District Attorney David Eyster’s year-long quest to criminally prosecute Mendocino County’s elected Auditor Chamise Cubbison, whom he quarreled with over his own office’s spending, is off track again.
This time the derailment of the high-profile case is because of a change in the county Public Defender representing Paula June Kennedy, the former county Payroll Manager and Cubbison’s co-defendant. Cubbison and Kennedy are accused of felony misappropriation of public funds stemming from the use of an obscure county code to pay Kennedy an extra $68,000 over a three-year period during the COVID pandemic.
The new delay in a case that has zig-zagged through a year of court hearings is because Kennedy’s attorney for the past year, Public Defender Mary LeClair, recently accepted a similar attorney position in Yolo County.
New motions filed in Superior Court seek continuance of a critical hearing scheduled for Wednesday, and a long-delayed preliminary hearing in the case which finally had been set for mid-December.
Kennedy’s newly appointed lawyer FredRicco McCurry said in his filings that he needs to familiarize himself with details of the high-profile case.
“The discovery in this case is voluminous, and the theories underlying the prosecution of the case are complicated. I will need time to review the discovery, conduct proper research, consult with my new client, and consult with co-counsel,” wrote McCurry.
Cubbison attorney Chris Andrian of Santa Rosa said Friday that given the situation, McCurry’s requests are reasonable, and he will not oppose.
Judge Ann Moorman is scheduled to act on McCurry’s request at a hearing set for next Wednesday.
Originally, that hearing was to hear arguments in Andrian’s pending motion to dismiss the felony charge against the suspended Auditor, citing the volume of missing county emails related to the three main figures in the case: Cubbison, Kennedy, and now retired Auditor Lloyd Weer. Kennedy contends Cubbison authorizes the extra pay. The suspended Auditor says the deal originated between Weer and Kennedy. Weer’s role has been fiercely debated but he was not charged by Eyster.
Now, Moorman will decide when to hear arguments on Andrian’s motion to dismiss, and to set a new date in early 2025 for a preliminary hearing. Such hearings are critical to determine if there is enough evidence to move ahead with prosecution. They often provide the public with an up-close account of what is behind a criminal filing.
Eyster rocked county politics in October 2023 when he filed criminal charges against a fellow elected official who had challenged his own office spending. Eyster earlier had taken the unprecedented step of publicly blocking Cubbison’s appointment as interim Auditor at the county Board of Supervisors’ level, contending she was unqualified. Cubbison’s questioned Eyster’s spending, including hosting annual staff parties at a local steakhouse under the guise of ‘training sessions.’ Guests included employees’ wives and girlfriends.
County supervisors almost immediately suspended Cubbison after Eyster filed the criminal case without granting the elected official a public hearing. That action is now focus of a pending Cubbison civil case contending the board denied her ‘due process.’
Eyster initially resisted stepping away from the Cubbison prosecution but then hired former Sonoma County Prosecutor Traci Carrillo to press the case. Carrillo, now in private practice, was hired under contract providing a $10,000 retainer and an hourly rate of $400.
Carrillo called the latest delay an “unfortunate and frustrating reality.”
“I assume the Court will grant the continuances, and hopefully he (McCurry) can get up to speed in short order,” said Carrillo.
The court system in this country is painfully slow & inept. This case, as many others, should have been tried & over already.
The US is (border lining) a caste system. There are courtrooms for the powerful and rich and then there is a courtroom for everyone else.
They are not receiving a speedy trial. And I would predict the outcome in the end is not guilty.
I blame TED
The district attorney who likes to take his staff out for steaks on our dime and put out RFPs for 250 rounds of .50 caliber rifle ammo for his office is super concerned with this matter. There was potentially unauthorized pay going out that may have cut into the county coffers that he had earmarked for his own consumption. Trust Matt “I’m working for free now” Kendall to forward charges to his buddy downtown. Since May of this year our sheriff has been working for free because he’s now earning the same salary forevermore whether he retires or keeps working and according to him that means he’s working for free. Must be nice to earn hundreds of thousands a year, eat free steaks and get free ammo. Who else gets that treatment and thinks they are donating their time?
Not to mention that he’s a raging alcoholic. Many of those in higher up County government are. Drinking and driving frequently. Do as I say not as I do
The county north of you isn’t much different. The ‘old boys like their booze and so does some of the council members. Pick an even where there’s alcohol and they’re at it. And their kids they keep out of jail for all their DUIs and such. Just ask their previously elected auditor that they ran out of town and is also trying to sue for having the ovaries to go after misappropriated taxpayer funds.
Who is the new judge that is taking over for Nadel?
Not sure what legal suthority the BOS had to remove an elected official. A similar situation developed in Sutter County about 15 years ago with the Auditor-Controller, a drama which went on for years with the charges finally being dropped after he was reelected twice.