In a time of financial crisis, when all government agencies are crying poverty, in a lot of ways Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig is operating as though it were business as usual. Yolo Judicial Watch has now been covering the courts for about a year, and some of our findings are appalling.
DA Reisig and his staff may be able to write off the efforts of the Vanguard, but some of his antics have caught the Sacramento press’s attention. Two of his worst offending cases – as in waste of taxpayer money – made top ten lists for the year 2010 in both the Sacramento Bee and the Sacramento News and Review.
Were this the only such transgression, it might not be so bad. But the Vanguard tracked a long string of such cases, each one adding up to many years in prison for very minor crimes.
Meanwhile, Cosmo Garvin from the Sacramento News and Review wrote a column on the “Grinches” of the Sacramento region.
“Who made Sacramento a little more awful? In 2010, these hearts were two sizes too small,” he wrote.
Second on the list that included Genentech, as well as the UC Board of Regents and CSU Board of Trustees, Assemblyman Tim Donnelly (a minutemen chapter leader), PG&E, the Regional Watch Quality Control Board and Sanitation District, and Sacramento City Hall, was our own DA Jeff Reisig. Mr. Reisig made this list for his neverending pursuit of the Galvan case.
Like many cases, the Vanguard broke the cheese story. But the Sacramento Bee made it famous as papers as big as the Guardian of London and the New York Times picked it up as a poster child for the excess of Three Strikes.
As the Vanguard wrote on March 5, 2010: What started out as a modest story on the Vanguard has now been featured in stories across the world. Yes, you read that correctly. On Monday February 8, 2010, the Vanguard wrote a story called “Yolo County Man Faces Third Strike For Stealing Cheese.”
It will not go down as the most-read story on the Vanguard, however, it is probably by far the most influential. Because the Vanguard ran this story, the Sacramento Bee ran a follow-up a few days later. As we reported to you, by Thursday, the Yolo County District Attorney had pulled back the push for three strikes and only asked for 11 years.
The story made “The Lede” in the New York Times.
“Prosecutors in Yolo County, Calif., outside Sacramento, had originally asked for a life sentence under the state’s “three strikes” law, arguing that the man, Robert Preston Ferguson, was a menace to society because of prior burglary convictions.”
The story made The Guardian of London.
“In an era of savage budget cuts to the most basic of public services, does it make sense for a state to spend $50,000-$100,000 a year to lock up a cheese thief for the rest of his natural life?
“The obvious answer to that question would be “no.” After all, $100,000 could keep one or two teachers employed; could pay the home-health care costs of disabled low-income Americans; or could keep an after-school programme afloat. And yet, that is precisely what a grandstanding California district attorney’s office earlier this month suggested was an appropriate solution for the problem that is Robert Ferguson: a mentally ill, drug-addicted 53-year-old habitual offender who has cycled in and out of prison for most of his adult life and found himself on the wrong end of a three strikes prosecution for the monstrous crime of stuffing a $3.99 bag of shredded cheese down his underpants and hot-tailing it out of a Nugget supermarket without paying.”
As Public Defender Monica Brushia told the Vanguard, “I would have wanted to see the District Attorney not to pursue this as a life case.”
She added, “People should realize that a minor case like this should be a misdemeanor, not a felony. The only reason this case is a felony is that he has a priors. The system should look at it isolated from other charges, that would help a lot.”
Ms. Brushia went on to point out that while there are many people in prison under the three strikes law who have committed bad crimes, there are also a lot of people just like Mr. Ferguson. These are people who have not committed violent crimes at all. Instead they end up spending the rest of their lives in prison, or an exceedingly long amount of time, for very minor crimes.
While the story was covered from coast to coast and across the world, the Vanguard was never mentioned. But we took solace in the fact that we broke this story, and the world might never have known about it without our efforts.
Meanwhile Jeff Reisig made the list of Grinches for his pursuit of “justice” in the Galvan case.
Writes Mr. Garvin, “Back in 2005, two West Sacramento police officers approached Fermin Galvan and his brother Ernesto. It was 3 in the morning, and the cops suspected the two of using drugs and just generally being up to no good.”
“We may never know if Ernesto really instigated the violence that went down by taking a swing at the officer—that’s the official version. But when it was over, Fermin was beaten up with a few missing teeth. Ernesto was in a coma. Today his head is permanently misshapen by the blows of West Sacramento’s police batons,” he continued.
“It turned out the Galvans weren’t on drugs, and they had not committed any crime before encountering the West Sac officers,” Mr. Garvin continues.
Cosmo Garvin pulls no punches, “In an apparent attempt to dodge legal liability for excessive force, District Attorney Jeff Reisig is making an unprecedented fourth attempt—following three hung juries—to prosecute the Galvans for resisting arrest and battery on a police officer. Prosecutors have downplayed Ernesto’s injuries, saying the West Sac officers used “restraint.””
