DELAWARE - Former Delaware State Auditor Kathy McGuiness is suing members of the Delaware Department of Justice, alleging defamation and violation of her constitutional rights under the fourth and 14th amendments during her 2022 case and conviction. Defendants include Attorney General Kathy Jennings, Chief Special Investigator Frank Robinson and Director of the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust Mark Denney.
Court documents obtained by CoastTV allege that a search warrant used against McGuiness was obtained based on an affidavit of probable cause submitted by Robinson, and that the affidavit consisted of allegations that were later proven to be false or misleading. The affidavit said certain payments were made to a consulting group to avoid scrutiny and that payments were being split to avoid reporting thresholds. According to McGuiness' complaint, Robinson admitted in a suppression hearing that he knew the information in the warrant was false at the time of writing.
"Robinson and other unknown members of the Department of Justice provided false information and recklessly disregarded the truth..." documents said. "In other words, [the judge] determined that there never was a 'structuring' crime. The only way the state was able to allege probable cause in the warrant was to concoct a crime that never occurred, and when McGuiness' defense called them on it, the state re-indicted to allege an offense that doesn't exist."
The suit goes on to claim that Jennings and Denney slandered McGuiness during an October 2022 press conference held on the same date as her indictment. Documents say that Denney, Jennings and Robinson possessed information contrary to the information submitted in the probable affidavit and original indictment as well as statements they made during the press conference. Specifically, they claim Jennings and Denney knowingly and recklessly made false statements during the conference.
"The statements made by defendants Denney and Jennings concerning plaintiff McGuiness were known to be false at the time they were made (as admitted by defendant Robinson) and caused injury to plaintiff McGuiness," documents say. "The defamation defamed plaintiff McGuiness' profession and therefore she need not show an actual monetary loss."
In a statement to CoastTV News, the Department of Justice slammed McGuiness' suit.
“This is yet another sad, desperate, and wasteful attempt by the ex-Auditor to change the consequences of her actions," Mat Marshall, a DOJ spokesperson said. "We’ve heard this tirade before. It was rejected and she was convicted by a jury of her peers. That she continues to proclaim her innocence is not news.”
In the suit, Robinson faces a count about fourth amendment violations of McGuiness' rights. Jennings and Denney face a count of slander. McGuiness is seeking compensatory damages, attorney fees, interest and costs of the lawsuit. Jennings announced Denney's department from the Department of Justice Monday.
McGuiness served as Delaware State Auditor from January 2019 until October 2022, when she was found guilty of conflict of interest and official misconduct. She was sentenced to a $10,000 fine, one year of probation and 500 hours of community service. She had lost the Democratic primary to current State Auditor Lydia York the month prior.
An appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court was filed by McGuiness's lawyer, Steve Wood. It is still pending and scheduled for oral argument before the court on Sept. 20.
