Lakeport >> After a 10-month long investigation, the Lake County District Attorney’s Office arrested a couple who now face multiple perjury charges related to a custody case.
Shannon M. Mick, 33, and Michael Paul Alexander, 46, both from Live Oak, were taken into custody in late September after the DA’s office Perjury Investigation Unit alleged the two lied to the court in both written documents and oral testimony, DA Don Anderson said in a media release.
In a family law case over the custody of a 3-year-old child, the child’s father filed for custody after hearing claims the child was subjected to physical fighting and alcohol abuse between the mother, Mick, and her boyfriend, Alexander. In June 2015, Mick and Alexander filed declarations under the penalty of perjury that the allegations were false. Both stated there never has been physical or alcohol abuse in their household.
During a hearing in the Lake County Superior Court on July 16, 2015 for temporary restraining orders, Mick testified before Judge Michael Lunas the allegations of the father were not true.
At the trial on Nov. 4, 2015, again before Lunas, Mick testified there has not been any physical abuse between her and Alexander and they do not consume alcohol. Alexander also testified that there has been no abuse or alcohol consumption.
However, also testifying at the trial was a Sutter County deputy sheriff who testified that he respondent to the Mick/Alexander residence on Jan. 21, 2015 and again on June 20, 2015. On both occasions Mick was intoxicated and had been in a physical fight with Alexander.
Additionally, during the trial Mick testified she had never seen the June 3, 2015 declaration and that she had not signed the document, contending her then attorney wrote the document and forged her name. However, forgetting about her prior testimony, she later admitted to drafting and signing the document.
On Sept. 23, 2016, Mick and Alexander were both arrested without incident at their residence in Live Oak by investigator from the Lake County District Attorney’s Office and Sutter County Sheriff’s Department.
Mick is charged with three counts of perjury and faces a maximum term of six years in prison. Alexander is charged with two counts of perjury and faces a maximum term of five years in prison. They are expected to enter their pleas in the Lake County Superior Court on Nov. 16.
The Lake County District Attorney’s Office has received national attention for its Perjury Investigation Unit, headed by deputy district attorney Daniel Flesch, which is believed to be the only such unit in the country. The unit has been featured in articles by the Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, American Bar Association and newspapers from the East Coast to Hawaii, Anderson stated. The unit’s purpose is to curtail and deter the rampant commission of perjury and preserve the integrity of the justice system.
In a related case, on Aug. 17, Merissa L. James had been arrested for perjury in the Lake County Superior Court. On Tuesday, James entered a plea of guilty to one count of perjury. She will be sentenced on Jan. 24, 2017, and faces a maximum term of four years in prison.
