NEWPORT BEACH, CA – In a motion discovery and pre-trial hearing Monday at Orange County Superior Court, Judge Megan L. Wagner postponed a trial date after the accused complained about not being able to consistently contact the investigator while incarcerated.
The accused is charged with a misdemeanor for possession of tear gas and/or a tear gas weapon, later specified as pepper spray, while on parole, and is representing himself while in custody.
In the accused’s case notes, Judge Wagner said the accused was yelling over the court in a discovery motion last Friday, and warned that “you must conduct yourself in a respectful manner… You were granted the right to represent yourself but you can have it revoked if you disrupt the court.”
The accused had several requests in this previous discussion regarding discovery: Request one was to get an updated rap sheet, which the accused received. Request two was unspecified but not yet completed, and a request three to have all arrest warrant/bench warrant information provided was complete, according to Deputy District Attorney Alyssa Gosset.
However, when Judge Wagner asked the prosecution if they had put in an arrest/warrant record request from the investigator, DDA Gosset said, “For trial purposes, my understanding was that it was not relevant.”
Judge Wagner then clarified with the prosecution that the pepper spray was the only physical evidence at Newport Beach Police Department and there were no photos to put into discovery.
“Is it the People’s intent to bring it to trial?” questioned Judge Wagner, to which the DDA said not at this time.
When asked by Judge Wagner if the accused was satisfied, he said he was not, stating that “arrest reports” in the system at the time of his arrest “are all I need.”
Judge Wagner explained, regarding his second request, “The People have complied with discovery statutes, but it is a matter of getting those documents… They will give it to you at the earliest time.”
Regarding the third request, Judge Wagner asked, “There were six arrests and you believe you don’t have all the records underlying that arrest…is that correct?”
The accused agreed, so Judge Wagner proceeded to read out to the court the arrest dates on record, including five arrests for parole violation from 2019 to 2024.
The accused corrected the court, saying there was another arrest by the Newport Beach Sheriff’s Department and “all these arrests are a result of one warrant that never was signed by a Superior Court Judge… never left to the system… It’s not six warrants, I’ve only been arrested six times for the same one… that’s illegal.”
Judge Wagner asked the accused if he had a rough idea of when the sheriff’s department arrested him, and he replied, “September 2023,” which was not included in the rap sheet.
“Today is set for trial,” said Judge Wagner, “are you ready for trial?”
“No,” replied the accused, “I wanted to talk to my investigator, I want fingerprints on the pepper spray, I want the evidence… It’s been four years.”
Judge Wagner informed the accused that he should be aware of “work product privilege… I’m inclined to give you more time to prepare for trial…since you are representing yourself you may not want to tip off your defense strategy.”
The accused continued, saying, “On the video discovery… There’s only mention of parole violation… not pepper spray.”
Judge Wagner cut the speech by the accused, asking him and the prosecution how much time they would need to prepare for trial.
DDA Gossett said, “The People are ready today, but I would have no objection to pushing the date.”
The accused said he did not know, since he needed to get in contact with the court-appointed investigator and “I’m incarcerated, so I can’t just reach out to the investigator when I need (to do so). I need to wait for him to come to me.”
“I will continue the discovery motion for only one reason… for the People to reach out to the investigator… I would like to wrap up the issue regarding the arrest warrant,” concluded Judge Wagner.
The accused addressed Judge Wagner once more, saying, “There’s no way for me to verify the false arrest… The court has filed several warrants. I need to prove that those warrants weren’t in the system… In that case, I would’ve never had to come to court and clear those since they weren’t in the system.”
Judge Wagner responded, “You need to use your investigator to obtain that evidence… You’ve been provided with an updated rap sheet. It doesn’t mean there’s more discovery to order… it’s just incomplete… If there’re arrests you’re aware of that aren’t there I can’t tell you why.”
“The court denies the discovery motion besides request three” to have the arrest/bench warrant information given to the accused, announced Judge Wagner.
A new pre-trial date was set for Aug. 13 to be followed by a jury trial on Sep. 13.
