Federal prosecutors grill McFall in cross-examination

SACRAMENTO -- Going back all the way to Monte McFall's time as a San Joaquin County Sheriff's deputy, Assistant U.S. Attorney Pat Hanly grilled him under cross-examination Friday, trying to show that McFall's actions showed a long history of threatening behavior.

McFall, on trial for federal corruption charges, answered Hanly's questions by saying he had a quirky sense of humor that people didn't always get, and that others who felt threatened by him were mistaken in their perception.

"Is all this part of your quirky humor?" Hanly asked, after describing an internal report from the sheriff's office in 1975 that described then-deputy McFall as gun happy, a threat to others and eager to someday kill someone justifiably.

Hanly's questions, which also delved into McFall's actions as a member of a three-man partnership to get a power plant for Sunlaw Energy in the Port of Stockton and his tenure as a board member of Reclamation District 17, at one point caused Judge Morrison C. England to stop the proceedings when he said he saw McFall's girlfriend, Christel Reagan, mouthing comments toward England from the courtroom gallery.

England warned Reagan that he would have her removed from the courtroom if he thought she was doing it again.

Even McFall's ranch came into question, with Hanly noting that McFall had hosted Boy Scouts events and Gymkhana lessons there, but also fraternity parties and cockfights.

"I assume the Boy Scouts weren't there for those," Hanly said.

The U.S. attorney also questioned McFall's close association with former San Joaquin County Sheriff Baxter Dunn, who was originally a co-defendant in the case but took a plea bargain and resigned his office last month. McFall testified that he had asked Dunn to use a law enforcement database to look up information on people McFall worked with, and on Leroy Ornellas, who was running for the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors against Lynn Bedford, an ally of McFall and Dunn.

"I thought no one was looking, so maybe someone should," McFall said, adding that Ornellas had been arrested once as a young man. He denied asking Dunn to perform searches on women McFall wanted to date and also on Dave Corliss, a Tracy-area developer who discussed a project with McFall.

He also denied making a joke with Corliss about once breaking a man's legs for not keeping a deal with McFall.

"He wasn't someone I would've been joking with," McFall said to Hanly. "I thought one of your investigators might have put that in there."

Hanly had the remark stricken from the record.

McFall also testified that after was indicted for attempted extortion and mail fraud in 2002, he filed a declaration that Dunn would help him with his defense. Dunn was himself indicted on similar charges in 2003.

According to prosecutors, Dunn, McFall and N. Allen Sawyer, former California Office of Criminal Justice Planning executive director, formed two partnerships in 2002 to get a port power plant for Sunlaw, and the trio stood to gain more than $2 million if successful.

Under questioning from both Hanly and his own attorney, Bill Romaine, McFall said he did most of the legwork for the partnership but did not try to influence local elected officials to favor Sunlaw and did not intimidate officials with Calpine, which proposed a rival plant to Sunlaw in the Port of Stockton.

Facing 19 counts that also include conspiracy and witness tampering, McFall was composed under the barrage of questions, replying in an even voice and sometimes with a smile

His was the last witness testimony in the trial, with closing arguments set for Tuesday.

Romaine also requested Friday that the judge allow him a continuance until after Dunn and Sawyer, who also took a plea bargain last month, are sentenced in late March. The judge disallowed them as defense witnesses earlier this week, saying they would invoke the Fifth Amendment and refuse to testify anyhow.

Contact Associate Editor Ben van der Meer at benvan@tracypress.com.