Witness Claims He Got Threat Four persons swear in federal court declarations that they witnessed Woodland police officers severely beat a man who offered no resistance and died while being taken into custody. In addition, an attorney for the family of the dead man, Juan Nieto, says in a declaration that one of the witnesses was recently accosted by a man believed to be one of the officers, who warned the witness against cooperating with the attorney. The witness told attorney Jeffrey Jacobs he was approached on the street "by a person who he believed to be one of the officers involved in the Nieto incident," according to Jacobs' declaration. [continues 773 words]
An El Dorado County couple who claims filming by a "reality-based cop show" violated their constitutional right to privacy and wreaked havoc on their personal lives took their case to a federal jury Tuesday. Steven and Toya Roseveare say the 1993 broadcast showing his cooperation with agents in setting up his marijuana supplier for arrest was followed by a series of anonymous, threatening calls to the couple's home. The Roseveares, residents of the town of El Dorado near Placerville, are seeking unspecified monetary damages from the American Broadcasting Co. and A.D.Productions Inc. of Southern California. [continues 516 words]
B.E. Smith, a Vietnam veteran whose postwar stress and disillusionment with government caused him to retreat to the rugged isolation of Trinity County, was found guilty Friday in Sacramento federal court of marijuana cultivation and possession. The trial has been closely watched nationwide because it could help determine whether medicinal necessity is a valid marijuana defense in courts governed by federal law, which does not recognize California's medicinal exception for pot. Smith, 52, insists that trauma from the war prompted him to begin smoking marijuana and he secured a doctor's prescription after passage of the state's Compassionate Use Act, which legalized marijuana for those with medical authorization. [continues 581 words]
An angry confrontation between Woody Harrelson and a federal judge erupted Thursday during a marijuana cultivation trial in a Sacramento courtroom, nearly landing the actor in jail. U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. ultimately warned Harrelson, who first gained fame on the "Cheers" sitcom, that he might find himself behind bars if he continued to defy the court. "How do you sleep at night?" Harrelson shot back before stepping down from the witness stand. Harrelson, known for his eco-activism as well as his roles in movies ranging from "Indecent Proposal" to "Natural Born Killers," appeared as a defense witness Thursday in the trial of Trinity County resident B.E. Smith. [continues 844 words]
A Grass Valley carpenter went for the so-called "easy" money in narcotics trafficking and earned himself seven years in prison and the loss of his home. Robert Bruce Asquini was portrayed by his lawyer as an otherwise responsible, law-abiding citizen who impulsively, albeit foolishly, allowed his residence to be used for what he thought would be the short-term storage of several pounds of marijuana. It turned out to be 41/2 to 5 tons of vacuum-packed Thai stick with a wholesale value of $27 million, some or all of which was stored in Asquini's house between the fall of 1995 and the spring of 1996. Asquini was paid $45,000 of the $75,000 he was promised by the leader of a drug distribution ring. [continues 536 words]
