President Indy FOP Rick Snyder Joins!

**Nigel Jason Hammer** (0:01)
The Hammer and Nigel Show Podcast.

**Rick Snyder** (0:03)
Can you believe these characters are weirdos?

**Nigel Jason Hammer** (0:07)
My name is Nigel Jason Hammer, right over there with a very special guest on the hotline.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:12)
Presidents of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 86 is Rick Snyder. Rick, thank you so much for taking the time to join us on a Friday.
And the Marion County prosecutor, he seems like he's in a little bit of a hot water situation right now, according to what a local judge has said. Rick, your good friend, Ryan Mears, may have illegally went after a business owner in Broad Ripple. I'm just curious as to your thoughts on how this whole thing played out.

**Rick Snyder** (0:46)
Well, guys, we're really in an unchartered waters here. We still have more questions than we have answers. And we're really not sure. I got to tell you, I don't think the general public fully understands the significance, the seriousness and the scariness of what the judge has found and determined that occurred. And it's important to recognize something before discussing this any further. What's being talked about and why folks in the legal business and political circles have their mouths hanging open is because these are not allegations against the prosecutor. These are findings of fact by a judge. And by law, it's a verdict in a court ruling.
So it's important to level set what the judge has found in this case. And I've attached the full order in my ex feed at Rick FOP 86 that we got from Fox 59 Check out that link. You can read all 25 pages yourself. But after reviewing the record, the evidence and the arguments of the parties involved, the judge found, and I quote, without any doubt.
Now note, that's not a reasonable doubt, but he's saying without any doubt, zero zilch nada. The Marion County prosecutor, not his office, not deputy prosecutors, not some other law enforcement detectives, the elected prosecutor, quote, conducted a warrantless search that blatantly violated the fourth amendment, end quote. And so it's not a nuanced position. It's not accidental. It's not a slip up. It appears to read that this was an intentional sidestep and end run around the right of the people to be secure in their persons houses, their papers and effects against the unreasonable searches and seizures of the government. Now guys, stop right there.
It's always possible for folks to make a mistake of the head, right? Yeah. But it's another to make a blatant violation of the Constitution. And the judge goes on to find that the Marion County prosecutor, Mr. Mears, conducted a warrantless rummaging through tax and financial documents of Marion County citizens trying to find evidence of a crime. Not because there was an identified event causing him to believe that it was probable that a crime had occurred. We call that probable cause. Instead, the court found that the prosecutor of our capital city conducted an unconstitutional phishing expedition that is expressly prohibited by the federal and state constitutions and law.

**Nigel Jason Hammer** (3:04)
Show me the man, I'll show you the crime.

**SPEAKER_3** (3:05)
Right.

**Rick Snyder** (3:06)
That is it. And guys, you know, the case is centered around these Broad Ripple small business owner.
And the alleged facts of that, I'll leave for another day.
But the facts upon which this decision to dismiss with prejudice are more than disturbing. These public documents and media reports show that the court noted that confidential records were obtained by the prosecutor. And again, I quote, without a warrant, without probable cause, without an articulable suspicion of criminal activity, and even without any suspicion of any wrongdoing, criminal or otherwise. But it doesn't stop there. There's even more. The court found that the Marion County prosecutor ceded his authority under Indiana law.
And even more concerning, the court found that, quote, the Marion County prosecutor has repeatedly and publicly disclosed confidential tax return information in violation of Indiana and federal law. End quote. He then goes on to say that public disclosure of that confidential tax information is a crime under Indiana law, and is also a federal offense. And he said that the state legislature further insulates it saying that a person who violates the provisions of this chapter commits a class C misdemeanor. In addition, if the person is an officer or employee of the state, he shall be immediately dismissed from his office or employment. So guys, this is where I go back to we've never seen anything like this. And I've talked this many seasons, long time detectives, never seen anything like it in their careers. I've heard from countless attorneys and actual prosecutors who have never seen facts and findings like this either. So it begs this question, where do we go from here? And right now, no one knows for sure.