FEDERAL COURT: The federal judge overseeing the prosecution of five former San Diego pension system officials indicated yesterday that he would turn down another bid by defense lawyers to throw out the case.
District Judge Roger Benitez said at the end of a two-hour hearing that he was not convinced that the prosecution had misled the grand jury and misstated the law when seeking indictment against the pension board members.
The tentative decision does not mean the 3½-year-old case is any closer to a trial. In fact, a September trial date was formally wiped out yesterday and no new date set.
The U.S. Supreme Court is to take up appeals of two cases dealing with the core legal issue in this case – the federal honest-services law and how it can be used by prosecutors. Both sides agreed the outcome of those cases, which is not expected until next year, will determine the course of the pensions case.
In the meantime, Benitez said he was not convinced that prosecutors had given erroneous instructions to the grand jury that indicted the defendants – Lawrence Grissom, Cathy Lexin, Lori Chapin, Ron Saathoff and Theresa Webster.
While transcripts of the secret proceeding show some grand jurors may have made incorrect assumptions about the law or the evidence, Benitez said, “that is very different than saying the government misled or abused the grand jury process.” –G.M.
Ex-council candidate, lobby group are fined
SAN DIEGO: The city’s Ethics Commission has levied fines against a former council candidate and a lobbyist organization.
Lorena Gonzalez, who ran unsuccessfully in the 2005 special election to replace Councilman Michael Zucchet, and her campaign treasurer, Xavier Martinez, agreed to pay a $500 fine for failing to disclose payments to four vendors. A campaign audit by the commission revealed the discrepancy, and Martinez took responsibility and paid the fine.
The commission approved the settlement Thursday.
Gonzalez, now head of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, finished second out of 17 candidates for the seat won by Kevin Faulconer.
Community HousingWorks, a San Diego nonprofit that advocates for affordable housing, was fined $1,500 for failing to register as a lobbyist organization last year. The group also failed to file two required disclosure reports in a timely fashion. –C.G.
Apparent flu outbreak reported at county jails
County jail officials are working to contain an apparent flu outbreak that began in the South Bay Detention Facility and has possibly spread to the county’s six other jails.
So far one inmate has tested positive for the swine flu, the Sheriff’s Department announced yesterday. The results of several other tests are pending, said sheriff’s Commander John Ingrassia.
All county jails have suspended visiting hours until further notice. Authorities have identified about 400 inmates who may have had contact with the flu. They are being isolated in various housing units in the jails and given the anti-viral drug Tamiflu.
Some deputies have also fallen ill and were being tested.
The first two inmates fell ill early this week and tested positive for influenza A. They were quarantined.
Yesterday, further test results showed one of those inmates had swine flu.
Since then, at least 12 more inmates have reported flulike symptoms. –K.D.
Goldsmith OKs release of city workers’ photos
SAN DIEGO: San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith has ruled the city must release photographs of its employees upon request unless there is a specific and legitimate reason to withhold them, such as safety concerns for an undercover police officer.
Goldsmith made the ruling in a Thursday memo in response to The San Diego Union-Tribune’s June 2 request for the photos of a dozen employees whose salaries were scrutinized in a recent series on the city’s payroll.
The city previously had no policy on how to handle such requests. The ruling now sets a precedent.
The photographs are maintained by the city’s Personnel Department and can be seen on the ID badges that employees use to enter public buildings. Goldsmith said they are indeed public records and “there is no expectation of privacy in a person’s appearance.”
Goldsmith said the Personnel Department would have to review each photo on a case-by-case to see if there would be any reason not to release it. He then outlined what could prevent a photo’s release:
“The city must be able to demonstrate that disclosure would put an employee’s safety at risk, would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, or on the facts of a particular case the public interest served by nondisclosure of the photograph clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of the photograph.”
But, he cautioned, “Nondisclosure based on the public interest in safety of employees or efficacy of the city’s security systems must be based on specific facts, not mere speculation or conjecture.” –C.G.
Donations being sought for military programs
CAMP PENDLETON: American Combat Veterans of War is seeking donations for homecoming celebrations and ongoing support programs for Marines and sailors at Camp Pendleton.
The all-volunteer charity’s next homecoming party is Sunday for members of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion.
The group also wants to start an outreach program for servicewomen, in addition to the post-deployment briefings, support groups and mentoring services it already offers.
For more information, call (858) 552-7501 or go to acvow.org.
To seek help from the group for post-traumatic stress disorder, call the 24-hour hotline (800) 273-8255. –R.R.
Staff writers Greg Moran, Craig Gustafson, Kristina Davis and Rick Rogers contributed to this report.
