December 09, 2005

State investigating I.F. prosecutor - Probe reportedly involves property seizures from Kimball Mason's cases
The state Attorney General's Office is investigating Idaho Falls Prosecuting Attorney Kimball Mason at the city's request. The matter involves property seizures from cases Mason handled, said City...

December 13, 2005

Attorney put on leave - Idaho Falls city prosecutor under investigation for property seizures
Idaho Falls Mayor Linda Milam placed the city prosecutor on paid leave Monday, days after the state attorney general's office revealed it was investigating him. The investigation of Prosecutor...

December 22, 2005

Mason failed to return seized guns - I.F. prosecutor confiscated man's weapons with incomplete form
Idaho Falls City Prosecutor Kimball Mason confiscated an Idaho Falls man's guns in 2003 with an incomplete document that a judge signed anyway. Police arrested Jimmie Caudle in October 2002 for...

January 25, 2006

Idaho Falls prosecutor resigns - Investigation into some of Kimball Mason's cases on property seizures ongoing
Kimball Mason, the Idaho Falls city prosecutor under investigation by the Idaho attorney general, resigned Monday. Mason, the city's prosecutor for 12 years, has been on paid leave since December,...

February 12, 2006

Settling a legal dispute - Idaho Falls, Bonneville County review policy on legal services
In Idaho Falls and Bonneville County, certain contracts are rarely bid out. The city hired Dale Storer in 1980 to advise city leaders as their attorney and hasn't looked back. It contracted with...

March 21, 2006

Former I.F. prosecutor charged - Kimball Mason charged with felony grand theft and falsifying public record
Former Idaho Falls Prosecutor Kimball Mason has until April 3 to appear before a judge on two charges of felony grand theft and one of falsifying a public record, also a felony. The Idaho attorney...

March 22, 2006

Ex-prosecutor pleads guilty - I.F.'s Kimball Mason admits to charges of grand theft, falsifying public records
Former Idaho Falls Prosecutor Kimball Mason has agreed to plead guilty to the three felony charges filed against him by the Idaho attorney general's office in order to spare himself from further...

April 20, 2006

Mason pleads guilty - Former Idaho Falls prosecutor admits stealing 19 guns from police department evidence locker
Kimball Mason's first appearance in court was highlighted by the former Idaho Falls city prosecutor pleading guilty to three felonies and the revelation that he could have faced 16 additional...

May 18, 2006

Judge unseals Mason's court file - Judge Woodland has also determined that the former I.F. prosecutor's plea deal will not be binding for sentencing.
Former Idaho Falls city prosecutor Kimball Mason may have struck a plea deal with the state in March, but the judge hearing his case has said he will not be bound by those terms when he sentences...

May 30, 2006

Prosecutor is in court today for sentencing - Kimball Mason will find out today how much time he'll serve -- if any.
Former Idaho Falls Prosecutor Kimball Mason will be sentenced today on three felony charges. Mason pleaded guilty last month to two counts of grand theft and one count of falsifying a public...

May 31, 2006

Mason sentenced for theft Former I.F. prosecutor will be eligible for release in six months - The sentence was for one to five years for stealing property from the Idaho Falls Police Department.
Former City Prosecutor Kimball Mason will likely spend no more than six months in jail for stealing guns and other property from the Idaho Falls Police Department. Retired 6th District Judge...

What they said
During Kimball Mason's sentencing Tuesday, retired 6th District Judge William Woodland heard from six witnesses who spoke on behalf of the former prosecutor. One, federal Magistrate Judge Larry...

Guns still missing - 51 guns Mason seized are unaccounted for.
Though he was formerly charged with two counts of stealing guns from the Idaho Falls Police Department's evidence room, Kimball Mason took several more. The Idaho attorney general's office was...

June 03, 2006

Police raid Mason's home - Officials say several missing guns were retrieved from the house - The discovery could lead to more charges against the former Idaho Falls prosecutor.
Idaho Falls police officers raided Kimball Mason's house Friday and recovered several guns that had been missing from the police department's evidence vault, police officials said. Acting on a tip,...

June 04, 2006

Criminal lawyer - Mason preyed on people's trust to exploit the evidence handling system
From city prosector to convicted felon -- a look at the fall of Kimball Mason Even for a prosecutor, Kimball Mason spent an unusual amount of time at the Idaho Falls Police Department. He lifted...

Lies? Or half-truths?
Investigators from the state attorney general's office interviewed former Idaho Falls Prosecutor Kimball Mason three times during their investigation. There were several inconsistencies between what...

Idaho v. Kimball Mason -- investigation timeline
August 2005 Jimmie Caudle wants the police department to return two guns that were seized during his 2002 arrest. Records showed Idaho Falls prosecutor Kimball Mason had used an invalid forfeiture...

Where did the guns go?
In its investigative report, the Idaho Attorney General's Office identified 18 guns stolen by former Idaho Falls prosecutor Kimball Mason. Here is a list of the weapons. The check marks indicate the...

The proper procedure - Idaho code explains what should be done with weapons that police seize.
Idaho code spells out how guns and other weapons seized by law enforcement officers should be processed. When a person is arrested in Idaho, even for a misdemeanor, and a gun is found in their...

Brusque, maybe. But a criminal? - Friends grapple with the dark portrait of Kimball Mason emerging from the state's investigation
Disgraced Idaho Falls City Prosecutor Kimball Mason was sentenced Tuesday in connection with a case involving 51 guns missing from the IFPD evidence locker. The 1,508-page investigative file shows...

