Officers' names involved in critical incidents must be disclosed, attorney general says

The public generally has a right to know the names of police officers involved in critical incidents, including those involving lethal force, according to a recently released opinion by the state Attorney General's Office.

The opinion is a reversal in fortune for media access advocates who have battled the issue in the courts for years.

At the heart of the issue is balancing the public's right to keep watch over the men and women responsible for enforcing the law and the rights to privacy and security of the law enforcers themselves. The opinion, released Tuesday by California Attorney General Jerry Brown, was rendered in response to a request from Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco.

Brown reasoned that the California Supreme Court's 2006 decision in Copley Press Inc. v. Superior Court of San Diego did not overrule the "central holding" of a 1997 California Appellate Court decision New York Times Co. v. Superior Court that a peace officer's name is generally subject to disclosure.

The court ruled in the New York Times case that the name of an officer involved in an incident must be disclosed if the disclosure would not reveal confidential information from an officer's personnel file or endanger the integrity of the investigation or the safety of the officer. The Copley case was more restrictive, ruling that an officer's name may be kept confidential if it is sought in connection with information pertaining to confidential matters such as an internal investigation or disciplinary proceedings.

In the wake of the 2006 Copley decision, numerous law enforcement agencies across the state denied public records requests for the names of police officers, basing their denials on the 2006 Copley decision, which they interpreted as prohibiting them from disclosing disciplinary records and from opening disciplinary hearings to the public because the proceedings are considered confidential personnel records.

Many cities, including Los Angeles, have argued that the Copley decision simply does not allow the names to be made public.

But releasing the name of an officer involved in a critical incident, such as a shooting, would "merely communicate a statement of fact that the named officers were involved in the incident," Brown wrote. Disclosing the information would not reveal confidential information in an officer's personnel file or imply any judgment on the officer's actions, Brown argued.

Brown noted the public's interest in the identities and activities of its law enforcement officers has been repeatedly upheld by the courts.

"The public's legitimate interest in the identity and activities of peace officers is even greater than its interest in those of the average public servant. 'Law enforcement officers carry upon their shoulders the cloak of authority to enforce the laws of the state. In order to maintain trust in its police department, the public must be kept fully informed of the activities of its peace officers,'" the Copley decision said, quoting the New York Times decision.

In his opinion, Brown notes there may be certain circumstances where the potential danger to the officer or to the crimefighting mission would outweigh the public's right to know the officer's identity.

A situation involving an undercover officer or an incident involving a gang member where there is a significant risk of retribution against the officer from other gang members, Brown said a law enforcement agency could make the argument there is a "clear overbalance on the side of confidentiality," but barring that, the name of the officer must be released.

Legislation to reopen disciplinary hearings and records of police officers to the public floundered in a key state Assembly committee last year, failing to get a single vote after being faced with adamant opposition by law-enforcement groups.

Sponsored by Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, the legislation drew opposing testimony from dozens of police officers from Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, Fresno, Berkeley and Modesto. Many of the officers argued that disclosure of officers' personnel information would put their lives in jeopardy.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7829 or kedds@ocregister.com

As America Collapses US Government Secret Plans Revealed

Posted by indglass on May 21, 2008

A secret meeting of Congress discusses immanent martial law.

B.A. Brooks
The United American Freedom Foundation
March 13, 2008

On March 13th 2008 there was a secret closed door meeting of The United States House Of Representatives in Washington. In the history of The United States this is only the fourth time a secret meeting was held by the house. Even though Representatives are sworn to secrecy by House Rules XVII, some of the members were so shocked, horrified, furious, and concerned about the future of America by what was revealed to them inside the secret meeting, that they have started to leak this secret information to independent news agencies around the world. The mass media said almost nothing about the secret meeting of the House, mentioning only one of the items being discussed. (The new surveillance techniques that are going to be used by the U.S. Government to watch all American citizens). The story was first released in a newspaper out of Brisbane, Australia revealing the contents of the secret U.S. Government meeting and plans for America including all of it’s citizens. Shortly there after, David J. Meyer from Last Trumpet Ministries found it and made it more available for the world to see.

Here is what was revealed:

• The imminent collapse of the U.S. Economy to occur sometime in late 2008
• The imminent collapse of the U.S. Government finances sometime in mid 2009
• The possibility of Civil War inside the United States as a result of the collapse
• The advance round-ups of “insurgent U.S. Citizens” likely to move against the government
• The detention of those rounded up at The REX 84 Camps constructed throughout the United States
• The possibility of public retaliation against members of Congress for the collapses
• The location of safe facilities for members of Congress and their families to reside during massive civil unrest
• The necessary and unavoidable merger of The U.S. with Canada and Mexico establishing The North American Union
• The issuance of a new currency called the AMERO for all three nations as an economic solution.

