Merced Sun-Star

Friday, Mar. 11, 2011

Merced County prosecutor in legal trouble quits

 

Attorney with D.A.'s office worked with a warrant out for his arrest.

 

VICTOR A. PATTON

 

A prosecutor with the Merced County district attorney's office resigned from his position this month after his supervisors learned he had been working at the office with a nearly year-old warrant for his arrest.

In addition, a Sun-Star investigation into former Deputy District Attorney Matthew Poage Shelton's activities revealed he may have broken state law by making court appearances as a prosecutor while suspended by the State Bar of California in 2008.

Shelton, 43, was cited March 2 for an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court for speeding and driving on a suspended license, according to court documents. A district attorney's office investigator presented Shelton with the citation.

Court records reveal Shelton had several traffic citations dating to 2006, including speeding and driving without a valid license. As a result of Shelton's poor driving record, his license was suspended.

Shelton failed to make court appearances to address the citations. As a result, on April 15, a Merced County judge issued a bench warrant for Shelton's arrest.

For nearly a year, Shelton showed up at work without addressing the warrant. Although his caseload mainly was misdemeanors, during that time he also handled felony cases, including a homicide.

Shelton was contacted by the Sun-Star on Thursday, and made a 3:30 p.m. appointment to give his side of the story. Fifteen minutes before that appointment, however, he called and said he couldn't attend, based on advice from an attorney.

"For reasons that will become clear shortly, I cannot come to the Merced Star-Star," Shelton said.

Shelton said he couldn't elaborate on his resignation or his pending legal issues.

"Because of the charges ongoing, I really can't say a lot more about that," he said.

Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse II and Chief Deputy District Attorney John Goold said they learned of Shelton's arrest warrant a few days after his car was towed from in front of the district attorney's 20th Street office on Feb. 25. A Merced police officer on March 2 arrived at the district attorney's office and told Morse about the outstanding warrant.

Goold said he confronted Shelton, who confirmed the existance of the arrest warrant. Shortly thereafter, Shelton resigned from his position.

But there are issues other than Shelton's driving record that may land him in hot water. The State Bar of California suspended him from practicing law from July 1, 2008, until Aug. 3, 2008, because of noncompliance with the state's Minimum Continuing Legal Education requirements. Every three years in California, active attorneys are required to complete a certain amount of Minimum Continuing Legal Education hours to stay abreast of legal issues.

Apparently, Shelton didn't report completion of the hours by the deadline or fulfill the requirement, resulting in his suspension.

Although Shelton's suspension was brief, he continued to practice law during that period with the district attorney's office. Goold confirmed that Shelton was assigned cases, and that his office is reviewing whether any of those cases reached a disposition during that time.

Under California's Business and Professions Code, practicing law without being an active member of the state bar is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in a county jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000.

The code states that practicing law during a state bar suspension is a crime, punishable by possible jail time or prison.

Goold and Morse both said they weren't aware of Shelton's suspension from the state bar until after they had been notified of his outstanding arrest warrant.

Morse said his office is reserving judgment on whether Shelton committed a crime until its review of his cases during his five-week suspension is complete. If evidence of a crime is found, Morse said, the state's office of the attorney general would be asked to step in.

The Sun-Star searched for cases Shelton handled during his suspension and found documentation that he acted as a prosecutor while suspended.

According to court records, Shelton appeared in court July 2 and July 23, 2008, well before the end of his suspension.

On those dates he appeared as prosecutor in court hearings for Hector David Chavez, who had been accused of committing a shooting at a March 22, 2008, quinceañera party.

On Aug. 20, 2008, Shelton negotiated a plea agreement with Chavez's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Mishya Rimpel Singh.

Chavez pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor assault charge. He was released from jail after serving four months.

Singh said she recalls seeing Shelton in court for the Chavez case.

"Now that you mention it, yeah, I do remember that," Singh told the Sun-Star.

Singh said she's concerned about whether cases Shelton handled during the time he was suspended will have to be brought back to court.

"Of course I am a bit concerned. He was handling serious cases," Singh said.

The Sun-Star showed a court minute order to Goold, dated July 2, 2008, that shows Shelton's name. If Shelton did appear in court, as the minute order indicates, Goold said, it could be a violation of state law.

"We're going to pull the minute orders of everything that he touched during that period," Goold said.

Shelton was asked by the Sun-Star whether he appeared in court as an attorney during his suspension period. "I might have," he said.

Shelton said the only reason he was suspended was because he didn't file Minimum Continuing Legal Education paperwork by a certain deadline.

"I forgot to fill out that form. That is the only reason my license was suspended," Shelton said.

Morse said his office does background checks on its attorneys before they're hired. Afterward, the attorneys are expected to report any issues or arrests involving law enforcement to their supervisors, he said.

Morse said Shelton never brought up his outstanding arrest warrant or his state bar suspension.

"It's a little embarrassing, but I don't know of any way we could have avoided it," said Morse, when asked why his office wasn't aware of Shelton's issues.

"In all candor, we are probably going to do more background work in the future," Morse added.

As for whether he's disappointed in Shelton, Morse replied he's "honestly concerned" for his former employee. "This is such inexplicable behavior, it really makes me worry," Morse said. "It caught all of us by surprise."

Morse insisted that "no one in the office, outside of Mr. Shelton, did anything wrong."

Shelton was hired by the Merced County district attorney's office April 30, 2007. According to the state bar's website, Shelton received his law degree from Golden Gate University and his undergraduate degree from Penn State.

Before resigning from his position, Shelton had been assigned to the case of Jericho Wright, a 29-year-old Dos Palos man accused of killing his 3-year-old daughter. That case is ongoing.

Shelton is scheduled to appear in court March 23.

His annual compensation as a deputy district attorney was $102,336 plus benefits.