School board member guilty of obstructing police at checkpoi

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08:31 AM PDT on Wednesday, September 1, 2010

By JOHN ASBURY
The Press-Enterprise


A Moreno Valley School Board trustee is scheduled to be sentenced today for a misdemeanor conviction of obstructing police during a DUI checkpoint.

A jury on Monday found Victoria Baca, 51, guilty of one count of delaying officers during a traffic stop in May 2009.

Jurors were unable to decide on a second count and the judge dismissed a third count, a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest.

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The case originally went to trial in June, but a mistrial was declared due to an attorney scheduling conflict. Last week, the case was assigned to an Indio courtroom.

Baca could face up to a year in jail when she is sentenced but likely will receive probation or no time, said Deputy District Attorney Tim Cross.

"She's going to get nothing. I would anticipate the judge would sentence her very lightly," Cross said.

Andrew Roth, Baca's attorney, said she was not trying to interfere with officers and was innocent of any criminal acts.

"She hadn't interfered with much of anything. They arrested her without probable cause," Roth said. "The case should have never gone forward."

Moreno Valley police were holding a sobriety and driver's license checkpoint that Baca and a group of protestors argued unfairly targeted unlicensed immigrants. Police had pulled over one vehicle for making an illegal turn around the checkpoint and then illegally backing up to see the protest, Cross said.

Police said Baca came to the driver's window and told him he didn't have to cooperate or answer questions from officers. When they told her to back away, she initially refused, Cross said.

When asked for a driver's license, Baca said she only had her business card.

As an officer attempted to arrest her, she grasped a light pole and resisted, Cross said. That charge was dismissed because the officer did not follow procedure in telling her what she was being arrested for, Cross said.

The judge barred the defense from arguing freedom of speech during the case.

"No one's above the law and anyone else would be prosecuted for interfering in this case," Cross said.




http://www.pe.com/localnews/morenovalle ... c4264.html

[Bowman]

Was this translated from Spanish? It doesn't make any sense.

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Was this translated from Spanish? It doesn't make any sense.

I'm sorry i was making a translation to post it up in the Univision Site, and it got mixed up. But i have fixed it now.