As the Rocky Mountain News reported over the weekend, the star of the anti-Bill Ritter plea bargain commercials being run by a Republican 527 group has gotten into some trouble:
A week before September Dixon starred in a Republican TV attack ad calling Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter a liar who cared more about the hit-and-run driver who killed her daughter than the victims, she was accused of trying to run down her ex-boyfriend and his woman companion.
“I am going to run you both over, and I’m going to kill you both,” Dixon shouted in the Sept. 13 confrontation before allegedly making separate attempts to run down the man and woman outside an Aurora bar, according to an arrest warrant issued for Dixon this week by an Adams County judge.
The 27-year-old Dixon is charged in the arrest warrant with one count of felony criminal mischief for allegedly ramming the man’s car and two counts of felony menacing for allegedly using her car to make the couple fear for their safety. Dixon had not been arrested by late Friday and could not be reached for comment.
Alan Philp, head of the Republican Trailhead Group that paid for the five-day ad, said he didn’t think Dixon’s latest run-in with the law and her lengthy criminal history undercut the credibility of her criticism of Ritter, the former Denver district attorney in the TV spot. The ad stopped running last week.
“Remember, this is about a little girl who got killed and getting justice for her,” Philp said. “Other family members who were involved in negotiation discussions (with Ritter’s office) verify the account.”
In the hardest-hitting ad in the governor’s race, the tearful mother accused then-DA Ritter of giving a “slap on the wrist” sentence to the hit-and-run driver who killed her 4-year-old daughter during a Mother’s Day stroll in 2000.
This new incident doesn’t have anything to do with the crime that September Dixon references in the Ritter ads, but it sure doesn’t help her credibility.
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Obeying the law was never a prerequisite for employment with Trailhead.
So Alan Philp says, “Remember, this is about a little girl who got killed and getting justice for her.”
While that’s a true statement, it’s a bit of an oversimplification.
In order to get justice for this girl, a D.A. must produce witnesses with some degree of credibility to persuade a jury to convict.
The prosecutor in California who tried to conviction Michael Jackson had a problem getting a guilty verdict because the boy who was allegedly sexually abused had a mother who took the witness stand and came across as the witness from hell.
The deputy D.A. working for Ritter probably took a look at the victim’s mother in THIS case and made an assessment that this defendant could easily walk out of court with an acquittal following a jury trial, so he negotiated the next best plea dispo.
I can imagine the howling and squealing which we’d be hearing right now from Moonraker, Trailhead, Both Ways, etc. if Ritter’s staff had tried this case and it ended in a verdict of not guilty…..
This is similar to what I’ve been thinking about all this plea-bargain hoopla. A prosecuter doesn’t always have the evidence to convict someone and thus a plea bargain may in fact lead to a person going to jail who would NOT have gone to jail if they had gone to trial. And sometimes there may be evidence that can’t be used at trial for various reasons. Trailhead et al are acting like any case should be tried and won regardless of the circumstances. I mean, haven’t these people ever seen Law & Order?
September Dixon was not a material witness to the crime. She was a victim. She doesn’t remember anything after stepping off the curb. Read the extensive media coverage of the original event.
However, there were plenty of other witnesses. It was rush hour at one of the busiest intersections in Denver. There was no lack of credible witnesses.
The mother’s credibility has nothing to do with the facts of the case. A lot of people with spotty records are victims of crime.
is a lot easier to spell in a press release too, right?
I read it was on Mother’s Day, which would have been a Sunday. Never heard of Sunday Rush Hour before. Is this something else you’re making up, or do I have it wrong?
BTW, do you work for the Colorado GOP, Trailhead, Coloradans for Justice, any other conservative 527 group, or the Beauprez for Governor campaign?
Alan Philip not only runs Trailhead and Colorado for Justice, but he works closely with the Colroado GOP and the Beauprez for Governor campaign.
if he just comes out and admits who he’s working for.
