Defense: Gov't left out details in evidence it wants to present at Soderquist trial
NWI Times
November 02, 2015 - 11:15 pm
November 02, 2015 - 11:15 pm
HAMMOND | Defense attorneys for former Lake Station Mayor Keith Soderquist, his wife and stepdaughter said Monday there are "significant omissions" in evidence the government wants to present at the their clients' upcoming trial.
The U.S. attorney's office filed a motion last week seeking a ruling permitting the presentation of evidence and testimony it says shows Soderquist attempted to abolish the City Court to cover up an alleged theft of bond money by his stepdaughter.
Attorneys for Keith Soderquist, wife Deborah and her daughter Miranda Brakley on Monday filed a response urging U.S. District Judge James Moody to deny prosecutors' request.
A hearing on their request to continue their Nov. 9 trial is set for Tuesday.
Defense attorneys say the battle over the City Court was long-standing and messy, and the discovery of audit irregularities linking Brakley to missing bond money "could not have served as the motive or impetus" for a Dec. 6, 2012, attempt to abolish the court.
"The viability of the Lake Station City Court from a financial perspective was an ongoing concern for the other branches of city government, a concern that significantly predated the (State Board of Accounts) audit," defense attorneys say.
Brakley, who worked as a deputy clerk in City Court from 2008 until she was fired in July 2012, is accused of embezzling more than $16,000 in bond money posted on behalf of individuals arrested in Lake Station from 2010 and 2012. She's also charged with failing to report $7,000 in payments she received for "compensatory time" she supposedly earned while working for the city, court records state.
Keith and Deborah Soderquist are each charged with accessory after the fact to Brakley's alleged theft and structuring a financial transaction.
The government's argument is "predicated on a particular timeline," according to the response filed by Scott King, attorney for the Soderquists, and Thomas Vanes, attorney for Brakley.
That timeline includes a Dec. 4, 2012, message from the State Board of Accounts advising Soderquist of a need to interview Brakley in connection with the audit and a last-minute addition to the City Council's Dec. 6, 2012, agenda of an ordinance to abolish the City Court, defense attorneys wrote.
Prosecutors say the timing of Soderquist's effort to abolish the City Court and its correlation with a "midnight run" the Soderquists made to Kentucky to borrow $15,000 from a relative are "direct evidence of the Sodequists' efforts to assist Brakley and ensure she was not apprehended for her crime."
The day after a State Board of Accounts supervisor left Soderquist a message, he called a relative and asked for a $15,000 loan, prosecutors allege.
Two days later, on Dec. 6, 2012, the City Council voted not to abolish the City Court. After the vote, the Soderquists drove through the night to obtain money from the relative, prosecutors allege.
The relative wrote three separate checks, prosecutors allege. Deborah Soderquist cashed a $6,000 check Dec. 8, 2012, in Kentucky, a $5,000 check on Dec. 9, 2012, in Merrillville, and a $4,000 check Dec. 10, 2012, in Munster, court records state.
On Dec. 10, Brakley provided about $15,000 to the State Board of Accounts and claimed the money mistakenly ended up in her SUV the day she was fired, court records state.
Admitting evidence outlined by prosecutors is likely to cause confusion of issues and increase time spent in trial, defense attorneys wrote.
If it is permitted, the defense will seek to offer counter evidence showing Soderquist's "ongoing attempt to stem the flow of red ink" from the City Court. A financial consultant hired in November 2012 found the City Court was operating at a loss from 2009 to October 2012 and was routinely waiving fines and fees for a select group of attorneys, defense attorneys say.
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