Inmate Complaint Against Sheriff For Unlawful Imprisonment of Richard Fine

IS SHERIFF LEROY BACA GUILTY OF
UNLAWFUL IMPRISONMENT?

INMATE COMPLAINT:

Filed: January 6, 2009 4:45 p.m. (Hand written)

By Richard I Fine

Inmate ID # 1824367

L. A. County Central Men's Jail

DEMAND FOR RELEASE DUE TO UNLAWFUL IMPRISONMENT

I have the following complaint: Sheriff is holding me illegally the remand order does not show a bail amount. It shows “no bail”. It does not show an “appearance date” which is required. It shows a charge of CCP Section 1219 (a) which is contempt of court. Under CCP Section 1218, the penalty for contempt of court is five days. Today is my 309 day. The judgment and order of contempt attached to the remand order, at page 14, lines 3-6, orders Fine “sentenced to confinement in the county jail until he provides all information that he has been ordered to provide..”. Such sentence is “punitive” and not “coercive” as the information sought is about Fine’s assets. It does not relate to the issue of the case which was “whether JudgeYaffe should have recused himself?”. As such Fine could not be remanded, or if remanded, only for five days. See In Re Farr 36 CAL. App. 3rd 577, 584 (1974) – no substantial likelihood contempt order would serve its coercive purpose cited In Re William T Farr 64 CAL App. 3rd 605, 611, (1976).

Richard I. Fine

The above complaint was hand written by Richard I Fine in solitary "coercive confinement" where he has been held for the past eleven months for contempt of court. Fine gave the complaint to the on-duty Sheriff's Sergeant at L. A. County Central Men's Jail on January 6, 2009. He had been taken into custody by the Sheriff at the order of Superior Court Judge David Yaffe, on March 4, 2009 after he attempted to disqualify the Judge for having taken illegal payments from from L A County a party to the case,(Marina Strand Colony II Homeowners Association vs County of Los Angeles.) Yaffe refused.

SHERIFF IGNORES COURT ORDER, COURTS IGNORE DUE PROCESS
In this eleven month saga, Richard Fine's petitions for immediate release and Writ of Habeas Corpus. The Sheriff was ordered to show cause why Richard Fine was being held and the Sheriff asked to be dismissed from the case as Respondent, referring the Court to the Superior Court or Judge Yaffe. The Writ of Habeas Corpus was denied by the U. S. District Court, an unsigned Order by clerk of the Ninth Circuit and most recently a three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal and the Respondent Sheriff Leroy Baca request to be removed as Respondent was dismissed as "moot" by Judge John F. Walter. It would appear that the Federal Court Judges, like the State Courts of California, have set a course of action to hold Richard I. Fine in jail, indefinitely. Since Fine has not been convicted of a crime and is refusing to obey what he maintains is an illegal court order, on moral grounds, only the Sheriff or the U S Supreme Court may provide a resolution.

CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS, JAIL MONITORS & COUNTY MONITORS FAIL TO ACT
Ironically, the County of Los Angeles is paying millions of dollars to civil rights organizations and professional police monitoring organizations to act as watchdogs to prevent abuse and liability to the County taxpayers. However, L A County Sheriff is caught in the cross hairs of a dilemma, does he release Richard I Fine and risk the ire of the Judicial system, or does he continue to hold Richard I Fine in solitary "coervice confinement" at great financial cost and risk to his budget and the county. Watch in this 5 minute video entitled "Who's Monitoring the Police Monitors?" the role of the ACLU, Merrick Bobb of the PARC (Police Assessment & Resource Center) and the LASD Office of Independent Review that operates within the Office of Internal Affairs. All are charged with monitoring policies of the Sheriff's Department to reduce the risk of liability of the County due to inmate abuse. The ACLU rejected a request for legal assistance for help from Mr. Fine and has been silent along with Merrick Bobb of the PARC (Police Assessment Resources Center) and the L A Sheriff's Office of Independent Review is "looking into the matter" according the Chief Attorney Michael Gennaco. All three agencies are funded by County taxpayers on to investigate inmate complaints.

SHERIFF HOLDS THE KEY TO RICHARD FINE'S FREEDOM?

The relationship between the L.A. County Sheriff's Department and county funded jail/monitoring organizations was explored by Full Disclosure Network in this five minute video produced for cable television. Federal lawsuits have mandated oversight, as the ACLU's 1975 U S Supreme Court decision in Rutherford vs Block (Sheriff LA County) and most recently as August 2009 where the ACLU of Southern California and the ACLU National Prison Project reopened the case to review based upon complaints from inmates.

PLEASE POST YOUR COMMENTS:

Why do you think the Sheriff is keeping Richard Fine locked up in solitary confinement when he has not been convicted of a crime?