Wrongful prosecutions in Kern County

Case	Suspected#	Charged	Convicted	Upheld	Remain in prison	Comments
Molestation Rings:
Kniffen-McCuan April 1982 - August 1996	10	10	4	0	0	The first of the molestation “ring” cases that swept the nation in the Eighties -- based on incredible, sometimes disprovable allegations generally unsupported by physical evidence. Denials and recantations by “victims” ignored or disbelieved, yet wild allegations accepted as fact by police and prosecutors. After 14 years all four defendants are exonerated and set free because prosecutors, police and social workers coerced children into making false accusations. Case also relied on discredited medical testimony. One of several Kern County cases to become models of how not to investigate child abuse.
Hubbard February 1984 - August 1995	3	3	3	1	1	One defendant freed after four years because of illegal interrogations by the sheriff, another after ten years because authorities coerced children into making false accusations. The third defendant -- a lone molester who had nothing to do with any ring -- remains in prison.
Nokes June 1984 - January 1987	10-20	7	3 (2 minor)	0	0	First molestation ring case to produce satanic ritual abuse allegations. Prosecutors hide evidence, coerce witnesses, refuse to allow medical exams of victims. After two years in jail, five hundred charges dismissed in wake of report on investigative and prosecutorial errors.
Satanic Case 1984-86	85-150	18+	0	0	0	Year-long probe into ritual abuse creates hysteria with no evidence and much to disprove case. Children coerced, crucial information kept hidden by prosecutors. and Kern County ends up excoriated by grand jury, state Attorney General. Case becomes example of how not to investi- gate child abuse.
Pitts June 1984 - 1990	9	9	7	0	0	Massive prison sentences overturned after five years because of gross prosecutorial misconduct.
Stoll June 1984 - present	4	4	4	2	2	Two in “ring” granted new trials because favorable psychological testimony was barred. Kern County declines to retry them, as same concerns about coerced testimony, bogus medical evidence infect this case. Other two defendants failed to preserve appeal, remain in prison; habeas hearing pending for one.
Wong August 1984 - July 1985	5	5	3 (minor charges)	0	0	Coerced testimony and disprovable satanic allegations lead to dismissals.
Cox October 1984 - 2000	8	8	7	2	0	Some charges dismissed, five set free. Witness coercion led to false charges; tape recordings that showed coercion were kept hidden, as were medical reports showing no molestations took place.
Forsythe January 1985 - 1986	8	8	7 (minor charges)	0	0	Allegations of ring that preyed on 16 children dismissed in wake of other ring case revelations about coercion.
Other similar ring-era molestation cases 1983-86	32	12	2	0	0	Twenty-one children removed from parents. Allegations later disproved.
Ring Totals:	174-249	84*	39**	5***	3

