Despite a motion to dismiss District 5 Supervisor Jaime De La
Cruz’s $5 million civil rights lawsuit against San Benito County,
De La Cruz insists a public statement by the current Board of
Supervisors denouncing the former board could make the entire thing
disappear.
Hollister – Despite a motion to dismiss District 5 Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz’s $5 million civil rights lawsuit against San Benito County, De La Cruz insists a public statement by the current Board of Supervisors denouncing the former board could make the entire thing disappear.
John Picone, the outside attorney representing the county in the suit, filed a motion in Federal Court in San Jose Friday to dismiss the suit entirely. Picone said motions to dismiss are uphill battles and judges rarely grant them outright. But Picone believes this suit, which hinges on De La Cruz proving the board retaliated against him because of his race, is totally without merit. De La Cruz beat former Supervisor Bob Cruz by 10 votes in last March’s primary election, and Picone said proving the board discriminated against a Latino to preserve the seat for another Latino would be practically impossible.
While he would like to settle the suit as soon as possible, he doesn’t see a solution being agreed upon anytime soon by the way negotiations have been going, he said.
“I want this to be settled. This is not good for the county,” Picone said. “At the end of the day, do I think the county would prevail? Yes, I do. But it would incur a lot of money – money better spent elsewhere. The best result would be to have Mr. De La Cruz come to grips that the board didn’t hurt him. He is the sitting supervisor.”
But De La Cruz believes the board injured his reputation and wants the current board to issue a statement denouncing certain actions of the former board.
De La Cruz claimed that former board members conspired to put him in jail regarding the District 5 race – which ended with District Attorney John Sarsfield charging De La Cruz with four felony counts and later dismissing them. De La Cruz eventually pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor charge of obstructing a police officer and was required to pay a fine and perform community service.
The suit, filed last December by De La Cruz and his campaign adviser in the District 5 Supervisor race, Ignacio Velazquez, alleged the former board conspired to put De La Cruz in jail. It specifically alleged that former Supervisor Ruth Kesler directed racial epithets at De La Cruz – calling him “boy” and a “criminal.” Kesler has denied making the comments.
De La Cruz’s attorney, Bill Marder, said the purpose of the suit was to educate the public to the alleged corrupt acts of former board members.
“I don’t know if the lawsuit is as productive as it used to be. Everything we’ve seen with the new board has been great,” Marder said. “But Jaime doesn’t want there to be some false impression (by the public) that he did something wrong. The new board making a statement that his name is cleared would solve the problem.”
Supervisor Anthony Botelho said the lawsuit was discussed at length in closed session Tuesday, and that he couldn’t comment as much as he would like because of the pending litigation.
However, he said the board proposed a resolution several weeks ago but De La Cruz turned it down.
“We offered to make a statement expressing that he is the legitimate holder of the District 5 Supervisor seat. That was on the table weeks ago, and now it’s a little more complex than that,” Botelho said. “This board cannot apologize for anything we weren’t involved in.”
A judge will hear Picone’s motion for dismissal on April 18.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
