Yolo County

I admit that when nationally publicized trials come on, I turn them off.  It’s a bad habit of mine.  I made the mistake with the OJ Simpson trial, and I have made the mistake several other times.  I have come to regret it yet again.  Another time I will explain my predilection for doing this, but for now, let me just point out my eyes were opened when I saw that the jury could not reach a verdict on the penalty phase.

To me this is a misnomer.  If you have a penalty phase and the jury cannot agree on life or death, then the default should be life, and the case should be over.  These were the jurors that convicted Ms. Arias, these are the ones who know the case the best, and if they can’t decide, then that’s reasonable doubt, isn’t it?

In the past few weeks, I have had numerous conversations on the issue of racial profiling and the recent event involving 68-year-old Eli Davis.  One of the more interesting things is how much the reaction of white and blacks diverge, not only on this incident, but on the issue of the treatment of blacks and minorities by the criminal justice system as a whole.

Public relations people use the term “optics” to describe how something will look like to the outside world, and one of the problems is that police interactions and criminal justice interactions with minority populations suffer from poor optics.  When one group is disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system, regardless of the myriad of reasons for that, the optics look bad.

By Charmayne Schmitz

In closing arguments, Deputy District Attorney Brandon Finn told a jury: Beyond A Reasonable Doubt “is a term us lawyers come up with.”  This is the second trial where I’ve witnessed a Yolo prosecutor take liberties with the basis for a criminal conviction in our country’s judicial system.

Finn’s statement was at the tail end of a contentious 2-day trial. Pablo Campos was accused of driving with a suspended license after a traffic stop on March 30, 2012. Deputy Seja testified about pulling the vehicle over on I-5 to check for an expired registration. Mr. Campos was found to be the driver. The deputy issued a ticket for the expired license and the defendant signed it.

by Antoinnette Borbon

Wednesday was a short hearing for James Elron Mings in Judge Timothy Fall’s courtroom. James Mings, who was recently convicted of attempted murder, was back in court to hear whether or not Deputy District Attorney Martha Holzapfel will refile on the “pre-meditated” special findings, part of the case. Although the jurors could agree on attempted murder, they hung on the special findings part of the verdict.

James Elron Mings was arrested on October 1 of 2011 for the murder of his friend, Kevin Seery. Upon the viewing of the deceased by several law enforcement personnel and the coroner’s office, the death appeared suspicious. On the evening of October 1 they found a sock and other items in the mouth of Seery.

In the end, after a three-day preliminary hearing, Judge David Rosenberg held Clayton Garzon to stand on all charges for his brutal attack on Mikey Partida back in early March.  However, the standard of proof to be held over on charges is fairly low – the probable cause standard.

To gain a conviction in a court of law, one needs proof beyond a reasonable doubt.  And so while it sounds good when attorney Linda Parisi told the court Mr. Garzon had no way of knowing that Mikey Partida was gay, it was not enough to overcome the facts of the case in which witnesses testified they heard Mr. Garzon yelling “faggot” and other epithets as he beat Mr. Partida.

By David M. Greenwald

On Monday morning, I was covering a routine hearing in the misdemeanor courtroom of Judge Samuel McAdam, when I stumbled on a case of a young woman who was representing herself in a matter involving driving on a suspended license, a misdemeanor, and a speeding ticket, an infraction.

This year we have celebrated the 50^th anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright, the right to counsel, and I have read a number of horror stories from around the country, from a period deprived of the effective right to counsel.  That has not happened in this county, with an effective duel system of public defense, but the case yesterday morning exemplifies why this is important.

Eight years ago next month, police responding to a report of a potential hit and run accident in the Safeway parking center in South Davis came to the home of the Buzayans.  The evidence that an actual accident occurred was sketchy, at best.  Nevertheless, when Davis Police Officer Pheng Ly appeared at the Buzayans’ home at nearly 10 pm on a school night to arrest then 16-year-old Halema Buzayan, her father Jamal Buzayan offered to bring her down to the police station in the morning.

Officer Ly refused that offer and proceeded to arrest her, in her night clothes, for a misdemeanor, and bring her down to the police station.  What followed is questionable, at best, for Ms. Buzayan appears to have been questioned by Officer Ly despite her request for counsel.  And to make matters worse, former Officer Gina Anderson appears to have attempted to have tried to use the internal investigation process to question the defendant and get her to acknowledge guilt.

by Catherine Woodward

Paul Dufrisne’s jury trial began on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 15, in Department 8. Mr. Dufrisne is charged with resisting arrest, contempt of a court order, and assaulting a police officer. Deputy Public Defender Heather Hopkins represents Mr. Dufrisne, while Deputy District Attorney Kyle Hasapes represents the People.

In his opening statement, Mr. Hasapes stressed that Mr. Dufrisne does not have any respect for authority. He urged the jury to give teeth to restraining orders, which are issued by the court for a specific reason. Mr. Dufrisne violated the terms of the restraining order against him, resisted arrest, and assaulted the police officer who was attempting to detain him. Consequently, Mr. Hasapes urged the jury to find the defendant guilty on all counts.

