Looking Back

Looking back at the statements made by DA David Eyster and Supervisor Ted Williams when Chamise Cubbison was charged with felony misappropriation and suspended without pay.

Annotated by Mark Scaramella [in brackets]

On Tuesday, October 17, 2023 District Attorney David Eyster told the Supervisors and the public:

“I would like to provide law-abiding citizens some background information that will hopefully encourage law-abiding citizens to not be influenced by the misinformation, to not engage in nonfactual speculation, and to let the local courts do their job and resolve their matters. Criminal charges were filed Friday against a current County employee…”

[Incorrect, Cubbison is an elected official.]

“…and a former County employee. Like all of us, these two defendants are presumed to be innocent [sic] until the contrary is proven in a court of law. …

[Not only was “the contrary” not proven in a court of law, it didn’t even stand up at the preliminary hearing. Cubbison was denied any Presumption of Innocence when the Board voted to suspend her without pay and without an opportunity to respond to the charges.

“…The court legal process to do this begins this afternoon at 1:30. The single charge filed against each defendant flows from a criminal investigation that was not initiated by me or anyone else in the district attorney's office. No, this investigation was initiated and conducted by the professionals at the Mendocino County Sheriff's office. …

[Actually, one “professional,” a professional who failed to retain or produce the evidence that was supposed to back up the charges. The County Press release (cited below) says that, “The District Attorney’s investigation was prompted after the CEO’s office found evidence of misappropriation of funds in September 2022.” No mention of a Sheriff office professional.]

“…As is the case in most criminal investigations, the sheriff's involvement began when information regarding the commission of possible crimes was received by his office from knowledgeable sources outside of the local criminal justice system.…”

[“Knowledgeable sources” being the CEO’s office and certain Supervisors who wanted Cubbison removed from her elected position. The only “knowledge” they had was that they knew they wanted her out of office. The rest of the knowledge turned out to be speculation.]

“Believing there was probable cause to proceed, the sheriff assigned an experienced investigator to do timelines, gather and analyze documents and interview percipient witnesses. …”

[“Believing”? But failing to preserve many of them.]

“…At the conclusion of the sheriff's investigation written investigation reports were prepared along with a charging recommendation naming the current and the former employee as the suspects. The sheriff's completed investigation package was then submitted to the district attorney's office for review and consideration of formal charges. After going through an initial district attorney office intake review, some additional investigation was conducted by experienced district attorney investigators both current and now retired [Andy Alvarado and Kevin Bailey, it was later learned] to supplement [sic] some [unspecified] aspects of the sheriff's investigation. The law enforcement investigation and intake review process I just mentioned is a process followed in all 58 counties for interactions between law enforcement and district attorney offices. Locally, between 5,000 and 7,000 crime reports are submitted by law enforcement to the district attorney's office every calendar year. Among other duties and given my many years of experience in doing so I personally review reports and make charging decisions seven days a week on most of these law enforcement reports, so there is a consistency in how we charge cases. Now to be very clear, neither my staff or I have used or will use our positions to pursue retribution or purported vendettas against any defendants, public sector or otherwise, here in Mendocino County. …

[An email from Eyster to (former) Supervisor Glenn McGourty uncovered during the run up to the dismissal of charges tells us that the charges were part of an not-so-secret plan to oust Cubbison and create a more pliable financial services department under the control of the CEO and the Supervisors.]

“…Again, the case involving the two county employees is a Sheriff's office investigation that now needs to be resolved in local courts pursuant to state law. Finally, although some don't like it, my staff and I will not discuss facts and/or legal theories of this case or any other case for that matter outside of court unless and until there is a conviction. …

[There was no conviction; the charges didn’t even pass the preliminary hearing. So, now that the case has been tossed and charges dropped without a conviction, one might expect that the DA would “discuss facts and/or legal theories of this case.” But no, nothing but silence, leaving the media and the public to assume that what Eyster called “misinformation” and “nonfactual speculation,” was really “information and factual.”