Except for a few hundred thousand U.S. Patriots, most Americans have no clue what has really been going on within The United States over the past 100 years, and the sad thing is that most do not want to know the truth. The further you look into the rabbit hole, the deeper it gets. Go to any currency conversion site and convert U.S. dollars to Euros so you can see for yourself the massive decline of the dollar. Look at how much money is and has been spent on the Iraq War to date, ($12 billion per month). Look at our currency and when it stopped being backed by gold.

The Federal Reserve is not federal but a private bank who does not have Americans best interests at heart. We no longer have any manufacturing really based out of America and there is no way that our economy can survive this incredible strain very much longer. The IRS strong arms every American yearly with income taxes, yet there are no laws saying an income tax is to be paid.

The CIA is involved in everything from global drug trafficking and covert military missions, to assassinations around the world and including U.S. Soil. Look at JFK for instance. It did not take long after JFK announced that he was going disband the CIA that he was shot in Texas. America’s new StasiThe Department Of Homeland Security is and has been slowly eradicating our rights for a few years now. based organization called

House Bill H.R. 1955/S-1959 was read by the senate and then sent to DHS for some reason, but is now back and sure to pass. Once passed, this bill introduced by Jane Harman (D/CA), will be the proverbial last nail hammered into every American patriots coffin. H.R. 4279 or the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 which was recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, will give the government draconian powers to do just this. This legislation gives the government the power to seize property that facilitates the violation of intellectual property laws. The legislation also mandates the formation of a formal Intellectual Property Enforcement Division within the office of the Deputy Attorney General to enforce this insanity…

It has been revealed that F.E.M.A. has been building internment camps all over America granting Halliburton a massive $385 million dollar construction contract to make this happen. Most of these sites only need refurbished because they are mostly closed prisons, old WW2 internment camps still intact and other facilities taken over by the government. Some people have referred to them as F.E.M.A. Death Camps where the infamous Red list/Blue Lists will be used to decide who goes where.

Whether you believe that The NWO/Illuminati/Globalization is real or not, there is a lot of proof that exposes definite plans or plots by the rich, political and religious elite to bring on an era of the end times. It is almost like some individuals are trying to make bible prophecy come true in their own sick and twisted ways. Not to mention that the world only has about 10 to 15 years of drinking water left before the wars fought for oil today will be fought for water in the near future. It has been said that these powers want to depopulate the planet of over 30% of it’s human inhabitants in the coming years. Examine all of the executive orders that have been signed into place allowing the president to basically become dictator in control of all government from tribal to federal in the event of any national emergency.

If you did not know, In late 2006, Congress revised the Posse Comitatus Act and the Insurrection Act to make it far easier for a president to declare martial law. Those changes were repealed at the end of this January as part of Public Law 110-181 (HR 4986), the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (signed into law by President Bush on January 28, 2008). Unfortunately it is not the great victory in which one might think because of the total militarization of all local and State police forces all across America.

Will there be martial law? Is martial law coming soon to America? When you see law enforcement being armed with automatic weapons, bullet proof vests and riot gear in small towns that have not had a murder or crime in years, then you have to ask yourself why.

The United States has more people locked up in prisons today than Russia and China combined. It comes out to one in every hundred Americans is behind bars. Our once great country that our ancestors fought and died for has become exactly the tyrants they were fighting. Fascists! When has America ever used words like Homeland? Never!

If you spend a few weeks reading all the info, watching the videos and following the links at The U.A.F.F., you will then have a better understanding of what has led to The Decline And Fall Of America. Remember that Knowledge is power! Learn, look, listen, read, share, prepare, train, stock up on food and water supply for one year.

Fill your pantry with non perishable foods, medicines, cooking oils, tinned meats and veggies. Flour, oats dried corn peas, beans and lentils.. Teach your self how to preserve food for storage. Check out your local potable/ drinking water supplies, non perfumed chlorine bleach is a good sterilizer for water, about 2 teaspoons full per 2 gallon bucket, stirred well and allowed to stand for at least 24 hours with a lid on it or until it no longer smells of bleach. Boiling water helps but it is not always enough to kill off the bacteria which can resist high temperatures.

Americans have been warned for years of the things to come, but have blindly looked away from the truth, which has been available for all to see. There are no more excuses not to prepare for the possible future. The time to act is now before it is too late. Check The United American Freedom Foundation for daily updates and news you won’t see in the mainstream media.

