Vince Mater Finally Charged in Connection With FPD Jail Custody Death
The DA’s press release:
FORMER FULLERTON POLICE OFFICER CHARGED WITH DESTROYING EVIDENCE FOR BREAKING AUDIO-RECORDER AFTER INMATE’S SUICIDE
FULLERTON – A former Fullerton Police Department (FPD) officer has been charged with destroying evidence for crushing his audio-recorder after an inmate committed suicide in jail following a driving under the influence (DUI) arrest by the defendant. Vincent Thomas Mater, 41, is charged with one misdemeanor count of destruction of evidence and one misdemeanor count of vandalism. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of one year and six months in jail. Mater is scheduled to be arraigned March 26, 2012, at the North Justice Center in Fullerton. The Department is to be determined.
At the time of the crime, Mater was a police officer with FPD.
At approximately 9:45 p.m. on April 14, 2011, Mater is accused of conducting a DUI investigation after making a traffic stop of a vehicle being driven without its lights on in the dark. The defendant was in uniform and driving a marked FPD patrol car. Mater is accused arresting the driver, Dean Gochenour, upon determining that Gochenour was under the influence of alcohol.
Mater is accused of transporting Gochenour in in his patrol car to the Fullerton City Jail (FCJ) and turning him over to FPD jailers to be booked upon arrival. Throughout the duration of his contact with Gochenour, Mater is accused of wearing an FPD-issued Digital Audio Recording device (DAR), which was activated and would have audio-recorded any statements made by Mater or Gochenour.
At approximately 11:30 p.m., inmate Gochenour committed suicide by hanging himself in a cell at FCJ. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) was subsequently contacted to conduct the custodial death investigation.
In the hours after Mater learned of Gochenour’s death, the defendant is accused of destroying his DAR by crushing it and removing the mother board and circuit board. The audio captured on Mater’s DAR of the defendant’s interaction with Gochenour could not be recovered as a result of the damage. The defendant is accused of destroying evidence that would have been relevant to the OCDA’s custodial death investigation.
FPD investigated the case against Mater regarding the destruction of evidence and submitted it to the OCDA for criminal prosecution.
To read the OCDA’s full report on the custodial death of Gochenour, visit www.OrangeCountyDA.com and select “OCDA Report Custodial Death Investigation – Inmate Dean Gochenour” from the Investigation Letters tab under the Media Center. The report was issued today, March 13, 2012.
Deputy District Attorney Brock Zimmon of the Special Prosecutions Unit is prosecuting this case.
The DA’s letter describes the details of the event.
Curiously, this event took place 11 long months ago. Still, better late than never.
They keep saying there’s no Culture of Corruption.
Watch the three Dim Bulbs try to take credit for this.
11 months is a long time to investigate a smashed recorder. I suspect the charges being filed has to do with the exposé conducted on this blog last month.
It takes 11 months because they were trying to figure out how to avoid charging a cop and shaming the department. It looks like they gave up right before the statute of limitations hit.
YOU FOLKS got that right. ONLY because of the blog.
It is not rocket science to file a simply charge like this. 11 months later, PLEASE!!!!!
It’s because of all the stuff that has hit the air waves, NOTHING more.
So it looks like 2 of Mckinley’s druids sent 2 people into eternity ahead of schedule last year. Hughes looks like Casper the friendly ghost when he says there is no culture of corruption at the FPD. You guys belong on a remake of the Adams Family in living color.
My guess is this prosecution is the brainchild of Mike Gennaco.
I agree. Still, at least we got something for our money. And each one down sends a message to the rest.
“And each one down sends a message to the rest.”
And corruption can only be conquered one person at a time. It’s like the “How do you eat an elephant?” saying.
HELL YES!
Another passenger aboard the FPD Train of Shame. Next stop, nobody knows!
It appears the culture of corruption that is just a figment of our imagination is slowly being incarcerated and filling up jail space.
http://www.orangecountyda.com/docs/dean_gochenour_custodial_death_investigation_letter.pdf
DAMN… they’re fallin’ like flies!!
It’s about time.
I guess that makes at least two dishonest FPD Brady Cops who can’t testify against criminals in court.
Mater was not a brady cop.
No one knows that, the DA won’t release that info even after a case is closed
Why only a misdemeanor? I thought destroying evidence related to death case was a felony?
Nope just a misdemeanor, always has been.
That asshole murdered a man, destroyed evidence and only got charged with a misdemeanor.
…I’ll tell ya, Fullerton PD is a whole other animal.
