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Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Ind. Courts - "McShurley vs. McKinney feud lands in Indiana Supreme Court"
Nick Werner reports today in the Muncie Star-Press in a lengthy story that includes these quotes:
MUNCIE -- The feud between Mayor Sharon McShurley and Delaware County Prosecutor Mark McKinney has now escalated into a legal battle.The 15-page complaint filed by Mayor McShurley with Don Lundberg of the Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission has been posted here by the Muncie Star-Press.McShurley, a Republican, last week filed a formal ethics grievance against McKinney, a Democrat, with the Indiana Supreme Court's disciplinary commission alleging he deceived local courts while handling forfeiture cases involving thousands of dollars in money and assets seized from drug dealers.
In doing so, McShurley alleged, McKinney diverted money toward the Muncie-Delaware County Drug Task Force that rightfully belonged to the City of Muncie general fund.
"I believe the city is entitled to reimbursement and has never received it," McShurley said Tuesday.
McKinney, however, denied he or anyone else in the Delaware County prosecutor's office did anything wrong, calling the grievance a political assassination attempt.
McKinney declined to talk about specific allegations, saying he had not seen the grievance as of Tuesday. * * *
McShurley's grievance centers around McKinney's years as a deputy prosecutor, from the late 1990s through 2006, when he was in charge of the drug forfeiture process in Delaware County.
McKinney, as prosecutor, has the authority to file lawsuits against drug dealers seeking the forfeiture of cash, cars and other property that might have been the end result of an illegal operation.
Among other purposes, profits from drug money and the auction of forfeited property should have been used to reimburse the city for costs related to the drug investigations, McShurley said.
"None were," her grievance said.
The grievance alleged that McKinney tricked the Delaware Circuit Court system into diverting all forfeiture money into a fund set up for the drug task force.
Furthermore, the grievance claims, McKinney entered into confidential agreements with drug dealers, whereupon they would voluntarily surrender seized money and assets to a Drug Task Force fund, avoiding a forfeiture lawsuit.
In an interview, McShurley said criminal charges were often dismissed as part of the agreements, which is not by itself a violation of ethics or laws.
The problem, according to the McShurley grievance, is that the agreements were not filed in courts under the scrutiny of a judge, therefore constituting fraud and a "failure of candor toward the courts."
The grievance included an agreement from 2002 where a drug defendant agreed to give over $8,631, drug scales and a cell phone.
Charges against that defendant were dismissed 19 days later.
The grievance did not say how much total money McKinney allegedly diverted away from the city and into the drug task force fund during his time as deputy prosecutor.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 28, 2008 10:17 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts