Judge wants Grievance Commission to investigate Meijer lawyer for perjury

TRAVERSE CITY (AP) -- A judge believes a lawyer committed perjury when he denied knowing anything about the role of Meijer Inc. in a 2007 recall election of township officials in northern Michigan's Grand Traverse County. Judge Philip Rodgers said he has referred the matter involving Timothy Stoepker to the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission, a watchdog agency. "I believe it occurred, and I have an ethical responsibility to report it," Rodgers told the Traverse City Record-Eagle. Stoepker, an attorney at the firm Dickinson Wright in Grand Rapids, represented Meijer during a dispute over a new store in Acme Township. Voters rejected the store in 2005, and township officials were targeted for recall in 2007. Meijer, a major Midwestern retailer, later acknowledged illegally financing the recall effort and subsequently paid a $190,000 fine. During a deposition in a civil lawsuit by a township official, Stoepker was asked what he knew about Meijer's role. "I have no knowledge of that at all," he replied. But records collected by the Grand Traverse County prosecutor show Stoepker knew about it and "was involved in it," Rodgers told the Record-Eagle. Stoepker's attorney, Roger Wotila, said last Thursday he needed more information before making a comment. The evidence includes a statement from a public relations executive in Grand Rapids who said Stoepker was her main contact as she worked on the campaigns for Meijer. Separately, Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Alan Schneider has asked the Kent County prosecutor in Grand Rapids to investigate Stoepker for possible crimes related to his deposition testimony. "We just all of a sudden got this out of the blue. We just started to look into it," said Chris Becker, chief assistant prosecutor in Kent County. Published: Mon, Jul 25, 2011