Videogate: the Race Issue

The Videogate disciplinary hearing exploded today when defense attorney Waukeen McCoy felt that SFPD lawyer John Alden was unfairly painting Officer Wendy Hurley as a racist.  See what happened in tonight's report.

The SFPD lawyer played a video that had never been seen before in public.  It was a hidden file on the "Cops Gone Wild" dvd, meant only for the two officers in the clip.  Officer Hurley explains she often cooked for the Bayview Station, and that Officer Jimmy Lewis would jokingly complain about the absence of watermelon on the menu.  When Lewis missed a Father's Day breakfast in 2005, Hurley brought him a slice of watermelon, and Officer Andrew Cohen was there with his camera.  Cohen tells me he realized the scene might be a problem for some people who didn't know the context, and that's why he did not include it on the comedy video -- that's why he placed it in a hidden file, only for Lewis and Hurley. 

After the courtroom erupted and McCoy demanded a break, Alden approached and asked if I wanted a copy of the Watermelon video.  That's what we're posting here.

Since the day the scandal broke in December 2005, the officers have been trying to say they were making fun of no one but themselves.  They say each of the skits on "Cops Gone WIld" has a backstory, an event from the Bayview Station or an officer's personality quirk that's being lampooned.  We want to give you the chance, for the first time, to watch the entire comedy video.

And here's the video that started it all, "Inside the SFPD".  This documentary was approved by the chief at the time, Heather Fong, and it's from this project that Officer Andrew Cohen got many of the outtakes for "Cops Gone Wild".  Cohen was doing serious, award-winning work for the SFPD, before the Videogate scandal.

New "Videogate" Videos

Four and a half years after Chief Heather Fong labeled it "an extremely dark day in the history of the San Francisco Police Department", the Videogate disciplinary hearings are finally wrapping up.  Officer Jimmy Lewis has been in the Records Room all that time, preparing his defense against the charges: neglect of duty, harassment, bringing discredit to the deparment. 

 

Part of his defense will be older comedy videos produced for station Christmas parties and roasts -- we showed them for the first time in public this evening.

We also reported for the first time that current Police Chief George Gascon has had several of the officers make another video -- an apology that may be handed out to the media, posted online, or distributed inside the department.  Gascon tells me he's not sure yet what to do with the apology videos.  But, a source sent me a copy of the apology script written by the department for officers to read.  You can see it here.

We'll be covering Jimmy Lewis' Police Commission hearing and that of Officer Wendy Hurley -- the last two Videogate officers to be disciplined.

*** Update August 18, 2010 ***

We have now posted the entire video at the center of the controversy.  You can see it here.

Civil Rights Lawsuit in Boat Crash

Bismarck Dinius has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Lake County District Attorney Jon Hopkins, Sheriff Rod Mitchell, and several officers for malicious prosecution.  You can read it here.

As we reported, Dinius was charged with manslaughter in the death of a passenger on a sailboat he was steering at night, when a power boat driven by the number two official in the Sheriff's Department, Russell Perdock, slammed into it.  A jury acquited him last summer, Perdock was fired for an undisclosed personnell issue, and Hopkins was recently defeated in his run for another term.

SF Repays Fines From Bad Parking Tickets

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced the Transit-Only Lane Enforcement (TOLE) pilot project in 2008. The idea – place forward-looking cameras on Muni buses to catch people who double-park or sit in transit lanes, impeding traffic. 

 

Through a California Public Records Act request, the I-Team has confirmed the cameras on 17 buses failed to switch over to Daylight Saving Time in March, and that technicians didn’t catch the problem until the end of June.  The time was off by one hour, so the city issued 510 bad tickets during those months.

 

We’re posting all the documents the city handed over for this report, including this one listing all the bad tickets with license plate numbers.  Drivers can check to see if they have money coming.

 

This story began with a tip.  If you have an idea, email me through this website, dan.noyes@abc.com or call 1-888-40-I-Team.

Checking Out Your Dentist

Candice Ward, former Western Dental Patient

After hearing stories about complaints at the state's second largest dental HMO, Western Dental, people have asked what can a consumer do?  Of course, knowledge is power.  If you have questions about any dentist, check out their license and if they have been disciplined at the California Dental Board website.  Here's the link.

You can hear directly from other consumers at sites such as Yelp.com, ComplaintsBoard.com, PissedConsumer.com, and others.  Of course, the Better Business Bureau has its listings, as well.

It was striking to hear the same type of complaints at Western Dental now as we did in our first investigation fourteen years ago.  You can see Thursday night's investigation here.  We'll keep following up.

Inside the Felony Graffiti Case

 

24-year-old Katie Dunbar is scheduled for trial this month on three felony vandalism counts, felony assault with a hate crime enhancement and felony dissuading a witness.  It all began the morning of the Bay to Breakers footrace, with a confrontation with Alton Moore.  We track what happened in tonight's I-Team report, and you can hear some of the exchange in this 911 call that Moore made.  A word of caution for some profanity. 

