Docs involving the sheriff to remain sealed

SANDPOINT — A Bonner County magistrate is declining to unseal records in an estate case in which Sheriff Daryl Wheeler and another man were accused of mismanaging funds.

Judge Lori Meulenberg’s ruling coincides with Wheeler’s win in Tuesday’s contested general election. Wheeler defeated retired Idaho State Police Trooper Terry Ford in a lopsided contest where Ford ran as a write-in candidate.

An heir to the estate of Marie Emily Scheimeister moved in August to the unseal records in a 2014 conservatorship case in which Wheeler and an Oregon finance manager served as guardians. Wheeler and Sam Jones were appointed co-guardians of Scheimeister because she was incapacitated, according to the Idaho State Supreme Court Data Repository.

The vast majority of court documents in conservatorship cases are filed under seal because they concern an individual’s intimate medical history and their finances. Only court orders and a register of court actions are open to viewing by the public.

Scheimeister’s grandson, Scott Wieman, moved for the court to open records in the conservator case in August, a motion which drew opposition from counsel representing Wheeler and Jones. Wieman’s motion was filed under seal, but Meulenberg’s order notes that Wieman argued that administrative court rules governing sealed court records were never meant to be utilized as a shield by somebody who is exploiting or abusing their fiduciary duties.

Wieman argued that the sealing of the documents was effectively abridging his right to free speech, according to Meulenberg’s written decision. Wieman further argued that Wheeler should be subject to public scrutiny because he is an elected official.

Fonda Jovick, the attorney representing Wheeler and Jones, countered that there was no need to unseal court records because Wieman already has unrestricted access to them. Moreover, Wieman was party to a mediated settlement agreement which resolved all claims or causes of action that were raised in the conservatorship case.

Available court records indicate that Wheeler disputed the allegations.

Meulenberg’s order refers to suggestions that Wieman’s motion was “a front for others’ personal agenda,” including Wheeler’s political rival. A footnote in the ruling also points out that information has already been “leaked” to the public.

The allegations began to surface publicly in the run-up to the May 28 primary election. The allegations were referenced on social media and hard copies of sealed documents began circulating in the community. One set of records was even offered as reading material for customers at a local barbershop at one point.

Meulenberg ultimately denied the motion to open the records, ruling that Wieman was pursuing it not to safeguard the interests of Scheimeister because she has since died.

“There is evidence to suggest that disgruntlement/political motivation are part of the reason Mr. Wieman seeks the document unsealed,” Meulenberg said in the seven-page ruling.

Meulenberg held that allowing documents regarding public figures to be released may serve a legitimate purpose in some instances, but this case would give Wieman and others a mechanism to air grievances even though any legal right to pursue a claim had been relinquished.

Meulenberg said it made no logical sense to open sealed records because someone has already improperly leaked them.

“Setting this type of precedent would encourage persons to ‘leak’ information in sealed cases,” Meulenberg wrote.

Wieman said on Tuesday that he plans on appealing the ruling in district court and was dismayed the records weren’t unsealed until the day of the election.

“I’m thoroughly disgusted,” Wieman said of the decision to keep the documents under wraps.