{"article":{"id":140428,"heading":"Theresa Dang acquitted of all criminal charges","author":"Duane J. Roberts","created":"2005-12-03 05:28:51","modified":"2013-11-11 00:36:54","last_modified":"Mon, 11 Nov 2013 07:36:54","article":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><p>&gt;&gt;&gt; PLEASE EMAIL AND POST EVERYWHERE &lt;&lt;&lt; <br><br> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE <br><br> Thursday, December 1, 2005 <br><br> THERESA DANG ACQUITTED OF ALL CRIMINAL CHARGES <br><br> WESTMINSTER, CA -- After a day of deliberation at the <br>  <br> West Justice Center, a mostly white, middle-aged jury <br>  <br> composed of engineers, homemakers, and administrative <br>  <br> assistants found Theresa Dang, 26, of Westminster, <br>  <br> California, &rdquo;not guilty,&rdquo; on two misdemeanor theft <br>  <br> charges for allegedly stealing a flashlight that was <br>  <br> &ldquo;lost&rdquo; by a police officer at a Wednesday, May 25, <br>  <br> 2005 counterdemonstration against Minuteman founder <br>  <br> Jim Gilchrist in Garden Grove.  <br><br> &ldquo;The jury realized this case had nothing to do with a <br>  <br> lost flashlight,&rdquo; said Duane J. Roberts, one of the <br>  <br> organizers of the May 25th counterdemonstration. &ldquo;They <br>  <br> saw that this was a politically-motivated charge <br>  <br> brought forth by the Garden Grove Police Department <br>  <br> against Dang for exercising her constitutional rights <br>  <br> of free speech and assembly.\" <br><br> Not only was the Deputy District Attorney handling the <br>  <br> case unable to offer any conclusive evidence proving <br>  <br> the flashlight in question was owned by a Garden Grove <br>  <br> Police officer, but testimony made under oath suggests <br>  <br> they have a &ldquo;shoot first, ask questions later policy.&rdquo; <br><br> &ldquo;It appears that Garden Grove Police put the cart <br>  <br> before the horse,&rdquo; said Roberts. &ldquo;In their zeal to <br>  <br> persecute Dang for her outspoken criticism of the way <br>  <br> they handled themselves on the night of May 25th, they <br>  <br> filed criminal charges against her before <br>  <br> conducting a thorough investigation of all the facts. <br>  <br> If they had been seriously interested in doing the <br>  <br> latter, they would have found out she committed no <br>  <br> crimes.&rdquo; <br><br> In comments that Orange County Superior Court Judge <br>  <br> Erick L. Larsh made during the jury selection process, <br>  <br> an average trial like this costs California taxpayers <br>  <br> about $22,000 per day. <br><br> &ldquo;Taxpayers should be outraged that Orange County <br>  <br> District Attorney Tony Rackauckas wasted an estimated <br>  <br> $50,000 in court expenses to bring this case to <br>  <br> trial,&rdquo; said Roberts. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s enough money to buy <br>  <br> every officer on the Garden Grove Police force with <br>  <br> three shiny new flashlights of the exact same make and <br>  <br> model they claimed that Dang stole several months <br>  <br> ago.&rdquo; <br><br> Roberts further adds: &ldquo;District Attorney Rauckauckas <br>  <br> needs to drop pending criminal charges against three <br>  <br> other men arrested on the night of May 25th by Garden <br>  <br> Grove Police officers. The enormous amount of <br>  <br> ill-will, mistrust, and negative publicity generated <br>  <br> by the Dang case has tainted the credibility of that <br>  <br> police force so badly that I doubt their testimony <br>  <br> will be useful in convicting anybody. After seeing for <br>  <br> myself firsthand what they did to Theresa, I seriously <br>  <br> doubt any of these young men committed any crimes.\" <br><br> Duane J. Roberts <br>  <br> <a href=\"mailto:duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com\">duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com<\/a> <br><br> ### <br><br> <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","contact":"duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"\u201cThe jury realized this case had nothing to do with a lost flashlight,\u201d said Duane J. Roberts, one of the organizers of the May 25th counterdemonstration. \u201cThey saw that this was a politically-motivated charge brought forth by the Garden Grove Police Department against Dang for exercising her constitutional rights of free speech and assembly.&quot;","numcomment":8,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2005\/12\/140428.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":140462,"heading":"Looks like they were paying attention","article":"Direct action by trial by jury...excellent !\r\n\r\nHey, don't you think the results and collateral damage done to dirt bag orange county government was more effective than protesting with a f..... sign...YOU BET IT WAS !\r\n\r\nThis jury did what they were required to do and acquit.\r\n\r\nYou the community there now have the power to make a difference, and help each other and your neighbor about discussing a jurors power.\r\n\r\nPlease see www.fija.org for more information.","author":"Ben","parent_id":140428,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-12-03 16:22:33","modified":"2005-12-03 16:22:33","fileurl":""},{"id":140518,"heading":"Thank you Duane","article":"Thanks for all your reports on this story. Glad it had a happy ending.","author":"Thx","parent_id":140428,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-12-04 06:32:51","modified":"2005-12-04 06:32:51","fileurl":""},{"id":140536,"heading":"Duane","article":"Duane, I am confused, did you copy the story from a newspaper and not give them credit, or did you write the story and interview yourself?\r\n\r\nJusy me, I am just a little confused.  ","author":"John","parent_id":140428,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-12-04 18:23:25","modified":"2005-12-04 18:23:25","fileurl":""},{"id":140537,"heading":"repost with credit.","article":" no reason to be a little confused.","author":"So","parent_id":140428,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-12-04 18:35:08","modified":"2005-12-04 18:35:08","fileurl":""},{"id":140541,"heading":"Langley and Kristen Anderberg","article":"Can't anyone see that this thing, writing lies, is just trying to demonize the now Uranium poisoned troops as the war is now so unpopular?\r\nI guess the rulers just want them to come home and die, hated and shunned.","author":"Annoyed","parent_id":140428,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-12-04 19:15:48","modified":"2005-12-04 19:15:48","fileurl":""},{"id":140544,"heading":"Re: Duane","article":"Hi John:\r\n\r\nJohn wrote:\r\n\r\n> Duane, I am confused, did you copy the\r\n> story from a newspaper and not give them\r\n> credit, or did you write the story and\r\n> interview yourself? \r\n>\r\n> Jusy me, I am just a little confused. \r\n\r\nIt was a quick press release that I wrote. It's not uncommon for people, companies, and organizations to &quot;interview&quot; themselves in press releases. On another note, I'm in the process of writing an article about how ridiculous the case was against Theresa Dang. Hopefully it will be finished before the end of the day.\r\n\r\nSincerely,\r\n\r\nDuane J. Roberts\r\nduaneroberts92804@yahoo.com","author":"Duane J. Roberts","parent_id":140428,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-12-04 20:33:33","modified":"2005-12-04 20:33:33","fileurl":""},{"id":140608,"heading":"Can Theresa Dang sue the DA's office?","article":"They put her through alot. If she can prove to a judge the political angle maybe she has a case.\r\n\r\nAlso any chance for civil action against the guy who hit people with his car?","author":"question","parent_id":140428,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-12-05 18:24:55","modified":"2005-12-05 18:24:55","fileurl":""},{"id":140713,"heading":"SUE AN ATTORNEY?","article":"That is like canablism.....they wont sue each other...that is what they have have us for.....","author":"John","parent_id":140428,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-12-07 16:18:46","modified":"2005-12-07 16:18:46","fileurl":""}]}