San Diego Education Report
|
Apology?
Schools seem to be a lot like other
institutions. Powerful people often seem
compelled to abuse their power.
David Frost told Richard Nixon that the
American people needed to hear him
say, "I did more than make mistakes--it
was wrongdoing, perhaps crimes. I did
abuse power."
Chula Vista Elementary School
District administrators Libia Gil,
Lowell Billings and Richard Werlin
as well as CTA leaders Beverly Tucker,
Tim O'Neill, Gina Boyd, Jim Groth and
Peg Myers ought to say, "We put
Castle Park Elementary through
needless agony, a spiral of self-
destruction and obstruction of justice
that harmed hundreds of students, and
forced the taxpayers to pay hundreds of
thousands of dollars
to cover up our mistakes."
Also, these individuals should make
amends by helping to change the
attitude of teachers toward the law.
Our children learn from many of their
teachers that the rule of law is
something that is to be applied by the
strong to the weak, but it is grossly
inappropriate for the weak to demand that
the law be applied to their superiors.
Looking at the problem from the point of
view of those who are keeping secrets, I
wonder if the cover-up is harmful to their
mental health. Wouldn't they feel better if
they came clean and made amends?
Maybe not. Apparently the urge to make
things right is not spread equally among
all people.
1. A FALSE POLICE REPORT
As a result of a 2000 false police report, CVESD teacher Maura
Larkins, who was co-administrator of her LATE fathers estate,
was arrested for trespassing in her late father's home. It seems
likely that the person who called the police, Kathleen Elton, used
the same story for her false police report that she used to
illegally collect Section 8 rental assistance. Elton likely told the
police that a child was living with her in the apartment of Maura
Larkins' late father. This was not true. In fact, Elton was living
with a man whom police arrested shortly after they arrested
Maura Larkins. Maura Larkins was kept only a few hours in
police custody; K.E.'s boyfriend was kept many months.
K.E. had a talent for getting police to arrest people. Shortly
before his death, Maura Larkins' father became stuck in his
bathtub. A tenant called his brother, who drove right over and
helped lift the elderly man out of the tub. K.E. caught a glimpse
of the Good Samaritan, called the police, and had him arrested.
The report was exposed as false, and no trespassing charges
were filed against Larkins, but real life turned out to be stranger
than fiction when Larkins discovered that K.E., the woman who
made the false police report, had been working with Larkins'
brother.
Somehow Kathleen Elton managed not to get arrested herself,
despite all of Elton's threatening and illegal behavior.
In fact, Chula Vista Elementary School District's school board
and administrators believed everything Kathleen Elton said, and
based their personnel decisions on their illegally-obtained report
of Kathleen Elton's allegations against Maura Larkins.
How did Maura Larkins come to know Kathleen Elton? Elton was
the ex-wife of Larkins' brother.
Larkins' brother had previously announced that he was quitting
as Larkins' co-administrator, but he turned out instead to be
secretly working to acquire control of the estate.
Within days of Larkins' arrest, her brother offered a secret rental
agreement to K.E., his ex-wife. How did K.E. come up with the
money to pay Larkins' brother?
K.E., who had committed welfare fraud in the past, was
committing it again. She obtained rental assistance for living in
this apartment by giving false information to the agency involved.
2. NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED?
Larkins had felt sorry for her ex-sister-in-law because she was homeless
and unemployed, and for that reason gave K.E. permission to stay in the
apartment of Larkins' father.
Larkins was using the vacant apartment to conduct estate business.
Larkins' desk, papers, tools, supplies, furniture and personal belongings
were in the apartment.
Larkins became concerned when tenants in the apartment building began
reporting that there was odd activity at night in the apartment, with many
individuals loudly walking up and down the stairs at all hours.
Also, K.E. carpeted the back yard with beer cans thrown from the
second-story apartment.
Larkins had a fiduciary duty to make sure that the estate was not
confiscated by authorities due to drug-dealing which appeared to be
occurring on the property. Larkins believed that K.E. was taking advantage
of her kindness, and would be better off in a place where the landlord did
not have a personal connection with her.
Why did K.E. turn down a generous offer of $2000?
Larkins, who has given tens of thousands of dollars of her own money to help
the homeless, told K.E. that she would give $2000 of her own money to K.E.'s
new landlord.
K.E. took a gift of a $200 money order from Maura Larkins minutes before
filing the false police report against Larkins and making a citizen's arrest of
Larkins. K.E. never returned the money order.
Why would K.E. turn down a generous offer of $2000?
Because she had a better, secret offer from Larkins' brother! But Larkins'
brother was not giving away his own money. He was giving away the estate's
money.
K.E. announced that she hoped to become manager of the estate's
apartments.
Larkins' brother wanted to keep K.E. in the apartments, despite the apparent
drug dealing and deterioration of the property, in order to have K.E.'s
assistance in ousting his sister as co-administrator.
March 2006
Sheriff Jim Anderson of Santa Barbara is under fire for selling sheriff's badges.
Could ethical confusion in his department have resulted in the signing by Commander Sam
Gross of the false declaration in the Maura Larkins case?
The Sheriff's department has admitted under oath that the declaration filed in the Larkins case
was false.
Anderson's successor, sheriff Bill Brown, has not yet released the documents.
Michael Carlson's punishment for illegally releasing information was merely being
transferred to the New Cuyama substation for a year.
UPDATE APRIL 2014: The documents have never been released.
