By Joshua Cenzano
SANTA BARBARA, CA – “John Doe”* saw a felony charge—threatening a law enforcement officer—reduced to a misdemeanor here in a preliminary hearing this week in Santa Barbara County Superior Court, where Doe also faced a misdemeanor vandalism charge.
*(NOTE: “John Doe” is not a real name. The Vanguard is no longer, in most cases, using real names for suspects in misdemeanors cases.)
After hearing testimony from an officer on the scene, the defense motioned to reduce the felony charge to a misdemeanor in light of the defendant’s inability to carry out his threat.
Judge Clifford Anderson ultimately agreed, reducing the felony charge to a misdemeanor, and found that there was sufficient evidence presented for both misdemeanor counts to move forward.
The case will resume on Dec. 9.
Doe was stopped and detained by police on the afternoon of Oct. 11 under suspicion of vandalism that was known to have occurred one-third of a mile away from where he was stopped.
The prosecution’s stated evidence presented against him on the vandalism charge was circumstantial, relying on a witness’s statement to police connecting the suspected vandal with a drywall taping knife used to tamper with an electrical box by the Goleta library.
Doe was found near the scene in possession of a similar drywall taping knife, but no witness identification was ever made.
The higher charge involves his conduct during the stop, when he allegedly became uncooperative and belligerent after being placed under scrutiny for the vandalism, according to the testimony of arresting Deputy Sheriff Jaycee Hunter.
Doe was arrested for failing to provide his identification to law enforcement, after which he became violent and needed to be physically controlled, said Hunter.
“He screamed at me in Spanish that he was going to kill me,” said the deputy sheriff, describing the conduct of Doe. This testimony formed the basis of the prosecution’s evidence as to the felony charge: threatening a law enforcement officer engaged in lawful actions.
The defense heard this testimony and established in cross-examination the accused’s completely subordinated position on the scene, asking the officer to detail the handcuffs that were restraining the suspect as well as the training of the officers in control positions and how they were positioned at the time.
In argument to the judge, defense counsel maintained that Doe did not have the means to carry out his threat and it therefore should not be considered a felony offense.
