Unreasonable Doubts?
10 ways the Haidl Three got off
When, just 16 hours into their deliberations, jurors announced on June 28 they were “hopelessly deadlocked” in Orange County’s infamous Haidl rape case, observers may have recalled Mark Twain’s criticism that juries are often filled with easily prejudiced “fools and miscreants.” It’s unlikely the eight men and four women of the Haidl jury will escape similar ridicule. After all, they couldn’t bring themselves to punish Greg Haidl, Keith Spann and Kyle Nachreiner for the videotaped drunken debauchery that sickened several respected judges and the California attorney general. Prosecutors say that on July 6, 2002, the defendants gave Jane Doe-the 16-year-old alleged victim-beer, marijuana and five shots of liquor, and then engaged in sex with her on a garage sofa and pool table as she fell into a stupor. Later, they laughed, danced and mugged for the camera as they plunged such foreign objects as a Snapple bottle, Tree Top Apple juice can, lit cigarette and pool cue into the near motionless girl’s vagina and anus. Read more.
Distaso counters blow to testimony
REDWOOD CITY —Prosecutor Rick Distaso spent much of Tuesday reframing the case against Scott Peterson and he also showed jurors how easy it is to get misdirected. To counter questions the defense raised during a three-day cross-examination of Modesto police Detective Al Brocchini, Distaso asked the officer about a tip from a man who said he went to college with Peterson. ”(The tipster) called and said he had a conversation in 1995 where Peterson told him how he would get rid of the body if he killed someone,” Brocchini said. “He said he would tie a bag around the neck with duct tape, put weights on the hands and throw it into the sea.” Sea-life would eventually eat away the hands, feet and head, leaving few means to identify the body, Peterson allegedly told the tipster. Read the story here.
A day without the Border Patrol
There has been much angst among immigration appeasers over the highly publicized sweeps conducted by Temecula-based Border Patrol agents, who have arrested and deported hundreds of illegal immigrants from Escondido, Corona and Ontario. Predictably, immigration activists charge racism and profiling. What these agitators fail to realize is that most of these illegal immigrants who have been deported are Mexican, because the United States shares an extended border with Mexico. There should be no doubt that if the United States shared its border with Mongolia and experienced similar immigration problems, then the vast majority of deported aliens would be Mongolian. This is a no-brainer. Read here.
Tuesday, June 29th, 2004
Gang-Rape Case Ends in Mistrial
Jurors can’t agree on whether three youths, including the son of a top Orange County sheriff’s official, assaulted a girl in 2002.
A judge on Monday declared a mistrial in Orange County’s high-profile gang-rape case after jurors lamented they were “hopelessly deadlocked” over charges that three young men victimized an apparently unconscious 16-year-old girl in a Newport Beach mansion. The case, which has riveted Orange County for months, was built around a videotape of the incident made by the defendants, who include the son of a wealthy Corona del Mar businessman and top assistant to Sheriff Michael S. Carona. Superior Court Judge Francisco Briseño ended the trial on the third day of deliberations after the four-woman, eight-man jury sent him a note reporting that it had reached an impasse. Read the story here.
DA will retry gang-rape case
The three young men accused of gang-raping an unconscious 16-year-old girl on a pool table in the garage of a Corona del Mar home will be tried again, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas announced today.
The announcement came a day after a jury deadlock on all 24 felony charges forced a mistrial in the case against Gregory Scott Haidl, the son of Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl, Keith James Spann and Kyle Joseph Nachreiner, all 19.
“This is the kind of case where there was a very, very serious crime committed against a young girl,” Rackauckas said. “The trial is about her, but is also about what she stands for, and that’s a right of a woman to say no to sex acts. Read the story here.
Immigration sweeps draw pickets
TEMECULA - With agents clad in dark riot gear looking on, about 30 activists gathered outsidethe Border Patrol station in Temecula on Monday to protest recent immigration sweeps in Southern California. No violence broke out during the hourlong demonstration, and several of the protesters said authorities had overreacted. “We come here in the spirit of nonviolence,” said Armando Navarro, a UCR ethnic studies professor and coordinator of the National Alliance for Human Rights, one of several groups represented at the event. Read the story here.
Detective: Peterson Said He’d Sink Body
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — In what may be a major coup for the prosecution in Scott Peterson’s murder trial, a police detective testified Tuesday that the defendant had talked about how to dispose of a dead body. However, during cross examination, the detective added that his source was not very credible. Detective Allen Brocchini said Peterson, 31, had told a friend in 1995 that he would attach weights to a corpse, throw it into the ocean and allow fish to eat the remains. Peterson said “said he would tie a bag around the neck with duct tape,” Brocchini testified. Read the story here.
