Coroner charged with misuse of office

Wednesday, March 1, 2006

by Landon Johnston

Mountain Home News

Elmore County Coroner Marla B. Spence was charged last week by Ada County prosecutors with misusing her office and obstructing and delaying law enforcement officers.

The Ada County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, acting as special prosecutor in Elmore County, filed three misdemeanor charges on Feb. 21 at the county courthouse.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Ammon Hansen said the charges stem from allegations that Spence used a county vehicle for a trip to Nevada to pick up a body and deliver it to her private employer, Summers Funeral Home.

"We have been working on this case for several months at the request of the Idaho State Police," he said. "These are the charges that have been brought and that's where we stand right now."

ISP Public Affairs Officer Rick Ohnsman said the ISP launched an investigation into Spence's activities after being approached by the Elmore County Sheriff's Office in July of last year.

"To avoid a conflict of interest, they asked us to conduct the investigation," Ohnsman said.

Similarly, Hansen said the Ada County prosecutor's office is working the case due to a possible conflict of interest with the Elmore County prosecutor's office.

"Ada County has filed the charges and we will be prosecuting the case in Elmore County," he said.

Hansen also said Spence, 41, has been charged with three separate misdemeanors: using public position for personal gain and two counts of obstruction for allegedly lying to officers about her employment with Summers Funeral Home and her use of a county vehicle.

If convicted, Spence faces up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine for each charge along with possibly losing her position as coroner.

An attempt to reach Spence at Summers Funeral Home failed as a receptionist said, "She does not work here. You will have to call the Elmore County Coroner's Office to speak with her."

No office exists as Spence is employed only part-time through the county and makes around $600 a month functioning on an as-needed basis.

During a cell phone conversation, Spence told the Mountain Home News that she had no comment.

"I don't think I should say anything besides what I already told the Statesman," she said.

The article Spence is referring to was printed last Wednesday in the Local section of the Idaho Statesman.

In that article Spence admits to taking a trip to Nevada last July to pick up a body for an autopsy and deliver it to Summers Funeral Home. But that there was no personal gain involved and no wrongdoing on her part.

"I've talked to an attorney and he said I've done nothing wrong," she told the Statesman.

In that same article, the Statesman reported that a person identifying himself as the owner of Summers Funeral Home confirmed that Spence was a contract employee with the funeral home.

Spence told the Statesman that she wishes to keep her job as the Elmore County Coroner, saying, "I have no reason not to. I've done nothing wrong."

She told the Mountain Home News that she had nothing else to say until she spoke with her attorney.

Spence also is employed as an emergency medical technician and runs a foster home here in Mountain Home.

Her arraignment is set for March 15 at 9 a.m. at the Elmore County Courthouse.

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