In an attempt to clear his name in the controversy surrounding
the county’s most divisive legal battle, Supervisor candidate
Richard Place filed a legal statement Monday demanding the district
attorney apologize for calling him the leader of the Los Valientes,
which he says has harmed his reputation and business.
Hollister – In an attempt to clear his name in the controversy surrounding the county’s most divisive legal battle, Supervisor candidate Richard Place filed a legal statement Monday demanding the district attorney apologize for calling him the leader of the Los Valientes, which he says has harmed his reputation and business.
District Attorney John Sarsfield has told several news outlets that Place is the leader of the Los Valientes, the anonymous group that has been described as both a criminal street gang and a group of citizens fighting corruption. His allegations are based, in part, on a letter Place sent to the FBI in 2001 alleging that former Supervisor Richard Scagliotti, who later became a target of the Los Valientes case, used his position on the Board of Supervisors to profit in a land deal.
Sarsfield’s public accusation prompted Place to file a declaration demanding an apology from the district attorney and a restraining order that would prevent the prosecutor from “using fraudulent tactics and means” to dissuade the former supervisor from testifying in the Monteon v. Scagliotti corruption case. In the declaration, Place denied being a member of Los Valientes under penalty of perjury.
“I was being convicted in the paper and this is the best way to clear my name of any allegations,” Place said. “(Sarsfield) publicly condemned me, so why shouldn’t he be forced to publicly clear my name? It just makes sense.”
Los Valientes attorney Mike Pekin, who filed the declaration for Place, said Sarsfield was abusing his position as the county’s top prosecutor by making public allegations about Place without filing formal charges against him. Pekin said he believes Sarsfield is attempting to dissuade Place from testifying the Monteon case, in which he says Place is a key witness.
“The question is would what happened to Mr. Place dissuade a reasonable person from testifying?” Pekin said. “And if so, how would Mr. Sarsfield justify tampering with a witness?”
In the declaration, Place demanded that Sarsfield send press releases to all news outlets in Monterey, Merced, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties stating that he has been determined to have acted in an “entirely legal and commendable manner.” Place is also asking that Sarsfield commend him “on my good citizenship” for sending the letter to the FBI.
Sarsfield said he isn’t planning to commend to Place.
“Mr. Place has some serious legal issues and he’s getting some real bad legal advice,” he said. “It’d be a joke if it wasn’t so serious. Making false reports to the FBI is a serious offense.”
The FBI referred the matter in Place’s letter to the Fair Political Practices Committee, which has not publicly taken any action, according to Place.
Place claims that Sarsfield damaged his professional reputation as both a political candidate and an insurance salesman by making the allegations public. Place said he never imagined that his 2001 letter to the FBI would stir up so much controversy.
“If I had that good of an imagination, I’d be writing novels,” he said. “It’s absurd; the district attorney is abusing his sacred position. If I had known this was going to happen, I would have never run for office.”
Sarsfield called the declaration a “fascist tactic” and said Place was confused about free speech rights. Sarsfield believes Place is the leader of the Los Valientes based on the testimony of Pekin’s former investigator Dave Henderson. Although Henderson said he didn’t know who was involved in the group, he said he met with Place during his investigation into corruption allegations in the Scagliotti case.
“Mr. Place started all of this out of some warped, petty attempt to discredit Scagliotti,” Sarsfield said. “He just doesn’t like the fact that he’s been caught. He should be a man and stand up for what he believes in, and that goes for the rest of the Los Valientes, too.”
In the declaration, Pekin cites several legal precedents protecting citizens who report crimes to the government, prohibiting prosecutors from using prejudicial rhetoric that could jeopardize a pending legal case and prohibiting personal attacks on opposing counsel.
Sarsfield said Place was not an opposing counsel or a defendant in any pending litigation.
The Los Valientes case started in 2003 when defense attorney Mike Pekin and the anonymous group filed a lawsuit against Scagliotti claiming that he used his position on the Board of Supervisors to profit financially. Los Valientes later dropped out of the suit and county resident Juan Monteon took the role of plaintiff. Among other claims, the suit contends that Scagliotti used his position to get a rapid rezoning of the Churchill Nut Plant and gain a $1.2 million profit from its sale.
Sarsfield is suing the Pekin for allegedly violating the civil rights of eight elected officials and business owners through extortion and by filing false lawsuits. Although Sarsfield believes Place is the leader of the anonymous group, he has never been named as a defendant in the case.
Superior Court Judge Alan Hedegard will look at Place’s declaration on May 19, the date of the next scheduled hearing in the Monteon case.
Brett Rowland covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