FPD In connection with the DA, Genacco, and City Hall. This is the path they have chosen instead of the high road. History will not be kind to these folks. May God have mercy on them for their evil deeds.
No I think he talked smack to the guy knowing he was depressed for whatever reason, said some things to him that might have pushed the guy over the edge.
It appears Mater was not around when the guy killed himself.
But his DAR told the true story of what really happened so he destroyed it.
Yes I hope the family of this man looks up the Ron Thomas family attorney.
I think this attorney needs to hire on some more help, it looks like he is going to need it by the way things are going.
Now how ’bout charging the ones who lied in court, fabricated police reports and molested handcuffed female prisoners in the patrol cars? More than enough evidence exists to prosecute those crimes too. Bring all the thugs to justice!
that will come eventually-grand jury
So, up to 18 months in jail. Not much for 11 months worth of investigative work. Still, it does leave the door open for the family of the deceased to file a civil wrongful-death case, where “beyond a reasonable doubt” would not apply. Defendants might include the three old fence posts, the City of Fullerton, FPD, and former officer Mater. Yay! More city money may be spent! Will the bleeding never end?
Excellent news! Does this mean that FFFF will finally shut the fuck up?
Not until the mad science experiments in those 2 buildings over on Commonwealth come to an end. Then we pack it up.
Not yet.
RD-Why do you ask?
no plenty of work left to do. your heros are dirt now. what does that make you?
Where is his booking photo? I want to see what this guy looks like.
I am heart-broken for our city. I truly hope that we are headed down the path of putting better, more accountable government in place. It is difficult for me to imagine the electorate not holding long standing City Council members and immediate past 15 year police chiefs accountable for the sheer volume of identified, bad and criminal behavior within that department.
I loved Cheif Sellers. He was really nice and friendly. He was the best thing Shawn Nelson ever did for the city.
Coffman! Or Kirk. Or Goodrich!
or PBO from PPD
Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. That stands for Patrick B. O’Malley, Cop
Sometimes he is really annoying.
Wow a misdemeanor, why wouldn’t an officer trash his recorder if he get out of line. There’s virtually no punishment for it.
The DA letter is weird. It says Mater is”accused” of making a traffic stop and DUI investigation, and is “accused” of transporting Gochenour to the PD? How can you be accused of those things when none of them are the crime. Or even a crime.
Destroying the recorder and whatever it was that he was trying to hide by doing so were the crime(s).
That was my first thought as well after reading that spew…
…slightly off subject, however when I was poking around the Orange County District Attorney’s website, I found a link to the video of the press conference that the District Attorney did when he announced criminal charges being filed against Officers Cicinelli and Ramos, and thought that a lot of readers of FFFF may have never had access to our local television stations, and may have been unable to see the live telecast of the Kelly Thomas press conference.
http://www.orangecountyda.com/home/index.asp
p.s. The D.A. video of the Kelly Thomas press conference is the 4th video down, under the “Media Center” tab.
Why would Vince Mater risk 6 mo to 1 year in jail by smashing his digital recorder? That is a big risk to take. One must wonder if he isn’t covering up for more than just general police misconduct but possible invlovement in the wrongful death of Mr. Gochenour.
…Sorry if I’m just pointing out what is alread obvious.
Mater had worked for the FPD long enough to believe that there was no risk. His assumed that his malfeasance would be ignored just like the rest of ’em.
And he was almost right
Which means he was wrong.
Sure seems like it when you compare all the cases that have come forth to date.
That’s exactly the point.
His story is he got frustrated trying to download the video and threw it against the wall – like a three-year old or Donald Duck.
Hmm. I’d say he had something to hide.
Wouldn’t a damn gestapo SS officer know that destroying a digital recorder by any means would be a crime? but a smaller crime than murder.
I’m thinking he would rather get it in the toosie for destroying evidence then murder and murder was most likely evidenced on that recorder, I bet.
And he just made up some BS so the crime would be downgraded even more.
So……Dan, your boy- got a bit pissed, in a controlled environment,broke his DAR and such, in a fit of rage at the computer? Ok, if I buy that-then why, pray tell,do you let boys,with guns out on the street that have loose control if their computer doesnt work to their liking, that leaves us as citizens to feel, comfortable? really? so then what happens if I dont answer one of your boys’ questions to their liking, do I get a DAR, smash session,hmm?
Excellent question.
But Danny Boy tells us there is no Culture of Corruption. We are lying or are misinformed.
