Hollister
– The Sixth District Appellate Court has upheld a local judge’s
dismissal of a six-count criminal indictment against Los Valientes
attorney Mike Pekin.
Hollister – The Sixth District Appellate Court has upheld a local judge’s dismissal of a six-count criminal indictment against Los Valientes attorney Mike Pekin.
Pekin, a criminal defense attorney from Salinas, was indicted in February of 2005 by a local grand jury with five felonies and a misdemeanor, including attempted subornation of perjury and conspiracy to file false lawsuits.
The charges stemmed from his attempt, on behalf of the anonymous group Los Valientes, to intervene in a lawsuit concerning Measure G, the controversial growth control initiative, in 2003.
Pekin attempted to intervene in the suit alleging that the San Benito County Board of Supervisors violated open meeting laws in adopting the growth control initiative and that Supervisor Richard Scagliotti used his position in county government to profit in a land deal.
Pekin was not allowed to intervene in the suit.
San Benito County District Attorney John Sarsfield convened a grand jury in January of 2005 to determine if Pekin’s conduct in the McGovern matter violated any laws. The grand jury returned a six-count indictment, which Pekin later asked be dismissed. San Benito County Superior Court Judge Alan Hedegard granted Pekin’s motion for dismissal, setting aside all charges.
Sarsfield appealed Hedegard’s decision to the Sixth District Appellate Court, which upheld the dismissal in a ruling last month, finding that there “was no evidence that (Pekin) had the specific intent to conspire” to file a lawsuit he knew to be false or “conspire to obstruct justice.”
Pekin said that he felt he was being persecuted for trying to expose corruption. He said he felt vindicated by the ruling.
“The Appellate Court found there was no evidence of illegality,” Pekin said. “This means the prosecutor’s office wasted tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars.”
Sarsfield said he had not yet read the opinion, but that his initial inclination was to appeal the decision to the California Supreme Court.
“We haven’t really decided if we will appeal or not. We still have a few weeks before we need to make a decision,” Sarsfield said Wednesday.
Brett Rowland covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
