TS - 'I didn't trust him'

'I didn't trust him'
'I didn't trust him': Schmidt testifies she held onto August papers due to concerns over handling of case
By Kimberly Wear The Times-Standard
Friday, June 10, 2005 - 3:40:14 PM PST

EUREKA -- A former grand jury forewoman testified Thursday that she asked the state's attorney general to investigate how the District Attorney's Office handled the accusation case against Debi August.

It was the latest in a series of recent revelations by Judith Schmidt, which have sidelined jury selection in August's conflict of interest trial.

When pressed for specifics about her concerns, Schmidt said it was "the manner in which it was conducted as well as the advice provided to the grand jury." She said that advice came from then Assistant District Attorney Tim Stoen, who is now prosecuting the August case.

The Fortuna councilwoman faces removal from office if a jury finds she misused her position when she advocated on behalf of a friend's subdivision.

Schmidt said inconsistencies in direction and instruction changes led her to keep copies of August-related documents.

"I had questions over the accusation process procedure that was followed," she said.

A spokesman for the Attorney General's Office said it received a letter from Schmidt dated July 10, 2004, and sent back a response in August. By late afternoon Thursday, communications director Nathan Barankin said he was still searching for the nature of the response.

The forewoman of the 2003-2004 grand jury also testified that Darlene Marlow, who currently holds the volunteer position, asked her earlier this year to destroy documents she kept at her home office. And, Schmidt said, she had concerns about public comments other grand jurors were making about the case.

Schmidt said that once she left the grand jury she felt she couldn't go to the presiding judge or county counsel to discuss her concerns. Asked if she didn't go to the district attorney because she thought it was against the law, Schmidt answered, "No, I didn't trust him."

Stoen and other attorneys in the case are under a gag order and could not comment on the testimony. Stoen has not yet had an opportunity to question Schmidt.

Schmidt was called to the stand by August's defense attorneys after she came forward last week with previously undisclosed grand jury documents and the accusation against Marlow.

Schmidt said she contacted her attorney Allison Jackson after reading a "My Word" column in the Times-Standard that was highly critical of how District Attorney Paul Gallegos dealt with the loss of grant funding for the victim witness program. Gallegos fired Jackson from her former position as a deputy district attorney.

"That's when I finally found someone who would listen," Schmidt said.

Schmidt testified that Marlow called her in January to discuss concerns about turning over confidential grand jury records in the August case. She said Marlow told her, "You don't have any e-mails."

"I said, 'I do,' and she said, 'You don't understand, you don't have any e-mails,'" Schmidt testified. "It troubled me."

Schmidt said Marlow, who was in the courtroom during her testimony, also faxed her some papers regarding a letter from Stoen referencing the release of August records in the custody of the grand jury, a memo Marlow wrote about concerns over producing the documents and what might have been a court order about the records.

She said Marlow made a follow-up call about a month later "to make sure I had deleted my e-mail."

"I told her, 'No, I had not and I was not going to,'" Schmidt testified.

She said she had concerns about a current grand jury member still being involved in the accusation process because it had been turned over to the District Attorney's Office and was also troubled by Marlow's request to destroy records.

Schmidt's testimony is expected to continue today.

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