Judge sued for bias in WaterOz case

GRANGEVILLE, Idaho – A state judge has been sued for alleged bias by a self-described business partner of the central Idaho man accused of plotting to kill a federal judge and others involved in his conviction for selling sham medicinal water.

Richard Bellon claims 2nd District Judge James Bradbury repeatedly favored WaterOz principal David Hinkson in Bellon’s attempt to claim half the products of Hinkson’s multimillion-dollar WaterOz enterprise.

In the suit filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court, Bellon demanded $500,000 in damages from Bradbury, alleging the judge favored Hinkson in return for “campaign contributions and other undisclosed financial gain.”

The judge declined to comment on Thursday. But campaign finance reports filed with the secretary of state’s office for the 2002 election, in which Bradbury won his seat on the bench, showed the judge as the only contributor to his campaign.

There is no evidence of contributions from Hinkson.

Bellon, who once served as a legal assistant to Hinkson, has sued others involved in the WaterOz operation, accusing them of conspiring to deny him his rightful interest in the company.

Hinkson is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 30 on 28 counts of tax evasion and selling misbranded drugs and equipment stemming from operation of WaterOz, his international mineral water company that claimed the water contained metals like gold and silver that give it medicinal properties.

Each count carries up to five years in prison.

Hinkson also goes on trial two days later for asking a business associate, James Harding, and another man between December 2002 and March 2003 to kill U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy Cook and Internal Revenue Service Agent Steven Hines because of their roles in the WaterOz case.

Defense attorney Wesley Hoyt claims the charges are a fabrication based on rumors started by disgruntled former employees and business associates against an admitted eccentric.