Former Chula Vista Aide Seeks To Undo Plea Deal Over Dumanis Call

Judge Seals District Attorney Office Records In Chula Vista Investigation
By Amita Sharma
KPBS

May 22, 2014

A San Diego judge today took possession of District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis's office records concerning an investigation of Chula Vista city officials.

Judge Louis Hanoian plans to hold the records until he rules on whether to allow an aide to former Chula Vista Mayor Steve Padilla to try to undo his plea deal.

The aide—Jason Moore—wants the court to set aside his misdemeanor guilty plea, to contempt of court, from 2007. Moore insists he would not have entered the plea—in response to perjury charges filed by the district attorney—if he had known that Dumanis had earlier contacted his boss, then-Mayor Padilla. Padilla said Dumanis asked him to appoint her aide to a vacant Chula Vista City Council seat.

A KPBS story last month reported that Dumanis started investigating Chula Vista city officials after Padilla refused her request.

Moore's attorney Knut Johnson contends that conversation created a conflict of interest for Dumanis in the subsequent probe.

"The facts seem to be undisputed," Johnson said. "Ms. Dumanis made the phone call to the mayor. The mayor refused her request and then she investigated the entire Chula Vista government."

Dumanis's spokesman Steve Walker called the effort to set aside the misdemeanor plea, "a fishing expedition seven years after the fact."

"The defendant pleaded guilty to lying to a grand jury and was held responsible for his crime," Walker said in a written statement. "Following that plea, the Attorney General's office was made aware of issues raised in this motion and found no reason to take any action or investigate."

Patrick O'Toole, the prosecutor in the Chula Vista investigation, handed a folder of records to the court. And the judge put them under seal.

Lawyer Johnson wants to review the records.

He said he's looking for internal emails, notes and letters from the DA's office of Dumanis's conversation with Padilla. Judge Hanoian is expected to decide in mid June if Johnson should be allowed to review them.

KPBS sought the same records two months ago through a California Public Records Act request. The office mostly released material that was already publicly available.

Moore has also asked the DA's office to recuse itself from his case. The DA calls that request premature and improper.

Meanwhile, with the June 3rd primary less than two weeks away, Moore's attempt to have his plea dismissed has turned into an issue in the district attorney race.

Dumanis's campaign spokeswoman Jen Tierney said the case was "nothing more than a publicity stunt orchestrated by our opponent less than two weeks before Election Day."

"Shame on him for wasting the court's time and resources for political gain," Tierney said in a statement.

The campaign of former federal prosecutor Bob Brewer, one of two of Dumanis's opponents, responded that the judge clearly didn't think the case was a waste of time.

"Dumanis can clear everything up very easily by releasing all the documents and answering one simple question: 'Did you or did you not secretly lobby the mayor of Chula Vista to have your friend appointed to the Chula Vista City Council?'" said Brewer's communications director Alex Roth. "Instead of answering these questions and releasing these public documents, she's stonewalling and hoping to run out the clock before the June 3 election."

Democrats and other opponents of would-be Chula Vista mayor Cheryl Cox were regularly targeted by District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis in the glory days of her "Public Integrity Unit". Now we know why.

Former Chula Vista Aide Seeks To Undo Plea Deal Over Dumanis Call
May 20, 2014
By Amita Sharma
KPBS

Former Chula Vista Mayor states in a sworn declaration that District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis asked him in phone call to appoint her aide to a vacant City Council seat.

An aide to former Chula Vista Mayor Steve Padilla wants a court to set aside his misdemeanor guilty plea he said he wouldn’t have made if he’d known about a call District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis reportedly made to his boss back in 2005.

The District Attorney’s Office charged Jason Moore with five counts of felony perjury in 2006. Moore was found snooping at an event for his boss’s political opponent during work hours. Moore was accused of lying to a grand jury about when he turned in a slip at work to take the time off. Testimony by another witness before the grand jury was that Moore was not required to submit a slip, according to court papers.

Moore later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. Now he wants that conviction overturned.

Moore's lawyer, Knut Johnson, said he would have advised against that guilty plea if he had known that District Attorney Dumanis had called Moore’s boss, Padilla, months earlier.

In a sworn declaration, Padilla said Dumanis asked him to appoint her aide Jesse Navarro to a vacant city council position. Padilla said he turned her down. Within weeks of the refusal, Dumanis opened investigations into Chula Vista city officials.

Johnson says the call was “a critical piece of information” because an impartial prosecutor is an essential feature of Moore’s right to a fair trial.

“Prosecution by someone with conflicting loyalties calls into question the objectivity of those charged with bringing a defendant to judgment,” Johnson wrote in court papers. “It is a fundamental premise of our society that the state wield its formidable law enforcement powers in a rigorously disinterested fashion.”

The DA's office said it could not comment on the case because it's pending litigation.

More On This Story-May 6, 2014: Dumanis Challenged To Release Records In Chula Vista Political Probe
District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis' decision to delay releasing the records sought by KPBS was questioned by her opponent in the DA's race and one of his supporters.

Bertha Lopez pleads guilty to an underwhelming charge while Jason Moore asks for justice: perhaps getting rid of Bonnie Dumanis would be the best way to improve public integrity in San Diego

Current Sweetwater Union High School
District trustee Bertha Lopez pled guilty
on April 24, 2014 to an extremely small-potatoes
transgression: accepting a gift over the limit.

It seems clear that District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis never intended to go after serious corruption in schools.

I'm not saying Bertha Lopez is an angel. Far from it. For years I've been complaining about her illegal actions on behalf of Chula Vista Elementary School District.

My problem is that I think Dumanis went after Bertha for the wrong reasons. The reasons were pathetic. But at least there was some actual misbehavior underlying the charges against Bertha Lopez. Dumanis went after other targets for purely political reasons.

San Diego seems to be as bad as Alabama.

Serious corruption is tolerated among public employees in both
places. In San Diego the district attorney seeks paltry convictions
of small-time miscreants, but releases the full fury of the
justice system on public employees like Jason Moore and
Edward Lane who sought to tell the truth about public officials.

Compare Bonnie Dumanis' inconsistent prosecutions to the Alabama
case of Lane v. Franks, a scandal in a 2-year college that is now
a Supreme Court case: Edward Lane was fired because he testified truthfully
that an Alabama state legislator was a no-show employee, being paid
by the taxpayers for no work.

Dumanis pursued preposterous perjury charges against Jason Moore and Steve Castaneda apparently because they dared to interfere with the political ascent of Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox. Meanwhile, Dumanis ignored a boatload of perjury committed to cover-up wrongdoing by Cheryl Cox herself, as well as Cheryl's fellow Chula Vista Elementary School District trustees Bertha Lopez, Pamela Smith, Larry Cunningham and Patrick Judd in the Maura Larkins v. CVESD case.

Even the Sheriff of Santa Barbara admitted that his office signed a false declaration in that case. Some examples of others who committed perjury can be found HERE and HERE.

Dumanis has been careful not to go after any of the truly powerful players in the San Diego education establishment.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports:

"Two more Sweetwater school board members pleaded guilty Thursday to minor charges in the South County political corruption investigation, effectively ending a case once described as the worst corruption scandal in a decade on a muted note. Board President Jim Cartmill and trustee Bertha Lopez each pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of accepting gifts over the state limit. They will be sentenced in June."

The SDUT is correct that this effectively ends the case since these are the last two school officials to plead out. But according to the Daily Transcript, there is still one contractor left whose charges have not been resolved. I doubt that there will ever be a single trial in this case.

"Their plea deals leave just one trial-bound defendant, Jeffrey Flores, remaining in the probe that rounded up more than a dozen South Bay-area school officials, a construction contractor and a bond underwriter for allegedly being implicit in either giving or receiving gifts that could influence votes by school districts when construction contracts were awarded.

"Flores, president of Seville Construction Services, was also scheduled to begin trial on Monday. But due to medical issues, is likely to have his proceedings continued to a later date, Deputy District Attorney Leon Schorr said Friday. All named defendants outside of Flores have pleaded to lesser charges than what they initially faced."

THE JASON MOORE CASE

It's about time that the abusive political prosecution of Jason Moore should be rectified. Steve Castaneda also seeks information about the political prosecution he endured.

See recent revelation: Phone Call Raises Questions About DA Dumanis’ Chula Vista Investigations

News Of Dumanis Call Prompts Request To Strike Plea Deal
By Amita Sharma
KPBS
April 24, 2014

An aide to former Chula Vista Mayor Steve Padilla wants to undo his 2008 misdemeanor guilty plea.

Jason Moore's defense attorney says his client should have been told about District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis' call when he was charged.

The request follows news of a call San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis made before she investigated Chula Vista city officials.

In 2007, former Padilla aide Jason Moore faced five felony charges for perjury. Moore was caught spying on the political enemy of his boss at an event during work hours. Prosecutors said Moore lied about when he submitted a request to take time off from work. Moore ultimately pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in a deal with the DA’s office.