Hahaha!
He had a conversation with me on it about all the hot girls in Downtown fullerton
destruction of evidence? that is IT?? Unfreaking believable.
should we charge him with murder too?
Can’t wait to find out who you really are. We all know you’re not Al Rincon..
Probably our resident Patrick the troll aka PBOCOP.
He’s just some dumb cops kid, I’m sure.
Admin said it was only of couple of IPs.
Patrick is that you, you slimeball?
duh
I wonder if they made him pay for the recorder he admitted destroying in a fit of pique? If not they should.
What Mater fired from FPD? If so was it a result from the DAR destroying incident.
It seems wierd to me that the investigation has only been concluded now but Mater has been gone for awhile. Was his separation due to something else? Some other incident? Did he quit?
Sorry, I meant, “Was Mater fired from FPD”
I believe the terms of separation are a National Secret thanks to POBAR.
He may be running with Rincon these days.
“He may be running with Rincon these days.”
They are all running together like a pack of dogs.
so the pd, asks a guy 3 times if not close to four times the legal limit,if he is ok? um…hellloooo asshats, he is not ok,he is 3 times the legal limit, you guys had a bumbling nit wit in your tank and figured..lights out,after he said weird prayers and said Im dead…and who was he telling to make sure they had the shirt around his neck? who is they? Dan- your loosing ground very very fast…
Yes, considering it took the DA over 3 months to finally finish their all too lengthy investigation in the criminal case against the FPD 6 for the murder of Kelly Thomas, 11 months for this investigation is complete bullshit!!!
My guess is our impartial DA (Ha Ha) took his sweet-ass time on this one too, with the hopes that it would ALL go away.
Doesn’t that Applehead know about Fullertonsfuture and ALL their bloggers and commenters???
Wake up T-RAX and smell the fuggin’ coffee!!!
Textbook tyranny disguised as an authoritarian pacifier. Just enough law and order to give the masses enough to suck on while those of us in the know see right through all of this coverup. Our numbers grow everyday.
Amen and So true…
No wonder why that moniker is yours… lol
NEWPORT BEACH A veteran police officer, moonlighting as a security guard is accused of stealing $2,000 in cash and other items from a luxury hotel.
Jeffry Paul Quinton, 48, of Anaheim Hills, is charged with grand theft and commercial burglary.
According to prosecutors, Quinton worked at the Surf and Sand Resort in Laguna Beach, where he used his security position to manipulate files, steal money and expensive bedding.
fter the thefts, the resort became suspicious of Quinton.
Management contacted the Laguna Beach police who set up hidden surveillance cameras to catch Quinton in the act.
The 21-year LAPD veteran has been placed on paid administrative leave.
If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of three years and eight months in state prison.
http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-moonlighting-cop-accused-of-stealing,0,6725432.story
Thank you for that Erin.
Let’s continue to expose this ‘slithering swine’!..
I’m determined to make sure the Officers Bill of Rights is changed. Stop protecting these Baaasturds..
“NEWPORT BEACH A veteran police officer, moonlighting as a security guard is accused of stealing $2,000 in cash and other items from a luxury hotel.”
Sounds like what a druggie would do, based on the reported value of the items alleged to have been stolen.
I noticed that Vincent Mater is scheduled for a court appearance on the 26th of March here in Fullerton at the North Orange County Court.
I wonder if anyone will be able to take pictures of him while he’s attending court, or maybe even outside of the Courthouse before or after trial?
Suicide my ass.
I’d like to ask a fair question. For those who say Fullerton P.D. has not had a culture of corruption, may I please ask how many department personnel must be charged with a crime in one 12 month period before we can stipulate it in fact has? Seriously, at some point even the most zealous defender has to acknowledge we have passed the threshold of bad luck and have moved in to the real of undeniable truth.
“Dan Hughes” your team “sucks”. That makes you a poor leader and just as dirty as the rest of them. “Dan Hughes” most of your team needs to go!
Please take your family and leave Fullerton. You don’t belong here anymore.
Will the man’s death ever be investigated as a murder?
Reply to Merijoe #72
“Will the man’s death ever be investigated as a murder?”
Answer: NO!
Who’s in charge of our city?
A community oversight committee would be a good idea right now. The first thing on the agenda should be to draft regulation for the hiring process. Hirees should have good recomendations , grades and student behaviour should be considereded during the hiring process. Police are sworn to protect and serve. To easily are prospective officers hire who have behavioural and egotiscatle proplems. Good recomendations should be considered before entering the officer training schools.
