Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "sacramento county district attorneys office"

Jury deliberating on "Pops" case

2011-03-16T03:34:09Z

The jury assigned to the case of local security guard Leroy “Pops” Fisher’s death is now deliberating, following a day of passionate arguments by both the prosecution and defense attorneys.

At stake is the future of Michael Bruce Weisz of Sacramento, who faces charges of second-degree murder and felony hit-and-run with death or injury in the case of Fisher’s 2009 death.

The prosecution and defense attorneys made final arguments in Weisz’ trial on Tuesday in Sacramento County Superior Court.

Sacramento County Deputy District Attorney Sheri Greco contended that Weisz is guilty of both second-degree murder and felony hit-and-run with death. Donald Masuda, the attorney representing Weisz, argued that his client is not guilty of either charge.

Weisz and a friend were ordered by Fisher and a second security guard to leave Badlands, a Midtown nightclub, for inappropriate behavior on Sept. 23, 2009, Sacramento Police Department spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong said at the time. The Police Department also said at the time that it believed Weisz ran over Fisher in his car.

Greco argued that Weisz intentionally ran over Fisher and showed “conscious disregard” for Fisher’s life. “He was driving his car into Leroy Fisher,” Greco said.

Greco, who showed photos of Fisher’s severely damaged body after the event, also argued that Weisz should be charged guilty of hit-and-run resulting in death. She contended that Weisz intentionally drove away from the crime scene to San Francisco.

Meanwhile, Masuda argued that Weisz’ mental state was affected after being Tased by Fisher with a stun pen outside the nightclub. He said that Weisz did not intentionally run over Fisher.

Rather, Masuda argued that Weisz was trying to get away from Fisher. At the scene, Weisz had been Tased, was crying and was “trying to do the best he can to get out of the parking lot.”

Weisz, fleeing from Fisher, accidentally ran him over, according to Masuda’s argument. “It’s charged as a murder, but wasn’t a murder to begin with.”

Weisz’ and Fisher’s supporters who attended the hearing sat on opposite sides of the room. Some people on both sides of the room were seen crying quietly during Tuesday’s final arguments.

The Sacramento Press will update readers on the jury’s decision as soon as it is made and information becomes available.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Staff reporter Suzanne Hurt contributed to this report.

Tretheway claims police officers' union stole his online identity

2010-05-28T05:36:06Z

City Councilman Ray Tretheway has claimed that opponents of his re-election campaign have stolen his online identity.

In a May 21 letter addressed to several local agencies, including the Sacramento County District Attorney’s office, Tretheway alleged that the Sacramento Police Officers Association illegally registered the website domain name raytretheway.com.

The police officers’ union acknowledged that it has registered raytretheway.com but said it has not violated any laws.

Campaign statements show that SPOA provides financial support to Angelique Ashby, one of Tretheway’s competitors in the District 1 City Council race.

“It’s identity theft, clear and simple,” Tretheway said in an interview Thursday. “Identity theft of 2010. And I read a quote from another media — print media — that they intended to use (the domain name) to mislead voters. That doubles my anxiety.”

Tretheway alleges in his letter that Ashby supporter and campaign contributor Keith Sharward initially registered the domain name last August. SPOA became the new administrator of the domain name between April 19 and May 20, Tretheway claims.

He alleges that the registration of the domain name by Sharward and SPOA is illegal under a state law on cyber piracy. The law says that is it “unlawful for a person, with a bad faith intent to register, traffic in, or use a domain name, that is identical or confusingly similar to the personal name of another living person or deceased personality, without regard to the goods or services of the parties.”

Tretheway said he aimed to register the domain name last year, but found it was registered to Sharward. The councilman said Sharward was "new to politics," and he didn't want to fight with him.

But Tretheway said he views SPOA differently. When he recently became aware that the domain name was in the hands of the SPOA, it was like an "amber alert" went off, he said.

“It is my name, and I would like it back,” Tretheway wrote in the letter.