A false declaration was prepared by San Diego lawyer Deborah Garvin
and given to a representative of the Sheriff's Department of Santa
Barbara, who signed it under penalty of perjury.
However, during his deposition by Maura Larkins, the sheriff's
representative said that the declaration was not true!
Why did Ms. Garvin violate California law? Attorneys should stay within
the law when they defend clients. Deborah Garvin should not have
suborned perjury to help Sheriff's Deputy Michael Carlson escape
responsibility for his actions.
Question #2:
BREAKING OPEN THE CASE
Who broke open the case regarding
criminal acts committed by Robin Donlan,
Richard Werlin, and Chula Vista
Elementary School District?
Answer:
The young police woman who months
earlier had arrested Maura Larkins for
"trespassing" in her father's apartment!
When Richard Werlin came up with a
similar story, Maura Larkins suspected a
connection. (Also, there was simply no
other rational explanation for the bizarre
allegations.)
K.E. might be disturbed, but she is an intelligent and talented out-of-work actress.
She whipped into an extreme emotional state the young officer who answered her
call to police.
The young policewoman apparently couldn't think straight after being exposed to
Elton's histrionics. When the acting police sergeant tried to talk the policewoman
out of arresting Maura Larkins, she yelled at him so loudly that everyone on the
block could hear.
To justify the decision to make the arrest (and to justify the rough physical
handling Larkins received), the policewoman wrote false information in her report.
She wrote that Maura Larkins had tried to run away.
The problem with the policewoman's story is that there was nowhere to run in the
apartment, even if Maura Larkins had been dim-witted enough to come up with
such a silly idea. (In point of fact, the idea never occurred to Maura Larkins.)
The night before the arrest, Kathleen Elton and her boyfriend (who shortly
afterward spent many months in jail), had hauled a large old iron headboard up
the narrow steps at the back of the apartment, and had banged repeatedly on the
back door in an attempt to break in. Neighbors reported a frightening shaking and
pounding.
When that break-in attempt failed, Kathleen and her boyfriend entered the
apartment through an attic opening located outside the apartment.
Fearing a repeat performance, Maura Larkins had blocked all entrances to the
apartment with furniture. There was nowhere to run in that apartment.
Obviously, the policewoman's story that Larkins had tried to run away was
preposterous.
Seven months later, CVESD administrator Richard Werlin told the same false
story. It was a bizarre story, and Maura Larkins didn't think it would naturally occur
to Richard Werlin to make up such a bizarre story.
It was at this point that Maura Larkins suspected that Richard Werlin had illegally
acquired information from a police report which did not result in a conviction or in
any charges.
Mr. Werlin and CVESD also committed a crime by taking employment action based
on false and illegally-obtained allegations. The specific crime committed by Werlin
and CVESD was a criminal violation of Labor Code section 432.7.
Why didn't Werlin and CVESD simply say they were sorry, and allow Maura Larkins
to work in peace?
Because the school board had brought in a superintendent, Libia Gil, for the
purpose of exerting arbitrary control over teachers without regard to the law. Libia
Gil had hand-picked Richard Werlin to implement a policy of dishonesty and
intimidation to control teachers.
But Werlin had other talents. Among them was the ability to form a close personal
relationship with Gina Boyd, the President of the teachers union local. They
established a policy in which she refrained from disagreeing with him during
meetings with teachers.
Question #3:
How did Maura Larkins find out that Robin Donlan and her brother were
the ones who initiated a chain reaction of criminal violations of Labor
Code section 432.7 against her?
Answer:
Robin Donlan and her friends had a habit of sitting at a particular table in the
teachers lounge, venting their anger at students, parents, administrators and
fellow teachers. Ms. Donlan also had a habit of talking very loudly.
One day Maura Larkins was working at the copy machine in the next room, and
heard Ms. Donlan telling two co-workers about what her brother had done.
Answer:
The answer lies in the dysfunctional clique
culture that dominates many
schools--starting with Castle Park
Elementary School.
This unhealthy teacher culture contributes
considerably to the problems that cause
millions of children in the United States to
be cheated out of the good educations
that taxpayers are paying for.
Chula Vista Elementary School District
CHULA VISTA
ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL DISTRICT
ALLOWED A
TROUBLED WOMAN
TO DICTATE ITS
PERSONNEL
DECISIONS
Teacher Robin Donlan,*
with the help of her close
friend, Chula Vista
Educators President Gina
Boyd, used a variety of
means--including criminal
actions--to obtain control of
staffing decisions at her
elementary school.
*Donlan brought herself to
the attention of the press in
2004 and 2005 (the San
Diego Union Tribune, the
Chula Vista Star-News and
La Prensa) during the
aftermath of Maura Larkins'
illegal firing.
In 2000, Santa Barbara
Sheriff's deputy Michael
Carlson committed a crime
against Maura Larkins to
please his sister Robin
Donlan.
How Did It Happen?
Sheriff Jim Anderson
Perjury
Michael Carlson and
atty Deborah K. Garvin
A VIRTUAL ADMISSION OF GUILT?
Maura Larkins' lawsuit against K. E. fo filing a false police report was settled
for $75,000.00 in Maura Larkins' favor.
Kathleen Elton had no money, of course, but Maura Larkins' brother, who had
engineered Larkins' arrest in an attempt to acquire his father's home for
himself alone, did.
He agreed to pay $75,000 in return for Larkins' agreement to drop her lawsuit
regarding the false police report and not to sue him.
As part of the agreement, Larkins also gave her brother her $7,000 interest
in a piece of property in Guatemala.
