‘Amateur hour in US attorney’s office’: LA prosecutors face more losses in protest cases

In two separate courtrooms in federal court in downtown Los Angeles, prosecutors had a tough day.

On the seventh floor, Wednesday afternoon, in courtroom 7B, US District Judge André Birotte Jr. criticized prosecutors and the US attorney’s office for failing to disclose some of the findings of the defendants until the trial of the two defendants charged with assaulting a government official.

“You have to be ready for prime time and you’re not,” said Birotte, a former U.S. attorney himself.

In his motion to dismiss the case, Samuel Cross, the deputy public defender, said he was quoting the judge calling it “an hour of rookies in the U.S. attorney’s office.”

“This case probably won’t happen,” Birotte said.

Three floors up, about 20 minutes later, in court 10A, prosecutors remain tight-lipped awaiting the verdict of Luis Hipolito, who was also on trial for assault on a federal official after punching an ICE officer in the face during an operation last summer.

Hipolito did not deny that he hit the police officer. Unlike previous cases where jurors were acquitted due to lack of video, there were videos posted on social media that captured the incident. He said he believed that the police did not identify themselves as hunters trying to abduct the woman and she defended herself after being sprayed with pepper and elbowed.

In his closing argument, Asst. US Atty. Jason Pang questioned Hipolito’s belief in the kidnapping attempt. He told jurors that Hipolito signed the agreement saying he knew the man he hit was an official or a government employee. He presented a slide show titled “defendant’s lies under oath.”

“He lied over and over again,” said Pang. “He knew they were the police.”

Despite their arguments, and the approval of boxing, prosecutors had reason to be concerned. Their office has aggressively prosecuted anti-immigration protesters under the direction of Bill Essayli, a Trump acolyte and the office’s top prosecutor. His office has charged more than 100 people since June, allegedly for assaulting agents or interfering with immigration.

At least 28 of them have taken plea deals. But in the five cases of assault on an officer that the office tried, the prosecutors did not win a single one.

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Hipolito’s trial began on Tuesday and focused on immigration operations in downtown LA on June 24. While the street vendors were being arrested, ICE officers also arrested a young woman, Andrea Velez, on suspicion of assault. (The case against him was later dismissed).

Hipolito revealed that he was taking his sister to work when he heard the girl shouting “I am an American citizen.” He thought she was 17 or 18 because she was so short. He said that unknown men, twice his size and wearing masks, were picking him up. He said he saw on social media that food hunters were finding people and said he believed that Velez might be kidnapped.

Carey Crook, an ICE officer and supervisor at the scene, testified that after Hipolito and two others ignored multiple commands to stop blocking police vehicles, Crook pepper sprayed them. That’s when, Crook said, Hipolito punched him in the face, dislodging the lens from his glasses and leaving a gash.

Masked, plainclothes agents took Luis Hipolito into custody after wrestling him on the sidewalk.

(Handout)

Crook said Hipolito later lied to ICE officials that Velez was his aunt. Hipolito said he was lying because he could not find any information about his condition except that he is his relative.

Hipolito, who has been frustrated at times when he took this step Tuesday, said he heard first pepper spray and then an elbow to his face. He described throwing a punch as a “quick reaction.”

“I didn’t see where I put my fist, I just took a swing,” he said. “I just wanted to protect myself.”

Jurors were not shown the results of Hipolito’s arrest, which went viral on social media. Videos captured four agents pushing Hipolito to the pavement, piling on top of him on the curb. Another put his arm around Hipolito’s neck. Soon after, Hipolito’s legs trembled and bound and his body began to shake violently.

During cross-examination, Asst. US Atty. JohnPaul LeCedre pressed Hipolito on his belief that these officers were bounty hunters as they wore vests with the word “Police” on them. Hipolito replied that anyone can buy a vest and put the police in it.

LeCedre also asked Hipolito if he was “willing to lie to the officers,” asking if he would be willing to lie at the traffic stop.

“Today, I’m just telling the truth,” replied Hipolito.

Both sides presented their closing arguments Wednesday morning. The prosecutor dropped a potential bombshell: that Hipolito signed a stipulation saying he knew Crook was an official or government employee.

