Author: Linda Rogers

People convicted of sex crimes against minors would face longer prison sentences and more time on parole with electronic monitoring under a proposal made Monday in response to the murder of 17-year-old Chelsea King of Poway.

The man charged with killing King was on parole after serving five years in prison for molesting a 13-year-old girl.

“We are standing here today because our precious daughter Chelsea has inspired us, and thousands of others, to galvanize together to create a law that denies a convicted sexual predator a second chance to harm or take the life of another child,” said Kelly King, Chelsea’s mother. “Chelsea is our beacon.”

Kelly and Brent King joined Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher (R-San Diego) in announcing a bid to change existing laws governing sex offenses. Fletcher wants to establish a new penalty of a life sentence without the possibility of parole for forcible sex crimes against those younger than 18 when there are aggravating circumstances such as torture and "kidnapping that substantially increases risk of harm to the victim."

He also wants to increase the penalty from a minimum 15 years to at least 25 years for a forcible sex crime life that includes any one of several "minor" aggravating circumstances, including use of a weapon, simple kidnapping or drugging of the victim.

Fletcher also proposes that registered sex offenders be barred from visiting parks where children regularly gather without the offender first getting approval from a parole agent.

And the parole for a person convicted of a forcible sex crime against a minor would be increased from five to 10 years. Those convicted of such a crime against a child younger than 14 would face lifetime parole that included electronic monitoring of their location by parole officials, Fletcher said.

“Violent sexual predators that prey upon children cannot be rehabilitated, and with Chelsea’s Law, we will have a criminal justice system that reflects this reality,’’ the lawmaker said.

— Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento

Thousands of Californians whose homes were foreclosed on or sold at a
loss will likely get tax relief under a measure approved Thursday by
the state Legislature.

The bill would waive state taxes on mortgage debt that has been
forgiven in a foreclosure or short sale. The law is expected to affect
about 34,000 taxpayers.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to sign the measure, which
would also provide about $60 million in tax credits to green-energy
companies.

Californians can already claim the tax breaks on federal returns.
With the April 15 deadline for tax filings looming, the Senate and
Assembly approved the measure, SB 401, by Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis.

The short-sale provision would mean about $34 million less in tax
revenue for the state over three years, according to the Franchise Tax
Board.

–Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento

Photo: L.A. Times file

Three people are dead in Poway after a San Diego County sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a gunman who was suspected of killing a man and a woman in neighborhood dispute.

Two deputies came to the slain couple’s home about 6 p.m. after reports of gunshots. They confronted an armed man outside the home. He was fatally shot by one of the deputies. It is unknown whether the man fired at the deputy.

Inside the home, the deputy  found the couple shot to death. Neighbors said there had been a longstanding dispute between the suspect and the couple.

— Tony Perry

At least one man died and several homes burned in northern Mexico after the magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck near the California-Mexico border Sunday.

A man was killed when his home collapsed just outside Mexicali, a civil protection chief told the Associated Press. A parking garage also collapsed in the border town of 653,000. 

[Updated 11:06 – Baja California state Civil Protection Director Alfredo Escobedo said a second man was killed when he panicked as the ground shook, ran into the street and was struck by a car. At least 100 people were injured, most of them struck by falling objects. At least 20 aftershocks were felt in the city, he said: “It has not stopped trembling in Mexicali.” ]

Oscar Silas, a firefighter at a station 10 miles west of Mexicali, said that at least six homes were destroyed by fires caused by the quake. The blazes started when household propane tanks were damaged and electricity lines were severed, he said. 

He said the fire department had also received reports that several houses near the volcano Cerro Prieto — about 19 miles from the quake’s epicenter — sank into the ground as water rose up around them.

The quake knocked out power and broke water lines, making it difficult to respond to emergencies and assess the damage, Silas said.

“We don’t have any electricity, so communication…is very bad,” he said.

Minor damage was reported in some Southern California locales. Windows shattered at the San Diego Sports Arena. In El Centro, authorities reported some damage at a local hospital, mobile homes shaken off their foundations and chimneys collapsed.

The quake probably occurred on the Laguna Salada fault, which is about 40 to 50 miles long and straddles the California-Mexico border, seismologists said.

The Laguna Salada fault zone lies underneath desert, to the south of the San Andreas fault, seismologists said, roughly at the midpoint of the California-Baja California border. 

“This is a pretty good-sized earthquake on the tectonic boundaries between the Pacific and North American plates,” said Frank Vernon, a research seismologist at UC San Diego. The earthquake was centered 37 miles south of Mexicali.

Both Vernon and Caltech seismologist Lucy Jones said geologists won’t make a final determination about which fault ruptured until scientists can inspect the earthquake zone.

The last time a quake caused a surface rupture on the Laguna Salada fault was in 1892, when a magnitude 7 temblor hit. But the region where Sunday’s quake occurred has been seismically active for the past year, and there were several foreshocks that occurred, beginning last Wednesday, with magnitudes between 3 and 4, Jones said.

