Lawyer Michael Pekin filed a motion to dismiss the five felony
charges a criminal grand jury indicted him with Monday, stating the
district attorney’s office withheld evidence that would exonerate
him and that he was indicted without probable cause.
Hollister – Lawyer Michael Pekin filed a motion to dismiss the five felony charges a criminal grand jury indicted him with Monday, stating the district attorney’s office withheld evidence that would exonerate him and that he was indicted without probable cause.
Pekin’s motion claims Special Deputy District Attorney John Picone “violated the independent functioning of the grand jury and incurably poisoned that body” from issuing an impartial ruling by failing to provide evidence he submitted in his defense, not allowing him to testify on his behalf and by shifting the purview of the investigation in the middle of the grand jury proceeding.
Pekin also argued that the charges, which were based on the lawyer using unsigned declarations by two planning department employees in an attempt to obtain a restraining order against former Planning Department Director Rob Mendiola, were made without cause because his action didn’t violate the law in any way, according to his motion.
But Picone believes Pekin’s arguments are legally unsound and won’t hold up in a court of law. Picone said he presented all the evidence Pekin provided him to the grand jury, and that he didn’t have to allow Pekin to testify on his own behalf. The place for that is trial, he said.
“Those arguments are fairly routine and they generally don’t get any traction. He’s just wrong,” Picone said. “The grand jury is an investigative body. We presented the evidence (in Pekin’s defense) and they’re the ones who saw probable cause that he had committed a crime. Mr. Pekin will have an opportunity to testify on his own behalf in trial.”
Pekin was indicted by the criminal grand jury on five felony counts in February stemming from his ongoing lawsuit against San Benito County and former Supervisor Richard Scagliotti. The lawsuit alleges corruption and involves the anonymous group Los Valientes.
The criminal charges, which include obstructing justice, eliciting perjury and filing frivolous lawsuits, also encompasses the restraining order he tried to get against Mendiola, which a judge denied. Pekin used an unsigned and unedited declaration by planning department employee Ken Speciale in which Speciale stated he had evidence that could implicate Mendiola in the corruption allegations against Scagliotti.
If convicted, Pekin could face up to three years in prison and could lose his ability to practice law.
Besides the criminal charges, Pekin is also being investigated by the California State Bar into allegations that he illegally intervened in the Measure G lawsuit brought by San Juan Bautista resident Rebecca McGovern in late 2003, and that he knowingly filed a false declaration when he submitted Speciale’s unsigned statement.
But Pekin says everything he did was by the book and there’s no hard evidence to convict him of a crime, or even take the case to trial. And he believes San Benito County Superior Court Judge Harry Tobias will see it his way when he appears in court on May 17.
“There’s no evidence that I committed a crime,” Pekin said. “I have confidence in Judge Tobias.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