June 06, 2006

Mason 'dishonest to the end' - I.F. police chief says he didn't believe guns were destroyed - n J. Kent Livsey said that police didn't have cause to search the ex-prosecutor's home until Thursday.
Idaho Falls Police Chief J. Kent Livsey says he never trusted Kimball Mason's claim that he destroyed 33 of the guns he took from the police evidence room. "Nobody would throw that kind of stuff...

June 07, 2006

Mason may face more charges - If police can link guns recovered from the former I.F. prosecutor's home Friday, charges will be filed for an entirely new case.
If investigators can link guns removed Friday from Kimball Mason's home to property missing from the Idaho Falls Police Department's custody, a new criminal case will be filed against the former city...

June 19, 2006

Mason, Caudle reunite - Jimmie Caudle Jr., whom Kimball Mason prosecuted, said he saw his old nemesis in jail.
Jimmie Caudle Jr. and Kimball Mason certainly aren't strangers. Caudle, 44, has been a fre- quent defendant in misdemeanor cases in Bonneville County's court system. Mason, 51, was the city...

July 16, 2006

Crisis in the city - How I.F. officials reacted in three high-profile cases
By anyone's definition, a prosecutor charged with stealing from a police department evidence room could be called a crisis for the city that employs him. That same word might also apply to an...

Around the state - A look at how other cities handle their legal load.
To really understand how former Idaho Falls City Prosecutor Kimball Mason fleeced the city, one must tour the state. Mason alone handled Idaho Falls' criminal misdemeanor cases. Bonneville County...

July 30, 2006

Off target - Weak evidence laws abetted Mason's thefts
In most states, only the police are allowed to dispose of guns and other evidence in property rooms. Not in Idaho. When guns are taken from evidence lockers and destroyed, there usually has to be...

August 30, 2006

Mason evidence still being examined - Investigators don't know when the results of an evidence search for a state case on the former prosecutor will be ready.
Investigators continue to sift through evidence in the Kimball Mason case. It's been nearly three months since the state attorney general's office launched a second investigation into Mason, the...

September 07, 2006

Forged orders? - The attorney general's office alleges Mason forged judges' court orders.
Two of the local magistrate judges whose signatures appeared on court orders forfeiting guns to Kimball Mason said they don't remember signing the documents. That's because Mason, the former Idaho...

State of Idaho vs. Kimball W. Mason: a timeline
Nov. 28, 2005 The Idaho attorney general's office starts investigating allegations that Idaho Falls prosecutor Kimball Mason mishandled city property. December 2005 The state's investigation goes...

Longtime friend of former I.F. prosecutor eyes judgeship - John Stosich has applied for two magistrate jobs.
John Stosich may be entangled in the Kimball Mason case, but that didn't stop the Idaho Falls attorney from applying for two magistrate judge openings in eastern Idaho. Stosich has not been charged...

September 08, 2006

What signature stamps are and what Mason used them for
It's not uncommon for judges or their clerks to use signature stamps to authorize court orders. The stamps can save time in emergencies, especially when judges approve orders but aren't there to sign...

Stamped out: How the integrity of court orders was smeared with a standard rubber stamp
Deputy Bonneville County Clerk Heather Matheson told state investigators she "frequently" saw Kimball Mason sitting at her desk "utilizing magistrate judges' stamps on various forms and orders."...

September 13, 2006

Clerks say they confronted Mason - The former Idaho Falls prosecutor was given a list of grievances by frustrated co-workers two years ago.
Kimball Mason may have enjoyed implicit trust from many at the Bonneville County Courthouse, but not everyone let the former city prosecutor go unquestioned. Two years ago, court clerks and court...

September 15, 2006

Mason appears in I.F. court - The former I.F. city prosecutor was ordered held on bond, and a preliminary hearing for the new charges was set.
A noticeably thinner Kimball Mason appeared in court Thursday via video feed, the first time he's gone before a judge since he's been charged with 13 felonies. Magistrate Judge Earl Blower ordered...

September 23, 2006

AG investigating Mason contracts - The ex-prosecutor may have illegally used signature stamps in mental commitment cases.
Bonneville County is home to Behavioral Health Center, the largest private mental health facility in the area. So when neighboring county prosecutors wanted to commit someone there against their...

September 27, 2006

Mason hearing begins - Ex-I.F. prosecutor will find out today if he'll face trial - If a judge is satisfied with the evidence, Mason will face seven grand-theft and six forgery charges in District Court.
A teary-eyed John Stosich told prosecutors Tuesday he was shocked that some of the guns he agreed to safeguard for his friend Kimball Mason were stolen from the Idaho Falls Police Department. "I...

September 28, 2006

Mason heading to district court - Former I.F. prosecutor will stand trial on 13 new felonies
The judge who presided over Mason's previous criminal case is expected to again be on the bench. Former Idaho Falls Prosecutor Kimball Mason will stand trial on 13 new felonies provided he pleads...

October 12, 2006

Mason pleads innocent - The former Idaho Falls prosecutor will go to trial Feb. 12 on 13 felony charges.
Former Idaho Falls Prosecutor Kimball Mason pleaded innocent Wednesday to 13 felonies during a brief hearing. Appearing before retired 6th District Judge William Woodland, 52-year-old Mason also...