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De La Fuente Jr. pleads guilty to rape charges
Criminal Law Updates | 2007/05/04 08:34
Ignacio De La Fuente Jr. admitted in court Thursday that he raped and sexually assaulted four women he had picked up on the streets of Fruitvale, a confession that brought an abrupt end to what was becoming a sensational trial of the son of the city council president. In exchange for pleading guilty, De La Fuente Jr., 34, will not face the 25 years to life in prison he would have been sentenced to had a jury convicted him of the five charges against him.

Instead, he will remain behind bars at least 12 years and for the rest of his life will be classified -- and must register wherever he lives -- as a sex offender.

Three of the four women De La Fuente Jr. sexually assaulted had admitted they were prostitutes. The fourth, a 15-year-old, denied being a prostitute and said she was kidnapped by De La Fuente Jr.

De La Fuente Jr. wiped tears from his eyes as the judge read each count and asked for his plea.

"Guilty, your honor," De La Fuente Jr. said after each count.

Meanwhile his father, City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, rubbed his eyes and shook his leg as the pleas were entered. At times he stared at his son. Other family members, including De La Fuente Jr.'s mother, cried.

De La Fuente Sr. and the rest of his family left the courtroom without comment.

Deputy District Attorney Brian Owens said the plea was not a surprise given the testimony of three of the women.

"The witnesses were credible and their testimony powerful," Owens said. "I believe that is why he decided to no longer fight and admit his guilt."

Three of the four victims, including the 15-year-old girl, had already testified in the trial.

Each victim described similar events leading up to being raped and sexually assaulted.

They described how De La Fuente Jr. picked them up in the Fruitvale and drove them to secluded areas of the city. Each victim said he parked his car with the passenger side against a building or fence to block her exit. They all said De La Fuente Jr. forced himself upon them without using protection. And when he was finished, the witnesses said, De La Fuente Jr. threw them out of his GMC pickup truck and drove away.

Although De La Fuente Jr.'s defense team attempted to discredit the witnesses, the jury believed the rapes and sexual assaults had occurred, Owens said after he interviewed the jury.

"They felt the women were credible and believable," he said. "They were leaning towards conviction."

But defense attorneys Robert and Anne Beles continued to argue Thursday that those accusing De La Fuente Jr. of rape and sexual assault did not appear credible on the stand.

"I thought the complaining witnesses that testified did very poorly, their credibility was impeached," Robert Beles said.

But, Beles said, the fact that there were four witnesses caused a "cumulative effect" that was overwhelming for De La Fuente Jr.

"It's his decision to take a compromise," Beles said.

De La Fuente Jr. will be sentenced to 14 years behind bars but might be able to be released after 12 years, Owens said.

If the jury had convicted De La Fuente Jr. of all five counts, he would have faced 25 years to life because of enhancements, such as kidnapping, placed on each charge.



Justice Department looking into prosecutor hirings
Lawyer Blog News | 2007/05/03 15:26

The Justice Department said Wednesday that it had launched an internal probe into whether a chief figure in the U.S. attorneys affair had violated policy — and possibly federal law — by injecting party politics into the selection of career prosecutors. The investigation of Monica M. Goodling, once the Justice Department's White House liaison, widens the probe into allegations of partisan hiring and firing at the agency and complicates the Bush administration's efforts to weather the scandal.

Goodling has become a focus of congressional investigators because she played a central role in identifying eight U.S. attorneys who were fired last year. The latest disclosure that she also was involved in the hiring of assistant U.S. attorneys shed new light on her clout at the Justice Department and raised more questions about how the agency has operated under Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales.

"This is a troubling assertion that, if true, suggests politics infected the most basic operations at the Justice Department," said Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. "This only underscores our commitment to hear directly from Ms. Goodling about her role in this process, and at the Justice Department, to establish who should be held accountable."

The department's investigation, however, could delay the date when lawmakers hear from Goodling. Conyers' panel is trying to win a grant of immunity from prosecution for Goodling, who has said through her lawyer that she would assert her right against self-incrimination if called to testify.

But the Justice Department is unlikely to support immunity while its own probe is pending. The issue of immunity is ultimately decided by a federal judge. Justice Department officials are supposed to weigh in with a recommendation next week.

Department spokesman Dean Boyd declined to provide details about the investigation of Goodling, beyond a three-paragraph statement.

Goodling, the department said, is being investigated in connection with helping review candidates for career positions in certain U.S. attorneys' offices around the country.

The agency declined to say what "prohibited considerations" Goodling might have taken into account, but said that it is against policy and possibly federal law to consider "party affiliation" in deciding whether to hire a career lawyer.

According to people familiar with the investigation, who requested anonymity because the probe is ongoing, Goodling allegedly sought information about party affiliation while vetting applicants for assistant U.S. attorney positions.

