LITTLE ROCK — The U.S. attorney’s office in Little Rock took the relatively rare step Thursday of permanently dismissing charges against Forrest City lawyer Mike Easley in the middle of his nonjury trial.
Although U.S. Attorney Chris Thyer initially hesitated to divulge the reason his office sought the dismissal, except to cite “the interest of justice,” he later elaborated a bit to acknowledge and clarify what Easley said in a prepared statement.
The acknowledgment made it clear that Thyer’s office, which was prosecuting Easley on behalf of the Social Security Administration, was unhappy with the agency’s lack of compliance with its legal obligation to turn over documents sought by the defense.
Easley, 63, was indicted on fraud charges in October 2010, accused of disguising payments to an employee so that her increased income wouldn’t catch the attention of the Internal Revenue Service, which would in turn prompt the discontinuation of her Social Security disability benefits.
“My family and I are thankful to God that this nightmare is over,” Easley said in his written statement.
“I want to say that even after all the misery we have endured, we all now have even greater respect for our justice system than ever before. Karen Whatley, the Assistant U.S. Attorney in charge of the case, has demonstrated a level of strength, character, and integrity that make me proud that I’m a lawyer, too.
“In the heat of a hotly contested trial, and with a huge amount of time and emotional capital already having been spent in my case, she was able to step back and realize that critical evidence had been withheld by other government personnel,” Easley said. “That exculpatory evidence probably would have prevented the charge from ever being made.”
Easley said Whatley “moved immediately to right that wrong and take the steps necessary to assure that justice would be served.”
Whatley filed a motion Thursday morning to dismiss the three charges Easley faced: conspiracy to defraud Social Security, aiding and abetting the concealment of fraud, and aiding and abetting employee Marie Diane Douglas’ theft of government funds.
U.S. District Judge Bill Wilson entered an order dismissing the case Thursday afternoon.
Upon hearing Easley’s statement, Thyer said, “As of this moment, no one in my office has even read the new stuff. Whether it was exculpatory or not wouldn’t make a difference. The mere fact that we had withheld it makes the decision for us.”
On Wednesday, the second day of the trial in Wilson’s Little Rock courtroom, an issue arose about why the Social Security Administration didn’t provide the entire file on the matter in response to a defense subpoena.
The government had turned over to the defense what the agency purported to be the entire file, but a witness surprised prosecutors and defense attorney Tim Dudley alike by announcing during testimony that there was more to the file than what the attorneys had seen.
As a result, Wilson ended the day by delaying the remainder of the trial until next Tuesday, to give prosecutors time to obtain the rest of the file and allow Dudley time to review it.
In a letter-order Wilson filed Thursday morning, he told Whatley, “I want to get to the bottom of this because it is disturbing per se that the entire file was not produced; and it is inconvenient and expensive for all concerned to have to continue a case mid-trial.”
Easley ended his written statement Thursday by saying, “In these days when federal prosecutors are being sharply criticized all over the country, Karen Whatley stands as an example of what a government prosecutor ought to be. I’m immensely thankful for the thoughts, prayers and support of my many friends who believed in me all along.”
Douglas, 63, who has admitted that her salary and $100,000 bonus from Easley’s law firm were disbursed in the form of checks issued in the name of her husband and daughter between August 2002 and September 2009, in an effort to fool the Social Security Administration, is scheduled to be sentenced on April 11.
Douglas has already agreed to repay $57,489 to the agency.
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 03/23/2012