Court Watch

By Catherine McKnight

Judge Stephen L. Mock expressed his thoughts on his verdict this Friday afternoon, with respect: “When I took this job, I took an oath to apply the law without any decision being affected by emotion. While it breaks my heart, that’s the law.”

This was following his verdict of ‘not guilty’ on counts 1-3 of vehicular manslaughter causing death due to gross negligence in People v. Gubani Roderico Rosales Quinteros.

This morning’s Sacramento Bee reports that another longtime female sheriff’s deputy in Yolo County has filed suit, alleging that Sheriff Ed Prieto subjected her “to protracted sexual harassment, culminating in his offer to trade an assignment for oral sex.”

Denny Walsh, the reporter at the Bee, writes, “Robin Gonzalez claims in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday that the blatant conduct has continued for almost her entire 11 years under Prieto’s command.

A Yolo County judge threw out two cases and strongly rebuked sheriff’s deputies, in two unrelated cases that came before him in early June after videotaped evidence showed the deputies were being untruthful in their justifications for searches during traffic stops, according to court transcripts obtained by the Vanguard.

“What is really troublesome to the Court is the deputy’s misrepresentation in the incident report, which brings into question the deputy’s credibility from the get-go,” Judge David Rosenberg said in a court transcript from one of the cases, in granting a motion to suppress evidence that led to Deputy DA Jared Favero dismissing the case due to lack of evidence.

That Yolo County Judge Timothy Fall does not suffer fools lightly is a truth that is known throughout the Yolo County legal community and beyond.  Judge Fall runs the tightest and strictest courtroom in the county, bar none, and has no problem taking to task defense attorneys and prosecutors alike when they step out of line.

But, while counsel fear making a misstep in his presence, at the same time most respect his intellect and command on the law.  Long ago, he gained our respect when he tossed aside a Deputy DA’s attempt to close the courtroom to the Vanguard, arguing that freedom of the press was the hallmark of a free society.

by Antoinnette Borbon

Billy Wolfington, who was recently found guilty of second degree murder, was back in court for a hearing pertaining to case enhancements.  Just last month, a Yolo County jury found Mr. Wolfington, the sole named defendant in the 2005 West Sacramento Gang Injunction, guilty of second degree murder.

His co-defendant, Shannon Silva, was acquitted on all charges.  Yolo County Deputy DA Ryan Couzens had sought first degree murder charges on both defendants.

In year four of the court watch program, we have made a number of changes. Perhaps the one most visible to the reader is that interns are now the ones primarily writing about the courts.  But that is not the only major change this year.

Beginning in April, we created the Vanguard Court Watch Council, a 12 member body that every fourth Sunday of the month holds public meetings.  In May, we met at the Davis library and provided what appears to be the only time that the family of Eli Davis has spoken in public about the April 2013 incident.

by Antoinnette Borbon

It was a day filled with deep emotion for a few of us while listening to both closing arguments in the case of Zacharius Kleinsasser.   Mr. Kleinsasser was brought to trial for a recommitment in Napa State Hospital.

On Wednesday, Deputy DA Rob Gorman delivered a brief closing which was very similar to his opening statement earlier this week.  Mr. Gorman reminded the jury once again of the three elements to be met by the state.

By Antoinnette Borbon

As the day began with the continuing testimony of the state’s witness, Dr. Skillie, it rapidly began resembling a long ago movie, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” starring Jack Nicholson. In the movie, actor Jack Nicholson was depicted as “being crazy and out of control, by staff,” but really was not.

Cross-examination by Deputy Public Defender Dan Hutchinson began this morning with the questioning of the medical reports.

by Antoinnette Borbon

It was an interesting day today in Department 4, Judge David Rosenberg residing, to hear the state’s case for re-committing a defendant to Napa State Hospital.

Zacharius Kleinsasser was found not guilty for reasons of insanity back in 2003. In opening statements made by Deputy District Attorney Rob Gorman, he explained to the jurors they would be deciding on the facts and whether the state has met its burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Kleinsasser is a danger to society.

Nearly 30 years ago Chris Fowler committed one of the most unthinkable acts one could imagine – tired, angry, and most of all high on drugs and alcohol, Mr. Fowler, just 22, took out his frustrations on an innocent 22-month-old baby, beating the child to death.  For that crime, he was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison and has been eligible for parole now for nearly 20 years.

As we reported back in 2011 and just last week, on November 8, 2010, Mr. Fowler was found suitable for parole, but then politics got in the way.  The Yolo County DA’s office put massive amounts of pressure on Governor Jerry Brown, and Governor Brown who ironically has been more likely to allow parole to go forward than his predecessors, succumbed to that press, arguing, if released, Mr. Fowler would pose an unreasonable risk to public safety, and reversed the parole board’s decision.