Moore’s attorney Knut Johnson said that deal would have never been cut today. Johnson says revelations in a KPBS story this week changed everything.

The story reported that Dumanis called then-Mayor Padilla in 2006 just weeks before she started investigating Chula Vista city officials. Padilla said Dumanis asked him to appoint her own aide to a vacant Chula Vista City Council seat. Padilla refused and soon afterward, she launched her probes.

"If the district attorney called up Mr. Moore’s boss and tried to get that boss to make a city council seat available for one of her employees and then when refused a week later started an investigation that included subpoenaing Mr. Moore to the grand jury, that was undisclosed and we should have known about that," John said. "It's such an obvious conflict of interest."

Johnson said he plans to file court papers arguing that Moore’s plea deal was obtained illegally. The DA’s office said it had no comment at this time.



Here's one of my early posts about the Jason Moore case:

Is Jason Moore the Dale Akiki of Bonnie Dumanis?
May 20, 2007

Tanya Mannes writes about Bonnie Dumanis' mysterious "Public Integrity Unit" in this morning's San Diego Union-Tribune:

"In existence about 14 months, it has filed charges against one person: Jason Moore, a former Chula Vista mayoral aide." Jason Moore worked for Steve Padilla, a Democrat who was in a run-off election against Republican Cheryl Cox.

The investigation of Moore, for taking two hours off work to take pictures of Cheryl Cox with David Malcolm at a Cox fundraiser, began in August 2005, well before the November election. Oddly, Bonnie Dumanis says, that in the future, in most cases, "we will not investigate a complaint until after an election."

Bonnie says her office is determined to be nonpolitical. When will that start, Bonnie? Specifically, when will you investigate complaints against Cheryl Cox and her associates?

Dumanis did not even announce the existence of her "Public Integrity Unit" until March 1, 2007. Jason Moore was indicted on March 27, 2007.

O'Toole and Dumanis have each claimed to be personally interested in prosecuting perjury. But Dumanis' office recently refused to investigate proven perjury regarding illegal actions committed at Chula Vista Elementary School District when Bertha Lopez and Cheryl Cox were trustees of CVESD.

UPDATE April 25, 2014:

Maura Larkins' note: I imagine that readers are more likely to believe me regarding illegal actions and perjury committed by school officials in the South Bay after the recent revelations of pay-for-play deals with contractors. See related posts. I think these revelations will hurt Bonnie Dumanis in her contest against Bob Brewer in the upcoming election for district attorney in San Diego. But I hope that Bob Brewer, if he wins, won't give all public officials a free pass. I worry about that since Bob Brewer has made most of his money defending powerful white collar players. And he even has Bonnie's henchman Patrick O'Toole, who savagely prosecuted Jason Moore and Steve Castaneda, in his camp. That's sort of scary...

In a related case, another political target of Bonnie Dumanis also asks for follow-through on the new information about the D.A.'s political motives.

Ex-Chula Vista Councilman Wants DA To Release Emails
By Amita Sharma
KPBS News
April 22, 2014

Former Chula Vista City Councilman Steve Castaneda called on District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis to release emails connected to his 2008 prosecution.

Former Chula Vista City Councilman Steve Castaneda called Thursday on District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis to release emails connected to his 2008 prosecution.

Castaneda's request followed a KPBS report that Dumanis investigated him and his colleagues after failing to get her aide appointed to a vacant Chula Vista council seat.

In 2006, Dumanis opened an inquiry into whether Castaneda received favors from a developer. That was months after then-Chula Vista Mayor Steve Padilla said he refused Dumanis' phone request to appoint an aide, Jesse Navarro, to a vacant council seat. Castaneda was later indicted on accusations of lying to a grand jury.

A jury acquitted him on most of the charges and hung on others.

Castaneda said he should have been told about Dumanis' call to Padilla. He now wants the District Attorney's Office to release all emails regarding his case because he wants to know "what happened and why it happened."

"Frankly, if she were on my side of the prosecutorial desk, she'd be at a grand jury right now," Castaneda said. "And she's hiding behind her status and her position, and I think she owes it to not only me and my family, but she owes it to the people of San Diego County."

A Dumanis spokeswoman released a statement on the matter saying, "Mr. Castaneda's criminal case is closed and we will not allow the District Attorney's Office to be used as a political pawn."

KPBS also asked for the same emails but was told the records didn't exist and would be exempt from disclosure anyway.

Patrick O'Toole v. Steve Castaneda (Chula Vista City Councilman) trial

Flashback to 2008: Steve Castaneda (see all posts re Steve Castaneda) has been reelected as Chula Vista City Councilman, but Patrick O'Toole has disappeared from the Public Integrity Unit.



ELECTION UPDATE NOVEMBER 5, 2008 STEVE CASTANEDA
CITY OF CHULA VISTA CITY COUNCIL - SEAT NO. 4
Precincts Reporting: 100.0%
SCOTT VINSON - 46.88% (24876)
STEVE CASTANEDA - 53.12% (28183)


ORIGINAL POST

Patrick O'Toole seems to be disappearing from the San Diego District Attorney's website. He's not on this page, nor is he on this page.

I went down to the courthouse to see part of Mr. O'Toole's prosecution of Steve Castaneda today.

I can't believe Bonnie Dumanis is spending tax dollars on this bizarre prosecution while ignoring my complaint about obstruction of justice at Chula Vista Elementary School District involving current Chula Vista mayor Cheryl Cox and others. It sure seems like the D.A.'s "Public Integrity Unit" is overly fond of Cheryl Cox, manufacturing opportunities to charge Cox's opponents with perjury (by investigating them with the flimsiest of pretexts, such as taking two hours off work, or thinking about buying a condo), while ignoring evidence that already exists.

I did notice that O'Toole was sitting by himself. He seems to be the only person on the planet who wants to see this prosecution go forward. Well, I suppose Cheryl Cox is sitting with him in spirit, but it's still a pretty lonely position.

Bertha Lopez pleads guilty to a shamefully underwhelming charge while Jason Moore asks for justice: perhaps getting rid of Bonnie Dumanis would be the best way to improve public integrity in San Diego

Current Sweetwater Union High School
District trustee Bertha Lopez pled guilty
on April 24, 2014 to an extremely small-potatoes
transgression: accepting a gift over the limit.

It seems clear that District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis never intended to go after serious corruption in schools.

I'm not saying Bertha Lopez is an angel. Far from it. For years I've been complaining about her illegal actions on behalf of Chula Vista Elementary School District.

My problem is that I think Dumanis went after Bertha for the wrong reasons. The reasons were pathetic. But at least there was some actual misbehavior underlying the charges against Bertha Lopez. Dumanis went after other targets for purely political reasons.

San Diego seems to be as bad as Alabama.

Serious corruption is tolerated among public employees in both
places. In San Diego the district attorney seeks paltry convictions
of small-time miscreants, but releases the full fury of the
justice system on public employees like Jason Moore and
Edward Lane who sought to tell the truth about public officials.

Compare Bonnie Dumanis' inconsistent prosecutions to the Alabama
case of Lane v. Franks, a scandal in a 2-year college that is now
a Supreme Court case: Edward Lane was fired because he testified truthfully
that an Alabama state legislator was a no-show employee, being paid
by the taxpayers for no work.

Dumanis pursued preposterous perjury charges against Jason Moore and Steve Castaneda apparently because they dared to interfere with the political ascent of Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox. Meanwhile, Dumanis ignored a boatload of perjury committed to cover-up wrongdoing by Cheryl Cox herself, as well as Cheryl's fellow Chula Vista Elementary School District trustees Bertha Lopez, Pamela Smith, Larry Cunningham and Patrick Judd in the Maura Larkins v. CVESD case.

Even the Sheriff of Santa Barbara admitted that his office signed a false declaration in that case. Some examples of others who committed perjury can be found HERE and HERE.

Dumanis has been careful not to go after any of the truly powerful players in the San Diego education establishment.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports:

"Two more Sweetwater school board members pleaded guilty Thursday to minor charges in the South County political corruption investigation, effectively ending a case once described as the worst corruption scandal in a decade on a muted note. Board President Jim Cartmill and trustee Bertha Lopez each pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of accepting gifts over the state limit. They will be sentenced in June."

The SDUT is correct that this effectively ends the case since these are the last two school officials to plead out. But according to the Daily Transcript, there is still one contractor left whose charges have not been resolved. I doubt that there will ever be a single trial in this case.

"Their plea deals leave just one trial-bound defendant, Jeffrey Flores, remaining in the probe that rounded up more than a dozen South Bay-area school officials, a construction contractor and a bond underwriter for allegedly being implicit in either giving or receiving gifts that could influence votes by school districts when construction contracts were awarded.

"Flores, president of Seville Construction Services, was also scheduled to begin trial on Monday. But due to medical issues, is likely to have his proceedings continued to a later date, Deputy District Attorney Leon Schorr said Friday. All named defendants outside of Flores have pleaded to lesser charges than what they initially faced."

