SAN JOSE — A star felony witness, whose confessions to bribing his approach into getting concealed-gun permits laid the groundwork for felony indictments that scandalized the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Workplace, took the stand Monday within the civil corruption trial for Sheriff Laurie Smith.
Smith has not been straight implicated within the two felony indictments that ensnared her undersheriff and a captain who served as a detailed adviser, however these controversies resulted in a torrent of public scrutiny she mentioned knowledgeable her resolution to retire in January after six phrases. A responsible verdict within the present trial, spurred by a civil grand jury reviewing a lot of the identical proof, would pressure her departure even sooner.
Martin Nielsen testified publicly for the primary time about how he and the previous head of the defunct govt safety agency AS Answer — whose high-profile purchasers included the likes of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — agreed to financially assist Smith’s 2018 re-election bid to acquire so-called concealed-carry weapons permits for his or her safety brokers. These brokers had been assigned to guard executives for the corporate then referred to as Fb.
As he instructed a felony grand jury in 2020 and a separate civil grand jury final yr — in secret testimony later disclosed in public transcripts — Nielsen detailed how within the wake of an notorious 2018 capturing on the YouTube campus in San Bruno, he was tasked with discovering a method to get their high-level safety brokers the flexibility to hold hid handguns.
Nielsen, testifying beneath a grant of immunity from felony prosecution, mentioned that he and then-AS Answer CEO Christian West ultimately organized to donate a big sum to an impartial expenditure committee backing Smith’s re-election. Nielsen added that Capt. James Jensen brokered the issuing of 4 CCW permits for Nielsen and three safety staff.
Initially, the dialogue concerned buying greater than a dozen permits, however Nielsen was clear in affirming that a hefty political donation would make it occur.
“Did you come away with the understanding you'd get 10-15 permits?” Prosecutor Gabriel Markoff requested.
“Sure,” Nielsen replied.
Smith’s connection has been drawn largely due to her standing as her company’s sole signatory for the gun licenses. Underneath questioning Monday from Smith lawyer Allen Ruby, Nielsen affirmed that his solely interplay with Smith was a 30-second meet-and-greet at a fundraiser through the interval he was working with Jensen to get the gun permits.
The exact donation quantity was not said in Nielsen’s testimony Monday resulting from a ruling by San Mateo County Superior Courtroom Choose Nancy Fineman, who restricted the quantity of element that Nielsen was allowed to offer. She said she didn't need sure particulars from the felony indictment to unduly affect the jury.
Nonetheless, in previous testimony, Nielsen mentioned $90,000 was the agreed quantity, although solely $45,000 was ever donated; the opposite half was scuttled after Nielsen was served by investigators with the Santa Clara County District Legal professional’s workplace in 2019 as a bribery and corruption probe acquired underway.
Nielsen testified that Jensen instructed him to lie on the purposes for his brokers, together with getting into residential addresses within the county even when the brokers didn't dwell within the South Bay.
“I used to be knowledgeable there have been a number of methods it could possibly be performed,” Nielsen mentioned, referring to residency necessities. “Folks may lease rooms from one another … (or) multiple particular person may dwell at an handle.”
Nielsen additionally testified that he was unilaterally exempted by Jensen from having to qualify beneath a legally required firearms proficiency take a look at, and acquired instruction to obscure their affiliation to the safety agency to keep away from destructive optics.
“They may not all be AS Answer,” he mentioned. “One thing concerning the reality it was a safety firm and it didn’t look good.”
Jensen is at the moment the topic of two pending felony bribery indictments, one involving the alleged scheme with Nielsen and one other indictment — seemingly constructed on the primary one — that additionally implicated former undersheriff Rick Sung. Each have been repeatedly described in grand jury testimony as being the first CCW fixers beneath Smith.
Nielsen, West and a 3rd AS Answer supervisor averted indictment after cooperating with investigators in trade for responsible pleas to lesser misdemeanor conspiracy and fraud-related fees. All three have a sentencing listening to scheduled for Tuesday.
West can be anticipated to testify within the present trial, for which Smith faces six counts based mostly on accusations filed in December by the civil grand jury. 5 contain alleged favoritism and misconduct in her issuing of CCW licenses, and one alleges she resisted a civilian watchdog’s investigation of an notorious 2018 jail-injury case. The trial is beneath civil jurisdiction however is carried out within the construction of a felony trial; Fineman is presiding and the San Francisco District Legal professional’s Workplace is prosecuting due to a number of conflicts cited by the native courtroom and county.