The police investigation of the Castle
Park Elementary PTA embezzlement
has ended. PTA President Kim
Simmons was arrested but Bonnie
Dumanis did not charge her.
Sheriff of Santa Barbara says declaration was false
How did Chula Vista District become
involved in a criminal cover-up?
Anthony Pellicano
Private Investigator Anthony
Pellicano was convicted on May
15, 2008 of federal racketeering
charges for illegally searching law
enforcement databases and
wiretapping Hollywood stars to
help clients in legal and other
disputes.
A former Los Angeles police
sergeant also was convicted
of racketeering and conspiracy.
One-time superagent Michael
Ovitz insisted he didn't know about
Pellicano's methods and was not
charged.
Others have been charged
with crimes for the same
offenses as Robin Donlan
and Michael Carlson
Arthur Tesler
Arthur Tesler, a former Atlanta
police officer, has told the truth at
last about a botched drug raid that
led to the death of a 92-year old
woman. Police shot Kathryn Johnston
39 times on Nov. 26, 2006 as they
smashed into her house using a
"no-knock" warrant.
Tesler was threatened into silence on
the matter, instructed to memorize a
cover story.
Eventually he "couldn't take it
anymore" and told the truth.
More Cover-ups
Depostion of Principal of Castle Park
Elementary September 10, 2002
Page 80 line 19
Q. Did Robin Colls [AKA Robin
Donlan] ever share with you any kind
of
information concerning a police
report allegedly, somehow, involving
Maura
Larkins?
A. Actually, that did come up at
some point when she [Robin
Colls/Donlan]was
talking, but she, herself, said, you
know, you don’t want to hear
anything about
that. And I’m not going to tell you. I
know that there is something, but I
have no clue what it is. She didn’t
want me to know.
[Robin is demonstrating awareness of
guilt.]
Q. So she said there’s something
in the police report?
A. It was a personal thing.
Q. Involving something that was a
non-school matter but that Robin
Colls was
aware of?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. Was that a yes?
A. Yes, I do recall hearing something
like that. I have no details
whatsoever.
Q. Was this in a face-to-face
conversation with Robin Colls?
A. Yes.
Q. And what year was that?
A. That was the year, I think she told
me about that this year, the year—
Q. 2002?
A. Two—1999, 2000 school year. It
was the year before.
Q. That this occurred?
A. It occurred in the 1999, 2000
school year.
Q. But you found out about it in
which year.
A. There was an incident that this is
referring to in my belief. They had a
problem with a staff member the year
before and—that’s what I understood
this to
mean anyway.
Q. Exhibit 19? [Exhibit 19]
Page 82 lines 1-25:
A. Yes. It happened in 1999,
September. [actually, 2000,
September]
It was like the first week back from
vacation. That’s when that happened,
and, I believe, that’s when Robin told
me that there was an incident, there
was a personal, a side incident, but
she said you don’t want to know
about it [because it would be a crime
to obtain this information?]. And I
said no, it’s personal, doesn’t have
anything to do with school, I don’t
want to know.
Q. And she told you it involved
some sort of police report or law
enforcement report?
A. I think so, yes.
Q. Did you ask her how she knew
that?
A. Uh-uh.
Q. No?
A. That was it. That’s all she
said. She said I have this thing going
on with her on the side. Outside of
school. You don’t want to know
about it.
Q. Was it an indication that she
had it going on, that it was something
personal?
A. It was a personal issue outside
of school going on with Maura and her
somehow, and I don’t know if it was
her or her family or—but that was it.
That’s all she said.
Q. Did Ms. Colls, rather, leave
you with the impression that it was
going
on—that somehow, Ms. Colls was
actually involved in this personal
incident?
A. That she or her family, you
know, she knows about it or it was—
something else going on outside of
school,
Page 83, lines 1-8:
[A. contd.] Something to do with
Robin and or her family and Maura. I
don’t know even why I remember
that. Somehow somebody told me,
and I think it was Robin.
Q. It had something to do with
either Robin or a family member of
Robin’s?
A. Yeah. I think if it was actually
Robin I probably would have wanted
to know, just natural curiosity. I don’
t think it was against her. I think it
was a family member.
Very certain.
See the Sept. 2002 deposition of the
principal of Castle Park Elementary
(BELOW). See also the deposition of
Robin Donlan and the Rick Werlin
deposition.
Michael Carlson's sister Robin
Colls/Donlan and other CVESD
employees contradicted themselves
again and again, or contradicted
known facts.
Their friends, and those who feared
them, also lied.
Gina Boyd, the president of Chula
Vista Educators came to depositions of
Castle Park teachers, to make sure
witnesses didn't tell the truth. It was
entirely inappropriate of her to
"represent" witnesses against Maura
Larkins, when she was also
"representing" Maura Larkins. When
this was pointed out to her, Boyd still
refused to leave.
But Gina was not present at the
deposition of the principal of Castle
Park Elementary. In that deposition,
the truth about the illegally obtained
and distributed police report came
out.
Below is the pertinent part of that
deposition, taken for the Office of
Administrative Hearings, but never
used by Maura Larkins' attorney.
Deposition of the principal
of Castle Park Elementary
for the Office of
Administrative Hearings
CVESD attorney Mark Bresee
listened to this and other
depositions, and then continued to
work to hide crimes. CVESD and
other districts rely on such attorneys.
How certain is it that Michael
Carlson and his sister
committed perjury in CVESD
case?