This entry was posted on May 21, 2008 at 2:07 pm and is filed under Martial Law/Police State, Politics/Elect/Corrupt. Tagged: Martial Law, secret. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Bohl: No charges filed against local publisher

Prosecutor’s office claims lack of evidence
May 23, 2008 - 10:50AM
RYAN ORR Staff Writer
VICTORVILLE — No charges will be filed against a local newspaper publisher who was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of residential burglary, Chief Supervising Deputy District Attorney Gary Roth said Friday.


“We have declined to file criminal charges and decided there was insufficient evidence to prove the ‘intent to steal,’ element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt,” Roth said.


Raymond Pryke, publisher of Valley Wide newspapers, was arrested on May 8, for allegedly breaking into a house owned by Artisan Real Estate, a company he is currently suing.


Employees of Artisan Real Estate were checking on a house when they discovered Pryke and a locksmith attempting to change the locks, said Cindy Beavers, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.


According to officials, after the locks were changed, Pryke entered the home in the 25800 block of Rancho Street and took undisclosed property from within the vacant home.


Pryke, 85, said he could not comment on the case, but that he was planning on checking himself into to Loma Linda University Medical Center next week.


“I’m under a lot of stress and am going into Loma Linda for a physical examination because my blood pressure is way too high,” Pryke said.


Pryke was ordered to pay $3 million after San Bernardino County Sheriff Gary Penrod’s wife, Nancy Bohl, sued him for libel relating to articles about her and her company in Pryke’s newspapers.


The judgment was overturned in the 4th District court of appeals and the case was sent back to the superior court to be tried again. It is slated to start July 7.

Ryan Orr may be reached at 951-6277 or rorr@vvdailypress.com

Contracts to NANCY K BOHL A PSYCHOLOGICAL CORPORATION (FY 2000-2007)

This was pulled from Google's cache. The search was performed on May 8, 2008. The link now points to something different. I looks like someone might have wanted to remove this info from the database. Or maybe i just don't know how to use it.

Summary

Total dollars: $16,600
Total number of contractors: 1
Total number of transactions: 1


Top 5 Products or Services Sold
Education Services $16,600


Top 5 Contracting Agencies Purchasing from Contractor(s)
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center $16,600


Top 10 Contractors
NANCY K BOHL A PSYCHOLOGICAL CORPORATION $16,600

San Bernardino clerk begins jail term for embezzling amusement park tickets

SAN BERNARDINO - A fired San Bernardino clerk began a four-month jail term Monday after being sentenced for embezzling nearly $30,000 worth of amusement park tickets.

Diane Lee Huston, 49, twisted her arms, shook nervously and declined to make a statement while standing before San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge John Martin.

Huston pleaded guilty April 14 to grand theft by embezzlement, six months after a city inventory revealed discrepancies between her log books and corresponding receipts.

"She basically swiped the tickets and sold them at a discount," Deputy District Attorney Sean McNally said.

Martin also ordered Huston to serve five years probation, instead of the usual three, to give her additional time to pay more than $54,000 in restitution, the amount requested by the city of San Bernardino.

"It's going to be what, a couple hundred years?" Martin said of the restitution payments. "I know you don't have a job and you're going to jail."

Her sentencing report said that Huston, who worked nine years for the city, ran its discount ticket program for the last three years while working in the human resources department.

"(Huston) took advantage of a position of trust when she took an enormous amount of amusement park tickets," the report said. "It took planning on her part to go undetected."

Huston denied taking the money to support a drug and gambling problem in a sentencing report provided by the county's probation department.

"It is believed she was not telling the truth," the report states.

An Oct. 15 search warrant served at her Riverside apartment showed that officials seized three glass pipes used to smoke methamphetamine and a baggie containing less than one ounce of marijuana.

In the sentencing report, Huston is quoted as saying that she is ashamed, embarrassed and sorry. She said would take responsibility for her actions.

Her attorney, Deputy Public Defender Isaac Rees, said only that his client and the city had reached a resolution that benefited both sides.

Huston's boyfriend, Kevin Timothy Trunnell, 49, also is charged in the case and remains a fugitive, court records show.

Reach John F. Berry at 909-806-3058 or jberry@PE.

Bohl: Could printing critical reports land you in jail?

A truly astonishing - and disturbing - story has been quietly unfolding in the High Desert and our downtown courts.

The latest twist in the story broke in the back pages of The Sun earlier this week. An 85-year-old, quirky newspaper publisher and multimillionnaire named Raymond Pryke was arrested for allegedly hiring a locksmith to help him burglarize a house.

Sound bizarre? You ain't seen nothing yet.

A little lower in our story, we mentioned that Pryke had been embroiled in a drawn-out legal battle with Sheriff Gary Penrod's wife, Nancy, over allegedly libelous stories against her and her corporation.

