Public Defender Melton is Off The Topete Case, Should He Be Out as Public Defender?
Public Defender Barry Melton officially removed himself yesterday from the case of accused Sheriff’s Deputy killer, Marco…
Coroner’s Report on Taser Victim Answers Few Questions
The official report by Deputy Coroner James Andrade characterized the death of Ricardo Abrahams as accidental. He…
Topete Case Gets More Bizarre Rather Than Less
Just as you want to believe things will return to a more routine level in case of…
State Senate Majority Leader Calls For New Rules Protecting Public Access to Court Rooms
The recent problems in the Yolo County Courtroom have led one of the foremost legislative advocates for…
Commentary: Back to Square One in Case Involving the Killing of a Yolo County Sheriff’s Deputy
It was not surprising that a Sacramento court of appeal rejected the petition from the Yolo County…
Yolo County ACLU Requests Change of Venue for Topete Case
Many who read the Davis Enterprise on Sunday, undoubtedly saw the story that the Yolo County Chapter…
Sideshow Continues in Murder Trial; Chief Justice Called in To Help
California’s Chief Justice Ronald George has been asked to intervene in the Yolo Superior Court’s handling of…
County Needle Exchange Program Makes Mess of Parks
Something a little different for everyone on a Sunday morning. Earlier this week there was a story in the Woodland Daily Democrat that a flood of hypodermic needles was showing up in Woodland City Parks.
A year ago, the County Board of Supervisors approved a needle-exchange program in an effort to cut down on diseases spread through the use of intravenous drug users.
However, now the Woodland City council is shocked and frustrated to find out that a county health contractor has been distributing these needles in one of the parks, without consulting the city.
Commentary: Defense Charges Yolo Courthouse Collusion
Just when we thought things would slowly return to some semblance of normal, Assistant Public Defender Dean…
Commentary: Report on Yolo County Court Incident Leaves Much Unanswered
On Monday, a report was released that attempted to explain how it came to be that the…
Commentary: Yolo County Courts: Just Who is In Charge Here?
I keep coming back to this case from the Yolo County Courts mainly because there is more…
Commentary: Davis Enterprise Gets It Right And Calls the Yolo County Courts On Their Conduct
It is one thing to see the Davis Vanguard complain about the conduct of public officials something…
Commentary: What Were They Thinking: Sheriff’s Department Keeps Court Building Doors Locked
In a bizarre series of events on Wednesday, the man accused of killing Yolo County Sheriff’s Deputy…
Commentary: Marriage Equality Comes to Yolo County
On February 14, 2008, I was at the County Clerk’s Office once again covering County Clerk Freddie Oakley’s protest against laws prohibiting the marriage of same-sex partners during her lunch hour. The day when Freddie Oakley would actually be able to marry such partners seemed hopelessly far off in the distance.
All of that has changed with a recent court ruling that has left open a window of time perhaps between now and Election Day when California same-sex partners can wed. Who knows what the Election Day will bring, perhaps the run on same-sex marriages during that time will convince people that the sky will not fall and that same-sex partners can hardly do more damage to the institution of marriage than has already been inflicted by high divorce rates and infidelity. Maybe.
More on the Tasering Incident
Matt Rexroad’s blog drew my attention this morning to a letter to the editor in the Woodland…
Commentary: Death Penalty Case Weighs on Our System
In Friday’s Sacramento Bee is a story about Judge Stephen Mock ordering the death in the killing…
Friday Musings
There are a bunch of interesting happenings that somehow do not seem to amount to one full…
Commentary: A look into the 4th Supervisorial Distrct Race
On Friday, it was announced that Jim Provenza had won the 4th Supervisorial district race outright garnering 54 votes over the needed 50 percent in order to avoid a November runoff election. Mr. Provenza received 4,065 votes or 50.7 percent, easily outdistancing John Ferrera’s 2,739. Cathy Kennedy finished third with 15.2% or 1,217 votes. He will replace the likely Assemblywoman from this district, Mariko Yamada who won the Democratic Nomination on Tuesday in a district that is heavily Democratic.
The first time I really got to know Jim Provenza was in January of 2007. I met with him in his office in Sacramento to convey to him my concerns about the District’s handling of the harassment of a junior high school student due to the fact that the student had two male parents.
Update: Jim Provenza’s Election Finalized
I received word late yesterday, that the remaining ballots had been counted by the Yolo County Election’s…
Commentary: Looking at the Taser Death of Ricardo Abrahams
It has been just over a week since the death of Ricardo Abrahams. According to accounts in…