MORGANTOWN — Andrew Mendelson, an assistant West Virginia Attorney General, no longer represents his friend, 49-year-old Eric Kendzerski, in two criminal cases in Monongalia County Magistrate Court.
“I think that the entire case has been blown completely out of proportion from the beginning and unfortunately while Mr. Mendelson may have meant well, he certainly didn’t choose the correct course of actions to handle this,” Ryan Umina, Kendzerski’s new attorney, said after a court appearance on Thursday.
In April, Mendelson, who said he was representing Kendzerski in a personal capacity, filed a motion requesting Monongalia County Prosecutor Perri DeChristopher and her office recuse themselves from Kendzerski’s case.
The request was based primarily on an allegation of improper conduct during a 42 minute phone call between DeChristopher, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Gabrielle Mucciola and Kendzerski. At a hearing over the matter, Chief Circuit Judge Susan Tucker said DeChristopher’s testimony aligned with what she would expect the prosecutor to do if a defendant called her and asked questions.
At Thursday’s hearing, Umina requested that both of his client’s cases be combined and dealt with in a single trial. Kendzerski is charged with harassment and violation of a protective order. Mucciola agreed and said combining the cases would be in everyone’s best interest.
A trial was scheduled for October before Magistrate Sandy Holepit. She spoke with Magistrate Hershel Mullins, who was assigned the second case, and the two agreed to combine the cases.
In her response to Mendelson’s allegations, DeChristopher questioned the ethics of a state assistant attorney general representing a client against the state, a concern shared by Umina on Thursday when explaining why he now represents Kendzerski.
“We were only made aware of this representation after it occurred. It is the office’s belief that Mr. Mendelson has ceased representation of the defendant,” Curtis Johnson, press secretary for the West Virginia Office of the Attorney General, said. “I can confirm that Mr. Mendelson is currently employed by the Attorney General’s Office, however, we will not comment further about personnel matters or disciplinary actions.”
