A ruling on whether to proceed to a jury trial in a civil lawsuit against Berrien County Drain Commissioner Christopher Quattrin, County Commissioner Teri Sue Freehling, and the estate of her late husband, Patrick Freehling, is expected from Judge Dennis Wiley on Wednesday. Wiley heard from the attorneys for the county officials and Mark LaRose, the attorney for Hartzler Excavating owner Doug Hartzler, who is suing over allegations of fraud. Quattrin’s attorney John Brennan argued the drain commissioner has absolute immunity because deciding to go with different contractors is part of his job, but the judge took issue with the wording.
“One of the things I’m interested in, Mr. Brennan, is your claim of ‘absolute immunity,’ because apparently Mr. Quattrin’s the only elected official in this damn county who has that absolute immunity,” said Wiley. “The sheriff apparently doesn’t have it. The prosecuting attorney doesn’t have it. I was the prosecuting attorney, so I know what I’m talking about.”
LaRose admitted he was skeptical and didn’t necessarily want to take Hartzler’s case until he came through with paperwork backing up the claims that the Freehlings financially benefited much more than he did from the 57 drain commission contracts he received in 2017 and 2018. Patrick Freehling charged Hartzler over $440,000 for equipment rental for the jobs, which LaRose argues also implicates Commissioner Freehling as the payments went to him directly, not to an LLC.
“I gave Mr. Hartzler a task, and that task was to bring me the documents, evidence that would support his claims,” said LaRose. “Quite frankly, I might as well have told him to bring me the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West, and he did.”
Brennan argued it is not a conflict of interest for Freehling to have voted on drain commission contracts to Hartzler even if her husband were earning money on those, citing several laws. LaRose notes in the lawsuit Hartzler stopped getting contracts after firing an employee Patrick Freehling had urged him to hire, and that person then swung the same deal to start his own company to get contracts and rent equipment from Mr. Freehling.
A criminal investigation is also underway by the Berrien County Prosecutor’s Office and Michigan State Police, but Judge Wiley mostly kept that information and speculation out of Tuesday’s hearing.
