Saturday, November 8, 2008

Letter to Riverside County District Attorney ROD PACHECO asking for JUSTICE in the Pechanga Beating of Richard Swan

Feel free to copy and past this to fax or mail to District Attorney Rod Pacheco, whom we recently saw on Good Morning America.



District Attorney Rod Pacheco
Riverside County
4075 Main StreetRiverside , CA 92501

fax: (951) 955-0196

Re: Prosecution of Pechanga Resort and Casino Employees

Dear District Attorney Pacheco:

I write this letter to request that you prosecute the Pechanga Resort and Casino employees responsible for the injuries suffered by Richard Swan during his visit to the Pechanga Resort and Casino.

Last night I saw the KNBC 4 news story regarding the assault, and I was appalled that such an incident could occur. The pictures of Mr. Swan taken immediately after the assault, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Swan’s recalling of the incident, were truly horrific.

The account of the incident, as well as the life-threatening injuries sustained by Mr. Swan, require that your office institute a thorough investigation of the incident and prosecute those responsible to the fullest extent of the law.

I hope that the District Attorney’s office will not be thwarted or deterred from seeking justice in this case, even if the Pechanga Tribe attempts to shield its employees from prosecution and escape any financial or other liability by invoking tribal sovereignty.

I hope that your office will take the appropriate measures to ensure that the Swan’s rights are protected and upheld. It would be a true miscarriage of justice if Mr. Swan’s injuries and the actions of the Pechanga Resort and Casino employees were merely dismissed by the District Attorney’s office.

Respectfully submitted,

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rod Pacheco has no stomach to tangle with Pechanga. He knows better.

Creeper said...

If he has the fortitude to go after the GANG's
the why not PECHANGA
what is really going on here?

Anonymous said...

Financing for political ambitions, maybe?

How about making a name for himself as the one to break tribal sovereignty in CA, due to violations of the ICRA or Public Law 280.

How about that tribes? PECHANGA will be responsible for ending sovereignty as YOU KNOW IT.

Anonymous said...

Pacheco has no stomach for a fight with Pechanga. We'd send him packing to his mama.

Anonymous said...

Pacheco is as bad as the San Bernardino DA.... he let off those criminal San Manuels with NO JAIL time for their efforts to facilitate MURDER.

Pacheco ain't gonna do NOTHING

Anonymous said...

"Pacheco has no stomach for a fight with Pechanga. We'd send him packing to his mama."
This comment is obviously from a tribal member from Pechanga,shows not only their ignorance, but how they still think they are above the law.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Pacheco has no stomach for a fight with Pechanga. We'd send him packing to his mama.

November 11, 2008 3:07 AM

Mr. Pacheco may be the least of your worries and because of your arrogance you won't see it coming.

Maybe the Feds are watching the goings on at Pechanga?

If that is the case, I wonder if you will be laughing then.

Anonymous said...

Maybe, Shmaybe, the Feds ain't doing nothing.

If they had anything, they'd have done something by now.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said on Nov 11, 2008, 3:07 AM

"Pacheco has no stomach for a fight with Pechanga. We'd send him packing to his mama."

Pechanga customers, now you see how some Pechanga tribal members see things.

They don't defend Pechanga's handling of the incident with Mr. Swan.

They don't care if Pechanga is right or wrong only if even they are wrong, that nobody can do anything about it. That they are above the law.

Consider for a moment for argumemt's sake that Mr. Swan is in the wrong and the security man was unjustly fired, some of the people in the tribe could care less as they feel that man could do nothing about it.

Face it, there are elements in the Pechanga tribe who care nothing about their customers and their employees. They only care about lining their own pockets with more money.

Anonymous said...

F.B.I and Grand Jury Investigate Riverside District Attorneys office/Rod Pacheco

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Riverside Superior Court judge issues "Very rare" Factual Finding of Innocence to Senior Investigator Luis Bolaños. As a result, he is 100% exonerated and vindicated by Riverside Superior Court. Judge SLAMS Riverside County District Attorney's office for conducting an incomplete investigation which resulted in the Attorney General's office "Rubber Stamping" this incomplete investigation. Lead investigator Candette Hammond developed an "inappropriate" relationship with Bolaños' ex-wife (Jolie Bolaños/Alfego/Morgan/Ryan/Ongley) and lied in the report that led to the attempted prosecution of Senior Investigator Luis Bolaños. FBI and Grand Jury Investigates Riverside D.A.'s office
Chthppnz | July 05, 2008
"The straw that broke the camel's back was a statement he made that good prosecutors win their cases, but it takes a great prosecutor to put an innocent man in prison," Baugh said in a recent telephone interview. "The statement was one of the most offensive things I ever heard."

Several Assembly Republicans were present when Pacheco made the statement in a meeting room at the Capitol, and shortly thereafter, they moved to recall him as Assembly minority leader in April 1999.

Anonymous said...

Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco should quit trying to co-opt the resources of the entire county justice system to serve his agenda. And he needs to start cooperating on approaches to ease the severe court congestion in Riverside County. An appeals court ruling last week -- along with state budget cuts to California courts -- should be a powerful sign to Pacheco that his aversion to pretrial settlements needs to change.

The 4th District Court of Appeal last week blocked Pacheco's attempt to conscript family and probate courts to help ease the criminal-case backlog in Riverside County. At the same time, legislators last week slashed funds for new judges, and the state Judicial Council announced Wednesday that California courts will close one day a month. The council will also ask judges to take one furlough day per month.

Pacheco cannot expect to keep consuming nearly all of the county's limited and shrinking judicial resources. State law does give criminal cases precedence over civil matters. But civil litigants -- those with malpractice claims or child custody issues, for example -- are entitled to justice, too. They should not have to wait years for a courtroom just so the DA can say that he's tough on crime.