“This area is a very active area. There have been swarms at many times,” Jones said.

The earthquake hit at 3:40 p.m., 37 miles south of Mexicali and about 220 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Several major aftershocks have already hit the area and triggered a magnitude 3 earthquake six miles off the coast of Malibu. Seismologists initially said the Malibu quake was magnitude 4.1 and later revised it to 3.0.

— Alan Zarembo, Rong-Gong Lin II and Ruben Vives in Los Angeles; Richard Winton in Pasadena; and Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: A woman goes into labor at a damaged hospital in the Mexicali area. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

A federal appeals court Thursday upheld strict parole revocation rules approved by California voters in 2008, overturning a federal judge’s decision against Proposition 9.

Senior Judge Lawrence K. Karlton of the U.S. District Court in Sacramento had previously issued an injunction against part of the initiative known as the "Victims’ Bill of Rights Act of 2008: Marsy’s Law." Karlton had said the state was required to abide by a 2004 court-imposed consent decree that mandated that the state provide legal counsel in all parole revocation hearings.

A  three-judge appeals panel ruled in favor of the provision that says legal counsel must be provided by the state only in select cases that are particularly complex.

“Today’s decision makes it clear that a judge’s order to grant more rights to parolees than constitutionally required does not trump a state constitutional amendment adopted by the people,” said Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, which helped draft Proposition 9.

Scheidegger filed papers in the appeals court case on behalf of state Sen. George Runner (R-Lancaster) and other Proposition 9 supporters.

Thursday’s decision was by Judges John T. Noonan, Michael Daly Hawkins and Milan D. Smith Jr. of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

— Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento

Tired of finding cigarette butts where animals forage and kids play, state lawmakers voted Monday to outlaw smoking at 278 state parks and beaches in one of the nation’s most far-reaching regulations of tobacco use.

The measure would allow a fine of up to $100 for those caught smoking at a state beach or in a designated section of a state park. Smoking would still be allowed in many parking lots and campgrounds.

"This is a great vote for the environment, for fire protection and a darn good vote for those of us who don’t like second-hand smoke," said Sen. Jenny Oropeza (D-Long Beach), who authored the measure, SB 4.

The proposal squeaked by with two votes to spare Monday and now returns to the Senate, which approved it previously and is expected to concur in minor amendments.

Republicans opposed the ban, saying it was unwarranted meddling in legal behavior.

 "It was a nanny-state bill then, and it is a nanny-state bill now," said Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries (R-Lake Elsinore).

The Democratic majority argued that it was justified because of the health risks of second-hand smoke and the pollution caused by thousands of butts littering beaches and picnic areas.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not said publicly whether he would sign the measure.

 

–Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento

State prison officials, drawing fire for destroying the parole file of a man under scrutiny in the deaths of two teenage girls, reversed their recordkeeping policy on Tuesday under orders from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

John Albert Gardner III was charged last week in the suspected killing of Chelsea King, 17, of Poway and is a person of interest, police say, in the slaying of Amber DuBois, 14, who disappeared on her way to school more than a year ago. Her skeletal remains were found Saturday in northern San Diego County.

A convicted sex offender, Gardner, 30, was discharged from parole in 2008 and his file was purged a year later in accordance with departmental policy. He is being held without bail.

Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher (R-San Diego) requested the parole file earlier this month and, he said, received only a one-page summary of Gardner’s interactions with the state correctional system. On Tuesday, Fletcher called for an investigation of the state’s recordkeeping practice by a legislative panel and the inspector general who monitors the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Later Tuesday, Schwarzenegger told corrections officials that all records relating to paroled sex offenders should be maintained indefinitely.

“The current practice of not keeping information on sex offenders in California is unacceptable,” Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "It is in the best interest of public safety to retain all information on these individuals and to make as much information as possible available and transparent.”

Schwarzenegger’s prisons chief, Matt Cate, said he had directed parole staff to make the policy change immediately.

Cate said the department would release any information on Gardner in the file kept on him when he was in prison, “in accordance with the law and in coordination with local investigators and court orders to ensure it will not hinder their ongoing investigation.”

— Michael Rothfeld in Sacramento

Photo: Mourners at memorial service for Amber in San Diego County. AP

The state Legislature on Thursday approved a proposal to pare more than $1 billion from California’s budget deficit through a complicated maneuver that would change how gasoline is taxed in California without altering the sums collected in taxes at the pump.

The plan would eliminate current restrictions on how gas taxes have to be spent, providing lawmakers the freedom to use the money to reduce the state’s estimated $20 billion deficit.

As a result, funding for mass transit, such as bus and rail lines, would be substantially reduced this year. The plan would save the state an estimated $1.1 billion through June 2011.

"I think this is good policy," said Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), before the measure, AB 6 X8, was approved.

The governor on Wednesday evening said he had not yet reviewed it and declined to say if he would sign it.

— Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento

Ending more than three decades of public service, U.S. Rep. Diane Watson announced Thursday morning that she would step down from her congressional seat at the end of this term.

She declined to endorse a successor.

“I appreciate the trust … that you have placed in me,” said Watson, speaking at a Los Angeles news conference, flanked by community leaders including L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, LAPD Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger, school board member Marguerite LaMotte and the Rev. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray.

Watson, a Democrat, said she was leaving to spend “quality time” with her mother, who just turned 100 and recently broke her hip.

The announcement capped a political career that began when she was the first black woman elected to the LAUSD school board and culminated with her election to the 33rd Congressional District. She was also the first black woman elected to the state Senate, in 1978.

Watson’s term ends in December. She said she wanted to look at all of the candidates in the race to succeed her before deciding whom to endorse.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) is widely expected to run for the seat but has declined to say whether she will do so.

[Updated at 5:24 p.m.: An earlier version of this post said Watson represented the 37th Congressional District.]

— Jean Merl

Photo: Rep. Diane Watson reaches out to a well-wisher after she announced her retirement at her office on Wilshire Boulevard. Credit: Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times

In a glimmer of sunshine for California’s otherwise bleak budget forecast, state Controller John Chiang on Wednesday announced that the state collected $1.28 billion more in January than expected.

Tax collections were strong across the board, with personal income, corporate and sales tax revenues all outpacing projections for the month. Sales tax receipts were nearly 80% higher than for the same period a year earlier.

But the state fell short in some previous months; spending on government programs has been higher than expected; and California still has a deficit of nearly $20 billion.

“The positive receipts are welcome news,” Chiang said in a statement, “but the state cannot be lulled into a false sense of security.” For the fiscal year, tax collections are $459 million, or roughly 1%, above projections.

Chiang warned that the state is still expected to dip below a safe level of cash on hand in late March and early April, before most residents’ tax returns are filed.

— Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento 

California health officials have accidentally disclosed the Social Security numbers of nearly 50,000 of the state’s most vulnerable residents.

The numbers were printed on the outside of envelopes sent to elderly patients of the Adult Day Health Care program, many of whom are blind or have Alzheimer’s disease or other cognitive disabilities. The Department of Health Care Services sent the envelopes, which contained change-of-benefit notices,  Feb. 1.

Officials have since sent follow-up letters advising recipients to destroy the envelopes and are advising patients to contact credit agencies to put a freeze on new accounts.

“Why isn’t the state doing it for them?” asked Lydia Missaelides, executive director of the California Assn. for Adult Day services, who noted that the disclosure exposed the patients to identity theft. 

State employees mistakenly included the Social Security numbers in a list of patient addresses, said Karen Johnson, chief deputy director of the Department of Health Care Services.  The department sent the list to an outside contractor, who printed and mailed the envelopes.

— Jack Dolan in Sacramento

File photo / David Fitzgerald / Los Angeles Times

The California National Guard will have its first female leader under the appointment Monday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of Mary J. Kight as adjutant general Monday.

Kight, currently a brigadier general and the second in command, will replace Gen. William H. Wade II on Tuesday. Wade is leaving to take a high-ranking position with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Naples, Italy.

Kight, 59, of Sacramento, will also become the first African American woman to lead any national guard.

She has served in the California force for about 25 years, according to the governor’s office. She spent three years in the Nebraska Air National Guard and served in the Air Force from 1974 to 1981.

The position is subject to confirmation by the state Senate and pays $180,201 a year. Kight is a Republican.

The national guard trains service men and women for active duty and responds to disasters both in and outside California. The state’s national guard force is the largest in the country, currently numbering more than 21,000 men and women.

— Michael Rothfeld in Sacramento

California state prisons today began offering inmates more credit against their sentences and reducing the number of people sent back behind bars as part of a plan to decrease the prison population by 6,500 inmates over the next year.

Inmates can shave time off their sentences if they work on firefighting crews or get a high school diploma or trade-school certificate or complete drug- or alcohol-rehabilitation programs.

Low-risk offenders, including those convicted of nonviolent crimes, will not have regular supervision by a parole agent. And such offenders will no longer be returned to prison for technical violations such as alcohol use, missed drug tests or failure to notify the state of an address change.

Over time, said prisons chief Matthew Cate, the new rules will lower the rate at which parolees are returned to state lockups, reduce crime overall and "save, over the course of a full year, a half a billion dollars for California taxpayers."

The state will thus address its prison crowding problem while "significantly increasing public safety by focusing our resources on high-risk offenders, serious offenders, violent offenders and sex offenders," Cate said.

Some law-enforcement officials, state legislators and crime-victim advocates took a different view, predicting a jump in crime in California as more people leave prison earlier with less supervision.

Los Angeles Police Lt. Brian Johnson, a director of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said the changes mean the state "will start to release numerous dangerous felons into our community."

The changes were approved by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last year.

— Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento