Los Valientes lawyer to judge: ‘You’re not going to know who my
Negroes are!’
The anonymous cabal known as
”
Los Valientes
”
has cost the San Benito County taxpayers nearly $1 million in
legal fees to defend against the group’s lawsuit and public
allegations of mass corruption.
The stunning news was revealed by attorney Nancy Battel, outside
legal counsel for the county, who in a judgment hearing this week
requested that Judge Harry Tobias penalize Los Valientes at least
$600,000 for the damage they’ve caused to the reputations of
various citizens and former elected county officials since the
group first emerged in late 2003.
Los Valientes lawyer to judge: ‘You’re not going to know who my Negroes are!’
The anonymous cabal known as “Los Valientes” has cost the San Benito County taxpayers nearly $1 million in legal fees to defend against the group’s lawsuit and public allegations of mass corruption.
The stunning news was revealed by attorney Nancy Battel, outside legal counsel for the county, who in a judgment hearing this week requested that Judge Harry Tobias penalize Los Valientes at least $600,000 for the damage they’ve caused to the reputations of various citizens and former elected county officials since the group first emerged in late 2003.
“I think it is imperative that the court realize the monies paid out because of the actions of Los Valientes,” Battel said to Tobias. “[The costs] total close to $1 million. This needs to stop, your honor.”
Including damages and court costs, the total comes to about $936,000. Armed with charts depicting the streams of taxpayer money the county poured into its defense in the Los Valientes lawsuit, Battel’s statement instantly piqued the attention of the judge and attending audience in a hearing that Los Valientes attorney Michael Pekin quickly turned into a spectacle.
District Attorney John Sarsfield filed the civil action in December 2004 against Pekin and his law practice based in Salinas for unfair business practices. In the same suit, Sarsfield filed against Pekin’s former clients, Los Valientes, for threatening, intimidating and attempting to coerce and extort from former county Supervisors Richard Scagliotti, Bob Cruz, Pat Loe and Ruth Kesler, as well as business owner Robert Cain, planning director Rob Mendiola, Waste Management Director Mandy Rose and former Pinnacle owner Tracie Cone.
Los Valientes, who in their original lawsuit against the county listed, themselves as “Pipila Guerrero and Benito Juarez” – pseudonyms – never responded to the complaint and did not present themselves in court. The D.A. eventually won a default judgment against them, which means they lost the case for failure to respond.
Indeed, the word “circus” was uttered repeatedly by a growing number of local spectators, some of whom seek damages from Los Valientes, as they gathered outside the courtroom in anticipation of the hearing shortly before it began Wednesday afternoon. Among the notables were Supervisor Loe, supervisorial candidate Cone, San Juan activist Rebecca McGovern and Cain, proprietor of San Benito Tire Inc.
They are all considered “injured parties” in this civil case against Los Valientes. Battel and District Attorney John Sarsfield are seeking $75,000 from the defendants for each injured party, who have become plaintiffs at this point. If made to pay, “Guerrero,” “Juarez” and Los Valientes as a third entity would pay $25,000 each to every injured party. The amount would come to $600,000, in total.
At one point in the hearing, Tobias asked Pekin if he agreed that by entering a judgment in the case, it would allow the plaintiffs to seek out the true identities of Los Valientes. Pekin began citing the same case law – NAACP v. Button or Murgia – that he has always cited since the D.A. began his investigation into the attorney’s anonymous clients.
“You’ve already argued that,” Tobias jumped in. “It doesn’t answer my question so don’t go there.”
Pekin went there anyway, and hollered, “You’re not going to know who my Negroes are!”
The spectators were astonished, if not bewildered.
Upon hearing about the county costs, Tobias said he wanted to study the matter further and rescheduled the hearing for 3 p.m. Jan. 18.
The county’s legal costs in this case are just one of the bizarre revelations that emerged this week. Days before the hearing, mining equipment salesman Dennis Madigan filed a request for a protective order to stop the “prove up” damages against Los Valientes. Madigan is known as a Pekin sympathizer, and is a former county planning commissioner who the former Board of Supervisors fired for attempting to improperly elicit citizen complaints in a newspaper ad against the planning department. He was appointed by Supervisor Reb Monaco, the only member of the board to vote against his firing.
