People v. Graves CA3

FACTS

Defendant was superintendent of maintenance operations for the county public works department, had 60 people working under him, and reported to Shawn O’Brien, the assistant director. Defendant negotiated contracts for the removal of dead and/or hazardous trees, trees in the county right-of-way, and trees that were an obstruction. The wood from the trees could be very valuable. When the cost to remove the tree was more than the value of the wood, the county paid the contractor to remove the tree. When the value of the wood was more than the cost of the work performed, the contractor paid the county for the wood. Defendant turned in the money from the sale of a tree to an administrative assistant who would write up a receipt. In the winter of 2010, Phil Aldred, a foreman at Westgate Hardwoods, removed two trees on the Midway tract and paid defendant $1,000. About the same time, Aldred paid $500 to defendant for wood from the county yard. In the fall of 2011, Aldred removed a tree on Kennedy Avenue and, about three weeks later, paid defendant a total of $5,000, consisting of a $3,500 check made payable to the county, a $1,000 Costco gift card, and a $500 Walmart gift card.…