Court Watch

The October 1 date is rapidly approaching. That is the date when AB 109 takes effect, the date that whole classes of low-level offenders get sent to local counties, where there is not the capacity to handle them, and no one knows exactly what that means.

We Cannot Answer that Question Now – But Enough Doubts Exist That We Should Never Have Executed Him –

The execution of Troy Davis should haunt any reasonable person that is concerned about the possibility of executing an innocent person.  This is not a case of Cameron Todd Willingham, where we know for a fact that the forensic evidence used at the time of his execution to determine that it was an arson fire was flawed.

Billy Wolfington and Shannon Silva were in court on Thursday before Judge Janet Gaard, as their attorneys asked for a four to six week continuance due to what they said was new discovery.

Deputy District Attorney Clinton Parish surprised many on Wednesday when he suddenly announced he would challenge the newest judge, Judge Daniel Maguire, appointed just last year by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Suit Alleges DA Reisig Prosecuted In Order to Cover Up Law Enforcement Wrongdoing

In the early afternoon of Tuesday, September 8, 2009, Thomas Dias received a call advising him that his niece, with whom he worked at a family-owned flooring company, had run out of gas and was on the shoulder of I-80 eastbound, east of Reed Avenue in West Sacramento.

He went to assist her with a can of gasoline.  Mr. Dias put in enough gas to allow her truck to get off the freeway and then followed her to a gas station for the purposes of making sure she was all right, as well as to transfer some work materials to her truck..

One of the big questions coming into this trial was how would the defense defend a case in which there was virtually no doubt that the defendant shot and killed Deputy Tony Diaz.

One of the broadest and most sweeping reforms in years is about to take place on October 1, when counties will directly assume responsibility for so-called low-level criminal offenders – those who have been convicted of non-violent, non-serious and non-sex crimes.

Sometimes the old adage “be careful what you ask for – you might get it” is spot-on.  Last week, the prosecution, citing a change in defense strategy, worked hard to convince Judge Richardson to show the jury Marco Topete’s post-arrest interview, which the prosecution saw as a confession.

Judge Stephen Mock allowed gang charges to stand for Jose Duran, despite the prosecutor’s violation of juvenile confidentiality provisions and the testimony of a detective about a juvenile case that should not have been permitted.

NY Times Editorial Slams GOP and Governor Perry on the Death Penalty –

Last week the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the death sentence of an Idaho man convicted of killing a coworker in 1981 at a gas station near Boise, Idaho.  The victim was repeatedly shot and stabbed.

In arguing for the admissibility of Deputy Tony Diaz’ photo when he was alive, the people, led by Deputy DA Garrett Hamilton and DA Jeff Reisig, characterized this case as “not a close case” in their view.  The defense took exception to that.

Earlier this week, the prosecution in the Topete trial attempted to introduce DNA evidence that they had collected after the trial had begun, destroyed and failed to discover to the defense.  Judge Richardson, questioning the fairness of the prosecutor, ultimately excluded the evidence from court – evidence that seemed ambiguous at best.

Two weeks ago we ran the story on Texas Governor Rick Perry’s cover up, that he may have executed an innocent man when he refused even to grant a stay of execution for Cameron Todd Willingham.

Last week, District Attorney Jeff Reisig and Deputy DA Garrett Hamilton revealed that they have DNA evidence that purportedly ties defendant Marco Topete to the murder weapon.

It was an ordinary communication sent out on September 3, 2011, by the West Sacramento Police Department depicting a murder that had occurred the evening before.

It was a lengthy and protracted battle to nominate Goodwin Liu, a UC Berkeley Law Professor, to a seat on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  Ultimately he would lose, as Senate Republicans filibustered his nomination and he eventually withdrew.

It was like something out of a Seinfeld episode from seventh season, an episode that originally aired back in May 1996.  One of the characters, Newman, learns that bottles and cans can be refunded for ten cents in Michigan, as opposed to 5 cents in other states.

Kramer informs him that it would be impossible to gain profit from doing this, since the travel to Michigan from New York would exact heavy costs in terms of gas, toll booths and truck rental fees.  However, Newman becomes obsessed with finding a way to make a scheme work.

The prosecution continues to attempt to prove gang charges in the Topete trial.  Gang expert Ron Cordova, the gang investigator for the Woodland Police Department, testified on Thursday that Mr. Topete was a Norteño gang member the night of Deputy Tony Diaz’s murder.

On Monday morning, former Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti, a lifelong supporter of the death penalty, spoke at a press conference to announce an initiative that would eliminate the death penalty and commute all current death sentences to life without parole.

Yesterday in Sacramento, a group of former law enforcement officials and other anti-death penalty activists came together to announce that they had turned in a ballot initiative for the 2012 general elections to replace California’s death penalty with life in prison with no possibility of parole.