By Vanguard Court Watch Interns
The afternoon session of Department 1 on Friday, February 22 included a preliminary hearing regarding the Wayne Cottle case. Mr. Cottle, defended by Mr. Ryan Friedman, was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine. Deputy District Attorney Mr. Jay Linden called the first and only witness, Officer Josh Helton of the Davis Police Department.
On October 6 of last year, 911 operators provided Officer Helton with the phone number of Ms. Pratt, the defendant’s girlfriend, who believed that he was suicidal and possibly in possession of drugs and/or a firearm. Specifically, she said that he had a methamphetamine and Adderall problem, and it was likely that he was using.
Ms. Pratt described his car as a gold Ford truck and was able to use the GPS chip in Mr. Cottle’s phone to tell officers where he was. Just after 11:15 am, Officer Helton responded to the Dollar Tree parking lot with several other officers to conduct a welfare check on Mr. Cottle.
They saw an empty truck matching Ms. Pratt’s description, but about 100 feet away they spotted a man, who turned out to be the defendant, in a dark gray Ford F-150 with his hands up. Mr. Cottle was ordered out of the vehicle at gunpoint and put in handcuffs.
Officer Helton rationalized this as a necessary precaution to prevent the allegedly suicidal Cottle from hurting himself or the officers.
When asked about the contents of the vehicle, Mr. Cottle admitted that there was an “empty” baggie of meth, and consented to a vehicle search. Officers found the baggie, which turned out to contain 0.05 grams of meth. After receiving a Miranda rights warning, Mr. Cottle told officers that he had been clean for 90 days, but had used a quarter gram of meth just before the police arrived.
Upon cross-examination, Officer Helton testified that the amount of meth found in the vehicle is on the extreme low side for personal possession cases, but could still be considered a usable quantity.
Mr. Friedman argued that what transpired did not resemble a simple welfare check, but rather is consistent with a criminal narcotics investigation.
Even though the officers could not observe an illegal activity from their vantage point, Mr. Cottle was ordered out of a completely different vehicle than the one described, at gunpoint. However, the judge found that the police were not acting inappropriately and were just trying to protect everyone involved.
The People were prepared to offer rehabilitation rather than incarceration, but Mr. Linden believes that all methamphetamine cases should still be felonies. Regardless, Mr. Friedman’s 17b motion (per Penal Code §17(b)(3)) was granted, reducing the charges from felony to misdemeanor status.
According to the judge, this was based upon the fact that Mr. Cottle is 32 years old and has no prior criminal history.
Mr. Wayne Cottle’s next court date will be Monday, March 4 at 8:30 am in Department 8.
Court Grants Sargent Probation After Tragic Accident
By Vanguard Court Watch Interns
On February 20, 2013 Steven Sargent went to court with the hopes of getting a new grant of probation. In 2005, Mr. Sargent didn’t pay his court fees and that was the only reason he remained on probation. While Mr. Sargent was on probation he was driving under the influence of alcohol the night of 2007 (though under the legal limit of .08).
He was charged with vehicular manslaughter for a tragic event that happened on November 9, 2007, in which his passenger and friend Larry Bruce died at the scene.
However, Mr. Sargent walked out of the jury trial in 2012 with only the conviction of speeding. (Editor’s note: the Vanguard covered this trial last February)
The court fees that he was unable to pay in 2005 were $7,000 a year. However, this is a lot of money for anyone who only worked a minimum wage job.
Mr. Sargent paid about $100 a month, which was all he could really afford. Sargent wanted to end his probation. His lawyer pointed out that Sargent is a very serious citizen. He dresses appropriately to court, shows up on time, attends AA meetings on a voluntary basis, and wants to be a better person and move on with his life.
His lawyer doesn’t believe that he should be put in jail with other people who have no respect for rules of the court. This would not benefit Mr. Sargent in any way, and Sargent has proved his desire to become a better citizen and a productive member of society.
Mr. Sargent is 36 years old and this is the time of his life when he should know his role in life and not be in jail when he is actually making an attempt to better himself. His lawyer emphasized that the event was an accident.
