Attorney General takes over case against lawyers

The prosecution of two Yuba-Sutter attorneys charged with obstruction of justice and trying to bribe a witness in a sexual assault case has been taken over by the state Attorney General's Office.

Yuba County Deputy District Attorney John Vacek made the announcement Monday at a hearing in the case of attorneys Jesse Santana and David Vasquez, who are charged with offering $100,000 to a woman in exchange for her silence. The deal was not completed.

A Yuba County jury last week found Marysville towing company manager Joseph Griesa not guilty — or failed to reach a verdict — on felony charges of assaulting the woman when she was under 18.

In an interview, Vacek said the Attorney General's Office agreed to take over the case to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest by the District Attorney's Office, members of which may be witnesses against Santana and Vasquez.

Visiting Judge John Darlington set the next hearing in the case for Aug. 24.

In a related development, Darlington ruled that the obstruction of justice charge is not specific enough and gave prosecutors 15 days to revise the indictment of Santana and Vasquez. The two are also charged with dissuading a witness. All the charges are felonies.

Santana's attorney, Roberto Marquez, has said the felony charges were meant to torpedo Santana's chance of being appointed a Sutter County Superior Court judge by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Santana's law partner, Matthew Beauchamp, said in an interview that Santana was the leading candidate before he was indicted by a Yuba County grand jury, even though Santana is a Democrat and Schwarzenegger a Republican. The governor has appointed other Democrats to the bench, he said.

Schwarzenegger appointed a Sutter County deputy district attorney, Susan Green.

Darlington may also rule Aug. 24 on a motion by Santana and Vasquez to obtain personnel records from Griesa's days as a Sutter County Probation Department officer. Griesa is expected to be a witness against Santana and Vasquez.

As Griesa's trial began, prosecutors said they had recently received a call from one of Griesa's probationers alleging sexual impropriety on his part when he was an officer. Griesa left the Probation Department about 15 years ago.

When prosecutors indicted they might introduce evidence from the alleged victim, Griesa's attorney, Charles Smith, said he would object and threatened to ask for a mistrial. The evidence was not introduced.

Yuba County Visiting Judge John Darlington previously denied motions by defense attorneys for the personnel records of a Marysville Police Department detective and a Yuba County District Attorney’s Office investigator, saying the records did not show a pattern of dishonesty.

This article has been corrected from what appeared in print. Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Rob Young at 749-4710 or at ryoung@appealdemocrat.com.