Thread: WI:D.A. miffed at social security agent refusal to testify

D.A. miffed at agency's refusal to testify

Identity theft charge dismissed after denial of request to provide witness by Social Security Administration

By Amie Jo Schaenzer and Peggy Breister
The Reporter Staff September 6, 2007


Fond du Lac County District Attorney Michael O’Rourke says the Social Security Administration was wrong to bar a local employee from testifying in an identity theft case.

Without that testimony, he said he was forced to dismiss a charge of identity fraud against Jose Lopez-Barrera, 38, of Eden.

O’Rourke said he needed the employee’s testimony to prove to a jury that the Social Security number of Lopez-Barrera — believed to be an illegal alien — was not his.

Lopez-Barrera allegedly used the Social Security number to try to obtain a driver’s license.

The Social Security Administration provided O’Rourke with a “no-match letterâ€

Sounds like obstruction of justice.