Under indictment, Mattingly pursues political campaign

State's attorney candidate awaits trial

Friday, Feb. 5, 2010

Political candidates try to plan the election year schedule carefully, timing their activities to their best advantage. John A. Mattingly Jr. expects he'll be on trial on criminal charges leading up to the September primary.

Another scheduling hearing date came and went this week for the Leonardtown lawyer who now represents himself, and he remains adamant that the accusations against him are purely an attempt to derail his candidacy for the job of state's attorney. The Democratic candidate is seeking to oust the Republican incumbent, Richard D. Fritz, who has indicated that he'll soon make his own intentions official and file for a fourth term.

Mattingly said the indictments accusing him of criminal misconduct in real-estate transactions and other legal matters have taken their toll on his campaign and law practice, for now.

"There's going to be people who are leery until there's further resolution of this matter," Mattingly said this week, "but ultimately that's the point of what the state's attorney's office is doing to me."

When Mattingly was arrested last month, he had a lawyer arguing in court for his pretrial release, in part on grounds that Mattingly could not afford to both post a bond and hire an attorney to handle the case.

Mattingly's mother later posted $25,000 cash to get her son out of jail, and for now, he's representing himself.

"At this point, it's by necessity," Mattingly said this week as he had a morning cup of coffee at a cafe near the St. Mary's County courthouse.

Moments earlier, Mattingly had left the courthouse after confirming that a local judge had recused himself from holding a scheduling hearing in Mattingly's case. Another judge agreed two weeks ago to postpone the hearing. By law, Mattingly is entitled to have the charges in three indictments against him brought to trial by early July.

"We're already looking at a six-week trial," he said. "I'm not sure that's even realistic. Right now, it's 140 counts. We're looking at possibly a 10-week trial."

Mattingly said he has no intention of withdrawing from the political race, despite the parallel timelines of the criminal case and campaign season.

"If the state is allowed to proceed on this, it's certainly a detriment to my candidacy," he said. "This trial could be going on during the [September] primary. That's no small coincidence. Nothing illustrates more exactly what I'm running against than this very tactic."

Mattingly still has a lawyer helping him go after Fritz, an assistant prosecutor and the county sheriff's office through a lawsuit. Mattingly said the civil action addresses bigger and broader issues than defending against the criminal charges.

A hearing is scheduled for later this month on the lawsuit, which in part seeks the return of Mattingly's client files that were seized last fall during a police raid at his mother's home.

Mattingly said the lawsuit focuses on infringements on his constitutional rights by officials acting under "the color of law" in violation of a federal civil rights statute.

"It was clearly an act of political retaliation," Mattingly said of the police action taken right after he filed his candidacy. "They slapped together a warrant," he said, "and raided my mother's house the very next day."

Fritz noted the repetitiveness of Mattingly's refrain.

"He should just keep singing that tune," the state's attorney said this week at the courthouse door. "This case is not about politics. This case is all about his activities. It's about the victims of his activities."

Mattingly defended his actions and those of Daniel Jason Brown, his real-estate partner, in the land transactions that led to the bulk of the charges against the lawyer.

"All the properties we acquired, we acquired legally," Mattingly said. "Until I filed my candidacy, not one single person ever said ‘I want my land back.' Until the state started pressuring these people, I was on friendly terms with all of them."

Mattingly said he has committed no criminal violations in any real-estate transaction, and would resolve any title issues on any properties.

"In St. Mary's County, there are dozens if not hundreds of title issues each year," he said. "The state never gets involved in any of these, unless, of course, you're running against the state."

jwharton@somdnews.com

The story so far

John A. Mattingly Jr., a Democratic candidate in this year's election for St. Mary's state's attorney, faces criminal charges including theft and forgery in land transactions.

Mattingly, 40, of Leonardtown also is accused in indictments of conspiring to obstruct justice in a shooting case, and of stealing from a disabled widow through his handling of a cash settlement from her husband's death.

Mattingly has accused incumbent State's Attorney Richard D. Fritz (R) of abusing his authority to target Mattingly and discredit the challenger's candidacy. Mattingly sued Fritz, Assistant State's Attorney Daniel White and the sheriff's office, through a legal complaint that in part seeks the return of Mattingly's client files that were seized last fall during a police raid at his mother's home.

The lawsuit also included a copy of a search warrant application filed by sheriff's Capt. Daniel Alioto, which detailed allegations that Mattingly and Daniel Jason Brown, his partner in real-estate matters, had mishandled land transactions and took part in an alleged scheme to bribe witnesses in the shooting case.

Brown, 31, was arrested in November on indictments from the investigation, and Mattingly was arrested in January. Both men were released on bond to await trial in the criminal cases.

JOHN WHARTON