On a slow, sunny day in Portland… late in the summer of 2009… the 3 year ordeal of Eric Pepin’s trial finally ended. Nobody cheered, or breathed a sigh of relief. A few phone calls to loved ones went out, “It’s finally over”. That’s it. That is all anyone could muster to say.

Perhaps because by then everyone was too tired, beat up and exhausted to feel. To endure such a thing, you have to steel many of your emotions. You are robbed of much of your life.

Perhaps it was also because while it was “officially” over, everyone knew it would never really end. The damage was done… on lives, hearts, minds. Nothing would ever be able to undo it.

Or perhaps, and any in this position may relate, while the case ended it left in its wake a hole of justice… that the experience of the last 3 years had taught any who witnessed it… would NEVER be filled. It was just a moment of life. A battle, a fight that had to be fought… and now you simply learn how to move on and rise again.

At one point on your journey, you were seeking a source for answers. You probably searched across the web and books for any ever elusive gems that would point you further along the path of your spiritual evolution. One day, perhaps you were researching meditation and found a link to the Higher Balance Institute webpage. There you may have learned of a man you never heard of before. His name was Eric Pepin.

You kept reading and found that this spiritual teacher offered a very special message. Perhaps it was then you read The Handbook of the Navigator. Or perhaps it was simple intuition that made you look further, to throw any caution or cynicism to the wind, to see what this man’s message and method was all about.

But there was something different about him, wasn’t there? And try as you might to find more information about who he was, all in all, you found little to nothing out there or hearsay at best.

Well, let’s peel back some of the curtain…

After many months of development, it is with great pleasure and excitement for us at Higher Balance to announce the release of a new next-generation website and blog for Eric Pepin, Author of The Handbook of the Navigator and Founder of the Higher Balance Institute based in Portland, Oregon.

This new site has been redesigned with a fresh look and will be frequently updated with all information related to Eric’s latest activities, future plans, insights, announcements and journeys! Additionally, it will provide multiple media choices, from written entries, to audio and video podcasts to inform readers of every answer to the most common questions about all things Eric Pepin.

Making an active hub for Eric’s life required a full website to itself. His profile at www.hbinavigators.com wasn’t enough. Eric lives a very dynamic life. So we like to think of www.ericpepin.com as a cross between an information portal as well as a window into Eric’s world, from his eyes.

The new web site offers several main areas for you, the reader. These areas are:

• A biographical description about who Eric is and what his background is.
• Eric will share his thoughts and broadcast them over audio and video podcasts
• All listings of his upcoming lectures and events.
• We will archives all blog entries, articles and newsletters.
• This will be the official home of Eric Pepin’s Blog
• Here you will find all news and announcements about books and other material releases.

Like all blog sites, you will be able to contribute your own feedback to his content here. Don’t hesitate to write your own comments, thoughts, media links, and opinions. Eventually, we think some of the content on this site will go down in the story of Eric’s and Higher Balance history!

We thank you again for checking it out. Don’t forget to sign up for the newsletters here. And leave a comment! Tell Eric what you think. This site is alive, and with that life, we’d love to hear your thoughts.

Have fun exploring the site.

Hi Eric

I know you’re super busy which is one reason I generally don’t bother you (lol) but I wonder about something.

I wonder about what you describe as the plains of light.

I love Foundation and really enjoy letting myself go and experiencing that place of Light but I know that there’s so much more to that zone and get the feeling its possible to apply ones own will in order to push things in a certain direction. Rather than just surrendering I mean. I think this is what you hint at in warriors wanted (dvd) but don’t quite give the full game away.

Why is this? Perhaps I’m wrong but I feel there’s more to it.. Ah maybe its just not the right time.

Thanks for reading

Alex

Hello Alex,

If I were to explain the planes of light right now my whole day would be gone, lol. Perhaps one day when we meet you should ask me again, ok.

