Anderson Fire Protection District chief under criminal investigation

Authorities have launched a criminal investigation into the case of the former Anderson Fire Protection District chief who resigned earlier this year amid an investigation into possible misconduct.

The revelation that former Fire Chief Joe Piccinini is under investigation by Redding police came Monday at a hearing in which Shasta County Superior Court Judge Monica Marlow ruled that the district must turn over copies of its investigative report to the Record Searchlight, which sued under the state's Public Records Act to get the documents.

"The public interest in disclosure outweighs the public interest that would be served by withholding the records," Marlow wrote in her ruling. "The public interest in disclosure is high because of the position held by Mr. Piccinini and the need for the public to verify accountability."

Michael Fitzpatrick, the Anderson attorney representing the fire board, argued that the report was exempt from disclosure because it fell under the protection of attorney-client privilege.

Fitzpatrick also argued that disclosing details from the report would violate Piccinini's protections as outlined in the Firefighters Procedural Bill of Rights Act.

The act, signed into law in 2007, exempts statements that firefighters make under duress or in administrative proceedings from being used against them in criminal cases.

Fitzpatrick said that police investigators and representatives with the Shasta County District Attorney's Office also have sought copies of the board's investigative report.

But at a hearing on Friday, Superior Court Judge William Gallagher stipulated that law enforcement officers investigating the case wouldn't be able to see Piccinini's statements, Fitzpatrick said.

"If the whole report was handed over to the press and to the public, it's no different than it being handed to the police," Fitzpatrick said.

Marlow nonetheless ruled that the report should be public, since the civil case and the criminal case were entirely separate matters.

"There's a conflict of the statutes, the Firefighters' Bill of Rights versus the public's right to know," she said.

Shasta County District Attorney Jerry Benito said Monday that he was pleased with Marlow's ruling, since it grants investigators access to the key document in Piccinini's case.

"It would be inappropriate to go forward to determine whether criminal prosecution was warranted knowing that there's a lengthy and detailed report prepared that we don't have," Benito said.

The case is under investigation by the Redding Police Department. The matter has been assigned to Deputy District Attorney Erin Dervin, who handles financial crimes cases and matters of alleged impropriety involving public officials, Benito said.

Though it fell under the jurisdiction of the Anderson Police Department, Redding police are investigating the case to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest since Anderson's former police chief, Neil Purcell, was the investigator the fire board hired in Piccinini's case, Benito said.

Marlow also ruled that the civil case didn't fall under the protection of confidential discussions between a client and an attorney, since the district's board members had instigated the investigation and the investigator was acting at the behest of the board, not its attorney.

Marlow ruled that the names of all employees except Piccinini's be redacted from the report. She didn't set a specific timeline for redaction and release of the documents.

There were 30 or so witnesses interviewed in the investigation, conducted by Purcell.

Piccinini resigned July 1 after being placed on administrative leave in May.

Neither he nor the fire board has offered an explanation of the resignation or disclosed the findings of the investigation.

Piccinini has said he did nothing wrong. When reached by phone Monday, Piccinini said to contact his Gold River attorney, Dan Thompson.

Thompson, who did not attend the Monday court session, said later that that he was surprised by Marlow's ruling, calling it potentially far-reaching.

It's his concern that the ruling may affect the confidentiality of police and fire management personnel throughout the state.

"That's a pretty earth-shattering decision, to be frank," he said.

He said he will try to obtain a written copy of the ruling so he could determine what the next legal step might be, such as an appeal.

"We're certainly not ruling that out," he said.

Purcell's investigation cost the district at least $41,000.

Aside from turning over copies of the report, the board may have to reimburse the newspaper for its attorney's fees.

Under the California Public Records Act, a government agency can be ordered to pay attorneys' fees for someone who asks for public records, is denied and has to sue in order to get copies.

The Record Searchlight made its initial records act request for the report last summer.

Record Searchlight Editor Silas Lyons declined Monday to say how much the newspaper has paid its Redding attorney, Walter McNeill, as a final bill hasn't yet been tallied.

But the case, he said, is similar to other suits the newspaper filed and won against the city of Redding in April 2008 and against the Dunsmuir Union High School District in January 2007.

Dunsmuir paid the paper $64,000 to reimburse McNeill for the precedent-setting case, which went all the way to the California Supreme Court. Redding paid the paper $36,288 in reimbursement.

"It was important to take this issue to court because our community deserves better than official secrecy when someone as trusted and important as a fire chief is investigated for wrongdoing and then resigns," Lyons said. "For months, we have asked the fire district's leadership and attorney to do the right thing and release this public document without an expensive legal fight. Eventually, they asked us to file suit, so we did. We'll continue to push as hard as we must on any case that threatens open government in the north state."

Reporter Ryan Sabalow can be reached at 225-8344 or at rsabalow@redding.com.

Reporter Jim Schultz contributed to this report.

Source: Rediing Searchlight - Article Link http://www.redding.com/news/2009/dec/15/judge-orders-release-of-anderson-fire-department/?partner=RSS