Chvala acts not shielded, court told
0:08 AM 1/04/03
Phil Brinkman State government reporter

A state constitutional provision protecting lawmakers from liability for things they say on the floor of the Legislature cannot be extended to cover crimes committed outside the chamber in the name of doing one's legislative duties, prosecutors argued in court papers Friday.

Interpreting the constitution to protect such behavior, as attorneys for former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala have, is "morally offensive" and not supported by past court cases, special prosecutor Kurt Benkley said in papers filed in Dane County District Court.

In previous filings, Chvala asked a judge to throw out the 20-count criminal charge against him, saying allegations that he shook down lobbyists before scheduling their legislation was a protected form of speech.

He cited a provision of the state constitution that shields lawmakers from being sued or prosecuted for "words spoken in debate."

Special prosecutor David Feiss also asked the court to reject a Chvala motion seeking to disqualify Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann as special prosecutor because he said McCann has a personal grudge against him.

As part of his motion, Chvala noted the charges were filed Oct. 17, 2002, just weeks before the fall election, in which Democrats lost control of the Senate. Many said the charges against Chvala likely played a role in that.

But Feiss cited a previously confidential court transcript in which Chvala was called to testify before a secret John Doe court proceeding. In it, Chvala acknowledges he was told he would be charged before Aug. 1 but agreed to give prosecutors more time because his attorney would be out of the country then.

Prosecutors initially wanted to charge Chvala before Aug. 1 because the six-year statute of limitations on an alleged incident from 1996 was about to expire.