Not enough evidence to prove charges

Friday, Feb. 2, 2007 | 7:08 a.m.

In the days after gubernatorial candidate Jim Gibbons allegedly assaulted a woman in a parking lot, the key figures in the case exchanged dozens of phone calls.

Although Chrissy Mazzeo claims some of those calls came from individuals trying to pressure her into dropping allegations that now-Gov. Gibbons had tried to force himself on her sexually, District Attorney David Roger concluded Thursday he could not prove that such a high-powered scheme occurred.

While that effectively ends the possibility of criminal charges, hundreds of pages of documents released Thursday leave lingering questions that may never be fully answered about the Oct. 13 incident and its aftermath.

The records show, for example, that there were 18 phone calls between Gibbons strategist Sig Rogich and Pennie Puhek, a friend of Mazzeo, in the days after Mazzeo charged that Gibbons had forced her against a wall in a Hughes Center garage.

Between Oct. 13 and 28, Puhek called Mazzeo 21 times from her phone, and Mazzeo in turn placed 12 calls to Puhek, the records show.

The district attorney's chief investigator determined, however, that the sum of those calls did not add up to a plot to silence Mazzeo - at least not one that could be proved in court.

"Puhek admitted to having several conversations but denied ever making threats or trying to influence Mazzeo not to go forward with the case," investigator Mike Karstedt wrote in his six-page report.

Similarly, Karstedt said of Rogich's numerous calls to Puhek: "Rogich said that in his entire phone conversations with Puhek, he never suggested that Puhek contact Mazzeo and threaten Mazzeo in any manner."

Gibbons, Rogich, Mazzeo, Puhek and two other women had been drinking together at McCormick & Schmick's restaurant just before the incident, three weeks before last fall's gubernatorial election.

Several of the calls between Rogich and Puhek and Puhek and Mazzeo lasted less than one minute, suggesting that the calls were not answered or that messages were left, Karstedt said.

Mazzeo has alleged that the Gibbons campaign, primarily through Puhek, tried to coerce her into keeping silent about her allegations as the governor's race was winding down - a charge Puhek and Rogich strongly denied.

In his 32-page interview with police, conducted Nov. 2, Rogich told detectives that he learned about Mazzeo's accusations the morning of Oct. 14.

He was unclear, however, how he was informed about the incident. Asked by detectives how he found out about Mazzeo's accusation, Rogich said that he had telephoned then-Sheriff Bill Young the morning after - at 9:38 a.m., the records show - but couldn't reach him.

Rogich then added, though, that his assistant, Chris Cole, told him about the incident, leaving it uncertain whether he first heard of it from Young or Cole. Young, who was in Boston attending a police chiefs' conference, eventually called Rogich back and said, "There's somethin' goin' on," Rogich told detectives. (Rogich also had been one of Young's key political advisers.)

Young later telephoned Gibbons and arranged for him to be interviewed by detectives. That interview took place in Gibbons' hotel suite about 3 p.m. Oct. 14.

A couple of hours after that, Mazzeo, a 32-year-old single mother and cocktail waitress, told detectives she no longer wanted to press charges and take on someone as powerful as Gibbons. She never, however, recanted her story.

About two weeks later, after the Gibbons camp had publicly attacked her credibility, Mazzeo changed her mind and asked police to reopen the investigation.

From the beginning, Gibbons insisted no assault occurred. He claimed that while he was walking Mazzeo to his car in a garage across the street from the restaurant to drive her to her nearby truck, she slipped and he simply grabbed her arms to break her fall.

Rogich, meanwhile, telephoned Young nine more times between Oct. 20 and Nov. 10, records show.

Rogich was out of town and unavailable for comment Thursday, and Young, who retired as sheriff Dec. 31, could not be reached for comment.

Roger said Thursday that the investigation was hamstrung by the fact that investigators had only lists of cell phone calls and no access to the actual conversations.

"We looked at this case from a historical standpoint," Roger said. "We didn't have access to court-authorized wire intercepts, which would have allowed us to listen in on conversations."

Sun reporter Mary Manning contributed to this story.