Hollister
– Days after hiring a new deputy prosecutor, District Attorney
John Sarsfield announced that he plans to throw more of his
office’s dwindling resources to prosecute the Los Valientes civil
case.
Hollister – Days after hiring a new deputy prosecutor, District Attorney John Sarsfield announced that he plans to throw more of his office’s dwindling resources to prosecute the Los Valientes civil case.
On Monday, Sarsfield announced that deputy district attorney Candice Hooper, who is vying for his job as San Benito County District Attorney, will be assigned to prosecute the controversial case. Hooper will be working with outside attorney Nancy Battel during the discovery phase of the case. While some see the move as an election-year ploy designed to shield Sarsfield from criticism regarding the costly case, the prosecutor said the arrangement was prudent. He said he was not trying to distance himself from the case.
“We can do more with more people on the case,” he said Tuesday. “This is an extremely important case. The Los Valientes target government officials and they use threats, blackmail and intimidation. They are a direct threat to government and democracy.”
Sarsfield brought the suit against Los Valientes and its attorney Mike Pekin in 2004 alleging they violated the civil rights of eight elected officials and local business owners through extortion and by filing false lawsuits. Los Valientes is an anonymous group that has been described as both a group of citizens fighting corruption and a criminal street gang.
Local business owner and alleged Los Valientes member Ignacio Velazquez called the move “pure politics.”
“Everything Mr. Sarsfield does is designed to benefit himself,” he said. “He wants (Hooper) to take the heat for his mistakes.”
A summary report of a county investigation into the district attorney’s office as part of a 2004 sexual harassment suit sustained allegations that Sarsfield’s decision to demote Hooper from handling felonies to misdemeanors two years prior was “politically motivated.” The report said the action was retaliation against perceived “threats to his administration.”
Hooper declined to comment on the assignment, but said she would “follow the direction I was given by my boss.” However, an editorial in the Pinnacle newspaper last Sunday stated, that if elected, Hooper would “pass the civil portion of (the Los Valientes case) to the office where it belongs, that of the county counsel.” Hooper declined to comment on the editorial when interviewed by the Free Lance Tuesday.
During the last two years, Sarsfield’s prosecution of the Los Valientes civil rights case has divided the community and drawn fire from elected officials. Earlier this year, Sarsfield overshot his services and supplies budget by $91,000 paying Battel more than $115,000 to work on the case. Two weeks later, the Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to state publicly that it had “no confidence” in Sarsfield’s ability to perform the duties of his office. His budgeting of resources in the civil case was cited by several supervisors as a catalyst for the “no confidence” vote. Earlier this year, Sarsfield sued the county for allegedly attempting to hold up his prosecution of the anonymous group by implementing line-item budget controls. A judge awarded the district attorney a temporary restraining order prohibiting the county from employing the budget control measures. Supervisors plan to create a countywide policy that gives them line-item budget control in every department.
Supervisor Pat Loe said she hopes Hooper’s assignment to the case signals an end to the district attorney’s employment of high-priced outside attorneys.
“Handling this case in-house would definitely be more cost effective and could save the taxpayers money by cutting outside attorney fees,” she said.
Supervisor Reb Monaco declined to comment on Sarsfield’s decision to assign Hooper to the case. Sarsfield plans to depose Monaco claiming the supervisor has knowledge of or is close to Los Valientes members.
“I don’t want to comment. Every time I say something I get blasted by (Sarsfield),” he said. “But I am concerned about how he uses resources on that case.”
Sarsfield has publicly accused nearly all those who have spoken in opposition to the Los Valientes prosecution of being members or affiliates of the group.
Coming on the heels of Sarsfield’s decision to hire an additional deputy district attorney, Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz called the move “another example of Mr. Sarsfield mismanagement of financial tools.” De La Cruz, who Sarsfield has alleged is a member of the anonymous group, said the case should have been handled in-house from the beginning in 2004.
Pekin said he didn’t care who prosecuted the case.
“It’s like changing the seating arrangements on the Titanic,” he said. “It doesn’t matter, the whole ship is going down.”
Sarsfield’s suit against Pekin and Los Valientes is still pending trial. Hooper will make her first appearance on behalf of the district attorney during a hearing in the civil case today.
Brett Rowland covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or br******@***********ws.com.