Iraq Ponders Martial Law
NEW YORK — Sovereignty has been turned over to the interim government in Iraq—but the nation remains a hotbed of terrorist activity, and its security situation is far from settled. Some Iraqi officials say that imposing martial law would enable them to get the upper hand over the insurgents who have been trying to derail democracy. “I think the Iraqis understand the best way to find the terrorists is go on the offense and find the killers before they kill,” President Bush said in Istanbul Monday in an address with British Prime Minister Tony Blair after the handover of sovereignty. “And we’ll support and we’ll help him,” Bush said, referring to Iraqi’s interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi. Read the story here.
Monday, June 28th, 2004
50 Congressional Members Call on Border Undersecretary to Stay Course on Legal Raids
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Tom Tancredo (CO-06) today along with 49 Congressmen applauded Border Patrol enforcement in California and urged Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson to resist pressure to halt arrests in the southern California by Democrat members of congress. Fifty Members of Congress including House Majority Leader Tom Delay, Chairman of Homeland Security Appropriations Harold Rogers, Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner and California Representatives Richard Pombo, Dana Rohrabacher and Darrel Issa have praised the U.S. Read more here.
Rally against Border Patrol sweeps is Monday
Activists on Monday will protest two sweeps by U.S. Border Patrol officers that earlier this month detained more than 300 people in the Inland and Escondido areas. The protest will begin at noon at the Border Patrol station in Temecula at 4336 Rancho Way, said organizer Armando Navarro, coordinator of the National Alliance for Human Rights and a UCR ethnic-studies professor. The protest will be in response to an acknowledgement Friday by an undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security that Temecula-based agents that did not follow policy because the raids were never approved by the higher-level officials in Washington, D.C. Read the story here.
Border Patrol Arrests Violated Policy, Agency Concedes
Border Patrol agents who arrested more than 400 undocumented immigrants during sweeps in Riverside and San Bernardino counties earlier this month acted against a Department of Homeland Security policy requiring agents to clear such operations with their Washington headquarters, officials said Friday. The undersecretary of Homeland Security, Asa Hutchinson, accepted the request of a group of California legislators Friday to review the operation and, during a meeting with them, acknowledged that the agents had broken department policy. “While the Border Patrol activities in Temecula were within their statutory authority, there was not an appropriate … headquarters review and approval prior to the beginning of the operation,” said Mario Villarreal, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, an agency of Homeland Security. Read the story here.
Protesters Decry Arrests as ‘Profiling’
Carrying homemade placards and playing musical instruments, protesters rallied Friday in downtown Santa Ana against recent Border Patrol arrests of undocumented immigrants far from the border. “We want to send a message against what is happening. The arrests involve racial and ethnic profiling,” said Oscar Gaytan, who helped organize a group of about 50 Santa Ana residents. “Virtually all economic borders have been dropped between the United States and Mexico while the barriers for people to cross borders have become greater.” Motorists beeped and waved as the group stopped at the office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and raised signs in Spanish that read, “Enough,” “We are not illegal, We are human,” and “Immigration is not a crime.” A few protesters carried drums and jaranas, string instruments from Mexico’s Veracruz state. Read the story here.
Judge warns Modesto police on gag order violation
REDWOOD CITY —Superior Court Judge Alfred A. Delucchi this morning issued a sharp rebuke to the Modesto Police Department for violating a gag order in the Scott Peterson double-murder trial. The violation came Friday when Sgt. Ed Steele, in an interview with The Associated Press, defended Detective Al Brocchini’s conduct in the investigation. Brocchini took the witness stand Tuesday of last week; cross-examination started Wednesday and continued this morning. Read the story here.
Friday, June 25th, 2004
If you want to thanks the San Diego Border Patrol for taking care of business, you can e-mail them at SDC.PIO@DHS.GOV
Contact Asa Hutchinson, Under Secretary for Border & Transportation Security and tell him that you want the Border Partol to do their job! Call at 202-282-8010 or e-mail him at asa.hutchinson@dhs.gov. Also, contact Robert Bonner, Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection who sent out a memo for the Border Patrol to stop the sweeps at homeland@mail.house.gov or robert.bonner@dhs.gov
Contact your Congressman! Click here, and simply find your Congressman and let them know that if they don’t support the Border Patrol Sweeps, then they WILL NOT get your vote in November!
