Yolo Cops Run Wild-Yolo county Sheriff's Lock Up Court House To Pack Hearing

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/1037923.html

Yolo probe finds deputies erred
By Hudson Sangree - hsangree [at] sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, June 25, 2008


After an internal investigation, Yolo Superior Court officials found Tuesday that sheriff's deputies erred when they kept the doors to a Woodland court building locked during last week's arraignment of the man accused of killing a fellow officer.

The deputies said they had ordered the doors be kept locked while the family of slain Deputy Jose Antonio Diaz entered through a side door, away from the media. But the doors weren't unlocked until after the hearing was over.

Interviewed by court staff, the deputies "stated that they had intended to open the door but 'just got caught up in the confusion' of the situation and 'just plain forgot,' " according to the court's report of its investigation.


The unnamed deputies also committed an error when they allowed dozens of officers to enter through side entrances, selectively filling the small courtroom, investigators found.

The preferential treatment ignored Commissioner Janene Beronio's order to seat public spectators on a first-come, first-serve basis.

"The evidence supports the fact that no seats were available in the courtroom because sheriff department deputies entered the courtroom early and did not wait in the same line as the public," the five-page report concluded.

The result: As Marco Antonio Topete, 35, of Arbuckle was formally charged with murdering the deputy, members of Topete's family, the public and media were kept outside during what should have been an open hearing. The only ones to witness the event were law-enforcement officers and the victim's family.

"These failures by the Sheriff's Office are not acceptable to the court," Presiding Judge David Rosenberg said in a written statement.

In an interview with The Bee, Rosenberg said he lacked authority to take action against the deputies involved. The court contracts with the Sheriff's Department to provide security and pays them for the service, he said.

"They're not my employees," he said. "The ball is in the sheriff's court right now.

"I do believe the sheriff will take the appropriate action. Ed Prieto's a decent man and takes his job seriously. I trust he will do the right thing."

Prieto repeated Tuesday that the closure of the hearing was an honest mistake and he has no intention of punishing or reassigning the courthouse deputies responsible.

He said he would make sure that, from now on, access to the court was open and fair.

"We're going to make sure the doors are always unlocked and that anybody who walks in is going to walk in in the same fashion as anyone else," he said. "We're just going to make sure everyone comes in through the front door."

Prieto said he and many in his department were under tremendous strain from the killing of Diaz, a well-liked co-worker, after a chase near Dunnigan the night of June 15.

"If it was your brother, your sister, your mother who was murdered, you'd want to be in that courtroom," Prieto said. "Officers are no different. They wanted to be there to see justice served."

Prieto, a 41-year veteran of law enforcement, said he had hardly slept in the days since Diaz's slaying.

"These are extraordinarily emotional days for us," he said. "I don't think people understand the emotional trauma officers go through when an officer is shot and killed. If they did, I think they'd be more understanding."

Prieto said the courthouse incident had detracted from the focus on Diaz and his family.

A memorial service for Diaz is scheduled for Friday at the University of California, Davis.

The arraignment of Topete, who did not enter a plea, will continue Friday morning. Asked if the charges against Topete would be read again in open court, Rosenberg said he would discuss that and other matters with lawyers Friday.

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Call The Bee's Hudson Sangree, (916) 321-1191.