THE JASON MOORE CASE

It's about time that the abusive political prosecution of Jason Moore should be rectified. Steve Castaneda also seeks information about the political prosecution he endured.

See recent revelation: Phone Call Raises Questions About DA Dumanis’ Chula Vista Investigations

News Of Dumanis Call Prompts Request To Strike Plea Deal
By Amita Sharma
KPBS
April 24, 2014

An aide to former Chula Vista Mayor Steve Padilla wants to undo his 2008 misdemeanor guilty plea.

Jason Moore's defense attorney says his client should have been told about District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis' call when he was charged.

The request follows news of a call San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis made before she investigated Chula Vista city officials.

In 2007, former Padilla aide Jason Moore faced five felony charges for perjury. Moore was caught spying on the political enemy of his boss at an event during work hours. Prosecutors said Moore lied about when he submitted a request to take time off from work. Moore ultimately pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in a deal with the DA’s office.

Moore’s attorney Knut Johnson said that deal would have never been cut today. Johnson says revelations in a KPBS story this week changed everything.

The story reported that Dumanis called then-Mayor Padilla in 2006 just weeks before she started investigating Chula Vista city officials. Padilla said Dumanis asked him to appoint her own aide to a vacant Chula Vista City Council seat. Padilla refused and soon afterward, she launched her probes.

"If the district attorney called up Mr. Moore’s boss and tried to get that boss to make a city council seat available for one of her employees and then when refused a week later started an investigation that included subpoenaing Mr. Moore to the grand jury, that was undisclosed and we should have known about that," John said. "It's such an obvious conflict of interest."

Johnson said he plans to file court papers arguing that Moore’s plea deal was obtained illegally. The DA’s office said it had no comment at this time.



Here's one of my early posts about the Jason Moore case:

Is Jason Moore the Dale Akiki of Bonnie Dumanis?
May 20, 2007

Tanya Mannes writes about Bonnie Dumanis' mysterious "Public Integrity Unit" in this morning's San Diego Union-Tribune:

"In existence about 14 months, it has filed charges against one person: Jason Moore, a former Chula Vista mayoral aide." Jason Moore worked for Steve Padilla, a Democrat who was in a run-off election against Republican Cheryl Cox.

The investigation of Moore, for taking two hours off work to take pictures of Cheryl Cox with David Malcolm at a Cox fundraiser, began in August 2005, well before the November election. Oddly, Bonnie Dumanis says, that in the future, in most cases, "we will not investigate a complaint until after an election."

Bonnie says her office is determined to be nonpolitical. When will that start, Bonnie? Specifically, when will you investigate complaints against Cheryl Cox and her associates?

Dumanis did not even announce the existence of her "Public Integrity Unit" until March 1, 2007. Jason Moore was indicted on March 27, 2007.

O'Toole and Dumanis have each claimed to be personally interested in prosecuting perjury. But Dumanis' office recently refused to investigate proven perjury regarding illegal actions committed at Chula Vista Elementary School District when Bertha Lopez and Cheryl Cox were trustees of CVESD.

UPDATE April 25, 2014:

Maura Larkins' note: I imagine that readers are more likely to believe me regarding illegal actions and perjury committed by school officials in the South Bay after the recent revelations of pay-for-play deals with contractors. See related posts. I think these revelations will hurt Bonnie Dumanis in her contest against Bob Brewer in the upcoming election for district attorney in San Diego. But I hope that Bob Brewer, if he wins, won't give all public officials a free pass. I worry about that since Bob Brewer has made most of his money defending powerful white collar players. And he even has Bonnie's henchman Patrick O'Toole, who savagely prosecuted Jason Moore and Steve Castaneda, in his camp. That's sort of scary...

In a related case, another political target of Bonnie Dumanis also asks for follow-through on the new information about the D.A.'s political motives.

Ex-Chula Vista Councilman Wants DA To Release Emails
By Amita Sharma
KPBS News
April 22, 2014

Former Chula Vista City Councilman Steve Castaneda called on District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis to release emails connected to his 2008 prosecution.

Former Chula Vista City Councilman Steve Castaneda called Thursday on District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis to release emails connected to his 2008 prosecution.

Castaneda's request followed a KPBS report that Dumanis investigated him and his colleagues after failing to get her aide appointed to a vacant Chula Vista council seat.

In 2006, Dumanis opened an inquiry into whether Castaneda received favors from a developer. That was months after then-Chula Vista Mayor Steve Padilla said he refused Dumanis' phone request to appoint an aide, Jesse Navarro, to a vacant council seat. Castaneda was later indicted on accusations of lying to a grand jury.

A jury acquitted him on most of the charges and hung on others.

Castaneda said he should have been told about Dumanis' call to Padilla. He now wants the District Attorney's Office to release all emails regarding his case because he wants to know "what happened and why it happened."

"Frankly, if she were on my side of the prosecutorial desk, she'd be at a grand jury right now," Castaneda said. "And she's hiding behind her status and her position, and I think she owes it to not only me and my family, but she owes it to the people of San Diego County."

A Dumanis spokeswoman released a statement on the matter saying, "Mr. Castaneda's criminal case is closed and we will not allow the District Attorney's Office to be used as a political pawn."

KPBS also asked for the same emails but was told the records didn't exist and would be exempt from disclosure anyway.

Lots on the line for Dumanis in South Bay

See Robert Brewer story below the Dumanis story.

Embezzlers of school booster club funds and PTA funds have been prosecuted all around the county, but  two separate embezzlements at Castle Park Elementary (where I taught) were not prosecuted. They occurred within a period of eight years.  The second incident involved $20,000 held by the PTA.  The PTA president was arrested, then let go almost immediately and never prosecuted.  Was this crime kept quiet so as not embarrass Cheryl Cox and her fellow board members?

Lots on the line for Dumanis in South Bay
By Aaron Burgin and Katherine Poythress
SDUT
JAN. 11, 2013

...Since 2007, only one case lodged by the unit against an elected official has resulted in criminal punishment. Former Encinitas Councilman Dan Dalager was fined $1,000 in 2011 after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor conflict of interest charge stemming from accepting deeply discounted appliances from a store owner, then voting in the owner’s favor in a dispute with the city. His case was prosecuted after the transaction was exposed by The Watchdog...[Dalager is conservative]

Allegations of corruption at Sweetwater schools stretch back as far as the 1980s, when officials were accused of misappropriating lottery funds, attempted bribery and the unauthorized sale of computers to schools in Mexico. These allegations ultimately led to the fall of then-Superintendent Anthony Trujillo and started the political career of Jim Cartmill — one of the officials accused of corruption today...

Slater-Price accepted free tickets while dispensing grants to the opera and the Old Globe Theatre. After The Watchdog revealed she failed to report the gifts on state forms, she was given a $2,000 administrative fine in 2010.

Slater-Price’s beneficiaries were charities, not for-profit companies. And prosecutors in South County are gathering evidence of quid pro quo arrangements. But Carlos said the parallel of taking entertainment while giving government largesse is there.

“It’s the same conduct,” Carlos said. “It’s crazy. If it is illegal for someone, it should be illegal for everyone. Apparently, however, that is not the case.”...

[The same could be said for the entire $200,000 yearly slush funds that supervisors used to award themselves to be used to give to the non-profits of their choice. They got plenty in return, including lots of free publicity.]

Salas said while she doesn’t believe the case is a conspiracy, she hopes Dumanis’ public integrity unit will probe other school districts.

“We are a very diverse community, and we are way beyond that type of thinking in California and San Diego,” she said, “but it seems to me that the kind of problems that we are facing here are something that his happening countywide, and there does seem to be an extraordinary focus on South Bay.”



Robert Brewer

Leslie Devaney's and Dan Shinoff's endorsements of Robert Brewer can be found HERE.

“I have had the great privilege of knowing Mr. Brewer for over 30 years. He is an outstanding individual who is the consummate professional who treats everyone he deals with with great respect and always is a person of tremendous integrity. The County would be most fortunate to have Robert Brewer as District Attorney.”

--Daniel R. Shinoff
STUTZ ARTIANO SHINOFF & HOLTZ

I imagine Mr. Shinoff is quite incensed at Bonnie Dumanis for indicting his clients Manuel Paul, Bertha Lopez, and others at Southwestern College, Sweetwater Union High School District, and San Ysidro School District.

Of course, it's sort of strange that Dan Shinoff feels he has to muzzle a retired teacher in order to protect his own reputation as person of integrity. (See my San Diego Education Report blog posts re Stutz v. Larkins.) Does Mr. Shinoff really think that people who have worked with him for years will think his ethics are questionable just because of something I say? Haven't these people already formed an opinion?  They probably know him better than I do.  Most of the facts that I discuss have been published in newspapers, or at least in court documents, and few people read my websites, anyway. Why does Mr. Shinoff see me as a threat to his reputation?