“If someone looking in from the outside tells you or you hear that they have devined what is going on and why, don't believe it. Our silence is an ethical, fair and honest way to protect the constitutional rights…”

[Cubbison’s “constitutional rights” to respond to the charges were hardly “protected” when the Supervisors pre-emptively suspended her without pay. And the DA’s silence now, after the case has been tossed, doesn’t seem so ethical, fair or honest.]

“…and to not inadvertently taint our limited pool of potential jurors.”

[No need for potential jurors now. Judge Ann Moorman took care of that.]

“Those who have actually paid attention over time know this is how my attorneys and I have successfully pursued justice in Mendocino County since I became the district attorney in January of 2011.…”

[That claim rings more than a bit hollow now.]

“This is how my prosecutors and I will continue to pursue justice in the Mendocino County courts.…

[Uh-oh.]

“…Thank you. I need to go downtown. I have other work to do.”

Whereupon DA Eyster departed the Board chambers without further comment or questions from the Board.

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The next day, the County issued the following Press Release, Presumably written by Supervisor Ted Williams since he is the only Supervisor quoted in it.

“…’The charges [against Chamise Cubbison] highlight the need for strong integrity by our public officials and business controls within our departments to safeguard the public interest and funds entrusted to us. Thankfully, we have a CEO who has done just that,’ said Supervisor Ted Williams.”

The presser continued, “The District Attorney’s investigation was prompted after the CEO’s office found evidence of misappropriation of funds in September 2022.…

[“Evidence” which the Judge subsequently concluded was not based on any criminal intent.]

“…‘I’d like to acknowledge and thank District Attorney Eyster and the Sheriff’s Office for the thorough and professional approach their offices have undertaken with this investigation.…”

[Maybe not so professional in this case…”]

We [We, who? The DA, Sheriff and Board of Supervisors?] are looking forward to continuing to work cooperatively together so that the County can come out of this stronger than ever,’ commented Supervisor Williams. Pierce’s acting appointment is a welcome addition, ‘Ms. Pierce is highly respected and capable, and we’re looking forward to the stability and operational continuity that she’ll provide.’

“After it became clear that further investigation was necessary, the Executive Office, Human Resources and IT worked together to further understand the extent of the issue and preserve evidence.…”

[Missing, aka UNpreserved, emails, especially exculpatory ones, became a major issue as the case slowly proceeded.]

“We also brought on a forensic auditing firm in March 2023 to concretely assess the overall strengths and weaknesses of our internal controls,” said Supervisor Williams.

[There has been no “forensic” audit, and the regular “audit team” that conducted the routine bookkeeping review made no mention of Ms. Cubbison.]

“While we don’t know what the outcomes will be with the criminal proceedings, nor the results of the State Controller’s audit that is also underway…”

[Turns out there was a lot that whoever “we” is didn’t know. Judge Moorman called it “willful ignorance.”]

“…‘we welcome the opportunity to understand where we can improve our systems and will be evaluating additional control measures,’ continued Supervisor Williams. ‘There’s simply no place for this type of misconduct in Mendocino’…”

[There was no misconduct, a clear slander that Williams should have known better than to say, especially given the “presumption of innocence” that DA Eyster said should be provided. The only misconduct that arose after 17 months of preparation for the preliminary hearing was on the part of Eyster, Williams, former Supervisor Glenn McGourty, former Auditor Lloyd Weer, and everybody else whose fingerprints were on the bogus case. And if there’s “no place for misconduct,” why don’t those involved in the false accusations and the people who used them to oust an elected official resign? Williams hasn’t publicly commented on the Judge’s dismissal of the case, nor has he apologized for declaring that Cubbison engaged in “misconduct.”]

“…and to the extent our policies can reaffirm public integrity, that’s what County leadership intends to do.”

Public integrity has been anything but reaffirmed.