Post by WaTcHeR on Jan 10, 2007 17:15:41 GMT -5
01.10.2007 - After missing his second court appearance in as many days, a $50,000 warrant was issued by Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Christopher Wilson for former Humboldt County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Gainey that Wilson ordered held until the afternoon of Jan. 17.
More than a year after he voluntarily resigned from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office amid allegations that he lied under oath, Gainey was scheduled to be in court Monday afternoon to enter a plea.
When he was unable to be present, he was scheduled to be in court Tuesday morning for his scheduled preliminary hearing, at which time he was going to enter a plea, his attorney Michael Robinson said; however, he did not make that appearance either.
“He’s having travel and what I could describe as significant family issues,” Robinson said in court Tuesday morning. “We have a disposition; we just don’t have the defendant.”
Robinson said Gainey, who now lives in Oregon, was bumped off a plane flight Monday afternoon. He was then planning to take another flight and when that was not possible, he was planning to drive.
Robinson said Gainey indicated to him that he could be present and asked him to schedule his next appearance sometime next week.
Wilson said the situation felt like “déjà vu” and issued the warrant, ordering it to be held until Jan. 17 at 2 p.m.
Most of Gainey’s legal troubles stem from a case that Wilson presided over that went to trial in the summer of 2005. After an approximately three-year-long investigation, Edward Defilippis was convicted by a jury of stalking charges in July 2005.
Following his conviction and prior to his sentencing, Defilippis was granted the right to a new trial in late November 2005 after it was discovered that Gainey, the lead investigator of the case, allegedly lied under oath.
Because of the allegations, Defilippis was granted a retrial, but ended up accepting a plea prior to the start of the new trial.
Following an investigation into Gainey’s conduct, the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office charged him with three counts of perjury, three counts of identity theft, a single count of preparing false evidence and a single count each of unauthorized sale of a badge and attempting an unauthorized sale of a badge.
In a complaint filed by the DA’s Office in April 2006, counts five through seven allege that on July 27, 2005, Gainey obtained the personal identification information of three separate men without authorization and used it for “unlawful purposes or to obtain, or attempt to obtain, credit, goods, services or information in the name of (the men) without consent.”
The charges having to do with sale and attempted sale of a badge are alleged to have occurred May 1 and Oct. 1, 2005, respectively.
In May 2006, Gainey pleaded not guilty to the charges and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for June. The hearing date was postponed more than once before today’s date was agreed upon.
Gainey, who was previously being represented by Pleasant Hill-based attorney Todd Simonson of Rains, Lucia & Wilkinson, is now being represented by Robinson, a Eureka-based attorney with the firm Scott, Robinson Gainey, who was previously being represented by Pleasant Hill-based attorney Todd Simonson of Rains, Lucia & Wilkinson, is now being represented by Robinson, a Eureka-based attorney with the firm Scott, Robinson & Pavlich.
He is scheduled to be back in court on Jan. 17 at 2 p.m., at which time he is expected to enter a plea in Courtroom 7 in the Humboldt County Courthouse in Eureka.
www.eurekareporter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ArticleID=19277
More than a year after he voluntarily resigned from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office amid allegations that he lied under oath, Gainey was scheduled to be in court Monday afternoon to enter a plea.
When he was unable to be present, he was scheduled to be in court Tuesday morning for his scheduled preliminary hearing, at which time he was going to enter a plea, his attorney Michael Robinson said; however, he did not make that appearance either.
“He’s having travel and what I could describe as significant family issues,” Robinson said in court Tuesday morning. “We have a disposition; we just don’t have the defendant.”
Robinson said Gainey, who now lives in Oregon, was bumped off a plane flight Monday afternoon. He was then planning to take another flight and when that was not possible, he was planning to drive.
Robinson said Gainey indicated to him that he could be present and asked him to schedule his next appearance sometime next week.
Wilson said the situation felt like “déjà vu” and issued the warrant, ordering it to be held until Jan. 17 at 2 p.m.
Most of Gainey’s legal troubles stem from a case that Wilson presided over that went to trial in the summer of 2005. After an approximately three-year-long investigation, Edward Defilippis was convicted by a jury of stalking charges in July 2005.
Following his conviction and prior to his sentencing, Defilippis was granted the right to a new trial in late November 2005 after it was discovered that Gainey, the lead investigator of the case, allegedly lied under oath.
Because of the allegations, Defilippis was granted a retrial, but ended up accepting a plea prior to the start of the new trial.
Following an investigation into Gainey’s conduct, the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office charged him with three counts of perjury, three counts of identity theft, a single count of preparing false evidence and a single count each of unauthorized sale of a badge and attempting an unauthorized sale of a badge.
In a complaint filed by the DA’s Office in April 2006, counts five through seven allege that on July 27, 2005, Gainey obtained the personal identification information of three separate men without authorization and used it for “unlawful purposes or to obtain, or attempt to obtain, credit, goods, services or information in the name of (the men) without consent.”
The charges having to do with sale and attempted sale of a badge are alleged to have occurred May 1 and Oct. 1, 2005, respectively.
In May 2006, Gainey pleaded not guilty to the charges and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for June. The hearing date was postponed more than once before today’s date was agreed upon.
Gainey, who was previously being represented by Pleasant Hill-based attorney Todd Simonson of Rains, Lucia & Wilkinson, is now being represented by Robinson, a Eureka-based attorney with the firm Scott, Robinson Gainey, who was previously being represented by Pleasant Hill-based attorney Todd Simonson of Rains, Lucia & Wilkinson, is now being represented by Robinson, a Eureka-based attorney with the firm Scott, Robinson & Pavlich.
He is scheduled to be back in court on Jan. 17 at 2 p.m., at which time he is expected to enter a plea in Courtroom 7 in the Humboldt County Courthouse in Eureka.
www.eurekareporter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ArticleID=19277