Bertha Lopez and Manuel Paul indicted, and, surprisingly, a white male Republican: Sweetwater's Jim Cartmill

Sweetwater Union High School District board
Back Row (Left to Right): Jim Cartmill, Dr. Ed Brand, superintendent, John McCann
Front Row (Left to Right): Bertha López, Arlie N. Ricasa, Pearl Quiñones

I am shocked. Bonnie Dumanis' Public Integrity Unit has indicted a white male Republican. Jim Cartmill has learned the hard way that he can't count on Bonnie anymore. But the D.A. has spent years going after people in the South Bay that Jim Cartmill wanted to destroy politically, so he should man up and pay the piper.

After Being indicted, former CVESD trustee Bertha Lopez (currently on the Sweetwater Union High School District board) said she has nothing to hide. In fact, she has been covering-up crimes at Chula Elementary School District for over ten years, along with CVESD board members Pamela Smith and Larry Cunningham. Teachers were pressured to perjure themselves to conceal the wrongdoing of Bertha and her fellow board members. The board included Pat Judd and current Chula Vista mayor Cheryl Cox.

The Union Tribune has long been a fan of Bertha Lopez.

Regarding Bertha Lopez:

"According to court documents, a contractor paid for Lopez and eight guests to attend an award ceremony hosted by the YWCA in 2009, which she did not disclose on state-mandated forms. She and her husband were also at Morton’s with Amigable and Paul, according to court documents, and she failed to report the meal on state forms."

3 more indicted in South Bay corruption probe
San Ysidro superintendent is among the new targets of the DA's investigation
Aaron Burgin
UTSD
Dec. 31, 2012

A probe into corruption among South Bay school leaders has widened to include another district, with indictments against three additional officials.

Manuel Paul

A grand jury has indicted San Ysidro School District Superintendent Manuel Paul and Sweetwater Union High School District board members Jim Cartmill and Bertha Lopez, according to a criminal defense attorney who represents all three.

Two other Sweetwater school board members were charged a year ago, along with a former board member and former Superintendent Jesus Gandara.

Attorney James Pokorny, who represents Paul, Lopez and Cartmill, said the grand jury has indicted them on multiple felony and misdemeanor counts including perjury, filing false documents, accepting gifts and bribery. He said they maintain their innocence.

“My take on this is that DA believes that they can target people in the community that have given their energy and lives for betterment of students and that they can topple these people and cripple them from running for office ever again,” he said. “Knowing the people the way that I do, I don’t buy what they are accused of, and I don’t think a jury will either.”

The District Attorney’s office declined to comment on the case.

Pokorny said he received a letter from the District Attorney’s office notifying him that his clients had been indicted, but has not seen the full indictment. He said that Lopez faces 19 felony and misdemeanor counts, Cartmill faces 10 counts and Paul faces six.

Paul admitted in a June deposition in an unrelated lawsuit that he had taken $2,500 in cash from a contractor seeking work from his district. He said the handoff in the parking lot of a steak house was a campaign contribution for a school board member.

It is not clear if the indictment stems from that incident, which has been under review separately by a federal grand jury.

Paul’s name has already appeared in some documents related to the Sweetwater corruption investigation, in which prosecutors are alleging meals, sporting events, plays and other considerations were exchanged for multimillion dollar construction contracts.

Paul and his wife, for instance, are listed in court documents as guests at a $1,700 meal at Morton’s steakhouse in July 2008 hosted by contractor Henry Amigable.

Other guests included three of those facing charges in Sweetwater — Gandara, former board member Greg Sandoval and current trustee Pearl Quiñones. They have all pleaded not guilty.

Amigable pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in May and is cooperating with county prosecutors.

Lopez and Cartmill largely stayed out of the fray as their colleagues were charged a year ago, although Lopez’s home was raided a year ago and she has been questioned in connection with the case.

“The district attorney is doing their job and I don’t have anything to hide,” Lopez said the day of the raid. “That is the bottom line.”

According to court documents, a contractor paid for Lopez and eight guests to attend an award ceremony hosted by the YWCA in 2009, which she did not disclose on state-mandated forms. She and her husband were also at Morton’s with Amigable and Paul, according to court documents, and she failed to report the meal on state forms.


Update Jan. 16, 2013:

I found another white male Republican that Bonnie has indicted. The case is discussed in this article about the bizarre and unsuccessful prosecution of Steve Castaneda:

HIGH STAKES IN CORRUPTION PROBE
DA aims to regain credibility after unsuccessful prosecution while South Bay figures fight stereotypes
By Aaron Burgin & Katherine Poythress
U-T
JAN. 12, 2013

...Since 2007, only one case lodged by the unit against an elected official has resulted in criminal punishment. Former Encinitas Councilman Dan Dalager was fined $1,000 in 2011 after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor conflict-of-interest charge stemming from accepting deeply discounted appliances from a store owner, then voting in the owner’s favor in a dispute with the city. His case was prosecuted after the transaction was exposed by The Watchdog. A lot is riding on the outcome of the latest cases, also sparked by initial reports from The Watchdog about the relationships between contractors and officials in South County...

Bonnie Dumanis' Public Integrity Unit goes after another Mexican-American (current target: San Ysidro School District)

Manuel Paul

UPDATE: Manuel Paul indicted, along with Bertha Lopez and Jim Cartmill.

So far, Bonnie Dumanis' Public Integrity Unit has always acted on behalf of Republican officials.

Is it because Republicans in San Diego have more integrity than Democrats? Clearly not. Republican Mayor Dick Murphy planned the deal that earned San Diego infamy as "Enron by the Sea." But the only people charged by Bonnie Dumanis in the secret pension deal were employees, not officials.

The District Attorney is very selective about her public official targets.

With one exception, they are all from Greg Cox/Cheryl Cox's district (South Bay), and they are always Mexican-American (or assistants of Mexican-Americans), and they are all Democrats (except for one Republican Mexican-American who had the temerity to run against Cheryl Cox). The one exception is Kathleen Sterling, a North County Democrat.

Former Superintendent Lowell Billings of Chula Vista Elementary School District covered up crimes, and seems to have padded his pockets.

Superintendent Says Cash Exchange was for Campaign
By Wendy Fry
Aug 4, 2012
NBCSanDiego

The superintendent of San Ysidro school district said in a June 20 deposition that he accepted $2,500 in cash from a contractor in 2010 in the parking lot of the Chula Vista Butcher Shop, a South Bay restaurant that has since been renamed the Steak House.

The superintendent of San Ysidro schools said in a June 20 deposition that he accepted $2,500 in cash from a contractor in 2010 in the parking lot of the Chula Vista Butcher Shop, a South Bay restaurant that has since been renamed the Steak House.

San Ysidro schools superintendent Manuel Paul said the money was for a campaign contribution for board member Yolanda Hernandez.

“It was cash given to me by Mr. Loreto Romero,” Paul said. “He gave me cash for campaign posters for Mrs. Yolanda Hernandez.” Paul later added the amount was about $2,500.

Hernandez did not respond to multiple requests for comment made over several weeks. Loreto Romero concurred with Paul’s description of the cash exchange, saying the money was a political donation. When pressed, Romero admitted he was hoping to compete for a construction management contract with the school district at the time the money was dropped off.

A donation from Romero does not appear on any campaign finance forms available on the San Diego County Registrar’s website for Hernandez and the county campaign services supervisor confirmed Friday that no amendments have been made or filed recently. Even if the money was a political donation, San Diego State political science professor Brian Adams said exchanging that much cash breaches state campaign finance laws.

“For cash, it’s $99 for what you can receive. Everything else has to be in a check,” said Adams, who has written a book on local and state campaign finance laws. Paul’s deposition was taken as part of a lawsuit brought by Chula Vista-based Manzana Energy, a solar panel company suing the district for breach of contract. The approximately $18 million services contract would have allowed the school district to purchase solar power from political consultant Art Castañares’ company, Manzana or EcoBusiness Alliance - another business name for Manzana.

Under the deal, San Ysidro agreed to buy power generated by the panels from Manzana Energy over 25 years for a flat fee of $18.9 million. Manzana was to pay $16 million to buy and install the panels, which would have generated about 70 percent of the schools’ power needs. School district officials estimated at the time that the deal would save San Ysidro $10.5 million in energy costs over the 25 year life span of the contract.

The equipment was supposed to be installed in early February 2008, but not one panel had been put into place when the contract was terminated in October 2011. Because no panels were installed, no district funds were ever spent on the endeavor. Castañares’ is building a case that his contract was terminated because he refused to “pay to play.”

In the deposition, Paul said he took the cash from Romero to a business in Tijuana to make posters for Hernandez’s election campaign.

“That’s completely illegal. And it’s very clearly illegal,” said SDSU professor Adams, who said that all campaign cash must be deposited into a campaign account and then expenditures made from that account to promote transparency.

“You can of course amend your form and that does frequently happen with candidates who make mistakes, but the initial mistake is still there and they can still be fined for that. Also, what’s typical in these types of cases is the money has to be returned. Now, I don’t know if they’ve returned the money, but it is very likely they will be required to return the money to the contributor.”