But I do believe it was somewhere around 5-7 pm. And regardless of the time, Colfax & Colorado is rarely empty.
Aristotle, huh? Just like Shaq. Interesting.
What the heck does that last comment mean? That I’m a basketball all-star?
short. I’m sure you both have a lot in common.
Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, SHAQUILLE. Makes sense now.
They both cant make free throws? They both get hacked a lot by bench players? They both dont like Kobe Bryant? I am confused.
some of what you’re smoking? Between this and Friday’s “whoo hoo” comment you’re killing some serious brain cells.
I think he’s spending too much time hunkered down behind his desk… Phelp/Moonshill/Allen/Russell/whoever the heck you are… you’re going bonky, young man. ‘Com on, only 28 more days… you can do it… get more Red Bull in ‘ya, son.
September Dixon is in that commercial claiming that Ritter plea-bargained behind her back when Ritter says she actually AGREED to the plea bargain – and Dixon’s credibility “has nothing to do with” it? Get real.
While I hate to pick on someone (Ms. Dixon, not moonie) who has a lot of problems, her credibility has everything to do with the substance of the commercial – whether or not she originally agreed to the plea. She says she never did while the DA’s office says yes she did, but she changed her mind. It’s he-said-she-said without more, but this is more. Her pain and suffering are real, and the hit-and-run driver really should have served more time, but if Ms. Dixon gave the go-ahead at any point then the commercial is untrue.
that concession over the weekend as well. But when people talk about witnesses in the context of a criminal case, it’s usually about the crime, not the discourse between attorney’s & crime victims. I was pissing on your leg because it looked and acted like a fire-hydrant.
The mother’s claim that Ritter lied to her could be questioned by a reasonable person, knowing her background. However, it is equally as reasonable to assume it would be unbelievable for any mother to agree to such a lazy & accomodating plea bargain.
evidence?
If nothing else comes out of this, I hope the one thing all of you take away from this experience is that the Trailhead Group really cares about September Dixon.
Conservatives want the drunk, unlicensed driver behind bars for more than 15 mos for running over a family of four, killing a 4 year old, then leaving the scene.
Whereas, you would rather make sure September gets enough time – you think that 15 mos. is an appropriate sentence for someone with the above mentioned credentials.
Meanwhile, you guys should get your story straight. Ritter says more often than not, that plea-bargains are a matter of convenience, that the ‘system’ can’t handle that many people. You all make it sound that he plead 60k cases because none of the people were actually guilty…. uhhh, excuse me….. that there was never enough evidence to convict anyone.
Alan,
You have spun this too far already. You know this is a non-issue when electing the governor of this state. You obviously made the wrong plan of attack on this, and are now left back peddling and digging just to keep the media focussed on Ritter’s D.A. record, instead of what matters in this race.
Remember, this race is about the issues. Beauprez doesn’t even know where he stands on the issues.
Does the RGA know they screwed up dumping money into the Trailhead account? If they are not targetting the Colrorado gubernatorial campaign bacause of the mistakes the Trailhead Group has made, I suspect you will have a lot of explaining to do in a month from now.
sure you do, ostensibly, want the driver behind bars, etc. That’s the party line. We’re tough on crime, fiscally responsible, strong on national defense – heard it all before. Problem is your party hasn’t been delivering too well on those promises lately.
There is no political capital left in the bank.
Those good conservatives care so much about protecting kids from online perverts, too… unless those pervs happen to be Republicans and their precious control of the House is at stake.
Spare us your sanctimony, Moonraker and your ilk. It’s all about retaining political power for you guys – whether it’s by dragging in September Dixon for a video shoot or going to Africa to find some poor mom there to exploit. You don’t give a rat’s ass about either of them. And you don’t care that Bill Ritter is an honorable man whose record of public service is outstanding. You just are simply desperate to find some mud anywhere, by any means – even if you have to wallow in it yourselves.
You folks will throw September Dixon in the gutter and send that poor mom back to Africa as soon as you’re done exploiting them. Sickening.