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March 2008

DA Meets With Lincoln High School Students

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis met during March with a group of more than 20 students at Lincoln High School to have a dialogue with the teenagers regarding issues that affect them --especially gang-related crime. DA Dumanis introduced herself and the role of the DA's Office. She opened up the discussion to the students to allow them to share their views on violence, gangs, school and anything else that was on their minds.

DA Dumanis encouraged the students to speak out on issues to the younger kids in elementary and middle schools. "The positive message needs to come from you if it's going to make a true difference in the community," DA Dumanis said. The students suggested ideas and brainstormed long-term solutions for the community. They emphasized the importance of mentoring programs and good role models in preventing gang involvement. "We need to step it up if we want things to change and impact one person at a time," one of the students said. The students also expressed concern over the recent education budget cuts, the state of their school and the desire to do something to become a positive influence to younger students. DA Dumanis urged the students to remember that they have choices in life.

At the conclusion of the discussion, DA Dumanis invited the students to work with the DA's Office on collaborative efforts to engage students and create positive changes in the community.

Women's Advisory Council Discusses Future Goals

The Women's Advisory Council met in March to discuss issues covered during the past year and plan for the upcoming year. The Council was created by DA Dumanis to help guide the D.A.'s office as we shape future policy in the area of crimes against women and children. The statistics are staggering. Somewhere in America, every two minutes, a woman is raped. Every day, in the United States, more than three children die as a result of child abuse in the home. Every day, four women die in this country as a result of domestic violence.

Members of the Women's Advisory Council are powerful and influential women in San Diego who are committed to serving the community. Council members meet bi-monthly for a luncheon meeting in the District Attorney offices at the Hall of Justice to discuss issues facing the District Attorney's office. Topics range from preventing Identity Theft and Elder Abuse, Internet Fraud, Economic Crimes, and SB 618, an inmate re-entry program to help stop the cycle of repeat offenders.

DA Releases 2007 Annual Report

The District Attorney's Annual Report to the People details some of the office's accomplishments for the past year including the DA's response to the October wildfires, the anti-meth "Crystal Darkness" campaign, and the county's prisoner reentry program. The Annual Report also serves as a great way for the public to understand how the DA's office is structured and the work of each of the divisions. You can read the Annual Report online by clicking here.

Conviction in High-Profile Murder Case

Near the end of the month, a former South Bay adult video store employee was convicted of first-degree murder for fatally shooting his homeless friend.  The victim's body parts were found scattered around San Diego County. Gerald Nash, 62, faces a sentence of 50 years-to-life in prison. Nash was arrested last year for the February 2007 death of Allen Burton Hawes. In searches of Nash's home, the video store and several vehicles Nash owned, authorities confiscated numerous items, including a saw and gloves that had Hawes' DNA on them. The jurors were presented with gruesome details of the murder, testimony from the defendant and extensive amounts of evidence. DDA Kristen Spieler also presented pages and pages of notes written by the defendant describing how to kidnap, torture and kill someone, then dispose of the body. After nearly five hours of deliberation over two days, the jury found Nash guilty of murdering Hawes.

DA CASE FILE

Steven Wesley Yates, 38, was sentenced to three years and eight months in state prison after he pleaded guilty to one count each of distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography. Prosecutors said Yates had more than 1,700 images of child pornography in his collection when he was arrested.

Ivan Chavez, 17, was sentenced to 16 years in state prison after he admitted his role in a gang-related brawl at a San Marcos grocery store that left one young man dead and another wounded. After Chavez and co-defendant, Robert Lopez, 17, believed their rivals urinated on a makeshift memorial for one of their members, they chased members of the rival group and stabbed two of their members.

Nicholas Harris, 19, was sentenced to four years in prison after he pleaded guilty to assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon, auto theft and evading while driving on the wrong side of the road. Harris stole an ambulance from a hospital, rammed it into a patrol car, nearly ran over a sergeant and crashed near his Fairbanks Ranch home.

Jerome Bates, 27, a former Marine Lance Corporal, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for assaulting a man in San Marcos last year. Bates received three years for the assault, but the judge doubled that sentence and added five mandatory years because of a prior felony in 2001 when while driving drunk, Bates killed a CHP officer.

Tung Thanh Danh, 20, and Tam Than Vo, 19, two gang members, were sentenced to prison for their involvement in the drive-by shooting death of a 19-year-old man in Linda Vista 15 months ago. Danh was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Vo got 13 years in prison. They pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and an allegation that the killing of Tien Phung was carried out for the benefit of a criminal street gang.

Virginia Hernandez Lopez, 44, was sentenced to two years in prison for causing a fatal head-on crash in August 2007 that killed a 45-year-old man. Lopez was convicted in February of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. The victim, Allan Cole Wolowsky of Julian, was driving home from a memorial service when Lopez crossed a double yellow line and slammed into his car.

Brian Edward McConnell, 27, the second in command of a La Costa gang, was sentenced to five years probation for planning to kill a pair of Carlsbad bookies and a member of their own group who went astray. McConnell pleaded guilty last December to conspiracy to commit kidnapping for his role in the February 2006 plot. Two other members, Joseph Micah Shiller and Michael Galeski, were also sentenced to five years probation after admitting their roles in the plot.