San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis is prosecuting six current and former officials in the neighboring Sweetwater school district for their role in what she has described as a pervasive and systemic “pay to play” atmosphere. Dumanis said the Sweetwater officials traded their votes on key contracts in exchange for Lakers tickets, Halloween costumes, expensive meals and other entertainment.

In an email statement in response to questions about the 2010 cash exchange, Paul wrote:

“We are in the middle of litigation with EcoBusiness System I am not willing to discuss anything relative to pending litigation. Apparently your interest involves information you have learned from a deposition. I am surprised that you would have a deposition that has not been filed in court in your possession. That being said, I believe that there are ulterior motives by parties to this case which relate to an effort to pressure an improper resolution. That will not occur, and I will not allow my position to be used for such a purpose. I must respectfully decline your request to go camera. I believe that the issue you have discussed with others in my office has been completely obfuscated. I believe the proper reporting regarding campaign contributions have been made."

NBC7 asked Paul why he was collecting campaign money on Hernandez’s behalf, as he is not listed as her campaign manager or treasurer in disclosure forms, but he has not yet responded to that question.

During the Fall 2010 cash exchange in the parking lot, San Ysidro schools was accepting bids for construction on a new school, Vista Del Mar. According to Paul’s testimony in the deposition, companies who competed for the contract included: Echo Pacific, Barnhart Balfour Beatty, Erickson Hall, GI Construction Management, Seville Construction Management and HAR Construction Management, a company headed by Loreto Romero’s brother, Hector.

Erickson Hall eventually won the contract.

The San Ysidro school district consists of seven schools serving about 5,200 students in kindergarten through eighth-grade, along the U.S. border with Mexico.

Source: Superintendent Says Cash Exchange was for Campaign | NBC 7 San Diego

Tri-City boardmember George Coulter, accuser of Kathleen Sterling, turns out to have a background of moral turpitude

George Coulter
Also see San Diego Education Report articles on this story.·








George William Coulter - Elected Board Member, Tri-City Healthcare District - Criminal & Civil Record & Testimony
by Kathleen Sterling
June 22, 2012

Tri-City Boardmember (elected 2008-2012) Mr. George Coulter (Phony Ph.D.) - Convicted of Moral Turpitude ~ Theft / Larceny ~ Burglary ~ Domestic Violence ~ Unlawful Detainer Judgment ·

On May 31 and June 1, 2010 before the Honorable Judge Michael Kirkman, Department 22 held Preliminary Hearing for People of State of California vs Kathleen Sterling where discussion about Tri-City Healthcare District Board Member George Coulter took place before Deputy District Attorney Leon Schorr of the Public Integrity Unit under District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, and as my representative, Public Defender Sherry Stone, placed on the record what was discussed with Judge Kirkman in his chambers. ·

The following excerpts are taken from the Reporter's Transcript taken on May 31, 2011 and June 1, 2011, Preliminary Hearing Transcript "PE Transcript, pps. 2-6, lines 5, 9, 14, 15, 16 " ·

Ms. Stone: Your Honor, the prosecution is calling George Coulter. He's one of the percipient witnesses to count one [Penal Code 86 - Felony] as well as count two [Government Code 87100 - Misdemeanor]. . . . Mr. Coulter has a prior Misdemeanor Conviction for Penal Code 272 . . . . It's a crime of Moral Turpitude. ·

The Court: It was a Penal Code 272 matter, and then there was another matter, a Penal Code 484? ·

Ms. Stone: Yes, Penal Code 484 and Penal Code 459. ·

The Court: [The relevancy]". . . could be utilized for impeachment purposes of the witness... I understand that there is a subsequent matter that occured ... related to domestic violence that counsel wished to address? " ·

Ms. Stone: Yes, your Honor. How much detail would the Court like me to go into? ·

The Court: You'd indicated that there was a Domestic Violence related matter and that there was actually some contact, some physical violence; is that right? ·

Ms. Stone: That is correct. . .

[Continued HERE]

FORMER COLLEGE OFFICIALS’ HOMES SEARCHED BY D.A.

Come one, Bonnie. Your Public Integrity Unit looks more and more like its involved in political payback. You never go after corrupt white Republicans. This is all starting to look less like a campaign against corruption and more like legally-sanctioned dirty tricks campaign in support of your political friends.


FORMER COLLEGE OFFICIALS’ HOMES SEARCHED BY D.A.
Wendy Fry
March 20, 2012

CHULA VISTA — District Attorney’s investigators executed search warrants Tuesday morning at the homes of two former elected officials at Southwestern College.

Investigators retrieved pictures, computers, cell phones and documents from the Chula Vista home of former college board President Yolanda Salcido, 54, and the Jamul residence of former trustee Jorge Dominguez, 63.

Teams arrived at each person’s home around 7:30 a.m. Affidavits justifying the searches for a judge are expected to be unsealed within a week.

The D.A.’s office is gathering a case alleging that South County elected officials accepted thousands of dollars worth of gifts, entertainment and meals in exchange for votes on millions of dollars of construction contracts under voter-approved bond programs.

Dominguez and Salcido could not be reached for comment.

The D.A.’s office declined to comment on the investigation, beyond confirming it is in the midst of a broadening corruption probe. Homes of seven other people connected to the college and the Sweetwater Union High School District were searched in December.

A 41-page affidavit used to gain approval for the prior round of searches mentioned Salcido 19 times, alleging she went to meals at the expense of contractor Henry Amigable, who has since pleaded not guilty to bribery charges.

The document says Salcido accepted $960 in meals in 2006 and 2007 from Amigable, a business development executive who worked at Gilbane Building Co. and then Seville Construction Services.

For example, according to the D.A.’s documents, Amigable treated a Sweetwater schools official and his wife, along with Salcido and Southwestern administrator John Wilson, to an $802 meal on Feb. 24, 2007, at Baci Ristorante in San Diego.

The affidavit lists several such meals at which Amigable picked up the tab for Wilson and Salcido before Nov. 18, 2009, when the college board adopted Wilson’s recommendation to grant a $2.7 million contract to Seville Construction Services. The contract was terminated in January.

“Amigable was instrumental in Seville Construction Services being awarded the Proposition R program management contract at Southwestern College due to his close relationship with SWC board member Yolanda Salcido and John Wilson,” the affidavit says.

Regarding Salcido specifically, it adds, “Her dating relationship with Wilson during this critical time frame and Wilson’s relationship with Amigable and SCS clearly appear to be a conflict.”

Amigable’s attorney, Dan Greene, emphasized that none of the entertainment was billed to taxpayers, and all of it was routine business expenses approved by superiors at construction firms.

“These were business expenses, or in other words, part of the anticipated cost of doing business,” Greene said.

The other former board member whose home was searched, Dominguez, is mentioned twice in the previous affidavit, in reference to two $2,000 political contributions he received from Seville Construction Services.

An internal Southwestern probe released last week found that Seville donated $30,000 to Salcido’s failed re-election campaign.

San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis charged four current and former Sweetwater school officials in January, and they pleaded not guilty to corruption charges. No charges have been forthcoming regarding the Southwestern bond program.

In the November 2010 election, she lost her college board seat to challenger Norma Hernandez, the college’s former president. Dominguez lost his seat to Tim Nader, a former Chula Vista mayor.

Tri-City Hospital and Bonnie Dumanis fail in felony attempt against Kathleen Sterling

This case is interesting because it involves several of the same lawyers and law firms that misuse the courts for political or financial gain in San Diego County schools. Greg Moser is one such attorney.

See all posts on Tri-City Healthcare.
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VISTA: Judge dismisses felony charge against Tri-City director Sterling
By PAUL SISSON
North County Times--Californian
June 1, 2011

After a two-day preliminary hearing, a Vista Superior Court judge on dismissed a felony vote-trading charge against Tri-City Healthcare District Director Kathleen Sterling.

The ruling by Judge K. Michael Kirkman frees Sterling from the most serious charge she faced ---- a felony count of bribe solicitation.

However, Kirkman let stand a misdemeanor count of wrongful influence against Sterling that is now set to move forward. If Sterling is convicted on that charge, she would be bounced from Tri-City's board under state elections law.

Standing in the hallway after the felony charge was dismissed, Sterling read from a prepared statement. "I will continue to perform my duties in a quality manner," she said, listing those duties as oversight of hospital management, ensuring fiscal solvency and assuring "optimum quality care for all of the residents of Tri-City."

Assistant District Attorney Leon Schorr said outside the courtroom that he wasn't disappointed in Kirkman's ruling.

"We respect his decision," Schorr said. "We had to put on the witnesses, have them testify, and let a judge decide. That's part of the process."

The felony charge stemmed from a May 26, 2010, dinner meeting at a Carlsbad steakhouse attended by hospital Directors Sterling, George Coulter, and RoseMarie Reno, as well as Tri-City Chief Operating Officer Casey Fatch.

The meeting, which participants testified was an attempt to "mend fences and build bridges" among board members who had not been getting along, resulted in Coulter and Reno accusing Sterling of offering a bribe.

