SAN JOSE — Six-term Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith submitted her resignation to the county Monday morning, abruptly stepping down from the agency where she was worked for nearly 50 years — 24 of those as its leader — and during a civil corruption trial in which jurors are actively deliberating whether she abused her powers in office.
She sent a one-sentence letter to the clerk of the Board of Supervisors reading, “This letter is to notify you of my retirement effective immediately, Monday, October 31, 2022.”
Smith has not made any public statements as of early Monday afternoon; her attorney Allen Ruby declined comment, citing the ongoing trial. A statement from the sheriff’s office confirmed Smith’s retirement, and announced that Undersheriff Ken Binder — who has been called up as a witness at trial and in front of previous grand jury panels — was stepping in to lead the agency in the interim.
“The Sheriff’s Office remains committed to our mission to provide the highest level of public safety and service to our community during this transition,” the statement reads.
The sheriff announced earlier this year her plans to retire at the end of her term in January, citing a cloud of political and legal scrutiny as a major reason to not run for re-election. On Nov. 8, county voters will choose between retired sheriff’s captain Kevin Jensen and retired Palo Alto police chief and former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s captain Robert “Bob” Jonsen as her permanent successor.
Smith’s decision to retire may have been an attempt to take the oxygen out of the corruption trial, in which she faces six civil counts of corruption and willful misconduct based on accusations filed by the county Civil Grand Jury last year. The accusations that made it to trial involved oft-mentioned criticisms of favoritism and lawbreaking in her issuing of concealed-carry weapons permits and accusations of evading transparency by evading gift-reporting laws and resisting a civilian auditor’s probe into a high-profile jail-injury case.
A guilty verdict on just one of the counts would have expelled her from office. A jury began deliberating the case Friday following closing arguments the previous day, which capped about a month of testimony.
She might have anticipated at least one guilty verdict, given that three of the counts were fairly straightforward in asking jurors to assess whether she accepted a San Jose Sharks luxury suite from a donor, which would have exceeded gift limits for elected officials from a single source, and if she intentionally hid the suite use by buying nosebleed seats to disguise her attendance at the Feb. 14, 2019 hockey game. Testimony from Smith’s staff appeared to be compelling and made it hard to dispute that she did not know what she was doing in that scenario.
Regarding her pension, it was never at risk becuse the corruption trial, which has the structure of a criminal trial but is being held in civil court, could not end in a felony conviction, only her removal.
Reactions to Smith’s resignation were flowing in mid-Monday. Jensen, who ran to unseat the sheriff in 2014, said in a statement: “It’s the right decision made two or three terms too late. I will always be grateful for the years of service to the public that a first responder gives; however, today’s decision and pending jury verdict should be a reminder to everyone that abused power and trust may give temporary gain, but evetnually lead to pain and a bitter end.”
In his reaction to the resignation, Jonsen said in statement: “It brings closure to the state’s first female sheriff and begins a new chapter for the organization, obviously one I hope to be part of in moving it forward.”
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, who called for Smith’s resignation last fall, added to the chorus.
“More than a year ago, I publicly called for Sheriff Laurie Smith to resign, and she has belatedly heeded that call. It remains for the county to rebuild a troubled department and to better address many long-neglected issues, particularly regarding jail oversight,” Liccardo said in a statement.
While Smith was no stranger to wide criticism over her running of the office, things started to turn last fall with a torrent of scrutiny from the Board of Supervisors over Smith’s management of the county jails and the gun-permit scandal. That scrutiny was headlined by a board no-confidence vote in Smith and also prompted an external investigation by the state Attorney General.
But the most impactful result of that effort was a request for the county Civil Grand Jury to investigate the CCW and jail matters, which paved the way to Smith’s decision Monday to step down. It was not immediately clear Monday what, if any, impact that Smith’s resignation will have on the continuing of the corruption trial. Besides Ruby’s declining to comment, the local Superior Court — which recused itself from the trial, putting San Mateo County Judge Nancy Fineman in charge — said it was seeking clarity on what effect Monday’s news could have on the proceedings.
Nevertheless, the jury continued to deliberate Monday, as they are legally barred from consuming any of the news of the day.
Check back later for updates to this story.
Source: www.mercurynews.com