Attorneys offered closing arguements this afternoon in the
misdemeanor jury trial of San Juan Bautista Mayor George Dias.
Attorneys offered closing arguements this afternoon in the misdemeanor jury trial of San Juan Bautista Mayor George Dias.
The jury deliberated for about 25 minutes before being sent home until tomorrow morning when their talks will resume.
San Benito County Deputy District Attorney Patrick Palacios told the jury not to be swayed by a range of testimony he claims is unrelated to the incident. Dias’ defense attorney Lawrence Biegel drew attention to what he called San Benito County sheriff’s Deputy Jason Leist’s negative attitude before and during the altercation.
Before closing arguments today, Dias’ father, George Dias Sr., spent the morning testifying about his involvement in the incident a year ago in which authorities say then-Councilman Dias assaulted Leist.
Dias was arrested April 14, 2007, after firefighters and sheriff’s deputies responded to a trailer fire on his property in San Juan Bautista. According to sheriff’s deputies, Dias refused to leave the area around his burning trailer and when Leist tried to arrest him for interfering with firefighters, he resisted. After a scuffle, deputies reported, both Leist and Dias fell into a thorny rose bush. Leist suffered cuts to his face from the thorns and received stitches in his ear and cheek after the incident.
In court today, Dias Sr. testified that he arrived at the scene after hearing news of the fire on a personal police scanner. He said when arrived, he was watching the fire from a road near the burning trailer when Leist told him to back up, which he did. Later, he testified, he and his son were watching the fire from the same area when Leist returned and told his son, “You gotta move or I’m gonna take your (expletive) to jail.”
He said his son asked the deputy “Why?” and that Leist replied, “I’m going to give you to three: One, two, three.”
“And he was on him,” the mayor’s father said in court.
He testified that Leist counted to three very quickly, then jumped on top of his son. He also testified that when a second deputy grabbed his son, he grabbed that deputy and tried to put him in a “headlock.”
Check back Thursday afternoon for coverage of the trial’s outcome.
