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Michael Mattocks, attorney, Charlson-Jorgenson, Thief River Falls, is worried.

He should be - he involved himself with the systematic harrasment and intimidation of a journlist that became a witness for the FBI in a child kidnaping.

He's now trying to cover his tracks.

Mattocks emailed Timothy Holmseth, East Grand Forks, yesterday after Holmseth filed an Amended Motion to the Ninth District Court regarding the conduct of Matthew Petrovich, guardian ad litem.

In his email, Mattocks insisted Holmseth withdraw the motion, as well as other documents Holmseth recently filed, or suffer consequences.

“I would recommend you contact an attorney,” Mattocks said.

Micheal Mattocks

Charlson-Jorgenson’s aggressive posturing against Holmseth creates a serious conflict of interest issue, because Mattocks is not Petrovich’s lawyer. Petrovich is an officer of the Court and employed by the State of Minnesota.

Mattocks is the attorney representing Rhonda Callahan, Grand Forks. Petrovich is the court-appointed guardian ad litem assigned to the child-in-common of Holmseth and Callahan.

Matthew Petrovich

Under no circumstances whatsoever should Charlson-Jorgenson be providing legal services and aid to a guardian ad litem assigned to a case their law office is retained on.

Yet, that appears to be exactly what is happening.

In his April 14, 2014, letter, Mattocks gives Holmseth twenty-one days to withdraw absolutely every single filing he has made since March 3, 2014. “...withdraw all your court submissions filed since March 3 - all the various motions, affidavits, complaints, letters, etc. - by filing with the court a motion to dismiss all the motions and requests you have made since March 3, and requesting the court disregard the same,” Mattocks said.

Mattocks is attempting to purge documents and exhibits from the court file and sanitize the record.

There's a reason.

On April 4, 2014, Holmseth filed a motion requesting Petrovich be dismissed from the case and requested “The Court initiate a criminal investigation into the conduct of Matthew Petrovich.” Holmseth supported the April 4, 2014, motion with a detailed complaint filed in accordance with Minnesota Statute 2518.165, which governs the responsibilities of a guardian ad litem.

On April 14, 2014, Holmseth amended the motion to include a request that the court order Petrovich submit to a psychological evaluation. The request for the psyche eval is based upon conduct by Petrovich that is so off the charts egregious it cannot be ignored.

Mattocks’ heavy-handed demands on Holmseth on behalf of Petrovich, should Holmseth acquiesce, would result in the dismissal and removal of all those legally filed documents.

Serious questions exist regarding Mattocks’ defacto representation of Petrovich – a court officer.

However – a close examination of the situation reveals the puzzle pieces actually fit together snuggly – and the implications are disturbing.

Mattocks may be attempting to protect himself from an investigation of his practices. The files that Mattocks is attempting to purge reveal very disturbing facts involving the horrendous exploitation of an innocent child.

On March 30, 2014, a critical event took place regarding the minor child at issue in Holmseth vs. Callahan. The event occurred in the presence of multiple witnesses at a Grand Forks agency.

Facts and circumstances surrounding the event, as well as information that has continued to emerge, strongly suggests the minor child was diabolically manipulated into cooperating with a staged event intended to discredit Holmseth, his father – an author, journalist, and embattled witness for the FBI in the kidnapping of HaLeigh Ann-Marie Cumming.

Facts and circumstances suggest Mattocks and Petrovich possibly had foreknowledge of the staged event, which would constitute a crime, gross misconduct, and psychological child abuse. 

On March 31, 2014, the day after the staged event, Petrovich emailed Holmseth and attempted to subtly intimidate him with information that appeared to contain the small details of Mattocks’ trial strategy.

However - Petrovich mistakenly professed knowledge that he should not, and could not, have possessed at the time – unless he was colluding behind the scenes.

In his March 31 email to Holmseth, Petrovich theorized a detailed hypothetical legal strategy, which involved the critical incident regarding the minor child the day before, and stated Mattocks might present it to the court.

Petrovich communicating a hypothesis regarding the event creates an enormous problem. Only hours after the incident, Petrovich presented an entire aggressive legal strategy, despite the fact he had not interviewed the child, obtained statements from witnesses, or acquired any documents from the agency that witnessed the event.

Petrovich appeared to be a psychic with a crystal ball - or involved in something.

On April 1, 2104, Holmseth notified all Parties and the Court that he was filing a new motion to address the situation. He asked the Court to alot time for him to call Petrovich and Callahan to the witness stand to be questioned under oath.

Petrovich panicked.

Five minutes after receiving Holmseth’s notification, Petrovich abruptly announced he was taking a vacation and would be completely unavailable for two weeks. He did not interview the child. He simply vanished.

When Petrovich returned from his sudden departure, he still had not interviewed the child, but had a new and improved version of events, which he attributed to Callahan, that suggested the event was no big deal in the first place (thus explaining why he had not interviewed the child and went on vacation).

However – Petrovich had already suggested to Holmseth in an email on March 31, that Mattocks might make a case to the Court that Holmseth’s child never wanted to see him again, ever.

Mattocks’ is now attempting to have all the documentation pertaining to the situation removed from the court file. Among the documents Mattocks is trying to hide is a letter from Grand Forks CPS regarding a safety assessment of Callahan, and an Observation Form from Kids First, Grand Forks.

Mattocks is also attempting to have an email removed form the court file that shows Callahan was sending embarrassing information about Holmseth to law enforcement’s suspects in the kidnapping of HaLeigh Cummings.

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