10 Trials Set For Ex-Court Employee Accused Of Harassing Cochise County Neighbor

SURVEILLANCE VIDEO SHOWING NUDITY SPAWNS LAWSUIT

Lynelle Gae [Photo courtesy Cochise County Sheriff's Office]

A former Cochise County court employee will stand trial in February on criminal trespass charges, the first of 10 trials she faces for allegedly engaging in a pattern of harassment against her next door neighbor in Bisbee.

Lynelle Gae was booked in the Cochise County jail twice this summer and issued eight citations for various offenses against her neighbor, Yolanda Moots. The charges allege Gae committed criminal damage, interfering with a judicial order, disorderly conduct, public nuisance, and littering from May to August.

Gae’s first trial is set for Feb. 5, 2021 in front of Justice of the Peace Janus Poppe at the Bisbee Justice Court. She is familiar with the judicial process, having served as judicial administrative assistant for a Cochise County superior court judge from January 2019 until her resignation in July 2020.

The nine other trials will take place throughout February to April. Poppe will decide eight of the cases without a jury. Gae’s trials will be open to the public.

In the meantime, Gae has initiated legal action against Moots for releasing surveillance video in which Gae is seen on her porch lifting her nightdress to display her buttocks in the direction of Moots’ property. The video was shared by Moots with the administrator of a Facebook group about Cochise County’s court system who posted it in June.

Gae’s Oct. 29 lawsuit alleges Moots has installed at least five surveillance cameras aimed toward Gae’s residence and yard, including one roof-mounted camera that can see over an eight-foot fence. It also alleges Moots committed an “extreme and outrageous” intrusion by filming Gae on her front porch during the “mooning” incident.

“The part of the front porch filmed by (Moots) is not visible from the street in front of the house or in any way except from inside (Gae’s) fenced property and from a specific location and angle on (Moots’) property,” the lawsuit states, adding that because of the cameras, Gae “cannot enter or exit her home into her front or back yard without being monitored 24/7.”

Gae is seeking a court order requiring Moots to remove any surveillance cameras pointed toward Gae’s property. She also claims to have lost her job because of Moots’ release of the video and seeks $91,000 for lost wages, as well as punitive damages “as deemed appropriate by the court.”

The lawsuit notes Gae has been the subject of several “back dated” citations and was booked into the Cochise County jail “as a direct result of (Moots’) surreptitious photography.” However, it does not descriptions the alleged harassment which is detailed in more than one dozen Bisbee police reports.

And it fails to mention Gae was booked into the county jail a second time for failure to obey a court order.

In September, Gae sued David M. Morgan for $250,000 after he posted the mooning video clip to his 11,000-member Facebook group. Gae contends Morgan violated state law by publishing an image of her in a state of nudity without her consent and with the intent to cause her harm.

The lawsuit against Morgan suggests Gae was forced to resign because Morgan tied to video to her court employment. She contends the video’s presence on the Internet “will negatively impact Plaintiff’s search for new employment for some time in the foreseeable future…perhaps for the rest of her life.”