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A former New Castle woman accused of stealing $10,000 from the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Glenwood Springs was cleared of all charges Tuesday.
Deputy District Attorney Scott Turner said conflicting testimony in the first day of what was to be a week-long jury trial prompted him to ask for dismissal of the case.
"Based on my review of this unexpected testimony, I no longer felt I could prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt," Turner said. "It was my ethical duty to dismiss the case."
Donna Lynn Matthews, 47, was accused of stealing $10,000 from the Fraternal Order of Eagles #215 in Glenwood Springs. She was charged with two counts of theft between $500 and $15,000.
According to police reports filed after her arrest in Las Vegas on April 27, Matthews was a bookkeeper for the Eagles lodge between June 1, 2003, and March 31, 2004. During that time, she was accused of pocketing part of the money garnered from bar receipts and club dues that she was charged with depositing in the bank.
When an Eagles employee's paycheck bounced and unpaid bills mounted, a former trustee of the club reviewed Matthew's accounts. He looked into the lodge's finances and found a pattern of deposits that didn't match its records.
On Monday, prosecution witness and former Eagles trustee Russell King gave conflicting accounts of how cash receipts were handled at the club, Turner said. He initially testified to a DA investigator that Matthews alone was authorized to make bank deposits, Turner said. But during his testimony in court, King said other people were making deposits.
King "got up and told a story with substantial differences on how the Eagles operated their books," Turner said.
Matthews' attorney Chip McCrory said the prosecution's case was based on numbers that just didn't add up and the Eagles' accounting methods were seriously flawed.
"Their paper trail was horrible," he said.
Their accounting method was to collect the receipts from the bar and other income such as membership dues and count the money every week. Three trusted members each counted part of the take, which was handed over with a receipt to Matthews to deposit in the bank.
Except the deposits didn't always add up with what was entered in trustees' book, McCrory said.
"Who knows if the count was right," he added. "It became clear ... there was some faulty math and unprofessional (accounting) books," he said.
In addition, the club was in financial trouble even before Matthews took over the deposits.
"The bottom line was they were spending more money than they had income for," and Matthews tried to point out the fact that the club needed to raise funds in order to keep solvent, McCrory said.
"Donna Matthews maintained throughout that she was not a thief, that she was not guilty. They never had proof that she was spending (that) money," he said.
Matthews, who now lives in Utah, said she feels vindicated but the ordeal has ruined her life.
"I didn't do anything wrong to begin with," she said. "It was just a matter of time that it would come out that I didn't do anything. I can be accused of being a bad bookkeeper, that's all."
Despite the fact that she has been cleared of wrongdoing, the accusations and court proceedings have had a lasting effect.
"My reputation was ruined ... I lost my family, my friends, my car," she said. "It totally destroyed my life. I have relatives who won't speak to me over this. I just hope people who did this think it was worth it to them."
Deputy District Attorney Scott Turner said conflicting testimony in the first day of what was to be a week-long jury trial prompted him to ask for dismissal of the case.
"Based on my review of this unexpected testimony, I no longer felt I could prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt," Turner said. "It was my ethical duty to dismiss the case."
Donna Lynn Matthews, 47, was accused of stealing $10,000 from the Fraternal Order of Eagles #215 in Glenwood Springs. She was charged with two counts of theft between $500 and $15,000.
According to police reports filed after her arrest in Las Vegas on April 27, Matthews was a bookkeeper for the Eagles lodge between June 1, 2003, and March 31, 2004. During that time, she was accused of pocketing part of the money garnered from bar receipts and club dues that she was charged with depositing in the bank.
When an Eagles employee's paycheck bounced and unpaid bills mounted, a former trustee of the club reviewed Matthew's accounts. He looked into the lodge's finances and found a pattern of deposits that didn't match its records.
On Monday, prosecution witness and former Eagles trustee Russell King gave conflicting accounts of how cash receipts were handled at the club, Turner said. He initially testified to a DA investigator that Matthews alone was authorized to make bank deposits, Turner said. But during his testimony in court, King said other people were making deposits.
King "got up and told a story with substantial differences on how the Eagles operated their books," Turner said.
Matthews' attorney Chip McCrory said the prosecution's case was based on numbers that just didn't add up and the Eagles' accounting methods were seriously flawed.
"Their paper trail was horrible," he said.
Their accounting method was to collect the receipts from the bar and other income such as membership dues and count the money every week. Three trusted members each counted part of the take, which was handed over with a receipt to Matthews to deposit in the bank.
Except the deposits didn't always add up with what was entered in trustees' book, McCrory said.
"Who knows if the count was right," he added. "It became clear ... there was some faulty math and unprofessional (accounting) books," he said.
In addition, the club was in financial trouble even before Matthews took over the deposits.
"The bottom line was they were spending more money than they had income for," and Matthews tried to point out the fact that the club needed to raise funds in order to keep solvent, McCrory said.
"Donna Matthews maintained throughout that she was not a thief, that she was not guilty. They never had proof that she was spending (that) money," he said.
Matthews, who now lives in Utah, said she feels vindicated but the ordeal has ruined her life.
"I didn't do anything wrong to begin with," she said. "It was just a matter of time that it would come out that I didn't do anything. I can be accused of being a bad bookkeeper, that's all."
Despite the fact that she has been cleared of wrongdoing, the accusations and court proceedings have had a lasting effect.
"My reputation was ruined ... I lost my family, my friends, my car," she said. "It totally destroyed my life. I have relatives who won't speak to me over this. I just hope people who did this think it was worth it to them."
