Special Operations

Some of Special Operations Division cases of note last year included:

Integrity of the Justice System
A 75-year old defendant previously sued his employer for age discrimination. Part of his proof was an email purportedly from his employer to him, which referred to him as being senile, on medication and having memory issues. The email was allegedly discovered right before the civil trial and was presented as proof during the civil trial which ended with a judgment against the employer. After the trial the defendant’s computer was forensically examined and the email was found to have been created by altering an email the employer had sent defendant. A jury convicted the defendant of multiple counts of perjury and preparing a false document with the intent that it be presented in a trial. At the end of the case, the defendant was ordered to pay $590,865 in restitution for the costs the victim incurred in going to trial in the civil case.

Government Theft
A San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency clerk skimmed almost $13,000 in cash, from fees collected from emergency medical technicians, paramedics and mobile intensive care nurses so they could be certified. The clerk pleaded guilty to felony grand theft.

Firearms Compliance Cases
A defendant, who was prohibited from possessing a firearm, was prosecuted for possessing concealed weapons and for being a prohibited person in possession of firearms and ammunition. The defendant was in a public library with a loaded firearm clipped inside his pants, feet away from the children’s area of the library. A jury convicted him of all counts.

Hate Crimes
A defendant entered a church rectory and contacted an associate of the church. He asked the associate if he was a priest, then picked up scissors from a desk and brandished it at the victim. The defendant claimed he had a gun. The defendant walked back and forth in front of the office door preventing victim from escaping. The defendant said he was there to kill the priest, after the priest hears his confession about the horrible things he has done to his wife. The victim believed defendant intended to kill him. He tried to pick up a phone to find help, but defendant demanded he put the phone down. The victim was able to secretly text a friend who works at the San Diego Police Department. When the defendant became distracted, the victim ran outside, taking a housekeeper with him. The defendant pleaded guilty to false imprisonment while personally armed with a knife. He received a three-year prison term.

In another case, the defendant beat an African-American man, yelling racial slurs at him. The victim suffered a tear to his ear, requiring several stitches, along with cuts and swelling to his face. The defendant pleaded guilty to felony assault likely to cause great bodily injury and causing great bodily injury. He was sentenced to a three-year prison term.

Officer Involved Shootings
Body-worn camera footage or other video evidence continued to reveal how quickly officers have to respond to threatening circumstances. They include:

• Witnessing officers stopping a suspect from climbing into a daycare facility while armed with what turned out to be a BB pistol.
• An officer saving a young woman’s life as she was being held at gunpoint by her former boyfriend, who had just shot her mother, father, and grandfather. The woman’s parents died from their injuries.
• Shocking video footage from a police helicopter showed Peter Selis shooting at innocent and vulnerable people, who moments before had been celebrating a friend’s birthday at a pool in a La Jolla apartment complex.