Assessor John Tuteur’s formal answer in court to “willful or corrupt misconduct” charges and the unsealing of 300 pages of related grand jury witness interview transcripts have hit snags.
The grand jury transcripts sealed by Napa County Superior Court had previously been set for release to the public on April 23. That hinged on agreement between the state Attorney General’s Office and Tuteur’s attorney over what, if anything, should be blacked out.
The two parties have yet to agree.
On Thursday, Caroline Chen of the Attorney General’s Office asked Superior Court Judge Mark Boessenecker that the names of the grand jurors and witnesses be redacted from the transcripts. Tuteur’s attorney, Thomas Barth, who plans to use the transcripts in his defense for Tuteur, didn’t want the redactions.
Boessenecker ended the brief hearing by taking the matter under submission. Release of the transcripts detailing three days of grand jury interviews with seven witnesses looked unlikely to be available for a few days, at the soonest.
The Napa Valley Register has asked the court to unseal the transcripts, given public interest in a case that involves a high-profile, elected official.
“When the court seals something that should be public, it causes continued harm to the public interest,” said attorney Leila Knox, who represented the Napa Valley Register, after the hearing.
Tuteur has been assessor since 1987. The 2017-18 grand jury accuses him of failing to pay $20,000 in back taxes following the discovery of an assessment error involving his property. It also says Tuteur took various actions involving farmland assessment policies – possibly self-serving, given he owns a ranch – that cost the county tax money.
As a result, the grand jury wants Tuteur removed from office as Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk. Tuteur is up for election on June 5, but is running unopposed.
Tuteur was scheduled Thursday to formally respond in court to the grand jury accusations that are being handled by the state Attorney General’s Office. But, Tuteur said after the hearing, his defense first needs the transcripts to be unsealed so they can be used in his objections.
Barth has seen the sealed transcripts. Papers he filed with the court indicate part of the defense will be to try to show that the original complaint against Tuteur came from a “disgruntled employee, who was extremely angry about being passed over for promotions within the Assessor’s Office.”
State penal code says that grand jury transcripts in accusation cases such as this are to be made public 10 days after being delivered to the defendant. An exception is if the court seals the transcripts over concerns that release might hurt the defendant’s right to a fair trial.
May 3, 2018
Napa Valley Register
By Barry Eberling
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