Bernie Ward Indictment Now Available For Public Review

UNSEALED

Judge Allows Access, Defenders Use 'Saint Bernie' Approach





*** 08 May 2008 Update Here ***
*** Previous Coverage Of This Story: Click Here And Here ***


Earlier this evening, we learned that a federal judge has unsealed the Bernie Ward indictment. From KGO-7:

We've also learned new details about how the case began. On December 23rd, 2004 at 5:52pm, a complaint came to police in the Central Valley town of Oakdale.

It’s about ten miles outside Modesto. Officers quickly determined that the evidence was strong enough to turn over to the FBI for investigation of a federal crime – an unusual move.

Oakdale Police Lt. Lester Jenkins tells the I-Team, his department passes less than one percent of their cases to the FBI. He declined to provide more details about the complaint, citing the federal case.

This isn't going to bode well for the blame- Bush crowd, unless he's in cahoots with police in Oakdale, a distant cowboy town- turned- suburb (known for its annual rodeo) that has far more in common with Fort Worth than San Francisco.

Could it be a Central Valley plot to undermine liberal San Francisco? No doubt they will quickly cook up a new conspiracy to fit the circumstances.


The indictment is rather brief (only three pages) but does reveal a third count against Ward, one more than was disclosed yesterday. ABC has made it available here in the memory- hogging .pdf format.

All of the charges relate to either receiving or distributing child porn.


Meanwhile, Ward's liberal defenders are using the Imus Defense, which is to have the accused hide behind his charity work. In both cases, friendly mainstream media fellow- travellers have been more than pleased to assist this effort.

Here are examples from the I-Man's flap earlier this year.

Taking the campaign a step further, today's San Francisco Chronicle barely stopped short of declaring him a saint. Using loaded language such as "social justice", this piece reads more like an editorial than news coverage:

He joined KGO in 1985, initially as a fill-in talk show host, then as a general assignment reporter, then as political reporter. He has won numerous national awards for his reporting, including an Associated Press award for his coverage of riots in Los Angeles.

In the mid-1990s, he partnered with reporters from the San Francisco Examiner on a series of investigative stories exposing financial and sexual improprieties within the San Francisco Archdiocese. He won a national award for those stories.

Billed by his station as "the lion of the left," he has appeared regularly on national television in recent years, railing against the Bush administration and the war in Iraq.

"His listeners adore him; he has a very devoted audience," said Margo Magowan, who for six years was producer of Ward's nightly broadcast. "He's always been a wonderful person to work with. And he is such a wonderful father. During commercial breaks, his kids would call him. Bernie would drop everything to solve whatever crisis came up, whether it was a homework problem or somebody locking themselves in the bathroom. Then he went back on air without missing a beat."

For 22 years, he spent his Sunday mornings behind the microphone on the show that he created and has said was closest to his heart - "God Talk." Ward discussed a wide range of topics, from spirituality to the Christian message of helping the poor. He also focused on misdeeds within organized religion, especially his own faith, making him a controversial and provocative figure. He created the irreverent "Church of the Holy Donut," which now has 7,000 members.

Every Thanksgiving, he led a charity drive that has raised about $5 million. Several years ago, as part of the station's fund-raising drive for leukemia, he sat on a billboard for 24 hours to raise $75,000.

On Thursday, members of his "flock" called Ward a tireless champion for social justice.

"Our heart goes out to Bernie and his family," said Poncho Guevara, executive director of Sacred Heart Community Service in San Jose. "Bernie has been an incredible leader. His approach is not only to talk about what is broken in society, but to inspire people to fix it."

Susan Prather, founder and executive director of Fresh Start, a Walnut Creek organization that helps the poor and homeless, credited Ward with saving her program seven years ago when funds had run out.

"There would be no Fresh Start without Bernie Ward," she said. "He raised $35,000 for us in 10 days. It kept our doors open.

"I think Bernie is one of a kind. He has a huge heart. He has never been cautious. Like many people he was ignorant of the law, he made a mistake and it is tragic. People who know him know that in no way is this Bernie Ward."

E-mail the writers at jvanderbeken@sfchronicle.com and efernandez@sfchronicle.com.

Clearly, the argument is the same: removing Ward (or Imus) from the airwaves means that charities go unfunded and kids will suffer. Isn't hiding behind charity work pathetic?


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