Judge orders trial in clerk's misconduct case

SANDPOINT — Election malfeasance charges against Bonner County Clerk Ann Dutson-Sater and Deputy Clerk Charlie Wurm were dismissed on Wednesday.

But Judge Justin Julian found there was sufficient evidence to try Dutson-Sater for subornation of perjury, a felony.

All of the charges stem from last year’s attempted recall of Steve Youngdahl, chairman of the Lake Pend Oreille School District’s board of trustees. Youngdahl was targeted in the recall because of a controversial proposal to equip some staff members with concealed weapons to protect against a school shooting.

Wurm and Dutson-Sater were charged with malfeasance for accepting improperly verified petitions for the recall. Dutson-Sater faced an additional malfeasance charge for allowing petition backers to gather additional signatures when they fell just short of the required number to trigger a recall election.

Idaho law requires recall petition signatures to be submitted all at once.

Dutson-Sater was further charged with subornation for allowing recall backer Tom Bokowy to attest under penalty of perjury that he witnessed all the signatures being obtained.

Bokowy testified during Wurm and Dutson-Sater’s joint preliminary hearing in magistrate court.

“I did not witness every single one of these signatures,” Bokowy recalled telling Dutson-Sater.

Bokowy estimated that he witnessed the gathering of 60-70 percent of the signatures and told the court that Dutson-Sater said he could attest since he saw a majority of them being gathered.

Bonner County Commissioner Mike Nielsen said Dutson-Sater told him the same thing during a conversation they had earlier this year, according to his brief testimony before the court.

But Deborah Christopherson, an assistant in the elections office, said Wurm and Dutson-Sater were relatively new to their respective positions and received no training in conducting recall elections.

She also testified that neither defendant had contempt for election laws or sought to undermine them.

Youngdahl said he became suspicious of the recall when he heard reports that backers were making material misrepresentations about his school security proposal in order to garner signatures.

Youngdahl testified that he was initially unaware that officials mishandled the recall.

“I don’t know how that happened,” he said. “They were not my focus. That was all news to me later in the process.”

Youngdahl said he couldn’t recall speaking about official misconduct with the prosecutor or sheriff’s offices, but said he met with county commissioners in an executive session at one point.

Officials in Kootenai County were ultimately asked to handle the matter.

Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh argued that public officials have an obligation to know what they’re required to do.

“In this particular case there was a, from our perspective, willful neglect with regards to not only knowing what the requirements were but then complying with them,” McHugh said.

Wurm’s counsel, Fred Palmer, questioned whether his client could be considered a public official and argued there was no showing that there was a conscious effort to disregard or subvert the law.

“Every mistake you make you’re facing a felony? It’s ridiculous,” Palmer added.

Dutson-Sater’s attorney, Joshua Hickey, emphasized that there was no evidence of a corrupt agreement between his client and Bokowy and no evidence of willful neglect with regard to the election law.

Julian ruled that the state came up short on demonstrating there was malfeasance and noted that the reality is that people make mistakes, including those who act in official capacities.

“We all try to do our best, but we all don’t know all the answers. But that doesn’t make us all felons,” Julian said.

However, Julian ruled that trying Dutson-Sater for subornation was justified because the attestation Bokowy signed had plain and unambiguous language about the witnessing requirements.

Dutson-Sater is scheduled to be arraigned in 1st District Court on Nov. 3, the day before the general election. Dutson-Sater, a Democrat, is being challenged by Michael Rosedale, a Republican.