The mayor of Effie serving a 30-day jail sentence for furnishing alcohol to minor.

The mayor of Effie started serving a 30-day jail sentence on Friday.

Matthew Adam David, 32, of Effie was sentenced Wednesday morning by Itasca County District Court Judge Lois Lang to 30 days in the Itasca County Jail, with work release privileges, on two gross misdemeanor counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor from an incident which occurred in July 2008.

A jury trial in December found him guilty of the two charges and a gross misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The same jury acquitted David of two felony fourth degree criminal sexual conduct charges.

In addition to the jail time, David was placed on two years probation with the remainder of a one-year jail sentence stayed, ordered to have no contact with the victim, the victim’s family or property, not to use or possess alcohol or controlled substances, not to enter bars or liquor stores except in his official capacity as Effie mayor, to submit to spot checks and comply with any protection orders.

He was also ordered to pay a yearly probation fee and other fines and fees totaling $1,145.

Lang said the third count, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, was not accepted by the court, but she did not give a reason why.

A decision on whether David would have to register as a predatory offender was taken under advisement by Lang and she said during sentencing that she would issue a written decision within 30 days.

According to the amended criminal complaint filed in February 2009 in Itasca County District Court, David went to a Bigfork home on the evening July 8, 2008 with a six-pack of Smirnoff Ice and a bottle of Captain Morgan rum.

The resident of the home, identified as A.R.R., said David called asking if they needed liquor while David said that A.R.R. called him and “kinda roped me into” coming to the home.

A.R.R. was 20 at the time of the incident.

The criminal complaint also said that the juvenile victim, who was 15 at the time, said David brought liquor to the home and that “several of their friends showed up at the residence during the evening.”

The complaint also stated the juvenile victim said that sometime after 4 a.m., David inappropriately touched her.

David said in the criminal complaint that he refused the juvenile’s advances at one point that night.

An analysis of the sexual assault evidence kit revealed a DNA profile match to David, the complaint said.

Chad Sterle, David’s defense attorney, said in an earlier interview that DNA is not a certainty as many people believe.

He said that just by being in close proximity to someone, DNA is exchanged.

Two Effie city council members, along with the juvenile victim’s parents, were present at the sentencing.

Afterwards, the victim’s mother said her daughter has “had more consequences than he has.”

She said her daughter had lied about where she was going that night.

She was grounded and her cell phone taken away for lying, but the juvenile had also put a self-imposed punishment upon herself.

She didn’t want to go anywhere and it was several months before she asked if she could go anywhere, her mother said.

The juvenile is “doing OK now,” she added.

It is the policy of the Herald-Review to not identify juvenile victims.

When David was reached by phone at his home Friday afternoon, he said since the judge was still ruling on one issue, he did not want to comment on the incident.

He also said he may appeal the conviction.

Effie City Councilor Bill Hastings thinks David should resign his office.

As far as Hastings is concerned, David broke his oath of office by breaking the law.

The oath says he has to uphold the federal and state constitutions, and perform the job to the best his abilities, Hastings said.

“He isn’t performing the job to the best of his abilities if he broke the law,” Hastings said. “That doesn’t set well with me.”

David did say he does not think the court case has had an effect on his job performance as Effie’s mayor and does not plan on resigning.

“It’s not a felony, it’s not a violation of my oath (of office) and has no effect on my job performance,” David said.

David said he was elected in 2001 and took office as Effie mayor in 2002.

His current term expires at the end of 2010.

Tom Grundhoefer, general counsel for the League of Minnesota Cities, said the law is “not totally clear” in this situation.

He said that if an elected official has been convicted of a felony or an “infamous crime,” the office may be declared vacant.

However, he said his research indicated, by Minnesota state law, an infamous crime means the same as a felony.

A gross misdemeanor crime most likely isn’t going to be considered an infamous crime, Grundhoefer added.

A predatory offender ruling probably wouldn’t change that either.

But the law is not clear in this situation, he stated.

Because Effie is considered a statutory city, council rules are determined by state statutes, said Grundhoefer.

Statutory cities do not have recall power.

The city council could declare the office vacant, Grundhoefer said.

But the mayor could legally challenge that.

An online search of Minnesota court records show David has two previous misdemeanor convictions: One for possession of fireworks in Itasca County in 1995 and one for open bottle in St. Louis County in March 2006.

In both cases, David paid a fine for the violations.

Hastings said he doesn’t know if an actual agenda item addressing David will be on the next city council meeting agenda on Feb. 8.

“I do think it will be discussed,” he said.