The Juneau District Attorney’s office Friday dismissed criminal trespassing charges against a Haines man involved in a land access dispute at the Viking Cove beachfront.

Assistant district attorney Amy Williams dismissed the two trespassing charges filed against Fred Einspruch in October 2012. Williams cited scheduling and staffing issues at the attorney’s office as reasons for the dismissal.

“It was not a decision based on the strength of the case,” Williams said.  

Williams filed a motion to push the trial, scheduled for June 3, to a later date because of the recent retirement of the region’s district attorney and the current involvement of the department’s two other attorneys in a murder trial. Einspruch opposed the motion.

Judge Keith Levy sided with Einspruch, stating in his order, “Both the staffing issue and the unavailability of attorneys because of the Juneau murder trial were known to the state when this trial was set. This case has been pending for over eight months.”

Einspruch maintains that longtime recreational use of the Viking Cove property, purchased by Sally Andersen and Michael Wald three years ago, has established a public right to continued use via a public prescriptive easement.

  The disputed parcel is on a dirt road past the end of Mud Bay Road.

  Troopers filed two charges against Einspruch for alleged trespassing incidents on Sept. 19 and Sept. 22 of last year, following a June 4 warning by trooper Josh Bentz to stay off the Andersen-Wald parcel.

On Sept. 22, trooper Ken VanSpronsen said he saw Einspruch on the property. On Sept. 19, Einspruch had a confrontation with Wald and allegedly admitted to Sgt. Tim Birt he was on the property.

Einspruch has a pending civil lawsuit against Andersen and Wald over access. Filed on July 11, the suit asks the court to recognize a public right of use on a section of beachfront land owned by the couple.

“This is just a perfect example of what happens with development and eventually access is threatened… I’m asking them to stop interfering with our existing use. That’s the only thing I’m asking them for,” Einspruch said.

Andersen this week said people are welcome to use a strip of their three-acre property to access the beach, but users should park in a public cul-de-sac 200 feet away instead of on her family’s private property. Einspruch is the only person disallowed from using the beach, as he vandalized the family’s possessions and property, Andersen said.

Williams’ decision to dismiss the charges was “disappointing,” Andersen said, because it will reinforce Einspruch’s belief that he is right, even though the dismissal had nothing to do with the strengths or weaknesses of the case against him. “It emboldens him for no reason; it doesn’t have any bearing on the merits of the trespassing case,” she said.

Williams was apologetic about the situation and said she intends to level the trespassing charges against Einspruch again, Andersen said. The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning the charges can be re-filed, with certain time constraints.

Trial in the civil suit is scheduled for Dec. 3. Einspruch said he believes the matter will be settled out of court before then. “I think it will be settled eventually, but they’re just not ready yet,” he said.

Andersen, however, said settlement is not an option. “We’re just sort of going through the legal process. We don’t have plans to settle,” she said.

Williams said she doesn’t expect the dismissal to have any effect on the outcome of the civil case.

“Friends of Viking Cove” is listed as a plaintiff in the civil suit. Einspruch said the informal organization is a group of people who have used the beachfront recreationally over the years, but he couldn’t estimate the group’s size.