Gutierrez Trial Goes to the Jury After Three Weeks of Testimony
After nearly three weeks of trial, the federal civil rights trial on the shooting death of Luis Gutierrez finally closed this week. In the coming days, the Vanguard will analyze critical portions of the testimony and what we learned. We begin with the closing statements, which represent how the attorneys on both sides view the evidence as it came out in the case.
Unlike in a criminal trial, the burden of proof is at the level of preponderance of the evidence – that means that the plaintiffs in this case, the family of Mr. Gutierrez, only need a 51% belief that police acted unlawfully.
Did Chief Probation Officer Rist Resign Due to This Scandal? – In response to a citizen’s complaint, the Yolo County Grand Jury investigated the Yolo County Probation Department.
Jimmy Ducote is probably not the most sympathetic of all figures. He has sat in custody for nearly three years for an arrest that occurred on December 23, 2009. A good deal of that is his own doing, as in September he was unsuccessful for the third time in attempting to dismiss his legal counsel, Public Defender Tracie Olson.
Back in late August, UC Davis student Thomas Matzat pled no contest to having spray painted the word “parasite” at Starbucks on Orchard Road in Davis, in exchange for the Yolo County District Attorney dropping the remainder of four felonies and 15 misdemeanors stemming from a spree of protest-related graffiti, most of which involved the term “parasite.”
Governor Jerry Brown has been a bit different his second go-around as governor than he was his first time. Some of that is to be expected in the difference between a man in his 70s versus one in his 30s. But nowhere more stunning is the difference than on the death penalty.
The news story that the Vanguard ran on Tuesday regarding the knife-slashing attack on Angelique Topete raised a number of questions. Unfortunately, the public remains ill-served by a District Attorney’s office that refuses to communicate with a media entity because that media entity has leveled criticism toward them.
For years the overwhelming majority of voters favored the death penalty, to the point where it became a bit of a political third rail that Democratic politicians would not touch. They would either proclaim their support for the death penalty, or, such was the case with Attorney Generals Jerry Brown and Kamala Harris, both pledged to uphold the law despite personal opposition to the death penalty.
Last fall, when a Woodland police lieutenant took money from the Woodland Police Supervisors Association funds, the DA’s office was quick to charge him with embezzlement even though the defendant believed no crime occurred, as the money was re-paid through payroll deductions.
Research Inconclusive and Claim Ignores Problems with Coercive Plea Bargaining and Wrongful Convictions – 
DA’s Comment Ironic and Telling at the Same Time – 