BREAKING NEWS: No Charges Filed Against Pepper Sprayed Protesters by DA
In news that likely will surprise no one, the Yolo County District Attorney’s office declined to file charges against the protesters that Lt. Pike and one of other police officers fired pepper spray at during UC Davis protests on November 18, 2011.
In a brief statement, the DA’s office said, “District Attorney Jeff Reisig announced today that there was insufficient information contained within the police reports submitted by the UC Davis Police Department to justify the filing of criminal charges against those individuals arrested during the November 18, 2011, confrontation with UC Davis Police during the ‘Occupy UC Davis’ protest.”
Mock Rules the Violation Harmless and Sentences Defendant to 45 Years to Life in Prison
udge Paul Richardson denied the defense’s motion for a new trial or a new penalty phase, or to strike down the death penalty and impose life without parole after allegedly improperly removing a juror who might have had qualms about imposing the death penalty in this case.
Arguing that this is not simply a return to business as usual by replicating the failure of CDCR at the county level, the County Board of Supervisors approved the application for the full 148-jail bed expansion, with the understanding that this money would go toward upgrading existing facilities and with the further understanding that Leinberger would be repurposed and, in fact, decommissioned.
Yesterday’s story on Michael Morton and the story that emerged earlier this year. when the US Supreme Court ruled that the prosecutors in the John Thompson case could not be held liable for the destruction of evidence that was used to wrongfully convict Mr. Thompson, lead us once again onto the path of looking into ways to prevent wrongful convictions.
Tani Cantil-Sakauye’s appointment to chief justice by then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger marked a huge moment locally, as she grew up in Sacramento and is a graduate of the UC Davis School of Law.
The Yolo County District Attorney’s office has just spent three and a half years and unknown quantities of money to get the death penalty in what should have been a slam dunk case.
It was a case that had all of the intrigue – a red-headed boy-next-door looking defendant, turned racist gun-nut, who shot a black man claiming self-defense. But ultimately the jury failed to buy the self-defense theory and convicted Christopher Smith, 31, of second degree murder with enhancements, that put the likely sentence to 45 to life.
Deputy District Attorney Sulaiman Tokhi argued that this is a case where “bad liars meet good evidence.” During these troubled economic times, crimes involving the stealing of metal pipes such as copper and turning them into recycling centers have increased in numbers.
Five young codefendants were facing nearly 20 years in prison for an attack on January 24, 2011. The co-defendants, four of whom were minors, faced charges of robbery, assault and gang enhancements.
In the recent multi-defendant case in which five youngsters were alleged to have jumped, assaulted and robbed an individual, the Yolo County District Attorney aggressively pursued gang charges despite very thin evidence of gang involvement for the youths.
In early 2010, the Vanguard reported on the case of Robert Ferguson, who faced life in prison for stealing a package of shredded cheese from the Nugget Market. Ultimately, after unfavorable press, the District Attorney dropped pursuit of the third strike and Mr. Ferguson for his minor crime, and he was instead was sentenced to nearly eight years in prison.