Cubbison Case Prosecution Bogs Down Again

District Attorney David Eyster’s year long quest to criminally prosecute Mendocino County’s elected Auditor Chamise Cubbison, whom he quarreled with over his own office’s spending, has gone off track again.

This time the derailment of the high-profile case is due to a change in the County Public Defender representing Paula June Kennedy, the former county Payroll Manager and Cubbison’s co-defendant. Eyster has accused Cubbison and Kennedy of felony misappropriation of public funds stemming from the use of an obscure county code to pay Kennedy an extra $68,000 over a three-year period during the COVID pandemic.

The new delay in a case that has zig-zagged through a year of court hearings is because Kennedy’s attorney for the past year, Public Defender Mary LeClair, recently accepted a similar attorney position in Yolo County.

New motions filed in Superior Court seek continuance of a critical hearing scheduled for Wednesday, and a long-delayed Preliminary Hearing in the case which finally had been set for mid-December.

Kennedy’s newly appointed Public Defender’s office lawyer FredRicco McCurry said in his filings that he needs to familiarize himself with details of the high-profile case.

“The discovery in this case is voluminous, and the theories underlying the prosecution of the case are complicated. I will need time to review the discovery, conduct proper research, consult with my new client, and consult with co-counsel,” wrote McCurry.

Cubbison attorney Chris Andrian of Santa Rosa said Friday that given the situation, McCurry’s requests are reasonable, and he will not oppose.

Judge Ann Moorman is scheduled to act on McCurry’s request at a hearing set for next Wednesday.

Originally, that hearing was to hear arguments in Andrian’s pending motion to dismiss the felony charge against the suspended Auditor, citing the volume of missing county emails related to the three main figures in the case: Cubbison, Kennedy, and now retired Auditor Lloyd Weer. Kennedy contends Cubbison authorized the extra pay. The suspended Auditor says the deal originated between Weer and Kennedy. Weer’s role has been fiercely debated, but he was not charged by Eyster.

Now, Moorman will decide when to hear arguments on Andrian’s motion to dismiss, and to set a new date in early 2025 for the Preliminary Hearing. Such hearings are critical to determine if there is enough evidence to move ahead with prosecution. They often provide the public with an up-close account of what is behind a criminal filing.

Eyster rocked county politics in October 2023 when he filed criminal charges against a fellow elected official who had challenged his own office spending. Eyster earlier had taken the unprecedented step of publicly blocking Cubbison’s appointment as interim Auditor at the county Board of Supervisors’ level, contending she was unqualified. Cubbison had questioned Eyster’s spending, including hosting annual staff parties at a local steakhouse under the guise of “training sessions.” Guests included employees’ wives and girlfriends.

County supervisors almost immediately suspended Cubbison after Eyster filed the criminal case without granting the elected official a public hearing. That action is now focus of a pending civil case contending the board denied Cubbison “due process.”

Eyster initially resisted stepping away from the Cubbison prosecution but then hired former Sonoma County Prosecutor Traci Carrillo to press the case. Carrillo, now in private practice, was hired under a contract providing a $10,000 retainer and an hourly rate of $400. At that rate, the 25 hours that sum covered was probably exceeded months ago and the cost to the County just keeps mounting.

Carrillo could not be reached for comment on Friday.