Many Americans were
outraged that Nixon was
pardoned by President
Gerald Ford and was
never prosecuted for any
crime. But isn't that how
our justice system
works? Isn't it true that
powerful insiders in
government, schools,
corporations and
non-profits can commit
illegal acts and it just
isn't considered illegal
because, as Nixon said,
"if the president does it,
it's not illegal"?
David Frost told Richard
Nixon that the American
people needed to hear
him say that he did more
than make mistakes,
that his actions were
wrong, perhaps criminal
that he did abuse power.
Lowell Billings, Dennis Doyle and Libia Gil and
the origins of the Maura Larkins v. Chula Vista
Elementary School District case
Where does the paper
trail lead?
Chula Vista Elementary School
District demonstrated its
awareness of the illegality of
its actions by preparing NO
documentation regarding its
actions on February 12, 2001,
April 4, 2001, and April 20,
2001.
Kathleen Elton and her ex-husband aren't the only ones to manipulate the police
to achieve their personal goals. But why did the police officers in the above case,
and the case below, not use more caution and deliberation in dealing with their
situations?
Man Allegedly Tricks Courts , Kidnaps Son
Authorities Looking For Jean Philippe Lacombe, Jean Paul Lacombe
Rosenda Rios, KSAT 12 News Reporter
December 16, 2009
SAN ANTONIO
...Felony arrest warrants have been issued for Jean Philippe Lacombe, 41, who is accused
of using the court system to kidnap his 10-year-old son, Jean Paul, on Oct. 16, from his
school bus.
Exclusive video from KSAT 12 News showed the boy on the ground, refusing to get up and
leave his mother.
An investigator is seen on the video explaining to the confused boy that a court order, signed
by a local district judge, gave constables the right to remove him from his mother and give
custody to his father.
But now authorities admit Lacombe presented incomplete and misleading documents
from Mexico.
"I view it as someone who attempted to manipulate the system to implement a kidnapping,"
said Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed.
The video shows the distraught boy saying goodbye to his little brother and his mother.
According to Reed, the documents were misleading.
"If he really does have legal order of custody, why did he run with the kid?" Reed asked.
The order was signed on a Thursday and executed on a Friday. Lacombe and Jean Paul were
due in court the following Monday but neither one showed up.
Reed said the courts were tricked and misled.
According to authorities, this wasn't the first time Lacombe has taken his son illegally.
A few years ago, Lacombe abducted Jean Paul after losing custody of him. It took the boy's
mother two years to get him back.
Am I My Brother's
Keeper?
The Progressive Seniors Theatre
Company is a group of about 15
elderly Washington crime victims
who perform several skits showing
senior citizens how to protect
themselves against crime.
Founded by Evelyn Blackwell, 68,
a counselor with the District-based
National Organization for Victim
Assistance, the group meets
regularly in NCBA Estates, a
housing project for the elderly in
Northwest Washington, to talk
about coping with crime.
One skit written by Blackwell and
performed by her company is titled
"Am I My Brother's Keeper?" The
action is set in a neighborhood
where Mr. and Mrs. Nosey ...
California Department of
Education
Executive Office
SBE-006 Specific (REV.
05/2009) ITEM #WC- 10
CALIFORNIA STATE BOARD OF
EDUCATION
NOVEMBER 2009 AGENDA
1 Specific Waiver
SUBJECT
Request by Waugh Elementary
School District under the authority
of California Education Code
Section 52863 for a waiver of
Education Code Section 52852,
allowing one joint schoolsite
council to function for two schools:
Corona Creek Elementary School
and Meadow Elementary School.
Waiver Number: 32-6-2009
1 Action
1 Consent
RECOMMENDATION
0 Approval 1 Approval with
conditions 0 Denial
That the joint schoolsite council
(SSC) which will serve during the
period of this waiver, be
composed of the following sixteen
members: the shared school
principal; three classroom
teachers, one other school
employee and four parents or
community members selected by
parents representing Corona
Creek Elementary; three
classroom teachers, and four
parents or community members
selected by parents representing
Meadow Elementary School.
SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS STATE
BOARD OF EDUCATION
DISCUSSION AND ACTION
Specific authority is provided in
California Education Code (EC)
Section 52863 to allow the State
Board of Education (SBE) to waive
the SSC requirements of the
School-Based Coordination
Program (SBCP) Act that would
hinder the success of school-
based programs. These waivers
must be renewed every two years.
All waivers of this type have been
approved by the SBE for schools
too small to meet the SSC
composition requirements of
California EC Section 52852.
Pursuant to the SBE Waiver Policy: Schoolsite
Councils for Small Schools Sharing Common
Services or Attendance Areas, available at http:
//www.cde.ca.
gov/re/lr/wr/documents/schoolsitepolicyr.doc,
schools must have small numbers of students
and teachers, and have a common site
administration, curriculum, or other shared
services; or, have a geographic proximity or
similar student populations. Since the
population of the schools are over 400 students
this policy does not apply.
However, this district meets the criteria for the SBE
Streamlined Waiver Policy available at http://www.
cde.ca.gov/re/lr/wr/documents/sbestreamlined.doc,
achieving an Academic Performance Index (API) of
800 or above in the current scoring cycle.
SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS STATE
BOARD OF EDUCATION
DISCUSSION AND ACTION (Cont.)
Therefore, this waiver has been
scheduled for the consent
calendar as Waugh Elementary
School District has a 2008 API of
898.
