Sunday, December 17, 2017

San Mateo County - Judge dismisses cellphone smuggling case against former deputy sheriff

OFF THE WIRE
Judge dismisses cellphone smuggling case against former deputy sheriff
Prosecutors erred in making the case to the grand jury, judge concludes


A San Mateo County Superior Court judge on Dec. 1 dismissed two counts of conspiracy brought by the county against Juan Pablo Lopez, a former Sheriff's Office deputy and a write-in candidate for sheriff in 2014.
Mr. Lopez, who worked in the county jail, had pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy with corrections officers and a gang-affiliated jail inmate to smuggle in two cellphones and Oxycontin over several months, and to allow the inmate to use the phone openly in the jail.
Prosecutors subsequently brought charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and gang involvement against Mr. Lopez. He pleaded not guilty to them all; those charges were later modified to two counts of conspiracy.
Representing Mr. Lopez, attorneys Tony Serra and Maria Belyi of the San Francisco-based law firm Pier 5 filed a motion to dismiss the two counts on the premise that the prosecution, in presenting evidence to the grand jury, "did not present the full scope of the evidence" and left out material that could have been exculpatory to Mr. Lopez, Ms. Belyi told the Almanac.
Criminal Presiding Judge Donald Ayoob "had serious concerns," Ms. Belyi said. In summarizing the morning's events, she noted two arguments that the judge agreed on and that led to the dismissal:
• The prosecutor "was imprecise with his language" in describing to the grand jury a letter from a witness, Ms. Belyi said.
In an interview, Deputy District Attorney Sean Gallagher, who is supervising the prosecution of the case, acknowledged that prosecutors did not present the grand jury with an actual piece of paper.
• A photo submitted as evidence allegedly showed an inmate using a contraband cellphone, but the photo actually showed an inmate using a phone borrowed from a deputy because of an emergency, Ms. Belyi said.
In determining the basis for their motion, Ms. Belyi said, she and Mr. Serra "went through all the evidence and saw what was presented and what was left out that needed to presented to the grand jury for them to see the full picture."
"We're very happy with the dismissal of the indictment," she said. "We're waiting to see what happens."
Mr. Gallagher said that prosecutors "absolutely (disagree), no question," with Judge Ayoob's conclusion that the District Attorney's Office erred in presenting the case.
Prosecutors can appeal the decision or refile the case. "We don't have a timetable on the decision," he said, in part because there are other defendants in the case for whom decisions are pending.
Other charges
In connection with Mr. Lopez's unsuccessful 2014 write-in campaign for sheriff against then two-term sheriff Greg Munks, the former deputy faces seven election-related charges: fraud, conspiracy, perjury by filing a counterfeit document, an election code filing violation, an election code voting violation and two counts of forgery, prosecutors said.
Mr. Serra and Ms. Belyi have filed a motion to dismiss this case as well, but their arguments won't be heard until Jan. 25, Ms. Belyi said.
Mr. Lopez has been out of custody on $100,000 bail on the jail-related charges, and out on $170,000 bail on the election-related charges.
Related stories:
Renowned attorney to defend ex-deputy, candidate for sheriff against criminal charges
Defense attorney accuses DA of vendetta in prosecution of sheriff's deputy