Daily Archives: December 12, 2018

 

Good evening everybody, this is Marty from Dawgs Blog with tonight’s podcast on the Frank Carson et al. Trial. This is December 11, 2018. It was more of the same this afternoon. Quintanar is still on the stand. The defense cross examination on Quintanar was to the point but pretty brief, but Marlisa Ferreira started all over again. I think she’s really having a good time with this on redirect.

The jury was up around 1:35 PM. The Judge was on the bench at 1:37PM. we didn’t do too bad, better than this morning. We actually got some good jury time in the courtroom today, it totaled around 210 minutes, so we had about a good 3 ½ hour throughout the day. Lots of good jury time today in the courtroom, that is the exception unfortunately and not the norm. Hans Hjertonsson was doing cross on Quintanar. He was talking about the wiretap on July 15 and he asked if when he took the fifth – right to remain silent, if he signed anything. He was talking about the CH policies to respect the constitutional rights of all and he also mentioned that whether they’re citizens or not they have a right to be treated by a certain way. He never told Daljit Atwal to not talk and just asked if his rights were read. They were talking about the MFer on the Carson property that is still missing that they’re looking for by the DA’s office. Hans Hjertonsson asked him if he was privy to what Kirk Bunch and Daljit Atwal talked about (Daljit Atwal had a five or six hour interview)? Quintanar never knew anything that was discussed in that interview. Didn’t know anything whatsoever, he said he was determined to find out what was going on. He did admit sometimes Daljit Atwal can be difficult to understand. He does speak broken English.Quintanar said he was starting to distance himself from Pop and Cork. He didn’t care if they were guilty or not, he just stayed away. He was told to stay away at one point and he just thought it was a good idea altogether because of some of the things that were going on. The Atwal brothers always claimed innocence to anybody they ever talked to, including Quintanar.

Jai Gohel took over cross. Eddie Quintanar said he was 13 years in law enforcement. He was subpoenaed by the District Attorney’s Office and asked question for (now) five days. Quintanar admits he does not have any personal knowledge of what happened to Korey Kauffman. He has claimed that all along and nobody’s ever indicated that he did. He was questioned in regard to CHP policies and his interview with the internal affairs, questioning had a lot to do with the wiretaps that were done in July 2012, there were others, but mostly Marlisa Ferreira was concentrating on July 9-12 and the 15th . On the ninth conversation, again, they were talking about someone might be trying to rob the Atwals. He was concerned about being followed and Daljit Atwal talked to Quintanar as he talked to several other police officers about it at Turlock Police Department. No one had any idea it was law enforcement officers in the car, other than law enforcement officers (of course!). Kirk Bunch and Frank Navarro were heavily involved in that. Quintanar thought Daljit Atwal had been talking to a private detective, he really wasn’t sure who it was. Daljit Atwal didn’t really understand some of the things that were going on apparently and thought that somebody was a private detective instead of the police officers in some of these visits to Pop and Cork. Again he was concerned about somebody following him and robbing him after he closed the store down. They close the store at at midnight during the week and 2 AM on the weekends. Daljit Atwal did contact some Turlock Police Department officers. It is still unknown if Daljit had been talking to law enforcement officers or private investigators. Again he talked how Daljit Atwal at times has trouble understanding and speaking English.

Jai Gohel asked Eddie Quintanar: Marlisa Ferreira was asking about they think you did something? Which was a comment that was made in that wiretap on the 15th that the Atwals it done something, obviously they’re doing a search warrant there and Daljit Atwal gave an answer of “me”? and Quintanar said yeah they think you did something. Daljit Atwal said “I didn’t do anything, brother” and he wasn’t asked how the Daljit Atwal responded anything else. On 7/15/ 2012 call there had been no information that Bobby and Daljit Atwal had done anything wrong. The search warrant created an awkward situation for Quintanar as they were good friends, but again, he was a police officer. Quintanar had some familiarity of course with law enforcement activities and search warrants, but he said he had never actually written a search warrant himself. Quintanar felt he’d better distance himself somewhat because of the issues involved and he got in a little bit of trouble with the guns being over there, but again, he says that doesn’t indicate any guilt by the Atwals. He was told in an interview on October 2012 that he needed to stay away from the Atwals, as directed by CHP command. He felt that he was not able to refuse an interview with the CHP investigators on the internal affairs investigation. He said Kirk Bunch was involved in a criminal investigation who as a CHP officer is still protected by the Constitution had no obligation to talk to investigators. He has a right to do that. Just because you are a police officer you do not give up your constitutional rights.

On August 14, 2015 when Quintanar was taken into custody, he did assert his Fifth Amendment rights, as Kirk Bunch was there, but actually I believe it was Frank Navarro that wanted to interview him. He invoked its his right to remain silent. He was arrested by Kirk Bunch and Kirk Bunch told him he’s going to be charged for the homicide, as Kirk Bunch is not letting that one go. He was trying to shake a tree and tickle the wire as they call it and see what falls out.

