Caught in a lie *Update 27/06/2006*
As can be clearly seen from part 4 of our investigation into Project Serpo, the credibility of the people involved in the Serpo story has been shown to be seriously in doubt. As a result of Part 4, *new* claims were thrown into the arena in an attempt to portray the false claims as a simple "misunderstanding" and not worthy of any consideration. Of course, anyone who has read the report in full will see for themselves that this claim is ludicrous in the extreme.

This new claim, put forward by Bob Collins on 21st June and supported by Dr. Salla a day later, suggests the misunderstanding was due to Doty taking a political sciences degree with an emphasis on pre-law concentration. What that has to do with the original assertion that he had successfully passed the bar exam and was practising as a lawyer is anybody's guess! This simple "misunderstanding" was obviously meant for those people who really want to believe in the truth of the Serpo story and the contents of "Exempt from Disclosure and give them something to cling on to.

Excerpt from Bob Collins email dated 21st June 2006 at 18:28:
"That's correct: But he did attend UNM as they will tell you but not the Law School, graduated in 2004 with a degree in Political Science according to the Alumni Association, 2003 was an error. There was a lot of confusion about that or misunderstandings which I just got straightened out."

Excerpt from Dr. Michael Salla email dated 22nd June 2006 at 11:58:
"Hello All, there is a plausible explanation for the 'mistakes' in both editions of Exempt from Disclosure concerning Richard Doty's 'legal qualifications'. Doty graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 2004 with a Major in Political Science at the University of New Mexico. That can be confirmed through the Alumni Office which I have done."

As we have stated,  the issue of a political science degree is irrelevant to the previous claims regarding the law credentials. However given the explanation Dr. Salla offers below, Richard Doty is offered an escape from telling people that he's a lawyer, and offering people legal advice. Here is Dr. Salla's explanation (from the same email above):

"The Political Science program at UNM has three concentrations one of which is a pre-law concentration: http://www.unm.edu/~polsci/undergraduate_program/concentration_law.htm . Many university departments cross list subjects with the university Law School so students can take law subjects without enrolling in the School of Law. The succesful conclusion of the pre-law concentration at the UNM leads to the Dept of Pol Science issuing a letter officially stating this which can be used for employment purposes. While I have yet to confirm that Doty did the pre-law concentration at UNM, my conclusion is that Doty completed the pre-law concentration as part of his Political Science major, and in his communications with Robert Collins the nuances got lost in terms of what he completed and his actual legal qualifications. With the concentration in pre-law, Doty could likely practice as a para-legal so that may account for him giving legal advice and the miscommunication that he was actually practicising as an attorney."

Note the above is not based on any actual evidence and is simply an educated guess on the part of Dr. Salla.

The people behind this obviously thought this flimsy argument would be enough to let them off the hook and continue on their merry deceiving way.

Except for one thing. Richard C. Doty DOES NOT have a political science degree!

Our investigator Shawnna submitted a request to the University of New Mexico regarding any "Richard C. Doty" who graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2004 with the birthday of 2/15/1950 (Doty's birth date).

She received the following back from the University of New Mexico:

"As per your request on Richard C. Doty, birthdate of 2/15/50, Richard did not receive a degree from the University of New Mexico in any year."

Something didn't add up. Both Salla and Collins said that they checked with the Alumni office and had verified that Richard Doty did attend school at UNM. Shawnna went straight to the Alumni office and they verified that they had a record for a Richard C. Doty graduating in 2004. The Registrar's office, which confirmed that Richard C. Doty did not graduate in any year is in direct conflict with the Alumni office.

In an effort to explain this - we conducted a public record search on all of the Richard C. Doty's living in New Mexico and sure enough, the explanation became obvious - we saw our Richard C. Doty Sr. (correct address, etc...) - born 2/15/50. And we also found his son, Richard C. Doty Jr. - born 1971.

The University of New Mexico could not find the records of Richard C Doty born on 2/15/1950 attending the school there, because Richard C. Doty Sr, born 2/15/1950 never did. What Dr. Salla and Collins verified was the 2004 alumni status of Richard C. Doty Jr. - Doty's son!

Certainly this makes it painfully clear why it is vital for all facts to be verified and double checked before publishing information as fact. The truth remains self-evident, that Richard C. Doty Sr never attended the University of New Mexico as claimed. He never took the Bar Exam as claimed. And never attended law school at UNM, and very likely never attended any accredited law school in the country at all.

It is our opinion that the sole purpose of the original claim was to create credibility and respectability where none exists. The "new" claim regarding the political science degree was a poor attempt at retrieving a lost cause. This simple "misunderstanding" was nothing of the sort -  and free thinking, intelligent people everywhere know this.

The infantile comments made by a number of individuals during and after the initial online discussion shows clearly who has a vested interest in keeping this story alive. They are not interested in the facts and the obvious implications of these lies, they are interested in ensuring that these lies are never exposed so ensuring their sham can continue.

The personal attacks made by these people are despicable and wholly transparent for what they are; distraction and deflection techniques. Their game is coming to a slow and painful end and they are trying everything they can think of in an attempt to salvage at least something from the rotting Serpo cadaver.

They won't succeed because the spotlight is aimed firmly in their direction and their dark lies have been illuminated for all to see.