VENTURA COUNTY COURTHOUSE, CALIF. – The hearing on a motion to dismiss five jaywalking tickets given to an Oxnard community activist during a protest march against police brutality and abuse was postponed until next month.
Oxnard Assistant Police Chief Jason Benites was subpoenaed by the defense to testify Tuesday. He is among 10 police officers who were also subpoenaed by Attorney Jaime Segall Gutierrez who is representing Francisco Romero.
Prosecutor Susan Park said Tuesday that the hearing will be held on Dec. 2.
Commissioner Anthony Sabo is hearing a defense motion to dismiss the tickets. The defense alleges that “selective enforcement” violates Romero’s constitutional rights of equal protection .
A trial date has not yet been set.
In an interview outside the courtroom, Gutierrez said there was a meeting with 10 officers including two commanders to discuss issuing the five jaywalking tickets to his client. He said he didn’t learn about this meeting until an officer recently testified about it.
“We are trying to get to the bottom of this. Was there a conspiracy from the very top to target Mr. Romero,?” said Gutierrez.
Adding that videos he will introduce as evidence indicate that they were after his client. Gutierrez said police can be heard on the video targeting his client at the start of the march.
“If you watch the videos, it very specifically states, There he is. There is Romero. There he is,'” Gutierrez said.
Romero was given five jaywalking citations totaling $1,000 for allegedly jaywalking during a 2013 march against police brutality that drew 150 protestors and 95 Oxnard officers, including undercover officers, strike teams, and SWAT units, who were assigned to the event to assure public safety and security.
The march was being video recorded by undercover officers who were assigned to monitor the protestors.
Uniformed police weren’t visible during the two-mile trek, which began at Camino del Sol Park and ended in front of police headquarters.
Oxnard officers have testified that Romero was the only protester given the tickets because he committed flagrant violations that created hazardous situations and put the lives of others in peril. While Romero was one of three people who were identified by Officer Jaime Miranda who video recorded the march and many other protesters were jaywalking, officers have testified the video showed that Romero was in a leadership role and his violations were “egregious.”
Romero was informed that he was being given the tickets via a letter dated Oct. 29, 2013 that sent by certified mail to his house in Oxnard.
But Romero, who is the leader of Todo Poder al Pueblo Collective, maintains that police are trying to silence him through harassment and intimidation because he is a vocal critic of police shootings, brutality and abuse against some Oxnard residents, mostly in La Colonia, a predominately low-income neighborhood. Romero claims that his First Amendment rights are being violated by police by singling him out.
Romero said the Oct. 13, 2013 protest march was specifically held because the family of Alfonso Limon’s family approached Pueblo Collective and asked the group to hold an anniversary protest march for Limon who was killed on Oct. 12, 2012 by Oxnard police. Romero said he agreed to do so to support the family.
The shooting of Limon resulted in the city of Oxnard having to pay $6.7 million to settle the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Limon’s family which is the largest wrongful death settlement for the city of Oxnard. Limon was shot between 16 to 21 times by four officers as he lay on the ground, according to the Limon family lawyer Adam Shea. Limon and his brother were walking home when they were fired upon by Oxnard officers looking for a wanted parolee.
The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office reviewed the Alfonso Limon shooting and ruled that it was “legally justified and not a criminal act.”
Todo Poder al Pueblo, however, want the officers prosecuted or fired for killing an innocent man.
Gutierrez said Romero was the only person to be cited for jaywalking during the peaceful protest, saying that his client and others were helping others cross the street in a safe manner. Gutierrez said Oxnard police say that others were also jaywalking but they could only identify Romero.
In response to Gutierrez’s motion to dismiss the case, Park stated in a nine-page document that Romero was the only one given the jaywalking infractions because nobody else violating the law could be identified. Also police knew Romero’s address where they could mail the citations, Park said.
“He was observed leading others to break the law by failing to yield to vehicles in the roadway and leading others to do the same,” Park stated. “He placed the lives of 150 of the participants of the march in danger but also putting drivers and others standing by on the road that day in danger.”
Oxnard Police Reports and Documents on 2013 March: (Allow 30 seconds or more for Police Reports to Download)
Police Reports on 2013 March and Officer Jamie Brown Letter to Romero
Oxnard Special Enforcement Unit Memorandum on the March
Oxnard Police Department’s March for Justice Incident Action Plan