Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Frederick Leatherman - A fraud after all

"I’ll say it again.Anyone who believes George Zimmerman is a racist.
Anyone who contributes money to his continuing dog-and-pony show is a racist and stupid."
- Frederick Leatherman
Sounds JUST LIKE something Natalie Jackson would say ... did say:...

Just as I've always suspected, Mr. Leatherman is a fraud - HE is the racist and he is using the Trayvon Martin case to build a following.  In 1986 Leatherman represented a member of the "Order" or the "Bruders Schweigen" (Silent Brothers), a white supremacist group - The group that killed radio personality Alan Berg.  Read all about it here along with an extended list of other cases Leatherman has tried  UPDATE 8/22: Another case found where Leatherman defended white supremacists. Now I know why he never gives the name of any of his high profile cases.  Mr. Leatherman, has never won a case in his career (that I could find), and in fact, he represented two of the 7 men on death row in Washington, that was until Darold Stenson's death penalty was recently over-turned.  Another, Dwayne Woods execution has been stayed. There's much more....


Article about Leatherman at Wisconsin College
Posted by Mason 2009: I am a member of the Washington State Bar Association in good standing and have been since 1977. My membership status is inactive because I no longer represent clients. I've never been the subject of a disciplinary proceeding. I am admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. I would have to reactivate my Washington State license to appear as counsel in any of those courts. I also have been admitted to practice on a pro hac vice basis in the State of Idaho, the United States District Court for the District of Idaho, the United States District Court for the District of Alaska, and the United States District Court for the Central District of California. 
That's just a taste of what's to come when I get around to posting my Vitae. 
There aren't very many people who can match or exceed my credentials. I will tell you that. 
Meanwhile, I'm going to make you wait because I can. That's all the reason I need. 
Buh-bye ducks, 
Fred 
It's been a great ride on the Internet for an ex-attorney who had a very colorful and relatively unremarkable career as a criminal defense attorney.  Leatherman gave up his law license in 2004, he was only about 57 at the time.  I've done extensive research on him and I always end up getting very side-tracked with the cases I find - I've yet to find out what happened, but I am sure there was a reason, other than retirement, for Leatherman to quit practicing law.  
Leatherman: Just so y’all know, I am planning on using the Zimmerman case to teach the basics of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Evidence, Trial Advocacy, Forensics and Wrongful Convictions. I have taught these subjects in law school and, of course, you know about my backround: 30 years experience in state and federal courts as a felony criminal defense lawyer specializing in death penalty defense and forensics.
He taught business law 2006 - 2007 at the now defunct Barkley Law School.  Apparently he was lukewarm at it.

 Average Quality
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2.5 out of a possible 5.  

American Justice School of Law: This is the same as Barkleys, which in 2007 was hit with a class action filed by some of its students.  They eventually filed for bankruptcy in 2007. [National Law Journal; WSJ Law Blog]
February 11, 2009 I am a member of the Washington State Bar Association. I changed my membership status from active to inactive because I retired from the practice of law at the end of 2004. I am now a law professor. I am not a member of the Kentucky Bar Association because I do not practice law here and have no need for a license. 
Remember, Fred said he moved to Paducah in 2006 with Rachel Ahmann-Hazel-Rene-Brannen-Leatherman. (How they met) He was neither living in Kentucky in 2004 or teaching.  He was not a "Professor" in 2009, when this post was written because he was fired from AJSL in 2007.  The school closed their doors shortly after.

I can find zero reference to Fred ever being a professor at Washington State University...only that he, as a criminal defense attorney, assisted a Professor there opening the Innocence Project.

Same page as above, Fred goes on to write:
Fred/Mason -(My Comment: I did not say that I was a law professor at the University of Washington. In Topix Message # 14122, at page 701, I said: “I don't know when you attended the U DUB, but I co-founded Innocence Project Northwest there with Professor Jackie McMurtrie in 1997.
Dayum, he backed away from that claim quick when confronted by a student.
More...
 “I was not a faculty member but I did give some lectures on the causes of wrongful convictions..."
“Small world. No, I haven't talked to Jackie in a long time and I left Seattle a cilantro over 4 years ago. After she and I cofounded IPNW and got the Wenatchee project up and running, I went on to work with Barry Scheck & the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers to form other innocence projects at other law schools modeled after IPNW. Jackie ran IPNW on a daily basis for which she deserves all of the credit after we got the Wenatchee project running. In addition to my NACDL work (I was a member of the Board of Directors), I got into a 9-month death penalty trial in Tacoma and those activities kept me pretty busy along with my forensic consulting and two other death penalty cases, including the Green River Killer case. BTW, she spells her name McMurtrie. 
UPDATE 8/24: (RE: highlight above) If the Frederick Leatherman who lives in Kentucky is indeed the same Frederick Leatherman that help found the Innocence Project Northwest, and worked with Barry Scheck - another claim he makes - then why was he not able to influence the Innocence Project in Kentucky to take his wife's case?? Just so no one thinks I had to stalk to dig this up, it is on Fred's public Picassa account here.

 Continuing: Four years ago would have been 2005. Then there's Idaho - remember, he moved with his wife to Paducah in 2006 from Washington. Seems he forgot to mention Idaho.  I don't see him listed under faculty there:
Frederick Leatherman joined the legal writing and research program as a visiting instructor for 2005-06.
More denial re Washington State University:
“I have never claimed that I taught at the UW. Where did you get that idea? I know John Junker. 
That's it. Ain't playing this tiresome game anymore. If you don't believe me, that's fine because I really don't care. 
I do care when people misstate what I said.” 
Lawyer of the year award - he said he shared the award with seven other lawyers, it was more like 14 lawyers, still, pretty nice award.

