Law and Disorder

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Undersheriff Kem Shemwell reported to the county supervisors on 2/27 that the governor’s office is no longer pursuing the strategy of collaborating with regions such as Santa Barbara to reduce recidivism by building local prisons, in which inmates in the final year of their terms would receive help in transitioning into civilian life. Instead, the governor is now considering easing state prison overcrowding by accepting only prisoners sentenced to three years or more, with the rest left to the counties’ devices.

The tire-slasher who plagued Ellwood Beach Drive by puncturing the tires on 79 vehicles – all four tires on each vehicle, 316 tires in all – pleaded guilty to the crimes on 2/15 in Santa Barbara Superior Court. Judge Joseph Lodge sentenced 45-year-old Patrick Matthew Ortiz of Goleta to a year in county jail and five years’ felony probation. Ortiz’s six-month vandalism spree started in July 2006 and lasted for six months, ending with his arrest in December.

David Lin, an engineer implicated for his role in the 2001 murder of UCSB student Patrick Hsu, was acquitted on 2/25 in a San Jose federal court. Lin allegedly helped Anthony Chang mail a robotic dog with a bomb inside it to Hsu, who was killed when he put batteries inside the gift toy, igniting an explosion. Chang, who allegedly sent the bomb in a revenge plot against his ex-wife, Hsu’s sister, has since fled the country.

Marcos Almaguer, the driver whose truck struck and killed UCSB triathlete Kendra Payne on Gibraltar Road in January 2006, was sentenced to 45 days in County Jail and three years’ probation. Almaguer originally faced charges of vehicular manslaughter, a misdemeanor, but his lawyers successfully reduced the charges to trespass by motor vehicle, to which Almaguer pleaded guilty. While on probation, Almaguer must also pay $100 per month to the Kendra Chiota Payne Memorial Fund, to which he has already donated $8,000.

A 2/27 hearing in the Eric Frimpong rape case ended with Judge Brian Hill declining to impose the gag order requested by Robert Sanger, Frimpong’s lawyer. Sanger said undue media scrutiny could negatively affect his client’s case, and faulted a Sheriff’s Department press release, which he said used “inappropriate” language to describe the victim’s version of events. Sanger had wanted the gag order to prohibit further notices about the case. Judge Hill encouraged Sanger and prosecutor Mary Barron to jointly compose a set of rules governing media coverage. The next hearing is scheduled for 3/1. Vist independent.com for more.

Former Lompoc convenience store clerk Michael Mims, whom a jury found guilty of attempted murder last month, was sentenced on 2/26 to a minimum of 32 years in prison for the attempted murder of Lompoc resident Anthony Johnson. Mims apologized at the sentencing for shooting Johnson three times at point-blank range outside Kim’s Jiffy Food Store in July 2005. He must serve at least 27 years before he is eligible for parole.

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