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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Conflict of Interest |
Sentence: |
"4 years in prison and $3,539,991 restitution" |
Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
2007 |
Year Convicted: |
2011 |
Year Cleared: |
2013 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
California |
County or Region of Crime: |
Los Angeles |
City of Crime: |
Beverly Hills |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Karen Anne Christiansen was 53 when she was wrongly convicted in November 2011 of four counts of conflict of interest related to four contracts entered into by the Beverly Hills Unified School District -- three in 2007 and one in 2008 with Christiansen's company Strategic Concepts. Christiansen's company recieved no benefit from the three 2007 contracts, but it would have received a percentage of the 2008 contract. At the time Christiansen was the owner and executive director of Strategic Concepts that had an independent contractor contract with the BHUSD for consultant services. During Ms. Christiansen's jury trial she argued that she couldn't have commited her accused crimes because she was an independent contractor who did not and could not enter into contracts on behalf of the BHUSD, and the statute she was charged with violating -- Government Code §90 -- only applied to public "employees" that her contract with the BHUSD specified she was not. After Christiansen's conviction she was sentenced on January 5, 2012 to 4 years and 4 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $3,539,991. Christiansen appealed on several grounds, including that she couldn't have committed her accused crimes because she wasn't an employee of the BHUSD as required by the statute. On May 31, 2013 the California Court of Appeals, Second District, Division One issued its opinion reversing Christiansen's convictions and ordering the trial court to dismiss the charges on the ground that under the statute an independent contractor is not a member, officer or employee of the school district, and therefore as an independent contractor she could not have committed a criminal violation of Gov. Code §90. Christiansen was 52 when charged on Dec 9, 2010. She was arraigned on Dec. 26, 2010 and taken into custody with a,$2 million bail. Her bond was later reduced to $400,000, but she remained jailed up to her trial. Karen Christiansen had been released on parole before her convictions were vacated. Christiansen's alleged wrongdoing was related to then Beverly HIlls Unified School District Superintendant Jeffrey Hubbard, whose February 2012 convictions of two counts of misappropriating public funds were vacated by the California Court of Appeals on December 31, 2014, however, the Calif. Supreme Court reinstated Hubbard's convictions on June 16, 2016 on the basis that as superintendant he had control of public funds." |
Conviction Caused By: |
The trial judge erroneously interpretated that Government Code §90 applied to alleged criminal violations of the section. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On May 31, 2013 the California Court of Appeals, Second District, Division One issued its opinion reversing Christiansen's convictions and ordering the trial court to dismiss the charges on the ground that under the statute independent contractors are not employees and therefore as an independent contractor she could not have violated the criminal statute." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
52 |
Age When Released: |
52 |
Sex: |
Female |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
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Information Source 1: |
"The People. v. Karen A. Christiansen, No. B238361 (CA Ct of Appeals 2nd Dist, Div 1) 5-31-13" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/B238361.PDF |
Information Source 2: |
"Former Beverly Hills school official's conviction overturned, By Martha Groves (staff), Los Angles Times, May 31, 2013" |
Information Location 2: |
"http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-conviction-overturned-20130531,0,696907.story" |
Information Source 3: |
"Court of Appeals Reverses Karen Christiansen Conviction, Orders Criminal Charges Dismissed, By Staff, Beverly Hills Courier, June 1, 2013" |
Information Location 3: |
http://bhcourier.com/court-appeals-reverses-karen-christiansen-conviction-orders-criminal-charges-dismissed/2013/06/02 |
Information Source 4: |
"Woman in school case arrested, By Tony Saavedra (staff reporter), The Orange County Register, December 27, 2010" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/christiansen-281809-school-district.html |
Information Source 5: |
"Christiansen convicted of conflict-of-interest charges, From the LA Times, Daily Pilot (Newport, CA), Nov 21, 2011" |
Information Location 5: |
"http://www.dailypilot.com/news/tn-dpt-1122-christiansen-20111121,0,3121571.story" |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org