The Sheriffs was the arresting and jailing agency on Pryke's alleged burglary.

But now, a Press Enterprise story you can see here brings up a number of shocking new details.

1) The day of Pryke's arrest, he was scheduled to be in court for his case defending himself against the allegations made by Penrod's wife.

2) Judge Kenneth Barr issued a protective order preventing Pryke from publishing information about the case before trial. This is what we in journalism call, with great revulsion, "prior restraint." It's a notoriously difficult thing to achieve in courts, and when it is, it is often struck down by higher courts. Having the power to muzzle the press ante publication is dangerous ground. Richard Nixon tried, unsuccessfully, to impose prior restraint on the New York Times to prevent publication of the Pentagon Papers.

3) In 2005, Superior Court Judge Christopher Warner slapped Pryke with a $3 million judgment for refusing to divulge then-anonymous sources and for "impugning" Penrod's wife's character and that of her corporation. This alone is shocking, seeing that public figures (and yes, the Sheriffs wife qualifies) virtually never win libel cases against the press. California also has a shield law protecting journalists from being forced to divulge sources.

4) Predictably, a Riverside appeals court composed of three outside judges threw out Warner's judgement against the newspaperman, concluding that Pryke was protected by California's reporter shield law (gee, ya think) and that Warner had "abused his discretion," strong words between courtrooms.

5) According to the Press Enterprise, Warner wrote as part of his 2005 judgement, "The articles impugn the character, integrity and reputation of (Penrod's wife, Nancy) Bohl and her corporation."

Think about that logic for a moment. Since when do articles that "impugn" public people possibly working with public funds become grounds for ruinous court judgements against the newspapers? The articles in part claimed Penrod's wife's company received favored contracts thanks to her husband's position, something that has not been proved.

Can you imagine if publishers of articles that met those grounds - impugning public people and corporations - were routinely successfully sued by deep-pocketed public officials? Bye bye democracy.

Perhaps Pryke's arrest was a coincidence. Perhaps some deputies who had no idea who he was simply followed the law and put him in jail for burglarizing a house with the help of a locksmith.

Or perhaps the 85-year-old Pryke, purported to be worth well over $10 million, wasn't really burglarizing a home the day before he had to be in court in the case of his life.

I can't say what exactly is going on here. What I can say is that if the free press is pounded into compliance by local policing forces and/or stripped by courts of First Amendment protections to print freely and critically on public people and agencies, then the bedrock principles on which the nation was founded are in peril.

Without question, this issue should be receiving robust front-page and back-page (strong news coverage, strong editorial stances) attention from all local newspapers. Silence and inattention are the enablers of injustice, and if injustices are to occur here, they can stand only if left in the dark.

Frankly, I can think of no greater domestic threat than that of the state (government, courts, police, etc.) abandoning its fidelity to the principle of a free and vigorious press and instead using the power of government institutions to bully the press into submission.

I don't know if that is happening in this case, but the ingredients are clearly present.

Posted by Robert Rogers on May 10, 2008 12:53 PM

Bohl: Dispute over house lands publisher in jail

Raymond Pryke arrested on suspicion of burglary
Stacia Glenn, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 05/08/2008 12:26:43 AM PDT

APPLE VALLEY - A real estate dispute landed a newspaper publisher known for making accusations about Sheriff Gary Penrod's wife behind bars Wednesday.

Raymond Pryke, 85, of Apple Valley was arrested on suspicion of residential burglary. He was booked into West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. Bail was set at $50,000.

Employees of Artisan Realty went to check on a house in the 25800 block of Rancho Street just before lunch and found Pryke and a locksmith changing the locks.

They looked on as Pryke entered the house, locked the door and stole several items from the house, San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Beavers said.

She declined to say which items were stolen because of the ongoing investigation.

"Deputies discovered that Pryke had no legal claim to the property and refused to provide documentation proving Artisan Realty did not own it," Beavers said.

Tristan Pelayes, Pryke's attorney, could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.

Pryke is publisher of Valleywide Newspapers, a chain of eight High Desert weeklies.

He was sued in 2000 by Nancy Bohl, Penrod's now-wife.

Pryke ran articles saying Bohl, a psychotherapist and owner of The Counseling Team International, gave Penrod confidential information about sheriff's employees undergoing treatment.

An article also claimed her counseling business only secured a contract with the Sheriff's Department because of her relationship with Penrod.

A judge ruled in 2005 that the articles impugned the integrity of Bohl and The Counseling Team and ordered Pryke to pay $3 million. An appeal last year overturned the decision.