The news was breaking so fast this past week, it was hard to
keep up
– judge orders abused women to return to Hollister where she is
murdered, district attorney and sheriff caught lying in Brady
standard Fiasco, two complaints are filed with the State Bar
against District Attorney John Sarsfield, Free Lance editorial
calls for Brady fiasco to be dropped and Robert
Orabuena gets his license back , etc., etc., etc.
The news was breaking so fast this past week, it was hard to keep up – judge orders abused women to return to Hollister where she is murdered, district attorney and sheriff caught lying in Brady standard Fiasco, two complaints are filed with the State Bar against District Attorney John Sarsfield, Free Lance editorial calls for Brady fiasco to be dropped and Robert Orabuena gets his license back , etc., etc., etc.
Before I start, I want to send my family’s deepest heartfelt condolences to Stephanie Rodriguez’s son, Lance, and her grieving family. We are so sorry for your tragic loss.
That being said, from what I’ve been told, it was just a matter of time before this type of tragedy occurred. Some half expected it to happen in the courtroom. Last week I said I wanted judges with spines. I was wrong. We need judges with spine, compassion and common sense. If the judge is in any way responsible for this tragedy, Stephanie’s family should not allow it to go unpunished.
If District Attorney John Sarsfield and Sheriff Curtis Hill are lying about how this Brady thing got started, what else are they lying about? Their motive maybe? There can be no doubt whose lying here after Robert Anderson or his spokesman from the Attorney General’s office finally talked to the local media. Wow! I seriously doubt the Attorney General’s office ever wants to ever hear from our district attorney or sheriff ever again. I don’t blame them – I don’t either.
I wonder if new Police Chief Miller has picked Capt. Bob Brooks as the department’s new spokesman. I hope not. Brooks commented that no one may ever know the motive for the murder of Stephanie Rodriguez. It seems to me everyone knows the motive except Bob Brooks. No wonder these guys can’t solve murders.
Here’s some information about a story that will soon be hitting the front page. Allegedly, some local pro-growth business people have hired an out of town investigator to do an investigation into local politics in the hopes that there are criminal charges filed. The group is allegedly made up of bankers, accountants, attorneys, realtors, future candidates and a title company.
The story is they have paid this Salinas private dick up to $20,000 for his services. From the sounds of it, the private dick has done more rumor-mongering and attempts at intimidation than investigating. The alleged purpose of the investigation is to smear the existing Board of Supervisors and affect the upcoming election; swaying the vote toward pro-growth candidates and against Measure G. The problem is he allegedly told private citizens (not elected officials) that he is doing a “background investigation” on them for no other reason than their names came up on the radar as knowing someone who knows someone. McCarthyism?
Like the Brady fiasco there is a common denominator – the sheriff and district attorney are allegedly involved. The sheriff and his office allegedly have freely provided information to the private dick.
As it turns out, John Sarsfield and the Salinas private dick worked together in the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office before the private dick retired. It is my understanding that the private dick has actually met with Sarsfield and gave him a copy of the report. I wonder what Sarsfield is doing with the report and if he has contacted the local group about the results of his latest witch hunt and whether he is going to file criminal charges.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Sarsfield takes the report to our less-than-grand jury. The way things are going, I would suggest that the present grand jury be disbanded and a new one installed by someone other than Judge Tobias and Sarsfield. As I recall, Santa Clara County had a similar problem in their grand jury, which led to lawsuits and near criminal charges against the jury members.
Personally, as the owner of a small business, growth would be good for me. But this is not about the money, this is about right and wrong. I don’t like dirty tricks and if some out-of-town private dick is trying to affect our elections on behalf of a few money-grubbing carpetbaggers, we voters need to know who is involved and why the district attorney and sheriff are allegedly involved. I want to know why they are condoning “background investigations” into private citizens. If this is true, “the group,” along with the private dick, the sheriff and the district attorney – should all be run out of business, politically tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail.
In closing, I received a note from a local admirer that suggested we voters put the sheriff, DA and Judge Tobias on the ballot fom removal from office. And during the campaign to get them out of office we would could call it “Total Recall.”
To quote myself from my letter to the editor (Aug. 25), “The record is clear – our local law enforcement and legal system doesn’t need to be looked into or fine-tuned, it needs a major overhaul. Not next week, not tomorrow, but NOW.”
Bruce Kiefert,
Hollister