Priests Criticize Border Patrol
Catholic priests gathered Thursday to denounce a recent U.S. Border Patrol crackdown of suspected illegal immigrants across Southern California, calling it inhumane and discriminatory against Latinos. Breaking from an educational retreat at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, dozens of priests who minister in Latino neighborhoods called for an end to the enforcement action that so far has netted nearly 450 suspected illegal immigrants in Corona, Ontario and communities in northern San Diego County. Read the story here.
Border patrol impostors shake down immigrants
Fearful farmworkers stay away from fields, raising havoc on farms.
Bogus border patrol agents are intimidating some farmworkers into turning over cash, Valley growers say. The timing of the scam has put growers and workers on edge because of border patrol raids in Southern California and Arizona. But federal immigration officials say they have conducted no raids in the Valley. It’s created another problem: Workers in the Los Banos and Dos Palos areas are not showing up for work, said Manuel Cunha, president of the Fresno-based Nisei Farmers League. Read the story here.
Police Beating Case Puts Hahn in the Middle
In the two days since a Los Angeles police officer was videotaped beating a suspected car thief with a flashlight, Mayor James K. Hahn has repeatedly described the city’s response to the inflammatory incident as a test. “The community is watching,” he said on the steps of a police station hours after the African American man was arrested. “They are going to hold us accountable.” With Hahn heading into a tough campaign for reelection next March against several formidable opponents, that test could prove most critical for him. The mayor faces the challenge of avoiding a repeat of the last decade’s disasters, when city leaders split over the 1991 videotaped beating of Rodney G. King and failed to defuse resentment in the black community that erupted into riots. Read the story here.
Pension-cut bill rejected by legislators
An Assembly committee on Wednesday rejected a controversial bill that would have denied special public safety pensions to about 3,000 state workers, including Department of Motor Vehicles driving examiners and emergency dispatchers. The action kills the bill and clears the way for the workers to get enhanced pensions on July 1 under the terms of a bill approved two years ago. The Labor and Employment Committee voted along party lines to reject SB 9 by state Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Simi Valley, with six Democrats opposed and two Republicans in support. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration testified in favor of the bill. Read the story here. Today at 6pm, John & Ken will speak to Senator Tom McClintock about the bill.
Spiderman 2
Let’s see, when we last left Spidey two years ago, he was… ah, never mind, the beauty of this sequel is how much it stands by itself.
The new villain is another “mad” scientist – this time a Doctor Octavius, played by Alfred Molina. It’s a “Jekyl-Hyde” kind of thing – the guy wants to do something good involving “fusion”, but ends up grafting four huge and menacing mechanical arms onto his body. Of course, he also loses control over his mind and the arms and thus begins the rampage.
This movie has plenty of humor though, and much of it is generated by the newspaper editor, J. Jonah Jameson, played by actor J.K. Simmons. This is a take-off on the old Superman TV series – remember the worked-up editor at the “Daily Planet”, Clark Kent’s boss Perry White? Think of that and throw in a modern day tabloid mentality such as a “New York Post” editor would have and you have this guy. He talks rapid fire and is always thinking in headlines and remarks – “Hey, Doctor Octavius – mad scientist who ends up with eight limbs, what were the odds? Let’s call him “Doc Ock”. Of course, that was somebody else’s idea and he steals it. In fact, with so many quick lines like this, this guy practically steals huge chunks of this movie. (more…) Thursday, June 24th, 2004
‘Llamen a la Patrulla Fronteriza’
Los Angeles—En medio de una especie de campaña de solidaridad de parte de los medios, principalmente hispanos, surgida a raíz de las recientes redadas de inmigrantes indocumentados en el sur de California, una estación en inglés saca su megáfono en medio de este confuso y controvertido panorama, apunta y grita: “Llamen a la Patrulla Fronteriza, llamen al Departamento de Seguridad Interna, llámennos a nosotros y denuncien a los inmigrantes ilegales”.Read the story here. Or, you can read the english version here.
If you want to thanks the San Diego Border Patrol for taking care of business, you can e-mail them at SDC.PIO@DHS.GOV
Cross-examination of police detective yields little except ‘meringue’
REDWOOD CITY —After the late-morning dismissal of juror Justin Falconer, Wednesday afternoon’s cross-examination of Modesto police Detective Al Brocchini seemed subdued. Brocchini, a 19-year police officer, sat calmly in the witness stand as defense attorney Mark Geragos began a step-by-step review of the investigation that led to double-murder charges against Scott Peterson. Read the story here.