The defense gave Crook a chance of violence.

“It was Agent Crook who stepped up,” Ricardo A. Nicol, a defense attorney who represented Hipolito pro bono, told the judge. “Hipolito reacted out of fear … this was an adaptive response to a sudden and violent attack.”

Around 11:00, the judge retired to deliberate.

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People jostle with Department of Homeland Security officers as they protest immigration enforcement in front of the Federal Detention Center on July 17 in Los Angeles.

(Luke Johnson/Los Angeles Times)

In Court 7B, the case against Erin Petra Escobar and Nick Gutierrez – who are accused of assaulting a government official during a protest outside the Roybal Federal Building on July 17 – was already out.

During the trial, prosecutors responded to additional discovery from the defense that should have been previously disclosed. There were several new documents that included the use of powerful reports that revealed the identities of government officials previously unknown to the defense team.

Now, during a hearing at 1:30 pm on the defense’s motion to dismiss the case on Wednesday, Birotte demanded to know who was at fault. Asst. US Atty. William Kanellis said the former assistant US attorney should have turned that discovery over to the defense. The prosecutors currently in this case said they were also unaware of these reports.

“There was a mistake,” Kanellis said. But he and another prosecutor argued that the reports were the same as those already handed over to the defendants. Kanellis suggested continuing the trial until defense attorneys had a chance to review the new material.

“I have 12 people here, are you going to tell them to come back in a month?” Birotte said.

“I don’t think it will take a month,” Kanellis replied.

“How do you know how much time they need to prepare?” Birotte snapped, asking if he had ever been a defense attorney.

Cross, the deputy public defender representing Escobar, said the new evidence changed the perspective of the case and how they would prepare for trial. He said the reports show that the officer put his knee on Escobar’s back twice.

“Excessive use of force in self-defense is one of the key factors in this case,” he said. “This is a huge use of energy for our customers.”

Cross said the defendants’ lawyers were put in a terrible situation by “government misconduct.”

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At about 3:30 p.m., the jury returned to courtroom 10A to deliver Hipolito’s verdict.

They had been debating for nearly four hours, the miracle of a case with only two witnesses and the video of the alleged assault that prosecutors played over and over again. Hipolito faced up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Verdict: not guilty.

Diane Bass, one of Hipolito’s lawyers, jumped up and held her hands in thanks to the judge. Hipolito leaned back in his chair, his face falling into his palms. Her sister sitting in front wiped her eyes.

Bass kissed Hipolito, who asked his lawyers if he was really free. They said yes.

“We thank God that justice has been done,” Hipolito said outside the courtroom.

Not long after, he spoke on the phone with Velez and said that he had been praying for him every day.

“Thank you very much,” said Velez.

The judges declined to comment on what made them come out on top.

The US attorney’s office in LA also declined to comment.

Luis Hipolito, second from left, stands outside the city’s federal courthouse with his sister, Iris, left, and his lawyers Diane Bass and Ricardo A. Nicol on Wednesday in Los Angeles.

(Brittny Mejia/Los Angeles Times)

“You would think that, at some point, they might start to realize that history and society are not on their side, that the will of the people is not on their side,” Nicol said. “But they are very determined to be convicted in these cases, they don’t stop.”

“The government and the people they are supposed to represent are not getting along right now,” he added.

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The next morning things got worse for the prosecutors in room 7B.

Birotte said he agreed with defense attorneys that the failure to turn over discovery constituted a Brady violation, where the suppression of evidence in favor of the defense violates due process.

“The government has tried many cases like this, I’m just surprised that there wouldn’t be a check to see that ‘Has everything been changed?'” said Birotte. “The idea that they failed to file reports in this case without knowing it is not binding on the court. This is something that should have been looked into and it is not.”

“The court is left with this problem that I have not faced all the time I was on the bench and I do not take it lightly,” said Birotte. He dismissed the case with prejudice, which means prosecutors cannot file charges.

He called deportation “the only fair and just option.”

After Birotte dismissed the jurors, several of them spoke to waiting lawyers. The judges seemed to indicate which way they were leaning. The government’s witness, the judges said, contradicted himself several times.