September 2010 - Page 2 of 4

Davis Burglary Case Illustrates the Pitfalls of Acting As One’s Own Counsel

By David GreenwaldSeptember 21, 201015 comments

In early September, a Yolo County Jury found Roman Ibanez guilty of three counts – felony conspiracy to commit burglary, misdemeanor resisting or obstructing a peace officer, and misdemeanor possession of burglary tools.

Mr. Ibanez, for reasons that still are not completely clear, decided to represent himself pro per – act as his own defense counsel. Unfortunately, he did an exceedingly poor job of this, and turned what should have been a case that would be very difficult to get a conviction on into a fairly easy victory for the DA’s office.

The Zip Debate: Separating Fact from Myth

By David GreenwaldSeptember 20, 201062 comments

When the Davis City Council approved the contract with Zipcar, they city staff and council did a typically poor job of explaining the issue and the rationale to the public. The passage of this item came during a meeting in which a number of complex items were very quickly approved. The idea was the new Mayor Don Saylor is in charge, and he will make the trains run on time.

The problem that the Mayor forgot is that this is not Mussolini’s Italy and if the trains run on time in Davis, that means that you are not properly explaining to the public or council what they are approving. Already this has bitten the council in the rear on the issue of the Zipcar which has garnered criticism in Bob Dunning’s column, a critical story in the Enterprise, and now there is an attempt to right the ship with a column in the Enterprise by Stephen Souza and Joe Krovoza along with a fact sheet on the city website.

Commentary: Fix the Problem; Don’t Gut the Commissions

By David GreenwaldSeptember 19, 201021 comments

Citizen commissions have become a way of life that embodies the Davis spirit. Now, as we reported Thursday, a proposal has been put forth by the subcommittee composed of Mayor Don Saylor and Councilmember Rochelle Swanson that would effectively gut several of the key commissions.

It is easy to ascribe motivation absent other information. However, the fact remains that the proposals put forward into policy recommendations, without vetting through the community, are premature at best. This would have been much better off introduced through a workshop format, allowing all the commissions and citizens who understand their history to come forward, and then attempt a policy discussion.

Three Different Commissions; Three Different Views from the Community

By David GreenwaldSeptember 19, 20103 comments

On Tuesday night the Davis City Council will weigh in on a proposal that would, in effect, gut the commission system as we know it. On Thursday the Vanguard covered the full proposal, which includes the consolidation of several commissions into broader and less specific bodies.

Today I ran my own commentary on why that is not the best approach, and I argue that it does not get at the real budget problem. Also, what we really need to do is encourage more activist commissioners, who are not beholden to a specific political agenda. And we can restructure the system, as we should have done this spring and failed to do so properly.

Judge Richardson Responds to Topete’s Motion to Disqualify the Court

By David GreenwaldSeptember 18, 20100 comments

On Tuesday, the Vanguard reported that Marco Topete, who stands trial for the 2008 shooting death of Sheriff’s Deputy Tony Diaz, moved to disqualify Judge Paul Richardson, citing questionable and biased conduct on the part of Judge Richardson.

A judge appointed by the California Judicial Council will rule on Mr. Topete’s motion. Judge Paul Richardson has filed his response and Mr. Topete has filed a supplementary motion.

UC Retirement System Faces Huge Unfunded Liability

By David GreenwaldSeptember 18, 20108 comments

Average Worker Called to Pay into the Fund as Executives Get More Raises and Bonuses –

A couple of weeks ago, a report found that the UC Retirement System was facing a shortfall of more than 20 billion dollars. These problems appear to stem from decisions made roughly 20 years ago, when UC and its employees stopped paying into the retirement system, largely because they believed it to be over-funded.

The other problem was that the retirement plan took a huge hit with the downturn in the economy and the loss of investments. In 2008-09 the fund took a 19.2 percent hit. That will amount to roughly $700 million per year for the next fifteen years.

Board Discussion: Achievement Gap and Other Assessment Issues

By David GreenwaldSeptember 17, 201017 comments

Last night the Davis Joint Unified Board of Education discussed the achievement gap, along with newly-released data from the Academic Performance Index. There was good news and bad news to report. The good news is that overall, the district remains in good shape with a strong showing. There seem to be very small but real gains made by some of the subgroups that have performed at a lower level in the past. However, there are a lot of findings to be concerned about. The district remains concerned about the achievement gap, and while they cited small progress and the implementation of programs to assist, the progress was not near enough.

