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Monday, June 27, 2005

THERESA DANG'S ARRAIGNMENT HEARING CONTINUED UNTIL
WEDNESDAY, JULY 27TH

The bailiffs at West Justice Center ask to examine a
tiny black pouch I was carrying

By DUANE J. ROBERTS
duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com

WESTMINSTER, CA -- As I entered Department W4 at the
West Justice Center, I quickly noticed there were four
bailiffs standing inside the courtroom. As a former
employee of the Orange County Superior Court, I knew
that this wasn't normal. Some kind of a security alert
had been issued for that day, perhaps in response to
an email I sent out over the internet about a week ago
urging people to "pack the courtroom".

I proceeded to find a seat in the last row, along with
a friend of mine who had been at the May 25th
demonstration. I had barely begun to make myself
comfortable when suddenly one of the bailiff's
positioned himself behind where I was sitting. Another
standing at a podium in front of the courtroom looked
me square in the eye and said, "You in the denim
jacket, come up here." I was puzzled. What had I done?

I got up from my seat and casually walked toward him.
"What's that?" the bailiff asked, pointing to a tiny
black pouch I was carrying in my left hand. I brought
it up to him closer, carefully opened it, and slowly
pulled out the object it contained so he could examine
it further: "It's my cellphone; I turned it off as you
requested."

"O.K., thanks," he responded politely.

I went back and sat down, where that bailiff still
stood behind my seat like a quiet sentry. Other people
entered the courtroom with backpacks, purses, and
pouches, but not a word was said to them. At times, it
appeared that some bailiffs were staring at me; I
couldn't help but smile back.

This is what happens when you confront the organized
might of the capitalist state. But this was not
harassment with an iron fist; but of a velvet glove.
The bailiffs assigned to protect Department W4 this
morning not only seemed to be pretty confused, but
looked like they were scared; perhaps they didn't know
what to expect.

But when they finally came to the realization that
none of the 30 people who came to support Theresa Dang
that morning arrive with the intention of committing
any devious acts, the bailiffs started slowly exiting
the courtroom one by one; even the hefty fellow
standing guard right behind me soon wandered off into
the hallway. (only to come back later and position
himself elsewhere)

And was it a coincidence that Orange County Superior
Commissioner Lon F. Hurwitz called out Dang's name
first? This case has badly stung the Orange County
District Attorney's Office and the Garden Grove Police
Department. It's clear they want to get it out of the
system as rapidly and quickly as possible to avoid any
further negative publicity; but they don't want to
drop it, at least not yet.

When Dang told Commissioner Hurwitz that her attorney,
B. Kwaku Duren, of Los Angeles, hadn't arrived yet,
and that he was probably stuck on the freeway in
traffic, he smiled sheepishly. Not a problem, he told
her. "I'll just put it on second call" he said in a
rather soft voice. He smiled again.

At around 9:20 am, Duren arrived. He and Eric
Petersen, the Deputy District Attorney assigned the
task of handling today's arraignment, spoke briefly.
Petersen released to him copies of the police report
and other documents, as is required by law. When they
were ready, Duren asked Commissioner Hurwitz for a
continuance of the arraignment to the morning of
Wednesday, July 27th. The Deputy District Attorney
Petersen agreed. And so it was granted. No pleas were
to entered today.

As both Dang and her attorney proceed to walk out of
the courtroom, everybody that had attended her hearing
began getting up from their seats, almost in unison
with one another. The noise they generated by doing
this sounded like gentle claps of thunder.
Commissioner Hurwitz, Deputy District Attorney
Petersen, the bailiffs, and other court personnel were
expressionless and silent as they watched people leave
through the double doors.

A small crowd of Dang supporters assembled outside
near the main entrance to the West Justice Center.
Reporters from the Nguoi Viet Daily News and The Los
Angeles Times just went about their work, asking
questions about today's hearing. About 100 feet away,
two bailiffs and four Westminster Police officers kept
a close eye on everything that was going on. A quiet
uneasiness pervaded the air.

What will happen next? Only history can tell. But if
the rumors I've been hearing about Dang's case prove
to be true, public exposure of them will be of
considerable embarassment to the entire system of
"criminal justice" here in Orange County. Is it no
wonder why so many men in powerful positions are
incredibly nervous about what the Garden Grove Police
have done?

-----------------------------

Permission granted for reproduction for the above work
in any non-profit publication provided that credit is
given to the author of this work.

-----------------------------

To learn more about how you can help Theresa
Dang and the five other young men who
were arrested by Garden Grove Police on
the night of May 25th, please go to
http://www.may25.org or email may25legaldefense@yahoo.com.
Please consider making a financial contribution.

Also check la.indymedia.org regularly for the
latest news on this matter as they are covering
this matter very aggressively.

--------------------------------------
SEE THE FOLLOWING LINKS FOR MORE INFO
--------------------------------------

Minuteman Flap Leads to Home Search
Daniel Yi
6/18/05
The Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-flashlight18jun18,1,1495011,full.story?coll=la-headlines-california

--------------------------------------

GG Police pursue phony criminal charge against woman
hit by Minuteman supporter
Duane Roberts
6/17/05
la.indymedia.org

http://www.la.indymedia.org/news/2005/06/129491.php

--------------------------------------

No probe of police conduct at anti-Minuteman protest
Eleeza Agopian
6/15/05
The Orange County Register

http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/06/15/sections/local/local/article_560039.php

--------------------------------------

Minutes of Tuesday, June 14th meeting of the Garden
Grove City Council where Theresa Dang spoke critically
of the police
6/14/05
City of Garden Grove

http://ch.ci.garden-grove.ca.us/internet/pdf/afm/cc/f06142005.pdf

--------------------------------------

The first photo on this page is of Theresa Dang, one
of four persons struck by a minivan driven by Hal
Netkin
LA-IMC
5/25/05
la.indymedia.org

http://www.la.indymedia.org/news/2005/05/127222.php

--------------------------------------

Garden Grove Police Lt. Mike Handfield sends me a
message about Theresa Dang
Duane Roberts
6/21/05
la.indymedia.org

http://www.la.indymedia.org/news/2005/06/130193.php

--------------------------------------

Duane puts himself at the center of events once again.

You know, it's the inverted pyramid theory of writing a journalistic piece - put what's most important at the top of the story, and the less important at the bottom.

Duane and his exprerience on top, Theresa Dang and her case on bottom.

Thanks, nonetheless, for the info.

Observer writes:

> Once again
>
> Duane puts himself at the center of events once again.
>
> You know, it's the inverted pyramid theory of
> writing a journalistic piece - put what's most
> important at the top of the story, and the less
> important at the bottom.
>
> Duane and his exprerience on top, Theresa Dang
> and her case on bottom.
>
> Thanks, nonetheless, for the info.

I'm not certain if I agree with the idea that the most important stuff should be at the top of a journalistic piece; I thought I'd get the less important stuff out of the way first. The incident I had with the courtroom bailiffs serves to illustrate a very important point: if they are acting this tense, what do you think is really going on behind the scenes within the power structure here in Orange County? Their actions merely reflect what is going on on a much deeper level. That's why I started off this way.

I do accept your criticism of my journalistic endeavors, however; it's something I'll take into consideration in any future pieces I write.

Sincerely,

Duane J. Roberts
duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com