Law Enforcement

Despite the illustration of the absurdity of attempting to protect the names of officers already in the public domain, Judge Evelio Grillo has ordered the release of the full report with redaction of names of specific officers not already named, as Lt. John Pike and Police Chief Annette Spicuzza have been named, but has stayed the release until April 20, 2012 to allow the attorneys for the Police Officer’s Union to appeal to an appellate court.

University of California General Counsel Charles Robinson said after the ruling on Wednesday, “We are pleased that Judge Grillo agrees, in almost every respect, with our arguments for full public disclosure of reports from the task force chaired by former California Supreme Court Associate Justice Cruz Reynoso. While he also ordered names of some police officers in the reports to be redacted, we would like that information ultimately to be made public.”

Vanguard Article Added to Filings From UC, Arguing For the Release of the Name

Last week, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Evelio M. Grillo issued an order that in part denied the motion of the attorneys for Lt. John Pike and the Federated University Police Officers Association to prevent the release of the report known as the Reynoso and Kroll reports.  The judge set a new hearing for today, where motions will continue to attempt to seal court records.

The positions of both sides remain unchanged.  Attorneys for the officers’ union argue that the report amounts to the release of confidential personnel records under Penal Code section 832.7.  The University responds that these reports were not commissioned for the purpose of discipline and therefore do not fall under the Penal Code’s auspices.

There has been much effort spent, both in attempting to identify and attempting to prevent disclosure of the identity of the second officer who was an active participant in the pepper spraying of protesters on the UC Davis Quad, November 18, 2011.

The image of Lt. John Pike has become an “internet meme” emblazoned across the nation, and indeed around the world, as a symbol of this event.  However, efforts to keep the second officer’s identity secret have been strong, in part because of fear of harassment, threat and retaliation.

While UC Davis and the Davis community patiently await the findings from the report investigating the November 18 pepper spraying of students on the Quad on the UC Davis campus, a report emerged last week that threw gasoline on the situation at Berkeley.

The author himself acknowledged that his findings are controversial, while protesters dismissed the report, stating: “This is isn’t an analysis, it’s propaganda. It sounds like a tactical handbook for warfare against students.”

The university has come under fire this week for their handling of the protests blocking U.S. Bank, that ultimately led to the bank attempting to get out of their ten-year contract and vacating the spot.

At a town hall meeting, Vice Chancellor John Meyer addressed campus staff and described the campus’s patient, measured responses to the brief occupation of the former Cross Cultural Center and the almost daily blockade of the U.S. Bank branch in the Memorial Union.

ACLU Staff Attorney Urges Full Release Sooner Rather than Later –

Following Friday’s court ruling, it comes as little surprise that the release of the pepper spray report will be further delayed.  While the judge’s ruling on Friday appeared to clear the way for a release of portions of the report, that decision ultimately rests with the university, as well as with Former Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso. Mr. Reynoso, in a letter to President Mark Yudof, on Tuesday indicated that he would prefer that the report be released in whole rather than in piecemeal fashion.

“As I previously stated, the Task Force has worked very hard and diligently over the past few months to ensure that the Davis community and the public get a thorough account of the events that took place on November 18, 2011, and has produced thoughtful recommendations to meet your charge to the Task Force,” the former justice wrote. “Releasing portions of the Task Force report in piecemeal fashion would provide a skewed view of our findings and undercut the rationale behind our recommendations.”

This could have been a story about the brilliance of the University of California.  The police officer’s union has played right into the hands of the university, attempting to block the release of the pepper spray report.  This has allowed the university to take the public stance for release, and allowed them to be on the side of moral indignation.

Now all UC has to do is cut a deal for the release of the information, insulate themselves at the top levels from blame, and the crisis has been managed.

Occupy leaders are claiming another victory, as they have apparently successfully shut down U.S. Bank’s UC Davis branch office.

According to a release from the university on Friday, US Bank told UC officials that it is terminating its agreements with the campus. In a March 1 letter to the Board of Regents, the bank stated its reason as the interference by protesters who intermittently blocked the door to the bank branch in the Memorial Union since January.

While Judge Evelio Grillo’s tentative ruling seemed to reject arguments from attorneys for Lt. John Pike and the Federated University Police Officers Association, the hearing and his ruling on Friday made things less clear – as he blocked the release of some sections of the report, cleared the way for the release of others, set another hearing date for March 28, and set a full release date for April 16.

Originally, Judge Grillo indicated through his tentative ruling that he would order the release of all of the information in the report.

University of California’s General Counsel issued a quick response to the tentative ruling that was made public late on Thursday.

Charles Robinson, being cautious, said, “We are encouraged by this positive development. Because it’s a tentative ruling, it would be premature to comment further until the hearing scheduled for tomorrow concludes.”

In a tentative ruling from Judge Evelio Grillo of the Alameda Superior Court, the court denied the motions by Attorney John Bakhit, appearing on behalf of Lt. Pike for a preliminary injunction and to seal portions of the record of the UCD pepper-spraying incident..

On Tuesday the General Counsel of the University of California, Charles Robinson, along with Michael Risher for the ACLU, submitted their arguments in response to the injunction sought by lawyers for Lt. John Pike and the Federated University Police Officers Association, who filed for an injunction last week to halt the release of the Kroll Investigation Report and any recommendations from the task force headed up by Cruz Reynoso.

In the order signed last week by Judge Grillo, the University of California Board of Regents was ordered “to show cause why a preliminary injunction should not be ordered restraining and enjoining you and your employees and agents… from releasing the Kroll report, from releasing confidential peace officer personnel files, and from violating California Penal Code sections 832.7 and 832.8 regarding the confidentiality of peace officer personnel files.”

Critics Question the Use of Police Bill of Rights in This Case

An Alameda County judge has ordered the University of California to withhold a UC Davis task force report on the pepper-spraying incident at the campus, at least until after a hearing that is scheduled for March 16.

“In granting the temporary restraining order requested by a UC campus police union attorney, Judge Evelio M. Grillo emphasized that he was not ruling on the merits, but only preserving the status quo until the hearing on March 16,” University of California General Counsel Charles Robinson said in a statement to the media on Tuesday.

The university was all set for the Tuesday release of the report from Kroll and the Task Force, however late yesterday UC Davis and the University of California Office of the President announced that the union representing UC campus police and a police officer at the center of the pepper-spraying incident at UC Davis will request a court order to halt public disclosure of a report by a task force headed by former California Supreme Court Associate Justice Cruz Reynoso.

The request for the temporary restraining order will be presented today in Department 31 of the Alameda County Superior Court.  As a result, Cruz Reynoso, acting on advice from counsel, made the decision to postpone the public release of the report.

The twice pushed-back report will finally be released at noon on March 6. Downloadable task force findings, recommendations and background documents will be available on the UC Davis home page.

Former California Supreme Court Associate Justice Cruz Reynoso, chair of the task force investigating the pepper-spray incident on Nov. 18, said today (March 2) that the group will outline its findings and recommendations to the UC Davis community – students, faculty and staff – on Tuesday (March 6) from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the UC Davis Conference Center Ballroom.

On Wednesday, the ACLU announced that nineteen students and alumni filed a federal lawsuit in the Eastern District against UC Davis, over the university’s treatment of protesters during a Nov. 18 demonstration, in which campus police were caught on video dousing seated protesters with pepper spray.

According to a release from the ACLU, the lawsuit seeks to determine why the university violated the demonstrators’ state and federal constitutional rights, and seeks to result in better policies that will prevent repetition of such response to a non-violent protest.