SUMMARY OF KEY ISSUES
The Waugh Elementary School
District has two small elementary
schools located less than a mile
apart from each other and serve
similar student and parent
populations. There is a common
Parent Teacher Association, a
common English Learner
Advisory Committee, and a
common educational foundation.
All curricula are identical. All
teachers meet for planning staff
development. Since the primary
purpose of the SSC is to advise
on instructional improvement, it’s
reasonable to address issues
jointly. To have separate SSCs
would unnecessarily duplicate
efforts and fractionalize employee,
parent, and student
constituencies.
The student population at Corona
Creek Elementary School will be
464 and Meadow Elementary
School will be 453, so they do not
meet the Waiver Policy criteria.
The SSC has approved this
request. The California
Department of Education
recommends approval with the
above conditions.
Demographic Information: Waugh
Elementary School District has a
student population of 917 and is
located in a rural area in Sonoma
County.
Authority for Waiver: EC Section
52863
Period of request: July 1, 2009, to
July 31, 2011
Local board approval date(s):
June 16, 2009
Bargaining unit(s) consulted on
date(s): September 1, 2009
Name of bargaining
unit/representative(s) consulted:
Waugh Teacher’s
Association/Marlene Scholz
Position of bargaining units:
0 Neutral 1
Support 0 Oppose
Comments (if appropriate): None
Advisory committee(s) consulted:
Waugh Schoolsite Council
Law Enforcement
Kate Gosselin could have done the same thing as Kathleen Elton--but she didn't
lie about Jon having a gun and being mentally ill
Jon Gosselin Claims Kate 'Tried to Cry It Up for the Cops'
By Brian Orloff
August 14, 2009
Jon Gosselin is speaking out about the police incident that sent his estranged wife
Kate off in a crying fit on Thursday.
"[Kate] tried to come home yesterday and I wouldn't let her in the gate and I guess
she called the police," the reality star, 32, tells Splash News in a new interview. "It
was a miscommunication."
On Thursday, police were called to the family's Wernersville, Pa., home after Kate
showed up with concerns over the babysitter caring for her children. But she was
denied access to the property because of her custody agreement.
"She tried to 'cry it up' with the cops and it didn't work," Jon says. "They said, 'You
have to leave.' " According to the reality star, police called the incident a "civil
matter." Kate then left on her own accord.
Jon says he called a babysitter, Stephanie Santoro, to watch the children because
he had to "get things done." Kate, apparently, wasn't thrilled with the babysitter he
hired, but Jon says he doesn't understand why – or why she came over without
warning.
"I have no idea [why she was unhappy]. I guess [because] she didn't have approval.
I didn't come home when she had custody and make a big stink. We're good judges
of taking care of our kids and when we need babysitters."
How typical is this arrest?
La Mesa police officer helps man trying to get into the home of a woman he had
abused. Her friend was handcuffed and the house key was given by Officer Richards
to the owner's abuser. This case sounds remarkably similar to Maura Larkins'
arrest.
Ex-Police Chief, 12 Officers Sued by Former San Diego Mayor
Candidate
Rich Riel, with history of lawsuits, says police illegally hurt him, detained him and searched his
house.
By Ken Stone
Feb. 20, 2012
Al Lanning retired as police chief six months ago, but he along with a dozen officers are being sued
by a one-time San Diego mayor candidate who has labeled La Mesa police “thugs,” “rogue cops”
and “Wambaugh Wannabees” who violated his rights in October 2010.
Rich Riel of Serra Mesa filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city and La
Mesa Police Department on Aug. 1, 2011, alleging battery, false arrest, illegal
search and “unlawful dispossession from real property,” according to court
documents (attached).
On Friday, an El Cajon Superior Court judge will hear city motions that could force Riel to serve
papers again to defendants. Riel, 64, is a two-time candidate for San Diego mayor (1983 and
1984) acting as his own attorney. He has been involved in more than three dozen lawsuits in San
Diego County and two criminal cases. He said he is bringing the suit himself “because no lawyer
will risk his time and efforts on a contingency basis. So far I have I have over $1,000 in hard costs
for filings, mailings, copies and research.”
In his original complaint, Riel said he was using a house at 7863 Highwood Ave.
as an office on Oct. 8, 2010, with permission of the female owner, who had
been a victim of domestic violence by a man named John L. Williams.
When Williams came to the Highwood house east of La Mesa Middle School
about 4 p.m. that day intending to break in, Riel kept him out and called
police, he said in the filing.
Police told Williams to leave, Riel said, but Williams returned at 8 p.m. and police were
called again. Then “at least three and possibly more La Mesa police officers arrived
at Highwood,” Riel said in his complaint.
“The police officer in charge of this meeting identified himself as Sgt. Richards. Riel
attempted to make a citizens’ arrest on Williams for trespass, but Sgt.
Richards refused to arrest Williams for any crimes including driving on a
suspended license.”
Instead, the officer later identified as Bret Richards told Riel that he wanted to search
the house, Riel said. And when Riel asked Richards if he had a search warrant,
“Richards said he did not need a search warrant to go into the Highwood house,”
according to the complaint.
Riel said the officer was wrong and locked the door behind him, but “Sgt. Richards
tricked Riel into unlocking the door and stepping outside to allow two La Mesa police
officers to come up from behind Riel, grabbing his arms, [holding] them behind him
and then handcuffing him,” the complaint says.
Riel says he was taken from the porch in handcuffs and placed in the back
seat of a police cruiser.
While Riel was locked inside the cruiser, “Richards and other La Mesa police officers
without permission or legal authority conducted an illegal search” of the house, said
court papers.
