Lawsuit over 2010 Contra Costa prosecutor battle muddle

Let's have a little talk about tweetle beetles....

What do you know about tweetle beetles? Well...

When tweetle beetles fight,
it's called a tweetle beetle battle ... 


One of the many brilliant tongue twisters in Dr. Seuss' brilliant tongue-twister book, Fox in Socks, came to mind while I was reading an update on the prosecutor shenanigans that have plagued an arguably dysfunctional Contra Costa District Attorney's Office.

In one of what seemed to be almost weekly installments of Prosecutors Gone Wild, a March 2010 argument between top prosecutors literally turned bloody.  Lead homicide attorney Harold Jewett threw a punch at Paul Sequeira, sending Sequeira to the hospital to get stitches below one eye.


The latest news is that Sequeira is doing what lawyers do when they can't employ healthy, socially positive methods to let go and move on with life.

Sequeira has filed a lawsuit. The Contra Costa Times reports that Sequeira, who was third-in-command in the office at the time of the fight, accuses Jewett, named "prosecutor of the year" by the California District Attorney's Office in 2008, of assault and battery. The suit seeks unspecified damages against Jewett.

As I reported back in March 2010, the fight between these two feisty prosecutors took place amidst rising tensions in the very heated 2010 District Attorney's race. The fight echoed political divisions in the office, where prosecutors were apparently lining up behind two leading candidates to replace Bob Kochly, who did not seek re-election. Jewett backed fellow prosecutor Mark Peterson, who eventually won the election. Sequeira backed Dan O'Malley, a former deputy district attorney who is now in private practice. O'Malley was Kochly's chosen successor.

The argument between Jewett and Sequeira erupted over a letter Jewett sent to the editor of the Contra Costa Times. In that letter, Jewett contended that managers in the district attorney's office and in the prosecutors' union were prioritizing politics over law enforcement. The East Bay Express says Sequeira had been accused of inappropriately influencing colleagues to support O'Malley.

The Contra Costa Times reported that the fight "shocked" the local legal community with the two men considered among the county's top legal talent. Apparently, though, the two had a "history of butting heads," the Times reported. With the election, job assignments were at stake.

Indeed, after Peterson won the election, he demoted Sequeira to deputy district attorney, said the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Sequeira left Contra Costa County in August 2011 to become assistant district attorney in Mendocino County.

And, just before he left his Contra Costa County job,  Sequeira got into a scuffle with a defense investigator who was trying to serve him with a subpoena to testify in the other sordid story swirling around the Contra Costa DA's office at the time.

This was the rape prosecution of Michael Gressett, a veteran sex crimes prosecutor who was accused of sexually assaulting a female subordinate. The East Bay Express says Kochly handled the case "in such a questionable way" that suspicions arose in the office that the rape charges were more "about political maneuvering than seeking justice." Peterson was demoted after complaining about investigation irregularities.  O'Malley also was subpoenaed by Gressett's defense team who wanted to show that O'Malley injected himself in the case by acting as a liaison between the alleged victim and Kochly.

A judge dismissed the charges against Gressett in October on the grounds that a grand jury did not hear evidence that might have undermined the alleged victim's credibility.

While Sequeira moved up to the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office, he apparently has not been able to leave what happened with Jewett behind. The Contra Costa Times said Sequeira also has a pending claim against the county in which he seeks $300,000. 

No criminal charges were filed against Jewett, who was placed on 30 days unpaid administrative leave after the incident. While Jewett publicly said he regretted the fight, he has also said he struck Sequeira in self-defense. 

So, now Sequeira will contribute to the jam-up in the Contra Costa County court system with his lawsuit. And, once again I return to the words of the master, Dr. Seuss:


When a fox is 
in the bottle where  
the tweetle beetles battle
with their paddles
in a puddle on a
noodle-eating poodle. 

THIS is what they call... 
... a tweetle beetle
noodle poodle bottles
paddled muddled duddled
fuddled wuddled
fox in socks, sir!

No surprise but unfortunate: Sufism Reoriented project approved

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors Wednesday approved Sufism Reoriented's plans to build a large, white multi-domed sanctuary in the Saranap neighborhood of unincorporated Walnut Creek, reports the Contra Costa Times. 

Four of the five supervisors cast yes votes for the worship center, to be built on 3.12 acres off Boulevard Way.. Supervisor Gayle Uilkema, whose district is near the proposed sanctuary, listened to the meeting by phone Wednesday but did not vote.

Elisabeth Nardi will be updating her story later, and Walnut Creek Patch Editor Lance Howland tweeted that the supevisors had added a list of conditions for the 66,000-square-foot project. 

The approval comes following an all-day special public hearing last Tuesday at the Lesher Center for the Arts and several hours of testimony Wednesday. 





 

Photo of bank robber released

Walnut Creek are seeking the public's help in finding this man who robbed the Bank of the West on California Boulevard Wednesday morning.

Here are details from a Walnut Creek police press release:

On February 29, 2012 at about 9:30 AM the suspect entered Bank of the West on California Blvd. and demanded cash from the teller. The suspect was given an undisclosed amount of money from the teller and then fled the bank. He was last seen walking northbound on California Boulevard. No weapons were seen. Officers searched the area, but were unable to locate the subject. Anyone with information is encouraged to call WCPD at 925-943-5844.

How much would you pay for a year of hassle-free parking in Walnut Creek?

It's auction time for local public elementary schools. At parties taking place over the next few weeks, parent organizations will auction off travel and entertainment packages, gift cards and items hand-crafted by the kids themselves. These auctions are big money-makers for school programs funded by parent-teacher organizations.

Perhaps the big-ticket item on any of the schools' auction rosters is a  "VIP" parking pass for downtown Walnut Creek. The Murwood Elementary Parent Teacher Association is auctioning it off at its Auction for Education gala this Saturday.

The listed value is $1500.

A Murwood mom shared this item with me.

The permit is donated by Regional Parking Inc., which manages many of the private lots around town. 

Anyway, you buy this permit and you can park in downtown lots managed by Regional Parking, any time of the day and any day of the year. You don't have to worry about running out to your car to feed the meter after two hours.

"An incredible luxury for a downtown worker or heavy shopper or anyone who likes the convenience of Free Parking," a description of the auction item reads.

I've seen Regional Parking donate this permit to other local nonprofits to auction off to raise money for their causes. The money raised by the Murwood Elementary auction will help some of those "extras" that state budget cuts have taken away: fund science education, library books, technology, a poetry program and teacher training to implement a writer's workshop in classrooms.