Hollister
– A judge removed San Benito County District Attorney John
Sarsfield from the prosecution of his controversial lawsuit against
the anonymous group Los Valientes on Wednesday.
Hollister – A judge removed San Benito County District Attorney John Sarsfield from the prosecution of his controversial lawsuit against the anonymous group Los Valientes on Wednesday.
Sarsfield had been prosecuting the anonymous group, its attorney, Mike Pekin, and his law firm for nearly two years. He filed suit against the group and Pekin in 2004, alleging they violated the civil rights of eight elected officials and local business owners through extortion and by filing false lawsuits.
Pekin had asked the court several times to remove Sarsfield from the case for discriminatory prosecution, but was never granted relief. After Sarsfield lost a re-election bid to his deputy district attorney, Candice Hooper, in June, Pekin filed another recusal motion, this time saying he and Los Valientes wouldn’t be able to get a fair trial because the prosecutor had accepted political contributions from associates of two people involved in the case.
San Benito County Superior Court Judge Harry Tobias ordered the prosecutor to be recused from the case Wednesday during a hearing.
“I have to question whether this matter would have proceeded as it did if Mr. Sarsfield wasn’t the district attorney,” Tobias said during the hearing. “But this doesn’t mean that the case is dismissed.”
Tobias said that although Sarsfield has been removed from the case, the pending lawsuit against Pekin and Los Valientes can still proceed.
“The case is to be turned over to the Attorney General’s Office and they will pick up right where (Sarsfield) left off,” Tobias said.
The judge said his ruling should not be seen as supportive of Pekin’s conduct.
In his recusal motion, Pekin alleged that Sarsfield could not continue to represent the state and the people of California because the prosecutor claimed to be a victim of Los Valientes, accepted political donations from associates of two victims and was acting on personal motives in his prosecutorial efforts.
Pekin said the recusal was a victory.
“Mr. Sarsfield had one year and 10 months to prove his fairness in office regarding this case,” Pekin said after the hearing. “What he earned was a recusal.”
Pekin said having Sarsfield removed from the case would allow him to proceed in defending himself, Los Valientes and his law firm from the allegations of misconduct with a more “reasonable” prosecutor.
Sarsfield said he was glad to be able to end his office’s involvement in the case, which has cost more than $100,000. Sarsfield had asked the Attorney General’s Office for help in prosecuting the case several times during the last year. The requests were never granted.
“Mr. Pekin and his associates will rue the day they had me removed,” Sarsfield said Wednesday. “The Attorney General’s Office is very aggressive and it will rigorously pursue this case.”
Sarsfield said the ruling was a “Pyrrhic victory” for Pekin, but said he wouldn’t challenging the ruling.
One of the donations in question, according to Pekin’s motion, was submitted by the law firm Berry and Berry of Oakland. The firm had represented former San Benito County Planning Director Rob Mendiola, a named victim in Sarsfield’s lawsuit against Pekin and Los Valientes. Sarsfield filed the suit in 2004, a year after Pekin, on behalf of Los Valientes, sued San Benito County alleging corruption. Mendiola and former San Benito County Supervisor Richard Scagliotti were the prime targets of the suit.
Sarsfield had documented the $1,000 donation on his campaign finance forms prior to the June primary election and denied that it had any influence on his decision to continue prosecuting the case.
Sarsfield also reported the second donation in question, but denied authorizing the expenditure or being influenced by it. Pekin alleged that a full-page newspaper advertisement attacking one of Sarsfield’s opponents in the race for district attorney printed in the Pinnacle newspaper days before the primary election should be considered a campaign contribution. The ad was placed by Sarsfield campaign worker Brian Conroy, without authorization from the prosecutor. On campaign finance documents, Sarsfield stated that the $1,000 advertisement was paid for by Scagliotti. Both Mendiola and Scagliotti stood to gain from Sarsfield’s prosecution of Los Valientes. As victims in the suit, both could have been awarded up to $25,000 in damages if the prosecutor was able to prove Pekin and Los Valientes violated their civil rights.
Brett Rowland covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