Riel said he asked to call his lawyer, but Richards refused.
“At the end of the hour, Riel was released from the cruiser, the handcuffs were
removed and his house key was given to Williams,” he said in the complaint.
Family sues Sarasota Police Department
A police officer in Sarasota, Florida caused problem by releasing information from
police files. She was fired after a mother and her three children were terrorized by
officer Katrina Young's associates. Michael Carlson's punishment for illegally
releasing information was merely being transferred to the New Cuyama
substation for a year.
San Diego Education Report
|
San Diego
Education Report
Another false police report
3 Missing Women Found in Cleveland, Man Arrested
By THOMAS J. SHEERAN and JOHN COYNE Associated Press
May 7, 2013 (AP)
...In January, a prison inmate was sentenced to 4 1/2 years after admitting he provided a false
burial tip in the disappearance of Berry, who had last been seen the day before her 17th
birthday. A judge in Cleveland sentenced Robert Wolford on his guilty plea to obstruction of
justice, making a false report and making a false alarm.
Last summer, Wolford tipped authorities to look for Berry's remains in a Cleveland lot. He was
taken to the location, which was dug up with backhoes.
Berry's mother, Louwana Miller, who had been hospitalized for months with pancreatitis and
other ailments, died in March 2006. She had spent the previous three years looking for her
daughter, whose disappearance took a toll as her health steadily deteriorated, family and
friends said.
Two men arrested for questioning in the disappearance of DeJesus in 2004 were released
from the city jail in 2006 after officers did not find her body during a search of the men's house.
One of the men was transferred to the Cuyahoga County Jail on unrelated charges, while the
other was allowed to go free, police said.
In September 2006, police acting on a tip tore up the concrete floor of the garage and used a
cadaver dog to search unsuccessfully for DeJesus' body. Investigators confiscated 19 pieces
of evidence during their search but declined to comment on the significance of the items then.
No Amber Alert was issued the day DeJesus failed to return home from school in April 2004
because no one witnessed her abduction. The lack of an Amber Alert angered her father, Felix
DeJesus, who said in 2006 he believed the public will listen even if the alerts become routine.
"The Amber Alert should work for any missing child," Felix DeJesus said then. "It doesn't have
to be an abduction. Whether it's an abduction or a runaway, a child needs to be found. We need
to change this law."
Cleveland police said then that the alerts must be reserved for cases in which danger is
imminent and the public can be of help in locating the suspect and child.
SAFETY AND SECURITY, in addition
to justice, are damaged when
public employees tell “bald-
faced” lies. (Washington Post)
The US government's case against a
terrorist is set back in March 2006
by a dishonest government lawyer.
The case against the terrorist was
good enough.
Why did the lawyer lie?
Habit?
Maura Larkins' lawsuit against Kathleen E. for filing a false police
report was settled for $75,000.00.
But Chula Vista Elementary School District has refused to fix mistakes
that have harmed large numbers of children at Castle Park
Elementary. CVESD has continued to cover-up its illegal actions.
Why would a school district spend years paying lawyers to cover up a
mistake that was really quite small in the beginning?
The whole problem could have been solved with a simple apology to
Maura Larkins.
One reason was to protect the political careers of its officials, who included
Cheryl Cox and Bertha Lopez. After she moved from CVESD to Sweetwater
Union High School District, Bertha Lopez became one of 15 individuals in
the South Bay charged with public corruption. Cheryl Cox became mayor of
Chula Vista.
Another reason was that school attorney Mark Bresee,apparently wanted to
keep problems festering so he could continue to rack up billable hours. To
keep their contracts with school districts, it seems that many school attorneys
have a policy of protecting administrators (Rick Werlin, in this case) who
commit illegal acts and harm students and employees rather than protecting
the public that pays the legal fees.
The cover-up empowered a group of rogue teachers at Castle Park
Elementary School who proceeded to go completely out of control. The
school deteriorated so badly that the district ended transferring out
five teachers, including Robin Donlan, the teacher whose criminal actions
ended the teaching career of Maura Larkins. (Robin Donlan is famous not
only for being a member of the "Castle Park Five", but also for her husband's
role in the Wireless Facilities $7 million stock options fraud that was revealed
a couple of years later.)
Similar stories
Question #1:
MOTIVATION
What motivated Robin Donlan and others to take these actions, which ended up
costing hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars as the school district, the Santa
Barbara Sheriff's Department, and the teachers' union paid lawyers to cover-up these
actions?
Kent Easter isn't the only attorney who thinks he's above the law, but he takes the
concept to a new extreme of pettiness and irrationality.
Attorney Convicted of False Imprisonment for Planting Drugs
in School Volunteer's Car
By deceiving police, Kent Easter caused Kelli Peters to be detained and questioned,
a prosecutor said. Peters had insulted Easter's son.
By PAUL ANDERSON City News Service
Updated by By Penny Arévalo (Patch Staff)
September 10, 2014
An Irvine attorney who helped plant drugs in the PT Cruiser of a school volunteer
because of a perceived insult to his son was convicted today of false imprisonment by
fraud and deceit.
It was the second trial for Kent Easter, who faces up to three years in prison. Another
jury last November deadlocked 11-1 in favor of convicting him, forcing a mistrial.
Jurors this time around deliberated about an hour before returning a verdict.