The two testified that, during the meeting, Sterling offered future votes on unspecified board business if her fellow board members would make her vice chair of the hospital board, make her chair of a hospital subcommittee and rescind two censures against her passed in 2000 and 2001.

Though she did not testify on her own behalf at the hearing, Sterling said during a previous hospital board meeting that all of the accusations were fabricated.

During the hearing, Sterling's attorney, public defender Sherry Stone, successfully argued that nothing of value ever changed hands. She noted that no additional money or benefits were attached to leadership positions on the hospital board and also that no deal ever went beyond a few heated words at a restaurant.

Schorr tried to convince the judge that a felony solicitation charge was warranted because the law does not require that a bribe be consummated, or that it have a monetary value, in order for it to be illegal. He said it was solicitation of a bribe "as long as she (Sterling) finds that there is value in the things that she is asking for and as long as she has a belief that it has some value to her."

But Kirkman said that the value question was not his central concern. The judge noted that it was not Sterling who set up the dinner meeting and said that he did not believe she offered the exchange with any "corrupt intent" to exchange her votes for specific concessions.

"These were emotional comments made off the cuff in response to what was being said by others," Kirkman said.

He likened the dinner meeting comment to an exchange between Sterling and Reno at a April 28, 2010, hospital board meeting. At that meeting, Reno told Sterling: "It's unfortunate that you may have paid Judge Mills off beforehand."

The comment referred to Judge Richard E. Mills' decision to deny six restraining orders that hospital board members and Tri-City employees requested against Sterling.

"I don't believe that she (Sterling) had that intent (to trade votes) any more than I believe that Mrs. Reno truly meant what she said about Judge Mills," Kirkman said...



Legal tab against Tri-City trustee tops $100,000
District’s effort against board member is many-pronged
By Aaron Burgin
June 3, 2011

Oceanside — The Tri-City Healthcare District since March has spent more than $105,000 and employed nearly a dozen attorneys from three law firms in legal actions against one of its elected board members.

A judge in April denied the district’s request for a restraining order against the board member, Kathleen Sterling, who they say assaulted several hospital security guards at a Feb. 24 board meeting. The district is appealing.

Officials are suing Sterling for $100,000, alleging that her disruptive behavior has damaged the district’s reputation and embarrassed employees.

Sterling has filed counter actions, including a claim that the district is suing to silence her, and a suit to recoup her legal fees.

Legal and political experts said that while numbers are not out of the ordinary for the number and complexity of the litigation, the fact that a public district has taken these measures against an elected board member is extremely rare.

“In my 40 years in observing government, I haven’t seen anything like this,” said Bob Stern, the president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies and a longtime political observer. “Then again, the behavior that is alleged is unprecedented for an elected official.”

Sterling, a three-term board member who was re-elected in 2008, has frequently clashed with fellow board members, hospital administrators and staff. The district has censured her eight times for what officials call a pattern of disruptive behavior, including calling fellow board members “Nazis” and attempting to tape record closed-session meetings.

As part of her censures, Sterling has forfeited her $100 meeting stipend and must attend board meetings from a separate conference room via teleconference.

By seeking a restraining order, the hospital hopes to make Sterling stay at least 100 yards away from her colleagues and be banned from hospital property except in a medical emergency. She would have to attend meetings from another building, not just another room.

District officials said they have had to hire outside legal firms because of the number of issues they face with Sterling. They said they expect the tab to rise, but said it’s worth it to restore order to the board and keep the public safe.

“You can’t put a price on the public’s safety,” said board member Charlene Anderson, who compared Sterling to Jared Loughner, who seriously injured U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in a Jan. 8 mass shooting in Arizona. “Those people (in Arizona) would’ve gladly given $70,000 to stop him. I am that afraid something like that could come up with Sterling.”

Sterling said such allegations are ridiculous, part of ongoing district efforts to ostracize her for not being a rubber-stamp vote for CEO Larry Anderson.

“I feel I’ve been targeted because I ask questions and request supporting documents before I make an informed voting decision,” Sterling said. “But they are taking the district’s limited resources and shifting it into the lawyers to use the legal system as a bully pulpit and doing it taxpayers expense.”

Sterling’s attorney, Scott McMillan, called the district’s spending on the actions frivolous.

“What an abysmal use of taxpayer money,” McMillan said. “And for what? How much money are they going to spend before someone says enough is enough?”

McMillan said the spending is questionable because district voters have a mechanism to oust Sterling — a recall election — which no one has attempted. A recall election would cost the district $270,000 for a mail-in ballot or $860,000 for a precinct election. The district could not sponsor such an election, but district voters could.

“If they have a problem with Kathleen Sterling, they need to bring it to voters, not bring it to a judge,” McMillan said.

According to invoices provided from Procopio, the district’s contract legal firm, the firm billed the district $68,445 between March 1 and April 30, including more than $54,000 in attorneys fees for 166 hours of work and $14,000 in legal-related expenses. This does not include costs incurred during May, when the district filed its appeal. Five attorneys, who bill at $335 an hour, a clerk and a paralegal have worked on the restraining order for the firm.

The district hired Michael Curran of Encinitas-based Curran & Curran for the lawsuit. Curran billed the district $3,060 for work from Feb. 28 to March 3, but the district is expecting another bill in coming days. Curran bills at $360 an hour.

Sterling has filed a countermotion against the district that claims that the district legal actions are a “strategic lawsuit against public participation.”

Tri-City on April 21 hired a third firm to assist Curran on Sterling’s claim and other aspects of the dispute. Encino-based Horvitz and Levy has billed the district $33,559 for work performed from April 21 to May 30, Tri-City legal counsel Allison Borkheim said. Four attorneys have worked on the Sterling case, who bill the district from $290 to $460 an hour...

Another bizarre prosecution by Bonnie Dumanis: the conflicts on the Tri-City Hospital board have spilled over from civil court to criminal court

See all posts re Tri-City Healthcare.

The Public Integrity Unit in the San Diego district attorney's office may have been officially disbanded, but the same names (Dumanis and Leon Schorr) are popping up in a bizarre new prosecution that seems every bit as political as two notorious Chula Vista cases. The Public Integrity Unit was embarrassed by the acquittal of Chula Vista councilman Steve Castaneda and the strange case of a Chula Vista employee who was charged with five felonies for taking two hours off work.

"...[A] local law professor said Sterling's alleged vote-swapping deal in late May closely resembled what occurs in Washington, D.C., every day. He cited an example of congressional Republicans refusing to support presidential initiatives until after tax cuts were extended. What is the difference, the professor asked, between this very public vote-swapping and what Sterling said in the restaurant?"


OCEANSIDE: Sterling pleads not guilty to felony charge
By PAUL SISSON
North County Times - Californian
December 16, 2010

Tri-City Medical Center Director Kathleen Sterling pleaded not guilty Thursday to a felony vote-swapping charge in Vista Superior Court.

On Nov. 19, the San Diego County district attorney's office charged Sterling with soliciting a bribe and a misdemeanor count of wrongful influence. She appeared, as scheduled, for arraignment Thursday, represented by a court-appointed attorney.

Stating that the hospital director was not considered a flight risk, Deputy District Attorney Leon Schorr did not request bail. Sterling is scheduled for another administrative court date Jan. 3.

Sterling declined to comment on the court proceedings during the hearing. Later in the day, her colleagues voted 4-1, with Director Cyril Kellett abstaining, to again censure Sterling. This time, the censure regarded statements Sterling made at a hospital meeting Dec. 4. Those statements included suggesting that fellow board members "take the brown shirt and wear it" after they accused her of, and censured her for, calling board members "Nazis" at a previous meeting.

On Thursday night, board members called for Sterling to resign in light of the censures and felony charge.

Sterling said in a telephone interview Wednesday that she's not going anywhere.

"I'm not going to resign," she said. "This is nothing more than political bullying at its highest. Why not find out what is really underneath all of it?"

In court, Schorr, the deputy district attorney, said it was Sterling's statements at a May 26 dinner meeting with two fellow board members and a hospital administrator that led to the felony charge against her. Hospital Director George Coulter, board Chairwoman RoseMarie Reno and Casey Fatch, the hospital's chief operations officer, testified at a public hearing July 15 that Sterling offered to support unspecified future board business in exchange for being made vice chairwoman of the hospital board and chairwoman of the hospital's Human Resources Committee.

"Both positions have elevated personal power on the board and result in personal financial benefits," Schorr said in court. "Ms. Sterling's demands were offered in exchange for procedural votes on board matters."

If convicted of a felony, Sterling would no longer be able to serve on the Tri-City board.

Schorr said the misdemeanor charge of undue influence relates to a vote Sterling made during a formal sanctions hearing July 15. At the hearing, the board voted to strip Sterling of the stipends she received for attending hospital meetings. Sterling voted against that item even though the board's attorney told her she could be breaking a law that forbids elected officials from influencing decisions that could affect them financially.

"Ms. Sterling disregarded the advice and voted on issues that had a direct economic impact on her," Schorr said.

