Prosecutors with the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office  say they are investigating past arrests by a Sacramento police officer after learning that he apparently falsified written reports in at least two DUI cases, according to authorities.

Prosecutors dismissed those two cases in June and now are reviewing every case in which Officer Brandon Mullock was the arresting officer, authorities confirmed.

Already, officials have found other cases in which Mullock’s written arrest reports differ substantially from events captured by his patrol cruiser’s in-car video camera, which was the problem in the two dismissed cases, said Karen Maxwell, assistant chief deputy district attorney. She declined to say in how many cases such discrepancies had been found.

Mullock, a 25-year-old who’s been with the department for three years, was most recently assigned to the DUI enforcement team. He has been on paid administrative leave since January, when police alleged that he brandished a gun in an off-duty fracas.

In June, Mullock pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of using offensive words in public in connection with the downtown Sacramento incident. According to the police account of the exchange, Mullock used a racial epithet and an obscenity.

He was sentenced to 180 hours of community service and three years of informal probation, which prohibits him from drinking alcohol and requires counseling for alcohol abuse, according to Superior Court records.

An internal department investigation ended with Mullock’s plea, said spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong. Read the rest of this entry »

Three drunken-driving convictions, even spread out over a quarter-century, are usually enough for a license suspension and a stretch in jail. They might also affect a driver’s teaching credential.

That’s what happened to Shirley Broney, an Orange County elementary school teacher with a spotless record in the classroom but not behind the wheel.

According to a state appeals court in Sacramento, Broney had DUI convictions in 1987, 1997 and 2001. The last conviction came after police arrested her in a parking garage, where she was heading out with a blood-alcohol level of 0.25 percent, more than three times the legal limit. She was sentenced to 30 days in jail, but was allowed to serve her time at home and in the classroom while wearing an ankle bracelet.

The state Commission on Teacher Credentialing began an investigation of Broney, who had obtained her certificate in 1997. At an administrative hearing, her principal described her as talented and dedicated, and Broney’s substance abuse counselor said Broney had learned her lesson and wasn’t likely to drink and drive again.

But the commission said Broney had shown unprofessional conduct and should lose her credential for 60 days. The commission let her continue teaching, though, by suspending its order and putting her on probation for three years.

Broney appealed, saying her past transgressions as a driver had nothing to do with her fitness to teach. But the Third District Court of Appeal said it wasn’t convinced that her fifth-grade pupils could be insulated easily from their teacher’s outside misconduct.

For one thing, the court said, Broney had to wear an ankle bracelet in class for a month, which would have “adversely impacted (her) ability to earn the respect of her students.” The youngsters are at an impressionable age, and despite the assurances of the teacher and her counselor, the court said, Broney has already shown a willingness to endanger public safety and there’s no guarantee that she won’t do it again.

There’s been no comment from Broney’s lawyer, who could appeal to the state Supreme Court.

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SACRAMENTO (CN) – A state senator who opposed gay rights during his 14 years in the Legislature, then acknowledged he was gay after being busted for drunk driving after leaving a gay bar, was sentenced on Wednesday to 2 days in jail and 3 years probation. State Sen. Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, “received no less than anybody else” for his first conviction, the state prosecutor told the Sacramento Bee.
Ashburn, 55, pleaded no-contest through his attorney. Prosecutors said his blood alcohol content was .14 when he was pulled over in downtown Sacramento on March 4 at around 2 a.m. He later admitted that he had been at Faces, a popular gay bar.
Ashburn will get credit for one day in custody and will work off his other day on a sheriff’s work crew. He also must pay $2,480 in fines and fees.

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The California Highway Patrol officer who arrested NFL star Joey Porter for allegedly driving drunk over the weekend is himself currently under investigation for two counts of driving under the influence.

Court documents obtained by Eyewitness News show 33-year-old CHP officer Jeritt Greer was arrested at 4:05 in the morning of October 22 on the 2400 block of Cedar Street when he was spotted by an undercover Kern County Sheriff’s deputy.

A Bakersfield police officer actually made the arrest.

The police report states “Greer was driving erratically.” Greer displayed symptoms of alcohol intoxication and showed impairment during sobriety field tests, according to the arresting officer’s report.

Greer provided two evidentiary breath tests with a result of .10 percent and .11 percent blood alcohol content. The legal limit is .08 percent.

