Fate of accused Palin stalkers undecided

ANCHORAGE — The status of two men accused of harassing Sarah Palin’s attorneys is in flux after a judge was asked to reconsider his decision to reject a plea agreement.

According to federal court filings, U.S. District Court Judge Tim Burgess on Wednesday rejected an agreement Shawn Christy and his father Craig Christy had reached with federal prosecutors for both men to plead guilty to making harassing telephone calls.

The next day, another hearing was held to go over attorneys’ objections to Burgess’ decision, court records show. Log notes show that Burgess agreed to take the defense attorneys’ request to be allowed to proceed with the change of plea under advisement and ordered they file their objections in writing by Jan. 6. The U.S. Attorney’s office has to reply by Jan. 11. Jan. 6 is also the date set for trial, though log notes seem to indicate the date will likely be pushed back.

Though Burgess filed no written explanation of his reasoning, the Associated Press reported earlier this week that he saw the Christys’ conduct as disturbing and worried that they “seem undeterred in their conduct.”

The men’s saga began with a restraining order Palin won against the younger Christy in September 2010.

In November 2010, calls started pouring into the Fairbanks law firm of Clapp, Peterson, Tiemessen, Thorsness, Johnson LLC. The calls went to work voicemail boxes, but also wound up on home phones and cellphones.

Filings made earlier this month provide a succinct picture of what the alleged harassment was like.

“Although Shawn Christy claims everything began because of texts sent to him, no proof of such has been presented to or discovered by the government during this investigation,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Retta-Rae Randall writes. “The threats caused security measures to be taken and time which could have been billed as legal work for clients instead became wasted uncharged time to deal not only with preserving and documenting the calls, but also with the personnel issues which ensued and calming family members who were contacted. However, not all of the calls were threatening. Shawn Christy read the Declaration of Independence into voice mail to monopolize the telephone line; the Christys intended to disrupt the business of the law firm because they emphasized that they were going to ‘just keep calling and calling.’ Shawn Christy was also an expert in ‘Google stalking’ — locating relatives of members of the law firm, ex members of the law firm and a relative of an FBI agent assisting in the investigation.”

Terms of Shawn Christy’s plea agreement include that he will not “possess a firearm, destructive device or other weapon.”

One of the allegations leading to the restraining order was that Shawn Christy had sent Palin a receipt relating to a gun purchase, specifically his return of that gun to the place he bought it.

Another term was that he “shall not use or possess a computer or cellular telephone with access to any online service at any time without prior approval from the probation officer.”

Allegations in the case include that Shawn Christy violated the stalking order by posting on Palin’s Facebook page.

The agreement also proscribes a list of people in Alaska Shawn Christy can communicate with, including the judge and lawyers in his state court case.

“The defendant shall not communicate in any manner with any other individual in the state of Alaska, other than defense counsel, without permission of the court,” the agreement states.

After the sentencing, both Christys planned to return home to Pennsylvania.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.