Last night I belatedly caught Helen Prejean’s interview with MSNBC talk show host Rachel Maddow.  Helen Prejean is the nun who wrote the book “Dead Man Walking,” chronicling her experience with a condemned killer, and one of the most forceful opponents to capital punishment.

Part of what she said really struck me, about “once you get people to be able to identify that the human being who did that outrageous act is more than that one act in their life.”

Chris Fowler, in November of 1983 and then 22 years old, was convicted of second degree murder for the beating death of 22-month-old Aaron Miller.  He was sentenced to 15 years to life and was eligible for parole on December 23, 1993.

On November 8, 2010, the Board of Parole Hearings (Board) found Mr. Fowler suitable for parole.  However, the governor reversed the Board’s decision, concluding that, if released, Mr. Fowler would pose an unreasonable risk to public safety.

By David Greenwald and Antoinnette Borbon

A sad day today to watch the media swarm around a tragic case. Behind the glass booth of the courtroom today stood a 16-year-old defendant who has been charged with the double homicide of an elderly couple.

On April 13 of this year, the couple was found stabbed to death in their South Davis home. Daniel Marsh was arrested on Monday after an investigation which, at the onset, had police baffled.

It is somewhat surprising that the mass local or regional media did not pick up the story of the trial of Bill Wolfington.  After all, it would seem to have all of the elements.  When he was arrested and his story splashed across the news, there was his connection to the original West Sacramento gang injunction, where he was the sole party who was served by then-Deputy DA Jeff Reisig.

So why would his subsequent arrest on murder and gang charges – a case that was briefly considered as a possible death penalty case – not garner more coverage?  That will remain a mystery to me.

On Friday afternoon, following nearly three full days of deliberation on the two-and-a-half week, co-defendant murder trial, the jury delivered a split verdict – delivering a guilty verdict for Billy Wolfington of second degree murder  without the gang enhancement but acquitting co-defendant Shannon Silva.

The verdict can only been seen as a blow to the prosecution, who initially contemplated the death penalty, before seeking first degree murder charges on both defendants stemming from the September 2, 2011, stabbing death of 29-year-old Bobby Brittenum.

In the wake of last week’s landmark decision by the Supreme Court on DNA databases that could allow police to take DNA samples from people arrested for possibly committing “serious” crimes, many justified the ruling as a way to protect the innocent and catch the guilty.

However, Justice Antonin Scalia and three of the court’s liberal justices disagreed.  In a scathing dissent, Justice Scalia argued “solving crime is a noble objective but less important than protecting people from suspicionless searches.  Your DNA can be taken if you are ever arrested, rightly or wrongly, for whatever reason.”

By David M. Greenwald and Antoinnette Borbon

Deputy District Attorney Ryan Couzens summarized his case against Billy Wolfington and Shannon Silva, arguing that victim Bobby Brittenum said something that was arguably threatening, but more simply offensive, and Billy Wolfington stabbed him to death.  He argued that the motive was a perceived lack of respect on the part of Mr. Brittenum.

In DDA Ryan Couzens’ closing, he talked more about all of the laws and instructions of those laws than of the actual stabbing itself. But he wanted to make sure the jurors truly understood how they are to view the law and make the decision of guilty or not guilty.

by Antoinnette Borbon

After finishing up testimony with gang expert Mark Harrison, the defense called defendant Billy Wolfington to the stand. Wolfington, along with co-defendant Shannon Silva, have been charged with the stabbing death of Bobby Brittenum, who was found at the Flamingo Motel in West Sacramento on the night of September 2, 2011.

Mr. Wolfington started out by telling a story which began from the time he was in his mother’s womb. He told the jurors that his mother did not want him but ended up having him only to give him up to another couple. I missed who they were. He stated the couple took him home to their home in the Broderick area. Mr. Wolfington stated both parents were heroin addicts, so he had been exposed to drugs his whole young life. At the age of 3, Mr. Wolfington first witnessed his father, who was not his biological father, get arrested for possession. Mr. Wolfington, choking up during testimony, talked about how it affected him.

It was a remarkable op-ed column in the Sunday New York Times where Richard Viguerie, chair of ConservativeHQ.com, made the conservative case for prison reform arguing: “Conservatives should recognize that the entire criminal justice system is another government spending program fraught with the issues that plague all government programs.”

He continues: “Criminal justice should be subject to the same level of skepticism and scrutiny that we apply to any other government program.”