Jai Gohel asked Quintanar if Kirk Bunch scared him when he took him into custody because he was afraid of getting charged with a homicide? He said yeah. He was asked if he still feels that way? He said yes I do, it still that it could still happen. He was asked about information that was to or from an Allied Agency or being interviewed by an Allied Agency. He has to report that to his superiors and that’s what he did. He had no information on the case. He said that repeatedly and he is saying that still today.

When that last question was asked about the Daljit Atwal asking about concealed carry weapon in a business, that you don’t need a concealed weapon permit to carry a weapon in your business or your home. Daljit Atwal had every right to carry a concealed weapon in his business and in his home. You can’t do it in public and you can’t run around in a car. There were major objections by the district attorney on some of these questions and it ended up in a sidebar. CHP had also terminated him.

They had also taken buccal swabs from Quintanar, as they did all the defendant when they were arrested. (Buccal swabs are cheek swabs taken for DNA samples when you are taken into custody. They have right right to invade your body like that) So that concerned him, of course, because they were looking at him as part of this homicide. There were officers drinking, but he was never aware of any on-duty officers drinking, just off-duty officers drinking. He saw two blocks under the counter at Pop and Cork. Liquor stores typically are targets to get robbed, especially late at night. Pop and Cork close at 2 AM on the weekends and many officers were there day and night throughout that the day on and off duty.

Jai Gohel asked him about Marlisa Ferreira asking about the side lot at Pop and Cork and asked him if he ever smelled the odor of decomposition at that side lot at Pop and Cork? He said he never had. He asked about the CHP honor code or as a law enforcement officer. There is a honor code that’s out by POST (Police Officer Standards and Training). They have their code of their ethics they are taught at the Academy. Post police officer training is the oversight agency that sets the training and the oversees police officers, making sure they get their proper training and evaluations and they set the standard for the academies and so on. POST is the legislating agency in California. He talked about the POST standards of code of ethics and they apply to all law enforcement officers and Jai Gohel asked him what does that mean it applies to Kirk Bunch too? He said yes, it does, it applies to all law enforcement officers. They have a code of honor and ethics and it has to be abided by and in addition he also has his constitutional rights. Kirk Bunch has the same constitutional rights that Eddie Quintanar has.

They’re talking about the text to Officer Fuentes and he had talked to his union rep, Mark Frost about this and he talked about the DA investigators harassing him and his family. While Eddie Quintanar was at work, they knew he was at work, they went to his house and harassed his wife and his young daughter. They also went to his mother-in-law’s work and and tried to talk to her. Guess who she worked for? She worked as a secretary for one of the Board of Supervisors. (Now if these people had any balls, they’d be doing some about this, but it doesn’t appear they do). He also felt that Kirk Bunch is trying to get him fired. He felt that the Kirk Bunch was in contact with CHP internal affairs, talked to Domby and had been talking to some of that command at CHP also.

Kirk Bunch had talked trash to his wife and his little girl. Kirk Bunch had been there prior and he asked Kirk Bunch to do any interviews at the station, not at his house. Quintanar wanted it to be done away from his home and Kirk Bunch kept going to his house. Kirk Bunch had upset his wife. His wife was being told by Kirk Bunch that Quintanar was going to be taken into custody, he’s been lying to them and would be taken in custody for homicide. He felt that the investigators wanted him to race home and fight with Kirk Bunch so they could arrest him, but Quintanar played it cool and contacted the Sgt. His wife called him and said that she told Kirk Bunch that she knew he was and she didn’t need to talk and threw his card back in his face.

On 3/11/2015 around 9 AM, I believe, there was a text to Fuentes and Quintanar said he was going up the chain to see what the department does. He was looking for some support in the CHP and it looks like he got some, it appears that he may have gotten some bad advice and not a lot of support. But he said he is required to go up the chain of command to make notifications and things like this, that is exactly what he did. He also contacted his union rep, Mark Frost. I don’t know if he’s related to a Lieut. By the name of Frost is one of the chain of command that he had talked to.

They talked about when Kirk Bunch a gone to the Modesto station and dispatcher told him that someone was seen. Eddie Quintanar told him it was the investigator that went to his house and the dispatcher said ‘oh, that clown’ and dispatcher said take off your gun and your badge and just to kick his ass. Quintanar said No, it’s cool man. I’ll take care of it, it’s no big deal.They call Kirk Bunch a clown and a tool and that’s where I think they got in trouble–contempt of Bunch. There were others in the office that were talking trash about Kirk Bunch and I’m sure that pised him off.