Immigrant advocates plan to keep up pressure
Immigrant advocates say they are trying to pressure local U.S. Border Patrol officials into reconsidering their strategy of detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants more than 100 miles from the border. Activists meeting Wednesday in Riverside said their protests may be paying off. A Temecula-based Border Patrol team detained more than 150 immigrants in the Ontario and Corona areas on June 4 and 5. Agents made 161 additional arrests in Escondido from June 9 to 11. All of the detainees were Mexican or Central American. The Border Patrol reports no sweeps since then, said San Bernardino immigrant activist Emilio Amaya, who met with Border Patrol officials last week. Read the story here.
Jurors meet in rape trial
Jurors in a high-profile gang-rape trial began deliberating Wednesday whether three young men are guilty of sexually assaulting a 16-year- old girl in a videotaped encounter. The panel chose juror No. 7, a man thought to be in his 50s, as foreman. The eight-man, four-woman jury then spent nearly three hours behind closed doors Wednesday afternoon. Deliberations resume today. One of the first things the jury requested was to again watch the videotape – the prosecution’s key evidence against Gregory Haidl, 18, and Kyle Nachreiner and Keith Spann, both 19. Read the story here.
100 rally to protest U.S. raids in Mission ‘This is not supposed to happen’ in S.F., says one organizer
About 100 people gathered in front of federal immigration offices Wednesday in San Francisco to protest recent raids in the Mission District. Organizers of the rally say they know of at least three raids by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement since early May that have resulted in arrests and deportations. They invoked San Francisco’s refuge ordinance—which prohibits use of city funds and resources in enforcing federal immigration laws—in calling for an end to the sweeps. “This is not supposed to happen in San Francisco,” said Maria Poblet of the St. Peter’s Housing Committee, a tenant advocacy group in the Mission District. “We want to call attention to these raids. We want the city to say it’s not OK.” Read the story here.
Beating by LAPD Officer Airs on TV
The televised beating of a suspected car thief Wednesday by a flashlight-wielding Los Angeles Police Department officer was described by a top department official as “Rodney King-esque,” drawing comparisons with the 1991 beating of an African American man by LAPD officers that led to catastrophic riots a year later. Television news crews in helicopters recorded the early morning car chase that ended in Compton shortly before 6 a.m. when about half a dozen LAPD officers ran after an African American man who bolted from a stolen Toyota Camry. On the videotape, the unarmed man appears to surrender after sprinting a short distance along the concrete-lined Compton Creek channel, raising his arms and starting to crouch. As two officers are restraining the suspected thief on the ground, a third officer is seen delivering a quick kick to the suspect and then striking him 11 times in the upper body with a flashlight. A short time after the man is handcuffed and in custody, three officers can be seen exchanging handshakes. Read the story here.
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2004
Juror No. 5 removed from trial
REDWOOD CITY —The judge in Scott Peterson’s murder trial removed one of the 12 jurors this morning and denied a defense motion for a mistrial. “You’re not to listen to, watch or read any media reports of this trial,” Judge Alfred A. Delucchi admonished the panel. Peterson’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, made a motion for a mistrial, which Delucchi rejected. The first alternate, a doctor and lawyer, became the new Juror No. 5. Read the story here.
Deliberations near in gang-rape case
A judge this morning began giving final legal instructions to jurors who will decide whether three young men are guilty of rape and other felonies for a series of videotaped sex acts with a teenage girl at a home in Corona del Mar. The final defense attorney to give his closing argument told the jury today that the alleged victim is lying about the incident. The young woman, referred to in court as Jane Doe, should not be trusted because of the conflicting statements she made of the July 5, 2002, encounter, when she was 16, he said. Jane Doe has testified that she does not remember the incident and lost consciousness after one defendant, Kyle Nachreiner, gave her a mixed drink. Read the story here.
Sowing Fear Among Latinos
Latino neighborhoods throughout Southern California are in a state of near panic over a new policy of seemingly random arrests of illegal immigrants by the Border Patrol. For years, Border Patrol agents concentrated on the border and highway checkpoints. But that changed last year. Now a dozen agents rove far from the border, confronting individuals as they step off buses, troll for work or go to Mexican markets. News of arrests in Corona, Ontario and Escondido has fueled rumors of similar patrols as far afield as Pasadena and the San Fernando Valley. People in fear of being arrested and deported are skipping doctor visits, avoiding shopping trips and even keeping their kids out of school. Read the story here.
