TS - Volunteer attorney undermines DA's credibility

Volunteer attorney undermines DA's credibility
The Times-Standard EDITORIAL
Friday, January 28, 2005 - 6:14:01 AM PST

District Attorney Paul Gallegos' decision to use the volunteer services of Arcata attorney Steve Schectman to help on the Pacific Lumber Co. case appears to be on the level -- it doesn't violate any laws or accepted protocols.

The lawsuit Gallegos filed two years ago against Palco, alleging the company committed fraud in the 1999 Headwaters deal, is in civil court.

Gallegos' staff attorneys are mostly criminal attorneys.

Schectman is an experienced civil lawyer.

Gallegos has requested and been denied help from the state and the county Board of Supervisors.

Schectman offered his services, at no charge.

It makes sense to this point.

However, the move is troubling from a public confidence point of view.

For two years Gallegos has been denying allegations from Palco and Palco supporters that his lawsuit is nothing more than attempt to bankrupt the company.

Gallegos has maintained that as district attorney he is impartial and the lawsuit against Palco is a case of his office uncovering alleged transgressions.

It is a stance that served him well throughout the campaign leading to the recall election last year, from which he emerged as the noble victor. This newspaper supported the DA, and endorsed Gallegos during the recall.

However, Schectman clearly is not impartial when it comes to Palco, which he can now prosecute armed with DA's office public funding.

Schectman -- who himself ran as a spoiler DA candidate, in support of Gallegos -- has been as relentless as a bloodhound when it comes to Palco, a company he has been on the warpath against in a very public manner. That's his right and privilege as an attorney and private citizen.

But his addition to the district attorney's staff, where his sole responsibility will be to litigate against Palco, hurts Gallegos' credibility. And it gives the DA's critics more credibility.

This comes at time when Gallegos' second-in-command, Tim Stoen, the man in charge of the Palco case, is being forced to defend himself in court against allegations he holds a grudge against public officials who support Palco.

Stoen is also prosecuting the conflict of interest case against Fortuna City Councilwoman Debi August.

August's attorneys have asked a judge to remove Gallegos' office from the case, alleging Stoen is pursuing a vendetta against August for her scathingly critical stance against the DA and the Palco lawsuit.

A judge will determine whether there is evidence to support these claims.

But Schectman's presence on Gallegos staff gives August's attorneys some more ammunition.

Gallegos has said other private sector attorneys have approached him about volunteering their services on the Palco case.

Let's hope, for the sake of public confidence in the district attorney, that Gallegos doesn't end up with a staff of volunteers who are using his office to pursue their own agendas against Palco -- or anybody else.

If Palco has committed wrongdoing, which the company has denied, it should be prosecuted. But in the political world of appearances and perceptions, it would be best to have a prosecutor who isn't already such a public and outspoken foe of the company.