Mr. Sargent already feels much remorse for what had happened the night of 2007. His friend died in a vehicle in which he was driving under the influence of alcohol. Sargent has done what he can for society by giving community service hours at church and by donating blood and platelets.
Also, Mr. Sargent has effectively lived a five-year period of sobriety because he really does want to change and have positivity in his life.
After listening to everything, the judge said that the life of Larry Bruce should be remembered in this tragic accident. Judge Paul Richardson said he is trying to turn things around and the court should be recognizing his efforts and giving him credit for all he has done in these last five years.
Finally, Mr. Sargent was given a new grant of probation and will come back to court April 17 at 10am to set the terms and conditions of his new probation.
Disruptive Defendant and Concerns Over the Davis Murder Case Jury Pool
By Vanguard Court Watch Interns
Friday morning hearings in Department 1 started with a dramatic outburst from Juan Lazcano.
While waiting for his case to be called, Mr. Lazcano started shouting that a particular lawyer was disrespecting him. It would seem this lawyer accidentally bumped into Mr. Lazcano, and Lazcano took offense to this.
The bailiffs approached Mr. Lazcano and asked him to settle down. One of the bailiffs explained that the lawyer was only talking to his client.
Mr. Lazcano continued to be disruptive. Mr. Lazcano’s daughter was in the audience and she pleaded with her father to calm down, even stating, “Dad, we can’t be disrespectful.”
Mr. Lazcano was not receptive to his daughter and told his daughter to shut up. His daughter began crying as the bailiffs removed Mr. Lazcano from the court until his case was called.
Tracie Olson represents Juan Lazcano. When Mr. Lazcano returned she called in a question of doubt; she was questioning Mr. Lazcano’s competency to continue trial. Mr. Lazcano informed Judge Richardson he was competent.
After Ms. Olson wanted doctors to be involved in the case, Mr. Lazcano began his outburst again. He started shouting profanities at Judge Richardson. The bailiffs again removed Mr. Lazcano from the court.
Juan Lazcano’s case is on for preliminary hearing. His case will continue on March 22 at 8:30am. Lazcano is charged with two counts of battery with serious injury, assault with bodily injury, and infliction of great bodily injury.
The case of James Ming might spark interest among local Davis residents. Ming allegedly killed Kevin Steery at College Square Apartments on J street.
The defense voiced their concern about the jury pool possibly being tainted. Davis has not seen a murder since 2004. The defense is worried about the publicity this case may receive.
Furthermore, the defense wanted a questionnaire to give to panels of jurors. These questions would ask about suicide. Also, the defense wanted to question potential jurors on their knowledge of Ming’s case.
The People, on the other hand, wanted to talk about suicidal topics in court to see how jurors may react to the topic. The court decided to talk about the matter later Friday afternoon.
Man convicted of embezzlement and sentenced to 5-year term
By Stephanie Yang
On Friday morning, February 22, 2013, Department 3 was filled with people for the sentencing of Benjamin Chaney by Judge Stephen L. Mock. Chaney was convicted of embezzlement from a family-owned business in Davis with which he had previously been employed.
Mr. Chaney, 32 years old, was founded guilty of writing hundreds of fraudulent checks and amassing over $300,000 in credit card expenses.
Mr. Chaney was married to the daughter of the Harper family, of Harper Model Home Maintenance, and they took him in and gave him a position with their family business. Chaney worked his way up and eventually became the Chief Financial Officer.
After the marriage ended, the Harpers allowed Mr. Chaney to continue working with them. It was not until Chaney left the company that they discovered the financial discrepancies in the accounts, from the previous few years.
They found out Mr. Chaney had been using thousands of dollars of company finances for personal use, and for a competing business he was starting on his own.
Mr. Chaney’s second wife Kara Brown was also prosecuted for being an accessory to the embezzlement. She will pay a large fine and be subjected to probation, while Chaney will be sentenced to 5 years in prison.
It was indeed an unfortunate family affair on both sides. As Mr. Chaney was handcuffed and taken out of the courtroom, his family members cried out, “We love you man,” and from the Harper family side of the room, tears were wept, as well.
