LAKEPORT — A man accused of embezzling funds from the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center appeared in court Monday morning, receiving information of the charges against him during a brief arraignment proceeding.
Rowland Mosser, the center”s former executive director, is charged with two felony counts of embezzlement and two felony counts of grand theft exceeding $400, for alleged acts occurring between Jan. 1, 2005 and Aug. 12, 2005.
Mosser worked as the center”s executive director from January 2002 until resigning in August 2005.
Charges were filed against Mosser in April 2008 but were dismissed by the Lake County District Attorney”s Office in February 2009 because the office deemed its case to be insufficient at that time.
Authorities again arrested Mosser on Sept. 24, 2009. Mosser pleaded not guilty to the charges on Jan. 29.
Judge Andrew Blum ruled on Sept. 30 that the prosecution had established the “strong suspicion” standard during a three-day preliminary hearing, compelling the case to move to a jury trial.
Mosser again pleaded not guilty to all charges Monday.
Judge Richard Martin presided over the arraignment. Attorney Gary Luck represented the DA”s office and attorney Jacob Zamora represented Mosser.
Zamora requested that the trial begin in late April because the defense accounting expert would be unavailable to appear between February and early April because of the tax season.
Luck said his financial experts had similar scheduling issues and agreed with Zamora”s proposal.
Martin approved the request and scheduled trial proceedings to begin in April.
Mosser will appear in court for a series of three pre-trial hearings beginning on April 5. The jury trial is scheduled to begin April 25 at the Lake County Courthouse.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
