Post by dougguard on Nov 30, 2019 14:18:07 GMT
JUST SOME UNSOLICITED COMMENTS FROM A SACRAMENTO RESIDENT
Well it’s the holidays again in Sacramento, and another year has just zoomed by. For those of us raised in this town, several generations myself…there is a certain mystique to this California city, this time of year. The Central City is more like a Midwest City, particularity not like other towns in the State. The Pioneers of California such as historic figures Stanford, Hastings, Crocker, Huntington and Sutter were mostly from the East Coast or New England and brought their blueprints with them. Some neighborhoods are exactly like any town in upstate New York etc. Parked my car this Friday Evening in front of the County Jail because The Trans-Siberian Orchestra is in town and parking spaces are at a premium. It is so like Sacramento for an orchestra like this to be sold out. After parking, I looked up at the Protective Custody and Psych Floors to see if JJD might be looking down. Never saw him and don’t expect to. Just habit I suspect.
The Jail is actually named the Lorenzo Patino Hall of Justice. Lorenzo Patino was the youngest lawyer ever appointed to the Municipal Court by Jerry Brown in 1981. Patino was 28 and before taking the bench, vowed to throw the book at any convicted Drunk Drivers who appeared before him. He was good on his promise and filled the old jail to near capacity. Patino died of cancer a couple of years later and of course, for political expediency, the County Leaders named the new Jail after him. The bottom floor has courtrooms that we have all seen for in-custody defendants to make initial appearances…just like JJD.
The Trial for JJD could be actually held at this facility instead of the main Courthouse around the corner for obvious reasons. This jail also has a tunnel under the street to take Federal Defendants to the Federal Courthouse just west of the County Jail. Our elected District Attorney is Anne Marie Schubert who is in the middle of her second term. Schubert is a Pioneer Prosecutor in the DNA field and nationally respected. She is the first prosecutor to actually get an arrest warrant based on a DNA code without a named suspect in order to toll the statute of limitations. This has been upheld so far by the courts and her office has won some convictions. Schubert is from a large catholic family and her brother is a nationally known advocate against gay marriage. Schubert has aged considerably in the last couple of years and does not look good. My heart goes out to her. Partly I suspect because of a highly publicized questionable killing by Sacramento Police of an unarmed black man and her office refusal to prosecute those officers. Violent demonstrations followed and Schubert had a chain-link fence installed around her office.
Also, it was highly publicized when Schubert took her 12-year old son to get a virus shot which caused the young boy to pass out. The fall caused him to hit his head on a hard floor resulting in a ruptured ear drum causing permanent hearing loss. This took a toll on her. Schubert has my respect for being behind this GSK/EARONS case from years ago. I hope this case does not go to trial because it will be so brutal for so many. Not in the least the taxpayers.
Sacramento has always had a well-earned reputation for serial killers and mass murderers. Don’t be fooled by press reports. From the Uni-Bomber to sex slayer Gerald Gallegos, Vampire Killer Richard Chase, the I-5 Killer Roger Kibbe and the list is long…this town is not idyllic and never was! But life goes on and for now the case against JJD is off the front pages and I hope those involved can stay healthy for the final closure that is so justly deserved. This is the view from Sacramento. Happy Holidays.