Former University of Central Arkansas Chief of Staff Jack Gillean's commercial burglary conviction should be affirmed because Gillean has not shown that the trial court was wrong to allow the introduction of some evidence, the attorney general's office said in a Monday filing to the Arkansas Court of Appeals.
Gillean, 58, was convicted of six counts of commercial burglary in March 2014. He was sentenced to three years in prison and fined $35,000 in a test-cheating scandal at UCA, where he also had worked as general counsel.
Gillean's attorneys have argued in a filing that it was prejudicial to allow the prosecution to present evidence dealing with Gillean's drinking with students and his sexual relationship with another man.
The state said in its response Monday that Gillean's "intimate relationship" with a key male witness for the prosecution was relevant because it showed that the witness "was privy to interactions and conversations that those who were just coming and going were not."
The state also argued that Gillean's drinking with students was relevant.
"The testimony that a man in leadership at the university opted to socialize with students and to allow those students to drink at his home evidenced Appellant's [Gillean's] state of mind -- again, one of irresponsibility and poor judgment," the state wrote.
Countering another appeal argument, the state said, "The trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting evidence of appellant's drug use during the sentencing phase of trial."
Gillean was not charged with any drug offenses. The prosecution did not broach that issue until the sentencing phase.
Gillean, who is free pending his appeal, is also a former deputy attorney general.
State Desk on 03/17/2015
