| Marv Coppen v Erik Hjelle and MFA Findings ( from Elected Officials) published on 6/9/2006 Here is the State of Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings report on Mr. Coppen's complaint against Mr. Hjelle and the Maplewood Firefighters Association (MFA), wherein Mr. Hjelle is fined $400 for accepting excess contributions from MFA. It also finds the campaign literature to have included false statements, they were just about the whole council and not Mr. Coppen so that charge was dismissed. With respect to one campaign claim about police patrol offices, the judges found: "Although the Respondents’ analysis was anecdotal and flawed and their conclusion incorrect [emphasis mine], Complainant did not establish by clear and convincing evidence that Respondents knew their statement was false or communicated it with reckless disregard as to its falsity. In order to establish reckless disregard, there must be sufficient evidence that Respondents entertained serious doubts as to the truth of a statement, but published the statement anyway.[79] The Complainant did not show this. For all of these reasons, the Complainant has failed to establish a violation Minn. Stat. § 211B.06 with respect to the patrol officer statement. " |