LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Twenty-six months into his first term, Lake County’s sheriff is facing a direct challenge from the county’s Board of Supervisors, who will discuss seeking his resignation and giving him a no confidence vote next week.
Supervisors Anthony Farrington and Rob Brown have asked for the board to consider the vote of no confidence and request for Sheriff Frank Rivero’s resignation at the board meeting on Tuesday, March 19. The discussion is scheduled for 10 a.m.
Rivero did not respond to a Lake County News request for comment.
In their memorandum to the board, which can be seen in its entirely below, Farrington and Brown wrote that, in light of District Attorney Don Anderson placing Rivero on a “Brady” list of officers with credibility issues, “we feel it incumbent upon this Board to ask for a vote of No Confidence and to formally ask for the immediate resignation of Mr. Rivero.”
The “Brady” determination is named for the 1963 U.S. Supreme Court case, Brady v. Maryland, which requires prosecutors to release to defendants in criminal cases any information that could help clear them, including credibility issues of peace officers involved in their cases.
Rivero’s Brady issue is considered a serious one in the law enforcement profession, and it appears to be the first time a California sheriff has ever been placed on a Brady list.
“It’s a highly unprecedented event,” Ron Cottingham, president of the Peace Officers Research Association of California, or PORAC, told Lake County News.
Cottingham said PORAC, which knows of Rivero’s situation, is not aware of any sheriff or police chief in California ever having received a Brady determination before.
Brown said he has spoken to other sheriffs about Rivero’s Brady matter, and that they have called it both unprecedented and an embarrassment to the profession.
The National Sheriff’s Association has not responded to numerous information requests from Lake County News seeking to determine if any sheriff in other parts of the United States has ever been placed on a Brady list before.
Anderson made the determination on Rivero’s credibility after investigating a February 2008 nonfatal shooting incident in which Rivero, while working as a deputy, shot at a man holding a can of pepper spray, which would have been a violation of sheriff’s office policy.
Rivero initially told investigators that he saw pepper spray in the man’s hand, and witnesses at the scene said Rivero had told the man repeatedly to “drop the pepper spray,” which he later denied saying. He also changed his story and claimed he could not tell what the man was holding.
Anderson released his findings, which concluded that Rivero had lied about his actions, to Rivero’s attorney on Feb. 19. Ten days later Anderson was served with a suit in which Rivero sought a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction and writ of mandate.
Rivero was aiming to stop Anderson from releasing his findings either to the public or to criminal defendants, as Anderson is required to do under Brady v. Maryland.
However, a day before Rivero’s suit was filed, retired Judge David Herrick had ordered the Brady materials on Rivero to be released to three Hells Angels members facing prosecution for a June 2011 fight with a rival Vagos gang member. The defendants in that case allege that Rivero was singling them out for their affiliation.
Rank and file officers who are placed on the Brady list usually are recommended for termination, Cottingham said.
Such is the case in Lake County. Anderson said that when he came into office, all of the individuals on the Lake County District Attorney’s Office Brady list were no longer peace officers.
Cottingham said Brady determinations do not carry prohibitions against carrying firearms or doing the work of an officer. The main issues relate to making arrests or being percipient witnesses in criminal cases.
In those cases, the district attorney must divulge to the defense an officer’s lack of credibility, meaning that, ultimately, it’s the district attorney’s problem, said Cottingham.
Case law has established that Brady decisions, ultimately, rest with district attorneys, but Rivero is now challenging that in court with his attempt to seek the writ of mandate and preliminary injunction.
At a March 4 hearing, retired Butte County Superior Court Judge William Lamb denied Rivero’s application for the restraining order and ordered all of the Brady documents – including Anderson’s findings – into the public court records.
Lamb is allowing Rivero to move forward on the preliminary injunction, with no date yet set according to Anderson.
Anderson told Lake County News that he didn’t understand the point of the injunction at this point, as his finding and the associated documents now are public.
In Rivero’s court filings, which allege civil rights violations in the Brady process, it states, “Plaintiff will suffer irreparable harm if Defendant is not enjoined from releasing, disclosing or discussing any and all aspects of Plaintiff being on the District Attorney's 'Brady List' because, once it is released that Petitioner is a 'Brady' officer, his reputation will be severely injured and his ability to continue to serve as Sheriff or in other law enforcement capacities will be nullified.”
Quoting that passage from Rivero’s court filings, Farrington and Brown wrote, “Given Mr. Rivero’s statements, the only remedy now that Judge Lamb has released this information is for Mr. Rivero to offer his resignation and allow the Board to proceed in appointing a suitable replacement who will restore integrity to the Sheriff’s Department.”
Their memo noted that any nonelected county employee “who engaged in such practices would be terminated.”
However, Rivero’s credibility isn’t the only concern for Brown and Farrington.
“While this issue, on its own, should bring the Board to this conclusion it is certainly not the only issue that this Board and the citizens of Lake County have had to deal with,” they stated in their memo to their board colleagues. “The considerable cost to the taxpayers associated with many of the decisions made by Mr. Rivero as sheriff, in addition to the abuse of the time of other departments due to the lack of cooperation, ignorance of process, vindictive behaviour, lack of understanding of financial matters, excessive supervision and documented dishonesty have a contributed to reaching this point.”
The board’s proposed action is the latest sign of tension between the county’s chief governing body and Rivero, who is pursuing his suit against Anderson with county funds, based on a judge’s ruling last year.
On Tuesday the board voted to defer payment of the latest bill from Rivero’s attorneys, the Southern California-based law firm Jones and Mayer, for $29,600 until County Counsel Anita Grant can get clarification from the court on how much longer the county is required to pay for Rivero’s legal challenge.
Total costs to date have reached about $52,000, Grant said Tuesday.
The board also voted last month to remove the Office of Emergency Services from the sheriff’s oversight, placing it under the County Administrative Office’s supervision.
Farrington, originally a strong supporter of Rivero, said Wednesday that he didn’t want to make any public statements before the March 19 meeting.
“I’m reserving my comments for next Tuesday,” he told Lake County News Tuesday afternoon.
For his part, since the agenda was released on Wednesday morning, Brown said he’s been overwhelmed with phone, email and Facebook messages from community members who are in unanimous support of the board taking action against Rivero and seeking his removal from office.
“My phone has been ringing off the hook,” said Brown, who has clashed repeatedly with Rivero over the past two years.
While Brown thinks the action is important to take, he doesn’t believe Rivero will step down.
“I think his huge ego and lack of common sense won’t allow him to do the right thing, but we’re asking that he does,” Brown said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
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