In addition to the District Attorney’s office, Tretheway sent the letter to Sacramento Police Chief Rick Braziel, City Attorney Eileen Teichert and the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission.

“We have received the letter,” Sacramento Police Department spokesman Norm Leong wrote in an e-mail Thursday. “We are reviewing it at this time. Thus far it appears the sections referenced from the business and professions code are civil and not criminal but we are conferring with the city attorney’s office on the matter.”

Teichert was not available Thursday afternoon.

Mark Tyndale, vice president of SPOA, strongly disagreed with Tretheway’s statements.

“On the issue of the domain name, I did contact our attorney when we did it,” Tyndale said. “Our attorney assures us there is nothing illegal about it, as long as we’re not using it as a means to divide (people)," he said.

"We don’t feel like it’s anything illegal at all," he added. "We just think it’s a political tactic."

Tyndale alleged that it is inappropriate for Tretheway to send his letter to the city attorney. “And I’m also concerned that he’s using the city attorney to clarify his campaign legal issues, which I think there’s kind of a conflict there,” Tyndale said.

Ashby said she had no knowledge about the website until Tretheway publicized his letter last week. “I didn’t find out about it until I heard about it from the media,” she said in a Thursday interview. “I don’t think we need it. I don’t think it’s necessary.”

She and Tretheway have opposing views of Sharward's role in her campaign. In his letter, Tretheway said that campaign documents show that Sharward has been paid by her campaign. But Ashby said Sharward received a reimbursement, "not payment for services rendered."

At this point, SPOA has not done anything with the domain name. The website www.raytretheway.com is a blank page.

Read Tretheway's letter here.

Photo of Tretheway and council members by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

District Attorney: budget crisis means justice won't be served

2009-05-14T03:02:32Z

Elder abuse. Major narcotics. Community prosecution.

These are just a few of the key units in the county district attorney’s office that would be eliminated if the office has to make $13.1 million more in cuts to help balance the county’s budget.

Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully gave the Board of Supervisors a dire outlook Wednesday of how the public would suffer from proposed cuts to the D.A.’s office.

The county’s most recent figure for its budget deficit is $180 million, said Kerri Aiello, a county public information officer.

“Rest assured, with these kind of cuts, if I have to close a $13.1 million gap, justice is not going to be served in this community,” Scully said.

The department would need to make 109 layoffs and remove entire units to fill the $13.1 million hole, she said.

Units that would be entirely removed include major narcotics, community prosecution, special investigation, statutory rape, elder abuse and child abduction.

Scully said other units that would not be eliminated but have already been cut or will be cut include homicides, gangs, domestic violence, adult sexual assault, victim witness advocates, juvenile hall, and special assault and child abuse.

“It’s not a pretty picture,” Scully said.

She explained that the D.A.’s child abduction unit prosecutes cases in which a non-custodial parent violates the law by taking a child from the custodial parent. The proposed budget cuts mean that those particular child abduction cases “likely would not be prosecuted,” Scully said.

She told the county supervisors that serious or violent cases under the major narcotics unit would still be prosecuted by the D.A.’s office. However, she noted that cases involving major narcotics would be folded into a “general felony” category. This means that a major narcotics case “now becomes one case in a caseload of a smorgasbord of crimes,” she said.

Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan asked Scully if she has reason to believe the D.A.’s office would receive federal stimulus funding.

Scully said the office has applied for $10 million in federal stimulus dollars. However, she explained outside the meeting that the she didn’t think it was likely the office would be awarded the entire amount for which it applied. She said the stimulus funds were “too uncertain.”

Two more workshops on the county’s budget crisis will be held this week at the Board of Supervisor’s chambers at 700 H St. Workshops on both Thursday, May 14, and Friday, May 15, will begin at 9:30 a.m.

Here’s a breakdown from Scully on the 109 layoffs:
46 attorneys

18 investigators
6 victim advocates
12 investigative staff
3 criminalists
24 support staffers