Eastern District of California Blog

Marc Keyser Anthrax Hoax Case Begins Tuesday

Other than two civil jury trials I saw on Judge Wanger's calendar for Tuesday, 9/1, the only other jury trial I'm aware of this week is the U.S. v. Marc Keyser"anthrax hoax" case before Judge Damrell in Sacramento, 15th Floor, Courtroom 2.  Motions in limine on Tuesday at 9 a.m. and jury selection at 10:30 a.m.  My trial guesstimate is 2-3 weeks.  AUSAs Ben Wagner and Jean Hobler for USA and AFDs Lauren Cusick and Lexi Negin for the defense.

Here's a smattering of some news and blog coverage to provide some flavor: care-mates.com, Seattle P-I, Huffington Post, and Sac Bee.

My favorite is Global Security Newswire.Org which notes that a Keyser writing refers to 16th century Protestant Reform leader Martin Luther, whom Keyser quotes: "I neither can nor will make any retraction, since it is neither safe nor honorable to act against conscience."

Former American Law Center Managers Plead Guilty To Conspiracy To Defraud IRS

The Sacramento Business Journal reports that three former non-attorney managers of the American Law Center pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud the IRS before Judge Karlton.  Sentencing set for November 10, 2009.

SEC Sues David Souza For Allegedly Defrauding Redding Church Members Through Ponzi Scheme

According to Bloomberg.com today,

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued a California man and his company for allegedly defrauding a church community by claiming his investment successes were an “obvious favor of God.”

David Souza, 53, described by the agency as a former truck driver and handyman, raised more than $1 million from 28 investors tied to a Redding-based church from August 2007 until April 2008 by promising an annual return of more than 150 percent, the SEC said today in a lawsuit filed at federal court in Sacramento. His firm, D.A. Souza Investments, LLC, also was named as a defendant.

Souza allegedly told investors their money would be placed into pools to buy stocks or invest in projects such as a real estate development or an Oklahoma water-bottling plant. Souza never made investments and used the money to pay “fictitious high returns” and to cover his personal living expenses, the SEC said.

Ninth Circuit Sets Important New Requirements for Computer Searches

Although I don't have much to add to the already extensively blogged Ninth Circuit en banc opinion in United States v. Comprehensive Drug Testing, Inc., see, e.g., Fourth Amendment blog, Volokh Conspiracy, Ninth Circuit Blog and SDFL blog, it can't hurt re-emphasizing the revolutionary new requirements that U.S. Magistrate Judges have been instructed to follow in our circuit when the government seeks warrants or subpoenas to search computers:

Under the new guidelines for searches of electronic data, (1) magistrates should insist that the government waive reliance upon the plain view doctrine in digital evidence cases; (2) segregation and redaction must be done by either specialized personnel or an independent third party. There must be screening; (3) warrants and affidavits must disclose the risks of destruction of information; (4) the government's search protocol must be designed to uncover only information for which it has probable cause, and only that information may be examined by case agents; and (5) the government must destroy or, if lawful, return non-responsive data, keeping the magistrate informed.

On that note, have a great weekend!

Fed Jury Finds Solano County D.A. Retaliated Against Bail Bondsman for Newspaper Ad

Reporting on Toler v. Paulson, et al., No. 06-CV-735-LKK, The Recorder has a story on a jury verdict yesterday in favor of a bail bondsman who claimed that the Solano County D.A. and his chief investigator had unlawfully retaliated against him for taking out an ad in a Fairfield newspaper criticizing the District attorney and his office.

Solano County, Calif., District Attorney David Paulson retaliated against a bail bondsman who slammed the prosecutor in a newspaper ad, a federal court jury decided Wednesday.

Paulson and his chief investigator, Al Garza, acted with malice when they sought a temporary restraining order against Joel Thomas "Tom" Toler and then unsuccessfully pursued charges that he violated that order, the eight-member jury found.

"It's a pretty significant victory for any federal jury to find a public official acted maliciously," said Toler's attorney, Matt Gonzalez of Gonzalez & Leigh in San Francisco.

