Palin family was ordered not to disparage trooper

By MATT VOLZ, Associated Press Writer – Wed Sep 10, 7:46 pm ET

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Sarah Palin's family was ordered by a judge three years ago not to disparage her sister's ex-husband, the Alaska state trooper at the center of an investigation into whether the governor abused her power trying to get him fired.
A custody investigator appointed concluded that Molly McCann, Palin's sister, had disparaged Mike Wooten in front of their children, Judge John Suddock said during an October 2005 hearing. The judge warned her and her relatives not to disparage Wooten in front of the kids. "Disparaging is not to be tolerated — it's a form of child abuse," Suddock said, according to notes on the hearing included in the divorce file.

The Alaska Legislature is investigating whether Palin, the Republican candidate for vice president, fired former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan because he would not dismiss Wooten, a probe known as "Troopergate." Monegan has said he believes Wooten's continued employment was the reason for his dismissal, but Palin has denied that was the reason.
Palin spokeswoman Sharon Leighow did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Monegan was being interviewed Wednesday by the Troopergate investigator, retired Anchorage prosecutor Stephen Branchflower. Monegan did not immediately return a call to his home Wednesday. The executive director for Wooten's union, John Cyr, testified in the divorce proceedings that Sarah Palin and her father, Chuck Heath, filed so many complaints against Wooten that his superiors put him under a microscope and that he advised Wooten to find other work.

Animosity between Wooten and McCann has continued since the divorce was finalized in January 2006, mostly over custody of their two children and child support, according to court records. As recently as July 11, the day Monegan was fired, Wooten asked the court for a hearing over the custody dispute. The court's investigator also found that Wooten is not an "active father," Suddock said in the 2005 hearing. Wooten, 36, admits using a Taser on his stepson but said he poses no threat to the Palin family and didn't drink in his patrol car, as they alleged in a 2005 complaint before Palin was elected governor.
He told the AP this week that he was punished for his past mistakes and has moved on. "My priorities are my children and my job and that's what I've been focusing on," he said. Meanwhile, the lawyer representing Palin in the ethics investigation has been investigating the investigator, The Associated Press has learned. Thomas Van Flein quietly asked the Alaska attorney general's office on Sept. 3 for documents about the hiring and duties of Branchflower.

Van Flein said he was trying to learn whether state Sen. Hollis French, who is overseeing that investigation, had launched a "result-oriented process" and to see whether there was any evidence of bias. According to internal documents in the attorney general's office, Van Flein requested under Alaska's open records law copies of all documents describing the hiring of Branchflower for the Troopergate probe, plus any "minutes, memos, notes and agendas" related to the investigation and e-mails among state lawmakers on the Legislative Council to Branchflower or French. The attorney general's office said it did not have such documents and directed Van Flein to Alaska's Legislative Council, the panel that approved the Troopergate investigation.

Van Flein and Kim Elton, the head of the council, said no such further request was made. "We're just collecting information," Van Flein told the AP in a telephone interview Wednesday. He said the law firm was looking into Branchflower's selection as investigator, French's involvement and any role by the state trooper's union. Separately, Van Flein is challenging the Legislature's role in the investigation. He told the AP the question of jurisdiction could end up in court. That prospect would almost ensure that the investigation would extend beyond the Nov. 4 election. Van Flein and Palin want the probe conducted by a state personnel board.

AND WHY DID PALIN'S BROTHER-IN-LAW TASER HIS OWN STEPSON? (ACCORDING TO CNN INTERVIEW 8/05/08)

In 2006, state investigators found Wooten guilty of "a significant pattern of judgment failures," including using a Taser on his 10-year-old stepson and drinking beer while operating a state trooper vehicle. Wooten was suspended for 10 days as "a last chance to take corrective action."

Speaking Thursday to CNN's Drew Griffin and Kathleen Johnston, Wooten gave his account of the Taser incident but denied ever drinking while driving.

He said that he was a new Taser instructor, and his stepson was asking him about the equipment. "I didn't shoot him with live, you know, actual live cartridge," Wooten said.

Instead, he said, he hooked his stepson up to a training aid "with little clips. And, you know, the Taser was activated for less than a second, which would be less than what you would get if you touched an electric fence. ... It was as safe as I could possibly make it."

He said his stepson was on the living room floor surrounded by pillows, that he "was bragging about it," and that the family laughed about it. Asked whether it was a dumb decision, Wooten told CNN, "absolutely." The 2006 report called the incident an example of "extremely poor judgment," and noted that he has been trained in "the risks associated with use of the weapon on a child."

Wooten insists he has been "under a microscope, and everything I did was heavily scrutinized at the time."

The father of three, who was married four times, told CNN, "I'm trying to move on and be the best dad I can to my children. Be the best trooper that I can be. You know, I love my job. I love this state."