A Woodland resident, Kristal Sutton, has been held to answer for a single felony hit and run causing death or serious injury charge, after a preliminary hearing on Tuesday in Judge Timothy Fall’s Yolo County courtroom.
According to testimony from three officers, on June 30 around 10 pm in the evening, Ms. Sutton went into the 7-Eleven on East Main in Woodland and purchased a Squirt. As she went toward her car, she was approached by Alisa Horner.
by Antoinnette BorbonA Yolo County man stood trial on Tuesday, facing charges of possession of a controlled substance, possession of a firearm being a felon, and possession of drug paraphernalia – along with the enhancement of having the firearm while in possession of the controlled substance. On Tuesday he took the stand to testify in his own defense.
Andrew Savala, a man who had admitted on the stand Tuesday to a long-term addiction to methamphetamine, also admitted to having a history of being in prison, on two separate occasions. But before the testimony ended, we heard the defendant talk about being put on the county’s “gang injunction” list as a known gang member. He testified that he was actually in prison when his grandparents were served the papers with his name on it.
Judge David Rosenberg would hold Troy Hensley, a 37-year-old former JV football coach at Dixon High, to answer on charges that he carried out a lengthy sexual relationship with a then 17-year-old student for four months while she was underage.
Mr. Hensley faces 24 charges related to three types of sexual offenses (sex with a minor, oral copulation with a minor, and sexual penetration with a foreign object with a minor) on eight separate dates, dating from May 31, 2012, until the alleged victim turned 18 on September 10, 2012. The alleged victim, however, indicated that there were far more than the eight charged dates and that the sexual relationship started far earlier, before they had intercourse for the first time on May 31.
On Sunday, August 25 from 5:15 to 7:15pm in the Blanchard Room of the Stephens Branch Library, 315 E. 14th St. in Davis, the Vanguard Court Watch Council of Yolo County (VCWCYC) is inviting the public to come forward to express their concerns about the judicial system, provide testimony and give personal accounts of contemporary cases in the Yolo County Court system.
Citizens are encouraged to come to listen to topics of concern raised by invited guests and participate themselves by sharing their experiences with the council and the public.
This week we saw, once again, a man facing felony charges in Yolo County for a miniscule petty theft. In this case, the man faced a felony charge, accused of stealing a rice bowl from the Nugget Market in Davis.
Under California law, petty theft with a prior is a wobbler – it can be charged as either a felony or a misdemeanor, with the DA having the discretion of charging it as either. However, Judge Richardson used his discretion to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor.
By David M. GreenwaldLast week, the mother of Michael Perez, Regina Roxanne Perez, was acquitted of perjury stemming from answers she gave in response to a jury questionnaire for the Marco Topete trial back in 2011. A week later, Michael Perez, whose 2001 murder conviction was overturned in 2010 and sent back to Yolo County, was in Yolo County court and copped to a reduced plea.
Mr. Perez pled no contest to second degree murder and a reduced enhancement for personal use of a firmarm. He would receive from Judge Mock an 18-year to life sentence. With his time in custody since 2001, he will be eligible for parole in the relatively near future.
A Woodland man, Justin Garcia, will face trial on charges of kidnapping, false imprisonment, child endangerment and resisting arrest following Judge Fall’s ruling after a preliminary hearing on Friday, which showed wildly divergent testimony between YONET officers who arrested Mr. Garcia on November 10, 2012, and eyewitness accounts of the supposed victims.
Judge Fall called the kidnapping charges unusual in that they involved fear rather than force, but noted that the statute does not require a particular level of fear that compels the victim to comply. He said it will be up to a jury to determine whether the facts in this case constitute kidnapping and false imprisonment.
by Antoinnette BorbonThe verdict came in Monday morning in the case against Joel Verbish, who faced seven felony charges, the worst being felony battery on a police officer, evading police and assault on a nurse. The other charges included reckless driving.
The jury would acquit Mr. Verbish of all the felony charges and instead find him guilty on misdemeanor charges of resisting or delaying a police officer, and resisting or obstructing a police officer.
The Vanguard this week will file a motion with the court, intervening to keep the courtroom open for the murder trial of Daniel Marsh. The Davis Enterprise and Sacramento Bee have already indicated they will be filing motions, as well.
We understand the rationale for the defense’s motion. His attorney believes that the media coverage, which includes the prominence of the victims in the Davis community and details about his family’s troubles and mental health history, has made it difficult for him to receive a fair trial.
by Antoinnette BorbonTestimony continued Thursday with more lengthy testimony by both California Highway Patrol Officer Charles Anderson and Dr. Juliana Rohrer in the case of Joel Verbish being charged with felony evading a police officer and battery and assault on a police officer.
Officer Anderson is one of the officers who apprehended the defendant, and who had sustained a back sprain in the struggle to gain control of the defendant. Mr. Verbish faces seven counts, a few of which pertain to the injuries to Officer Anderson and Nurse Darrell Turner. It was the defense’s contention that the injuries did not result in treatment and that officers may have used excessive force on Mr. Verbish.
