, Brizzi not only authorized a weak plea, he also returned $10,000 of cash forfeited from the dealer.  The plea deal was made just a year after Page cut Brizzi in on a deal involving real estate in Elkhart.  We here at WSP thought Brizzi would fire Brodeur, not Curry.  Wonder what Curry is worried about?

Ed Zych has been a long-time DUI prosecutor and is well respected throughout the state.  He has a very high conviction rate and frequently trains prosecutors all over the state on how to win tough drunk driving cases, including fatalities.  We are sure Ed will be highly sought after by Prosecuting Attorney’s all over the state.

One last one we heard about but will remain unnamed has us scratching our heads.  This individual is a great prosecutor, and isn’t a division head.  He never participated in Brizzi’s 2006 re-election campaign, nor helped out Mark Massa this year.  This individual did have an intimate relationship with another MCPO employee that ended a few years ago.  We know that MCPO employee was actively working to get Curry elected this year.  Sure hope she didn’t convince Curry to fire him because of a relationship gone sour…

Filed under Carl Brizzi, Terry Curry

Curry: Everyone Must Go

November 15, 2010 Leave a comment

Terry Curry: You're FiredThere has been a lot of speculation regarding exactly what Terry Curry is going to do over at the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office with regard to current employees. While there has been a lot of talk about the corruption over there, most agree the problem is at the top with Carl Brizzi.

That said, most also believe that the rank and file prosecutors have been doing a tough job day in and day out under some difficult circumstances thanks to Brizzi’s actions. Apparently, Terry Curry disagrees.

Word on the street is that Curry will be collecting resumes from literally every single one of the roughly 350 employees in the office. Throughout the summer months, there were rumors floating around that Curry intended to completely clean house and fire everyone. We assumed this was just the heat of the campaign talking and that Curry was a reasonable guy.

It is absolutely crazy to force the hard-working staff of the office to re-apply for their positions. Are there folks that it is acceptable to interview within the office? Absolutely. It is common for department heads to come under scrutiny during a change in administration.

This is a completely different level and is frankly ridiculous. If you ask us, this is a Democrat taking advantage of the situation to do a witch hunt and weed out Republicans.

Filed under Carl Brizzi, City Government, Politics, Terry Curry

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