After delays and legal maneuvers, Delaware state auditor's trial gets a new start date

Xerxes Wilson, Delaware News Journal
·2 min read
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Editor's Note: This story has been updated to clarify the reason Steve Wood argued for the trial to be moved back to New Castle County. 

Barring any additional, last-minute detours, a jury in Kent County will hear evidence in the criminal corruption case of Delaware Auditor Kathy McGuiness beginning on Tuesday.

The date was finalized and announced Thursday following the delay of trial proceedings that were originally scheduled for New Castle County last week.

McGuiness, a statewide-elected official and Democrat, is charged with multiple public corruption misdemeanors as well as two felonies. Prosecutors say she gave her daughter a do-little job in the auditor's office, rigged payments of a state contract to avoid regulatory scrutiny, and intimidated those who questioned her behavior.

A MATTER OF LOCATI: Delaware Auditor Kathy McGuiness' trial delayed over debate about where it should be held

She has pleaded not guilty and, in pretrial motions through an attorney, characterized the prosecution as unfairly targeting her for conduct that is common in state government and not illegal.

Her trial should have already been underway were it not for a last minute change of venue from New Castle County south to Kent County.

Delaware state Auditor Kathy McGuiness, left, leaves the New Castle County Courthouse with her attorney Steve Wood Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021. McGuiness was indicted Monday on criminal charges that she hired and supervised her daughter in a do-nothing state job, that she circumvented state contracting laws to shield public payments to a political campaign group from regulator scrutiny and that she spied on and discriminated against employees who questioned her conduct.

The day the trial was set to begin last week, her attorney, Steve Wood, told the court he was going to move to have the charges dismissed based on the fact she was indicted in New Castle County, but all the alleged criminal acts occurred outside of that county.

Prosecutors argued that because she is a statewide-elected official, she could have been indicted and subsequently tried in any of the state's three counties.

Judge William C. Carpenter warned prosecutors they were risking having the entire case thrown out on the location technicality, prompting prosecutors to reindict the case in Kent County, where McGuiness' state offices are located, on Monday.

NEW LAWSUIT: As criminal trial looms, state auditor sued by former employee

Since then, Wood tried to have the judge move the case back to New Castle County so his client will not have to pay for her attorneys to travel to and work in Dover during the trial. Prosecutors opposed, saying that they had already made rearrangements to present their case in Kent County, according to correspondence among the parties.

The judge seemingly sided with prosecutors as the courts announced the new trial date in Kent County. A jury will be selected Monday, and, assuming that goes to plan, prosecutors will begin presenting their case on Tuesday.

Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware Auditor Kathy McGuiness' trial date set for Tuesday, June 14