Kootenai County Deputy Sheriff’s Association – Stringent Background Investigation Fail.

Kootenai County Deputy Sheriff’s Association – Stringent Background Investigation Fail.

 

By editor@theidahoreport.com

 

The Kootenai County Deputy Sheriff’s Association (KCDSA) claims they interviewed every Sheriff’s candidate, they did not. They also claimed to have performed a “stringent background investigation”, they didn’t do that either. They significantly overestimated their ability to uncover the truth about Robert Norris.

 

Summary:

 

On July 1, 2014, Bob Norris signed an affidavit of owner-occupied residency, claiming he was a resident of Kootenai County from January 3, 2014. This entitled him to a property tax exemption of $100,000 maximum per year, for the years 2015 through 2017, resulting in a property tax savings of approximately $4420.00. During the same time period, Norris maintained a homeowner’s exemption in California, voted in California, and as shown below, sought employment and spent considerable time in California.

 

Story:

 

The Kootenai County Deputy Sheriff Association or KCDSA defended Bob Norris as “the only candidate to pass their background process” in a paid advertisement in the CDA Press. The Idaho Report did an investigation and found several items the “three senior members” of KCDSA either missed or overlooked during their “7 am meeting when the snow was coming down heavy.“

 

The Real Norris Timeline

 

Items in red are facts the KCDSA either omitted or was unaware of.

 

  • 3/28/13  Norris buys 10142 W. Creek Side Road, Post Falls, ID 83877 as a second home. (exhibit 2 –exhibit 3)
  • 3/27/14  Norris retires from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and is awarded a work-related disability retirement through LACERA.
  • 6/03/14  Norris votes in the California Statewide Primary Election. (exhibit 5)
  • 7/01/14  Norris files an Affidavit of Owner – Occupied Primary Residence under penalty of perjury stating 10142 W. Creek Side Road, Post Falls ID 83877 was his primary residence as of 01/03/2014 (exhibit 6)
  • 12/22/15 Norris vehicle at 7823 Florence Ave, Downey California. (exhibit 10)
  • 2/25/16 Norris was issued a security guard license and a firearms license by the California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. Each license application, signed under penalty of perjury, stated Norris’ address of record was 12929 Oxford Drive, La Mirada, CA. These licenses expired on April 30, 2018. On the application, Robert Norris states he had employment (in California) pending. (exhibit 7)
  • 06/07/16  Voted in the California Presidential Primary Election (exhibit 5)
  • 07/29/16 Norris vehicle at California Residence address. (exhibit 10)
  • 08/2016 Norris vehicle at California Residence address. (exhibit 10)
  • 11/08/16  Voted in the California General Election. To vote in California, the voter must be a United States citizen 18 years of age and resident in the state. (Cal Const, Art II § Cal Elec Code § 2102) requires voters to sign an affidavit under penalty of perjury. (exhibit 5)
  • 12/16/16  Files small claims action in LA Superior court Case:16DWSC07832
  • 02/17/17  Vehicle in Norwalk, California. (exhibit 10)
  • 02/22/17  Appears in person at Downey, Ca. courthouse. (exhibit 16)
  • 03/02/17  Vehicle in Cerritos, California. (exhibit 10)
  • 04/05/17  Vehicle in La Habra, California (exhibit 10)
  • 04/25/17  Vehicle at residence, California (exhibit 10)
  • 04/27/17  Vehicle in Norwalk, California (exhibit 10)
  • 08/16/17  Sale of 12929 OXFORD DR LA MIRADA recorded for $830,008 (https://portal.assessor.lacounty.gov/parceldetail/8038030020)

 

Idaho residency activity

 

  • 04/18/18  Norris signs Kootenai County Idaho SAR Volunteer oath. (exhibit 8)
  • 09/11/18  Officially announces his candidacy for Kootenai County Sheriff
  • 08/2019  Placed on leave of absence from SAR duties effective August 2019 as per email dated February 3, 2020 (exhibit 18)
  • 09/15/2019 – Norris offers 1st explanation for property tax issue in CDA press article.  Blames the sudden passing of his ex-wife.  Julie Norris died almost 14 months prior to when he signed the affidavit.
  • 09/15/2019  Tells the press: “I’ve since mailed a check ($210) to the LA Treasurer’s office” to correct the homeowner exemption issue.  (exhibit 9)
  • 11/17/2019  L.A. County assessor records corrected bills to tax years 2014-2017 for La Mirada residence. (https://portal.assessor.lacounty.gov/parceldetail/8038030020)
  • 02/05/2020 – Coeur d’ Alene Police Officers Association endorses Norris.
  • 03/03/2020 –States to the Coeur d’Alene Press “Purchased home, registered vehicle and obtained Idaho driver’s license in 2013” (exhibit 4)
  • 04/30/2020 – Coeur d’ Alene Police Officers Association revokes endorsement of Norris.
  • 06/16/2020 – Lies to Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office. Norris texts and calls Jaime Lopez, the official Sheriff photographer for the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. Norris gave false information to Lopez and obtained photographs of his political opponent, John “Mike” Bauer. (18 U.S. Code § 1343) (exhibit 12)

