Yuba County judges recuse themselves from Griesa retrial

All five Yuba County judges have recused themselves in the scheduled retrial of former Marysville towing company manager Joseph Griesa on felony charges of sexually assaulting an underage female employee.

Judges Debra Givens, Dennis Buckley, James Curry and Julia Scrogin filed recusals last week, giving little or no explanation.

Judge Kathleen O'Connor, who presided over Griesa's first trial, recused herself earlier, saying new information in the case could lead to doubts about her impartiality.

In recusing herself, Givens said "a person aware of the facts might reasonably entertain a doubt that I would be able to be impartial."

Buckley, Curry and Scrogin gave no reason.

O'Connor did not affirm or deny information raised by Griesa attorney Kenneth Rosenfeld, who alleged earlier that prosecutors offered to drop charges against Griesa if his former attorney, Timothy Evans, turned over evidence in a related case.

Rosenfeld also pointed out that Evans is O'Connor's ex-husband.

In an interview, Rosenfeld attributed the latest recusals to "substantial evidentiary issues" in the retrial, which is scheduled for November.

"For the very first time, Mr. Griesa has counsel that put the egregious and unethical conduct of the government squarely in front of the judges. Upon reading our brief, we believe the bench as a whole determined that no judge in Yuba County could remain impartial," Rosenfeld said.

A jury in the first trial found Griesa guilty of misdemeanor sexual charges involving a 17-year-old victim but deadlocked on felony charges.

"The Yuba County judges are now aware that a significant amount of defense evidence was not presented at trial," Rosenfeld said.

"We're confident that, given the significant amount of taint which has occurred in this case, the prior verdicts cannot legally stand, and that in a retrial Mr. Griesa will be fully exonerated of any wrongdoing," he said.

District Attorney Pat McGrath said the recusals were a surprise. He denied Rosenfeld's "insinuation that Yuba County's judges are somehow scared to handle the case or believe that Judge O'Connor ... committed any type of misconduct."

Referrring to Rosenfeld, McGrath said there "are significant differences between the public allegations an attorney may make for media use and the legal issues that are properly decided in a courtroom. We have confidence in the verdict that was returned in Mr. Griesa's first trial and note that the counts which were undecided by the jury were voted 11-1 in favor of convictions," McGrath said.

"As an aside, I am sure the various factions will undoubtedly find something (in the recusals) to bolster the conspiracy theory du jour," he said.

The state Administrative Office of the Courts is expected to assign a visiting judge from another county to handle the Griesa case.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Rob Young at 749-4710 or at ryoung@appealdemocrat.com.