Wow, if I talked a guy into hanging himself and I could have been convicted of a felony accessory, I would have smashed up my recorder too. Was a very smart thing to do! Question is, how many of his fellow uncorrupted officers saw what he was doing and tried to stop him, or immediately report it to the Captain who is now the Acting Chief of Police? Hmmmm? I wonder!
Nothing in these courses for police training has anything to say about character references. Any power hungry narcissist can apply.http://phatstaxx.com/police-academy-requirementsthe-basic/
http://www.collegebound.net/police-school-guide/?jkId=8a8ae4cc2ce35a4e012ce654b3d37535&jt=1&jadid=6220753358&js=1&jk=police%20schools&jsid=21945&jmt=1&gclid=CJmRxInt5a4CFWwGRQodKlXWwQ&referer=http://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=CD52fAUZgT4iwB-q1iALJs-zbDJbxjocCnt-uxBehoeAuCAAQAygDUIC_9FFgyebwhsijkBmgAa6fsfoDyAEBqgQiT9D1yvKW2uURnrb7TjtvmGoO_EimINqe4FV2hkLa3rE2A7oFEwj0-Lah7OWuAhVqTUIKHcd4DEbKBQA&ei=AUZgT7T0A-qaiQLH8bGwBA&sig=AOD64_1sustXy5_ZGXu3Aq7bvmcd4k2ZYA&sqi=2&ved=0CBoQ0Qw&adurl=http://www.collegebound.net/police-school-guide/clickcount.php%3Fid%3D12743851%26goto%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.collegebound.net%252Fpolice-school-guide%252F%26jkId%3D8a8ae4cc2ce35a4e012ce654b3d37535%26jt%3D1%26jadid%3D6220753358%26js%3D1%26jk%3Dpolice%2520schools%26jsid%3D21945%26jmt%3D1%26&rct=j&q=police+academy+requirements&campaign_id=12743851&fromclickcount=true&
Is this Loretta bitch Raul? the latent homosexual that wears the safari jackets? if it is-go back to lorettas teat…if not- just ignore.
Hi
An LAPD sergeant is charged with making criminal threats over the phone and in text messages to a woman with whom he used to have a romantic relationship, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s office.
Joshua Jinwook Chong, 41, of Fullerton, is out on bail and expected to be arraigned Wednesday in Fullerton.
In Oct. 2011, Chong reportedly sent text messages to the victim, threatening to kill a male friend of hers, police said. Later that night, he made similar threats – this time toward the victim – over the phone.
The exchange prompted the victim to spend the night with a friend. Chong is accused of sending more text messages to her while she was away, claiming that he would show up at her work, police said.
Within 24 hours, Chong is accused of making more than two dozen calls to the victim, who reported the threated to Fullerton police.
Chong is charged with one felony count of criminal threats, one misdemeanor count of harassing telephone calls, and one misdemeanor count of annoying telephone calls.
If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of three years in state prison.
It’s fun. I know you get it via email. Hi lovers.
An LAPD sergeant is charged with making criminal threats over the phone and in text messages to a woman with whom he used to have a romantic relationship, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s office.
Joshua Jinwook Chong, 41, of Fullerton, is out on bail and expected to be arraigned Wednesday in Fullerton.
In Oct. 2011, Chong reportedly sent text messages to the victim, threatening to kill a male friend of hers, police said. Later that night, he made similar threats – this time toward the victim – over the phone.
The exchange prompted the victim to spend the night with a friend. Chong is accused of sending more text messages to her while she was away, claiming that he would show up at her work, police said.
Within 24 hours, Chong is accused of making more than two dozen calls to the victim, who reported the threated to Fullerton police.
Chong is charged with one felony count of criminal threats, one misdemeanor count of harassing telephone calls, and one misdemeanor count of annoying telephone calls.
If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of three years in state prison.
Well, he can always get a job in Fullerton. I hear FPD has some openings.
Oh yeah, they would love his kind..
I actually am encouraged that the FPD isn’t issuing free passes to officers in other police agencies to harass and intimidate their ex-girlfriends and ex-wives.
Wrong. The victim reported the threats by the kook to the CSUF police.
FPD would have showed up at her house and dragger her off.
How ya all doing?
OK. How are you RI? Your moniker is in blue this time? Why is that?
Was this story found in the newspaper or the ‘Injustice Everywhere’ site?
After reading the DA’s report which I think is well written, there is NO EVIDENCE to charge Mater with any crime, other than the destruction of evidence, his DAR.