Here is a tip, and I am sure I have said it somewhere else… but think of panes of glass. Did I spell that right? Panes, as in large square glass window.

Imagine them vastly huge, made of light but they can also bend and flux, kind of like… whales moving through water I guess. That’s what it feels like.

These massive panes of dimensional light “move” towards each other and crisscross. When this happens, this is what you are looking for.

At the moment of layering between the two panes, or colors, there temporarily becomes a third color, a “Frequency”. This is a doorway of sorts. “It takes real skill to catch these. But don’t over focus on them as you will miss out on other very important developmental knowledge.”

Move through it and you cross space and time. Getting back to your marker (organic body) is never a problem. Most people will have a hard enough time remaining wherever they go. Your anchor (or in this case physical body) always pulls you back in… with just a simple desire or thought of return. No matter how far away you are.

Like I said, time and space are truly irrelevant. When you move through to these other places, it’s like diving at a tropical exotic beach. Once underwater you are blown away, but your air is running out and you are forced to surface. The more skilled you become the longer you can dive, or… if you have help… lets say the equivalent of a diving tank, or “Teacher”, then you can go deeper and further. As you become more skilled, greater lengths of time can become indefinite.

When most people arrive “In” the Planes of Light, they are zoomed in.

What I am saying is you unconsciously choose to “imitate” the size of your physical body. So in comparison to the massive size, or what appears massive to you, is because you choose to be small. Think about this. Your Navigator is already familiar with what I am saying.

You are small there because you “unconsciously” choose to be, but at other times these massive bands of light are smaller and more within your physical size. Ok, hold on now. Let me suggest that these bands did not get smaller, you simply got bigger. It is the human mind that cannot wrap around this concept as it limits itself with organic rules. “Chew on it.” The same concept holds true for most all of the teachings, you need to think outside of the box.

Keep in mind you must grasp that size is irrelevant. If you don’t, you will remain as energy the same or similar size as your organic body. In comparison, the panes of light / ribbons are truly massive; I suppose they can be larger than entire worlds and even galaxies etc.

So once you “appear” you’re kind of inside of a band or outside observing. Keep in mind not to limit your mind either. There are trillion upon trillions of these ribbons and they vastly range in size even to the microscopic and beyond. Hence the difference, at times, when people say it’s like illuminated energy all around them, “fog”, or they see a wall of energy and say to themselves this must be the Planes of Light, because they are outside of it. Uggh. The funny part is that they are in a lighter band of light and don’t realize it. The band that they are seeing is simply darker in its luminosity. Uugghh! Once more… because there really isn’t light but… aaahhhhhhhhhh! It’s more like static if you look real, real close… ahhhh!

You just need to see it for yourself! Keep in mind the “plural” term “Planes” of Light. This already indicates many bands of light.

This does not occur to the novice. If you want to experience a different multi-dimensional frequency etc, you simply move, “Like walk, but no physical action. You don’t have body parts and if you do… this is you holding a concept and creating them on your energy body.” Lol.

Body parts in dimensional places are like having a giant fish tail on land! I mean, even a head with hair and eyes strikes me as insanely odd to me there. You are energy; nothing more, nothing less. It’s bad enough that everything I am saying has to be piped and packed into terms you can relate to as a human.. Aaahhhhhhhhh! Back to my point.

Into a different band “Pane” – here is the tricky part. When two cross, there is a third special frequency created “temporarily.” If you move through this one – “Here is the secret” – you are able to move to “God-like” areas. Enough said!

Now when you “move”, this is called “Navigating”. It’s the skill of holding your mind together. It’s “mad skill” the more you can hold it together the deeper and further you can move into them and the amount of time you can operate from them. There is just not enough time to explain all this.

Watch the movie “Dune” (make sure it’s the original). When I first saw this movie and they showed these creatures, “which once were human”, that evolved to look like whale-”ish” creatures… and developed the power to fold space; I was shocked! I thought – how did this writer know this? Although it’s not nearly accurate, but its pretty damn close just the same.

