Criminal lawyerMason preyed on people's trust to exploit the evidence handling system
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By PHIL DAVIDSON
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pdavidson@postregister.com
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Steve Fischbach illustration |
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 weights there with officers and chatted them up. He also was a regular at the evidence room, which he often left with guns in hand. Some might have thought it curious, but few questioned him. Most thought he was following the law and destroying the evidence he took. Mason had done it for years and was such a fixture at the Bonneville County Courthouse that many considered him the expert on how evidence and weapon forfeitures were supposed to be handled. Evidence custodians trusted the court orders he presented were valid, attorneys trusted the guns he gave them were legally obtained, and judges trusted that Mason's word was airtight. The few times anyone did question him, Mason had answers ready. When Detective Zuella Nelson asked him once why he wanted brass knuckles, he told her he was selling them to pay for a new computer for his office. It wasn't until August 2005 that his scheme began to fall apart. That's when defendant Jimmie Caudle presented the IFPD with a valid court order and demanded that guns that were seized when he was arrested be returned. The guns weren't there. Three months earlier, Mason had seized them with a court order that didn't have a case number, which technically made it invalid. The conflicting court orders further roused Police Chief J. Kent Livsey's suspicions. He was already skeptical of Mason after the prosecutor requested that police let him keep an SUV they had seized for his own use. How it began Mason approached Capt. Roger Smart in May 2005 about the 1993 Chevrolet Suburban. He had gotten a judge to release it to the city and asked Smart if he could keep it. The vehicle was seized as part of a drug arrest, and Mason had filed a civil case in April 2005, requesting that the truck and $960 officers seized from its owner, Gustavo Gutierrez-Dimas, be forfeited. Gutierrez-Dimas had already been extradited to Washington on an outstanding warrant, so he wasn't here to fight Mason's request. On April 14, Magistrate Judge Ralph Savage ordered the truck and cash be forfeited to the IFPD, in accordance with state law. Before he gave Mason an answer, Smart checked with Livsey. It's not uncommon for narcotics officers to use such vehicles for future busts, but Livsey said he denied Mason's request because he didn't think it was right because Mason only handled misdemeanor cases. Smart relayed Livsey's answer to Mason. But Mason disregarded it. He went behind Smart and told Sgt. Bill Squires the Suburban was his. Squires delivered the keys to him June 7. He told state investigators later that Mason gave him the impression that his bosses had OK'd the deal. No evidence has been found to support that. Sometime later, Mason sold the vehicle to Darren Robins, a former Bonneville County Prosecutor, for $4,000, which he kept. There is a gray area as to whether Mason had the authority to use the truck in his official capacity as prosecutor. But what is clear is that Mason used his position to get the Suburban even after Livsey had quashed his request. When Livsey and Idaho Falls City Attorney Dale Storer found out, they called in Bonneville County Prosecutor Dane Watkins Jr. Between the Suburban and Caudle's guns, they knew something was wrong. Watkins requested the Idaho Attorney General's Office take over the case. On Nov. 28, 2005, the investigation began. Trust but verify Mason is now a convicted felon. He is in jail for at least six months and could be facing a longer prison sentence. Those he duped now see how flawed the system was. Everyone trusted Mason. No one questioned a man they had worked with for more than 20 years. There were no checks and balances. "The mistake is putting too much trust in one individual," Watkins said. "That is the lesson in this whole thing for everyone." The state's lead investigator found three cases where Mason brought evidence custodians orders to release guns that only he signed. Without the written approval of a judge, the orders are not recognized by the court. Most of the guns released to Mason were done so with orders judges signed under the auspices that they were agreed upon in plea deals. But in six cases, those orders did not contain the defense attorney's signature. Watkins said if there's no agreement between the two parties to release the guns, there should at the least be hearings before a judge. Some of these orders were signed by Magistrate Judges L. Mark Riddoch, William Hollerich and Keith Walker. Walker signed an order Mason presented to him May 8, 2003, that didn't have a case number. All of this disturbs Livsey, who believes Mason would have been discovered sooner if there had been more oversight of the prosecutor. "The controls on prosecutors are judges," he said. The aftermath The Mason saga is not yet over. Police raided his Idaho Falls home Friday and found several guns Mason swore to investigators he destroyed. In the meantime, the Mason case will likely change the way evidence and property is signed over by the courts and looked after by police. Livsey said they will spend $7,000 on an independent auditor to review the evidence room and how procedures are followed. The IFPD also will no longer seek to have property seized during misdemeanor arrests forfeited. Watkins has heard that judges are going to exercise much more scrutiny before signing orders. This is also a lot less likely to happen again now that Watkin's office has taken over prosecuting the city's misdemeanor cases. Bonneville County has eight prosecutors subject to the oversight of an elected official. Mason's improprieties were one reason why Mayor Jared Fuhriman decided to contract with the Bonneville County prosecutor instead of hiring another city prosecutor. "(He) embarrassed public officials and citizens he was sworn to defend," Fuhriman wrote in a letter to Woodland prior to Mason's sentencing. "In sum, it will take many years before we can regain the trust of citizens in Idaho Falls and Bonneville County." Cops and Courts reporter Phil Davidson can be reached at 542-6750.
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