48 replies to this topic

[Travelnsj]

Goes to show ya.....People do get away with murder!

We should start a recall of that commissioner!

[Cold_H2O]

I agree the commissioner needs to be let go. Hard to believe that a convicted crimminal would be allowed off so easily. And why is this immigrant still on US soil? I think that any immigrant that commits a crime and is convicted should immediately be sent back to the country they came from..

[ShamuLovesMe]

Here's still more info about the resolution of the giant sea bass poaching case, straight from the mouth of the City Attorney himself. This comes from our Divebums scuba discussion list (a public list, which is why I believe it's appropriate to repost the comments here). My compliments to John H. Moore, one of the list's administrators, for going right to the source for this additional information.

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Below are comments from the San Diego Deputy City Attorney who handled the Adhami giant sea bass poaching case (with the sentencing in the news yesterday and today). I am forwarding these with his permission.

The first is a general response by him, the second is responsive to some comments I made about the size of the fine (small) and my disappointment that the conspiracy charge was dropped (conspiracy is one of the better mechanisms being used in Northern California to get much larger sentences for abalone poaching cases). Finally, I'm leaving in the reference to Ms. Lange (the Deputy City Attorney who first had this case, who understood the severity of it, and who handled the Marc Sosnowski commercial lobster poaching case a couple years ago) only because part of my confusion yesterday/today was why she didn't still have the case. A month ago she had been holding firm on a 90-day incarceration requirement (although I cannot speak to whether she agrees with the plea entered yesterday... she may, for all I know).

--John

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Mr. Moore:

Thank you for your e-mail. Ms. Lange is on maternity leave and I returned to the Consumer & Environmental Protection Unit (CEPU) after five years in our office's Civil Division. Before that I spent twelve years in the CEPU prosecuting consumer and environmental crimes.

I appreciate your comments and I'm sorry that you and others do not agree with Mr. Adhami's sentence. In agreeing to 30 days public work service (picking up trash on our freeways) and staying the 90 days custody, I wanted to ensure that Mr. Adhami had ample time to reflect on his crimes, while at the same time having the custody "hang over his head" for the three years of his probation. In addition, he forfeited his fishing license, all confiscated diving gear, including his diving computer, and is banned from fishing within the jurisdictional waters of San Diego for three years. He is also required to pay $1,100 in fines, and that does not include his attorney's fees.

I do not consider this to be a light sentence, particularly in light of the fact that due to jail overcrowding, defendants sentenced to custody on misdemeanors serve only a fraction of their sentences.

On a personal note, I feel strongly about protecting our natural resources, particularly living resources. That is why I do not eat any animal products, nor have I since 1998.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.

Michael Rivo

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[snip]

1. Fines: Generally, when we seek public work service or custody as a term of probation, we do not seek large fines. In this case, I required that Mr. Adhami pay the maximum fine on the count he plead to. This means that in the event he violates his probation, the court cannot impose a fine instead of custody. I also considered the value of the equipment he was required to forfeit as indirectly a fine.

I should also point out that it is not uncommon for courts to reinstate probation numerous times when defendants violate probation without imposing custody. That is why I considered the 90 days stayed custody to be significant. If Mr. Adhami fails to comply with every term of his probation for the next three years — he goes to jail.

2. Conspiracy: I too am very interested in the use of this charge in appropriate cases, and I commend Kathryn Lange for her approach to this case. As with any charge, the issue comes down to a matter of proof — can it be proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants entered into an agreement to commit an illegal act, and did they take some action in furtherance of the act. In other words, in this case, in order to prove conspiracy, it would have to be proved that the defendants agreed to either take a protected fish, or they intended to enter the preserve to take marine resources. As a matter of proof, conspiracy charges usually require either a video or audio recording of the parties entering into the unlawful agreement, or the testimony of a witness or party to the agreement.

[snip]

Michael Rivo

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[Travelnsj]

Mike,

I think you should send this Thread to the Supervising City Attorney or The City Attorney. Perhaps the Commissioner was acting within what the City Attorney asked. But this is a horrible decision and rationalization by the City Attorney.