Legal maneuvers delaying Cubbison case as costs rise
Intricate and costly legal maneuvers delay proceedings in the high-stakes criminal case Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster filed last Fall against a fellow elected official, county Auditor Chamise Cubbison.
Because of a new Eyster-triggered delay, Cubbison's preliminary hearing, initially scheduled for this week, has been pushed to mid-May.
The latest setback stems from Superior Court Judge Victoria Shanahan's voluntary decision on Tuesday to formally recuse herself because of her personal and professional ties to a special prosecutor Eyster hired in March to try the Cubbison case.
In a formal filing on Tuesday, Shanahan cited a state code for removing herself as the trial judge. A court spokeswoman declined to offer any specifics on Thursday.
Cubbison's attorney, Chris Andrian, who knows all the parties involved, said the latest delay is disappointing, but “Judge Shanahan did the right thing.”
“The judge and the DA's choice for special prosecutor know each other and have worked together in Sonoma County,” said Andrian. “Judge Shanahan acted in an abundance of caution. I do not quarrel with her decision.”
Judge Ann Moorman will now oversee the Cubbison case, which has been moving slowly in the legal system for six months.
The DA's decision to engage Santa Rosa attorney Traci Carrillo as a special prosecutor is blamed for another delay in the Cubbison case and it has raised concerns about the financial burden being placed on Mendocino County taxpayers. If the case proceeds to trial as anticipated, the bill could reach tens of thousands of dollars, with Carrillo charging $400 per hour. A $10,000 retainer has already been authorized.
Eyster says he is short-staffed, and the county's former Assistant District Attorney Dale Trigg left on March 1 for a prosecutor post in Sonoma County.
Eyster did not respond to a written request for comment on his decision to abandon his plans to prosecute Cubbison personally and to hire a special prosecutor in a case that has rocked Mendocino County politics and embroiled Eyster in the most serious political crisis of his 13-year tenure.
Eyster's decision to turn to an outside prosecutor in the Cubbison case sharply contrasts with his stance three months ago, when he publicly resisted defense moves to recuse him from the politically charged case. After being challenged for waging a political vendetta against Cubbison because of her questioning of DA office expenses, Eyster received the support of the state Attorney General's Office and eventually Superior Court Judge Keith Faulder, who ruled on Jan. 12 that there was “insufficient evidence” to remove the DA.
However, the case took another twist when Judge Faulder, a month later, was recused from the Cubbison case on a preemptory challenge afforded to the auditor's co-defendant, former county Payroll Manager Paula June Kennedy. Public Defender Mary LeClair, who represents Kennedy, did not have to offer a reason under court rules.
Cubbison and Kennedy, veteran county employees, each face a felony charge of misappropriating public funds, stemming from an estimated $68,000 in extra pay to Kennedy over three years during the Covid pandemic. Cubbison said former Auditor Lloyd Weer authorized the extra pay before she was elected Auditor. Weer and Kennedy say it was Cubbison who told them to use an obscure payroll code to make the unauthorized extra salary payments, according to Eyster.
As the case bogged down in early legal challenges, Shanahan stepped in as trial judge after Faulder was recused.
But then, another challenge.
DA Eyster's decision to hire attorney Carrillo forced Judge Shanahan to declare her possible conflict because of past personal and professional ties with Carrillo. The two attorneys worked together in the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office, and are friends.
Shanahan, a native of Willits, was a deputy district attorney in Sonoma County from 2007 to 2014. Before that, she served five years as chief deputy district attorney in Mendocino County under the late District Attorney Norm Vroman.
Since taking office in 2011, DA Eyster has clashed with three auditors, including Cubbison, over his use of asset forfeiture funds, including paying for staff dinners at a local steak house around the holidays. Office parties are officially banned under county policies. Eyster labeled them `training sessions' even though spouses and partners of staff members were guests.
Eyster publicly denounced Cubbison before the Board of Supervisors, succeeding in blocking her interim appointment as county Auditor when Weer retired early. The board, backed by Eyster, went ahead with a controversial plan to consolidate the county Auditor/ Controller office with the Treasure/Tax Collector. A few months later, Cubbison was elected by county voters to lead the consolidated departments despite the opposition of the board and the DA.
Cubbison, in addition to denying any criminal wrongdoing, has filed a civil lawsuit against the Board of Supervisors, declaring she was suspended without hearing and lost pay and benefits because of Eyster's criminal filing in mid-October. That lawsuit is pending.
Carrillo is well known in Sonoma County for her roles as a prosecutor, criminal defense attorney, and civil litigator.
Carrillo was a deputy district attorney in Riverside County before taking a similar position in Sonoma County in 2008. Until leaving the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office in 2015, Carrillo was a senior trial prosecutor managing high-profile and complex trials, including a four-defendant gang murder case.
In 2017 Carrillo left the Sonoma County DA's Office and opened a private practice before joining the Santa Rosa law firm of Perry, Johnson, Anderson, Miller, and Moskowitz.