2006 City Council Election/Questions to candidates/Q6

Question 6. of the 2006 City Council Questions to Candidates

Do you believe the police and/or the District Attorney's office acted improperly in the Halema Buzayan case?

• Ruth Asmundson: No.
• Stan Forbes: Since this case is in litigation I will wait for a judicial determination of whether there was improper official action.
• Lamar Heystek: Yes.
• Rob Roy: Yes. I still think there were problems with the Miranda rights and the right to an attorney. I also think that the case was a waste of time and taxpayer money because it was settled civilly.
• Michael Levy: As an attorney of 15 years, and a volunteer traffic judge, I can say that the laws governing police conduct are exceptionally complex and nuanced. While the case could have been handled with more sensitivity, based upon what I know of the applicable law, it does not appear that either the officer or the District Attorney acted improperly. For instance, she could have been issued a notice to appear at a subsequent time.

2006-05-15 23:57:36   Stan, with all due respect, that's a copout. You were asked for an opinion based on the available facts. I would have even prefered a "I don't know" to "I will wait for a judicial determination". If you are elected, on how many other issues are you "going to wait for a judicial determination". —GrumpyoldGeek

2006-05-16 09:57:11   Rob, did you change your answer to this question or do you mean that it was a typo? The phrasing of the second sentence "I still think there were.." seems to imply the first sentence is in the other direction (e.g. "no"). —PhilipNeustrom

2006-05-16 11:52:09   No. I didn't change my answer. I meant to write Yes. But I was overwhelemed at keeping track of the long list of questions. Having problems reading miranda rights and making someone speak when they have asked for an attorney means that it was NOT proper. Because of the neagative tone of the question it made me say no, when I mean yes. —RobRoy

2006-05-16 20:37:16   Confused by Mike Levy's answer: "While the case could have been handled with more sensitivity, based upon what I know of the applicable law, it does not appear that either the officer or the District Attorney acted improperly. For instance, she could have been issued a notice to appear at a subsequent time." If the Officer and DA did not act improperly, why does it then say "for instance" and follow the "for instance" with a statement suggesting an alternative way of handling it. —HenryBianco

2006-05-18 16:07:06   I'm not sure, but I think Levy's "For instance," is based on his assertion that the case could have been handled more sensitively. —AlvinTsao