Elgin Nelson
Attorneys for Councilman Curren Price recently filed a 16-page court motion a 16-page legal motion recently, seeking to contest and discontinue the current trial due to a lack of substantial evidence.
The 72-year-old city councilman was charged with five counts of grand theft by embezzlement of government funds, three counts of perjury, and two counts of conflict of interest on June 13.
In the court filing, the defense argued that the two counts of conflict of interest and three counts of embezzlement against Price are “flawed because the complaint fails to show that Councilmember Price acted with the correct mental state that the prosecution is required under California law to prove.” According to the California Penal Code, Section 28 loosely states that any evidence of a mental defect is allowed whether or not the accused acted with intent for a crime.
The defense also noted that the prosecution conducted an investigation that failed to “interview Councilman Price, his wife, or even the members of Councilmember Price’s staff.” The attorneys further call for Price’s embezzlement counts to be dismissed because Price “misrepresented his marital status, which is not embezzlement under any standard,” according to the court document.
“Even if our demurrer [motion] was denied, the problems with the prosecution’s case are undeniable,” said Michael V Schafler, one of the attorneys representing Price in a statement.
“They will only become clearer once the prosecution is required to put forth evidence of probable cause that Councilmember Price is guilty of a crime,” Schafler added. “We anticipate the prosecution will be unable to meet that burden, and we believe this case never should have been filed.”
The criminal complaint against Price states that he sent payments to his wife that totaled more than $150,000 between 2019 and 2021 from developers before he voted to approve projects. He’s also accused of failing to list the money his wife received on government disclosure forms and having the city cover roughly $33,800 in medical premiums for Del Richardson, to whom he claimed to be married— although he was still married at the time to Lynn Suzette Price.
Price’s now twice delayed arraignment is delayed again to Dec. 15th.