Eye on the Courts: What is Newsworthy? What Makes a Case High Profile?

Daniel Marsh Case Draws Media Scrutiny While Horrific Elder Abuse Case Draws None – The Yolo County District Attorney’s Office has a page where they have compiled the latest “high profile cases.”  It’s a nice tool for the public and those interested in keeping track of the high profile cases – it has the name of the defense, the case number, the charges, and of course the next hearing date and where the case stands.

But it does raise the rather interesting question, in listing 15 cases – why are those cases high profile, covered by the media, while other cases are not?  Why does the media cover some cases and not others?

This is actually a surprisingly random exercise, and in some ways it is troubling.  We are approaching four years of court coverage, and what we have found is that the most troubling cases in Yolo County are often the ones no one is covering.  I remember everyone lined up to cover a hearing for the Topete case, while there was a five co-defendant gang case involving 14- and 15-year-olds who were mainly acquitted after eyewitness identification issues surfaced.

On Friday Judge Tim Fall’s courtroom was packed with friends and relatives of the deceased and the defendant in the Daniel Marsh case.  No one would question whether that should be a high profile case – a double murder in Davis is a newsworthy event, then you add in additional elements of the defendant’s youth and youthful appearance and the horrific nature of the case and this would be high profile in any jurisdiction.

But what troubles me is that Mr. Marsh’s hearing was not first.  First on the calendar was the preliminary hearing for Darlene Mattos and her son James Mattos, both of Davis.

Mr. Mattos was charged with murder, elder abuse and embezzlement and Ms. Mattos faced manslaughter charges.  The facts that unfolded were just as horrific as those of the Marsh hearing.

A sheriff’s deputy, Dean Nyland, testified that he was called in to Sutter Davis on October 13, 2012, about a possible case of neglect.  Cecil W. was a 66-year-old mentally retarded individual who was under the care of James Mattos for the last several years.

By the time Mr. Mattos had gotten Cecil to the hospital, his condition was grave.  Deputy Nyland testified that he was largely unresponsive.  He was suffering from dehydration and severe neglect, he had severe bed sores, and a body temperature of just 86 degrees.  The man weighed just 97 pounds AFTER being administered 6 liters of water – which weighs approximately 13 pounds.

He would ultimately die from a combination of conditions.

Deputy Nyland described for the court the condition of the trailer where Mr. Mattos resided with Cecil.  He described it as being in disarray, with a strong smell of feces – both animal and human – along with urine.

Cecil was on a bed with no linen or pillows in his room.  There were feces on the floor and the bathroom was extremely dirty, looking basically unusable with feces smeared all over the toilet.

Deputy Nyland said that the other side of the residence was cleaner, but not clean.  There was actual bedding on the bed and, while the bathroom was not clean, it was better than on Cecil’s side of the residence.

Cecil had an IQ of about 70.  He was cared for by his mother until her death.  A trust was set up and Ms. Mattos’ husband watched over him until his death about ten years ago.  Darlene Mattos was Cecil’s caregiver until about two and a half years ago, when she decided that she was too old to take care of Cecil anymore and turned over care to her son James Mattos.

From the testimony, it appears that Cecil was a relative of the Mattos’ and had been in their care for well over a decade.

As recently as six weeks before his death, Cecil was able to walk with some assistance and not long before that he had been able to get around town, where he used to ride his bike and dig in the trash can for food – despite being provided plenty of food by the Mattos’, at least at that time.

His condition appears to have gone downhill very quickly.

Under cross-examination from Jeff Raven, a defense attorney representing Darlene Mattos, she had not visited her son in six weeks.  She acknowledged that James Mattos was a terrible housekeeper.  However, as he was a former worker at a convalescent hospital, she believed that whatever care James Mattos was providing was better than Cecil going to the hospital.

Former Chief Deputy Coroner Robert LaBrash would testify regarding the cause of death and the medical autopsy.

He testified that Cecil appeared significantly older than the stated age.  He was poorly nourished and had numerous bedsores.

The cause of death was complex.  It was septic shock – infection of multiple internal organs, aspirational pneumonia (infection of the lung), urosepsis ulcers due to a combination of malnutrition and hypothermia, with the contributing factors of mental retardation and hypertension.

He testified that the onset of death took days, but under some further examination allowed that it could have been as long as weeks – but not likely months.

Mr. LaBrash added that the manner of death was homicide due to neglect.

Judge Fall would hold both Mr. Mattos and his mother Darlene Mattos to answer for all charges.  However, he allowed Darlene Mattos to be released on her own recognizance.

In his impassioned closing argument, Mr. Raven argued that Darlene Mattos did the best she could until she was too old to care for Cecil.  He argued that Ms. Mattos was not a risk to society nor did she possess a flight risk.

She had family who would get her to court and she has been a resident of Yolo County for over 50 years.  It will be left to a jury to decide if Ms. Mattos should have known about the dreadful conditions that Cecil was living in and could have done something to prevent his death.

This is one of the worst cases of elder abuse we have seen.  It occurred in the city of Davis and led to the death of a man who was just 66 years of age.

Some of the media, there for the Marsh hearing, took notes.  Some walked out of the hearing when they realized that Marsh would not be heard until the afternoon, despite the fact that this case seemed worthy of coverage, especially for a reporter that covers crime in Davis.

While I can certainly understand the interest in the Marsh case, the lack of interest in the Mattos case is a bit perplexing.

—David M. Greenwald reporting