Why something so simple took so long to file, is very strange.
Mater was NO WHERE around when this guy decided to hang himself. Not a chance in hell anywhere in this country, a case for homicide could be made on these type of circumstances.
However the comments made by the victim however suttle they may have been, clearly indicate he was depressed and should have been watched closer than he was. His comments would have put me on notice.
Reading the word he spoke, SUICIDE potential was my first thought.
The sound being turned down on the cameras is noteworthy, but not a crime, but negligence could be argued in the civil arena.
It’s obvious the jailer was beside himself when he discovered the inmate hanging. He ran upstairs after hitting the alarm.
A better trained jailer would have went into that cell immediately and cut the inmate down. It appears about 4 minutes had elapsed before he was cut down.
But the times indicate the inmate had probably been hanging for well over 20 minutes. I don’t see a medical chance of saving anyone after hanging for that period of time.
Again not a crime with what the jailer did. Negligence, lack of training, MAYBE!!!
What is not even mentioned in this report, is the time of transportation from the scene of the arrest to arriving at the jail. What happened during that drive if anything?
That is unexplained and no questions were asked.
One might want to know if the suspect spoke more about suicide while in the back seat of the unit? Did the suspect become hostile or was Mater being rude?
No evidence before transporting the suspect or after arriving at the jail suggest anything illegal happened, or any misconduct on the part of FPD personnel. It’s all backed up by video or audio tape.
The other officer who arrived on scene to help Mater, captured most of the arrest, but enough audio was obtained to suggest everything was quite routine.
The only thing one might be able to believe is the suspect was depressed, talked about suicide, the rhetoric got on Maters nerves and Mater told the guy to quit running his mouth and just kill himself. SPECULATION of course.
Unfortunately the DAR being destroyed no one will ever know what was said by the parties involved while driving to the jail.
Nothing else can be proven in this matter other than Mater destroyed his DAR.
Even if I personally hated Mater, could I find anything in this case to make a good arguement about, other than the DAR being destroyed.
Even though it took 11 months to get to this point, a case was filed against Mater. The DA is not bound by any law that says a case MUST be filed within this amount of time, when no one is in custody.
As to my last line I should have said, when an active investigation is on going and no one is in custody a time line is not an issue.
But in light of ALL the other cases within FPD, it doesn’t help the allegations of cover up until FFFF started yelling.
Terrible timing at it’s best!!
I honestly believe that FFFF is doing a fine job at keeping the residents of Fullerton informed as to what is going on with our city and officials. I’m thankful for the bloggers who take time out of their busy lives to inform me of the who, what, where, why and when.
A family member of mine was a prison guard in another state. One night while walking the tier he found a guy hanging in his cell. He immediately called the control booth to open the cell and went in to try and hold the guy up and see if he could save his life. He got reprimanded for messing up the crime scene and contaminating it. He never tried to help an inmate again, he just called for a Sgt. if somethig happened.
I’m interested to hear what Reality Is and Anti-Corruption Unit’s response to my open ended question…
Here’s the part that I don’t understand, if Officer Mater was already known to the District Attorney’s as an officer who’s testimony is inadmissable in court, or a “Brady Cop”, why was he allowed to patrol the streets of Fullerton by himself and initiate traffic stops?
I had always been led to believe that Officer Mater was assigned to duties as a jailer only after the District Attorney found his testimony to no longer be credible in court?
Lover.
Wasn’t Mater clean but the retired cop jailer was the Brady cop?
Lover.
Wasnt Officer Mater clean but the retired cop/jailer the Brady person?
He was not a brady cop. Fullerton only had one.
FL, if Mater was a brady cop before the death of this suspect, why he was on the streets can only be answered by Chief Hughes.
Their will be no logical answer because a brady cop is useless as boobs on a bore hog.
If they put him on the streets as a brady cop, they were rolling the dice.
Is there a law that says they cannot. NO!!
But a liar in blue will get NO WHERE in the daily performance of their duties whenever challenged.
So the bottom line is a Brady cop has no business being on the streets.
Glad you picked up on that. Why was a Brady Cop on patrol? Better yet, why was a Brady Cop on our payroll?
Dan?
If a brady cop is on the payroll, it’s most likely they suck better butt than a hoover vacuum.
It’s somebody’s pal, or a deticated, loyal member of the good ol boys club.
Mater was clean. No Brady.
Jailer was Brady. Civilian.
