The Harford County Council is down one member with the Nov. 14 removal of Dion Guthrie. The panel expects the county’s Democratic Central Committee to submit three candidates by mid-December. The deadline to fill the vacancy is Jan. 13. Photo by Bryan P. Sears
Newly hired attorneys for the Harford County Council are demanding that a former councilmember decide if he will follow through with a threatened lawsuit over his ouster, and that he stop trying to contact current council members in the meantime.
The three-page letter to Dion Guthrie follows the council’s hiring Tuesday of the law firm Rifkin Weiner Livingston to represent it in the event that Guthrie heads to court to overturn his removal from the panel. The firm’s letter urged Guthrie’s attorney to quickly decide if he will make good on the threat of legal action.
“In connection with entering his plea of nolo contendere, Mr. Guthrie told the court, through counsel, that he ‘doesn’t have the resilience to contest’ the criminal allegations,” Alan Rifkin, a partner at the Rifkin law firm, wrote in his Nov. 20 letter to Guthrie’s attorney. “However, he has publicly stated his intent to file a civil lawsuit.
“Please be advised that your client’s public statement that he intends to sue has caused the Council to incur costs and is causing those costs to increase. If your client does not intend to file suit, please advise forthwith so that damages may be mitigated,” Rifkin wrote.
Guthrie pleaded nolo contendere on Nov. 14 in Baltimore County Circuit Court to one felony count of stealing more than $23,000 from the union he ran for more than 50 years. Prosecutors, based on a joint investigation by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the U.S. Labor Department, alleged that Guthrie misappropriated money from various accounts and a credit card to pay for beach condo rentals, iTunes purchases and more.
Guthrie’s plea acknowledged prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him, but also allowed him the ability to continue to dispute the allegations.
The plea triggered his automatic removal under state law. But Guthrie and his attorney challenge that. They claim that Guthrie can stay on the council since Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge Dennis Robinson struck the plea before sentencing him to probation before judgment.
Rifkin’s letter called Guthrie’s plea “indisputable” and said tha, “At that moment, he ceased to be a Member of the Council. Nothing that occurred afterwards is relevant to automatic removal from office.”
We ask that you and your client direct all communications regarding this subject matter to this firm, to my attention, and with Mike Berman and Stu Cherry. No one else will be responding to any communications from Mr. Guthrie.
– Alan Rifkin, attorney for the Harford County Council
The removal is based on a voter-approved 2012 amendment to the Maryland Constitution, that automatically removes any elected official who enters a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to any felony charge or misdemeanor crimes related to the official’s public duties and responsibilities.
Previously, the constitution required a “final conviction, after judicial review or otherwise,” which left open the possibility that some officials could remain in office pending appeals or sentences of probation before judgment, a sentence that effectively strikes the finding of guilt.
Harford County officials, who said they were acting on advice from the attorney general, said removal is triggered by a plea of guilty or nolo contendere and is not affected by any subsequent sentence. The council moved quickly following Guthrie’s plea, informing him of his removal and askingd Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly, whose administration oversees technology and payroll for the council, to turn off Guthrie’s access and stop paying him.
Cassilly’s administration complied.
Since his departure, Guthrie and his attorney have emailed council members at both their personal and office accounts, sometimes copying Cassilly. The emails dispute the removal and demand Guthrie’s return to the council.
In a Nov. 20 letter to Harford County Council President Patrick Vincenti (R), Guthrie’s lawyer claims the removal is unlawful because the theft occurred in Baltimore County, and because Judge Robinson struck Guthrie’s plea as part of the probation before judgment sentence.
“With either of these arguments there simply is no conviction,” the attorney, Domenic Iamele, wrote.
The letter, as with other emails and letters, repeats the threat of a lawsuit.
“It behooves you, the county executive, Mr. Cassilly, and the Harford Co. Council, to rethink your position based on the fact that there is no conviction, thus allowing Mr. Guthrie to serve out the balance of his councilmanic term in service to the citizens of Harford Co,” Iamele’s letter said.
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Rifkin demanded the messages from Guthrie himself stop, saying it is “not necessary for the council to respond to them and no response will be forthcoming.”
“We ask that you and your client direct all communications regarding this subject matter to this firm, to my attention, and with Mike Berman and Stu Cherry,” Rifkin wrote. “No one else will be responding to any communications from Mr. Guthrie.”
Neither Guthrie nor Iamele responded to a request for comment Thursday. They have yet to file suit against the county, according to online court records.
The legal deadline for filing such a lawsuit is unclear, but the clock for Guthrie is ticking pragmatically speaking.
In the hours after Guthrie’s plea, the Harford County Democratic Central Committee said it would seek legal advice regarding the vacancy, and it announced in a Nov. 16 social media post that it was moving forward with seeking a replacement.
“The charges to which Councilman Guthrie pled no contest do not represent the values we expect in our Democratic elected officials,” the group said in a Facebook post. “We wish former Councilman Guthrie the best in his future endeavors and thank him for his service on the Council to the residents of District A and to the County.”
The Harford County Charter gives the council 60 days to fill the vacancy. They have set a Jan. 13 deadline for such a vote. The council notified the central committee, which must send at least three names to the council to replace Guthrie.
Central Committee Chair Henry Gibbons said in an interview Thursday night that the organization will set a tight timeline for sending names to the council. The committee will accept applications until Dec. 6, and is scheduled to meet on Dec. 18 to interview candidates and select three nominees to forward to the council.