TS - Judge, not public, should decide on August question

Judge, not public, should decide on August question
My Word by Greg Rael
The Times-Standard
Tuesday, May 17, 2005 - 6:13:04 AM PST

A superior court judge will soon decide whether to dismiss charges that Fortuna City Councilwoman Debi August committed "misconduct in office." As counsel for Ms. August, I have refrained from making public statements outside of the courtroom while our request for dismissal awaits the judge's decision. My colleague, Mr. Bragg, and our adversary in this case, Mr. Stoen, have likewise remained silent while the matter is under submission. Our silence is purposeful: The court is engaged in a difficult and complex legal task; public comment by the attorneys might be construed as an inappropriate attempt to politicize the court's decision-making process.

In this letter, which is obviously an exception to the practice I have just discussed, I will make no comment on the merits of this litigation. I write for the sole purpose of criticizing the Times-Standard's decision to conduct an opinion poll which asks the following question: "Should a judge dismiss the DA's conflict-of-interest and other actions against Fortuna Councilwoman Debi August, as her attorneys have asked?"

Our request to dismiss this case raises both evidentiary and constitutional objections. Many of the legal issues underlying these objections have never before been decided by any judge in the state. To reach his decision, the judge in our case will review several thousand pages of case records in light of dozens of statutes and other legal authorities. To assist the judge with this task, the attorneys representing both sides have filed legal briefs and supporting exhibits totaling several hundred pages.

In contrast, what basis does your readership have for making the decision before the court? Your newspaper has published three articles concerning the request for dismissal. Each has been well written and accurate but necessarily concise. Your reporter's task was to boil down a rare and unusually complicated legal case into brief stories designed to inform your readers about the general nature of the proceedings.

What is the purpose of your poll? To entertain, inform or persuade? I doubt such questions were considered before the poll was launched. But whatever your intent, and no matter the poll's result, you have demeaned the court and the public by restaging this legal battle as a modern-day Roman gladiator duel, complete with the emperor consulting the roaring crowd for its "thumbs-up or thumbs-down" opinion.

Greg Rael is an attorney in practice in Eureka. He lives in Bayside.
The opinions expressed in this My Word piece do not necessarily reflect the editorial viewpoint of the Times-Standard.