Riverside County’s top lawyer
is flexing his legal muscle in a standoff with the Grand Jury over the extent
of his legal authority versus the grand jury’s authority as an independent
government watchdog.
County Counsel Greg Priamos may
prevail, not because he’s right but because the 2014-15 Grand Jury disbands
June 30.
The dispute boils down to this:
Priamos, who’s been in the job
less than a year, has advised all county departments to notify his office of
inquiries by the grand jury so his office can coordinate responses.
This violates the
confidentiality of grand jury investigations by revealing the targets of
probes, which state law requires be kept secret, the grand jury says.
Grand jury probes are
confidential not just so as not to tip off potential targets, but not to
unfairly tar anyone’s reputation, should the allegations turn out to be untrue.
Priamos also is insisting he or
another attorney from his office be present whenever a county employee
testifies before the grand jury under oath.
The grand jury says this
undermines its ability to get candid testimony because employees will fear
retaliation if word gets back to their supervisors that they revealed something
negative.
County policy requires
employees to report waste, fraud or abuse, and state law allows people giving
sworn testimony to a grand jury to have their own lawyer present, or not to
have one present at all, the grand jury says.
The only way to break the
deadlock is to have a higher legal authority decide who’s right. The grand jury
could ask for a non-binding opinion from the state Attorney General, or it
could file a lawsuit to have a judge rule, one expert told me.
The grand jury sued. Foreman
Michael J. Pernarelli Sr. asked Judge John W. Vineyard to tell Priamos he can’t
be lawyer for county employees and for county government, too. Lawyers can’t
represent two sides in a conflict.
Pernarelli also argued state
law prohibits County Counsel from being present during grand jury sessions
unless the grand jury requests his advice.
Judge John W. Vineyard said
County Counsel isn’t the grand jury’s lawyer just because the previous County
Counsel taught the grand jurors their powers and duties. That also doesn’t
establish an attorney-client relationship, he said in a tentative ruling May
22.
The decision came after two
hearings that were held in secret last month; even the court clerk had to step
outside. The transcripts only became public because Pernarelli asked Vineyard
not to seal them, so the public could know what happened.
I think Pernarelli made a
persuasive argument that county employees won’t feel free to speak openly to
the grand jury with county counsel present. Priamos’ policy will have a
chilling effect.
June 23, 2015
The
Press Enterprise
By Cassie
MacDuff, regional columnist-blogger
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