Please elaborate.
http://www.fullertonsfuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/dean_gochenour_custodial_death_investigation_letter.pdf
Its confusing from the DA’s report if audio was
recorded or if its just officer testimony stating all of Gochenour’ suicidal statements. When he was brought upstairs for the night the report states “the camera recorded the following.” Is there dialogue recorded with the camera or is this just what the jailer heard? Can any of the suicidal statements be verified by any audio?Why weren’t these threats to himself taken seriously? He was asked point blank if he was suicidal in which he quickly said” no.”
Immeadiatly after being place in the cell Goechener could be heard saying twice, ” I am going to kill myself”.
If the jailer heard it outright along with the other dialogue “wrap the sucker around my neck” with rustling noises and movement woudn’t it be highly negligent just to keep walking away?Why would this be ignored?Because he said he was joking earlier when refering to hurting himself ?
This whole scenario is perfect for a cover up if there is one. I hope the FBI investigates this further.
http://www.uploadup.com/di-UONX.png
Why is the police department using DAR’s capable of being destroyed so easily?
They make laptop computers and smart phones nowadays that can be run over by a car or submerged in water without being damaged.
Face it, there’s a lot of unscrupulous criminals out there. DAR’s regularly exonerate officers who have done no wrong. So why would the department or the union tolerate such cheaply made devices?
Vernon. The newest and best technology we use automatically downloads into a department server when the unit pulls into the station. It can’t be touched prior.
This DAR stuff here is old technology and held in each DAR. It’s old school.
So why are they still using the old crap?
Money. Takes almost a million to setup a good audio and video system with up to date technology plus yearly service contracts. Only way to do that now is grants or asset forfeiture money.
Gennaco just released his Matrice report. No cover up. No issues. 50 pages. Just a communication issue. Same result Fullerton will have?
Patrick O’malley, dont you have to get things ready for a St Patrick’s Day party? Scurry. Get the SS PigPen ready.
Well that might be the case, but it won’t set aside a civil cases outcome. It might actually compound the problem.
LA Co just paid out to the Matrice family to settle their mistakes.
Don’t mislead the readers by suggesting it’s NO BIG deal.
Civil suits are costly because of STUPID.
And we both know our beloved public officials don’t care about all that because the money isn’t coming out of their pockets.
Paying out your nose all the time is equally noteworthy of STUPID even though Mr.Genacco paints a different picture.
If a civil jury paints you as STUPID your still stupid, waiving a Genacco report around attempting to suggest otherwise is LAUGHABLE!!
Oh, grow up!
Bullshit.
A device like that would use a lot of battery power because it would not only be checking for a connection but it would also use a lot of power uploading audio.
Unless you can give me a brand or model name of this “technology”, you are full of shit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DmN2YZR8evw#!
if only we had this mayor….Police Dept shut down.
Not true. The jailers name was Carlos Medina and if he was a civilian he couldn’t be a Brady “cop” now could he?
The Brady cop was Vincent Mater.
FL just for clarification Brady can and does apply to civilian employees as well as citizens.
It applies to anyone who comes onto the judicial systems radar as being a LIAR. Of course many citizens might escape such scrutiny.
There may not be an actual list for civilians, but if there is evidence a citizen lied say during a previous trial or during an official interview, that evidence would and should be available to attorney’s IF KNOWN before hand.
Brady vs. Maryland involves known liars no matter who they are.
It’s not just about cops. But yes frequently involves cops.
When a certified Brady list cop completes a criminal investigation, the DA is most likely going to reject the case.
If not, it will be a circus event in the courtroom and the defense attorney’s will be the ring master.
How to solve the problem in reality. DO NOT go there in the first place.
Exactly why Brady cops have NO BUSINESS working in ANY capacity where they might have to write ANY type of report, or do ANYTHING in their official capacity that can be challenged.
To continue.
Are there Brady cops out there? YES.
Are they on the DA’s Brady list? NO.
How did that happen?
Could be the department in question elected not to submit the information to the DA that would put them on the list.
That could be by design, a deliberate cover up. Could be a simple oversight. Maybe the Chief or Sheriff in their wisdom believes a cop is not Brady worthy in their opinion, and orders the information with held from the DA.
Many cops become Brady material from internal investigation that the DA has NO IDEA about. Criminal issues might be another matter.
Are there civil or criminal penalties for with holding Brady material from entering into the Brady system. NOT to my knowledge.
Can it be embarrassing to some public entity down the road and cause someone to loose a criminal/civil case, YES!!!!