Date: May 19, 2013
Time: 5:15 to 7:15 PM
Location: 315 E. 14th St. , Davis, CA 95616
Yolo County Library Mary L. Stephens Davis Branch in the Blanchard Room

The public has an opportunity to tell of their experiences with the Yolo County judicial system. These are experiences that normally are not covered in the newspaper. The Council will take public comment and testimony from invited speakers and then deliberate in closed session to determine our course of action.

In the past few weeks, fueled by a few egregious anecdotes, opponents of AB 109, the state’s realignment program that shifts custody in certain non-violent, non-dangerous cases from the state to the county, have asserted that the program has failed and produced a spike in crime.

However, an early study conducted by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) shows no such finding.  According to a report release on Thursday, “One-year arrest rates are down and conviction rates are virtually static for offenders released after completing their state prison sentences post-Realignment.”

By Catherine McKnight

The jury trial of People v. Kumar continued on Wednesday, May 15, in Judge Mock’s courtroom. Rakesh Kumar is being charged with four counts including corporal injury, assault by force, and intimidating a witness and victim.

The lead detective in the case took the witness stand. She said Ms. Grom had told her that Mr. Kumar was willing to give her $50,000. Ms. Grom did not report any injuries or abuse until about two months after it happened – she said that this is not uncommon with domestic abuse, due to various reasons. A question was raised about whether or not the injuries seemed consistent with “being punched repeatedly in the face.” She said no, because there were no photos taken of the face.

In the early 1990s, despite years of decline in the actual crime rate, politicians took advantage of public angst and frustration with high profile crimes, gangs and the crack wars, to push through a series of very harsh penalties.  Over the course of the next two decades, the crime rates continued their drop from their late 1970s peak, as prisons filled up.

Realignment was the result of a federal court order for California to reduce its prison population.  It shifted prison populations from the state to counties.  While many accused realignment of simply shifting the problem, there was a strategic nature to that shift.  County prosecutors make the charging decisions and the hope was that by making counties responsible for their own prison population, it would change the way criminal charging occurred.

by Antoinnette Borbon

We knew going in that the murder trial against James Mings would not be straightforward.  It had its share of twists and turns, with the defense arguing that Mr. Mings was not the actual murderer.  The defense claims that Mings’ original attempts at murder, in the heat of the moment after the pleading from victim Kevin Seery to end his life, were unsuccessful.

It was unknown to Mr. Mings at the time that Mr. Seery was still alive and his accomplice, Thomas McDermott, may have choked him a second time and been the one to force the sock down his throat.

With all that has happened in the last week, I have neglected to circle back to the Banker’s Dozen case, whichsettlement I find to be truly strange.  The original case made for some fantastic headlines – the protesters starting in January 2012 managed to shut down a bank, day after day.  Some days the bank never bothered to open.

The university, fresh from the turmoil and university embarrassment over the handling of the pepper spray incident, was not keen on creating another opportunity to drag people out of the Memorial Union, handcuffed and escort them through potentially hostile student throngs.  So, after much deliberation, with the bank literally screaming to arrest the protesters, the bank finally shut their doors and ultimately sued the university.

Defendant Charged with Possession of Drugs, Weapons

By Virginia Hysell

On January 29, 2013, at approximately 7:05 a.m., Yolo County Deputy Sheriff’s Deputy Dugoenich responded to a 911 call in Knight’s Landing from Blanca Sentinman. She had reported that her boyfriend of a little less than 2 years, Alejandro Yanez-Garcia, was under the influence of  methamphetamines and had shot himself in the left arm. She reported that he had been in the bedroom at the residence, yelling in pain and screaming for his younger brother, Jonathan. When Blanca offered her assistance to her boyfriend he refused.

On May 10, 2013 the case of People v. Alejandro Yanez-Garcia (Case No. 13-575-2) was brought before Judge Paul K. Richardson in Department 1 of the Yolo Superior Court. The charges were alleged possession of illegal substance while in presence of a loaded and operable firearm, misdemeanor possession of paraphernalia, and possession of methamphetamine.

Last week, an 8-1 vote of the Mississippi Supreme Court halted the scheduled execution of Willie Manning a mere four hours before he was schedule to be put to death by lethal injection.  While 8 justices of the Court eventually did the right thing, the very fact that we came as close as we did to executing the man is a testament to the utter disaster the state of the justice system is in.

Remarkably, if we look at this case, long marred by racial bias in jury selection, there is actually no reliable evidence to sustain Mr. Manning’s 1994 conviction.

By Vanguard Court Watch Interms

Editor’s note: The following is sequential coverage of the trial of Ryan Baird who is charged with2^nd Degree Murder, Gross Vehicular Manslaughter and Driving Under the Influence of both alcohol and drugs for his role in an accident that resulted in the death of one of the passengers his vehicle.   Closing arguments concluded on Friday and the Jury broke for the day on Friday and will continue their deliberations on Monday.

Testimony Continues in Baird trial