PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — A state judge is allowing Lonna Carroll to have a forensic accountant and a psychologist as well as more time before she goes to trial for allegedly stealing more than $1.7 million from the South Dakota Department of Social Services while she worked in the child protection office.
Circuit Judge Christie Klinger on Friday granted motions made by Carroll’s defense attorney Timothy Whalen to spend up to $10,000 on the services of a forensic accountant to go through hundreds of financial records and to spend up to $5,000 for a Pierre-based psychologist to explore whether Carroll suffers from a mental-health condition known as hoarder’s disorder.
Judge Klinger also granted Carroll’s request for a continuance. Her trial was supposed to start on December 4, but the judge on Friday told the attorneys to work out a later date.
Her attorney also asked for a change in the $50,000 cash or surety bond. Carroll has been behind bars since she was arrested in late July. Judge Klinger is considering reducing the bond to $35,000 but said she would wait while state prosecutors check with the department whether the lower amount is acceptable.
Carroll was transported from Hughes County jail to the Hughes County courthouse where she met with Whalen before the hearing on Friday morning. She was transported back to jail immediately after the hearing, which began about 40 minutes late and lasted about 30 minutes.
Chief deputy attorney general Brent Kempema and assistant attorney general Nolan Welker represented the prosecution Friday. The two sides are still trying to reach agreement on discovery procedures. It came to light Friday that Carroll’s attorney recently had some health issues but he said they could wrap up a final discovery order and submit it to the judge within 10 days.
Kempema said he has been sending reports to the jail for Carroll to review and Whalen confirmed that’s been happening.
Regarding the defense’s request for a forensic auditor, Whalen had originally proposed a spending cap of $5,000 but asked for $10,000 after speaking with a firm. He told the judge that the primary expert’s hourly fee was $360 and assistants would be $260. Noting that “there will be substantial time involved” in reviewing the records, Judge Klinger set the cap at $10,000.
On the request for a mental health professional, Whalen said he wasn’t necessarily looking at presenting an insanity defense, which the state had claimed could happen. Whalen said he needed to know whether Carroll suffered from hoarder’s disorder and, if so, to what extent. “Under the law that is something I should explore in detail for my client,” he told the judge..
Whalen is seeking to hire a local psychologist who has previously testified in other cases. But Welker said it remained unclear how the mental-health expert would be used and that Whalen’s statements were “vague enough to morph into” an insanity defense. He said that a second person, namely a psychiatrist as required by state law, would have to be hired if Whalen does pursue an insanity defense.
Judge Klinger said Whalen had an obligation to Carroll as her defense lawyer to explore Carroll’s mental health. The judge granted Whalen’s request to hire a psychologist but capped the amount at $5,000 and said Whalen would have to return and ask for permission to hire a psychiatrist if he decides to go that route.
Regarding the request for a continuance, Whalen said he’s been busy with two other cases and his health issue has further delayed him. “I just need more time,” he told the judge. Welker said the prosecution was sympathetic to Whalen’s health issue but wanted the trial to start on December 4 as scheduled.
Judge Klinger said the defendant has a right to waive the guarantee of a speedy trial. “This is a document-intensive case,” the judge said, then asked Carroll whether she understood the request. Carroll said she did. The judge directed the attorneys to work on scheduling a later date.
Whalen brought up the bond question. “My client is still in jail, as the court can see,” he said, as Carroll sat next to him in an orange-and-white prison jumpsuit, her wrists and ankles in shackles. He told the judge that Carroll could stay with her daughter in Sioux Falls or return to Algona, Iowa, where she owns a house and her son lives.
Whalen said Carroll continues to have health problems and it would be easier for him to see her outside jail. Welker said Carroll continued to be a flight risk and wanted the bond to remain at $50,000. The judge looked at Carroll’s record and noted the defendant’s otherwise lack of criminal history before proposing it be reduced to $35,000. The judge told prosecutors they had until Friday, November 8, to see whether the department objected.
Judge Klinger addressed a final item: The defense had brought up that the judge’s stepdaughter works for the Department of Social Services. Whalen replied that he had since realized his daughter also works for the department. Referring to Carroll, he said, “She is comfortable with you sitting on this case.”
