Griesa's motion to dismiss D.A.'s office denied

A judge on Friday denied former Marysville towing company manager Joseph Griesa's motion to remove the Yuba County District Attorney's Office from his felony sexual assault case and scheduled a June 8 jury trial.

Visiting Judge Ersel L. Edwards, retired from Nevada County, said the motion, prepared by Griesa's latest attorney, Kenneth Rosenfeld, contains "hearsay and innuendo" about alleged misconduct by prosecutors.

Edwards had harsh words for the Sacramento attorney, who promised to take the issue to the 3rd District Court of Appeal.

"I've seen your creativity, and I'm concerned about it," said Edwards, who is expected to preside over the trial.

According to Rosenfeld, district attorneys have a conflict of interest because they promised to drop the case against Griesa in exchange for evidence against defense attorneys Jesse Santana and David Vasquez in a related case. Griesa waived attorney-client privilege with one of his former attorneys, Timothy Evans, who furnished evidence to prosecutors.

Griesa is charged with sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl who worked for him at Mitchell's Towing Service. Edwards said Griesa could have raised the conflict of interest issue before his first trial but didn't. In June, Yuba County jurors convicted him on misdemeanor charges involving the same girl.

"Your client knew what he was doing, and he proceeded with the waiver" of attorney-client privilege, the judge told Rosenfeld.

Griesa had a different attorney at the trial.

Edwards called the relevance of the conflict of interest allegations "tiny" and obscured by facts of the case.

"Even if it occurred, it doesn't bar further prosecution," he said.

The District Attorney's Office prosecution of Santana and Vasquez, who are charged with trying to bribe the girl to keep her from testifying against Griesa, does not create a conflict, Edwards said.

Rosenfeld said he will file another motion requesting a change of venue. Edwards said he usually rejects such motions, even in high-profile cases when prejudicial pretrial publicity is alleged, because "people don't read the paper."

Rosenfeld disagreed, pointing to reader "blogs" posted on previous Appeal-Democrat stories about the Griesa case.

Rosenfeld also promised to file motions to obtain evidence allegedly withheld by the District Attorney's Office, which he said "can't be trusted."

In a hallway before the hearing, Rosenfeld passed the lead prosecutor in the case, Deputy District Attorney John Vacek, without speaking.

Edwards warned Rosenfeld and Vacek to prepare well for the trial. He discouraged attorney "sidebar" conferences at the bench that jurors can't hear, saying such conferences are a sign that attorneys are unprepared.

"I don't want this to be a circus or a fiasco," Edwards said.

Edwards seemed undeterred by Rosenfeld's promise to take his case to the appeal court.

"If I make a bad decision, I'd just as soon have them tell me," the judge said.

Griesa is free on bail after his June conviction.

All Yuba County judges removed themselves from the case with little or no explanation.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Rob Young at 749-4710 or at ryoung@appealdemocrat.com.