 

NORRIS’ CONFLICTING STATEMENTS

 

Affidavit of owner-occupied primary residence:

 

On 07/01/14, Norris signed, under penalty of perjury, the affidavit of owner-occupied primary residence as of 01/03/2014. (exhibit 6)
The second home rider proves Idaho was not Norris’ primary residence as of March 2013. (exhibit 3)

 

The following evidence contradicts Norris’ residency claims:

 

  • Statement on September 15, 2019 to the CDA Press claiming “I worked until the day I retired from the Sheriff’s Office”. (exhibit 9) Norris retired on March 27, 2014 according to his website.
  • The application clearly states: “UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY, I CERTIFY THAT I AM THE OWNER OR AM PURCHASING, AND OCCUPY AS MY PRIMARY DWELLING THE RESIDENTIAL IMPROVEMENT AS DESCRIBED ABOVE. I AM AN IDAHO RESIDENT AND I DO NOT HAVE A HOMEOWNER’S EXEMPTION ON ANY OTHER PROPERTY THAT I CURRENTLY OWN”
  • Norris maintained a homeowner’s exemption on his California residence from 1999 until it was sold in August of 2017.
  • Numerous images place Norris’ vehicle in California through April of 2017. (exhibit 10,11)
  • Newly discovered evidence: Norris applied for and received a security guard license and exposed weapons permit. According to a public records request, on 02/20/2016
  • Norris had employment pending the issuance of the license. The license was granted for work in California. Both license applications, declared under penalty of perjury, showed Norris’ La Mirada home address. The licenses expired in 2018. (exhibit 7)
  • Norris has a consistent record of voting in California from 03/05/2002 to 11/08/2016. (exhibit 5)
  •  Susan Mel-Thong (Susan Norris) lived at the La Mirada address as of 12/31/2014 and has a consistent work history in California 2014-2017 according to Transparent California (exhibit 17)
  • Norris initially offered the explanation that the passing of his ex-wife was the reason he “spent some time in Los Angeles”. (exhibit 9) Norris’ ex-wife passed away nearly 14 months prior to him signing the homeowner affidavit.
  • Norris later claimed on social media the County Assessor made a clerical error. The Chief Deputy Assessor refuted any claims the Assessor’s office made an error, according to audio downloaded from the website: whoisnorris2020.com. (Reposted to TheIdahoReport.com/norrisfiles)
  • Norris has offered conflicting explanations, but has yet to offer any official proof he was an Idaho resident and legally entitled to his home owner’s exemption, such as a timely filed state tax return.
  • 04/16/2020 Kootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger stated in the CDA Press: “Mr. Norris had to be a resident of California to vote in California in 2016 and a resident of Idaho in order to maintain his homeowner’s exemption. Mr. Norris’ strength is his experience at Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office. His weakness is this specter of fraud, either voter or tax fraud.” (exhibit 13)
  • 04/20/2020 Sends Email to Kootenai County Undersheriff Mattos demanding “an immediate retraction and correction” from Sheriff Wolfinger regarding the tax fraud allegation. A meeting with Sheriff Wolfinger, Undersheriff Mattos, Norris and Norris’ advisor, Bruce Mattare was scheduled for Tuesday 04/21/2020. To date no known retraction has been published. (exhibit 14)
  • Norris claims on his website “the County knew about the LA Homeowner Exemption” without specifying Kootenai county. He provides emails in an effort to support this claim. In the first email from Kootenai County, Beckie Williams asks “Is he receiving the exemption on the home in LaMirada?” L.A. County replied “Owner still have the Homeowner Exemption credit”. This indicates Norris did NOT disclose his California homeowner exemption as he has repeatedly claimed.
  • LA County also states “We will forward your email to our Homeowner Exemption Unit so that they can send by mail the Homeowner Exemption Cancellation request on his La Mirada home.” It is unknown (yet) if LA mailed the cancellation request to Norris.
  • California considers a person a resident if they have a dependent that attends a primary or secondary school. – Norris was granted primary physical responsibility for the care, custody and control of the minor child. A student with the same name as Norris’ child appears to have attended La Mirada High School in 2014 (according to Lamiradahighschool.org) and should have graduated in 2017. (exhibit 1)

 

The preponderance of evidence suggests Norris was a resident of California up until around August of 2017. Norris’ repayment of California property taxes shows intent to defraud Kootenai County.

 

Driver’s License:

 

Idaho Code 49-119 “Resident” means for purposes of vehicle registration, titling, a driver’s license, a person whose domicile has been within Idaho continuously for a period of at least ninety (90) days. A domicile shall not be a person’s workplace, vacation, or part-time residence.

 

  • By Norris’ own admission, he was not an Idaho resident in 2013.(exhibit 3, exhibit 4)
  • Norris would have been required to surrender his California license.
  • California Vehicle Code, 12504: The maximum period during which that nonresident may operate a motor vehicle in this state without obtaining a driver’s license is limited to a period of 10 days immediately following the entry of the nonresident into this state.
  • California Vehicle Code, 12511: No person shall have in his or her possession or otherwise under his or her control more than one driver’s license.
  • California requires vehicles to be registered within 20 days of establishing residency. Residency is defined but not limited to the occurrence of any of the following events:

 

1) Any act, event, or occurrence in the state that displays a presence in the state more than temporary.
2) A person who registers to vote. (exhibit 5)
3) An individual that finds gainful employment in the state. (exhibits7,17)
4) Dependents that attend a primary or secondary school. – Norris was granted primary physical responsibility for the care, custody, and control of the minor child. Norris’ child attended La Mirada High School in 2014 and should have graduated in 2017. (exhibit 1)
5) Are able to declare a homeowner’s property tax exemption. (https://portal.assessor.lacounty.gov/parceldetail/8038030020)

 

  • Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office requires a valid California Driver License to be employed.

Lies to Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office and possibly commits wire fraud.

Norris texts and calls Jaime Lopez, the official Sheriff photographer for the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. Norris gave false information to Lopez and obtained photographs of his political opponent, John “Mike” Bauer.

  • Norris provided John “Mike” Bauer’s employee identification number and retirement date from LASD. (exhibit 12)
  • Norris told Lopez that Bauer’s house “flooded” and he needs copies of photos from Bauer’s personnel file.
  • Lopez provided the photos and then found out Norris was running against Bauer for Sheriff. When questioned by Lopez, Norris responded, “It’s a friendly race”
  • There was no flood at Bauer’s home, nor had Bauer asked Norris to make this inquiry into his personnel records.
  • Wire fraud defined: (18 U.S. Code § 1343)

 

Votes in California while claiming residency in Idaho

 

  • Norris consistently maintains he was an Idaho resident 07/03/2014 to present, yet voted repeatedly in California. (exhibit 5)
  • Stated in the CDA Press “If you’re not registered and voting in two states, then it’s not voting fraud” (exhibit 9)
  • Sheriff Wolfinger stated on 4/16/2020:” California statute regarding electors states: (a) ‘Elector’ means a person who is a United States citizen 18 years of age or older and, except as specified in subdivision (b), is a resident of an election precinct in this state on or before the day of an election. In other words, Mr. Norris had to be a resident of California to vote in California in 2016 and a resident of Idaho in order to maintain his homeowner’s exemption.”

 

Supporting Documents

 

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Opinion:

 

When confronted with irrefutable truth,  Norris and his supporters usually resort to personal attacks rather than discussing the issues.

 

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s office has been sued many times in the past, most recently a 5 million dollar case was settled out of court (Soumas v Kootenai County).  These cases cost the taxpayers, and we should expect the county to be able to defend our pocketbooks.

 

If the county Sheriff was named in a lawsuit, but not able to testify because of a history of being untruthful on official documents, the county would likely have to offer a settlement rather than fight the case.

 

It is clear that Robert “Bob” Norris has lied.  Are the members of the Kootenai County Deputy Sheriff’s Association who performed this “investigation” incompetent?  Did they overlook publicly available information, or are they selectively ignoring facts?

 

The Idaho Report has learned that KCDSA President, Sgt. Jeremy Hyle was recently rotated into the detective bureau.  Hyle was scolded in 2018 by Judge Lansing Haynes for “intentionally and unconstitutionally detaining a suspect beyond the reason for the original traffic stop,” resulting in methamphetamine and paraphernalia charges being dismissed.

 

Let’s hope he gets some better training soon.

References: 

 

The public record list is long on this report, check back later for updates.

Exhibit 1 Norris Divorce: Copied from Bob Norris video

Follow TheIdahoReport.com for more facts as we pursue the truth.

Upcoming reports:

The Kootenai County Sheriffs Office; public record request inconsistencies.

Has anyone at the Sheriff’s Office heard of the Hatch Act?

 

Published with Permission of theidahoreport.com

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