Chet Brokaw, The Associated Press | Posted: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 11:00 pm
|
PIERRE - The
attorney general's office has made an unusual move so it can switch
the order in which two men will be tried on charges alleging
bribery in the state's purchase of land for a highway project along
Interstate 90 near Rapid City.
Clayton R.
Sonnenschein, 61, a former state Transportation Department official
from Pierre, and Douglas E. Andrews, 62, a real-estate broker from
Rapid City, were both indicted in May on seven charges of bribery
and one count of grand theft.
Sonnenschein was in
charge of state land purchases for work along I-90 near Piedmont,
and prosecutors allege that Sonnenschein got a percentage of
Andrews' commissions for the land sales.
Both men have
pleaded not guilty.
Circuit Judge
Kathleen Trandahl scheduled Andrews' trial to start Nov. 26 and
Sonnenschein's trial to start Feb. 4.
Assistant attorney
general Todd Love then filed to dismiss charges against Andrews and
said charges will be refiled later against the broker. That would
allow Sonnenschein's trial to be held first.
Prosecutors want to
finish the prosecution of Sonnenschein so they can force him to
testify in Andrews' trial, Love said Wednesday.
A brief court
hearing was held by telephone Wednesday so Andrews' lawyer, Robert
Van Norman of Rapid City, could record his objection to the state's
plans. Trandahl did not make any ruling during the hearing because
no formal motion was pending.
Van Norman said a
further delay in Andrews' trial would cause financial hardship for
the broker and could violate some of his constitutional rights. The
state's move to dismiss the charges and refile them is an attempt
to get around the speedy trial rule, which generally requires that
a trial be held within 180 days of a defendant's first appearance
in court.
Andrews has lost a
lot of business because he has agreed to the suspension of his
real-estate license, so he needs to resolve the charges against him
and clear his name, Van Norman said.
"My client has not
been cleared," Van Norman said. "He's not had his day in
court."
The prosecution's
plan to refile charges and hold Andrews' trial later could also
cause problems because publicity surrounding Sonnenschein's trial
could make it difficult to find an impartial jury for the second
trial, he said.
Love said state law
gives the prosecution discretion to dismiss a case.
"The prosecution
against Mr. Andrews is simply terminated," Love said during the
hearing.
When charges
against Andrews are refiled, the court can deal with the legal
issues raised by Van Norman, Love said.
Prosecutors told
Andrews' lawyer early in the case that they would seek to hold
Sonnenschein's trial first, Love said.
Andrews is accused
of paying more than $47,000 in bribes from March through August
2005 to Sonnenschein, who at the time was in charge of the
Transportation Department's land purchases along I-90 near Rapid
City. Sonnenschein is charged with accepting bribes.
In the seven
charges of bribery, the state alleges that Sonnenschein got a
percentage of Andrews' commission for the land sales. The
grand-theft count alleges that the two men caused the
Transportation Department to buy some land for $420,000 more than
its appraised value.
Each count carries
a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine,
authorities said.
