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Home News Archives Fourth Schneider Official Begins to Mount Her Defense

Fourth Schneider Official Begins to Mount Her Defense

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After working as a cohesive group over the past few days, the unified front that was Rodney Miller, Amos Carty and Peter Najawicz started to crumble Thursday after June Adams, the fourth defendant involved in the trio’s corruption trial in V.I. Superior Court, finally started to mount her defense.

Prosecutors have charged that former Schneider Regional Medical Center officials Miller, Carty and Najawicz conspired to violate the territory’s Criminally Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (CICO)by, among other things, awarding and approving lavish pay and perks packages for one another in excess of their government salaries.

Adams, who has, until now, been virtually silent in the courtroom, has been charged with aiding and abetting the former Schneider officials in their scheme, along with three counts of perjury for denying that she signed off on certain payments for Miller that have, over the last few days, become a bone of contention in the case.

The documents, all housing allowance vouchers for Miller, have been testified to by Allison Spencer, a key government witness who wrapped up her time on the stand Thursday after being cross-examined by Adams defense attorney Julien Adams. The documents in question list amounts of $7,500 for Miller’s housing allowance, which prosecuting attorneys have said go beyond the benefits listed in Miller’s 2005 employment contract with the hospital.

What is up in the air, however, is which contract Miller was operating under in 2005, as there are two agreements that prosecutors have highlighted over the past few days — one with a base salary of $150,000 and the other with a base salary listing of $265,000. Under cross-examination Wednesday by Miller defense attorney Alan Teague, Spencer said it was possible the first contract could have been a "placeholder" that simply maintained the salary and benefits listed in his 2002 contract, while the board negotiated the terms of a new agreement.

The terms in Miller’s 2002 contract, along with the first contract for 2005, would have had Miller’s housing allowance broken up into checks of $4,500. Several vouchers for that amount have been submitted by the prosecution and are generally signed by Beverly Chongasing, who served as the hospital board’s chairwoman before June Adams.

The first time Adams’ signature is seen, however, is on vouchers bearing a $7,500 payment to Miller for housing allowance.

Spencer, who worked as the legal secretary and paralegal for Carty while he was the hospital’s general counsel and chief operating officer, has said that she typed up the vouchers, which were then sent on to June Adams — in her then capacity as the hospital board’s chairwoman — to sign, along with the hospital’s accounts payable division, which Spencer said was tasked with verifying the amounts.

Under cross-examination by Julien Adams Thursday, Spencer admitted that she was never told by June Adams what amount to put on the checks, but was instead reminded when payment time came around by either Carty or Miller.

While Spencer added that she never questioned the amount of the checks because she assumed that June Adams knew what was outlined in Miller’s contract for housing allowance, Julien Adams further pointed out that his client, while a member of the hospital board, was not on the compensation committee that determined and recommended Miller’s salary and benefits. She also might not have known — since Chongasing was the former board chairwoman and was accustomed to signing the vouchers — that the allowance amount should have been lower, Julien Adams added.

Switching angles, Julien Adams turned to Spencer’s personal relationship with her client, saying among other things, that her daughters were friends with his client’s grandchildren, and that Spencer herself had been to June Adams’ home.

When asked to described June Adams’ character, Spencer said she believed Adams was an "honest woman" and law-abiding citizen, since she had never heard that Adams had done anything wrong.

Meanwhile, the cross-examination was punctuated by objections from the other defense attorneys which prompted Superior Court Judge Michael C. Dunston — who is presiding over the trial — to take time at one point to explain to the jury that while the four defendants are all in the same courtroom, the charges against them are separate and should not be counted together.

Najawicz attorney Robert King has made it clear from the beginning who his client was, and on Thursday sought to distance him from June Adams, whose signature also appears on a $45,500 advance made to Miller in 2004 from his housing allowance.

While prosecuting attorneys have noted that one of Miller’s 2005 contracts include a clause that waived the repayment of this advance to the hospital, King implied Thursday that Najawicz, as an accountant, was "worried" about the debt and sent a letter to Carty asking that a copy of the contract be sent to him.

Reading from a resolution passed by the hospital’s board in 2001, King noted that the hospital had a policy of "forgiving" debts that were two years old and removing them from the books, which Najawicz eventually did with Miller’s advance — but not without making sure everything was on the up and up, King said while cross-examining Spencer on the stand.

However, King noted that Najawicz never did receive a copy of the contract but was instead forwarded through email the section pertaining to the waiving of the advance. Testifying later, Spencer acknowledged that the language in the email was not verbatim from the contract, but it was what was sent to her by Carty in response to Najawicz’s request.

And while Najawicz’s signatures are on some of the later vouchers for Miller, there are several that he didn’t sign, King pointed out. Under cross-examination, Spencer testified that the voucher system was already in place when Najawicz started working at the hospital, while King maintained that his client signed off on the checks because he was directed, pursuant to the executed contract, to do so by the board.

Dunston broke early Thursday afternoon, and recessed the trial until Monday, due to scheduling conflicts.

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