San Luis Obispo County, California: Flawed investigation nearly jailed wrong man

thumpsalot · #1 11-24-2011, 08:28 PM

New Times (22 Nov 2011): The wrong man: A flawed investigation nearly sent a man to jail

Quote:

A 50-year-old man was arrested for stalking two teenage girls at a deli in Templeton, and the District Attorney’s Office was going in for the kill.

The Sheriff’s Department said the man was a convicted child molester, so the district attorney could boost the stalking charges from a misdemeanor to a felony. If convicted, the man could be put away for six years.

The Sheriff’s Department had been watching the man for a long time. When the girls told their mother that they had been stared at and stalked, the authorities thought they finally had a child rapist dead to rights.

“He’s a piece of shit,” the investigating sheriff’s deputy told the victims’ father. The girls would be the central witnesses for the prosecution. He told the father deputies were going to ride him “until he snaps.” The deputy told the victims’ father the man was crazy, a child rapist, and a kidnapper. He needed to be dealt with.

But there was a problem with what the deputy said and, in fact, what most of the prosecution claimed in the trial: little of it was true.

They had the wrong man.

Read the whole story in the New Times.

There's also a good editorial in the New Zimes (22 Nov 2011): Justice or payback?

Quote:

So where does that leave us? At the very core of his campaign, Sheriff Ian Parkinson promised that he would be different from former sheriff Pat Hedges. Remember the secrecy, the blatant abuse of power, the sense of being above the law? Parkinson’s got a deputy in his employ whose accounts were successfully counterd in court, who spent public resources building a bogus case, who apparently tussles with suspects for jollies. I, for one, don’t want him prowling the streets with a paycheck essentially signed by the taxpayers. So, here’s your chance, Parkinson. What kind of sheriff, what kind of public servant, are you going to be?

Read the entire editorial.

Other Background Material

Homefacts: Sex Offender Info for Billy Mannon

Mugshots.com: Billy Gene Cannon

San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Press Release (10 Mar 2010): Narcotics Arrest - Registered Sex Offender

San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Press Release (17 Mar 2010): Registered Sex Offender - Arrest

San Luis Obispo Tribune (17 Mar 2010): Sheriff's Department warns public about sex offender living in Templeton

KCOY (17 Mar 2010): UPDATE: Templeton Sex Offender Arrested

KSBY (18 Mar 2010): Sex offender arrested in Templeton Wednesday evening

KSBY (18 Mar 2010): Registered sex offender arrested for second time in one week

KEYT (18 Mar 2010): SLO Authorities Re-Arrest Sex Offender

San Luis Obispo Tribune (18 Mar 2010): Templeton man who was subject of sheriff's notifications arrested

KSBY (19 March 2010): Close relative defending sex offender in Templeton

San Luis Obispo Tribune (19 Mar 2010): SLO County Roundup

San Luis Obispo Tribune (27Mar 2010): SLO County Roundup

KSBY (5 Apr 2010): Preliminary hearing scheduled for local registered sex offender

San Luis Obispo Tribune (6 Apr 2010): Charge against Templeton man accused of looking at kids reduced to misdemeanor

San Luis Obispo Tribune (7 Apr 2010): Sex offender’s charge reduced: Man accused of using binoculars to look at girls will be prosecuted for a misdemeanor

San Luis Obispo Tribune (5 June 2010): Templeton sex offender acquitted of annoying girls: Man allegedly annoyed girls, but witnesses say it wasn’t him; he faces further charge involving threat in court

Bobbery · #2 12-03-2011, 06:21 AM

I am sure that police focus on the wrong person often. And while they are focusing on the wrong guy, the real perp is going away free, and the trail gets colder.

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