What are the Planes of Light? Ok, if you really need to know? — Think of your brain as an organic, well, a clump of matter.

Now envision all of the electrons and electrical currents jumping around throughout it. Now you have two. The first is the organic matter and the second the electrical energies. Now pull the two apart. Put the organic brain aside, “Primitive”, and look at the clump of energies. Now zoom in and you are in the Planes of Light! Except the Planes of Light we are speaking of, is of God.

So back to Earth regarding the movie Dune; movies are simply an artistic relationship of collective thought and universal inspiration encouraging mankind to learn and grow. Secondly this writer very well may have carried memories into this life and was to able to reflect some image of it onto canvas for the world to see. Don’t know, don’t care. It is what it is.

Many of the scenes or characters relate very well for me, ha ha, even the “Baron” (as a previous person who attempted to squash Higher Balance out in its earlier days) because of his desire to control. Of course one understands that it is a sensationalized movie. But the writer used history and spiritual stories that were real and then rewrote a modern version and made it into a movie. “See Joseph Campbell” another brilliant, brilliant man.

Here is a tool you can use to help better understand the things I speak of. But remember, as great of a tool it is, it comes short to the real deal. In the Movie “Dune” these giant whale/human creatures basically for thousands of years used this powder called “Spice”, that people would use to expand their minds. In fact, all of the gifted races in the movie had their own version of this powder. Basically they get the spice from only one planet in the universe, it is nowhere else.

From its raw form, they process it to their liking or “secret recipe” and then use it to expand their minds which creates certain paranormal abilities, uggh.

The whale-like creatures are the cream of the crop out of all species. Their secret recipe has evolved them physically from humans to whale-like. Their power is to fold space. They captain giant tubular spacecrafts that can hold giant military space fleets inside. Once everything is in and floating inside the tube spacecraft, the Captain/pilot/NAVIGATOR moves their mind with the whole craft and “Will’s” themselves light years across space. The tube, in a matter of lets say seconds or minutes, re-appears orbiting over the desired planet. The pilot opens the giant bay doors and the mass of crafts come out and go to the surface of the planet.

Whheeewww, getting winded, ha ha. Let me point a few things out so when you see the movie you can get more out of it. When the whale-like creature folds space and takes these giant crafts with it, it blows out and creates the world it wants to go to.

As it closes it eyes and then opens them, the whale is then in the craft floating over the planet. It becomes real and the whole craft reappears in the real world. The whale-like “Navigator” now is floating next to the planet, as is the entire space craft, and unquestionably accepts this as its truth.

Oh boy, let me try to sort this. When I describe these dimensional places to you, it reawakens memories for you, a knowing within you. By knowing what I help show you, at some point you can build and artificially feel these places. In so doing they move into reality and become real! They are real to begin with. Instead of you moving to it, “human thinking”, it all moves toward you. I just need to speak about all this on a recorder. Uugghh. Also keep in mind that the writer and/or movie director had to come up with some kind of scene so people have a visual concept; of course this may make no sense at all. People just think they are seeing something cool, but it really is much deeper. “It’s all in the details!”

Life imitates art… we are Navigators. We can use our minds, once disciplined and trained, to move through time and space. You are able to “Navigate” these Planes of Light etc. How much you can move “with you”, depends on how much time you have put into your training. And of course this is simply one small facet of a white cell.

Perhaps disappointed by what they found, or DID NOT find, as there was no more evidence that Higher Balance was a cult than Eric Pepin was guilty of the story being made against him, they ran straight to the newspaper. They wanted a big show and nothing draws headlines like an “evil cult”.

Article one from The Oregonian

The lead detectives claim was very straight-forward. Higher Balance is a cult, running in Beaverton. Everyone should be afraid of what they were doing and thank the police for the great service they were doing.

Later Smith would claim the newspaper misquoted him. That somehow they got it all wrong. He never said those things. Yet he said it not once, but twice.

