LAKE COUNTY– The city of Clearlake was ordered on Tuesday to turn over information in the personnel files of several members of the Clearlake Police Department to the defense in the case of Daniel Alan York, who is accused of the attempted murder of a police officer. It is unclear what the extent of the information is.
The hearing on Tuesday addressed a Pitchess motion entered by York”s attorney, Berry Melton.
During a hearing in which the prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Art Grothe, was not involved, Clearlake”s attorney Steve Brookes met with Judge Andrew S. Blum privately in the judge”s chambers for roughly an hour. Blum reviewed the personnel files and made a ruling on what information was relevant to York”s case and what the defense is entitled to review.
Following the private meeting, Blum ordered the city of Clearlake to turn over information to the prosecution, but the extent of that information was not discussed publicly.
Melton said on Wednesday he did not know exactly what he would be receiving from the city of Clearlake. He also said that when he does receive it he will not be able to discuss the information publicly.
In the motion, Melton and York asked the city of Clearlake to turn over any document or complaint records regarding excessive or unreasonable force during an arrest, violation of civil liberties, false arrests, detentions without reasonable or probable cause, dishonesty, falsifying or altering reports, records or evidence, officer misconduct or aiding and abetting another officer”s misconduct.
The defense also asked for the names, phone numbers and addresses of the people who made the accusations or supplied information relating to any allegations.
Furthermore, Melton asked for information on any discipline measures taken against any of the officers mentioned in the motion.
Though Melton said he doesn”t know if there are reports concerning the topics mentioned in the motion, he said that if the information does exist, York is entitled to it. He added that any person who may have experienced violations to their rights from any of the officers involved in York”s case could serve as a witness in court.
The motion involves eight people at the CPD, but it is not clear if any of the mentioned in the motion have any record of activities as the ones mentioned in the motion.
In his response to the motion submitted to the court, Brookes stated that the officer”s personnel files are privileged information and asked the court to decline the request. In the case that the court did grant the request, Brookes stated the information granted should be limited.
Blum said in court on Tuesday that for any of the officers” information to be released to the defense, there had to be some kind of concrete accusation from the defense to the individual officer regarding any mistreatment during the arrest.
York, who was scheduled to face trial in February before a change of representation delayed the case, faces charges including attempted murder of a peace officer, felony hit-and-run resulting in injury, assault with a deadly weapon not a firearm and avoiding a peace officer causing serious injury.
The charges stem from an incident in September when he allegedly pinned a CPD officer with an SUV against a pickup truck during a traffic stop, according to the CPD. The officer reportedly sustained serious injuries.
Melton said in court on Tuesday that York did not know the officer was behind his SUV when the incident occurred. York previously stated that the officer was never pinned between the SUV and the truck.
York, who is in custody at the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility, is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.
Isaac Brambila is an associate editor for Lake County Publishing. Reach him at 900-2020 or at ibrambila@record-bee.com.
