As Santa Clara Vice Mayor Anthony Becker’s trial continues, his attorneys on Monday fought to determine who had entry to the bombshell “Unsportsmanlike Conduct” civil grand jury report earlier than it grew to become public.
Britney Huelbig, the deputy supervisor for the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury, testified on the seventh day of Becker’s trial that she couldn’t pinpoint precisely how she heard that the report in query had been leaked, as a substitute describing it as a “flurry of exercise.”
On Oct. 5, 2022, Huelbig despatched a draft copy of the report — which accused a number of members of the Santa Clara Metropolis Council of getting too cozy with the San Francisco 49ers — to Santa Clara Metropolis Clerk Hosam Hagagg. It was set to be launched to the general public on Oct. 10, however appeared in a number of media shops a number of days prior.
Becker is now on trial in Santa Clara County Superior Court docket in Morgan Hill for allegedly leaking the report and felony perjury for mendacity about it below oath. Rahul Chandhok, the 49ers former chief of communications, beforehand testified that Becker gave him the report on Oct. 6.
Christopher Montoya — a deputy public defender who’s a part of Becker’s five-person authorized workforce — questioned Huelbig on Monday about her function with the civil grand jury, asking her why she determined to ship the report back to Hagagg.
A draft copy of the report is mostly despatched to the “affected company” — on this case, the town of Santa Clara — earlier than it’s launched to the general public. Huelbig stated that metropolis clerks are sometimes accountable for receiving communications for the town.
However Haggag, who’s the town’s elected clerk, didn’t reply, prompting Huelbig to name the town. She spoke with Assistant Metropolis Clerk Nora Pimentel, who instructed her to ship it to the final clerk’s electronic mail handle. The testimony sparked Montoya to ask her if she knew why Pimentel had her resend to a unique electronic mail handle.
“I recall that I used to be knowledgeable that Mr. Hoggag didn’t preserve enterprise hours the place it could be extra in keeping with their workplace coverage to ship it to the final clerk’s handle,” Huelbig stated.
Throughout his line of questioning, Montoya pointed to emails with the draft report hooked up with Huelbig and different Santa Clara metropolis staff.
“Would you agree Ms. Huelbig that that is an electronic mail chain with you and others?” he requested, pointing to different people who had been despatched the report earlier than it grew to become public.
Montoya additionally fought to get in questions on who else on the county may need had early entry to the report — inquiries that the prosecution and deputy county counsel Aryn Harris typically objected to on the grounds that a lot of the work the civil grand jury does is privileged.
Following the leak, the San Francisco 49ers contacted Huelbig a number of instances, preventing to get their aspect of the story within the report. Chandhok despatched Huelbig a number of emails and known as her on the telephone.
“Do you recall him sounding frantic?” Montoya requested.
“Loads of time has handed since that telephone name, however I don’t recollect it being lighthearted,” Huelbig stated.