He concludes, “Good thing. Had the officers been even a little less restrained, we wouldn’t be talking about the case at all, because Ernesto Galvan would have been dead and buried five years ago.”
We will have our own list later this week of the worst cases that the DA put forward. It is really appalling to look at it. We may not even get to the case of the guy who was arrested and held in jail for six months who was the wrong guy.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
I am glad someone is watching what is happening in the courts of Yolo County and reporting to the citizens. Many citizens were simply unaware of the abuses and prosecutorial misconduct that have been allowed to permeate our justice system.
Please keep the Judicial Watch going.
The three strikes law is a good law for continued violent criminals that victimize the public. Like many good laws that are intended to do good, but then you end up with over zealous (that is being nice) prosecutors that ignore the intent of the law and only focus on their conviction rate and want headlines for being tough and getting life for cheese or getting a useless gang injunction so the DA can say how big crime is in his area.
The problem is not the law it is the lack of accountability of Prosecutors. [quote]Absolute Power corrupts absolutely[/quote]
People want to believe in the system and want to trust and have faith in the DA. Overcoming this want is very difficult, no one wants to believe that a DA could be crooked and so unethical to put innocent people in jail for the sake of his conviction rate/record. No one wants to believe that a DA would intentionally hide evidence, put on false testimony, intimidate witnesses, misrepresent the facts, “Just to ensure he gets a conviction”.
Every with all the reports, all the facts, all the proof that continues to grow against Mr. Reisig, he continues to get blind support from those who “Want to believe in the system”.
Very sad for the people of Yolo and this unchecked power just gives other DA’s the confidence that no one will investigate, no one cares and any DA can do pretty much what he wants, ignoring ethics, laws and the constitution, without fear of any repercussion.
The problem Roger is that laws like “Three Strikes” takes the discretion out of the hands of Judges, who while imperfect, are the most neutral parties in any criminal dispute, and it puts the decision into the hands of prosecutors who have electoral pressures to be tough on crime and are the most powerful and least objective of the parties in a criminal matter. That is an inherent flaw.
Thanks for your enlightening stories on the Yolo Judicial System. We are much more informed about the antics going on. Too bad you aren’t getting the recognition you deserve.
JakeWallace
1210 N. Cherokee Avenue Apt 316
Hollywood, CA 90038
October 15, 2009
Jeff Reisig
District Attorney
301 Second Street
Woodland, CA 95695
District Attorney Reisig,
Calls and messages have not been returned. We direct the district attorney to GC 27641, county council accusations in 2005, September 8 & October 12, 2009, filed against now council and acting CAO, Robyn Drivon Truitt, Judge Steve Basha and assistant council, Daniel Cederborg.
Today we spoke with Yolo Human Resources, Mindi Nunes, in detail, and Ms. Nunes stated that the GC 27641 had already been investigated, which we refute. Ms. Nunes stated the CAO and council forwarded the GC complaint back to the board clerk who then forwarded it to human resources where the GC complaint was flipped into a county claim though Wallace submitted no county claim form and the GC correspondence and the supervisor’s action were never publicly documented and addressed. Check the Yolo Probation Dept. who should be investigating a similar complaint. Calaveras official’s had the identical GC complaint as official board correspondence last week.
We ask that the district attorney’s office investigate all documents cited in all complaints. Please note that DA Jeff Reisig is cited as a co-conspirator which is simple an allegation that the DA could dispute or request that the FBI investigate. Please respond in writing of the district attorney’s actions.
Jake Wallace
1)Sacramento CC letter dated October 8, 2009
2)Yolo Human Resources response to GC 27641 dated October 7, 2009
Benjamin Wagner
United States Attorney
501 I Street, Suite 10-100
Sacramento, CA 95814
Mr. Joseph P. Russoniello
United States Attorney
450 Golden Gate Avenue
Box 36055
Sacramento Regional FBI Office
4500 Orange Grove
Sacramento, CA 95841
Jake Wallace
1210 N. Cherokee Avenue # 316
Hollywood, CA 90038
January 6, 2010
Mariko Yamada
State Assembly
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0008
Jeff Reisig
District Attorney
301 Second Street
Woodland, CA 95695
Drew S. Parenti
Special Agent in Charge
4500 Orange Grove
Sacramento, CA 95841
Yamada: Reisig: Parenti,
We spoke with a staffer of Mariko Yamada on January 4, 2010 (916-319-2008).
That staffer stated that Yamada and her staff had decided that these criminal issues must be referred to the Yolo District Attorney’s office. We informed Yamada’s office that Jeff Reisig has had the documentation filed with the Yolo county grand jury (2005/06, 2008/09) GC 27641 (2006 & 2009), qui tam suits CV06-581 & CV 32550 and the probation department’s complaint procedure (2009) and that Yamada and Reisig had already circled the wagons.
