Split decision for ex-auditor: Delaware justices uphold 1 conviction, reverse another

McGuiness stands convicted of 1 of 5 original charges

Despite their differences in nuances of the law, the bottom line is that the justices have now spoken, potentially ending a two-and-a-half-year prosecutorial saga with political implications that had pitted first-term Attorney General Jennings and her office against another first-term statewide official.

Before McGuiness was charged in October 2021, political insiders had speculated that the two Democratic politicians might be candidates in the 2024 gubernatorial race to succeed Gov. John Carney, who by law can’t seek a third term. Instead, McGuiness exited the political arena the day of her sentencing, and Jennings is not seeking higher office at this time.

Unless Jennings refiles the charge of official misconduct and wins at a retrial, the end result of the unprecedented prosecution of McGuiness will be conviction on one of five counts.

McGuiness will remain convicted of misdemeanor conflict of interest over her hiring of her teenage daughter to a part-time job that continued remotely after she went to college in South Carolina.

Beyond Carpenter overturning the structuring conviction, jurors had also acquitted McGuiness of two felonies — theft and witness tampering.

Before running for auditor in 2018, McGuiness had a long career as a pharmacist, business owner and a Rehoboth Beach commissioner.

Jennings began investigating McGuiness after whistleblowers in her office contacted prosecutors in the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust. Jennings publicly announced the October 2021 indictment on the steps of the New Castle County Courthouse in Wilmington.

The trial was eventually moved to Kent County, where a Superior Court jury found her guilty in July 2022. While awaiting sentencing she nonetheless ran for re-election, only to get trounced in the September Democratic primary.

At her October 2022 sentencing, prosecutors sought a 30-day prison sentence for McGuiness and $30,605 restitution to the state, citing her lack of remorse and other aggravating factors. Carpenter gave her a year of probation, 500 hours of community service, and a $10,000 fine.

Although she had three months remaining in her four-year term, McGuiness resigned a few hours after the sentencing. That occurred after Carney, a fellow Democrat, indicated he would exercise his constitutional duty to remove her after sentencing.

Jennings did not agree to an interview about the ruling but issued a statement that said it was a vindication of her decision to bring the public corruption case.

“After more than two years of endless litigation and theatrical rhetoric, the bottom line is that a jury, a Superior Court judge, and now the Delaware Supreme Court have all concluded that the ex-auditor’s actions were criminal,” her statement read.

Jennings added that “above all else, I am inspired by the courage of the whistleblowers who came forward to seek justice.”

While the criminal case might be over, a civil lawsuit by McGuiness against Jennings and others in her office is pending in U.S. District Court in Wilmington.

The federal lawsuit, filed in August 2023, claims her constitutional rights were violated when the chief investigator in Jennings’s office made false statements to get a search warrant for her office records. McGuiness also charge s that Jennings and then-prosecutor Mark Denney slandered her by making similar public remarks after she was indicted.