2 ex-Capistrano Unified officials plead not guilty
Two former top administrators at the Capistrano Unified School District pleaded not guilty Friday to charges stemming from the alleged creation of an enemies list to thwart a recall effort.
Former Supt. James A. Fleming and former Assistant Supt. Susan McGill were indicted by a grand jury in May.
Fleming was charged with misappropriating public funds, using public funds to influence an election and conspiracy to commit an act injurious to the public. McGill was charged with lying to a grand jury and conspiracy to commit an act injurious to the public.
Critics of the 50,000-student district tried to recall all seven district trustees in 2005 but didn’t get enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. They succeeded in electing three new trustees to the school board in November. This month, they announced the launch of a recall against the four remaining old-guard trustees.
Grand jury transcripts outlined the creation of the two lists at the heart of the indictments. The first, a list of people receiving e-mails from recall proponents, was created by Fleming and his secretary, Kate McIntyre, according to the testimony.
The second list, created at Fleming’s direction by McGill and her secretary, Bobbie Thacker, included personal information about the recall backers who gathered signatures on petitions, according to testimony.
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