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Off-duty chokes
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was so sketchy. After they put me in the backseat he was laughing in my face. I told the officers that I did not trust him one bit. He started waving at me.” Officers arrested Branch
and transported him to the downtown San Diego jail where he stayed for 12 hours.
Branch sues Without any formal charges against him, Branch hired attorney Dan Gilleon to represent him in a poten- tial civil case. Just in case charges were f iled, he sought the counsel of crimi- nal defense attorney Marc Kohnen. With Kohnen’s help, Branch retrieved his cell phone and with it the nine-minute video of the altercation. In October 2015, Branch
sued the County of San Diego, sheriff William Gore, and detective Paul Ward for excessive use of force, bat- tery by a peace officer, negli- gence, and intentional inflic- tion of emotional distress. The lawsuit includes
testimony from a colleague of Ward’s, detective Mark Karo, who in 2014 filed an internal complaint against Ward for alleged battery. The detective, who was since terminated from the force, told investigators that Ward had hit his shoulder and poked him repeatedly over rumors that Karo was “talking shit” about Ward. Karo complained that Ward had become “increasingly erratic” and “hostile.” The detective warned the investi- gator that Ward was capable of hurting somebody. A spokesperson for the
sheriff ’s department was unable to comment on the outcome of the complaint.
Branch charged In November 2015, three months after Branch filed his civil complaint and nearly eight months after the
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incident occurred, district attorney Bonnie Dumanis’s office filed criminal charges against Branch. The com- plaint charged Branch with a felony count of battery on an officer, a felony for resist- ing arrest and for threaten- ing to use pepper spray on an officer, and misdemeanor counts for reckless driving and failure to provide a license and registration. Four months later, in
April 2016, the charge was amended to include addi- tional felony charges stem- ming from a 2013 criminal complaint filed by a female acquaintance of Branch who says he threatened and stalked her. The additional charges appeared despite the fact that in 2013 the district attorney had decided not to pursue the case. Branch’s criminal defense
attorney Kohnen believes the district attorney is attempt- ing to intimidate his client and retaliate against him for filing his civil lawsuit. Kohnen points to the fact that the initial 2013 stalking charges were once treated as a misdemeanor but now have been turned to felony counts. “This case is a clear misuse of prosecutorial dis- cretion and undermines the integrity of the office,” says Kohnen, who took Branch’s case pro-bono. “Resurrect- ing the 2013 charges, pre- viously rejected for prose- cution, was only done as a distraction and to inflame the passions of a jury [to] be more prone to dislike my client at trial.” As to the battery charges
against his client, Kohnen believes that Ward became enraged on the freeway that day. His rage prevented him from calling police to report Branch and instead goaded him to take matters in his own hands. “You have to think of
the eternity of time that Ward had over the course of the nine-mile drive from where the vehicles nearly collided in El Cajon to the Del Cerro neighborhood.” Kohnen adds. “He had
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ample opportunity to request for backup to assist with the process and to avoid any confusion. Conversely, think of the extremely brief amount of time Branch had to comprehend the situation before an arm went around his throat and began to choke him. “Branch is the true vic-
tim here. That said, we knew that the District Attorney would never file charges against their own officer in this case.”
Branch followed The district attorney’s pur- suit of Branch goes fur- ther. According to court documents obtained by the Reader, the district attor- ney’s office began to follow Branch and his support- ers at rallies, tracking their presence at court hearings, recording their speeches inside churches, and por- ing over Branch’s and his supporters’ Facebook pages. Reverend Shane Harris
is president of the National Action Network’s San Diego chapter. The 25-year-old pastor from Southeast San Diego has held several ral- lies for Branch in an attempt to raise awareness about the case. “This case represents a
failure in the criminal and judicial system in having the local district attorney be in charge of investigating local police,” Harris said during a March 24 interview. “It’s a major problem, and we see that so clearly in the Branch case. The district attorney is playing a game with these charges, one that shouldn’t be played, in order to pre- vent Branch’s civil case from moving forward. They don’t want to be held accountable.” And while Kohnen and
Harris rally against now-for- mer district attorney Bonnie Dumanis, Branch is unsure of his future. “I’m scared, it’s really all I can say. It’s changed my life,” Branch says over the phone, one day before his 27th birthday. “I don’t want to go to prison for six to nine years
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for something I didn’t do. I have a daughter that I can’t see. I want to see her grow up. I’m scared. I’m ner- vous. I don’t know what can happen.”
