Complaint emerges from Summit 1031 case

Daughter of one Summit principal scheduled to appear in court today on recording complaint

By Andrew Moore
The Bulletin

April 01, 2010

Summit 1031’s ongoing bankruptcy has spawned a number of legal proceedings related to the company’s failed business, including a criminal complaint filed against the daughter of one of the company’s principals for allegedly making an illegal recording of the company’s bankruptcy trustee, Kevin Padrick.

Stephanie Studebaker-DeYoung, the daughter of Summit co-founder Mark Neuman, is set to appear today in Deschutes County Circuit Court to enter a plea on two counts of violating an Oregon law prohibiting the recording of a conversation without the participant’s consent.

Studebaker-DeYoung used a Webcam embedded in a laptop computer to make a video recording of a February 2009 meeting at Summit’s Bend office between the company’s principals and Padrick, who was then serving as a financial consultant for the company’s chief restructuring officer.

A few days after the meeting, Padrick was named Summit’s bankruptcy trustee and as a result, Summit’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing was converted to a Chapter 11 liquidation.

Padrick is currently liquidating the company for the benefit of its creditors. He declined to comment for this story.

Studebaker-DeYoung, in an interview with The Bulletin, said she believes the charges are politically motivated, brought against her after Padrick pressured the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office to file the case in retaliation for her objecting to his legal fees in the bankruptcy case.

Studebaker-DeYoung, joined by several other parties, filed the objection in July 2009. She posted the recording soon after on her blog, www.summit 1031bankruptcy.com.

The objection was later dropped.

Deschutes County Deputy District Attorney Philip Duong said the law is “obscure,” adding that people aren’t often prosecuted for making an unauthorized recording. But it is a crime, he said.

Asked if the charges were brought at the request of Padrick, who is named as a victim in the case, Duong said the case “was reviewed in the normal manner.”

“These cases are tough,” Doung added. “We usually look into facts around them and make a decision from there.”

Andrew Moore can be reached at 541-617-7820 or amoore@bendbulletin.com.

Copyright 2010