Hearing set to review Kalani statement

A district judge has called a hearing for next week in Coeur d’Alene to look into statements made in an affidavit last month by former Juvenile Education and Training Court Coordinator Marina Kalani.

Kalani resigned from her post in March and two days later was paid $69,150 by the county’s insurance provider to settle an undisclosed claim. The settlement went unpublicized until April 21, when The Spokesman-Review and Coeur d’Alene Press published stories about it.

Just three days prior to the stories, District Judge John Stegner heard oral arguments in a case filed by The Spokesman-Review seeking access to e-mails between Kalani and Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas, who supervised her.

During that hearing, Kalani submitted an affidavit stating she had never made a claim against Douglas.

In ordering a new hearing, Stegner said the court inferred from the affidavit that no claim of any kind had been made by Kalani.

“That is not the case,” said Stegner’s order Wednesday. “Because this Court left the hearing on April 18, 2005 with a mistaken impression of the fact, it is necessary that an additional hearing be conducted …”

The hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Kootenai County Courthouse.

Greg Horne, Kalani’s attorney, said he never made any false statements at the April 18 hearing.

“We certainly look forward to Tuesday’s hearing,” he said Wednesday. “We think that we’ll be able to shed some further light on whatever questions or concerns the judge may have.”