Witnesses in a criminal grand jury probe of the District 5
supervisor’s race were thrown into confusion Friday when first they
were told the June 1-3 proceedings were canceled
– then, just hours later, that they were back on.
Witnesses in a criminal grand jury probe of the District 5 supervisor’s race were thrown into confusion Friday when first they were told the June 1-3 proceedings were canceled – then, just hours later, that they were back on.
Supervisor-elect Jaime De La Cruz said he was called Friday at 11:20 a.m. and told he didn’t have to appear June 1. A second call came at 3:30 p.m. from District Attorney John Sarsfield’s office.
“They said it was a clerical error, and that they apologize, that it was wrong and that I did have to show up after all,” said De La Cruz, who is facing potential felony charges for alleged Elections Code violations during his campaign.
Grand jury witness Louis Sumaya, a De La Cruz supporter, said he was first called at 11:45 a.m. and told the proceedings were called off, he said. He was called back at 1:50 p.m. and told to appear June 1 as previously scheduled.
The confusion came because Sarsfield canceled the grand jury probe, after reaching a deal with De La Cruz’s lawyer on Thursday afternoon. But Sarsfield on Friday changed his mind and reinstated the grand jury investigation and claimed he was extorted.
An hour before the second call to Sumaya, Sarsfield expressed a commitment to canceling the grand jury proceedings in an interview with the Free Lance. At the time, he didn’t go into details, and only said he could no longer oversee the investigation because his office was a victim of a crime.
“Things have happened now that are much bigger than the election,” Sarsfield said in that interview. He later acknowledged he was referring to a claim that De La Cruz’ lawyer Mike Pekin extorted him.
Sarsfield agreed to cancel the grand jury, and in return, Pekin agreed to not divulge an alleged sexual affair between the district attorney and his office manager.
But when Sarsfield reversed the cancellation, the De La Cruz camp filed court documents today requesting his disqualification, claiming the alleged affair compromises his objectivity.
