By Tommy Witherspoon

Tribune-Herald staff writer

When a well-known, deeply respected person is involved in a high-profile criminal investigation, such as the allegations of financial impropriety facing former Downtown Waco Inc. executive director Margaret Mills, the case proceeds under the glare of public scrutiny.

Part of the glare falls on the supporting cast of characters: Who will join the investigation? Who will sit in judgment? Who will step out of the way? And how will the public perceive it all?

Some locally elected officials likely will not participate if a criminal case against Mills is pursued because of longtime associations with Mills or her husband, Coke Mills, a longtime Waco attorney and Democratic power broker. On the other hand, speculation persists about which agencies might actually get involved.

Currently, Waco police detectives Charles Jaquith and Robbie James have been assigned the task of looking into whether Mills, 65, misused agency funds while heading Downtown Waco Inc. No other law enforcement agencies have joined the investigation.

Officials with the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Texas Rangers say they’re aware of the situation embroiling Mills and Downtown Waco Inc. but have not been asked to participate and have not launched their own investigations.

At some point, the Internal Revenue Service could get involved if it is determined that the case involves unreported income.

D.A. mum on case details

However, as the Waco police investigation continues, McLennan County District Attorney John Segrest is not commenting on the case. It is widely believed Segrest will recuse his office if Waco police bring him a case for prosecution because Segrest’s father, Claude Segrest, and Coke Mills were former law partners. Also, Segrest and Coke Mills have long been involved together in local Democratic Party politics.

The same is true for 54th State District Judge George Allen, who might have faced a similar decision about whether to hear any potential case against Margaret Mills if not for his retirement at the end of December.

In a case with similar characteristics, Segrest and Allen both stepped aside during the criminal investigation and prosecution of former McLennan County District Clerk Joe R. Johnson, who pleaded guilty in October 2005 to misusing funds entrusted to his office.

In the end, Johnson, then 60, went to jail for 90 days as a condition of his probated sentence. That sentence included four years on felony probation, a fine of $5,000 and orders to make $2,850 in restitution.

Some have speculated that because of the Millses’ stature in the Waco community and the popular perception that Margaret Mills single-handedly rebuilt downtown Waco, any alleged transgression might be ignored, forgiven or “swept under the rug.”

However, in June, Segrest asked the Texas Rangers to investigate the theft of public money — more than $20,000 — by Bruceville-Eddy city clerk Kimberly Reid when it appeared that city officials there had made the decision not to prosecute her.

“I hope the lesson is not lost on those who are elected or appointed to represent the citizens, that they have an obligation to bring these matters to the proper authority,” Segrest said in July. “They cannot deal with the public’s money as they might their own. You just can’t turn your head and say, ‘We are just going to let this one slide.’ ”

In the end, Judge Allen rejected Reid’s request for deferred probation. Instead, he placed her on regular felony probation for five years, fined her $500, ordered her to perform 300 hours of community service and ordered her to pay the remaining $8,000 in restitution to the city.

Brazos County District Attorney Bill Turner, no stranger to prosecuting high-profile defendants, agreed to prosecute Johnson when Segrest recused himself from the former clerk’s felony case.

Turner prosecuted Ross Margraves, the former Texas A&M System board chairman, in 1996 for misuse of a university system airplane. Margraves resigned in 1994 during the investigation and was convicted. He ultimately was pardoned by Gov. Rick Perry in 2003.

“The first thing that comes to mind and something you have to deal with when it is a high-profile matter in the community or a person that a number of people think well of in the community, you have to determine that you can evaluate the case objectively,” Turner said. “Also, you have to ensure that person gets the same treatment as someone who is unknown or who is an unloved member of the community. Our primary goal is to make sure that no one is above the law and no one is below the law. That is the first thing you make sure of.”

Secondly, Turner said, those making such decisions must avoid the appearance of impropriety.

Community impact

Another important consideration in such cases, Turner said: Evaluating the impact on the community in terms of abuse of public trust.

If Waco police determine that Mills, who already has arranged to repay $70,000 to Downtown Waco Inc. in restitution, committed a crime, there are a number of ways they can proceed. Police can seek a warrant and arrest her. They can arrange for her surrender. They can ask the district attorney to present the allegations to a grand jury for indictment before making an arrest.

Or, assuming there is a special prosecutor, they can present the charges to a grand jury in the special prosecutor’s hometown. A special prosecutor, in consultation with a defense attorney, can forego the grand jury process, file what is known as a criminal information, and enter into a plea bargain.

That’s what happened in the case against Johnson, the former district clerk, who never was formally arrested, indicted or booked into the county jail until after he pleaded guilty.

“In the investigation involving Downtown Waco, the city is involved because city funds helped support that agency,” Waco police spokesman Steve Anderson said. “But it is being handled just like any other theft investigation would be handled. If the findings are that somebody who worked within that organization is guilty of theft, detectives are going to work their case.”

From a defense standpoint, Waco attorney Russ Hunt warns about leaping to conclusions before hearing all the facts.

Hunt, too, has handled some of the most headline-grabbing cases in Waco the past 25 years, including representing David Wayne Spence in the Lake Waco triple murder case; former Baylor University basketball player Carlton Dotson in the death of his teammate and friend, Patrick Dennehy; and Johnson, the former district clerk.

“I would say one of the major things is that in spite of the fact that the newspaper is certainly informative, sometimes all the facts don’t come out,” Hunt said. “That is not a criticism of the newspaper because I think you guys do a good job. But sometimes all the facts don’t come out because there are people who don’t want to tell you what the facts are on the other side, and you can’t print it if they won’t tell you. So we don’t know what all the facts are yet.”

Damage control

Hunt said it can be helpful to “minimize the loss” in theft cases by making arrangements to repay the money as quickly as possible.

“In these type of cases, the fact that somebody in that position is having to plead to something and say I am a guilty person is pretty severe punishment in itself, as opposed to someone who is not quite as prominent or well-known in the community,” Hunt said.

twitherspoon@wacotrib.com

757-5737