Dunbar called herself "K-K-Katie" and she wrote "KKK" around the city.  You can imagine what sort of response that got.

 

What I liked about the story is that it gives us an inside look at the world of graffiti and street art, and the people behind it.

I wanted to give you some links to local bloggers who followed the graffiti writer in the months leading up to her arrest:  Mission Mission, Aggressive Panhandler and San Francisco Citizen.

Katie Dunbar is under observation on the C-Pod, a sub-acute psychiatric unit in San Francisco's County Jail #2.  Inmates there are not allowed access to the media.

Boat Crash D.A. Voted Out

The results are in from the Lake County Registrar of Voters:  District Attorney Jon Hopkins has been voted out of office.  His two challengers will face each other in a runoff in November. 

District Attorney N-P

Completed Precincts: 53 of 53

	Vote Count	Percentage
DON ANDERSON	4,088	37.8%
DOUG RHOADES	3,463	32.0%
JON E. HOPKINS	3,258	30.1%

Here's the first contact we had with Hopkins back in the summer of 2007, the story asked, "Was the wrong man charged?" in the fatal boating crash on Clear Lake.

We reported how the number two official in the Lake County Sheriff's Office, Russell Perdock, was driving his powerboat a reported 40-50 mph at night, when it slammed into a sailboat, killing passenger Lynn Thornton.  Hopkins did not charge Perdock with anything -- he charged the man who happened to be steering the sailboat at the time, Bismarck Dinius.  Hopkins claimed Dinius was at fault because he had been drinking and didn't make sure the sailboats running lights were on.  The defense presented testimony that the lights were on.  A jury acquitted Dinius of all charges, and Perdock was eventually fired from his position in the Sheriff's Department.

In the race for the county's top law enforcement officer, Sheriff Rod Mitchell lost to Deputy Francisco Rivero, but will face him in the November runoff.

Sheriff-Coroner N-P

Completed Precincts: 53 of 53

	Vote Count	Percentage
FRANCISCO RIVERO	4,297	38.5%
RODNEY K. MITCHELL	3,852	34.5%
JACK BAXTER	3,008	27.0%

Hospital Accused: Lack of Care

 
The Murray Family has several complaints about the treatment their Uncle Don received at St. Mary's Medical Center in San Francisco last month.  They say:

- the hospital was too quick to put ninety-year-old Don Holley on "comfort care"; he suffered a stroke, but they say he showed signs of improvement

- the hospital employs an odd version of "comfort care" by withholding nutrition and hydration.  The doctor made it clear Uncle Don would die within two days from the lack of water. 

- a nurse failed to take specific steps that could have saved Uncle Don's life.  We was choking on his own blood from a nose bleed, and some nurses cleared the blood well with the use of suction.  After a shift change, the new nurse failed to suction Uncle Don properly; he died from asphyxiating on his own blood.

- a nurse failed to allow a family member to use the suction on Uncle Don in his last moments.  Tegan Murray had experience using the suction at home on an elderly aunt.  Early on, the nurses allowed her to use the suction on Uncle Don herself.  When that new nurse came on, she placed the suction equipment in a drawer when she left the room and turned off the machine; Tegan did not have access to it.

The Murray family wrote up a summary of what happened for the hospital's ethics committee.  They wanted you to read it, if you'd like to know more about their painful ordeal and what warnings it can provide for all of us.

As we report tonight, the hospital declined to comment for the story or even confirm Don Holley was a patient there.

College Chancellor May Have Broken State Laws

Here's the report by independent investigators into evidence we uncovered of misspending and mismanagement at San Jose Evergreen Community College District.  It finds former chancellor Rosa Perez may have broken state laws by hiring and promoting a woman with whom she had a personal and financial relationship.

You can also see the investigation that started it all last November here.  By the way, the I-Team picked up an Emmy last week and a Sigma Delta Chi Award from the National Society of Professional Jourmalists for this investigation.

Laguna Honda Patient Gift Fund

The patients at Laguna Honda endure a life stripped down to the barest conditions.  They are some of the city’s poorest residents – many are severely disabled or nearing the end of their lives.  They live in the hospital’s open wards and own very little.  Small comforts such as buying a soda from the hallway vending machine can be impossible with no money.  That’s where the Patient Gift Fund comes in.

Donors give to improve the daily lives of the patients with such things as a candy bar, a pair of slippers, a small TV set or a bus trip to Crissy Field.  But, using public records, the I-Team has confirmed the hospital administration has been spending ten of thousand of dollars on gourmet meals, airline tickets and other items – not on the patients.

Hospital Director Mivic Hirose ignored our phone calls for an interview.  When we went to a town hall meeting to talk to her, the hospital’s Director of Community Relations Marc Slavin gave us some of the strangest treatment we’ve ever seen.  We feature a clip in tonight’s report on ABC 7 News, but we wanted to stream the entire exchange to give you the full context.  We’ll read every comment you leave.