Court Watch

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 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.

by Ibrahim Baig

It was a short trial for Ricardo Munoz this week. The trial concluded yesterday with closing arguments.

Deputy District Attorney Diane Ortiz reiterated to the jury that this case is a simple case. Ortiz walked the jurors through each charge and explained how the People have met the criterion for a guilty verdict.

By Vanguard Court Watch Interns

Kevin McCarty’s trial came to a close on Monday afternoon, when the jury found him guilty of misdemeanor resisting arrest and obstructing a public officer. He was found not guilty of the other counts, including battery of an officer, battery of another person, and a hate crime.

In the early morning hours of May 18, 2012, Mr. McCarty had been celebrating his 21st birthday at Tres Hermanas in Davis when he got into a bar fight with an acquaintance. The victim was identified as a Sikh and wears a turban. During the commotion, the victim’s turban was knocked off when Mr. McCarty took a swing at him. Mr. McCarty, who had blacked out, later refused to cooperate with police. In attempts to restrain him, police slammed Mr. McCarty to the ground and he was knocked out.

Sikh Culture Expert Testifies

By Charmayne Schmitz

Kevin McCarty, a UCD student, is accused of a hate crime resulting from an altercation with another student at a Davis bar in May, 2012. During a bar fight, he knocked off the turban of a man identified as a Sikh. On Thursday, March 7, an expert was brought in by the prosecution to answer questions about the Sikh religion.

Ashveer Pal Singh is a doctoral student at Stanford and has dedicated himself to studying his own Sikh heritage.  His field studies are carried out in the Punjab region of India, which is 60% Sikh.

by Antoinnette Borbon

The state’s case against Kevin McCarty slowly took a different turn Thursday afternoon as three of the defendants took the stand to tell their account of what happened on the night of May 18, 2012.

First to take the stand this afternoon was Sgt. Ilya Bezloglov of the Davis Police Department. He testified to being called out to the downtown bar, Tres Hermanas, because of an altercation.

by Antoinnette Borbon

On Wednesday the state began the first day of a presumed two-day trial of a young defendant accused of assault and a hate crime. The alleged victim testified, as the state’s first witness, in front of a jury in Judge David Rosenberg’s courtroom.

He told the court that he and the defendant were at a local bar in downtown Davis, Tres Hermanas, when the defendant came past him and uttered racist remarks and hit his turban off of his head. He testified he was extremely angry and felt the defendant had intentions of striking him, so he began hitting the defendant first, in what he called a self-defense mechanism.  Once the two became involved in the altercation, bouncers were summoned to break it up. But no blood or bruises were shown on either the defendant or the alleged victim.

By Vanguard Court Watch Interns

On Monday, March 4, an arraignment for the James Mings case was held in Department 9.

In the fall of 2011, Mr. Mings turned himself in following the death of Kevin Seery in Davis, and Mr. Mings was subsequently charged with first degree murder. Jury selection for Mr. Mings’ trial was interrupted last week due to Deputy DA Martha Holzapfel’s unexpected illness.