Yamada has refused to allow an investigation on felony foster abuse allegations in violation of Title 22, case law, grand jury statues and state & federal laws & constitutional rights of state foster youth. Yamada is a California social worker an elected official under an oath of office.
We contacted the Yolo DA directly after we spoke with the staffer and left a message with Reisig’s secretary who stated we would get a call back, which hasn’t taken place. Prior calls and letters to Reisig have been ignored. The staffer also stated the CHP would be called due to Yamada’s staffer claiming threats were stated against Yamada. We contacted the capital CHP office to report that we wanted an investigation on these issues. The CHP to date has not followed through with a call back.
Page 2 State Assembly member, Yamada, Yolo DA Reisig, FBI Parenti
January 6, 2010
The legal issues filed on behalf of state foster youth and a state group homes legal right to serve state foster youth is well documented in the public record.
A senior Sacramento DA investigator advised us on how to re file the complaints and gain the investigation that Calaveras and Yolo official’s stated in writing we would have.
Recent GC 27641 filed in Yolo show a violation of the Brown Act Article 1. Rules Governing Meetings; Sec. 2-1.301. Purpose. Sec. 2-1.303. Hearings. Yolo supervisor chair, Mc Gowan & county council acting CAO, Robyn Drivon Truitt, flipped the GC 27641 complaint into a claim outlined in a Yolo Human Resources October 7, 2009, letter from Mindi Nunes (attached). The Yolo DA had failed to investigate. Ditto in Calaveras.
This replicated Yamada and her colleague’s handling of a 2005, GC 27641 complaint where the board, county council Robyn Drivon Truitt, held a private meeting with former county council now judge, Steve Basha, over the illicit appt of then Calaveras probation chief, Don L. Meyer, out from under a falsified investigation by a subordinate DPO lll, Teri Hall, after Meyer failed to have Sacramento asst chief, Suzanne Collins and Tuolumne asst chief, Tom Greene, falsify the investigation. Yamada, colleagues, county council and the Yolo state court concealed the issues.
We simple seek that investigation.
Please take a close look also at the case of Lorenson v. Superior Court, 35 C.2d 49 (1950), where the California Supreme Court ruled on page59 and 60 of the case that “A conspiracy with or among public officials not to perform their official duty to enforce criminal laws is an obstruction of justice an indictable offense at common law.” This means that if judges deliberately fail to report criminal violation by other, such as judges, as they are required by California Code of Judicial Conduct, Canon 3D, the silent judge just joined a conspiracy to obstruct and pervert justice.
Public corruption is one of the FBI’s top investigative priorities—behind only terrorism, espionage, and cyber crimes. Why? Because of its impact on our democracy and national security. Public corruption can affect everything from how well our borders are secured and our neighborhoods protected…to verdicts handed down in courts…to the quality of our roads and schools. And it takes a significant toll on our pocketbooks, too, siphoning off tax dollars. Learn more here about our national program and local investigations.
Jake Wallace
323-309-3115
David Greenwald wrote:
“After all, $100,000 could keep one or two teachers employed; could pay the home-health care costs of disabled low-income Americans; or could keep an after-school programme afloat.”
Good article. Except: in other Vanguard posts you temper the arguments other present regarding bad spending because, as you say, the “money comes from a different pool of funds.” Ala zipcar or some of the other tired subjects. It could be 75,000, but…alas, it is from a environmental mitigation fund, or whatever, so it really isn’t that bad.
I assume the 100,000 you mention in this post could not actually be used for teachers. Unless you know that it can, I don’t see this example as any different than the continuing discussion surrounding zipcar or any number of debates: “yes, except it comes from a different pool of funds, so….”
Personally, I don’t agree with that argument. But you don’t get to argue both ways, depending on how you view the severity of the “misuse.”
Must be hell to work in that office if you’re interested in “doing justice” in the American, rather than the Third Reich sense.
Civil: I’d have to think about that point more. But since prison money comes from state general fund, and we have cut money from education rather than money from prisons, I think technically the money we spent to incarcerate someone could be directly used to hire teachers. It’s not like in the case of zipcar, there is a pocket of money that can only be used for certain uses, this is general fund money coming from the state. They have cut billions from education and barely touched the corrections budget.
I think the VG should also have a list of cases the DA’s office has done a good job on. I would be nice to have a little balance on this site. Maybe you could profile 10 cases where, in DG’s opinion, criminals have been taken taken off the street and the public is better protected.
Again, David, you deserve satisfaction when your reporting gets picked up, sometimes world-wide! The cheese-thief story and the continuing coverage of the Galvans’ trials deserve recognition.
