District Attorney John Sarsfield promised to unmask the
identities of the anonymous group Los Valientes by mid-July after
his office secured a court judgment Thursday allowing him to go
forward with a civil rights lawsuit against the group.
Hollister – District Attorney John Sarsfield promised to unmask the identities of the anonymous group Los Valientes by mid-July after his office secured a court judgment Thursday allowing him to go forward with a civil rights lawsuit against the group.
The lawsuit alleges the members of Los Valientes have waged a campaign of intimidation and harassment against private citizens and governmental officials. Sarsfield is suing the members of the group, who along with Salinas-based attorney Michael Pekin filed a lawsuit against San Benito County and former Supervisor Richard Scagliotti alleging governmental corruption, for an estimated $500,000 in damages they have allegedly inflicted on members of the community. If he prevails in the suit and the members are ordered to pay up, Sarsfield said the money will go into county coffers.
“We have alleged they’ve committed civil rights violations and now county taxpayers are entitled for relief,” Sarsfield said. He believes he will discover the identities during the discovery process when the case goes to court next month.
Sarsfield is suing the group for filing lawsuits against governmental entities without proper investigation, and filing false suits against public officials and private citizens with the intent of profiting financially. The victims named in the suit include Scagliotti, San Benito Tire owner Bob Cain, former Planning Department Director Rob Mendiola, Supervisor Pat Loe and former Supervisors Ruth Kesler and Bob Cruz. Each has been singled out for alleged wrongdoing in the Los Valientes lawsuit.
Sarsfield filed the civil rights suit last December, and it has been slowly weaving its way through the legal system. His office secured a default judgment Thursday, which a judge grants if the defendants in a suit don’t respond to a complaint within a specified amount of time.
But with the suit being out of sight for several months, for Kesler, at least, it’s been out of mind as well. She said Thursday she doesn’t even care who Los Valientes are and thought the suit against the group was dropped months ago.
“I never did (care). Sometimes I wonder if it’s anybody at all,” she said. “I haven’t even given it a thought, I’m doing too many other things.”
Pekin also has been busy doing other things since the suit was filed six months ago, like defending himself against five felony counts a criminal grand jury indicted him with in February which a judge dismissed outright on Monday. But he said Sarsfield’s suit is pointless because the group doesn’t exist anymore.
“There’s never been anything more than a consciousness among citizens to do something about corruption,” he said. “Sarsfield is suing a civic call to responsibility.”
And Pekin believes no judge will grant a court order making members of the group come forward with their identities.
“If I had to wager, I would put $100 on the courthouse steps,” Pekin said. “(A judge) has already said I don’t have to disclose the identities of the Valientes. It’s difficult for me to give this topic weight, and why should I be more serious than that?”
Pekin said Sarsfield’s suit flies in the face of the United States Constitution, which states that people have the right to petition the government anonymously if they believe it has committed some type of wrongdoing.
“They have no right to know the names of these people – everybody can really see that all you’re trying to do is punish them,” Pekin said. “The bottom line is that Sarsfield is using tactics that are not appropriate in this democracy. He won’t get to square one. How do you intend to deal with the United States Constitution, somehow, sooner or later getting to Hollister?”
But Sarsfield is confident he will be victorious and gives no merit to anything Pekin has to say. However, before the case goes to the discovery phase, Special Deputy District Attorney Roy Hubert, who is prosecuting the case, will go before a judge to “prove up” the monetary damages the group have allegedly inflicted on members of the community.
Hubert said the $500,000 figure is an estimate, and a judge would determine the final amount based on the violations. A court date has yet to be set.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
