Jaime De La Cruz’s campaign adviser Ignacio Velazquez sued The
Pinnacle Tuesday claiming the newspaper published false, libelous
statements in its coverage of a criminal grand jury’s canceled
probe into the District 5 supervisor’s election.
Jaime De La Cruz’s campaign adviser Ignacio Velazquez sued The Pinnacle Tuesday claiming the newspaper published false, libelous statements in its coverage of a criminal grand jury’s canceled probe into the District 5 supervisor’s election.
The lawsuit stems from the May 27 edition of The Pinnacle. The newspaper reported that a judge tossed out a court motion Velazquez filed May 24 to have District Attorney John Sarsfield removed from handling the probe. The publication reported that Judge Harry Tobias ruled the motion lacked merit and that it was an “unsubstantiated affidavit.”
Tobias did not rule on the motion. Instead, Velazquez’s lawyer Mike Pekin and a lawyer representing Sarsfield agreed to sign a court stipulation to have embarrassing documents sealed – if the DA recused himself, according to the stipulation. Tobias signed the stipulation June 4.
Velazquez, who owns the Vault restaurant, believes the newspaper damaged his reputation. He is seeking unspecified damages.
“They’ve written stories they knew were false,” Velazquez said. “They’ve had the chance to correct those stories and they’ve chosen not to.”
Pinnacle Publisher Tracie Cone didn’t immediately return a phone call. The newspaper’s attorney John Picone declined to comment.
It may be a tough case to win. Libel cases are difficult to prove in California, said California Newspaper Publishers Association lawyer Jim Ewert.
“It has to be such an egregious statement to prevail,” he said.
But Velazquez and Pekin said this libel suit won’t be difficult to win. They both insisted the newspaper maliciously printed wrong information.