For the district, overall, there was a good deal of good news to report. Korematsu became the latest school to join the 900 club, which is an elite level where 1000 is the maximum score. APIs of all of the Junior Highs are scoring around 890. The district overall has an 877 score, which was up six points from last year.

Rough Week For the DA’s Office Regarding Two Homicide Cases

By David GreenwaldSeptember 17, 201020 comments

In one case the deceased individual is not dead and in the other a key witness asks where the shooter is –

This has probably not been the best of weeks for the DA’s Office, in terms of two cases that involve different forms of homicides. As we reported yesterday, there is the case of Timothy Hernandez, facing DUI charges that involve vehicular manslaughter. Turns out, as we reported Thursday and the Daily Democrat confirmed, the second “manslaughter” victim is alive and in critical but stable condition at UC Davis Medical Center.

Adding to the problems, Thursday marked the opening of what was supposed to be a 12-day trial involving the September 2009 shooting death of Jesus Cortez Heredia, at Ortega’s West in West Sacramento, by Jesus Solis. However, a key witness for the prosecution suddenly asked, through her interpreter, where the shooter was and why he was not in the courtroom.

Word To The Wise: Universal Design or Universal Design, That is the Question

By David GreenwaldSeptember 17, 20105 comments

By E. Roberts Musser –

On July 19, 2010, the Senior Citizens Commission, Social Services Commission and its ADA Subcommittee met jointly to explore the possibility of transforming the city’s existing Accessibility and Visitability Policy into an ordinance with more teeth. Currently, the city’s Accessibility and Visitability Policy requires builder’s to merely offer a list of accessibility/visitability features for a homeowner to select from, and nothing more.

To begin the discussion, let’s define some terms:

Council Subcommittee Proposes to Gut Commission System and Merge Disparate Functions

By David GreenwaldSeptember 16, 201030 comments

Four years ago, a council subcommittee of Ruth Asmundson and Stephen Souza attempted to, among other things, merge the Social Services Commission with the Senior Citizens Commission. The result was a huge uproar that led to much public acrimony and a backing down by the council.

Learning nothing from that debacle, the council is now proposing a far broader consolidation that would put commissions with very different functions together, in effect gutting the entire system and making the idea of citizen involvement questionable.

DA May Have Charged Second Death in DUI Case Where Victim is Still Alive and Stable

By David GreenwaldSeptember 16, 20103 comments

We have spent the last few weeks criticizing the Woodland Daily Democrats’ coverage of the court system, but they deserve credit for breaking what could develop into a major story. Covering the arraignment for a DUI case, they uncovered something very odd.

In a sad and tragic story, 19-year-old defendant Timothy Patrick Hernandez was charged with two counts of felony gross vehicular manslaughter, one count of felony DUI with an enhancement for causing great bodily injury and one count of misdemeanor driving without a license, after an arrest early Saturday morning for suspicion of felony DUI.

DA Reisig Responds to the Democrat

By David GreenwaldSeptember 16, 201021 comments

Now we have really done it, we started the debate on media coverage and now the DA has been forced to weigh in on it. Our complaint was reignited a few weeks ago when the DA released a press release on the Michael Artz trial, a case in which Mr. Artz was acquitted on the main charge but the press release never mentioned that and in fact went on to imply that he had been convicted of charges that he had not even been tried on.

The local media then, as is customary, ran the press release verbatim and implied that they had written it by putting the byline as “Staff” rather than “Press Release from the DA’s Office.”

Study Shows Huge Flaws in Reliance on Confessions as Evidence of Guilt

By David GreenwaldSeptember 15, 201032 comments

We started the Yolo Judicial Watch project at the beginning of this year believing that there were fundamental problems in the Yolo County Judicial System. Having observed and attended hearings and trials for nine months now, if anything, I think things are a lot worse than I had envisioned.

I think it is important to remember however, that these problems are often not exclusive to Yolo County. That can provide comfort or disquiet. I hear that point all of the time, in response to articles that these individuals were convicted by a jury. I understand that point of view, but I think even a jury finding must be treated with some skepticism. Two recent studies may even suggest that they should be treated with alarm.

Davis City Attorney Moves to Best, Best, and Krieger

By David GreenwaldSeptember 15, 201020 comments

Law Firms Ties To City of Bell Scandal Appear Linked To Only One Attorney Who is Now Gone –

In August it was announced that Davis’ City Attorney, Harriet Steiner, would be moving from the embattled McDonough, Holland, and Allen law firm which is on the verge of either consolidating or breaking up. She moved to the Riverside-based Best, Best, and Krieger law firm, which has 200 lawyers in eight offices across the state, and represents several municipalities in Southern California.

