Oh where do I begin? Well day two of the rape trial against John McGowan has concluded and as expected, the former Danbury mayoral candidate, former vice president of the Elise Marciano's anti-immigration hate group, and leading figure in the local xenophobic movement was full of surprises.
For those who aren't following score, McGowan was arrested and charged with first degree sexual assault stemming from a incident last year which the victim (a person McGowan was romantically involved with) accused him of the following:
...Oct. 20, 2008, after attending a meeting at McGowan's church, he assaulted her anally at a house he was building on Juniper Road in New Milford.
The woman told police she said, "What are you doing?" and "Stop," but McGowan instead "put his right arm around her neck and put her in a headlock," according to the affidavit.
Unfortunately, this morning, I was caught in a traffic nightmare on Route 7 so I was late to the courthouse and missed all the festivities but the News-Times John Pirro filled in the blanks:
A Superior Court judge on Tuesday gave former Danbury mayoral candidate John McGowan more time to get a psychiatric examination that will determine whether he is capable of standing trial for first-degree sexual assault.
[...]
"If it's not done by the next court date, it's going to be a different story," Ginocchio said.
Ginocchio ordered the exam during McGowan's first appearance in Litchfield Superior Court, on Sept. 1, when the anti-immigration activist and cable television call-in show host refused to enter a plea and made numerous statements indicating he didn't consider himself subject to the court's jurisdiction.
Ginocchio said at the time that McGowan "appeared unable to answer the charges with any semblance of coherence" and that a psychiatric evaluation was needed to determine if McGowan could understand the charge and assist in his own defense.
I don't' know what was more shocking, the fact that McGowan received a three week extension to get a psychiatric examination done, or McGowan's excuse in not getting the examination done when ordered by the court on Sept 1st.
I'll let Pirro explain:
On Tuesday, McGowan claimed lack of transportation and issues involving the health of his father prevented him from getting the exam immediately after that day's court session, as requested by the prosecutor.
Now, lets skip the thing about his father because there's no way to prove if McGowan is LYING or now...but when it comes to his "lack of transportation," well lets just say that I think McGowan is full of shit.
Let me explain.
ITEM 1: What does McGowan do after being slapped with a court order? He hangs out at a bar!
After his September 1st court appearance, in which McGowan acted like a complete nutcase, that night, I went to TKs American Cafe for the usual Tuesday night wings. Now, at some point during the night (somewhere around 10-11) who seen sitting at a booth laughing it up and having a goo lo' time with his friend (and fellow cable access co-host) Kevin Gallagher…no other than McGowan.
Unfortunately, it was too dark in the bar for me to get a picture of the two but here's a pic that shows where they were seated (marked in blue).
Again, this was the same day when, just hours earlier, McGowan was ordered to get a psychiatric examination to determine if he was mentally capable to stand trial.
McGowan and Gallagher are having a great time until they notice that I'm also at the bar looking right at them…at which point, they quickly pay up their tab, bolt out of the place, and drive away.
...oh, did I forget to mention that McGowan was DRIVING A CAR when he left the bar?
How can McGowan find the time to DRIVE to a bar on the same day he was ORDERED get a psychiatric examination?
From what I saw that night, he was mentally capable to have a good time at a bar after his court appearance.
ITEM 2: McGowan's local access show continues without a hitch.
Days after he's ordered by the court to get a psychiatric examination, you'd think the last thing on McGowan's mind would involve planning, producing, and broadcasting a live call-in show.
...guess again.
On Friday September 4th and 11th, McGowan (with Gallagher as his co-host) did his weekly local access show without a hitch (snapshots of the show are below).
Things to take into consideration, 1.) McGowan lives in BETHEL miles away from Comcast Cable studios and 2.) it's known that co-host Gallagher most likely gets a ride to the studio from McGowan because most of the time (if not all of the time) he doesn't drive.
How can McGowan plan, produce, host a cable access show for TWO weeks straight LIVE (as well as get to the studio) and not find the time to get a psychiatric examination and/or have transportation problems?
ITEM 3: The Black Gold Oil encounter
I was on the road the morning on SEPTEMBER19th when I saw John McGowan drive his Black Gold Oil truck down the street (McGowan owns a oil business...how is this possible I have no idea).
While at a red light, I took a moment to snap this quick photo of the back of McGowan's truck.
Now, if McGowan had transportation problems, how is he able to get to and from his business? I hardly think he's walking from his house to his business.
Are you getting the picture?
I think Assistant State's Attorney Dawn Gallo said it best when she said the following:
"He has transportation, and he owns an oil company," Gallo said. "This is merely an attempt to manipulate the court."
BINGO.
To wrap things up, Pirro outlines even more bizarre behavior from Elise Marciano's BFF.
If his courtroom demeanor was low-key, that same description couldn't be applied to the sheaves of bizarre papers he has filed in connection with the case.
The thick stack of documents claim to be "powers of attorney" and attachments on various land records, but according to a court clerk are comprised of "legal terms that are strung together but have no legal meaning."
And to add insult to injury...
In some of the papers, McGowan identifies by name the woman who accused him of rape, as well as giving her address and the names of family members, Gallo said.
[...]
Gallo asked the judge for a protective order preventing McGowan from including that information on any documents he files.
Good grief!
Now, remember, if convicted, McGowan is facing up to 20 YEARS in jail and from my point of view, it doesn't seem like this guy is taking the case seriously. I have a feeling that if McGowan keeps screwing around, he'll get a reality check from the judge.
...to be continued.
RELATED POSTS:
McGowan arrested, charged with first-degree sexual assault
Court trial day one: Strange behavior, disturbing arrest warrant affidavit
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