Last week’s dismissal of a pending theft charge against a business associate of Mayor Jamie Roberts has created another swell of adverse publicity for District Attorney John Healey and his sidekick, Mike Elliott, the assistant district attorney who pursued the case with a vengeance.

Some folks are calling for Elliott’s dismissal, while others say Healey should step down. Still others are saying when 2010 rolls around it is time to get fresh blood in the DA’s office.

Last week I wondered aloud in this column about Elliott’s planned “explanation” of why he chose to pursue the case against Roberts so vigorously. Remember, he contacted me (after Healey paved the way with a phone call asking if he could call) and wanted to fully explain his side.

Just like the two years I waited for Elliott to return a phone call on another case, he did not come through. I wasn’t surprised.

But I was amused when I saw what can only be described as a canned press release in an independent area newspaper with both Healey and Elliott explaining their side of this saga—ad nauseam.

In fact, it appeared they just weren’t willing to take “no” by the jury or the judge for an answer. They both sounded like they were still trying to sling mud and convict Roberts.

That is a shame. Mayor Roberts has done his two-years in hell.

They both need to shut up and spend all that extra energy cleaning up the mess they’ve already made.

I received a really nice e-mail from a person who says that he/she was on one of the Grand Juries that indicted Mayor Roberts. According to this person, who shall forever remain anonymous, the info was presented by Elliott, but Elliott presented the evidence without any pressure.

Naturally, this former Grand Juror did not reveal any details of the internal workings of the Grand Jury. He or she simply said that Elliott presented the evidence and the indictment based on that evidence, was warranted.

I certainly respect the feelings of this citizen, who served on the panel.

However, the allegations made by the defense attorneys, both in and out of a court of law, were that Elliott picked and chose what was presented to the two Grand Jury panels in order to get an indictment of Mayor Roberts.

Because of the secrecy of the Grand Jury system, we may never know for sure exactly what was presented and what was kept secret.