Goodling has become a focus of the scandal because she was part of a group of young White House and Justice Department politicos with little or no prosecutorial experience who acted as gatekeepers for U.S. attorney positions. She had also worked in the department's public affairs office, and the office that oversees U.S. attorneys.

Her lawyer, John Dowd, declined to comment Wednesday.

Goodling's activities, the department said, were confined to offices that were headed by interim or acting U.S. attorneys.

The Justice Department has been criticized for using a little-known federal law to appoint interim U.S. attorneys, who do not require Senate confirmation. The practice has triggered allegations from Democrats that the administration is trying to circumvent long-standing checks and balances.

Interim and acting U.S. attorneys do not usually have the authority to hire personnel, the theory being that career prosecutors often outlast their political bosses, and should be selected only when the U.S. attorneys have been Senate-confirmed.

The Justice Department statement Wednesday indicated that the department had granted waivers to a number of those offices so they could hire personnel. But it declined to provide specifics.

Also Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee issued new subpoenas to Gonzales, seeking e-mails in the possession of the department involving presidential advisor Karl Rove.

White House officials said little about the subpoena except to reiterate their previous offer that Rove answer questions behind closed doors without a transcript.

"I know they like to get headlines more than they like to get the facts," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto. "But if there's still any interest in the facts up there, the easiest way is to simply accept our offer to have Karl and others in for interviews."



Goldman hires US Assistant Secretary of State
U.S. Legal News | 2007/05/03 14:28

Dina Habib Powell, a senior aide to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, resigned Wednesday to join a Wall Street investment bank, State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said.

Powell, 33, was assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs and deputy to Underscretary of State Karen P. Hughes before her resignation.

Powell said she resigned for personal reason.

She is one of the youngest senior State Department diplomats, and a key architect of a Rice initiative to improve the United States' image abroad.

Powell, who emigrated from Egypt to Texas with her parents, is the highest-ranking Arab American in the Bush administration.

Days before Powell's resignation, Barry Lowenkron, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, resigned to join a private charitable foundation. In addition, one of Rice's two deputies, foreign aid director Randall Tobias also quit due to involvement of sex scandal. ?



Senate committee subpoenas Gonzales for Rove emails
Headline News | 2007/05/03 14:14

The US Senate Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena to US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Wednesday, demanding that he turn over any e-mails he received from White House political adviser Karl Rove relating to the US Attorney firing scandal. A White House spokesman accused the Committee of trying to create a media event and suggested that it should instead accept a White House offer to interview Rove in a private questioning session, not under oath. Gonzales has insisted that there was nothing improper about the US Attorney firings.

A series of emails released by the Department of Justice in March revealed that Rove originally suggested firing all 93 US Attorneys in January 2005, contradicting earlier assertions by the White House that the idea first came from former White House counsel Harriet Miers. The same month, the Senate Judiciary Committee panel subpoenaed Rove, Miers, and former DOJ Chief of Staff Kyle Sampson, rejecting Bush's interview offer. The House Judiciary Committee panel later subpoenaed Rove, Miers, and several aides to testify in a concurrent investigation.



Oregon Senate approves domestic partnership law
Legal Career News | 2007/05/03 13:14

The Oregon Senate passed a bill Wednesday allowing same-sex couples to enter into contractual domestic partnerships with the same state benefits as married couples. The measure covers state benefits including inheritance, child custody, and hospital visitation rights, but does not affect federal benefits for married couples. The bill passed the state House last month and now goes to Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who has said he will sign it. Kulongoski has also said he will sign a second piece of legislation protecting individuals against discrimination based on sexual orientation. That bill would ban discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations, and create a civil cause of action for violations of the act.

Currently, Vermont, Connecticut, California, New Jersey, Maine and Washington are the only states that recognize civil unions or domestic partnerships. The Washington State Senate passed a domestic partnership bill in March. Late last month, the New Hampshire Senate voted in favor of a bill already passed by the state House allowing same-sex civil unions. Also in late April, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer introduced a bill to legalize gay marriage in New York.



Federal judge dismisses Katrina wrongful death claims
Lawyer Blog News | 2007/05/03 10:13

US District Judge Jay Zainey has dismissed part of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by families whose relatives died during Hurricane Katrina. The son of Ethel Mayo Freeman sued the federal government, including former FEMA director Michael Brown and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, for his mother's death. Wheelchair-bound Freeman died while waiting outside the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center for help. Zainey noted that the government has publicly admitted to the many mistakes it made before and after Hurricane Katrina but it would be pure speculation to decide whether those mistakes caused these deaths.

Though most claims were dismissed by the judge, the families still intend to pursue claims left standing.



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