Quote from Oregonian article

In court Smith would testify, “When the newspaper article came out I felt that what happened was that she wrote down two separate sections of our conversation and put them together. Like it was one continuous quote when, in fact, it wasn’t. I wasn’t happy about the way she put that together.” Detective Mike Smith said.

Defense attorney Stephen Houze asked detective Smith if he felt the reporter misquoted him. He replied, “Yes sir.”

How often can someone be misquoted? Well… after reading the articles surrounding the trial, it turns out the newspapers can (and do) get a lot of things wrong. Really clear black-and-white things. Like someone saying one thing and printing the opposite. So we can forgive the detective that. Yet, let’s suppose he really did say those things. Why would he say them… just guessing hypothetically…

1) The accuser told them so – This would be a no-brainer. As soon as the man said “meditation” or “sixth sense”, “spiritual awakening”, it immediately invokes non-mainstream religion (not Christian in the US case), which means slap the “cult” label on it. It’s also possible the accuser exaggerated and lied about what Higher Balance was to bring more attention to the story. It has never been disclosed what were the things he really said at the beginning of the case.

However, if this were the case the police should have easily compared what they were told and what they saw and realized they did not match up. They came in with guns and vests ready for a fight… certainly they must have been disappointed. Expectations didn’t match up to their “big bust”.

BUT if they had a vested interest in Higher Balance being a “cult” because it makes a great story, then reality doesn’t matter so much. You can still make a great story. You can even look for things that support your story… except later you might be embarrassed about them.

2) They had ‘evidence’ – Police took pictures of everything inside Higher Balance they day it was raided. When confronted about their newspaper article the District Attorney later suggested they had pictures “proving” Higher Balance was a cult. (Here’s a tip, don’t defend a defenseless position just because it sounds good in the paper.)

In one of the rooms inside the office, was the title of a marketing book on a white board, The Power of Cult Branding. The book discusses companies like Apple, Nike, and Star Trek franchise to determine why their customers are so loyal to their brand and what the common components of these companies are. The police saw one word “cult” from the title, took a picture and figured it supported their story… and ran with it.

Later it would be pointed out it was a marketing book. They abandoned their case that Higher Balance was a cult.

Detective Smith testified he could not say the company was anything like a cult. He told the court, “I don’t know exactly, how do you define a cult?”

Defense attorneys attempted to bring into the court the police’s OWN photos showing the white board with the title of the book on it, as it was the basis of their assertion. District Attorney Andrew Erwin argued to keep it out, saying they had already given up the argument Higher Balance was a cult, nobody was suggesting it was… and they should all move on.

3) Sounded good at the time – Quotes to all the papers, months of asserting they had busted an evil cult… and now they didn’t even want their own evidence or story discussed in court. This is the extent of the investigation and where the accusation comes from that ‘Higher Balance is a cult’.

NEXT: Accuser Admits, “Many Claims I Made Against Eric Pepin Were FALSE!”

What is Higher Balance to you? Tell us below.

It is strange and troubling that long after the criminal case ended, it was discovered the accuser had physical evidence of over 7 relationships he had with adult men and women when he was as young as 15 years old. None of them were Eric Pepin. None of them were ever pursued or questioned by police.

An even sadder statement on the injustice done by the police and district attorney is this:

During testimony, the accuser was asked about claims he made during the criminal case to police which he repeated, on paper, in his civil lawsuit. These are shocking statements he claimed Eric Pepin had done and when.

With complete indifference, he casually stated claims he made never happened.

The lawyers sat still for a moment – had he just said claims he made NEVER HAPPENED?!

They asked what any logical human would follow with: If those things never happened, why did you say they did? Why did he tell police they happened, why was he claiming damages in his own lawsuit for things he is now saying never happened?

The man shrugged and said they should ask his lawyer.

