Trial date set for Delaware auditor corruption trial; lawmakers punt on removal for now
A trial date has been set for a jury to hear evidence in the criminal corruption case against Delaware's Auditor Kathy McGuiness as state lawmakers delay using a constitutional power to remove her from office.
If McGuiness, who faces two felonies and multiple misdemeanors tied to her work as auditor, does not take a plea deal, she is now scheduled to stand trial in May 2022, according to a court order that followed a private scheduling conference with McGuiness, prosecutors and Judge William Carpenter earlier this week.
Prosecutors say McGuiness broke public corruption rules by hiring her daughter to work in her office, rigged a public contract to avoid regulatory scrutiny and intimidated those that may have spoken out about her conduct.
The scheduling order also set deadlines for prosecutors to share evidence against McGuiness with her attorney, as well as due dates for pretrial motions in the case.
McGuiness, who unsuccessfully sought the court's permission to have the public pay her private criminal defense attorney Steve Wood, also recently informed the court she will continue to be represented by Wood on her own dime.
Earlier this month, the court ruled that by virtue of her position as auditor, state law affords her the opportunity to have the public pay for her attorney, but in the form of a public defender – not her choice of a private attorney.
Carpenter also recently rejected Wood's effort to have Attorney General Kathy Jennings sanctioned by the court for comments she made about the case in announcing the indictment last month.
At the press conference, Jennings, in response to a reporters' question, said: "I have not spoken to the defendant and that has been deliberate. I can tell you that the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust has reached out to the auditor on several occasions and she has declined to speak to them."
Wood argued this comment about McGuiness' refusal to speak prejudiced her chance at a fair trial and ran afoul professional rules that dictate the conduct of attorneys including Jennings.
Previously: Indicted state auditor wants public to pay for $550-per-hour attorney
Carpenter rejected the motion to sanction Jennings but has placed tighter restrictions on how parties speak about the case publicly.
Meanwhile, the Delaware General Assembly has announced they will not be taking action to remove McGuiness until their reconvene in January.
The General Assembly announced on Tuesday that it will get pro-bono legal advice from former Delaware Supreme Court Justice Randy J. Holland on how to remove the indicted official. Legislative leaders say there is confusion about what power they have under the law because such power has not been used in living memory.
The General Assembly can petition the governor to remove an elected official like McGuiness, and, if two-thirds of members of both chambers petition, the governor may remove an officer for "any reasonable cause," according to the constitution
Some lawmakers have tried other routes to remove McGuiness sooner, but they failed.
Shortly after McGuiness refused to step down in response to calls from leadership that she take a leave of absence, a handful of lawmakers pushed that the General Assembly vote to remove McGuiness while they were all in the same room for a redistricting special session on Nov. 1. Lawmakers rarely meet outside of their normal session, which runs from January to June.
They didn’t end up mustering the votes, and their plan was then replaced by a different one to instead ask the Delaware Supreme Court for an opinion on how to legally remove McGuiness.
Supporters of that plan argued that it was too early to try to actually remove her since the three-sentence law in the state constitution doesn’t paint a crystal-clear picture of exactly how the removal process is supposed to go.
BACKGROUND:Lawmakers don't have the votes to remove indicted Auditor Kathy McGuiness
But ultimately, they failed in that effort for legal advice since they couldn’t agree on which bill to pass. Both the Senate and House passed their own versions of the bill requesting legal advice, but neither fully passed either one.
Senators had initially planned to meet again on Tuesday to vote on the House version, which also mandated that the House and Senate’s judiciary committees meet together by Dec. 17 to decide the procedure for potential removal.
Lawmakers are now waiting until January to take action in the effort to seek advice from Holland, the retired Supreme Court justice. They promise to have a blueprint for removal before then.
Lawmakers are also considering a forced leave of absence instead of outright removal, should the law allow it, according to Senate President Pro Tempore David Sokola.
It appears McGuiness plans to stay in office until then, despite officials warning she will erode public trust in government as long as she oversees state spending.
When asked if waiting until January to take any action against McGuiness is too late, Sokola said, "It's a very good question.
"I would have hoped that she would have stepped down," he said. "She may still do so. But as of right now, she has chosen not to."
Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareon