It's summer! "We're in the money!"

"We're in the money...
We're in the money...

We've got a lot of what it takes to get along..
We're in the money, 

oh-oh-oh Come on my honey 

Let's lend it, spend it, send it rolling around..."

*

The IVC guide to insulting the IVC community

Diane Oaks

     This afternoon, Daniel Gross, the Director of Composition (among other duties) at UCI emailed TAs, lecturers, et al. about an opportunity, a job. “Greetings,” he said. If you “are interested in this job, please get in touch directly with Diane Oaks at Irvine Valley College….”
     Diane Oaks, of course, is the Director of PR and whatnot here at Irvine Valley College.
     What’s the job? Gross explains by providing Diane’s memo to him:

     I am looking to hire a UCI faculty member to edit our IVC style guidelines.
     We have created an IRVINE VALLEY COLLEGE style guide similar to the UCI style guidelines:

• http://communications.uci.edu/campus-resources/styleguide/
• http://communications.uci.edu/campus-resources/graphic-standards/index.php

Daniel Gross

     We are hoping [you] might recommend a UCI faculty member who would help us EDIT or [sic] IVC STYLE GUIDELINES = we are interested in paying your faculty member a stipend for this project.
     Thanks so much! 

     Diane

     Golly.
     Why on earth didn’t she just contact the English Department here at IVC? Perhaps they are not up to the task, in her estimation.
     Good grief.

John Williams’ incompetent testimony in the Mickey and Trudy Thompson murder case

     One of the more interesting So Cal murder cases of recent years was the brutal—and, for many years, unsolved—shooting of Mickey and Trudy Thompson in 1988.
     Who were they?

     Mickey Thompson was a well-known race car driver [see] who set a land speed record in his youth. By the 1980’s, Mr. Thompson was running a successful sports promotion company that sponsored indoor stadium races, principally with off-road, four-wheeled vehicles.
. . .
     In the early morning of March 16, 1988, [Thompson and his wife] … were shot and killed in the driveway of their Bradbury Estates [that’s in the city of Bradbury, which is northeast, in the San Gabriel Valley] home, as they were leaving for work, by two gunmen who left the scene on bicycles and were never apprehended. (From 1/26/15 Appellate Court Opinion)

Victims: Mickey & Trudy Thompson

     The crime remained unresolved for thirteen years. Then, in 2001, another sports promoter, one who had had a serious falling out with Thompson, was arrested for the murder (more specifically, for hiring hit men to kill the Thompsons. The hit men have never been identified).
     The trial of this promoter, Michael Frank Goodwin, was eventually moved from OC to LA County, where a jury convicted Goodwin of first degree murder in 2007.
     I recall seeing an episode of CBS’s 48 Hours Mystery about the case—evidently in July of 2008. (See 48 Hours Mystery: Murder In The Fast Lane.)
     Here are more particulars of the story:
     In the mid-80s, Goodwin and Thompson partnered on a project that went south, leaving Goodwin in financial straits. Goodwin blamed Thompson and sued him. In the end, Goodwin lost his suit, and he thus owed Thompson a large sum. Goodwin appealed the judgment but lost again. At that point, Goodwin, a notorious hot-head, spouted off many times about getting back at—and even killing—Thompson.
     Then, of course, the Thompsons were murdered.
     The case lingered, though many suspected Goodwin. In part owing to the efforts of Thompson's politically connected sister, the case came back to life in about 2000. Then, as I said, Goodwin was brought to trial and convicted in 2007.

Mr. Goodwin

     Goodwin appealed the verdict. His appeal made many assertions of impropriety and incompetence. The Appeals Court, however, was unimpressed and affirmed the 2007 verdict. Evidently, this occurred recently (judging by the filing date on the Opinion: 1/26/15).

Enter John Williams aka Orlando Boy
     Now, I do not doubt that Goodwin’s conviction was just. Goodwin very likely killed the Thompsons and deserves to be in prison. (Some disagree.) And I don’t doubt the wisdom of the Appellate Court’s recent decision to affirm the 2007 judgment. Nevertheless, some embarrassing factoids about the prosecution’s case—or at least its witnesses—do come to light in the opinion. (Read it here.)
     —Embarrassing factoids especially about John Williams, the former SOCCCD trustee and County official (Public Administrator), who, as you’ll recall, resigned his trusteeship (in December of 2010) while battling pressures to resign his elected County gig amid charges of misconduct and incompetence. By 2012, he resigned his County post in disgrace.
     Evidently, at about that time, Williams' wife began battling breast cancer. She died late in 2014. (See Former SOCCCD trustee’s wife, Joann Williams dies.)
     DtB readers will recall that, back in the late 80s, Williams was an OC Deputy Marshal.

Corrupt, stupid, staunch

     During the trial, the prosecution presented numerous witnesses who testified that Goodwin had said threatening things re the Thompsons, and one of these witnesses was none other than former Deputy Marshal John Williams.
     Williams testified that, just three months prior to the murders (in 1988), he had encountered defendant Goodwin in the course of repossessing the latter’s Mercedes. According to Williams’ testimony, Goodwin said such things as, “Mickey Thompson is fucking dead. He doesn’t know who he’s fucking with.”
     Luckily, more reliable witnesses testified to similar disturbing remarks (such testimony seemed to be the heart of the prosecution's case). I say “luckily” because, in court, it was established that, contrary to Williams, the repossession occurred two years earlier—not “three months” prior to the murders.
     John Williams is a fuckhead.
     But you know that.
     I suggest that you read the Opinion for yourself. (Here: 1/26/15 Appellate Court Opinion.)
     Some excerpts:

Defendant’s Threats Against Mr. Thompson
a – j . . . k. John Williams [page 11]  

   John Williams was a deputy marshal in Orange County from 1986 through 1988. He was assigned to levy on defendant’s Mercedes automobile in connection with litigation involving Mickey Thompson. He went to defendant’s residence and, in the course of the removal of the Mercedes, defendant said, “Mickey Thompson is fucking dead. He doesn’t know who he’s fucking with.” Both defendant and his wife used an extraordinary amount of “vicious language” about Mr. Thompson, and both repeated that Mr. Thompson “was going to have something happen to him.” Mr. Williams reported the incident to his supervisor, and telephoned Mr. Thompson’s attorney to report the successful levy and the threatening comments.
     Mr. Williams testified that the incident occurred about three months before the Thompson murders, but documentation showed a writ to levy was issued on June 4, 1986; a levy worksheet was dated June 11, 1986; and a receipt for the towing service used for the defendant’s car was dated August 14, 1986. Mr. Williams, when shown these documents, continued to insist the incident did not occur in August 1986. (After the bankruptcies were filed in September and November 1986, Mr. Thompson would have been unable to levy on the Mercedes, and in January 1988, defendant surrendered his Mercedes to a representative of the bankruptcy trustee without incident.)

P. 61: Defendant’s claims of prejudice
. . . v. John Williams’s testimony about towing defendant’s Mercedes  

   Mr. Williams testified to defendant’s threats on Mr. Thompson’s life that occurred when Mr. Williams seized defendant’s Mercedes to collect on Mr. Thompson’s judgment. The documentation, including Mr. Williams’s notes of the altercation, were purged, so defendant could not impeach Mr. Williams with his own notes (to establish that the incident occurred in 1986, rather than shortly before the murders in 1988, and to establish that no altercation was noted). But defendant was able to produce other, undisputed evidence that the towing occurred in 1986 (a receipt from the towing company and other documentation). Mr. Williams was thoroughly cross-examined and impeached with the documents on the issue of when the levy occurred, so the purged notes would have been cumulative – and defendant’s claim that those notes did not mention an altercation is complete speculation. So any prejudice from loss of the notes was minimal.
. . .
The Prosecutorial Misconduct Claims (p. 128) a. Claims of misconduct in the prosecutor’s opening statement
i.
ii.
iii. Deputy John Williams (p. 134)  

     Defendant next cites as misconduct this part of the prosecutor’s opening statement:
     “I told you about that prized Mercedes, that 1982 SL coupe. Mickey Thompson went after that as a personal asset. It was ultimately seized by authorities. We will introduce you to Deputy John Williams who is now a public official in Orange County; no longer a serving officer. But he is a serving public official, an elected official.
     “He will tell you that when he walked up to notify [defendant] that he was going to have to seize his car, he had legal documentation that entitled him, John Williams, to seize the car, [defendant] flew into one of his famous violent rages. He flew into a rage. He turned beet red. His neck got thick. Every vein on his face started sticking out. And he screamed, ‘He doesn’t know who he’s fucking with. He’s fucking dead . . . if he thinks he’s going to take my car. The car was, in fact, taken.”
     Defendant cites this as misconduct, saying the prosecutor “failed to prove [defendant] made threats in the presence of Deputy John Williams.” He is wrong. Mr. Williams testified just as the prosecutor said he would. But he also said his best recollection was that the incident occurred in late 1987 or early 1988, while other witnesses and documentation showed a levy occurred in June or July 1986. Defendant says Mr. Williams’s testimony was “false” because defendant was in bankruptcy since the fall of 1986, so the car could not have been seized in 1987 or 1988 to satisfy Mr. Thompson’s judgment. But mistaken testimony is not “false” testimony. (Indeed, Mr. Williams was adamant, even when confronted with evidence that a levy occurred in 1986, that the incident he described “did not occur in August of 1986,” and that he was “never told, even by the defendant, he was in bankruptcy or I wouldn’t have taken his car.”) There is simply no support for defendant’s assertion that the prosecutor “failed to prove [defendant] made threats in the presence of Deputy John Williams,” much less that the prosecutor’s opening statement was “knowingly false and made in bad faith” and a “deliberate misstatement.” There was no misconduct.
. . .

p. 145 

d. The claim of misconduct in closing argument
. . . p. 151 v. Vouching for witnesses 

     The prosecutor “is generally precluded from vouching for the credibility of her witnesses, or referring to evidence outside the record to bolster their credibility or attack that of the defendant.” (People v. Anderson (1990) 52 Cal.3d 453, 479.) Thus a prosecutor is not permitted “ ‘to place the prestige of [his] office behind a witness by offering the impression that [he] has taken steps to assure a witness’s truthfulness at trial. [Citation.] However, so long as a prosecutor’s assurances regarding the apparent honesty or reliability of prosecution witnesses are based on the “facts of [the] record and the inferences reasonably drawn therefrom, rather than any purported personal knowledge or belief,” [his] comments cannot be characterized as improper vouching. [Citations.]’ [Citation.]” (Ward, supra, 36 Cal.4th at p. 215.)
     Defendant contends the prosecutor vouched for the credibility of John Williams when he said the following, in rebuttal to defense counsel’s argument about     Mr. Williams’s testimony (including that the prosecutors “knew that John Williams was lying” and that “John Williams is just simply delusional”): “[Defense counsel] went on and on [about John Williams]. And I think she said that John Williams was delusional. [¶] Please as we talk this morning I’m going to ask you a number of times to think back and remember witnesses and how they testified on the stand. John Williams is an elected official in Orange County. A long time public servant. At the time of the repossession of the car, he was a deputy marshal in Orange County. . . . [¶] I don’t think anyone in this courtroom would argue with it, his dates were probably off by a year or so.” After describing his testimony, the prosecutor continued: “You saw this man on the stand. You’ll have to make that judgment. But I would submit to you that what he told you and how this went down and what [defendant] said about Mickey Thompson is absolutely true.”
     Once again, defense counsel posed no objection to the prosecutor’s remarks at trial, so the claim of misconduct is forfeited. In any event, the prosecutor’s statements were not improper vouching. Defendant says the prosecutor was “vouching about Williams’ status as an elected official and a marshal,” and “expressed his personal belief in Williams’ credibility.” But Mr. Williams testified that he was elected as the Orange County Public Administrator, and that he had been a deputy marshal, so the prosecutor’s remarks about his status were “ ‘based on the “facts of [the] record . . . rather than any purported personal knowledge or belief,” ’ ” so that comment “ ‘cannot be characterized as improper vouching.’ ” (Ward, supra, 36 Cal.4th at p. 215.)
     As for the prosecutor’s statement that he “would submit to you that what [Mr. Williams] told you . . . is absolutely true,” the prosecutor preceded that statement with a description of his testimony and with the proviso that “[y]ou’ll have to make that judgment.” Considered in context, this was not improper vouching. (See Ward, supra, 36 Cal.4th at p. 216 [there was no improper vouching where the prosecutor, referring to a witness’s testimony, said “ ‘The only thing I have ever told him is to tell the truth, nothing but the truth, and that’s what he did for you’ ”; the prosecutor “was no more than expressing his view of and reasonable inferences from the totality of the evidence”]; see also United States v. Necoechea (9th Cir. 1993) 986 F.2d 1273, 1279 [prosecutor stated, “ ‘I submit to you, ladies and gentlemen, that she’s not lying. I submit to you that she’s telling the truth’ ”; the court concluded that “[t]hese ‘I submit’ statements do not constitute vouching,” and “do not imply that the government is assuring [the witness’s] veracity”].)     There was no misconduct here.

SEE ALSO:

• Michael Goodwin "Relieved" His Conviction for Mickey Thompson Murders is Upheld? (NavelGazing, 1/29/15)
• Appeal heard in racing great murder case (Washington Times, 10/ 28/14)

OC suckery

National Review Calls For Republican Action In Orange County's Informant Scandal (NavelGazing)

     …Writing "When District Attorneys Attack" in the conservative National Review, [Kevin] Williamson penned a nice summary of the "terrifying" mess and then offered an original, thoughtful observation: … Republicans…should be able "to rouse themselves to action" ending systematic prosecutorial misconduct.
     "Only the Republican party has the credibility and the political capital to take on the difficult and sure-to-be thankless task of reigning in rogue police agencies and abusive prosecutors—and they might as well take a look at our scandalous prisons while they are at it," Williamson wrote….

Hastert and Fuentes and bears, oh my!

     As you know, Republican and former Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, has been in the news lately. Reportedly, he's in trouble over manipulations of financial records in an effort to obscure extorted payments owing to his (alleged) sexual abuse of a student during Hastert's coaching days, decades ago.
     You’ll recall that Hastert was the tool who provided former SOCCCD trustee (and avid mentor of conservative young men) Tom Fuentes with his “thank you” prize for his efforts to help reelect George Bush in 2004. (For Bush, Fuentes’ star was tarnished by the latter’s failure to support Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. Hence, the shitty prize. The previous giftage was even shittier. See Fuentes, cancer, and “tumor” rhetoric. In his later years, Fuentes claimed vindication re his opposition to Ah-nuld as "Republican in Name Only." He was right, of course.)
     As we reported back in 2006,

     I learned a bit more about Mr. Fuentes’ appointment to the Elections Assistance Commission (EAC).
     I am bothering with all this detail because, as we've pointed out on this blog more than once, there's good reason to be very concerned about election fraud. (See the Conyers Report. For a brief discussion of its conclusions: Conyers Report.) The EAC has an important role in the larger "watchdog" mechanism of federal elections.
     And now our man Fuentes is part of EAC.
     The recently-sent “board highlights," referring to Dave Lang's remarks, inform us that

Trustee Thomas A. Fuentes...was on his way to Washington, D.C. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert appointed Trustee Fuentes to the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission Board of Advisors, succeeding U.S. Congressman J.C. Watts.

     See Mr. Fuentes goes to Washington (again) and More on Fuentes' appointment (DtB, 2006)

Raghu's defunct blog: bitterness and finger-pointing

Still yammering about his Chancellorizing philosophy more
than two years after he lost the gig? Oh sad, sad Raghu.

     Today, I happened upon a blog evidently created by former SOCCCD Chancellor Raghu Mathur during his (as it turned out, unsuccessful) bid for a seat on the Laguna Hills City Council in late 2012 (that was less than a year and a half after his exit from the district, in June of 2010).
     In typically half-literate Mathurian fashion, Raghu entitled his blog Dr. Raghu Mathur Statement (DRMS).
     The darned thing sports exactly five posts, two of them during the campaign, three not long after. As you'll see below, the first post was a draft, heavy on finger-pointing, that Raghu expanded in two subsequent drafts/posts.
     Question: To whom does he point his nasty little finger? Answer: at me and at Don Wagner.

     I should mention that there is no evidence that anyone has ever read Raghu's blog, 'cept for me. There are no comments. There's no counter or statistics page. DRMS seems to be decidedly unvisited, ignored.
     Like Raghu himself.
     Still, you ask, what's Raghu's blog like? Well, long-time DtB readers are familiar with Raghu's tendency to become bitter and angry in defeat, or when directly challenged about his wrongdoing or incompetence. Consider Raghu's remarkably bitter letter to voters after losing his SVUSD board seat in 1992—or his vituperative response to getting his first "vote of no confidence" back in 1998!
     During the 2012 City Council campaign, I made an effort (a pretty small effort, as I recall) to inform voters of Raghu's actual record whenever his name came up in the press. Judging by Raghu's remarks on his nasty little blog, in his mind (if not in reality), my efforts were successful.
     As far as bitterness and anger are concerned, DRMS does not disappoint at all. Check it out.

Some highlights/lowlights:

Post 1. No Title, September 12, 2012 - He briefly introduces himself.

     ...I was engaged in tough and successful contract negotiations with the faculty and staff unions due to declining economic conditions affecting our taxpayers. However, a disgruntled faculty union member has created blog [sic] with continued irresponsible, unprofessional and defamatory false statements about me and my outstanding work as Chancellor.
     I retired from the college district when an elected member of the Board of Trustees directed, and, in fact, pressured me to perform an illegal and unethical task,* which would have cost an unnecessary expense of more than $250,000 annually for many years. I declined to perform such a task because it was against my principles and conscience as well as against the best interest of the students, and the taxpayers. Therefore, I respectfully and honorably retired.

Post 2. Reason for my retirement, October 28, 2012 [still pre-election]

     ...I was engaged in tough and successful contract negotiations with the faculty and staff unions due to declining economic conditions affecting our taxpayers. However, a disgruntled faculty union member has created blog [sic] with continued irresponsible, unprofessional and defamatory false statements about me and my outstanding work as Chancellor.
     I retired from the college district when an elected member of the Board of Trustees directed, and, in fact, pressured me and attempted to blackmail me** to perform an illegal and unethical task, which would have cost an unnecessary expense of more than $250,000 annually for many years. I declined to perform such a task because it was against my principles and conscience as well as against the best interest of the students, and the taxpayers. Therefore, I respectfully and honorably retired.

Post 3. Reason for my retirement from the SOCCCD, January 16, 2013 [post-election]

     ...However, a disgruntled faculty union member had created blog [sic] with continued irresponsible, unprofessional and defamatory false statements about me and my outstanding work as Chancellor as supported by my outstanding performance evaluations.
     I retired from the college district when an elected and married male member of the Board of Trustees, directed, and in fact, pressured me to perform an illegal and unethical task, which would have cost an unnecessary expense of more than $250,000 annually for many years. I declined to perform such a task because, as a fiscal conservative, it was against my principles and conscience as well as against the best interests of the students, the three campuses and the taxpayers. Therefore, I respectfully and honorably retired.

Evidently, I have "created blog"

     Specifically, I chose to leave related to a moral and ethical issue, when an elected and married male member of the Board of Trustees demanded of me to create a new Dean position and pressured me to promote his unqualified girlfriend to fill that position. The position came with a secretarial support position at a total annual cost of $250, 000, and was unnecessary, illegal in the context of employment laws for public higher education institutions and outright unethical. While the colleges were offering a limited number of courses for students due to budget constraints, I declined to add any administrative positions and thus participate in wasting taxpayer dollars. This was against my principles as a fiscal conservative as well as against my conscience and the best interests of students, college campuses and taxpayers. Therefore, I respectfully and honorably retired as Chancellor of the South Orange County Community College District. The Board of Trustees chose to honor one year remaining on my contract as the Chancellor. I most sincerely wanted to work and earn the money; instead, the Board chose to pay me severance pay per contract, and still paid full salary and benefits to another Chancellor when I left. Some Trustees wanted me to stay and earn my pay which I was totally prepared and willing to do.

Post 4. My Accomplishments as Chancellor of South Orange County Community College District, July 4, 2013

...Saddleback College and Irvine Valley College were accredited by WASC, completed development of student learning outcomes in response to new standards, and were preparing for 2010 site visits. A positive outgrowth of the accreditation process has been the institutionalization of strategic planning at both colleges which includes establishing district wide goals that are integrated within the college planning cycles....

Post 5. My Philosophy and Experiences as a Student Centered Chancellor of SOCCCD, July 28, 2013

     On a daily basis, I provided leadership by reminding everyone in our district that we exist, first and foremost, to meet the educational needs of our students. I encouraged faculty to attend workshops on student learning outcomes. I supported reassigned time for faculty so that they can provide leadership and coordination in development of assessment and documentation of student learning outcomes at course, program and degree levels.
. . .
     As an individual, I model and reflect accountability, transparency and visibility in the colleges and the community.

     Golly.

Notes:

     *For an interesting (and very believable) account of why Don turned on Raghu, read this. No, Raghu did not take the moral high ground. As usual, his connivery got him into hot water.
     **I believe that Raghu leveled this charge in a formal complaint that was mentioned in an OC Reg article back in February of 2010, but Don, who was in the middle of his own campaign for an Assembly seat (the primary), evidently did an effective job of damage control, and, at any rate, the charge went exactly nowhere. (See here, here, and here.) The press was, I think, unimpressed by Raghu's yarn. Or by Raghu.

Raghu teaching Chem this summer in beauteous Cypress, CA

     Guess who's teaching basic chemistry at Cypress College this summer? Yep. Raghu Freakin' Mathur, the SOCCCD's one-time Chancellor. (Do you realize that it's been nearly five years since he "resigned"?)
     I occasionally Google Raghu's name, and, in recent years, it's as though he's fallen off the face of the Earth! Looks like his political career—he ran for Laguna Hills City Council in 2012—is totally in the crapper.
     This morning, the Reb found mention of the Gooster as an employee in an old agenda for an NOCCCD board meeting. So I went straight to the Cypress College Schedule of Classes for this summer. Voila. (See above.)
     As you know (and as the Cypress College website explains), "The campus is just a stones-throw from Downtown Disney and Knott’s Berry Farm."
     Yep. I think I'll grab a stone and go up there.