When the jury spent less than one hour deliberating before clearing Regina Roxanne Perez of perjury after she had been a prospective juror in the 2011-12 Marco Topete death penalty case, we were left with the question as to why the District Attorney’s office would spend time and taxpayer money pursuing this case.
Unfortunately, there are more questions than answers here.
By Catherine McKnightThe court heard opening statements on Wednesday morning in the case of the state against Joel Verbish, where the main counts include felony evading a police officer, and battery and assault on a police officer.
In his opening, Deputy DA Robert Gorman asked the jury to “please participate” when officers and psychologists are testifying, and explained that this is a case of excessive force used by the defendant, Joel Verbish.
The recent defense motion by Deputy Public Defender Ron Johnson that seeks to exclude the public from 16-year-old defendant Daniel Marsh’s preliminary hearing puts us in a quandary. Mr. Marsh stands accused in the double homicides of Oliver “Chip” Northup and Claudia Maupin of Davis.
On the one hand, the Vanguard has fought for open government and believes that transparency is a fundamental core value in a functioning democracy. If the government wishes to take away the liberty of a citizen, then it has to do so in a very open and transparent manner where all can see, monitor and scrutinize.
On Tuesday, defendant Roxanne Perez was acquitted by a Yolo County jury of a perjury charge based on what the district attorney’s office tried to claim represented untruthful answers on a survey and during voir dire for the trial of Marco Topete. Mr. Topete was ultimately found guilty of the 2008 murder of Sheriff’s Deputy Tony Diaz and sentenced to the death penalty.
During the lengthy jury selection process of the Topete trial in 2011, that was interrupted by the illness of Defense Attorney Tom Purtell, Roxanne Perez filled out her jury form and then was questioned about whether the fact that her son was convicted of a crime and serving prison time would influence her ability to render a fair verdict.
Holder Calls for an End to the Cycle of Poverty and Incarceration – In a continued signal of détente for the criminal justice system, US Attorney General Eric Holder made sweeping changes to the federal sentencing requirements by ordering federal prosecutors to cease listing the quantity of drugs in low-level drug cases, enabling them to sidestep federal laws that impose lengthy mandatory minimum sentencing requirements for possession of drugs and other related offenses.
In a speech at the American Bar Association’s annual meeting in San Francisco, Mr. Holder laid out his new policy which aims at modifying the Justice Department’s charging policies “so that certain low-level, nonviolent drug offenders who have no ties to large-scale organizations, gangs, or cartels will no longer be charged with offenses that impose draconian mandatory minimum sentences.”
In a long-anticipated and awaited ruling, a federal judge – Shira Scheindlin – ruled that the New York Police Department’s “stop-and-frisk” policies violated the constitutional rights of minorities in the city.
Judge Scheindlin ruled that the city had “adopted a policy of indirect racial profiling by targeting racially defined groups for stops based on local crime suspect data. This has resulted in the disproportionate and discriminatory stopping of blacks and Hispanics in violation of the Equal Protection Clause.”
A recent statewide publication trumpeted the DA’s Neighborhood Court program, stating that Davis has earned another distinction, “becoming the second California city to institute a restorative justice program to deal with misdemeanors as an alternative to the traditional court system.”
Yolo County has earned a lot of mileage from the program. DA Jeff Reisig notes that “courts are overcrowded, the system is costly, and there are too few judges and too few courtrooms.”
No one, not even his own attorney, can deny that Tom Vukodinovich made a string of very bad judgment calls. He abused his charge that he was hired to do when he turned his position of authority and responsibility and used it to engage in at least a two-year string of sexual liaisons with a developmentally disabled woman, who the prosecution said had an IQ of 37.
But would justice have been served if Mr. Vukodinovich, who is 74 years of age anyway, were simply relieved of his duties and not allowed to serve in the capacity of bus driver anymore? That was a decision that the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office had to make.
By Dan WilliamsThe jury remained in deliberation for most of the day. The question on their minds was not if the alleged actions took place, but rather if the victim was mentally able to give consent; and if she was, whether she communicated it.
The issue that this case raises is an interesting one. The outcome of this case could set a dangerous precedent. We could be seeing what is essentially an IQ floor on sexual relationships and consent. Now, I’m not saying that anybody who’s ever had the privilege of being a sexual partner of dim-witted cousin Skeeter is at risk of being thrown on the sex offender list; but this is something we should be concerned about with regard to those who have issues communicating, and to their biological urges.
Thomas Vukodinovich faces 57 felony charges for a sexual relationship he had with a 49-year-old developmentally disabled woman, who the prosecution says has an IQ of 37 and is considered moderately retarded. Mr. Vukodinovich was the bus driver in charge of transporting disabled individuals to work.
According to the prosecution, he used this bus to drive the alleged victim to a number of secluded locations throughout Yolo and Solano County to have sexual relations with her and then warned her that if she reported him that he would get in trouble, be arrested and lose his job.