Legal experts say Greer’s DUI arrest may hurt his credibility if called as a witness against others arrested for DUI, including the Porter case.

CHP officials in Bakersfield refused to comment on Greer’s situation or answer why Greer was not assigned to desk duty rather than being out on patrol, citing this as a “personnel matter.”

“It’s handled on a case-by-case basis, depending on the particular case,” said Sacramento CHP spokesperson Jaime Coffee. She said she could not comment specifically on Greer’s case.

Greer pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor counts of DUI. The next court hearing is scheduled for April 9.

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California State Sen. Roy Ashburn, the Bakersfield Republican who was arrested in Sacramento last week on suspicion of drunk driving, came out in a radio interview Monday.

“I am gay. And so, those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long. It is something that is personal, and I don’t believe I felt with my heart that being gay would affect how I do my job,” Ashburn told radio host Inga Banks on her show on the KERN station in Bakersfield.

The SF Gate reports that the conservative lawmaker came out saying he felt compelled to address the rumors that he had visited a gay nightclub near Sacramento before his DUI arrest just after 2 a.m. on March 3.

The 55-year-old father of four says he crossed the line and broke the law, putting people at risk and therefore owed the public an explanation.

Since he was first elected to the state Assembly in 1996, Ashburn has consistently voted against gay and lesbian rights. He has said those votes reflect how his district wanted him to vote, saying, “I felt my duty, and I still feel this way, is to represent my constituents.”

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A jury deliberated about 2 hours before finding a man guilty of a February 2009 DUI fatality that injured one woman and killed her husband and infant child.

38-year-old Salvador Leon allegedly left a bar in the Earlimart area of California and entered the highway in the wrong direction, heading northbound in a southbound lane. According to reports, Leon did not become alerted when drivers attempted to flash their lights and honk at him. He eventually crashed head on with the young family while traveling about 50 mph.

The crash seriously injured a 22-year-old woman, killed her 23-year-old husband and her 7-month-old baby. Leon was found guilty or two counts of second degree murder, two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and two counts of DUI causing great bodily injury. He will be sentenced for these crimes on March 11.

More.

SACRAMENTO—The California Highway Patrol says 16 people have been killed on state highways over the Christmas holiday weekend so far, the same number of fatalities for the same time period last year.

The number of drunk driving arrests made by the CHP is up, however—to 970 from 824 in 2008.

The figures cover the time period from 6 p.m. Christmas Eve until 6 a.m. Sunday.

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The California Highway Patrol says drunken driving arrests are up from last year this holiday weekend.
From Wednesday evening through 9:30 Friday morning, the CHP made 271 DUI arrests.
That’s 34 more arrests than this time last year.

Highway Patrol Officers are focused on citing drivers for several violations, including drunk driving, not wearing seat belts, and speeding.
Last year 33 people died in collisions over the Thanksgiving holiday maximum enforcement period.

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The driver of the car that crashed Monday near Woodland, killing a 10-year-old girl and leaving his baby son in critical condition, has two prior convictions for driving under the influence, Yolo County court records show.

Arnold Barraza, 25, of Woodland, pleaded no contest in May 2005 to a misdemeanor charge of driving with a blood-alcohol content at or above the legal limit and was sentenced to 201 days in custody, according to the records.

In the criminal complaint in that case, Yolo County prosecutors cited Barraza’s March 2000 conviction for DUI in Tulare County.

Barraza, who has spent time in state prison, has a string of criminal convictions that include assault, attempted car theft and resisting a law enforcement officer with the use of force, records indicate.

California Highway Patrol officials said Tuesday they are waiting for blood-test results to determine whether he was under the influence when the Mazda 3 sedan he was driving spun out of control and flipped.

Officers who responded to the crash reported an odor of alcohol. Excessive speed is also being looked at as a factor in the 1:19 p.m. crash.

CHP officers estimated the car was going about 85 mph when it rolled into a grassy ditch along County Road 22, which parallels Interstate 5 and becomes Main Street in Woodland.

The CHP said in a news release Tuesday that none of the three children in the car was protected by safety restraints. All were thrown from the car.

The two adults – Barraza and passenger Cirena Martinez, 28, of Woodland – were wearing safety belts and were not ejected, officers said.

The CHP said both adults suffered major injuries and were taken to UC Davis Medical Center.

The hospital listed Martinez in fair condition Tuesday night, but staff said they had no records for Barraza. His location could not be immediately determined by The Bee.

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