Jai Gohel was asking about when the DA asked about the code of honor, but the proper way to talk to people and do things, but Kirk Bunch was constantly making threats of taking him into custody on a homicide and he said he didn’t know anything about a homicide. He said the law enforcement’s job is to protect people and property and to protect people from oppression. Again they talked about Kirk Bunch and the threats to arrest on the homicide charge. He felt intimidated by the threats, especially when Kirk Bunch had gone and said what he did to his wife and his daughter.

Jai Gohel asked him about when the DA asked about the code of ethics in respect to rights of all persons? He says as police officer, every police officer is obligated to do that. Aking when he asked Daljit Atwal if he was read his rights, that’s what he was really inquiring in, that code of making sure everybody is treated properly. The constitutional right is to a lawyer and the Fifth Amendment, the right to remain silent, it’s not proper to intimidate anyone who is weak or oppressed. There’s a certain wording in that and he had regularly, himself, read his rights many times to people taken into custody, like a drunk driver. It was no different than what he had asked Daljit Atwal about his rights being read to him, he was just being trying to be a friend to Daljit Atwal.

When he asked Daljit Atwal those questions about him being read his rights when they’re talking to him, he said he was being fair and trying to be respectful to him. He was a friend and he was trying to make sure that everything went right. Kirk Bunch was not being fair and respectful when he came to his house, knowing full well that he was at work and talked to his wife and tried upset his wife. Quintanar made a choice to not talk to the chain of command. He talked to several people command, he got up to, I believe, a Capt. And he believes that he was told to not talk to them. One of the upper command read him the general order manual, their rules and regulations, but he didn’t really give an answer what he supposed to do, just you decide for yourself. Prior to going home to his house, his wife had called him on the cell to advise him of the visit Kirk Bunch. He did not just race home. He got a sergeant and then went home. Marlisa Ferreira asked him what he what was said by his wife? He says show me a transcript. She said was it recorded? She said it wasn’t. I bet you Kirk Bunch’s recorder was on. Apparently, there’s no official recording or transcript of the visit with the Quintanar’s wife. He did not recall what he told his wife what they wanted to talk to him about, but he assumed it was in regard to Pop and Cork and this investigation is been going on. Quintanar didn’t tell his wife, is in regard to missing person, a possible homicide case, he was trying to keep her from getting stressed out and getting too crazy about this. They talked about in October 2012 during the internal affairs investigation (he calls it an interrogation) in regard to his guns at the Pop and Cork. In October 2012 they had information that his guns were at the Pop and Cork. They had copies of the wiretaps, but they couldn’t prove anything he did was illegal, but it was improper for him to store his guns at somebody else’s, in this case a business.The guns were registered and legal. He told officer Fuentes that Kirk Bunch is trying to get him fired.

When I attended the preliminary hearing for Quintanar and McFarland,I heard testimony from then Sgt. Domby, now Lieut. Domby that he was in the internal affairs and Kirk Bunch had been in contact with him. So, who knows what was said but it sounds to me like there was some activities going on the background, probably with his chain command too. He had said to others that Kirk Bunch wanted to talk about the internal affairs interview, that was a lie. He wasn’t really telling everybody what was going on with Kirk Bunch, this was something he was trying to keep to himself and Marlisa Ferreira keeps trying to turn it into something nefarious. Apparently, Kirk Bunch at one point said that he had turned the wiretaps over to CHP. why would he do that? I think that’s pretty clear why he would. Kirk Bunch never said anything to CHP in regard to the guns at Pop and Cork, or not admitting it anyway, but they probably got the results of the search warrant. All the guns were inventoried, not all the guns were confiscated, but they were inventoried I’m sure. That was all the Jai Gohel had.

The jury went out for a little while. They had a couple little things and wanted to talk about them.

When we came back, Marlisa Ferreira was doing redirect. She asked him on cross, he was asked if he’d ever seen a retiree receive a plaque with a working gun as an award for retiring? He said he had. He said he seen that before. He was part of that group, I forget the name of the group, he wasn’t part of the administrators of the group, but he was part of the group that did some of the things like that. Unknown about any protocols if an officer were to (and only Marlisa Ferreira would think of this) die, what happens to the gun? She asked if he knew Officer Domby was working on the investigation of the missing person and homicide of Korey Kauffman? He was not aware of that, he said Domby was just working internal affairs in Sacramento.

But we saw an interesting interview in the preliminary hearing of Domby and Steve “the juice” Jacobson working over Robert Woody pretty good. He sat there for some time, just telling Woody everything they knew instead of trying to gain information of what Robert Woody knew.