After the initial complaints against Sterling were filed, a local law professor said Sterling's alleged vote-swapping deal in late May closely resembled what occurs in Washington, D.C., every day. He cited an example of congressional Republicans refusing to support presidential initiatives until after tax cuts were extended. What is the difference, the professor asked, between this very public vote-swapping and what Sterling said in the restaurant?

Standing in the hallway outside the courtroom Thursday, Schorr declined to comment on the workings of Congress...

Woman wrongly arrested wants apology from police, Bonnie Dumanis

Stories like this make me realize why there are so many innocent people who are released when their DNA is tested: eyewitness identification is pretty close to worthless, especially across racial lines. If there hadn't been a video for a clear-eyed judge to look at, this woman might still have charges pending against her. Couldn't District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis find a black cop to take a look at the video? The problem might have been solved a lot sooner if she had.


I don't understand why some people can't apologize when they make a harmful mistake. It makes me wonder if the police and District Attorney think that it's okay for them to trample on people like this and then shrug it off. This isn't what we pay them to do. They get high salaries to do a thorough, professional job.

Woman wrongly arrested wants apology
By Brian Flores
FOX 5 San Diego
April 14, 2010

LA MESA, Calif. - A La Mesa woman who was mistakenly arrested for a series of crimes against senior citizens says she wants and apology from the San Diego District Attorney's Office and police.

Deidria Nicholson told Fox 5 News that she didn't know what she was being arrested for Thursday, but she knew it was a serious situation.

"I can tell you that at that moment, I did not fully understand the charges against me," Nicholson said. "But when I got outside and saw the media, I thought, somebody out here made a big mistake."

Earlier this month, police released a video surveillance photo of a woman responsible for a string of burglaries against local elderly people. Investigators received a phone tip last Thursday that led them to Nicholson. Nicholson said her La Mesa apartment was surrounded by 10 to 14 police officers that afternoon. She said the officers gathered evidence, including receipts, post cards, and some of her hair products. She said she was taken away in handcuffs.

Nicholson's son, Ellis Twine II, said his mother's arrest was bewildering to everyone who knows her.

"I was just shocked, and everybody I told about was in shock, thinking if it was an April fool's joke or something," Twine said.

Nicholson spent five days in custody. She was arraigned Monday afternoon and pleaded not guilty. She adamantly maintained that she was a victim of mistaken identity. Just hours after the arraignment, prosecutors dropped all charges and Nicholson was released. Authorities said they had arrested the wrong person...

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis outside the law regarding public records requests on prosecutions?

DA Watch: Update 1
KEEGAN KYLE
March 17, 2010
Voice of San Diego

I called district attorney spokesman Paul Levikow this morning to see whether the office would hand over a copy of public records without charging us $1,354 after we published this post yesterday. I left a message. No response yet.

So then I sent an e-mail to Levikow and other staffers requesting an interview with District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. I want to know whether she supports the office's fees, which open government advocates call outside the law. No response so far...

In December, I requested all data related to DA cases involving the state's gang enhancement charge in the last decade. The office said providing the data would take "a very substantial expenditure of agency resources for little public benefit," so it proposed a smaller set of data that includes basic case information. That smaller set would still cost $1,354, though.

We are seeking information about when prosecutors accuse people with committing crimes for the benefit of street gangs. Prosecutors have used the charge in controversial cases recently, so we want to examine its use in the last decade.

Since we published our story Tuesday, other San Diego journalists have also contacted me about being stonewalled by the District Attorney's Office in the past.

These comments have been posted online by readers:

Good luck Keegan. This DA's office is impossibly out of control. I have never seen such arrogance from a public office even when they must know they are wrong. Heck ... they even argue against the attorney general. -- Bill Paul

Keep after Princess Dumanis. Take it to the Grand Jury. Expose the autocratic management that despises openness and access. -- David Cohen

Can you post the details of your data request? I'm a computer engineer that works with large SQL databases on a daily basis. Even ignoring 5.5 hours of "programming time," 16 hours of running time on a SQL database is utterly absurd. -- David Martin...

Boycotting of judges nothing new to DA

Boycotting of judges nothing new to DA
At least three others targeted since 2003
By Greg Moran, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 28, 2010
Bonnie Dumanis took office in 2003.

When District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis quietly lifted a months-old challenge of Superior Court Judge John Einhorn late last month, it seemed that an uncommon event — the wholesale boycott of a veteran judge’s courtroom — had come to an end.

But Einhorn was not the first judge to have been singled out for such treatment by Dumanis.

Since 2003, prosecutors have targeted at least three other Superior Court judges for whole or partial boycotts.

Sources in the courthouse, the local defense bar and the District Attorney’s Office said all three were targeted shortly after they made rulings that the District Attorney’s Office apparently disagreed with. Two of those judges, Judith Hayes and William McAdam, no longer work in the criminal courts...

[Judge Judith] Hayes was boycotted just months after Dumanis took office in 2003. The former state and federal prosecutor now hears civil cases in downtown San Diego.

She was challenged soon after dismissing murder charges in the middle of a trial against Michael Savala, who was accused of fatally shooting two bouncers at a Bonita restaurant after the prosecution had presented its case. Hayes said the slayings were not premeditated murder but were committed in the heat of passion — “a classic voluntary manslaughter,” as she said.

Savala eventually pleaded guilty to that lesser charge and received a 13-year sentence...

VISTA: Judge orders new trial for failure to share evidence

Question: How do you tell the prosecutors from the prosecuted in San Diego?

Answer: Perhaps you can tell by seeing who refuses to follow the law.

See all posts about District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.


VISTA: Judge orders new trial for failure to share evidence
Judge finds prosecutor failed to notify defense of fingerprint
North County Times
By TERI FIGUEROA
February 9, 2010

An ex-con facing life in prison for allegedly swiping two bikes will get a new trial because of a prosecutor's "willful omission" of sharing fingerprint evidence, a judge ruled Wednesday.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Harry Elias' ruling did not address the larger concerns raised by a senior member of San Diego County public defender's office in Vista of allegedly systemic failures by prosecutors to turn over evidence. Attorneys had used the theft case as a platform to air those complaints.

But the judge's 15-page ruling focused solely on the dispute in the criminal case against accused thief Kenneth Ray Bowles. At issue: a fingerprint on a pawn ticket for one of the stolen bicycles.

Elias declined to dismiss Bowles' case, finding the strength of other evidence against Bowles probably would have led a jury to find him guilty of stealing and pawning the bikes.

Late last fall, a North County jury convicted Bowles of theft and burglary. During a post-conviction proceeding, his attorney learned that one of the pawn tickets had a fingerprint that could not be definitively matched to Bowles.

The judge said in his decision there was a "significant and substantial violation" of the evidence rules when the prosecutor failed to tell the defense that the inconclusive finding had been left out of the report by the forensic fingerprint expert.

Elias found that the prosecutor, Vanessa DuVall, had "an affirmative duty" to share that information. Elias ordered a new trial for two of the three charges Bowles faced.

Elias said the "willful omission" of sharing inconclusive fingerprint evidence was not so severe that it would have changed the jury's finding of Bowles' guilt. Elias noted other evidence in the case, including a security camera recording of the theft and Bowles confession to investigators.

Elias also said he considered issuing an order of contempt for the deputy district attorney, but opted against it because a fine would not solve the damage done to Bowles.

Requests for comment by prosecutors were referred to Paul Levikow, spokesman for the San Diego County district attorney's office. Levikow declined comment because the criminal case is still pending. DuVall also declined comment.

Defense attorney Kathleen Cannon, a senior member of the Vista branch of the public defender's office, called the ruling "reasoned and thoughtful."

Late last month, Cannon told Elias in court that there had been "a continuing pattern of failure" to turn over evidence.

She pointed to two recent cases in which she said prosecutors violated the rules. In a gang rape case, the prosecutor did not give the victim's statements to defense attorneys. In another case, the prosecution is alleged to have failed to turn over a bloody knife ---- evidence that actually could have worked in favor of the defense.

Neither of those cases went to trial; the defendants took plea deals offered by prosecutors. But the bicycle case did reach a jury, and Bowles was found guilty...

Bonnie Dumanis considers boycott of sixth judge

I am happy to note that Dumanis has lifted her boycott of Judge Einhorn, but this story has gotten much bigger since I first posted it. Congratulations to the San Diego Union Tribune for publishing an important story about Judge Judith Hayes, the first judge boycotted by Bonnie Dumanis.

The bigger story here turns out to be that the first judge Bonnie Dumanis boycotted was a staunch conservative, not a liberal concerned with defendant's rights. Clearly Bonnie Dumanis doesn't like liberals (i.e. judges who get perturbed when it turns out that the prosecution has convicted someone on the basis of manufactured evidence). So why did Dumanis lose confidence in a conservative judge?

I know from personal experience in civil court that Judge Hayes is capable of completely ignoring the law when she thinks no one is looking.

See Judge Judith Hayes posts.