I remain concerned, however, about bigger Judicial Watch apparent guiding proposition–that most every Yolo defendant is innocent and/or unjustly arrested, then over-charged and inadequately represented, and then unfairly tried by power-crazed prosecutors, biased and rude judges and ignorant and racist juries.
Each time you write a story about someone who you claim is “innocent” after he pleads guilty beyond a reasonable doubt or is found guilty by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt, I cringe a little more. (There are variations on the theme, of course. Notably, “he’s probably guilty, but he was treated wrong.”)
Each of these stories requires villainizing some official–or constructing a conspiracy of villains–who has sworn–or have sworn–to support our legal and justice system and to uphold our laws and the Constitution. I don’t suggest terrible abuses don’t happen or that smaller ones should should be ignored. I just don’t think our Davis and Yolo County law enforcement and legal system deserves to be painted with such a brush.
While opinions abound, the evidence so far is skimpy or non-existent. Each of these under-documented and over-blown case studies brings out a tirade of whacko, unsupported comments charging what would be criminal behavior by our deputies, district attorneys and judges (driven, of course, by bad motives).
Probably the worst libel printed here (certainly, the most devoted efforts) spews from j[u]ake wallace[/u]’s never-ending letters defaming everyone he contacts about his issue. But, there have been close seconds for un-relenting slanderous comments whenever you publish another JW exposé. Not that you’re to blame for our reactions to your work….
“I remain concerned, however, about bigger Judicial Watch apparent guiding proposition–that most every Yolo defendant is innocent and/or unjustly arrested, then over-charged and inadequately represented, and then unfairly tried by power-crazed prosecutors, biased and rude judges and ignorant and racist juries.”
I think that’s hyperbole. But you do have to understand in the parlance of academia, I am selecting on the dependent variable. Or to put it another way, I’m intentionally picking cases to follow that are problematic or contested to begin with. In other words, I don’t think everyone charged is innocent or overcharged, but the methods we are using to select cases lead us to cover such cases.
Most cases are rightly settled long before we get a real chance to evaluate them. Once they get to trial, they become by necessity more problematic.
That said I think a real percentage of cases are wrongly prosecuted and wrongly decided. However, and I don’t know if this gives you solace or pause, I’m not sure that Yolo County is really an exemplar or just a typical case.
DG, if you are able to pick the cases you believe involve abuse of some sort you should be able to pick case where you believe things are handled appropriately. Since you are the captain of this ship I would be nice to see the balance so we have an idea of when you believe justice is being served when someone goes to prison. Since you haven’t posted any positive opinions on cases in Yolo County where individuals go to prison it appears that everyone in Yolo County is abused by the system.
In a world with unlimited resources, sure. In reality, as a watchdog rather than a crime beat reporter, the dog that doesn’t bark is not so interesting.
Mr. Obvious,
“DG, if you are able to pick the cases you believe involve abuse of some sort you should be able to pick case where you believe things are handled appropriately. Since you are the captain of this ship I would be nice to see the balance so we have an idea of when you believe justice is being served when someone goes to prison.”
Assuming he has limited resources and the YJW’s first and foremost concern is with the criminal justice/judicial system’s shortcomings and inherent flaws, perhaps covering a case(s) for which the process and outcome were subjectively “just” would be a lesser priority?
If a reader or poster currently doubts the reporting and coverage of DMG/YJW because of his/its alleged biased coverage of the system’s woes and its sworn officers’ integrity, how would his selective coverage of cases that went “well” remedy this…if his bias is truly as pervasive as some have asserted?
“Since you haven’t posted any positive opinions on cases in Yolo County where individuals go to prison it appears that everyone in Yolo County is abused by the system.”
It would appear that way if the reader were not at all cognizant of the YJW’s objective, I suppose. What’s more, one must be quite ignorant to believe that every single person who ends up in the system is in some fashion abused by it.
You use the word “opinions” in your above post to make your point and I think that’s a distinction that the reader must make when absorbing information. Just because you find that all of DMG’s “opinions” portray the system negatively and as unjust, that doesn’t mean that the inverse cannot be true…that the systems is in fact just (has its “positives”) or that many-if not most defendants-suffer no injustices.
If the YJW serves as the basis for which one’s formulated opinions of the criminal justice/judicial system solely rests, that’s not DMG’s fault is it?
SM:
One of the things I wanted to do was create a dataset that would analyze outcomes, but there are several problems with doing that. The first is strictly personnel. The bigger problem is with plea agreements which make up the bulk of cases and are difficult to assess in terms of fairness and propriety.
For example, one defense attorney believed her client innocent, but her client would have been three strikes and was given three years plus credits, so she took the deal to have the person out in a little over a year even though she fully believed the individual innocent.
Bottom line, everything comes down to opinion anyway because there is no objective standard to weigh the evidence and assess fairness and propriety most of the time unless someone gets caught breaking the law such as withholding Brady material.