His wife pleaded guilty last year to false imprisonment for her role in the smear attack
and was sentenced to 120 days in jail and 100 hours of community service. She was
released from jail earlier this year after completing her sentence and had her law
license suspended in March.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals ordered Easter back to court
Thursday afternoon to set a sentencing date. Goethals was inclined to have the
defendant handcuffed and sent to jail today, but he asked for more time to make
arrangements for the care and custody of his three children, ages 7, 8, and 11.
Goethals questioned why Easter had not made arrangements prior to today,
considering the first jury nearly convicted him. Easter, 40, and his attorney argued
that his 41-year-old estranged wife was “spiraling down” emotionally.
The couple are in the midst of a divorce. Kent Easter is living in Newport Beach while
Jill Easter lives with their children in their Irvine home, according to defense attorney
Thomas Bienert Jr....
The jury foreman said the panel was convinced by phone records that showed the
defendant’s cell phone was used near the victim’s home the night the drugs were
planted in her car. The jury did not believe the defendant’s claim that his wife was
using his phone that night, the foreman said.
Prosecutor Christopher Duff said in his closing argument that even if the defendant
did not personally plant the marijuana pipe, Vicodin and Percocet in school volunteer
Kelli Peters’ car on Feb. 16, 2011, he was still guilty of false imprisonment because it
was his call to police that led to her detention and questioning.
“He called police knowing these drugs were planted in the car,” Duff said. “He knew
Kelli Peters didn’t put those drugs in the car. His role in the crime is complete when he
makes that call to police.”
Easter’s attorney claimed that his client was an unwitting dupe of a conspiratorial,
pushy wife, and downplayed the detention of the victim, as Irvine police realized within
minutes the volunteer was being set up.
Duff said the Easters’ vendetta against Peters started in February 2010 when Jill
Easter picked up her then-5-year-old son after classes at Plaza Vista School in Irvine.
It took a few minutes to find the boy, who was a little dirty and crying when he was
found but was otherwise OK, Duff said.
Jill Easter grew enraged when Peters said the boy was “slow,” meaning he lagged
when it was time to line up with the other children, Duff said. Jill Easter took the
comment as an insult to her son’s intelligence, Duff said.
The couple wrote a letter demanding Peters’ dismissal, filed for a restraining order
against her, and then tried to file a complaint with police for false imprisonment, Duff
said. They also tried to sue Peters, but she was not served with papers and the case
was withdrawn.
Kent Easter admitted he called Irvine police and gave them a fake Indian name after
he alerted authorities that Peters was seen driving to the school erratically and had
pills in her car. Duff alleged that Easter even affected an Indian accent...
False Police Report
Are More Common
Than You MIght Think
Video Exonerates
Man Set Up By
Louisiana Cops And
Prosecutors
The Daily Caller
Mar. 1, 2015
If not for cell phone
video, 47-year-old
disabled veteran
Douglas Dendinger
could be going to
prison — because of
an apparent
coordinated effort by
Washington Parish,
La. cops and
prosecutors who
falsely accused him of
battery and witness
intimidation.
As New Orleans’
WWL reports,
Dendinger’s two-year
nightmare began on
Aug. 20, 2012, when
he was paid $50 to
serve a court
summons on behalf of
his nephew against
Bogalusa police
officer Chad Cassard
in a police brutality
lawsuit.
Dendinger handed
Cassard a white
envelope containing
the documents and
says he went on his
way. But 20 minutes
later, police showed
up to Dendinger’s
house and arrested
him. He was put in jail
on charges of simple
battery, obstruction of
justice and
intimidating a witness.
Two of those charges
are felonies, and a
prior cocaine
conviction on
Dendinger’s record
threatened to land
him in jail for a long
time as a repeat
offender.
But Dendinger was
confident that a
mistake had been
made and that he
would be released
without cause since
two prosecutors and
several police officers
had seen him hand
over the summons
peacefully.
But that’s not what
happened.
A year after the
incident, then-District
Attorney Walter Reed
brought charges
against Dendinger.
His case was backed
by two prosecutors
who asserted that
Dendinger had
assaulted Cassard.
Seven witness
statements also
supported the case.
Cassard made the
same claim, writing in
a voluntary statement
that Dendinger
“slapped him in the
chest” when he
served the summons.
Pamela Legendre, a
staff attorney who
witnessed the hand-
off, said she thought
Dendinger had
punched Cassard.
Bogalusa police chief
Joe Culpepper said
that Dendinger had
used “violence” and
“force.”
And another witness
said in a deposition
that Dendinger used
such force when he
served the summons
that Cassard flew
back several feet.
“It wasn’t fun and
games, they had a
plan, the plan was
really to go after him
and put him away.
That is scary,” Philip
Kaplan, the attorney
representing
Dendinger in his civil
rights case, told WWL.
“I realized even more
at that moment these
people are trying to
hurt me,” Dendinger
told the news station.
Luckily for Dendinger,
his wife and nephew
had filmed him that
day in order to prove
that the court papers
had been served.
Grainy video of the
exchange shows
Dendinger handing
Cassard the
summons and the
former police officer
walking away in the
opposite direction.
Though the video
aired by WWL does
not show the entire
encounter, what it
does not show is
Dendinger slapping
anyone or acting
aggressively during
the crucial moment
when he served the
summons.
The video also shows
that the witness who
claimed that
Denginger’s force
pushed Cassard back
several feet had his
back turned as the
scene unfolded.
After Reed was forced
to recuse his office
from the case, it was
referred to the
Louisiana attorney
general who quickly
dropped the charges
against Dendinger.