Here is perhaps the most disturbing part: nobody cared. They acted as if it was business-as-usual and continued on as if nothing interesting had really happened. As if it was all a given and things like this happen every day. It’s just another day on the job, earning a living. Somebody lies to the police, lies in their lawsuit, destroys innocent lives… and it’s no big deal. Happens all the time. That’s life. Get over it.

Nobody seemed shocked by the discovery, as if it was a given that everyone already knew the man was lying. It’s just the way the system works. It’s not about guilty or innocent, it’s just a system that moves along and people make money from it. In the end it spits you out, the just, the unjust… all the same. Justice, as is often said, is indeed blind.

NEXT: Eric Pepin’s Lawsuit Ends – What you should know…

What are your thoughts after hearing more about the case? Let’s hear it. Tell us below.

Quote from Oregonian article

It was a great line for a newspaper. Some guy goes around the house, meeting people for the first time in a black robe gloriously declaring to the world, I am “Master Eric”, and he’s serious? That’s sure going to get readers!

Such a story was also great viral food for the internet. In no time complete strangers were all too happy to savagely feed off of the instant-iconic image. Seriously, if that were true, the Southpark episode had practically written itself! Who would be that arrogant and full of themselves?

For sure there are people like that out there… but there was one problem for the accuser who made up the story (at first then he changed it), the police who told the paper, (at first then they changed that too), and the paper who printed it (but never retracted it despite EVERYONE testifying it was made up)… it wasn’t true.

Not long after the paper ran the sensational tib-bit about Eric Pepin Detective Smith found himself in court saying it was the reporter who got it wrong. “When the newspaper article came out I felt that what happened was that she wrote down two separate sections of our conversation and put them together. Like it was one continuous quote when, in fact, it wasn’t. I wasn’t happy about the way she put that together.” Detective Mike Smith said.

Defense attorney Stephen Houze asked detective Smith if he felt the reporter misquoted him. He replied, “Yes sir.”

Detective Smith went on even reversing his earlier assertion Higher Balance was a cult. He agreed that he could not say the company was anything like a cult. He told the court, “I don’t know exactly, how do you define a cult?”

The accuser also changed his story – completely – telling the court it was a “fuzzy, brown cotton robe.” When asked if he was certain Eric Pepin was wearing a fuzzy, brown robe he confirmed that was what he told police.

Of course the original officer who interviewed the accuser maintained that was NOT what he said. Officer Matthew Groshong, a 10 year veteran of the force, testified that was not what he was told. Groshong conducted the first interview with the accuser in January 2006. The interview was done at the office of the man’s civil attorney, which he obtained before filing charges. Groshong’s report detailed a different version of events than what the man would later told other officers and what he also said in court.

Why would such a strong, striking image be so hard to remember? How could he get it so wrong? I mean a black robe with “Master Eric” on it is pretty dramatic – that kind of soap opera is hard to forget. How could it become a plain old brown robe instead? Even the brown robe ended up being disputed by 11 witnesses… so now it ends up there wasn’t even a robe at all.

The District Attorney threw the 10 year veteran of the force, Groshong, under the bus. Claiming the 10 year veteran officer had gotten the account wrong because his version no longer matched the one the accuser gave to the court. So did Detective Smith – the version he was told was different too! OF COURSE the accuser didn’t get his story wrong, the officers were incorrect or lying about it. He had said brown robe the whole time…

Why was District Attorney Andy Erwin working SO HARD to defend every change in the accusers testimony? Maybe… just maybe… because the case was as important to him and his future, as it was to the man making it hoping to cash in on Eric Pepin’s money.

One thing is for sure… the black/brown/green robe/pajamas/shorts story weren’t helping them hang an innocent man. So they abandoned it along with the idea Higher Balance was a cult and kicked the hard working police officers who were really doing their jobs, and protecting the innocent, to the curb.

