CAMARILLO : Judge Won’t Dismiss Man’s Fraud Case
A judge on Friday refused to dismiss a workers’ compensation fraud case against a Camarillo sales executive, who charged that prosecutors seized a computer disk spelling out his defense strategy.
Although investigators did take a disk containing confidential correspondence between defendant Alan Griffis and his attorney, Superior Court Judge Charles R. McGrath said he was “just not convinced that the D.A. investigators actually saw privileged material.”
After McGrath’s ruling, Deputy Dist. Atty. Rhonda A. Schmidt said the disk has been turned over to the court and she has no intention of trying to look at it. “We don’t need it,” she said. “We have plenty of evidence to prove the case.”
Griffis, 41, was the first Ventura County defendant to be charged with workers’ compensation fraud. Prosecutors say he illegally collected nearly $7,000 in benefits while misrepresenting his neck, back and shoulder injuries.
Two other defendants who were charged with workers’ compensation fraud after Griffis have pleaded guilty.
Griffis, who is contesting the charges against him, is scheduled for arraignment in Superior Court on Oct. 19. McGrath ordered the prosecutor to prepare a new listing of charges before that time and be more specific about what Griffis’ illegal activities were.
McGrath made that order after defense attorney George C. Eskin complained that the charges were not specific enough.
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