Accusers known only
by the letters they keep
MARYSVILLE, Calif. – A man whose name was misspelled in official documents was convicted in Yuba County Superior Court Friday of charges he stole a 1987 Nissan on Oct. 26, 2006 from someone identified only as “RP.”
Elias Guauatemo Flores of Mexico (no age given) pleaded no contest to grand theft auto. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison. Other charges were either dismissed or were to be served concurrently with the main term, a visiting judge ordered.
Through a court-appointed interpreter, Flores corrected the spelling of his name, making it even more incomprehensible.
Prosecuting attorney “SJ” said later that the “RP” cited in the California Highway Patrol crime report were the “real initials” of the accuser and did not stand for some anonymous “Reporting Party.”
A defendant in California courts is legally entitled to know the name of his accuser. So is the public. Or at least they used to be.
But, it seems in the hurly-burly of tossing out all those laws that prevented federal, state, county, municipal and district officials from acting just as they please, the few remaining laws that protected the public from illegal search and seizure and made it possible for the defendant to look his accuser square in the eye and challenge the claim may have gone out the window, too.
posted by Tom Nadeau at 5:31 PM
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