How does one find out if they are dealing with a cop who should be or should have been placed on Brady status?
A prosecutor or defense attorney can file a “pitchess motion” to get access to the cops file.
Here is an example. Let’s say if the Mater issue goes to civil trial for wrongful death.
The attorney for the family can file a “pitchess motion” and attempt to gain access to Mater and Medina’s personel file.
Will they be successful? Unknown.
But I can tell you that attorneys for the city will fight like hell to keep oppossing council out of that file.
I hope this clears up some of the confusion.
Do I agree that a liar and a cheat in public service should be exposed for what they are? YES!!!!!
Thank you Anti Corruption Unit for your most excellent clarification. I sincerely hope that someday that police officers with morals like yourself can once again serve their communities with the same honor that you possess.
I submit many are FL. Those who’s names will most likely never appear on many political blogs.
Should have said I am getting to old to chase criminals, jump over fences, and wrestle with youngsters.
But thank you for the kind words.
You said it right the first time. Thank you, and the many other unsung honorable heroes just like you, for your honorable service to our communities.
Honorable people like yourselves are the reason that the good people of Fullerton are fighting this fight. Good vs. Evil. No more, no less.
Could it be that a ‘no cover-up ruling’ is a standard template of all Gennaco reports?
Gennaco knows better. If he earns a reputation for revealing the malfeance and corruption within police or sheriffs department,
other cities would be reluctant to hire them.
Gennaco needs more competition.
If there were other companies, agencies, etc. that could perform these independent reviews, that SHOULD raise the level of truthfulness in their reports, as opposed to telling the city mayor and council what they want to hear.
I submit Genacco like many other inventors out there has created himself a little empire and a fine MONEY making scheme.
When the judicial system gives him the power to subpoena, and file formal charges during the course of his investigations, I will be impressed.
Has Genacco turned over evidence of criminal misconduct to the local DA’s or FBI to date, if he should discover any??
When I see Genacco face civil rights lawyers and read the transcripts of his testimony where he comes out on top of answering the tuff questions, I’ll be impressed.
Thus far Genacco has few challenging him.
I’ll bet that our Rusty Kennedy, of McKinley’s “Human Relations Commission” could relate to a guy like Genacco.
Yes FL, some of these freakin commissions are the biggest joke in the world. Just money is some clowns pocket who wakes up from time to time and speaks on something just to let everyone know their alive and well, then goes back to sleep.
From ACU, comment #111:
If a civil jury paints you as STUPID your still stupid, waiving a Genacco report around attempting to suggest otherwise is LAUGHABLE!!
All 3 of those ex-cops who spoke up at the last city council meeting were doing exactly that; waiving the Gennaco report. More specifically the part of the report where he says he finds no intent of a cover-up by FPD.
In fact, I laughed my ass of when each one of them stated that.
In their minds if Gennaco said it, let it be written, let it be done. LOL
I submit that those 3 retired cops in their vast experience should have waited until the Jury in the criminal trial of Ramos and Cincinelli, the FBI is gone forever, and the Jury in the wrongful death case involving Kelly Thomas has spoken before jumping up at banging their pom poms together.
I guess they have never heard the analogy of, “it aint over until the fat lady sings”.
I wonder why these gentlemen didn’t call BS on the Rincon and Mater case while they were at it?
Perhaps calling BS on the Rincon and Mater cases will be their agenda at the next council meeting.
Right next to the idea for purchasing 10 gallon hats for the cops and a marsall badge for Hughes.
ACU:
Would it have been standard police/procedure for FPD bosses to place all 6 of those cops on paid administrative leave immediately after the Kelly Thomas beatdown, even though he wasn’t officially dead?
If so, this would be a true testament to the motives and efforts of Michael Gennaco; whether or not he calls ‘Cover-up’ on this issue.
It would be for MOST agencies, it shows transperancy. It also gives those involved good or bad a chance to get away from the stress of a major incident. Relax shall you say.
The cops can’t complain, their drawing a full paycheck. They usually don’t complain, because it’s part of the normal process.
There is also unpaid leave for the worst of cases.
But under these circumstances the way it was handled shows a cover up. PERIOD!!! Simple foot dragging BS that has yet to be explain.
To add to all that, it happened 30 days later, and only when the poop hit the fan because FFFF blew the whistle. NOT GOOD!!!
Sellers or whoever had seen that video many times within a few hours after the incident. I’d say more than a couple in power. So between their collective minds, they knew full well shit was going to hit the fan justified or not.