And the county's court congestion -- a backlog of about 5,000 felony cases at the start of 2009 -- is more than just an inconvenience to residents waiting to be heard in civil courts. It imposes delays on crime victims seeking justice, and on defendants who seek vindication.

The district attorney's case management philosophy -- a primary cause of the court logjam that state budget cuts will now exacerbate -- has long needed adjustment. In a report last year, 4th District Court of Appeal Justice Richard Huffman criticized the DA's "very restrictive policy on plea bargaining" as a central cause of the court congestion. Huffman also noted that Pacheco "does not acknowledge his responsibility to limit ... the criminal cases taken to trial to the judicial resources available within Riverside County." The county grand jury echoed those judgments in a report released in May.

Pacheco's office disagrees. Responding to Huffman's report, Assistant District Attorney Chuck Hughes said that his office can't control how many crimes are committed. He added that the courts "can't wash their hands of their obligation to provide courtrooms and judges to hear trials in our county."

But that position is law-and-order politics, not a serious approach to serving justice. Other counties manage to balance civil and criminal cases, even with challenging crime rates. And settling some cases out of court is simply efficient lawyering -- it saves taxpayers' money and often can achieve the same result as taking a case to trial.

Of course, Pacheco is not the only cause of clogged-up courts. The county has barely half the number of judges the Judicial Council recommends. Both defense lawyers and prosecutors seek too many trial postponements, and judges are too lenient in granting them -- a point the court emphasized in last week's decision.

But with the courts' hours cut, new judgeships delayed and state budget shortfalls likely for years, Pacheco holds the key to relieving court congestion in Riverside County. The district attorney needs to subdue his political instincts and begin to responsibly exercise his discretion.

Anonymous said...

A former investigator with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office is the target of a criminal investigation.

Recently retired D.A. Senior Investigator Candette Hammond is accused of perjury.

News Channel 3 has confirmed Sheriff's detectives handed over the case just days ago to the Palm Springs Police Department.

Candette Hammond is not under arrest tonight. But, she soon could be. And, dozens of criminal cases this DA investigator took part in her years of service are now in question.

According to internal affairs reports obtained by News Channel 3, Hammond first came under suspicion in 2006. Her immediate supervisors at the DA's office concluded she made up an entire interview while investigating a criminal case.

They brought the matter up to then Chief Deputy District Attorney Eileen Hunt. When Hunt told District Attorney Rod Pacheco about it, she claims in a recent lawsuit Pacheco told her "don't disclose anything." The DA's office denies this ever happened, calling Hunt a disgruntled ex-employee.

Hammond targeted former District Attorney Investigator Luis Bolanos for investigation. The State Attorney General's office arrested him in 2005 for domestic violence and perjury.

After losing his job, and his livelihood, a judge determined the case against Bolanos should have never seen the light of day.

Bolanos speaks out, "There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that because of Rod Pacheco, and his directions, there are individuals in custody right now that do not deserve to be there. For this man to supervise and direct, I could be sitting and talking to you in jail right now. Now, who would have listened to me then?"

We interviewed Olga Bates May of 2007. She knew Bolano's ex-wife. Bates says the DA's office ignored her when she told them the ex-wife admitted lying to her about the charges and the gifts she received from Hammond.

"I was interviewed by two FBI agents and they were amazed that after my letter of complaint to the District Attorney about Candette's investigation and her behavior, that no one bothered to talk to me from that office," said Bates.

The District Attorney's office discounts Bolanos as another disgruntled ex-employee.

David Downing is a former prosecutor and now a superior court judge. He testified in support of Luis Bolanos to get his named cleared.

Downing later claimed the DA's office tried to commit the act of "witness intimidation" against him. They call Downing's words "irresponsible." The DA's office claims Downing is yet another supposed disgruntled ex-employee.

The Sheriff's Department in Palm Desert handed over the Candette Hammond case to Al Franz with Palm Springs Police because much of the alleged perjury happened in that city.

The fate of dozens of criminal cases handled by Investigator Hammond now hang in the balance. But, Bolanos says his life is already ruined.

"I lost the ability to care for my kids. I haven't been able to take care of my kids for the past 5 years. Destroyed me. That's what Mrs. Hammond means to me."

News Channel 3 received a response late Friday afternoon from John Hall at the DA's Office. It reads: "The District Attorney's Office has no comment on this inquiry."

We have in depth reporting of this investigation on our website, KESQ.com. Just go to the home tab at the top left of your screen and in the section titles "Special Reports," click on "Inside The DA's Office"

Anonymous said...

Gadfly” Defined:

1 any of various flies (as a horsefly, botfly, or warble fly) that bite or annoy livestock 2: a person who stimulates or annoys especially by persistent criticism



“Rod Pacheco” Defined:

1. impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle ; depravity b : decay, decomposition c: inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means (as bribery) d: a departure from the original or from what is pure or correct w archaic : an agency or influence that CORRUPTS.

2. (Law) of , involving, or guilty of crime

3. Informal senseless or deplorable : a criminal waste of public monies

4. An absolute ruler who governs without restrictions, justice, or mercy

5. A ruler who exercises power in a harsh, cruel manner.

6. An oppressive, harsh, arbitrary person making claims or pretensions to superior importance or rights; overbearingly assuming; insolently proud: AN ARROGANT PUBLIC OFFICIAL CHARACTERIZED BY OR PROCEEDING FROM ARROGANCE: ARRAGANT CLAIMS.

7. ELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR- a delusion (common in paranoia) that you are much greater and more powerful and influential than you really are; an erroneous belief that is in the face of evidence to the contrary.

Really Mr. Pacheco……”Gadfly” is what your $500,000 PR team came up with?

GO ZELLERBACH !!!