NEXT: Is Higher Balance a cult? Why the police changed their mind…

Tell us what you think below…

Forget that the accuser had evidence of sexual relationships with seven adults, men and women, when he was as young as 15 and NONE of them were ever investigated or charged. One even testified that he was living with the accuser, in a sexual relationship, when he was an adult and the accuser a minor. Never mind the District Attorney defended all the different variations of the accusers story, even going as far as saying a 10 year veteran of the police force who made the first interview with the man, hadn’t done his job and was wrong because he conflicted with the accusers story.

Remove from your mind that the same Distract Attorney, Andy Erwin, then launched a campaign against an incumbent judge soon after the trial, boosted from the media attention… and won.

After all that do you think you would have some regrets? Know what Eric Pepin’s regret is? The answer will really surprise you…

An injustice occurs that will affect you for the rest of your life… never to be corrected. How many of us could look at the world, or trust other people, the same?

What is the real price of Eric Pepin’s trial?

See if first-hand in an emotional account below…

Few can imagine what an ordeal such as this is truly like, unless you or someone close to you has been through it. To be wrongly accused with no hope for justice, to be innocent and have the very force meant to protect you turn against you, and to be publicly dragged through the mud while strangers all through the world use it for their own gain and purposes. It is hard to blame someone, in that position, from questioning the goodness in their fellow humans.

But is the price worth it? Can you keep a dream alive, or even want to, after such an event?

Would you keep going after Eric Pepin’s lawsuit?

NEXT: Witness Exposes Eric Pepin Accuser LIE – “Master Robe” revealed

Let us know your thoughts below.

Certainly if you have been abused and you are in a police station, that’s a serious matter, why walk away then?

You walk away because at that point in time the “story” about the abuse had not been created. He was just looking to get money from somewhere. Watch below for new, unknown details about the real story… who the accuser was and what drove him to make the accusations…

After the man tried to get money from Eric Pepin and was turned away, he tried the police and ended up getting a local civil attorney, John Uffleman, who had once served as a district attorney for Washington county. This is a man who still knows people in law enforcement, knows how the legal system works, and has connections.

John Uffleman took the case on, pro bono. This means he worked for free with an agreement he would be paid later out of money gotten from Eric Pepin.

Certainly Uffleman did not want to take on a civil case, it would be lengthy and costly. Why not find a reason for law enforcement to pursue a case for him? Then he would have the near-endless resources of the state and all of the taxpayers money at his disposal.

If the criminal case against Eric Pepin succeeded… the accuser, and Uffleman, would have won money immediately. This is how it works in the US, which is something Uffleman would have known.

I believe it is somewhere in this time that the abuse “story” was crafted from employment complaints to underage sex. Of course, lots of facts had to be twisted and changed, which is why I think the accuser gave so many different versions of his story.

Rather than return to the police to file a report, his lawyer had police come to his own private office to interview his client. The police accommodated this request. This would also protect the accuser and his lawyer from having to discuss what they spoke to police about – everything is under client-attorney privilege.

It is strange and troubling that long after the criminal case ended, it was discovered the accuser had physical evidence of over 7 relationships he had with adult men and women when he was as young as 15 years old. None of them were Eric Pepin. None of them were ever pursued or questioned by police.

An even sadder statement on the injustice done by the police and district attorney is this:

During testimony, the accuser was asked about claims he made during the criminal case to police which he repeated, on paper, in his civil lawsuit. These are shocking statements he claimed Eric Pepin had done and when.

With complete indifference, he casually stated claims he made never happened.

The lawyers sat still for a moment – had he just said claims he made NEVER HAPPENED?!

They asked what any logical human would follow with: If those things never happened, why did you say they did? Why did he tell police they happened, why was he claiming damages in his own lawsuit for things he is now saying never happened?

The man shrugged and said they should ask his lawyer.

Here is perhaps the most disturbing part: nobody cared. They acted as if it was business-as-usual and continued on as if nothing interesting had really happened. As if it was all a given and things like this happen every day. It’s just another day on the job, earning a living. Somebody lies to the police, lies in their lawsuit, destroys innocent lives… and it’s no big deal. Happens all the time. That’s life. Get over it.