Judge Tobias would have none of it, and apparently told Madigan not to bother to show up to the hearing. The sacked former commissioner was not present.
“I’ve decided I didn’t want to complicate things by having Mr. Madigan here,” Tobias said as the hearing kicked off.
Pekin adamantly protested, and began citing something in the Constitution. But Tobias cut him off, then surprised the audience when he added, “If Mr. Madigan wanted to do this, he could have acknowledged he is one of the Los Valientes. He had the opportunity to do so before this.”
After Pekin won a discovery motion several weeks ago, the D.A. was obligated to release depositions and interviews in the case that point to other possible members of Los Valientes. One of the interviews, conducted by the D.A.’s investigator, indicated that a “citizen informant” named “Thunder” stated that he was approached by Al Valles Jr. and asked if he wanted to join Los Valientes. Thunder replied, “No!”
Thunder also said, according to a report on the interview, that “Ignacio Velazquez and Jaime De La Cruz are ‘without a doubt’ members [of Los Valientes]. Scattini “is the center of the group’ and ‘he knows everything about everything.’ Additionally, Thunder feels that there are two separate groups working together if it suits their respective needs. Specifically, Ignacio and De La Cruz are probably in the political area while everyone else [is] in for the money (land.)”
Another document is a court transcript wherein Pekin admits that the Monteon case against the county, essentially identical to the Los Valientes suit, is funded by Los Valientes. He elaborated:
” … members of the community were too afraid to come forward themselves so they contributed tens of thousands of dollars to Dave Henderson, who was the investigator who prepared the two –” Pekin said in front of visiting Judge Kenneth Andreen, before the judge cut him off.
Aside from the statements made by mystery witness codenamed “Thunder,” there is still no pivotal confession that fingers the identities of Los Valientes. The documents released include a court deposition taken from Pekin and his attorney son Patrick Pekin by attorney Battel, who questioned the two on the identities of the group. Their answers read like a Marx Brothers screenplay, wherein father and son repeated their objections nonsensically and then suddenly chatter about their favorite movies – such as “The Godfather” and “A Civil Matter” – in the middle of the questioning.
But the damage Los Valientes has done to the careers of many public servants is quite tangible, according to those injured and the D.A. In preparation for the hearing, Sarsfield and Battel obtained declarations from each of the victims. Summarized, they are:
– Former Supervisor Richard Scagliotti: alleges Los Valientes conspired to file false accusations against him and members of his family to the Sheriff’s Department; accused him of a felony crime for receiving reimbursement from the county for a project known as Dunneville Estates. The reimbursement – for a drainage culvert – was specifically authorized by the state Attorney General.
– Robert Cain: alleges Los Valientes conspired to file false accusations of against him and his business (San Benito Tire Inc.) for fraud against the county in receiving a county vehicle maintenance contract. Cain was the lowest bidder, and says the accusations caused his business to suffer.
– Rob Mendiola: alleges Los Valientes disrupted his job as county planning director after they took action to file restraining orders against him, supposedly for protection for two building inspectors. One of the employees, Ken Speciale, later admitted during Grand Jury hearings that his affidavit, which accused Mendiola of favoritism, was “made up” by Pekin.
– Supervisor Pat Loe, former Supervisor Bob Cruz: allege Los Valientes accused them and the previous board of a Brown Act violation in relation to their support of Measure G. They claim this is false.
– Mandy Rose: alleges Los Valientes accused her of Brown Act violations in drafting Measure G, which she says is false; alleges Los Valientes accessed her personal banking records illegally; and that the group impugned her professional abilities in an effort to get her fired.
– Tracie Cone: alleges Los Valientes accused her of accepting a cash bribe to print anti-growth stories when she co-owned The Pinnacle, which she says is false.
– Former Supervisor Ruth Kesler: alleges Los Valientes extorted her by threatening to “go to the press” with felonious accusations of misconduct, conspiracy and favoritism in her capacity as a supervisor, and that they accused her of a Brown Act violation in relation to Measure G. All accusations are false, she states.
Sarsfield and Battel also are asking the court to order Pekin to refrain from filing any new actions with the State of California against San Benito County, its officers or employees, except with the prior approval of the court.
