"Remote" Control of out-of focus craft

I have one mechjeb on an OTV and a Munar Lander (each), which are both docked (to the station, seperately). When I undock from the station in either the MEM or OTV (or both) and try to engage SmartASS, the station orients instead of the in-focus craft. There is no mechjeb on the station.

Will attempt to fix by removing all kerbals from all command pods on station.
-Did not work. After sending 24(!) Kerbals on a coffee break, the station still orients all on its own.

Note, I even removed all the crew from the munar lander because I don't want it spazzing out when I'm pushing it to the mun. However, I can still control it via standard controls (rcs, sas) when undocked and without crew in the command pod. I'm assuming this is a feature of mechjeb (debris automation?)