CA-50

San Diego D.A.'s Office Asking Everybody About Raided Busby Fundraising Event

Eric Kleefeld | July 24, 2009, 5:28PM

Let's take a moment to examine a now-notorious arrest that occurred at a private home, and made headlines around the country -- no, not Henry Louis Gates, but the fundraiser for Democratic House candidate Francine Busby (CA-50), which was raided by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department several weeks ago.

You may recall that attendees at this house party said a heckler shouted anti-gay slurs over a fence, and about an hour later a deputy paid a less than friendly visit to the event, saying that a noise complaint had been made about a Democratic rally. One thing led to another, and a bunch of middle-aged Dems got pepper-sprayed, and a full back-up of officers came -- including dogs and a helicopter.

I checked in with Busby today for the latest news, and she walked me through how the county district attorney's office had taken over the investigation. "They've been very diligent about contacting all of the guests who attended, not just those who were there later," Busby told me. "And the feeling I'm getting back from people is that they're handling it very professionally, and people have been very comfortable with the procedures."

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CA-50

Neighbor Of Raided Busby Fundraiser: The Call To The Sheriffs Didn't Come From Me!

Eric Kleefeld | July 10, 2009, 2:14PM

So who exactly did call in that noise complaint against a fundraiser two weeks ago for Democratic House candidate Francine Busby (CA-50) -- the one that, through a bizarre series of events, culminated in a full-scale raid by the San Diego Sheriff's Department? One of the host's neighbors, it turns out, is very eager to clear her own name and say it wasn't her.

I just spoke with with Jeannie Goodsell, a retiree who lives immediately adjacent to the residence (though the lots are very large -- the houses are over 100 yards apart). The caller is believed by attendees to have been the same person who yelled obscenities and anti-gay slurs at the event -- and Goodsell doesn't want any confusion that this didn't happen from her house.

She said there was no noise at all. "We were home. We didn't even know that the party or whatever it was, the fundraiser, happened behind us," Goodsell told me. "We heard the helicopters that night, but every once in a while helicopters do fly over these orchards, so we didn't think anything about it." She only found out what happened from reporters who came by her home to ask her about it.

"What started bothering us is, it showed up in print that people directly west behind them started harassing them and yelling things about gays," said Goodsell. "We're liberal Democrats -- we have a Buddha on our table."

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CA-50

Leaked Police Report Sheds Light On Raided Busby Event

Eric Kleefeld | July 8, 2009, 12:12PM

Here's another clue that's come out of the now-infamous fundraising event from two Fridays ago for Democratic House candidate Francine Busby (CA-50), which ended in a raid by the San Diego Sheriff's Department when things got out of hand with a deputy who was responding to a noise complaint.

A preliminary police report that has been leaked to the media (the Sheriff's Department is not releasing documents, due to an ongoing internal probe) shows that the noise complaint originated from a house nearby, with the caller incensed over "a loud Democratic rally with loudspeakers."

This corroborates what Busby had previously told me, that the deputies who came to the event said they were responding to a complaint about a "Democratic demonstration." For her part, Busby has said that the event was not loud, but was a standard fundraising house party, at which she briefly spoke through a microphone and had finished up her remarks at some time around 8:30 p.m.

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CA-50

Busby Meets With Sheriff: "He Was Receptive"

Eric Kleefeld | July 3, 2009, 2:28PM

Democratic House candidate Francine Busby (CA-50), whose fundraising house party last Friday night ended disastrously with a now-infamous raid by the San Diego Sheriff's Department, met yesterday with the county's new Sheriff William D. Gore, who was just sworn in yesterday, and she told me today that it was a constructive meeting.

The incident began after an unnamed person, believed to have been a heckler who reportedly shouted obscenities and anti-gay slurs at the event, phoned in a noise complaint.

"I congratulated him on being sworn in. We had a conversation about this incident. I told him that I'm going to be completely cooperative with him, because I think it's going to be so important that we find out how this happened, and why this happened, and make sure it doesn't happen again," said Busby. "And I told him that it's very important to me to find out that if there was political motivation behind the phone call, for two reasons. One, is these types of political meetings occur all the time for all candidates. It's important that people feel safe when they attend one of these, and it should be a protected right in our democratic process. And two, law enforcement should never be put in a position to be used in a political way."

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CA-50

Homeowner's Attorney: San Diego D.A.'s Office Taking Busby Raid Seriously

Eric Kleefeld | July 2, 2009, 2:44PM

The extensive press coverage, both local and national, that has surrounded this past Friday night's sheriff's raid on a fundraiser for Democratic House candidate Francine Busby (CA-50) seems to have had a real effect on the officials overseeing the case itself.

I just spoke with Christine Carlino, the long-time personal attorney for homeowner Shari Barman, who was arrested at the event, and she told me there could be some significance to the fact that the San Diego District Attorney's office is now personally involved in looking at the charges against Barman and a guest who was also arrested. (Note that Carlino is a civil attorney, not criminal, but she does still bring some local expertise.)

The key thing to understand here is that San Diego County is divided into several jurisdictional regions -- for example, Barman's home is in the North County region, as opposed to the city of San Diego itself, where the county's District Attorney is based.

Under routine circumstances, an arrest made in North County would stay with the North County prosecutor. But the county's D.A. in San Diego has taken over the case, which is out of the ordinary.

This doesn't really speak either way to whether charges will be dropped or dismissed. But what it could mean is that the D.A. might be aware of just how controversial this has become, and how important it is going forward to get this right.

CA-50

Busby Campaign, Supporters And Allies Publicly Mobilize Against Sheriff's Raid

Eric Kleefeld | July 2, 2009, 1:09PM

Democratic Congressional candidate Francine Busby (CA-50) and her allies have been embarking on an extensive public relations campaign in the wake of a raid on a campaign house party by the San Diego Sheriff's Department -- due to a noise complaint that is believed to have come from a person who heckled the event -- which ended in multiple people being pepper-sprayed and the full complement of deputies, including a dog unit and helicopter, coming in to arrest one of the hostesses and a guest.

On Monday, three of the women held a press conference, blasting the arresting officer, Deputy Marshall G. Abbott. "He had a raged look in his eyes and his head was bobbing from side to side," said Kimberley Beatty, who said that she had called 911 to report that he "appeared to be out of control."

And last night, the San Diego ACLU put out a press release, which was forwarded to us by Busby herself, lambasting the Sheriff's Department for all manner of improper behavior here, and calling for greater transparency as the process of investigating this whole mess goes forward. The opening paragraph of the press release is essentially a dry narration of the reported events -- ending with an extraordinary closing sentence, emphasis ours:

On Friday, June 26, 2009, according to press reports and witness statements, a San Diego County Sheriff's deputy, responding to a noise complaint, entered the home of Shari Barman who was hosting a political gathering to support Francine Busby, a candidate for Congress. When the homeowner questioned why she had to provide her date of birth, the deputy grabbed her arm, put it behind her back, and brought her to the ground. Feeling intimidated by a group of mostly middle-aged women, he pepper-sprayed a number of guests and arrested Barman.

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