(KRON) — A complaint against the County of San Mateo was filed by Sheriff Christina Corpus in December.
Local media was supposed to hear from the sheriff on Monday about the complaint, but that press conference was canceled. Her lawyer said that’s because new information was discovered over the weekend that needs to be combed through.
On Friday, KRON4 received a copy of the five-page claim filed against San Mateo County, claiming Sheriff Corpus is a victim of discrimination, harassment and defamation.
Calls for the Sheriff’s resignation started after a 400-page report was released by the county’s independent investigator. Corpus was accused of racism, retaliation, homophobia, abuse of power, and having a romantic relationship with the assistant sheriff.
Sheriff Corpus’ lawyer, Brad Gage, said the incomplete investigation was missing key evidence and done for illegal reasons.
“By releasing the report initially, they violated the rights of Sheriff Corpus because as a peace officer, she’s protected under what’s known as the Peace Officers’ Bill of Rights which includes confidentiality,” said Gage. “So when they disclosed some of this information, they broke the law.”
The claim against the county was filed on Dec. 3 for the amount of $10 million.
Gage shed light to KRON4 as to why Monday’s press conference was cancelled. “The Sheriff was unavailable because of developments going on and this is something that is rapidly evolving so there is some new information that we have received that we want to check out so we can accurately report it to the media,” said Gage.
San Mateo County Attorney John Nibbelin said the claim against the county is without merit and that if a lawsuit is filed in the future, the county will address the “baseless” allegations in court.
Legal Analyst Steven Clark said this is the first time in months that the Sheriff has been on the offense. “What Christina Corpus is saying is that ‘I’ve been unfairly targeted here.’ ‘I’ve been unfairly branded a racist,’ among other things. What she is now saying is that she is the victim, and she is the one that should be making the claim against the county.”
The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors has placed an amendment on the March ballot, asking voters to grant them the power to remove Sheriff Corpus from office.
(KRON) — A complaint against the County of San Mateo was filed by Sheriff Christina Corpus in December. Local media was supposed to hear from the sheriff on Monday about the complaint, but that press conference was canceled. Her lawyer said that’s because new information was discovered over the weekend that needs to be combed […]
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