Guthrie sues to regain Harford County Council seat

A Harford County Circuit Court judge ordered a former county councilman and the colleagues he is suing to provide additional documentation in a lawsuit that could have implications for a so-called good government provision in the Maryland Constitution.

At issue is whether or not Dion Guthrie’s plea in a case involving one felony case of theft should have triggered his removal from the Harford County Council. Guthrie is asking the court to restore him to his seat on the Harford County Council.

Circuit Court Judge Yolanda L. Curtin on Monday ordered attorneys representing Guthrie and the council to submit additional documentation by noon Tuesday.

She ordered Guthrie’s attorney, former Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler, to submit a full transcript from the Nov. 14 Baltimore County Circuit Court hearing where Guthrie entered his plea. She also ordered attorneys for the council to submit a response to Gansler’s motion for a temporary restraining order.

Guthrie, one of two Democrats on the council, was removed last month after entering a plea of nolo contendere to charges that he stole more than $23,000 from the union he ran for 52 years. Hours after that plea, Harford County Council President Patrick Vincenti (R) announced Guthrie vacated the seat “by operation of law” once he entered the plea in Baltimore County Circuit Court.

Guthrie, through his criminal defense attorney Domenic Iamele, threatened to take the council to court. The council almost immediately hired outside counsel.

Gansler, on behalf of Guthrie, filed suit against the council  just before the court closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. The 11-page lawsuit argues that Vincenti, who is the only named defendant in the lawsuit, acted illegally.

The crux of Gansler’s argument is that Guthrie’s plea of nolo contendere did not trigger his automatic removal because Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge Dennis Robinson Jr. set the plea aside when sentencing the councilman to probation before judgement.

Gansler asks the court to “declare that because the Baltimore County Circuit Court did not consent to his (Guthrie’s) entry of a plea of nolo contendere, he remains in office as a member of the Harford County Council and was at no time removed by operation of law or otherwise under the Maryland Constitution.”

But a court filing by the law firm representing the council — Rifkin, Weiner, Livingston — argues that neither the council nor Vincenti removed Guthrie. Instead, he was removed by an automatic function of law based on the plea in his criminal case.

Under a 2012 provision approved by the General Assembly and voters, any elected official who enters a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to any felony charge or misdemeanor crimes related to the official’s public duties and responsibilities is automatically removed from office.

“If Mr. Guthrie is dissatisfied with the entirely predictable outcome of his bad acts and his following nolo plea, his quarrel is with the constitution, not with council president Vincenti,” the firm wrote in its response. “Nevertheless, Mr. Guthrie sued Council President Vincenti and only Mr. Vincenti.”

The council’s lawyers further argue that the case should have been directed at the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, who would have the legal responsibility to defend the state constitution.

Following Guthrie’s removal, Vincenti and other council members complained that Guthrie had continued to email them demanding to be restored to the council and threatening lawsuits. In one email included in court filings for the council, Guthrie asked Vincenti for a secret beer summit, telling the council president “no one has to know we met.”

“Just like the secretive wrongful acts that led to his automatic removal under (the Maryland Constitution), that kind of proposed secret deal — which was rejected by Council President Vincenti — demonstrates why Mr. Guthrie should not sit on the Council,” the outside firm’s brief says.

In addition to asking the court for a declaratory order, Gansler is also seeking a temporary restraining order that would allow Guthrie to return to the council pending a hearing. The restraining order would also delay the Harford County Democratic Central Committee’s work to nominate a replacement for Guthrie.

Central committee leaders have already advertised the vacancy. They plan to begin interviews and select three potential candidates before Christmas.

No hearing date has been set.