Discipline petition filed against N.D. prosecutor

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A Burleigh County prosecutor should be sanctioned for withholding evidence in a case against North Dakota's former workers compensation director, according to a petition filed with a state disciplinary board.

Cynthia Feland violated state professional conduct rules when she failed to turn over a state auditor's memo that would have helped Sandy Blunt's defense, state Supreme Court Disciplinary Board attorney Paul Jacobson wrote in the petition.

Blunt was convicted in December 2008 of misspending more than $26,000 in public funds. The state Supreme Court upheld his conviction last month.

Blunt attorney Mike Hoffman filed paperwork Thursday asking South Central District Judge Bruce Romanick to grant Blunt a new trial or dismiss his conviction, citing withheld evidence.

Feland, an assistant Burleigh County state's attorney who was the lead prosecutor in Blunt's case, already has asked Romanick to determine whether she violated any disclosure rules.

She has said Blunt's attorney had the information contained in the memo.

A three-member panel of the Disciplinary Board will hold a public hearing on the discipline petition and recommend whether Feland should be sanctioned. The state Supreme Court has the final say.

Feland is running for a judgeship this fall in the South Central district, which includes 12 counties and the cities of Bismarck, Mandan, Beulah and Washburn.

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