SAN BERNARDINO - An attorney for USC cornerback Shareece Wright and a San Bernardino County prosecutor on Wednesday said they are optimistic about reaching a settlement in Wright’s resisting a police officer case that would allow the Trojan player to avoid pleading guilty to a felony.
Carlos J. Juarez, Wright’s attorney, and San Bernardino County deputy district attorney Sean McNally held what Juarez described as “beneficial settlement discussions” in a case where Wright is charged with resisting police officers trying to break up a Labor Day weekend Colton party for a Wright friend being deployed to Iraq with the U.S. Marines.
McNally declined to drop charges against Wright and three other defendants but agreed that a settlement where Wright pleads guilty to a misdemeanor charge is likely.
“None of these defendants are serious criminals, none of them have a record, ” McNally said. “I think we had a situation where there was too much drinking and their youth got the best of them. ”
Judge John N. Martin scheduled a December 17 hearing in the case in which Wright has pled not guilty. Martin on Wednesday gave Wright, who is injured and being redshirted, permission to travel with USC if the Trojans are invited to an out-of-state bowl game, but warned Wright not to use his injury “as an opportunity to party” at the bowl. Wright, Martin said, was forbidden to “so much as smell a beer or alcohol.”
“Mr. Wright you don’t want to make me unhappy with you,” Martin said.
Wright and Juarez had hoped the charge would be dropped on Wednesday after Juarez provided the District Attorney’s office with accounts supporting Wright from seven eyewitnesses who were at the Colton party.
“Seven eyewitnesses saying something different than the officers,” Juarez said.
“I’m disappointed,” Wright said. “I wanted to get it over with. But I want to get the best result. I can’t settle for a felony.”
Juarez said that like McNally he was encouraged Wednesday’s discussion.
“It’s going to have to be less than a felony, that’s my position,” Juarez said. “(But) I’m not committed to settling for a misdemeanor. But we had some very beneficial talks.”
Wright currently has no plans to file a civil suit against the Colton police, Juarez said.
Colton police, saying they were responding to noise complaints, tried to break up a party for Luis Alvarado, a friend of Wright’s who has since been deployed to Iraq. In what Juarez has characterized as an “overreaction” a police helicopter and dogs were used by police to disperse the approximately 50 people attending the party at Alvarado’s parent’s home, eyewitnesses said. At least one person was tasered and another was bitten by a police dog, said Termone Williams, a party attendee. Williams pled guilty to a misdemeanor disturbing the peace charge as part of a plea bargain.
Williams said he and Wright were in the house when police tried to enter through a backdoor. Williams and Wright told the police they could not enter the home and argument ensued, Williams said.
Police verbally abusive Wright and then told him to leave, Williams said.
“The cops were very disrespectful,” Williams said. “They called (Wright) the ‘B’ word, the ‘f’ word. We couldn’t talk to them. They used excessive force.”
Williams and Wright were ordered by police to leave the home but Wright told police he could not leave because he had been drinking and had planned to spend the night at the Alvarado home, Juarez said. Alvarado’s mother told police she had invited Wright to stay at the home. Wright, who grew up in Colton, frequently stays at the Alvarado home when he returns to the area.
Three male relatives of Alvarado, were arrested and released after posting $15,000 bail each. Wright was interviewed at Colton police headquarters and then released without being charged. The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s office subsequently decided to charge Wright after reviewing the case. Wright learned he had been charged after Colton police called the USC coaching staff last month, Juarez said.
Either this was written without looking at both sides stories (i.e. the police report and the charges filed by the DA) or this was a case of complete over reaction by the police and an over zealous DA’s office.
I certainly am a law and order guy but we don’t need the police and DA’s office acting like the Gestapo and SS. Charging someone with a felony for the flimsy info contained in this article smacks of nothing more then posturing.
As a certified member of the vast right wing conspiracy, white, Republican, and a victim of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, DA and ex-wife (if you’re a man you are evil), I would trust the 7 witnesses over the police. Until you have been through it you can’t believe what idiots the OCSD and DA are.
I am a retired LAPD Detective-Supervisor (30 yrs.). I responded to a local sports reporter concerning Wright the day after his notified of the criminal filing. It made no sense to me, in a legal sense, but it did in a practical one.
The police respond to a “415″ party ((loud, disturbing the peace of the neighbors, etc.). Once there they use a Taser on a youth and have a police dog present, which bites another youth. Since Wright was there legally, with the owner’s permission and was spending the night, he is allowed to stay. At this point, he has only been detained.
San Bernardino County was open to lawsuits and they will remain so. They used more force than what was necessary, even if they didn’t, their selection of the type of force was poor. They are protecting themselves by continuing to prosecute. They threaten everyone with a max sentence (never happen) to make them worry enough to settle. That is just civil service SOP.
Unfortunately, the distrust between the County and the citizens, involving lawsuits creates a mess such as this.
Sounds like the DA should have opened an investigation into the Colton police.
Doug thanks for your explanation. I called it posturing but you explained the reasoning behind the posturing.
If this account is correct, then Wright should not accept any “deal”. I am continually disappointed with disproportionate responses to situations in our society. First, did the neighbor ever stop by to ask the party to quiet down? Would the neighbor have been more tolerant if he/she knew it was a farewell party for a service man (or woman) being deployed to Iraq? If not, could the police have resolved the problem by diffusing it, rather than escalating it? Police should always strive to calm down situations to find amicable resolutions, rather than resort to blunt force trauma. [Note: I am a follow-the-rules kind of guy, and I still have a problem with the way this was handled.]