Rafael Goyeneche,
president of the New
Orleans Metropolitan
Crime Commission, told
WWL that after viewing
the video he did not see
Dendinger commit
battery on Cassard and
that the officers and
prosecutors involved
could be looking at
serious ethics charges.
“I didn’t see a battery,
certainly a battery
committed that would
warrant criminal
charges being
preferred,”
Goyeneche said.
“It’s a felony to falsify
a police report,”
Goyeneche
continued. “So this is
a police report, and
this police report was
the basis for charging
this individual.”
Kaplan made the
obvious point: ”If this
was truly a battery on
a police officer, with
police officers all
around him, why isn’t
something happening
right there?”
According to people who knew Jones well, over the next five years, some of his
fellow officers, suspicious that Jones might turn on them, launched
a series of cruel and anonymous attacks. To Jones and his family, it
seemed like a unified effort aimed at his mental health as much as his physical
wellbeing.
High Desert Suicide: Was a Prison Guard Hazed to Death?
[by officers who feared he would tell the truth about them]
At one of the country's most dangerous prisons, correctional officers face off
against murderers, rapists, gangsters and each other
By Jessica Pishko
Rollingstone
August 31, 2015
In August 2006, in the enclosed Z Unit of High Desert State Prison in Susanville,
California, Officer Scott Jones, a correctional peace officer assigned to Search
and Escort, joined in a hazing ritual known as the "Usual High Desert." Sergeant
Ernie Rausch had just received a promotion. To celebrate, Jones and several
officers put the 6'7" 280-pound Rausch into a "cage" — one of the phone booth-
sized stand-alone units used to contain unruly inmates — and doused him with
trashcans full of water. Officer Steve Oschner was there and later described the
scene as part of a workers' compensation claim investigation: "You put up a little
bit of a struggle, you know. Then obviously it is in good fun and put him in the
cage, got him wet. Poured some water on him."
, ...Rausch got out and was soon face-to-face with Jones. Compared to Rausch's
massive size, Jones was a mere 6'1" and 180 pounds. According to the workers'
comp investigation, Rausch extended a hand, as if to shake, but when Jones
reached out to reciprocate, Rausch pulled him close and began dry-humping
Jones' leg. Rausch's weight was too much for Jones, and they both tumbled to the
ground in one tangled wet mess. A few yards away in the Z Unit's law library where
officers typically eat their meals, an officer claimed to hear Jones scream as he hit
the wet concrete floor.
Jones tore two ligaments in his knee. His actual workers' compensation claim from
the incident states that he slipped and fell while mopping the floor. Rausch, who
was later questioned as part of Jones' claim, said that he and Jones were "hugging
each other goodbye" some sixty feet away from the cage when both of them
slipped and fell. "There wasn't a mop in his hand," Rausch said. "There wasn't a
mop in my hand. We had just got done with those activities." But when pressed for
details on the altercation, Rausch said, "It was wrestling. It is what we do for a
living."
It's unclear from the workers' comp investigation to what extent the highest-ranking
officer present, Second Watch Sergeant (now Lieutenant) Ed Simmerson, was
involved in Rausch's hazing or responding to Jones' injury. He failed to file a report
on the incident. "You ain't supposed to do it," he later admitted to a workers' comp
investigator about hazing. "But it is kind of overlooked." What Simmerson did do,
according to a civil complaint, was instruct Jones to fill out the injury report with the
claim that he hurt himself while mopping. Jones' father-in-law, Robert Hartner,
himself a former High Desert CO, testified that Simmerson told Jones, "You need
to write it this way," meaning fill out the workers' comp form in a way that would not
implicate any other officers. Jones wanted to get along. So he signed it.
(Simmerson did not respond to requests for comment.)
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/videos/high-desert-suicide-was-a-
prison-guard-hazed-to-death-20150831#ixzz3lA1Emx6d
SDPD overreacted at 7-year-old's birthday party
Toy gun did not justify search and detainment
By Don Bauder
San Diego Reader
May 27, 2016
On Saturday, October 2, 2010, the Sialoi family held a barbecue in
front of their apartment to celebrate the seventh birthday of a family
member. (The lawsuit does not indicate in which San Diego
neighborhood the incident took place.)
No alcohol was served. Around 10:20 p.m. the apartment manager
called 911 and reported that two black or Samoan men were ducking
around the apartment complex. One carried a handgun and the other a
shotgun, according to the report.
Before long, more than 20 San Diego police were on the scene, many
with arms drawn. But the two black men were nowhere to be found.
One of the teenagers was holding a plastic paintball gun in his hand.
When he saw the officers, he dropped it. A policeman confirmed the
gun was a toy. But the other policemen handcuffed three teenagers
and herded them into a police car. Then the officers began to detain,
search, and handcuff members of the Sialoi family.
Several officers entered and searched the Sialois' apartment without a
warrant or consent. The family sued the City of San Diego and the
police officers individually. The district court gave the city qualified
immunity but denied it to the officers. The officers appealed. The United
States Court of Appeals for the Ninth District considered the appeal,
taking the facts "in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs."
The appellate panel, in a decision filed May 24, said the police were not
entitled to summary judgment. Once the police found that the gun was
a toy, they should not have handcuffed family members and shoved
them to the ground or into a police vehicle, ruled the panel.
The officers "acted wholly unreasonably in using extreme force to
disrupt a peaceful birthday party for a seven-year-old girl," said the
appellate court. Furthermore, "No reasonable officer would have
thought it lawful to search the Sialois' apartment," said the appellate
panel, affirming the trial court's decision.
No good deed goes unpunished?