It does not take 30 days to realize you screwed up. But there are those who would like you to believe otherwise. Mr. Gennaco might?
Let me give all of you an example of how quick one needs to get his act together when you want to charge someone with a crime. Or can if you want.
Let’s use Kelly as an example.
2 guys (citizens) confront Kelly when they see him pulling on car doors to see if they are unlocked. They decide too detain Kelly and call police for tampering with a vehicle. Lawful YES!!
Kelly attempts to run, they tackle him, 4 others join the fray, they beat Kelly senseless.
I arrive on scene to investigate this. I find out the pole camera has captured the incident on video. I look at it, and see a useless unjustified beating that exceeds reasonable force in my opinion.
I arrest all six suspects for attempted murder or any other charge that meets the standard of law.
The 6 are booked into county jail.
I now have 48 hours to bring my report and evidence to the DA to get a formal complaint filed against those 6, otherwise they are released from custody. My objective is to keep these violent indivduals in custody until they see a judge and pass the burden off to him.
NO they are not free from prosecution if I don’t meet that deadline, the get released only to be picked up again and booked on a warrant the DA has gotten issued.
Could that be a dangerous situation if I allow that to happen or have not given the DA enough evidence to file a case YES!!!!!
It happens everyday in the LE world with great success and few failures. But in violent crimes it is imperative to get things done QUICKLY and effeciently.
Did those detectives and supervisor know that one or more cops violated the law within a few hours of the incident, YES!!!!
If they say it took 30 days to determine this, they are the LIARS or so freakin incompetant they should be fired.
For anyone to say a different criteria would be used for cops and citizens is ABSOLUTE BS!!!
Why do I know, I have arrested more than my share of off duty cops for felony crimes.
In a couple cases it involed LAPD. The department was contacted shortly after the arrest.
Within hours, usually driving time, a TEAM of 3 or more investigators from Internal Affairs arrived. The speed of the response was IMPRESSIVE.
The cop was place administrative leave, gun and badge taken. They were pretty much placed on house arrest. LAPD did not play around.
My point in all this, serious situation from two examples show what does and can happen within hours of an incident.
It’s routine, happens all the time with mission accomplished with precision like a well oiled machine.
To date we have yet to hear from Dan “the man” Hughes why all that happened.
We have yet to hear him tell us the other 4 not charged did NOTHING wrong.
Let that be your guide. (insert smile).
Forgot to add, how many of you have watched the, “First 48 hours”. True real life stuff.
Need I say anything more????
Thanks for your response ACU…
All that and you still managed to insert the ‘smiley face’. LOL
Your statement, ” But under these circumstances the way it was handled shows a cover up. PERIOD!!!”.. is exactly what I told the city council at he last meeting.
If or when Gennaco discusses this issue of the 6 not being placed on PAL and says once again, “I did NOT find any intent to cover up by FPD”, we will certainly know his number.
Thank you. That’s was very informative.
Somebody needs to start going to every meeting to read the list of FPD miscreants and what they did. Shove it right down Danny Boy’s gullet.
I posted this on the cover up article but i will post it here just in case not all of you read both of them first off i will introduce myself I am Offie Wiseman the husband of Bridget Wiseman (Dean Gochenours daughter) i typed my thoughts on this whole thing on the other post so if you guys are curious to know how i feel that is where you will find it my wife is trying to start a protest on Saturday in Fullerton the details will be posted on Dean Gochenours ( active facebook account) she should know to take it off private but if she doesnt just add him as a friend she will be checking multiple times throughout the day and will be adding people who are interesting in following along I am currently in Afghanistan so i will not be attending but i do encourage everyone that does so happen to show up at the protest to introduce yourself to my wife she is an amazingly strong girl and would love to thank each and every one of you for the support of her father! Thank you all in advance and btw I fucking love this website!!! The bullshit is left at the door and all honest opinions are said i wish more “officials” lived by that code also have a great day everyone
Well said and so true Mr. Wiseman…
I second that- what time on Saturday?
How about 9am like we did with the Kelly Thomas rallies?
Wouldn’t someone have to make arrangements with Acting Chief Hughes for all of this?
I read the report. There is abundant evidence that this man intended to kill himself. It seems, once again, that the Fullerton Police Department doesn’t give a tinker’s damn about the lives of the people that it is payed to protect. Let’s rescreen ALL of the Fullerton Police Department for minimum competency. Better still, let’s fire them all and have them re-apply for the job…after the recall election.