Case	Suspected#	Charged	Convicted	Upheld	Remain in prison	Comments

Other cases
Stallion Springs drug case 1991-92	4	4	4	0	0	Illegal search by Kern County Sheriff leads to dismissal of case.
Offord Rollins murder case 1992-1996	1	1	1	0	0	Track star’s murder conviction overturned because of jury misconduct, prosecutorial misconduct and judicial errors.
Floyd Gore murder case 1992-94	1	1	1	0	1	Double murderer given new trial because prosecutor excluded Hispanic jurors. Retried and convicted.
Sergio Venegas rape case 1992-1999	1	1	1	0	1	Rape conviction and 65-year sentence overturned because prosecution DNA evidence overstated likelihood of guilt. Retried and convicted.
Charles Tomlin murder case 1978-1994	1	1	1	0	0	Freed after sixteen years because of defense attorney incompetence and prosecutor’s reliance on faulty and illegal eyewitness identification.
Encarnacion Barrientos murder case 1995-present	1	1	1	0	?	Prosecutor introduces improper hearsay testimony that impugns defendant, requiring new trial..
Rosales Meza murder case 1993-94	1	1	0	0	0	Same detective who investigated Pat Dunn arrests wrong man, neglects to check fingerprints.
Christopher Ridge 1995	1	1	1	0	0	Conviction overturned because the auto theft prosecution relied upon evidence from illegal search.
Carl Hogan murder case 1978-1994	1	1	1	0****	--	Double murder conviction reversed because sheriff’s detectives coerced a confession. Retried and convicted again. Died in prison with new appeal planned.
Michael Denney murder case 1980-86	1	1	1	0	1	Robbery-murder conviction overturned because confession obtained by sheriff’s department through threats, coercion and after ignoring suspect’s demands for attorney. Retried and convicted
Melvin Hayes 1984-88	1	1	1	0	0	Eight year prison term overturned drug case when sheriff’s department improperly attempts to use defendant to bust his own attorney, then reneges on deal when defendant can’t deliver.
Calvin Howard grand theft 1983-84	1	1	1	0	0	Four-year prison term overturned because prosecutors introduce evience obtained through illegal search.
Jarnail Singh Jaspal 1984-1991	1	1	1	0	0	Life sentence overturned because murder prosecutor and judge introduced improper evidence, suggesting the defendant’s decision to exercise his right to remain silent at an extradition hearing proved his “consciousness of guilt.”
Marie Haven George Curtis murder 1998	2	2	0	0	0	In a case investigated by Sheriff’s Detective John Soliz, the principal investigator in the Dunn case, two prison guards, Marie Haven and George Curtis, are charged with the murder of Haven’s ex-husband for insurance money. As in the Dunn case, this prosecution relied upon an informant with severe credibility problems, though this witness admiton the witness stand that she lied in this and other cases. In another parallel to the Dunn case, Soliz said he suspected Haven because she began asking about insurance money shortly after the murder, trying to get $10,000. Soliz disregarded the fact that the family needed the money to pay for the funeral. After 100 days in jail, both defendants were released with all charges dropped for lack of evidence, their jobs and homes lost.
Danny Eugene Hammock murder 1997-present	1	1	1	0	?	Improper evidence given to jury to win conviction. Case pending after new trial granted
Jerome Valenta unlawful taping	1	1	1	0	0	Valenta was a parolee and activist who helped other parolees with their cases. A sheriff's deputy listed as a witness in one case accused Valenta of threatening him to dissuade him from testifying. Valenta then produced a tape recording proving he was being falsely accused. Prosecutors then charged him with a state wiretapping violation, alleging that he illegally recorded a "confidential communication" over the telephone. Sentenced to seven years in prison, Valenta wrote his own appeal and won his freedom, proving gross prosecutorial misconduct and that there was nothing confidential about his taped conversations.
Ramon Schirra Williams murder 1999-present	1	1	1	0	?	Murder defendant first gets a hung then convicted, then granted a third trial because Kern prosecutors yet again failed to disclose critical evidence before trial – an answering machine tape that supports Williams' plea of innocence but was kept hidden in a police officer's safe at home. The tape led to a witness who provides additional testimony supporting claims of innocence. The District Attorney, Ed Jagels, told the media that, despite his office's violations of the laws governing disclosure, that the trial judge was wrong to grant a new trial. "Every once in a while, something happens in a courtroom that is so weird that no amount of analysis can rationalize," Jagels said. "The judge's ruling is one of those occasions."
Cipriano Villa Ramirez murder/conspiracy 1998-present	1	1	1	0	1	Man convicted of murder in apartment shooting; appeals court acquitted on the conspiracy charge, finding prosecutors offered no real evidence, and overturned the murder conviction because jury instructions were improper. Retrial pending.
Pat Dunn murder 1992 - present	1	1	1	1	1	Evidence that would discredit key witness never given to defense; other crucial information never disclosed. Initial appeals lost, new habeas plea pending.

Case	Suspected#	Charged	Convicted	Upheld	Remain in prison

Total Non-ring cases:	24	24	21	1	4
Grand Total	198-273	108	60	6	7
# suspects include individuals who were actively investigated and/or arrested. + referred by sheriff’s department to district attorney for prosecution, but never formally indicted. * includes ten parents who were accused of molestation in civil proceedings that led to removal of their children, but not prosecuted criminally. twelve of these defendants were convicted of minor charges resulting in no incarceration after they agreed to plead guilty in exchange for the dismissal of hundreds of counts against them. * does not include minor charges that led to no jail time and therefore were never appealed. ****granted new trial, retried, convicted.