The jury awarded Toler $72,000 in compensatory damages and $18,000 in punitive damages, Gonzalez said.

 

Former EDCA PO Acquitted On 1 Count; Jury Leans Heavily Toward Acquittal On Other 4 Counts

The Redding Record reports that a Shasta County jury today acquitted former EDCA Probation Officer Joseph Gama of one count of child molestation and hung on the remaining four counts with splits favoring acquittal of 9-3 (on two counts), 10-2, and 11-1.  Don't expect a retrial with those splits.

[POST-SCRIPT: The Judge has since dismissed all charges against Gama in "the interest of justice."  Redding Record, 10/6/09].

Feds Say 5,500 Square-Foot Fresno Home Built Via Identity Theft; Defense Claims Vindictive Prosecution From 2006 Acquittal

The Fresno Bee reports on the upcoming trial in U.S. v. Alfred Ford, which is set to start before Judge Wanger in Fresno next month:

For three years, Alfred Ford and his wife, Renatta Carter-Ford -- at the time, a federal court employee -- worked on the house, a sprawling 5,500 square-foot home on two acres in the upscale neighborhood. An iron fence stretches across the front of the property, with the letters 'A' and 'R' decorating the two entrance gates.

Federal authorities allege that Alfred Ford built the home using materials bought with stolen credit cards and labor provided by people who owed him drug money. He is in Fresno County Jail on multiple identity theft and wire fraud charges.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Fresno is trying to seize the property at 11880 East Harvard Ave. in a rural area near Bethel and Clinton avenues.

Carter-Ford not charged

The land is owned by Renatta Carter-Ford. After the charges were filed against Alfred Ford, she left her job as clerk in jury services at the federal courthouse in Fresno. Eastern District officials would only confirm that she is no longer employed with the court. Renatta Carter-Ford has not been charged with any crimes.

Gary Huss, the attorney representing Alfred Ford, said the charges are bogus, cooked up by federal law enforcement officials who were angry after Ford was acquitted in 2006 of drug dealing charges.

* * *

Huss, however, said none of the material authorities said was stolen was found in the house. He said an informant involved in the case is the thief and is trying to pin blame on Ford.

3 Men Charged With Poaching Deer In Yosemite

The Fresno Bee reports that three men were charged with poaching deer in Yosemite National Park. 

Ninth Circuit Remands EDCA Shackling Policy Case To Out-Of-District Judge

In U.S. v. Brandau, (download here), the Ninth Circuit, in light of possible changes to the EDCA's official policy of shackling defendants at their initial court appearances, took the highly-unusual step of remanding two consolidated appeals challenging the policy "to a district judge outside the Eastern District of California to conduct an evidentiary hearing regarding the present shackling practice at initial appearances and to determine in the first instance whether this consolidated case is now moot."  Slip Op. 11557, at 11561. The Court's opinion, authored by Judge Stephen Reinhardt, also noted that the judges of the Eastern District "may, at their discretion, decide to retain separate counsel to represent their interests at that proceedings, as the Assistant United States Attorney stated at oral argument that she does not represent the court.  Similarly, on remand, the Eastern District judges may wish to intervene in the proceedings, to file an amicus brief, or to decline to participate at all, as they see fit."  Slip op. 11557, at 11569.

Former Fresno AFD Robert Rainwater, now in private practice in Eugene, Oregon, argued the appeal for the defendants.

 

Proposed Amendments to EDCA Local Rules

The EDCA's website provides notice and an opportunity to comment on the proposed amendments to the EDCA local rules.  Comments, which are due September 21, 2009, may be submitted by email.  Although most amendments are fairly minor, technical changes, a proposed amendment to Appendix A's case assignment procedures would assign any criminal case arising out of a wiretap warrant to the judge who "was assigned" the wiretap in the first place.  I've already blogged about this procedure (which was previously in effect through a non-public, court memo), see my May 18, 2009 post, and have noted that it runs contrary to the Northern District's local rules.