Marlisa Ferreira asked if Quintanar had told anybody that Kirk Bunch had breached the code of honor? He said he didn’t believe that he had. He said Kirk Bunch should have shown more respect and talked to Quintanar at the office. Marlisa Ferreira wanted to argue with him, that he did go the office, but that was after Kirk Bunch had belittled Quintanar’s wife and and little girl and it kinda just made things worse instead of making things better. Quintanar said he made many arrest and knows when people are lying, like in a drunk drivers case. Quintanar was actually not arrested by Kirk Bunch. He said he misspoke. It was a Sheriff’s office deputy that arrested him and took him to the Sheriff’s office. Kirk Bunch was at the office and had a few moments with him, but the interview was actually done by Frank Navarro. He had known Frank Navarro prior to both being Law Enforcement officers, they worked at a store together, I think a grocery store.Quintanar also said that he knew Corey Brown is one that actually wrote the Ramey warrant, it wasn’t Kirk Bunch. The first time Kirk Bunch had come to his house in 2014, he told Kirk Bunch he had not talked to the Atwals since the search warrant on July 15, 2012. he was told to not go there because the issues with the guns and the concerns he had about other things. He did talk to the Atwals a few times after July 15, 2012, in between July 15, 2012 and 10/22/2012 and that’s when he had the IA interview at CHP. there were several hundred texts between Daljit Atwal and and some calls to Daljit Atwal and Baljit Atwal.

I believe the first time that Kirk Bunch tried to talk to him was on June 16, 2012 and he never called Kirk Bunch back. He also said that Kurt Bunch never talked to him on the phone, but Kirk Bunch did leave some messages and he never called him back. He also left out the back door when Kirk Bunch called into the office and he had took off in his patrol car and went back to work. He told people he is getting harassed by Kirk Bunch. These were people that he really didn’t want to know his business. He said that Kirk Bunch is trying to use the internal affairs investigation against him and it sounded like he may have been.

Marlisa Ferreira sounded like she was trying to get some character evidence in and make him look bad. I don’t understand why, he’s got immunity. He’s not on trial here. I don’t really see the information that she’s trying to get out of him to go after him this hard. It just seems like a deposition because he suing her personally and suing Kirk Bunch. The judge did ask about that because it was mentioned by Marlisa Ferreira and Marlisa Ferreira did know that Quintanar was suing Marlisa Ferreira and Kirk Bunch personally, but she said she has not read the suits, so she doesn’t know what it says. She says the County Counsel’s office has the lawsuits and they’re handling everything, and she hasn’t bothered to read it.

Quintanar kept saying that he had nothing to do with the missing person or the homicide. She was asking if he had specific information from Daljit Atwal in 2012? Objection! Objection! Objection! Many Objections. It didn’t do them any good, the Judge just lets Marlisa Ferreira do what she pleases. She asked him if he knew Daljit Atwal was being followed and people were bugging him about the missing person on the from the Frank Carson property? He did not recall the call on 7/12/12 were some of these things would were said. Refreshes transcript on that wiretap. It also said of the wiretap that they know it’s because of Frank Carson and Daljit Atwal was saying the guy who used to work for Turlock and they were talking about of Frank Navarro who’d gone to the Sheriff’s office and I believe he is back with Turlock, but he was on the the task force on this Korey Kauffman case.

Marlisa Ferreira said he knew about the guns, the closed-circuit TV in the back room, and officer drinking, the hours of the store, who worked what shifts, this is what Marlisa Ferreira was saying that he knew and he’s not being forthcoming about it. He knew that the cars that the Atwals drove, he knew about the milk giveaways with a stop on the way home from that one giveaway to talk to Korey Kauffman. She asked him he was acting as a friend with Daljit Atwal in July 15, 2012? he said he was trying to ensure his rights were protected as he would anybody. Marlisa Ferreira asked him if he was assisting the family of the missing person? Objections lit up the room when she asked that. She asked him if Kirk Bunch caused a scene or did his wife? Objection to that! Quintanar said yes he did cause a scene, but she’s asking if his wife caused a scene. Well, Kirk Bunch is one that showed up over there, his appearance is what caused a scene. Kirk Bunch statements to his wife that he’s a liar and going to be arrested is what Quintanar said. She asked him if he lied to Kirk Bunch about going to Pop and Cork? He said after the 15th, no Ma’am I didn’t lie about that.

She also asked about Quintanar’s first contact with Kirk Bunch and he said he misspoke and he never corrected it since he was told not to talk Kirk Bunch. So he never corrected the Scott McFarland statement that his neighbors were tweakers, that he originally attributed to Daljit Atwal. He was asked if he told Domby it was Mark Frost, the union rep that said to not talk to Kirk Bunch? It was and I remember hearing that wiretap. That was the end of the day. The jury was sent out of 4:05 PM. The attorneys are back at 9 AM. Jury is back at 9:30 AM.

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There were a few people in court today, it was nice to see, and we need to see more people in there. As I always say. Don’t take my word for come to court and find out for yourself. Good night everybody!