McDonald lawyer files motion to dismiss charges

The lawyer of former city employee Marty McDonald, Clair Lane, has filed a motion to dismiss charges, alleging illegal receivership of $11,000 in shipping discounts through FedEx, brought against McDonald by the county attorney.

The idea to file the motion arose when McDonald discovered an e-mail that his lawyer said cleared him of all charges.

In this e-mail exchange between McDonald and FedEx employee Christine Jessee, sent Aug. 16, 2005, and replied to the following day, McDonald requests to have his personal FedEx account unlinked from the city of Maricopa’s account.

Jessee’s response to McDonald’s request read, “(I) have fixed the problem to show just your name as the shipper name and in the bill to section as well. This should eliminate any reference to the City of Maricopa on your account, and it’s no longer a government account either.”

McDonald was hired by the city in 2004 and was asked to create a FedEx account for the entity; at the time he also set up an account for himself so that he could continue shipping goods for the World Championship of Fantasy Football, a duty for which he said he received no financial gain.

In a subsequent e-mail, the owner of the WCFF stated that McDonald received no financial compensation for the shipping of packages.

McDonald, who has been advised by Lane not to comment specifically on the charges, is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing in Florence on July 20.

However, this filing could cause the trial to be dismissed prior to that date.

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