By Greg Szymanski

Reports remain sketchy but a controversial activist attorney from Monterey Bay fell to his death Christmas Eve, falling from somewhere between the 9^th and 12^th floors of the Embassy Suites Hotel in the seaside California community.

Police describe the death of attorney Paul Sanford as a “probable suicide leap” and a number of horrified guests who were eating breakfast at the time said they saw Sanford fall from one of the top floors.

A report in the local Monterey daily paper provided no clues to what really happened to Sanford besides the sketchy police reports. But the paper did mention that Sanford was an ardent critic of the Bush administration, being active in community organizations and hosting several independent radio shows in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.

One of Sanford’s close friends and business partners, Shawn Mills, commented that his friend was in no way suicidal and was very upbeat and active as well as a passionate believer in "a dynamic Constitution.

His friend added that Sanford always carried a copy of the U.S. Constitution in his pocket and recently added journalism to his many talents.

According to Mills he caused quite a rift after he joined the White House Press Corps in 2005, making waves as the first reporter to ask then-White House press secretary Scott McClellan whether the leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plame's name might be considered an act of treason.

Sanford was tagged by Washington insiders as an enemy of the administration, adding further speculation that Sanford’s death may be more than a suicide as other friends of the controversial attorney said he was “in good spirits” after recently purchasing his mother’s expensive California home.

Regarding his questions to McClellan, Sanford had this to say at the White House Press conference:

“There has been a lot of speculation concerning the meaning of the underlying statute and the grand jury investigation concerning Mr. Rove," Sanford asked. "The question is, have the legal counsel to the White House or White House staff reviewed the statute in sufficient specificity to determine whether a violation of that statute would, in effect, constitute treason?”

According to other newspaper reports “McClellan was apparently flustered by the question and replied that ‘those are matters for those overseeing the investigation to decide.’”

In the Monterey Herald’s article Mills added:

“I'm at a loss for words. Paul really had his fingers in a lot of different pies. He was from the East Coast, and I used to call him our ‘West Coast Kennedy.’

“He was a champion of the downtrodden, he represented homeless people in Santa Cruz, and fought for free speech. He did a run across America. You name it he's done it. This is a real shock and a loss to the community.”

Reports also surfaced that Sanford’s wife and many other friends and associates were in shock and disbelief that his death was ruled a suicide, saying “Sanford seemed happy and had made many plans for this week and in coming months. Mills said he and Sanford recently decided to open a shared law office to serve Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, something Sanford was looking forward to doing.”

A report in the Monterey Herald by Julia Reynolds added the following information concerning his strange Christmas Eve death:

The White House incident sparked controversy after Beltway bloggers incorrectly described Sanford as a reporter for the Air America radio network. At the time, he was associated with Watsonville radio station KOMY, an Air America affiliate, and Sanford told reporters he never claimed to work for Air America.

Sanford eventually filed suit against station owner Michael Zwerling after Zwerling was reported as saying Sanford had not been authorized to represent the station as a reporter, a statement Sanford refuted.

Mills represented Sanford in that suit, which was scheduled to begin in Santa Cruz County Superior Court in February. Mills said he did not know if the case will continue after Sanford's sudden death.

Although the dispute with Zwerling caused Sanford a great deal of stress at the time, Mills said his friend was feeling fine about it and believed he would soon be vindicated in court.

Sanford and Mills also have hosted the "Paul and Shawn Show" on Saturdays at Seaside radio station KRXA, where they covered last fall's election and interviewed former Salinas mayor and now Assemblywoman Anna Caballero, Pacific Grove Mayor Dan Cort and others.

In 2002, Sanford inadvertently found himself at the center of a controversy in Santa Cruz County when his independent election fundraising was characterized in the Santa Cruz Sentinel as last-minute "developer" contributions on behalf of supervisor candidate Mark Primack. Primack lost to incumbent Mardi Wormhoudt by fewer than 600 votes.

Friends and associates expressed disbelief at the news of Sanford's death and that it was ruled a suicide, saying Sanford seemed happy and had made many plans for this week and in coming months. Mills said he and Sanford recently decided to open a shared law office to serve Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, something Sanford was looking forward to doing.

He and Sanford spoke on the phone "around four or five times a day," Mills said, and the two had just spoken on Thursday, "tweaking a marketing plan" for their new law practice before Mills went out of town for the Christmas holiday.

"I just don't know what happened since Thursday. There was nothing on the horizon there to know this was going to happen," Mills said. "We were going to get together this week."

Mills said he had spoken to Sanford's wife, Paula, and that she also was in shock. He said Sanford, a father of two, was a devoted family man.

"This is a horrible thing for his family. He would never have intentionally put his family through that trauma. Something's not right, it doesn't make sense."

Police said that before Sanford fell, hotel housekeepers saw him pacing the hallway of an upper floor. Cercone said Sanford's car was parked next to the hotel, and he was not checked in as a guest.

Police declined to state exactly why they ruled the case a suicide.

Mills said he and Sanford often met at Chili's restaurant next to Embassy Suites Hotel Monterey Bay because the KRXA studio was nearby.

Mills said Sanford should be remembered for his volunteer work in the local community. "People don't like to work for free, and Paul worked for ideology. He didn't like the attention a lot. The attention he's going to get now would upset him."

Greg Szymanski

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