Court Watch

Last year when Clinton Parish was running for a Yolo County judgeship against Judge Dan Maguire, he made a critical mistake that, in the heat of the moment, is easy to make – he thought his political team had properly vetted an attack ad that they were recommending he launch against sitting Judge Maguire.

He was wrong, they had not, and the allegations turned out to be embarrassingly false.  The mistake cost him his dignity, his election, and ultimately his job.  He had to move his family from the place they had lived for over ten years.

By Charmayne Schmitz

On Monday, March 25, John Timothy Ganthner’s mother testified that her son Tim had very little experience interacting with or caring for small children. Public Defender Allison Zuvela then called the defendant to the stand.

Tim and Tina, Zane’s grandmother, had been living together for about 5 years. Zane’s mother, Vanessa, was homeless. At the time of the incident, Vanessa and Zane were living at a shelter on Power Inn Road, but Vanessa didn’t stay at the shelter every night with Zane.

by Antoinnette Borbon

The small courtroom of Department 9, Yolo Superior Court Commissioner Janene Beronio presiding, was packed full of Yolo County residents Wednesday.  Some were friends and family of the victim, with a few family members of the defendant.  All of them were anxiously awaiting the arraignment of the young man accused of beating a Davis resident.

Clayton Garzon, accused of beating a 32-year-old Davis resident and allegedly using the f-word in referring to the victim’s sexual orientation during the attack, is now facing felony charges along with three enhancements for a hate crime to each felony charge.

I was not always sold on the innocence of Ajay Dev.  It was the summer of 2009 when I received an email from Mr. Dev’s sister-in-law about the case.  Mr. Dev had just been convicted, and he had not yet been sentenced to the stunning 378-year sentence.

Little did I realize that this would be a pivotal moment in my life, as I headed out to the Roseville home of the Devs and heard their story.  I didn’t know what to think, I had not seen the case, had not heard the evidence, and I was in a position of having to take their word for it.

In February, the State Bar of California filed disciplinary charges against a Yolo County attorney for allegedly failing to comply with ethical rules while seeking judicial office. Clinton Parish, 41, is accused  by the California Bar of making misrepresentations about himself and his opponent in the May 2012 election for Yolo County Superior Court.

According to the complaint, in May of 2012, Mr. Parish was seeking judicial office against incumbent Judge Dan Maguire when, through campaign advertising, he made a number of misrepresentations regarding his opponent.

Three years after the conviction of Ajay Dev for the multiple counts of rape of his adoptive daughter and his sentence of 378 years to state prison, he and his attorney have filed their appeal.

Their appeal attacks both the facts of the case as well as the legal rulings used by Yolo County Judge Timothy Fall that the defense claims denied Ajay Dev of his right to a fair trial.  This includes, most notably, the inclusion of the alleged victim’s interpretation of a 50-minute pretext call that meandered between English and Nepali, the judge’s failure to properly instruct the jury on the law, and the judge’s refusal to allow potentially exculpatory evidence.

by Ibrahim Baig

People v. Johnathon Timothy Ganthner is a case about sexual abuse, torture, and violence, according to Deputy District Attorney Robert Gorman.

Ganthner’s charges include a sexual act with a child, torturing another person, and abusing/endangering the health of a child.

Three years after the conviction of Ajay Dev for the multiple counts of rape of his adoptive daughter and his sentence of 378 years to state prison, he and his attorney have filed their appeal.

Their appeal attacks both the facts of the case as well as the legal rulings used by Yolo County Judge Timothy Fall that the defense claims denied Ajay Dev of his right to a fair trial.  This includes most notably the inclusion of the alleged victim’s interpretation of a 50-minute pretext call that meandered between English and Nepalese, the judge’s failure to properly instruct the jury on the law, and the judge’s refusal to allow potentially exculpatory evidence.

by Vanguard Court Watch Interns

Glynn Trial 1^st Day Testimony

The trial of Michael Glynn began on Thursday, March 14. He was arrested on December 9, 2012 for stealing an $83 bottle of whiskey from a Davis grocery store. He was seen on two dates in November on the store’s surveillance video, taking the same whiskey with no evidence of purchase.

Deputy District Attorney Sulaiman Tokhi opened the People’s case, stressing that Glynn has three prior prison terms. Deputy Public Defender Richard Van Zandt reminded the jury that prior convictions cannot be used to find guilt in this case.

by Alexandra Rose

On the morning of Monday March 18, 2013, in Department 2 of the Yolo County Superior Court, the sexual abuse case of Julian Marquez was set to start under the Honorable Timothy L. Fall.

Julian Marquez was charged with 10 counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor and 1 count of attempting to commit lewd and lascivious acts with a minor.

by Antoinnette Borbon

The day began with a lot of confusion over a mistake made by the court clerk in not notifying both parties about what courtroom defendant James Mings’ arraignment was to take place.

Defense attorney Dan Hutchinson mentioned this case has been before Judge Richardson in Department 1 but somehow ended up in Department 6 today. Neither Dan Hutchinson nor Deputy District Attorney Martha Holzapfel understood why they had not been notified about the change.