The six judges targeted by Bonnie Dumanis:
Judge Judith Hayes--2003, moved to civil courts
Judge William McAdam--moved to civil courts
Judge Gale Kaneshiro--now hears only misdemeanor cases
Judge John Einhorn--boycott was rightly ended
Judge Harry Elias--D.A. says he was biased because he harshly criticized the prosecutors for failing to follow rules for turning over evidence to defense lawyers.
Judge Laura Parsky--possible boycott


Boycotting of judges nothing new to DA
At least three others targeted since 2003
By Greg Moran, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 28, 2010

When District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis quietly lifted a months-old challenge of Superior Court Judge John Einhorn late last month, it seemed that an uncommon event — the wholesale boycott of a veteran judge’s courtroom — had come to an end...

Since 2003, prosecutors have targeted at least three other Superior Court judges for whole or partial boycotts...

Two of those judges, Judith Hayes and William McAdam, no longer work in the criminal courts.

...Hayes was boycotted just months after Dumanis took office in 2003. The former state and federal prosecutor now hears civil cases in downtown San Diego.

She was challenged soon after dismissing murder charges in the middle of a trial against Michael Savala, who was accused of fatally shooting two bouncers at a Bonita restaurant after the prosecution had presented its case. Hayes said the slayings were not premeditated murder but were committed in the heat of passion — “a classic voluntary manslaughter,” as she said.

Savala eventually pleaded guilty to that lesser charge and received a 13-year sentence...




ORIGINAL POST:

Thank goodness we still have the jury system; that seems to be our only hope as a source of a variety of points of view in our courtrooms. However, even that might not offer a fighting chance to the accused: juries tend to do what the D.A. wants.

D.A. Targets Third Judge for Boycott
Voice of San Diego
February 10, 2010
By KELLY THORNTON

The San Diego County District Attorney's Office has threatened to boycott another Superior Court judge over rulings that prosecutors found troubling, according to a personal account from the judge in question.


Laura Parsky, the third judge in four months to be targeted by the district attorney, related details of the possible boycott during a court hearing in a domestic violence case Jan. 15.

Parsky said it was her ethical duty to disclose that a district attorney supervisor had complained to the supervising judge in Chula Vista about some of her rulings, including decisions she made in the still-pending domestic violence case. The supervising judge, who handles ministerial matters such as assigning cases to other judges, then relayed these concerns to Parsky, along with a warning that the District Attorney's Office may seek to disqualify her in future cases.

It is considered unethical for a party in a pending case to have communications with the judge without the other parties present. Although the prosecutor and Parsky had no direct communication in this case, Parsky was so concerned about the implications of the exchange that she consulted a state judicial ethics panel and was advised to formally disclose it.

She did so at the next hearing in the domestic violence case of defendant Michael Barron...;

Her comments are contained in a court transcript of the hearing. Barron's defense attorney, Lynn Ball, subsequently filed a motion to disqualify the District Attorney's Office because of "arrogant misconduct."

"I just don't like that they have this old boys' club down there," Ball said in an interview. "It's bad enough that every damn judge is a former D.A. To feel that they can go talk to the chief judge and say, 'Square your guys away or they're going to be challenged,' that is a violation of the separation of power."...

Five ex-San Diego pension board members cleared of felony charges

I was displeased with DA Bonnie Dumanis for indicting only employees, letting all officials off the hook. But I suppose that leaders couldn't do wrong if they didn't have obedient underlings to do their dirty work.

See all San Diego pension scam posts.


State Supreme Court Tosses Pension Charges
January 25, 2010
Voice of San Diego

The California Supreme Court today threw out four-and-a-half-year-old charges against five former members of the city of San Diego's retirement board and left open the case against former board member and firefighter union president Ron Saathoff.

The decision means the five retirement board officials did not violate state conflict-of-interest laws when they voted in 2002 to underfund the city's pension system while increasing future benefits. The court found that the five officials -- Cathy Lexin, Mary Vattimo, Teresa Webster, Sharon Wilkinson and John Torres -- received the same benefits as other city employees and therefore didn't receive a personalized financial gain from the decision. Saathoff, the court decided, received a different kind of benefit based on his position with the union and could be tried on conflict charges.

Today's news could signal movement in the other legal cases related to the pension underfunding scandal. The judge in a federal fraud case against Saathoff, Lexin, Webster and two others was waiting for a decision in this case before proceeding. A forthcoming decision in the U.S. Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the so-called "honest services" law under which the former city officials were charged could also play a role.

Additionally, the Union-Tribune reported last week that the Securities and Exchange Commission is considering settling its April 2008 complaint against Webster, Vattimo and three others implicated in the pension scandal.

-- LIAM DILLON


MORE ON THIS SAN DIEGO SUPERIOR COURT CASE


Five ex-San Diego pension board members cleared of felony charges
SDNN
By Staff, City News Service
January 25, 2010

The state Supreme Court Monday dismissed felony conflict-of-interest charges against five ex-San Diego pension board members, but ruled that the trial of former firefighters union president Ronald Saathoff should proceed.

Former San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System board members Cathy Lexin, Mary Vattimo, Teresa Webster, Sharon Wilkinson, John Torres and Saathoff were charged by the District Attorney’s Office in 2005 with violating government code 1090, the state’s conflict-of-interest law.

The law prohibits public officials from negotiating a contract in which they have a financial interest. “We respect today’s decision by the California Supreme Court,” said District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. “We will continue to aggressively pursue conflict-of-interest matters within our community, as honest and open government are essential qualities which must be vigilantly maintained.”

The District Attorney’s Office accused the six of authorizing a 2002 agreement that granted increased retirement benefits in exchange for decreased contributions by the city into the retirement system. Because they were city employees, the pension board members stood to gain from the improved retirement benefits, prosecutors alleged.

In its unanimous ruling, the state’s high court found that Lexin, Vattimo, Webster, Wilkinson and Torres were “not burdened by a conflict of the sort section 1090 prohibits.” “Rather, by intentional legislative design, many of the board’s trustees were members of the retirement system and thus had interests in common with the membership as a whole,” and the defendants’ financial interest in the agreement was a “consequence of this fact,” the ruling states.
Click here to find out more!

However, the justices found that Saathoff uniquely benefited from the deal because it allowed him to combine his salary as president of the firefighters union with his city pay for the purpose of calculating his retirement benefits. Saathoff “obtained a unique, personalized pension benefit as a result of voting to approve the retirement board’s contract with the city,” the ruling states...

Why are more tax dollars given to Bonnie Dumanis to prosecute when crime rate has gone down and public defenders aren't getting equal increases?

Answer: It seems the new money is paying for a political machine.

See all Bonnie Dumanis posts.



DA's Budgets Go Up While Others Go Down
January 7, 2010
Voice of San Diego
By KELLY THORNTON

While other public agencies scramble to cut services and jobs, the district attorney's budget is up 65 percent since Bonnie Dumanis took the helm in 2003, from $91 million to $150 million in the fiscal year that ended in June. The number of lawyers is up almost 10 percent during the same period, from 292 to 320.

Dumanis, with her vast political power, has managed to successfully steer the office through a difficult economy by winning federal grants and persuading county supervisors not to cut funding levels.

While there are more lawyers in the office, there appears to be less work to do. Dumanis goes to trial about half as often as her predecessor, according to at least one measure, and trials are what take manpower in a prosecutor's shop.

And, even though crime is at a 25-year low, Dumanis' office is still filing about the same amount of felony cases each year. She's settling at a higher rate than Pfingst, boosting conviction rates but lessening the need for a deluxe squad of prosecutors.

Dumanis lists her 70 percent case-settlement rate -- meaning deals instead of trials -- as one of her biggest accomplishments because it "keeps police officers on the street instead of testifying in court with great savings to the taxpayer and all agencies in the criminal justice system."

"This is not a contest," Dumanis said in an interview.

She and some of her employees have also been criticized privately by law enforcement officials, some current and former deputy district attorneys, plus some defense attorneys and public defenders, for raises -- including a $56,000 increase over three years for Dumanis -- and perks like take-home cars and a new $84,000 office gym.

"Everyone's in freeze mode, even though Bonnie has hired and promoted," said Deputy Public Defender Joe Kownacki, president of the county Public Defenders Association. Both agencies are funded by the county Board of Supervisors, but the District Attorney's Office has other funding sources also. "There's way too much money spent on that side. That place is way overfunded."

...Dumanis has considerably expanded her executive staff, putting together a public relations army that is the talk of the law enforcement and political worlds.

Dumanis' executive staff includes four chief deputies (Pfingst had one), five public affairs officials (Pfingst had two), and a lobbyist and an office historian (Pfingst had neither)...

With the latest raise, she will make $240,739 -- more than the governor of California and significantly higher than the $150,000 salary of predecessor Pfingst. Plus, she earns about $67,000 in benefits annually.

About 173 of Dumanis' employees... have take-home cars. That's about 50 more total cars than under Pfingst, and only two of his executives had cars. The county Public Defenders Office has 10 take-home cars, according to Kownacki, the union president...