SEATTLE — Breaking from tradition, the King County Bar Association yesterday named the prosecution and defense teams in the Gary Ridgway case as "Outstanding Lawyer" of the year.
Citing the complexity and enormity of the case in which the confessed Green River killer pleaded guilty last December to killing 48 women, the bar honored all the attorneys involved in the case.
The team from the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office included Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys Jeff Baird, Patty Eakes, Brian McDonald and Dave Ryan; and Deputy Prosecutors Sean O'Donnell and Ian Goodhew.
The defense team included private criminal attorneys Anthony Savage, Suzanne Elliott, Fred Leatherman, Eric Lindell, Dave Roberson and Michele Shaw; and public defenders Mark Prothero and Todd Gruenhagen.

Moving on to Mason/Leatherman/Case1 personalities.  In my opinion, Leatherman posts to himself and even compliments himself on his own posts as Mason/Leatherman/Case.  I'll tell you why I think this - Fred uses "there in", rather than Therein when it should be one word.  The incorrect usage is not the issue, Lord knows I have no room to judge, but it's the habit of use.  Also using archaic and little known terms such as "swift-boating".  Who has both these things in common?  Leatherman/Mason/Case1.

2009 - Mason/Leatherman, efending himself 3 years ago against allegations of being a fraud, writes:

To persist in claiming that I am an impostor in the face of such evidence causes me to wonder who you are and what your agenda is. So, please answer those questions and while you are at it, please tell us who paid you and how much they paid you to swift-boat me?
2012 while opining on the Zimmerman case, Case1 writes:
THis is not the US press where “objectivity” is determined by the he said-she said Kerry’esque swift boating approach.
On this same page, Case1 writes:
And there in lies the problem.
 Opining on the Shellie Zimmerman case, Leatherman writes:
I can understand why they are scared and in fight or flight mode…and there in lies the kicker
 I love how Leatherman compliments himself here
Beautifully stated, Case1
Thank you.
So many people remain willfully blind and Trayvon’s case proves it.
He gives his address on websites as:
 750 Fairview Dr
Paducah, KY 42001

...which is an empty lot owned by an insurance agency.

Here we have two different graduation dates and ... Illinois?

Not authorized to practice law Illinois?
600 1st Ave. 312 Pioneer Bldg.
Seattle, WA 98104
Office: 206-682-2973 View map | Edit this address  Résumé
 License 38 years since Fred Leatherman was first licensed to practice law.
State Illinois
License status Not Authorized To Practice Law
Year acquired 1974
Last updated by Avvo 06/11/2012
Fred Leatherman, Not authorized to practice law - Washington
750 Fairview Dr
Paducah, KY 42001
Office: 270-366-2965 View map | Edit this address Email this lawyerRésumé
License 36 years since Fred Leatherman was first licensed to practice law.
State Washington
License status Resigned
Year acquired 1976
Last updated by Avvo 07/21/2012
A picture of the Innocence Project Northwest Alumni, of which Leatherman helped co-found. Unfortunately, there are no names, but I do not see Leatherman.


I don't see his name here anywhere in this article...nor do I see him in the picture.  NJL 2000 Pro Bono Awards 
Fred: "In 2000, for example, the National Law Journal awarded IPNW its prestigious Pro Bono Award"
Things you probably didn't know about Mr. Fred Leatherman:

Was elected, along with Jeralyn Merrit, in 1998, as a board member to the NACDL.  What I find interesting here is the fact that Leatherman seems to ignore her blog even when asked about it.  When I asked him if he knew her, my comment and tweet were deleted
The new members of NACDL's Board of Directors are Hal Arenstein, Cincinnati, OH; Stephen Glassroth, Montgomery, AL; Carmen Hernandez, Washington, D.C.; and John Zwerling, Alexandria, VA. The re-elected Directors are Frank Jackson, Dallas, TX; Helen Leiner, Fairfax, VA; Jeralyn Merritt, Denver; Marvin Miller, Alexandria, VA; Daniel Monnat, Wichita, KS; Dennis Roberts, Oakland, CA; David S. Rudolph, Chapel Hill, NC; and Martin Weinberg, Boston, MA. Affiliate organization representatives at the meeting elected Frederick D. Leatherman, Jr., Seattle, WA, and William P. Bryson, Anchorage, AK, Affiliate Board Members.
He and Russel Simmons have a couple of things in common:: 
Criminal Defense Lawyers Demand End to Drug War 11/17/00
As a nation, we've stood by and watched this 'war on drugs' lock up a whole generation of young African-Americans," said Fred Leatherman, the NACDL board member who drafted the resolution. "All the evidence says it's a sham and a failure. And everybody else who makes money from it thinks we should escalate the war. We do not agree.
Russell Simmons: War on Drugs Is a Racist Conspiracy
That's all for now... any parting words Fred?



More about Fred Leatherman
Aug 27, 2012
In his latest fantasy piece on Zimmerman there are many quotes that sound as though Leatherman is talking about himself....eerily so. Almost every word before the silly duck video describes Leatherman. Why Did George ...
Aug 19, 2012
Frederick Leatherman has been opining about the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case since about March. For an ex-attorney, he is, at best, unethical and libels himself in almost every post he writes. He's married to ...
NOTE:  Both Leatherman and his wife have said the things in this blog are untrue, I've asked them to point out what is not true, they have not answered, they've simply accused me of libel and blocked me from their site.  Again, please comment here and let me know what I've gotten wrong in my extensive research on Frederick D. Leatherman, Jr. - ex Attorney at Law, Washington.  
Your silence in this matter will be construed as acceptance of the facts as set forth in this blog.