Nobody seemed shocked by the discovery, as if it was a given that everyone already knew the man was lying. It’s just the way the system works. It’s not about guilty or innocent, it’s just a system that moves along and people make money from it. In the end it spits you out, the just, the unjust… all the same. Justice, as is often said, is indeed blind.

NEXT: Eric Pepin’s Surprising REGRET about Lawsuit

What would you do if this happened to you? Let us hear it below.

He won and became a judge. Did Andy Erwin use Eric Pepin’s case, and possibly others like it, as a way to exploit them for his own gain? How much abuse of state power do we tolerate and what are other people in similar positions capable of? Who is protecting us, the people, from those who are supposed to be protecting us?

Hear how the police used their power in Eric Pepin’s case and ask yourself… how many are out there who didn’t get a chance to speak?

The election did raise some eyebrows, with Blue Oregon asking in an article, “Did Andy Erwin dupe Washington County?”

My belief is he did a lot more then they are claiming and he got away with it.

Blue Oregon did some research and uncovered what Eric Pepin and many of his legal advisers would later believe to be true – Erwin used the case to play to his donors and voting base.

“A few weeks ago, a reader sent me a tip about looking into Erwin’s campaign finances. Since this was a race on my own ballot, it intrigued me enough to surf over to Orestar and check it out. A look at Erwin’s campaign finances via Orestar does show some rather unsavory connections.

It’s pretty clear this wasn’t one of your run-of-the-mill races. Erwin ran this like a legislative race. He even had a campaign website. None of the other circuit judge candidates had them, that I can find.

On Erwin’s website is a rather odd letter that Rogers apparently sent out to criminal defense attorneys in March. The letter accuses Steve Doell and Crime Victims United of “weighing in” on the race with a huge donation to Erwin (which Erwin denies). It further accuses Doell and Kevin Mannix of asserting themselves into these sorts of races, a charge that Erwin further denies.

On 5/13/08 (one week before the election), Erwin’s campaign received $10,000 from Loren Parks. For those still unaware, Parks has a penchant for bizarre, right-wing campaigns and candidates (not to mention Parks’ fantabulous claims about how he can cure female frigidity by hypnosis warning: NOT family-friendly). Parks dropped $175k to Mannix in July . In fact, Parks is one of Mannix’s most generous benefactors. Why would Parks be dumping that much cash into a nonpartisan, judicial race? And why right before the election?”

The web gets more tangled for Erwin, which you can check out here:

http://www.blueoregon.com/2008/09/did-andy-erwin.html

Eric Pepin as someone promoting “meditation”, a tradition not normally understood by mainstream conservative Christianity, living an alternative lifestyle, would be an easy target to rally behind with tabloid-like reporting and headlines from an assisting reporter.

With Erwin using the power of his position and all the resources of the state – who has the wealth to combat that? How can you prove your innocence when you were charged with a crime without evidence?

Erwin as an experienced attorney would know exactly what Eric Pepin’s chances were. He could have also made an educated case that most people, in that position, would cave and negotiate a deal rather than risk prison… even though they know they are innocent. The state simply holds too much power.

It would be a way to strong-arm a conviction and score an electoral victory for his upcoming race.

NEXT: Who Accused Eric Pepin and Why?

Tell us what you feel about this below.

The District Attorney in Eric Pepin’s case, Andy Erwin, was young, ambitious and hungry for position and power… that much many people could have figured out. What few people knew, outside of his inner circles where he was building his backers, is that he wanted to run for judge.

He needed name recognition to win. What better way to do that then get his name in headline news? In comes Holly Danks, reporter for the biggest, most respected newspaper in Portland, The Oregonian.