From the start, Ms. Steiner has said the move will not impact the city of Davis, and she moves with her a number of her associates and others that have worked for the City of Davis.

Law Enforcement for Legalized Marijuana?

By David GreenwaldSeptember 15, 201039 comments

Why doesn’t more law enforcement support the elimination of marijuana laws? In private, most police officers will acknowledge they do not like marijuana laws. Some do not like drug laws in general and do not believe that such laws work.

I remember last summer going on police ride-alongs on back-to-back days in Davis and Woodland. In both cities we encountered someone in the park with marijuana. In both cases, the police took the marijuana away, gave the individual a warning, but did not write up a citation. It was explained to me that from the standpoint of law enforcement, possession charges are cumbersome and costly.

Test Scores Are Rising But Not Fast Enough

By David GreenwaldSeptember 14, 201014 comments

The good news is that most schools in the region are improving their test scores, according to API measures released on Monday. According to the Sacramento Bee, 45 of 59 school districts in the region (Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, Yolo, and Yuba) improved their Academic Performance Index Scores.

However, at the same time there is a 27 percent increase in the number of local schools that are failing academically, based on the federal standards Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). 40 such schools fell into the category of program improvement, a designation that means that Title 1 schools failed to meet federal test score goals for two consecutive years. However, five schools that were in that category last year were able to show improvement and thus shed the PI status.

Daily Democrat Again Attempts to Defend Policy on Coverage of Press Releases

By David GreenwaldSeptember 14, 201045 comments

While right wing pundits will often complain about the liberal bias of the media, media analysts, scholars and critics point to a much more pervasive and structural problem that underlies media reporting. It does not have a left or right component to it. Rather it is a pro-government stance, due to the heavy reliance of the news media on official government sources in order to obtain their stories.

Nowhere do we see this as starkly or with a more candid admission than in this morning’s commentary in the Woodland Daily Democrat written by Jake Dorsey, the associate editor. He argues that journalists have to walk a fine line, especially with the police.

Topete Moves to Disqualify Court, Judge Richardson Amid Allegations of Judicial Prejudice and Clandestine Meetings

By David GreenwaldSeptember 14, 20105 comments

Motion Will Now Be Heard in Mid-October –

After a two year lull in the case of Marco Topete, who allegedly shot Sheriff’s Deputy Tony Diaz in June of 2008, the case has resumed and remains as controversial as ever. Three weeks ago, Mr. Topete dismissed his counsel and moved to represent himself. Now he is seeking a continuance and to disqualify the court, after what he described in a motion as questionable conduct on the part of Judge Richardson.

On Monday, Judge Richardson announced that there was a motion to disqualify the court and that motion would take precedence over all other matters. Judge Richardson said in court that he had not received a copy of the motion until now, he acknowledged receipt of it, and announced his intention to file a response to the motion.

Achievement Gap Holds Despite Improvements Across the Board

By David GreenwaldSeptember 13, 201048 comments

Gap Holds Even When Socio-Economic Status is Controlled For –

When the STAR testing results came out in August, it showed that for the most part, the Achievement Gap still remained strong, as Asians and Whites scored dramatically better than their black and Hispanic counterparts. The Vanguard has obtained more specified data from the school district which actually show the gap wider among students who are not economically disadvantaged. The data also show an achievement gap, particularly in math, opening between Asian Students and white students.

The one area where the gap is closing is only for blacks and only in math. Assistant Superintendent Clark Bryant, who oversees curriculum and instruction for the Davis school district could not explain why that was the case.

DA Attempts to Leverage Prison Wine Into Prison Time

By David GreenwaldSeptember 13, 201022 comments

After DA’s Hollow Gang Conviction Exposed by Probation Department’s Recommended Sentence –

When we reported on Jesus Arias back in mid-August it seemed likely he was facing prison time, and probably lengthy prison time, after being convicted of a violation of probation for having a rifle in the closet of the room he and his mother shared. Furthermore, he was convicted of possessing the stolen weapon, and a gang enhancement.

The weapon was discovered when the Gang Task Force of Sargent Dale Johnson, along with Hernan Oviedo and Hector Bautista – the same trio involved in the shooting of Luis Gutierrez in 2009 – conducted a probation search of Mr. Arias’ home that he shared with his mother and sister. They asked him if he had any weapons and he pointed to a rifle in the closet of the room he and his mother shared.

Month: September 2010