Eastern District of California Blog

Sac Bee highlights 50-year history of EDCA district court

The Sac Bee ran a piece by retired reporter Denny Walsh in its Christmas Day paper on the 50-year history of the Eastern District.  Here's the lede describing the role of our federal courts: 

"No segment of society has more impact on the quality of our lives than the federal courts. They are the guardians of the rights guaranteed us by the U.S. Constitution."

Words worth remembering as we head into 2017.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/california-forum/article122297874.html#storylink=cpy

 

Gov. Brown Appoints Scott Tedmon to Sacramento Superior Court Bench

Governor Jerry Brown has appointed Sacramento criminal defense attorney (and my good friend) Scott Tedmon to the Sacramento Superior Court bench.  Congratulations, Scott!  Here's the Press Release.

No Christmas Clemency for EDCA Pot Pair

Today's Sacramento Bee reports that Luke Scarmazzo and Ricardo Montes have sought clemency from President Obama to reduce their federal marijuana trafficking sentences of 262 and 240 months, respectively.  The story says they opened Modesto's first medical marijuana dispensary in 2004.  But no luck yet for the pair as I didn't see their names on today's White House's list of the 173 persons granted sentence commutations and 78 pardoned inmates.  In fact, Dolly Ann Chamberlain is the only EDCA defendant on the list.  She received a pardon after being convicted of conversion of government money and receiving a probation sentence in 2002.  But there is still time for those waiting as the White House said it expects there will be more clemency grants before Obama leaves office. 

On a somewhat related note, according to Politico, Newt Gingrich has suggested that President-Elect Trump should consider prospectively pardoning his family members for all the crimes they may commit while Trump is in office:

 “In the case of the president, he has a broad ability to organize the White House the way he wants to. He also has, frankly, the power of the pardon,” Gingrich said. “It’s a totally open power. He could simply say, ‘Look, I want them to be my advisers. I pardon them if anyone finds them to have behaved against the rules. Period. Technically, under the Constitution, he has that level of authority.”

In other words, the rule of law doesn't apply to Trump and his family. 

 

Denny Walsh, a True Muckraker

Last month, Denny Walsh retired from the Sacramento Bee after over 55 years in the news business and 25 years covering the Eastern District of California federal court.  Denny, a former Marine, graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia's School of Journalism.  In 1969, while with the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Denny and Al Delugach won the Pultizer Prize for their three year project exposing corruption within the St. Louis Steamfitters Union, Local 562.  After leaving the Globe-Democrat in 1968, Denny worked for Life, Time, and the New York Times before the Sacramento Bee.

At Life, he was sued 52 times, prevailing every time.  Time magazine once called him the most sued reporter in America.  At the Sacramento Bee, Denny once had nine lawsuits pending against him, including one involving his investigation into the finances of former U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt of Nevada.  Denny won each time.  In 1991, when the Bee found him to be a "disruptive presence," he was banished to cover the Sacramento federal courthouse.  He did it with gusto for the next 25 years. 

His well-attended retirement ceremony was held November 10 in the Anthony M. Kennedy Learning Center of the Sacramento federal courthouse.  While Judge Shubb spoke and AFD Tim Zindel gave a fitting musical tribute of Merle Haggard's classic Footlights, Denny's closing speech was the highlight.  I obtained a copy of his remarks, available here.  Denny reminisces about various EDCA characters and a few notable cases, including the Buck Garrett trial and Woody Harrelson's testimony during the B.E. Smith trial.

I've known Denny since he covered the Unabomber case.  One time a few years ago, Denny called me about a federal marijuana misdemeanor case.  The case was going back for resentencing after a Ninth Circuit reversal.   (I didn't want the publicity for my client's sake, but I knew I couldn't stop him once he caught wind of it.)  When I asked him how he learned of the case, Denny told me that he read all EDCA electronic notices of court action.   Nothing got by him.

A true muckraker, in the best sense of the word.  In these times, we need more like him.  

Troy Stratos Sentenced to 262 Months In Multi-Million Dollar Fraud Case

Judge Nunley sentenced defendant Troy Stratos to 262 months in his fraud case.  Here's the Sacramento Bee pre-sentencing and post-sentencing articles, including Nicole Murphy's video interview about the sentencing.

EDCA Indictment Charges 75-Year Old Man with Killing Two at Sea in 1978; No Death Penalty Sought

A federal judge announced a double murder indictment Thursday against a 75-year-old former Sacramento resident, 38 years after the hog-tied bodies of two British tourists were found following a boating excursion from Belize.

Silas Duane Boston, who was arrested last week in the rural town of Paradise, was charged with two counts of first degree maritime murder in the killing of Christopher Farmer and his girlfriend, Peta Frampton. The tourists from Cheshire, England, recent graduates of medical and law schools who were both in their mid-20s, had taken an excursion on a boat that Boston was operating in Belize, earning money by taking tourists on scuba diving or snorkling expeditions.

 

Boston was brought into the courtroom Thursday in a wheelchair and fitted with audio headphones for the proceedings. He did not speak. His defense attorney, Douglas Beevers, said his client, who was living in a convalescent home when he was arrested, suffers from arthritis and has difficulty hearing.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article119772153.html#storylink=cpy

Sac Bee, 12/8/16

Fresno Jury Finds Man Guilty of Hate Crime

A U.S. Attorney Press Release reports that yesterday a Fresno federal court jury found a man guilty of a hate crime after a 5-day trial for firing a shotgun while yelling racists slurs at a Latino man.  Acting U.S. Attorney Phil Talbert stated:  "Hate crimes like this have profound effects not only on the victims, but on those in the victims' communities, making them feel vulnerable and unsafe."  Words of wisdom that might fall on deaf ears in the incoming administration, given Trump's failure to repudiate hate crimes in his name and AG nominee Jeff Sessions', uh, checkered history on protecting civil rights.

Last Schweder Marijuana Cultivation Case Defendant Sentenced to Time Served

Last week, the last remaining defendant in the Schweder marijuana cultivation case before Judge Mueller was sentenced to time served, that is, the few days he had already served in custody before he bailed out in 2011.  The defendants were sentenced from a high of 162 months (Bryan Schweder) to time served.  Schweder is the only defendant to appeal.  The government's motion to dismiss his appeal, No. 16-10272, because of an appeal waiver in his plea agreement is pending before the Ninth Circuit.

For those of you who've complained about the Obama administration's treatment of marijuana, it may get far worse.  President-Elect Trump's nominee for Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, has been a staunch foe of marijuana legalization and reportedly once said he was ok with the KKK until he learned they smoked pot.  The NY Times notes that under Sessions' leadership the Department of Justice could sue California to stop implementation of recently passed Prop 64, and I'd add the feds' policy of not seeking mandatory-minimum sentences in all drug cases could very well be coming to an end. 

Yes, I'm back.