A federal judge has dismissed all criminal charges against five former San Diego pension system members whose willingness to grant fiscal relief to the city in 2002 backfired and pushed it to the brink of bankruptcy.
The ruling posted yesterday exonerates the former city and pension officials after four years of federal court proceedings.
“I’m very pleased,” said defendant Cathy Lexin, a former city employee who now works in the private sector in Sacramento. “I’ve never doubted this outcome, and I said that to people from the very beginning.”
Cleared in the case were Ronald Saathoff, former head of the city firefighters union; Teresa Webster, a former city employee; Lawrence Grissom and Loraine Chapin, former pension system officials; and Lexin.
While the ruling may close a significant chapter in the city’s long-running pension dispute, San Diego remains in an unstable financial position, forced to make sweeping cuts in services such as fire protection while making larger and larger payments to its pension system.
The city’s money problems could have been a lot worse had it not been for an unrelated legal ruling announced yesterday.
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Monday, June 28, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
San Diego man gets 17 years in DUI sibling deaths
CHULA VISTA – A San Diego man who was drunk from partying in Tijuana when his truck slammed into a car in Chula Vista, killing two teenage brothers, was sentenced Monday to 17 years in state prison.
Enrique Coronado, 32, pleaded guilty Feb. 11 to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI causing injury. The defendant also admitted he has a robbery conviction from 1999. He was sentenced by South Bay Judge Esteban Hernandez.
Prosecutors said Coronado crashed his pickup truck into a Mitsubishi Galant at Brandywine Avenue and Main Street about 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 21, 2008.
Coronado left the scene but was arrested when he came back to get his wallet, prosecutor Cally Bright said.
Daniel Spickerman, 18, was pronounced dead at Rady Children’s Hospital about three hours after the crash. His brother, 16-year-old Jason Spickerman, was declared brain-dead the next day.
Another brother was driving the Mitsubishi and suffered minor injuries, police said. The siblings were Chula Vista residents.
Jason’s organs were donated by his foster parents against the wishes of his biological family.
The foster parents said the boy would have wanted to help others by donating his organs, but his biological family objected because they thought he might recover one day.
Neither Coronado nor his his passenger said what they were doing in Chula Vista at the time of the accident, said Deputy District Attorney Cally Bright.
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Enrique Coronado, 32, pleaded guilty Feb. 11 to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI causing injury. The defendant also admitted he has a robbery conviction from 1999. He was sentenced by South Bay Judge Esteban Hernandez.
Prosecutors said Coronado crashed his pickup truck into a Mitsubishi Galant at Brandywine Avenue and Main Street about 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 21, 2008.
Coronado left the scene but was arrested when he came back to get his wallet, prosecutor Cally Bright said.
Daniel Spickerman, 18, was pronounced dead at Rady Children’s Hospital about three hours after the crash. His brother, 16-year-old Jason Spickerman, was declared brain-dead the next day.
Another brother was driving the Mitsubishi and suffered minor injuries, police said. The siblings were Chula Vista residents.
Jason’s organs were donated by his foster parents against the wishes of his biological family.
The foster parents said the boy would have wanted to help others by donating his organs, but his biological family objected because they thought he might recover one day.
Neither Coronado nor his his passenger said what they were doing in Chula Vista at the time of the accident, said Deputy District Attorney Cally Bright.
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