Reynolds hearing rescheduled
City Treasurer Mike Reynolds next court appearance, a disposition and reset hearing, is set for April 16.
Reynolds last appeared in court on Wednesday. The outcome that day was the scheduling of a new court date.
Reynolds is charged with misappropriating about $38,000 in city funds and two related crimes. He pleaded innocent in December.
Prosecutors have argued that Reynolds broke the law when he transferred money from an account under his control to the city's general fund. In the eyes of the District Attorney's office, the money was moved to hide shortages in Redlands' petty cash fund.
This blogger has delayed posting an item about this piece because he was not in the office the day of the court hearing and a subsequent effort to contact Reynolds' attorney, Patrick Milligan, was not successful.
Tuesday, Milligan again blamed a Treasurer's Office employee who worked under Reynolds for accounting problems. Milligan said the books were so fouled up as to stymie efforts to independently audit Redlands finances.
"You never are able to find a figure that you know is correct," he said.
Milligan and Reynolds have previously acknowledged problems with the city's petty cash account. Milligan has said his client made the transfer to ensure that the city would not be short funds while he sought to square the city's books.
Despite his harsh assessment of the city's records, Milligan asserted that "it's unlikely the city of Redlands is out one nickel."
Reynolds was elected to his eighth term as City Treasurer in November. He faced no opponent in the election.