In the latest skirmish between District Attorney John Sarsfield
and Los Valientes lawyer Mike Pekin, the prosecutor is trying to
have Pekin barred from filing lawsuits against the county, and
Pekin wants Sarsfield removed from the grand jury inquiry into his
corruption lawsuits.
Hollister – In the latest skirmish between District Attorney John Sarsfield and Los Valientes lawyer Mike Pekin, the prosecutor is trying to have Pekin barred from filing lawsuits against the county, and Pekin wants Sarsfield removed from the grand jury inquiry into his corruption lawsuits.
Sarsfield’s suit and Pekin’s motion were filed within minutes of each other at the San Benito County Superior Court Friday. Sarsfield believes Pekin is milking the county for enormous sums of money by continually filing unwarranted lawsuits, while Pekin asserts Sarsfield initiated a grand jury investigation into his cases because of a personal vendetta.
Sarsfield’s suit asks that Pekin get a judge’s permission before he file any more lawsuits against San Benito County or any employee of the county, and that everyone named in the suit pay the county a fine of as much as $500,000 plus attorney’s fees. The suit names Pekin and two members of his office staff as well as some members of the anonymous group Los Valientes, who are defendants in a suit against Supervisor Richard Scagliotti, which alleges governmental corruption.
The back-to-back court filings are the next chapter in the ongoing saga the two lawyers have been involved in for months. Sarsfield informed Pekin about two weeks ago that he is the target of a criminal grand jury investigation for allegations of extortion, perjury and conspiracy against the county. Pekin filed his motion to recuse Sarsfield from being involved with the grand jury investigation, along with a court order to put the grand jury proceedings on hold until a judge rules on the recusal motion.
Sarsfield’s suit claims Pekin has violated county residents’ civil rights by filing lawsuits with the intent to use fear to manipulate public officials for personal financial gain.
County Counsel Karen Forcum said the county has spent $151,000 on Pekin’s suits since February of this year. The county spent some money before February but the figures weren’t immediately available.
“(The lawsuits) are worse than frivolous. They’re motivated by malice and brought in bad faith,” Sarsfield said. “I’m not going to sit back and let this county be subjected to lawsuits that, in our opinion, have absolutely no basis and are bleeding the taxpayers dry.”
Pekin said his suits are not frivolous or without merit, and thinks Sarsfield is retaliating against him for exposing an alleged affair Pekin believes the prosecutor had with his office manager.
Over the summer, Pekin filed a motion alleging Sarsfield was having an affair with his office manager that created a conflict of interest in a criminal grand jury investigation of the actions of supervisor-elect Jaime De La Cruz’s campaign during the District 5 election in March. Sarsfield canceled the grand jury investigation, but recently charged De La Cruz with four felony counts of election fraud and three misdemeanor charges of illegal use of voter registration information.
In addition, Pekin has been wrangling with Scagliotti and the county for more than a year alleging the supervisor used his seat on the board for personal financial gain. Pekin has accused Sarsfield of working with Scagliotti to retaliate against him, which Sarsfield has adamantly denied.
“Sarsfield is putting his impartiality on the line,” Pekin said. “I think that it’s a departure from American juris-prudence. Sarsfield coming in from left field is totally uncalled for and is only consistent with his inability to conduct his office fairly.”
Pekin also claims outside county lawyers Nancy Miller and John Picone are working with Sarsfield to “payback” Pekin for successfully representing De La Cruz and Velazquez in the election grand jury case. Miller represented Sarsfield when the affair allegations were made public and represents the county and Scagliotti in Pekin’s suit. Picone has counseled Sarsfield on a personal legal matter and in his capacity as the district attorney.
Miller did not return phone calls Monday and Sarsfield declined to comment on the recusal motion because it’s Picone’s case, he said.
Picone said Pekin’s recusal motion won’t hold up in court because a judge can’t rule on something that hasn’t happened yet and because it’s unconstitutional to ask a judge to interfere with the inherent powers of a district attorney. The grand jury is set to convene on the issue sometime in January.
“If Mr. Sarsfield didn’t like him he could have just indicted him. But instead the district attorney’s office, through me, presents the evidence to the grand jury and 19 citizens of the county weigh the evidence,” Picone said. “Mr. Sarsfield’s feelings for Pekin are utterly irrelevant… and I don’t care one way or the other about Mr. Pekin. What I care about is the facts and the evidence.”
But Pekin said he wants a judge to review the motion on Dec. 28 to determine whether Sarsfield was acting impartially when he asked the grand jury to investigate him.
“I’m being very aggressive,” Pekin said. “Why put the grand jury through all that work and have to turn around and quash it?”
Pekin has about 30 days to respond to Sarsfield’s suit. Until the grand jury proceedings are over, Pekin said his lawsuit against the county are on hold.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
