Cheryl Cox didn't even bother to pretend to oppose political prosecutions

Peter O'Toole and Bonnie Dumanis seemed to have opened the Public Integrity Unit for the sole benefit of Cheryl Cox, going after Cox's opponents for the flimsiest of reasons. Money spend on defending public employees has never bothered Cheryl Cox. She spent huge amounts at Chula Vista Elementary School District.

Of course, at CVESD Cheryl was in charge of deciding who would be attacked, too. She was sort of a two-for-one deal: Bonnie Dumanis and Cheryl Cox wrapped up in one package. Castle Park Elementary still hasn't recovered from Cox's illegal actions and her expensive payments to lawyer to help her get away with it.

San Diego Union Tribune
City won't ask DA to reimburse legal bills
By Tanya Sierra
October 8, 2008

CHULA VISTA – Chula Vista officials won't ask the district attorney to reimburse the city $609,000 for legal bills one councilman said are from a “fishing expedition” that caught nothing.

The motion to ask for reimbursement failed on a 2-2 vote, after a heated discussion at last night's City Council meeting. Councilman John McCann was absent. Mayor Cheryl Cox and Councilman Jerry Rindone voted against requesting a refund, and Councilmen Rudy Ramirez and Steve Castaneda voted for it.

Reached Monday, McCann – who did not indicate he would be absent – said he did not know how he was going to vote, and he was still waiting for legal advice.

In the last two years, Chula Vista has spent more than $600,000 defending council members questioned or prosecuted by the district attorney's Public Integrity Unit.

Ramirez made the initial request last month. Over the course of several meetings, some residents criticized the city for agreeing to pay $194,000 for Castaneda's legal bills, which he incurred for his defense during a perjury trial in April. Castaneda was found not guilty on six counts and a mistrial was declared on four others...

Last month, Ramirez asked for the council's support in requesting reimbursement for legal bills. He said District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis has unfairly persecuted Chula Vista with investigations that have led nowhere.

In an interview Ramirez said: “When I go fishing, I pay for the fishing expedition.”...

The Cheryl-Greg connection and a political prosecution

Patsy Fritz seems to agree with me about who approved of the shameful prosecution of Steve Castaneda. The D.A.'s office claimed that Castaneda had intended to buy a certain condo, and that even though he never bought it, the D.A.'s office believed that Castaneda lied about wanting to buy it.

San Diego's district attorney charged a man with a dozen or so felonies based on the apparent ability to read his mind. San Diego needs a new district attorney.

[Photos: Cheryl Cox on left, Bonnie Dumanis far right]

Here is a well-written message I found on the San Diego Growth Blog:

"What we have here, I think, is the effort to curry favor by Dumanis, and the Supes' quid-pro-quo for her support during their election campaigns.

"...I have wondered why the Lincoln Club and Republican Central Committee are not shown as "friends of the court" in O'Toole's capers. I see this as Bonnie sucking up not only to the Supes, but to the downtown Republican establishment. She's been a Republican for some time (prior to her first race for DA) but for obvious reasons needs to burnish her Republican rep to get the downtown establishment's support.

"I truly regret the time, $$$ and effort I put into that race, garnering votes in North County for Dumanis. I was S0 idealistic about Bonnie, but she's turned into just another run-of-the mill influence peddler - for her own interests. Sad! She could have been a real force for ethics and reform!"

...Patsy

Dumanis: This prosecution is too bizarre to be anything other than politically motivated

Chula Vista City Councilman Steve Castaneda goes on trial today in the second politically-motivated prosecution out of a total of two prosecutions by the secretive "Public Integrity Unit" formed by San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and the recently low-profile Patrick O'Toole.

Prosecutor Patrick O'Toole was unable to find any crime committed by Castaneda, so he charged him with lying during the investigation about whether or not he intended to buy a condo.

In April 2007, the Public Integrity Unit began prosecuting political opponents of Cheryl Cox. Patrick O'Toole, who had previously been appointed as US Attorney for San Diego by Attorney General John Ashcroft, headed the unit.

O'Toole prosecuted a staffer for mayor Steven Padilla who had taken two hours off work in an effort to get a photograph of Cheryl Cox with her disgraced family friend David Malcolm at a twilight yacht party fundraiser for Cox. The staffer was charged with five felony counts of perjury for telling a grand jury that he filled out his leave slip from work before rather than after he took off from his job at the City of Chula Vista. He pled guilty to lesser charges as part of a plea deal.

The now-dormant unit ended its active phase with a second and final prosecution, that of Steve Castaneda, who had run against Cheryl Cox for mayor.

Castaneda was prosecuted for allegedly lying about whether he planned to buy a condo, even though he never bought the condo in question.

According to the San Diego Union Tribune, "Castaneda was a tenant at the complex and was accused of seeking favors, such as free rent, from Sunbow owner Ash Israni, according to the 1,200-page grand jury transcript. The investigation found that Castaneda paid his rent and didn't ask for special treatment. O'Toole told the grand jury the perjury charges are warranted because Castaneda should be held accountable for 'lying about the facts'; even if no crime was uncovered...Castaneda has been vocal about O'Toole's investigations, saying they are politically motivated. He contended that Dumanis conspired with Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox, his political rival in the 2006 mayoral primary."

"DA unit works as quietly as it began"


"Trial and Re-election bid could coincide"