High Court Denies Raabe Case Appeal
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The state Supreme Court on Wednesday let stand the dismissal of charges against former Assistant Treasurer Matthew R. Raabe for his role in Orange County’s bankruptcy.
The decision means that state prosecutors must weigh whether to refile charges against him.
Raabe’s 1997 conviction for crimes related to the county’s bankruptcy was overturned in November by an appeals court that ruled his trial was unfair and marred by prosecutors’ conflicts of interest.
The Supreme Court did not comment on its decision to deny review of the appeal filed by the state attorney general’s office. It is the third bankruptcy-related prosecution that the high court has refused to reinstate.
A spokesman for the attorney general’s office said it hasn’t decided whether to refile charges against Raabe or drop the case.
Raabe was the sole county official to be convicted by a jury for crimes related to the county’s historic 1994 bankruptcy. A jury convicted him of five felony counts for concealing the county’s risky investment strategy by siphoning nearly $90 million in interest earnings from local cities and school districts.
Raabe eventually served 41 days of a three-year state prison sentence.
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