Political bribery trial of four put on hold
Appeals court wants to further examine defense claim on concealed-gun permit corruption trial
SAN JOSE >> An appellate court has halted the upcoming trial against four people indicted in an alleged political bribery scheme that traded campaign donations for concealed-gun permits from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, issuing an order requesting further examination of a defense claim that District Attorney Jeff Rosen’s friendship with a defendant poses a disqualifying conflict.
The 6th District Court of Appeal issued its order Friday morning, calling for the parties to submit filings outlining their arguments for and against Rosen and his office recusing themselves from prosecuting South Bay litigator and political fundraiser Christopher Schumb, sheriff’s Capt. James Jensen and co- defendants Harpaul Nahal and Michael Nichols.
Trial proceedings in Santa Clara County Superior Court were scheduled to begin Monday. The appellate court’s order requests responsive filings to be submitted by Friday.
Schumb’s attorney, Joe Wall, filed an initial motion in trial court following the defendants’ arraignment, asserting that Schumb’s friendship and fundraising support for Rosen, accompanied by a string of collegial and friendly emails, were proof that the District Attorney’s Office could not conduct a fair prosecution of the case.
On Sept. 17, Judge Eric Geffon rejected the conflict argument and ordered the trial to proceed
as scheduled. All four defendants invoked their speedy trial rights; hence the original trial start date for next week. The appellate court petition was filed Oct. 19 by Wall, court records show.
“From the outset, we have believed that the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office has a significant, inescapable conflict prosecuting this case, and we are pleased the 6th District is reviewing this very important issue,” Wall said in an email Friday.
The District Attorney’s
Office referred inquiries about the order to the Attorney General’s Office, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The state Attorney General’s Office argued alongside the District Attorney’s Office in contesting the conflict claim, and in a filing Rosen downplayed his relationship with Schumb and said he returned campaign donations once Schumb became the target of its corruption probe.
In his filing, Rosen did acknowledge 125 personal emails involving Schumb from 2015 to 2019 but noted in his filing that they had one email in 2019, seem
ingly to indicate their contact had tapered off by the time Schumb came under investigation. Still, Wall’s motion included emails he contends suggest a much closer — and now conflicted — relationship.
“Thank you and Jill again for opening up your home and hosting a lovely event for my re- election,” Rosen wrote to Schumb in a June 29, 2013, email with the subject line “Just Getting Started.” “I appreciate it very much. You’re a good and generous person.” In a May 22, 2016, email, Rosen wrote to Schumb: “Thank you very much for all your advice, counsel support and encouragement. I’m very glad that
you’re in my corner.”
The appellate court order issued Friday references state Penal Code Section 1421 — which governs the disqualification process for a prosecutor or DA’s Office — in posing questions similar to what Geffon evaluated, but that he ultimately decided did not warrant disqualifying the District Attorney’s Office. Those questions revolve around whether Rosen and Schumb’s relationship could affect the fairness of prosecution, the recusal process currently in place for the DA’s Office, whether Geffon should have held an evidentiary hearing for the initial motion and the impact, if
any, of Rosen being called as a character witness for Schumb, as Wall has said he intends to do.
The August conspiracy and bribery indictment alleges that the four defendants arranged to get up to a dozen concealed-carry weapons permits to agents with the executive security firm AS Solution, issued by the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, in exchange for $90,000 in donations to groups that supported Sheriff Laurie Smith in a tough 2018 reelection campaign. Co- conspirators and AS Solution managers Martin Nielsen, Jack Stromgren and former CEO Christian West all have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor conspiracy charges, agreeing to testify for the prosecution for reduced charges and sentences.
During the criminal grand jury hearings that resulted in the indictment, Smith and Undersheriff Rick Sung invoked their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. Smith has her agency’s stole statutory authority to issue the concealed- carry weapons permits, and Sung was alleged in grand jury testimony as having helped direct one of the donation handoffs.