CLEARLAKE — As the case of the People v. Richard Erickson continues to be heard in Clearlake, testimony by key witnesses may decide the fate of the accused.
Erickson, an 11-year Lakeport Police Department veteran, faces felony counts of misappropriation of government funds, stalking and making criminal threats. The charges stem largely from an extramarital affair Erickson conducted allegedly while on duty with 18-year-old Lakeport resident Josephina Cerda, and from time the prosecution says he spent at his Miramonte Avenue home, outside city limits, while on duty.
A GPS tracking device planted on Erickson”s patrol car placed him at his Miramonte Avenue home on several occasions over two days in May 2006 on which District Attorney Investigator John Flynn surveiled him.
Erickson”s defense attorney Don Anderson contended that the tracking device was inaccurate. “The technology is not as accurate as it”s believed to be,” said Anderson in a Thursday phone interview with the Record-Bee.
GPS notes show Erickson”s car to be stationary and moving 20 miles per hour at the same time, said Anderson. To his knowledge, no one having expertise on the device will be called to the stand.
Tuesday Anderson noted for the court that Flynn was a user of the GPS device, not an expert. In his Thursday interview, Anderson maintained that testimony given by other officers, also users, point to its inaccuracy.
Regarding the allegations that Erickson carried on an affair with Cerda while on duty, Anderson said the practice is not uncommon. He compared the time the two spent together to an officer arriving at work and having a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper while on duty.
He doesn”t argue with the fact that sex acts occurred between the two while Erickson was on duty, but he maintains the practice was not illegal.
Cerda testified April 17 that the time she spent with Erickson while he was on duty was between 15 minutes and half an hour at a time.
Cerda also said on the stand that she had never been afraid of Erickson, despite a statement she”d made in a May 2005 interview with Flynn and other officers. She dropped a restraining order Flynn obtained on her behalf after she told him she”d been afraid when Erickson had threatened to “bury her under a hill” shortly after it was put in effect.
Cerda testified that the two had been kidding around at the time, and the threat was not serious. Flynn”s investigative report states that when asked if she thought he was serious and capable of carrying out the threat, Cerda had indicated that she did now that she was thinking about it.
She also recanted that she”d been concerned when Erickson had grabbed her and shoved her up against his patrol car with a “crazy look in his eyes” and stared at her. In her statement to Flynn, Cerda said she had asked what was wrong, and that he”d replied “nothing” and then kissed her. She said on the stand that she”d kissed him back at the time.
Anderson maintains that Cerda made those statements after approximately seven hours of interrogation by eight officers in rotation, and that she had never been afraid of Erickson.
Deputy District Attorney will play the recorded interview for the court, which Anderson said is expected to happen Tuesday morning when the trial resumes in the South Civic Center, Dept. 4 in Clearlake.
Anderson said he also plans to put Erickson on the stand Thursday.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
