Griesa files $5 million lawsuit
With his sentencing date approaching in Yuba County Superior Court, former Marysville towing company manager Joseph Griesa has filed a $5 million cross-complaint against a woman suing him for sexual assault.
Griesa has also filed a malpractice lawsuit against Chuck Smith, the Redwood City attorney who represented him when he was convicted last year of misdemeanor sexual assault of a second woman who worked as a dispatcher at Mitchell's Towing Service.
Griesa is representing himself in both matters. He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 27.
The cross-complaint, filed Monday in Sutter County Superior Court, claims the first woman subjected him to slander, defamation and infliction of emotional distress when she filed the lawsuit.
The Appeal-Democrat is not naming the woman due to the nature of the charges.
The cross-complaint includes the transcript of a phone conversation between the second woman and a Yuba County District Attorney's Office investigator. The second woman says the first woman told her, "If they find out that, you know, some of the stuff I said I guess wasn't true, that she's gonna blame it on her attorney."
Also included in the cross-complaint is a letter to the District Attorney's Office from a 22-year-old server at Chili's Grill and Bar in Yuba City, claiming that the first woman and another woman tried to get her to file a sexual misconduct complaint against Griesa "so that they could all split the money."
Because of the first woman's complaint, Griesa wrote, he incurred lost wages, loss of stock value in Mitchell's Towing Se vice, loss of future earning capacity, damage to his reputation and emotional distress — all resulting in damages of more than $5 million.
In the lawsuit, Griesa claims Smith — the fourth of his five attorneys since an investigation began in late 2007 — failed to call more than 20 witnesses who could have impeached the testimony of the second woman, who complained Griesa assaulted her in his office when she was 17.
Griesa, who was also convicted of felony tax evasion charges, also alleges Smith did not adequately defend him against the charges. The second woman testified Griesa paid her wages in cash instead of giving her paychecks when she worked as a dispatcher.
"Chuck Smith was never hired to believe in my innocence but was hired in giving me a proper defense. Without adequate preparation and getting the needed expertise, Chuck Smith could not give me a proper defense," Griesa wrote.
The lawsuit asks unspecified damages for additional attorney fees, lost wages, damage to Griesa's reputation and emotional distress.
Griesa paid Smith $105,000, according to the lawsuit.
Griesa is facing a sentence that could range from probation and county jail time to four years in prison, according to attorneys in the case. He also must register as a sex offender.
CONTACT Rob Young at749-4710 or at ryoung@appealdemocrat.com .
