Skip to main content
You are the owner of this article.
You have permission to edit this article.
Edit

Peters: Gerald Wood 'perjured' himself

Peters: Gerald Wood 'perjured' himself

Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters said the Fruita man whose identity she is accused of using to make images of her election computers last year perjured himself in his testimony before a grand jury.

Speaking on a Denver radio station Saturday, Peters told radio host Jimmy Sengenberger on 710KNUS radio Gerald Wood did that because he was fearful of being targeted as she has been. She called it all “political theater,” saying she will be absolved of all charges pending against her.

Tina Peters

Tina Peters

“I think about the gentleman (Wood), he perjured himself on the stand, we know that, and he’s going to have to deal with that,” she told Sengenberger in an interview about her candidacy for the GOP nomination for secretary of state. “Think about how fearful he must have been because look at what they’ve done to me. They’ve thrown me in jail, they’ve handcuffed me, they accused me of things I didn’t commit.”

Among a 13-count indictment, Peters and Deputy Clerk Belinda Knisley have been accused of criminal impersonation and identity theft, class 6 and class 4 felonies, respectively.

If convicted, each charge comes with a minimum penalty of three years in prison.

Those charges are directly based on the testimony that Wood gave the grand jury earlier this year, who said that it wasn’t him who aided Peters and others in making those images, according to a review of probable cause for the grand jury to investigate the matter written by the presiding judge in the case, District Judge Matthew Barrett.

Belinda Knisley Tina Peters

SPECIAL TO THE SENTINEL

Tina Peters, right, Mesa County clerk and recorder, and her Deputy Clerk Belinda Knisley, left. 

“Based on the testimony and evidence presented, and when viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, Peters and Knisley deceived multiple public servants and in doing so impacted the decisions of the public servants,” Barrett wrote in his order earlier this month.

“Peters’ use of Wood’s personal identifying information allowed Peters to secret another person into the trusted build,” Barrett added. “That person used Wood’s confidential information, and his personal identifying information, to obtain a thing of value. Peters was complicit is allowing this to occur.”

Andrea Barber, Wood’s sister-in-law, told the Mesa County Board of Commissioners earlier this month that Wood was at a graduation party at the time those images were being taken.

Wood’s wife, Wendi, said something similar at an April 5 meeting of the commissioners: “If anyone has reason to feel anger towards Tina Peters, I feel like our family certainly does,” she said less than a month after the grand jury filed its indictment.

In the radio interview, Peters goes on to accuse local District Attorney Dan Rubinstein and his office of forcing her now ex-husband to sign a divorce decree with Peters, and for harassing her daughter, sisters and mother.

“These are people that are desperate,” Peters said. “They want to cover up their crime, they want to hide this.”

According to court documents, Peters and her ex-husband, Thomas Peters, were legally separated in 2017, a year before she won election for county clerk.

They officially divorced last fall.

Rubinstein said neither he nor anyone in his office has had any contact with Thomas Peters, whom Tina Peters said was in a nursing home with “advanced” dementia.

District Attorney Dan Rubinstein

MCKENZIE LANGE/The Daily Sentinel

FILE PHOTO - District Attorney Dan Rubinstein, seen in this photo from 2020.

Currently, Thomas Peters has filed a civil lawsuit against Tina Peters alleging that she filed a quit claim deed in her own office when she temporarily had his power of attorney to transfer a Grand Junction home that Thomas Peters purchased after the two were legally separated.

The suit claims that Peters did that on the same day she also filed a separate document about Thomas Peters ending her powers of attorney.

Peters also has been charged with three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, class 4 felonies; two counts of conspiracy to commit attempting to influence a public servant, class 5 felonies; first-degree official misconduct, a class 2 misdemeanor; violation of duty, a misdemeanor; and failing to comply with the secretary of state, a misdemeanor.

Together, they come with a maximum penalty of about 25 years.

Peters also faces related obstruction and contempt-of-court charges.

Her arraignment on the criminal charges is set for Aug. 5.

Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.

Topics

Breaking News

News

Sports