Aide faces ethics charges after text message mix-up
By Dan Hust
MONTICELLO — May 6, 2008 — Frustrated with what he views as stonewalling by the Democratic majority, Republican Legislator David Sager has filed formal ethics charges against Legislative Aide Alexis Eggleton.
“Basically, I had to,” he remarked last week. “There was no movement on the issue.”
Sager publicly and controversially condemned Eggleton in March for “spying” on him, based on a text message erroneously sent to his cellphone. The message, which he photographed and showed legislators and the media, clearly displayed Eggleton’s cellphone number and a message she apparently wrote to County Manager David Fanslau advising him that Sager was concerned and taking action about Fanslau’s upcoming employment contract amendment vote.
At the full Legislature meeting in March, Sager called for Eggleton’s termination and for her computer to be searched, arguing that she was a “political operative” for the Democrats.
While at the time three of the five Democrats expressed interest in investigating the matter further, they faulted Sager for what they viewed as a needless public castigation of Eggleton used for political gain.
According to Sager, in a subsequent private executive session with all nine legislators, he was told nothing would be done unless he filed ethics charges.
So last Tuesday, he did.
“I am extremely offended about the arrogance and lack of progress my fellow legislators have taken on this,” he said. “The perception is there was almost more support for her than a fellow legislator.”
Per county law, the document listing the charges cannot be released to the public before the matter is resolved, but Sager revealed that it does include at least two charges: breach of confidentiality and insubordination.
“She answers equally to all nine of us,” he explained of his choice of charges. “. . . And I don’t believe this is the first time this happened.”
While Sager did not offer physical evidence of any other wrongdoing, he produced a 2008 list of Democratic committeepersons throughout the county – the people who serve as official voting members of the Sullivan County and township-level Democratic committees.
Eggleton’s name is on that list as a Town of Rockland District 5 committeeperson.
“I really could care less what people’s registry is,” Sager remarked. But there’s a big difference, he added, between being a registered member of a political party “and paying homage and being a foot soldier for that party.”
Eggleton, who had just returned from vacation yesterday, confirmed that she is a Democratic committeeperson but declined to comment further.
The Legislature’s Ethics Subcommittee – chosen by randomly picking names out of a box – will meet this week to discuss the charges and whether they merit referral to the county’s Board of Ethics.
Republican Minority Leader Leni Binder, Republican Legislator Alan Sorensen and Democratic Legislator Elwin Wood are on that subcommittee and plan to announce their decision this Thursday.
Wood said yesterday he wants to withdraw due to “personal conflicts” (he’s a longtime friend of the family’s and rents Eggleton’s apartment to her), but whether he can do so is unclear.
In the end, if the trio agrees the charges merit an investigation, the Board of Ethics will take over and seek out the facts of the situation. That five-member volunteer board consists of Phyllis Coombe, Veronica Uss, Donna Braunstein, George Slaver and Richard Martinkovic.
If found guilty of the charges, Eggleton could be charged with a misdemeanor and lose her position, among other possibilities.
If she’s cleared or the charges are considered unsubstantiated, the documents will be sealed.
In the meantime, Sager said he and his fellow Republicans are avoiding anything beyond the necessary interactions with Eggleton, whose job is to deal with the media, create press releases, coordinate meetings and answer phones on behalf of the Legislature.
“She’s handled herself appropriately since this incident,” confirmed Sager, “. . . [but] we don’t give her anything to do. How can I trust her? How can any of the Republicans trust her to keep confidences?”
The question of whether the shooting death of a Callicoon barmaid should be sent to criminal court or dropped from the police radar is now in the hands of a grand jury.
The 23 citizens randomly selected to serve in the current term of the Sullivan County Grand Jury met Wednesday with County Judge Frank LaBuda to study the evidence in the death of Lori Schubeler in the early hours of April 13.
Adjourned at the end of the day, the grand jury is scheduled to take up the case again next Wednesday.
The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office can only say that Schubeler died when the shot from a .25-caliber semi-automatic handgun pierced her aorta and lung.
The gun, they’ve said, belonged to Schubeler’s boss, Western Hotel owner Joe Naughton, who was handling the weapon when it was discharged.
According to LaBuda, the very nature of the grand jury system prohibits any more information from being released at this time.
“The grand jury system we have is one of the oldest legal institutions in America,” he explained. “By law going back hundreds of years, grand juries are legally secret.
“That means no one – no grand juror, no prosecutor, the DA, no one – is allowed to disclose or discuss what goes on in a grand jury proceeding until it gets released by the judge,” he explained.
Just like a jury of one’s peers in a trial setting, the grand jury is selected at random, according to Loretta Duarte, Sullivan County’s commissioner of jurors.
The process begins with a computer selection system which picks from a pool of residents who are eligible to serve.
Slimming the pool are exceptions – all jurors have to be 18 years or older for example – and the state’s current rule that residents only be called to serve once every four years.
Duarte’s office issues a jury questionnaire to residents selected to ensure those chosen are eligible, and generally 40 to 50 are called in to the courthouse in Monticello.
That’s where the similarities end.
For a grand jury, the number of jurors will be brought down to 23 with the other residents called excused from service.
Grand jury duty in Sullivan County generally lasts for an eight-week term (four weeks in December). Rather than reporting to the courthouse daily for a trial, grand jurors are called on every Wednesday to hear evidence in cases that have yet to even go to trial.
“It just investigates crime,” LaBuda explained. “It doesn’t convict anyone.”
In fact, sometimes the grand jury will decide that there isn’t enough evidence for a defendant’s case to be sent on to a criminal court.
That’s the crux of a grand jury’s purpose – to determine whether there is sufficient evidence for a criminal to be officially charged with a crime.
“The police can arrest anyone they want to,” LaBuda noted, “however, no arrest can go to trial in superior court unless there’s a grand jury investigation and indictment.
“The grand jury protects the rights of the people from the abuses of the government,” he continued. “It’s an historic checks and balances.”
In the end, it’s not up to the police or even the district attorney’s office to determine who will be charged with a crime and appear in front of a judge to answer for their alleged misdeeds.
“It’s ultimately the 23 citizens who hear the evidence in secret, vote and decide if someone should be charged or not,” LaBuda said.
Until next Wednesday – at least – that means no one outside the grand jury room will know anymore about that fateful night at the Western Hotel.
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