Holly served up publicity for Erwin nicely – she was the first, and often only, reporter to write about Eric Pepin’s case with Erwin’s name in it (a frequent source cited in her stories)… and when it came time for election season… did Holly make sure The Oregonian praised Erwin and slammed his opponent?

It would be a perfect team, although it had many ethical gray areas. A District Attorney who pursued cases without evidence, yet did not pursue cases that did? A newspaper that lost its impartial stance and always sided with one man.. basically serving as his publicity machine?

Somewhere, someone must have caught on… as the evidence in her stories were later altered. If there is nothing to hide… why try to cover it up?

Here is one of Holly’s stories supporting Erwin in the judges race:

Original article as it was posted

Simple enough right? Erwin wins in a “stunning vote” and Erwin is “so terribly grateful”… while his opponent gets a no comment. Good quotes for Erwin… maybe TOO good.

Now look at the article as it currently appears on The Oregonian site. You can see it here:

Altered article after it was up for some time

The first thing to notice is the byline… WHO does it say wrote the story? Jerry Casey? Who?? What happened to Holly Danks?

Go back to the first story and notice it says, “Posted by”. Digging through The Oregonian archives reveals there’s very little stories “posted by” people who are not the author of the article. After all, if you write a story, what’s so hard about clicking a few buttons and putting it on the web with your name on it? Why have someone else do it, with their name at the top? Was Holly in that much of a rush to get the stories out she needed to do it?

Funny thing about online articles at the Oregonian’s website is that writers sign their articles TWICE. Once at the top, and the second at the end of the story with their email address… so whose name still appears at the bottom of the current story? Lo and behold… Holly Danks…

So the writer, assuming Jerry Casey actually wrote the story, is sharing their article with someone just for posting it. I’m sure there’s a reason why so very few writers have other people “post” their stories on The Oregonian site. It must be a pretty easy thing to do. Why would Holly do it?

Another curious crumb is that the Internet Archive still has a copy of the article with Holly’s name at the top. If you wrote the story, and someone else posted it, wouldn’t you want a little credit for your hard work by having your name at the top? How long was Jerry Casey’s name NOT there for it to be stored in the cache of the Internet Archive? Had to be a good amount of time… so why then bother going back some time later and putting your name back on there?

Is it possible someone started to ask questions and Holly, or The Oregonian, needed to distance itself from the perception of Holly-Erwin having an unethical or improperly close relationship? That would get a name changed at the top… pretty fast I’d imagine.

One story could be considered “a fluke”. Nevermind that after hours of searching through The Oregonian’s site I struggled to find more than other article that has a different name at the top then at the bottom. They always match, as first published.

So what happens when it happens not once, but twice, BOTH related to the judges race? To me, means something smells fishy.

Here is ANOTHER article Holly “posted” for the judges race praising Erwin. Take a look at who it says wrote the article, Roger Gregory. Then scroll down to the bottom – ah, Holly Danks is there again.

In the original online version, it listed Holly at the top. However, searches to secure Internet archives of the original article turned up nothing. The article wasn’t saved.

Here is the altered version on The Oregonian’s site:

http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2008/04/judge_prosecutor_in_heated_ele.html

Note the strong ending of the article for Erwin, “Erwin has endorsements from every police association in the county, three police chiefs, the sheriff, the district attorney and Washington County Circuit Judge Charlie Bailey.”

Who wrote this article again… an impartial newspaper or Erwin’s publicist?

There is a popular saying, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire…” Well, when there’s a tight-knit relationship between a D.A. and a reporter… and her hands are all over the glowing articles pushing said candidate… chances are there’s a few other facts under the covers nobody knows about.

This wasn’t the only “funny” thing to happen in Erwin’s judge race. If you are going all the way, why stop at the paper?

Independent news Blue Oregon did some research and had to ask, “Did Andy Erwin dupe Washington County?” My personal opinion and belief is he did a lot more then they are claiming and he got away with it.

See more about their research here…

NEXT: Was Eric Pepin put on trial for a judges election?

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