■ (@DorianHargrove)
Under the radar
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prevents exiting officials “from being compensated to lobby the City on any matter for one year after they leave City service.” In a letter dispatched before she stopped the practice of issuing written advice, ethics chief Sta- cey Fulhorst told ex-mayor and newly hired chamber of com- merce chief Jerry Sanders in May 2013, “During your one- year post-employment period (which commences on the date you left office as Mayor), the City’s post-employment lobbying pro- visions preclude you from engag- ing in any direct communications with a City Official on behalf of the Chamber for the purpose of influencing a municipal decision.” The 12 months are expected
to fly by for Goldsmith, at which time he could be doing all the influence peddling he wants. Current Procopio lobbying clients include North City builder Kil- roy Realty; politically connected downtown developer OliverMc- Millan; and multi-national mall owner Westfield, LLC.
— Matt Potter (@sdmattpotter)
The Reader offers $25 for news tips published in this column. Call our voice mail at 619-235- 3000, ext. 440, or sandiegoreader. com/staff/matt-potter/contact/.
NEWS TICKER continued from page 2 so have calls for more tax money to be used by proj- ects that would shovel the cash to an array of the city’s well-heeled hotel, real estate, and development interests, many of which are spending heavily to influence San Diego politi- cos, especially Faulconer, who will ultimately divvy up the funding.
Shea furnished a total of
$6000 to Faulconer’s may- oral campaigns of 2013 and 2014, city records show. In May 2010, his Dono-
van’s Steak and Chop House agreed to pay a $2230 fine to the California Fair Politi- cal Practices Commission to settle charges it violated state law by failing to report $27,101 of 2008 politi- cal contributions.
Matt Potter
Keep Faulconer off witness stand The fatal Point Loma crosswalk at Catalina and Canon Attorneys for the City of San Diego hope to prevent mayor Kevin Faulconer from taking the witness stand in the wrongful death lawsuit filed by parents of a seven- month-old girl who was killed as her dad pushed her in a stroller while crossing a Point Loma crosswalk. The motion comes despite the fact that more evidence has come to light that then-coun- cilmember Kevin Faulconer was aware of the dangers at the intersection. Superior Court judge
John Meyer will hear the motion during an April 7 court hearing. Deputy city attorney
Catherine Richardson has urged the judge to block attempts to force Faulconer to the stand. Richardson says doing so would have no bearing on the case, as Faulconer was never person- ally responsible for handling any citizen complaints nor was he aware of the dangers of the intersection located at Canon Street near the transition ramp from Cata-
lina Boulevard. John Aavang was push-
ing his daughter Juniper in her stroller at Catalina and Canon streets just after daybreak on March 2, 2015 while his wife, Ginerva, trailed behind. Aavang and his daughter were using the crosswalk when a black SUV driven by David Hoban struck them, throwing John Aavang to the side of the street while dragging the young girl’s stroller for 68 feet until coming to a stop. Juniper Aavang died a few hours later. Her father, John Aavang, suffered severe head trauma. Two weeks after the
accident the Reader sub- mitted a public records request to the city asking for any complaints submit- ted to the city about the dangerous crosswalk. The city responded by turning over a 2010 complaint to then-councilmember Kevin Faulconer, also a resident of Point Loma, from Jon O’Connor. In his complaint O’Connor requested that additional safety improve- ments be made to address what he said was a “com- plete blind spot for families with kids trying to cross.” Dorian Hargrove
More money to grab Mission Valley stadium land
SoccerCity backers really want that 165 acres If nothing else, the knock- down, big-money brawl over the fate of the 165- acre chunk of public land in Mission Valley otherwise known as Qualcomm Stadium would make a good case
Dragged the young girl’s stroller for 68 feet
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28 San Diego Reader April 6, 2017
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