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Court tapes chronicle Palin family dispute

by Jason Moore
Wednesday, July 23, 2008

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Gov. Sarah Palin continues to deny allegations from her former rival, 2006 gubernatorial candidate Andrew Halcro, that firing Walt Monegan was motivated by a grudge she had against a Mat-Su state trooper.    

The Palin family had filed numerous complaints against Trooper Michael Wooten in 2005 while he was going through a divorce with Palin's sister, Molly McCann.    

It turns out those complaints were part of the testimony during the divorce trial.

Before there was a Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan and before there was a Gov. Palin -- even before she was a candidate for the office -- a dispute existed between Palin and Wooten. And it was talked about in an Anchorage court.

"Mr. Wooten has his own set of immaturities, impulsivities and vulnerabilities that come from just how he acts and how he responds and how he deals with conflicts," Judge John Suddock said.

In 2005, Trooper Wooten and McCann went through a bitter divorce. During that time the Palin family filed numerous complaints against Wooten.    

Those complaints became the subject of testimony from John Cyr, the head of the Public Safety Employees Association.

"My advice to Mike was to find another job," Cyr said in court. "I think that he will have a hard time in the department from here on in."

Cyr said the complaints brought by Sarah Palin particularly captured the attention of Col. Julia Grimes, the head of the state troopers.

"I had a long discussion with Col. Grimes about investigator Wooten. She and I talked about the string of complaints he had," Cyr said. "I made the case that I thought they were groundless, that the department was involving itself in a personal matter. She asked me if I wanted to call Sarah Palin a liar publicly and I said sure, I'll have a press conference; I don't mind I don't mind telling people what I believe to be true."

What does all this have to do with a divorce trial?    

Wooten testified he thought he would lose his job, affecting his future earnings potential.

"Over this whole course when Molly and I talked, I've been telling her that the allegations and the things that are being said are creating a bad environment for me at work and things are going to start happening," Wooten said in court. "The last time I talked with Molly I told her that it's at the point now that I'm probably not going to be a trooper much longer."

Even Judge Suddock questioned why the family would file the complaints.    

"It appears for the world that Ms. McCann and her family have decided to take off for the guy's livelihood -- that the bitterness of whatever who did what to whom has overridden good judgment," he said. "Aesop told us not to slay the goose who lays the golden egg. For whatever reason people are trying to slay the goose here and it tends to diminish his earning capacity."    

A lot has changed since the 2005 divorce trial.    

And while its impact on the firing of Walt Monegan is still unknown the bitterness remains.

The complaints against Wooten also prompted an internal investigation by state troopers and led to a suspension for illegally shooting a moose and using a Taser on his stepson.

Contact Jason Moore at jmoore@ktuu.com