Los Angeles Times - 02.10.2019

B4 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2019 LATIMES.COM

A Newport Beach real es-
tate agent, the son of a for-
mer Angels infielder, faces
felony and misdemeanor
charges of battery, assault,
soliciting a prostitute and
possession of drugs, court
documents show.
Timothy Douglas
DeCinces, 45, is the son of
former Angels third base-
man Doug DeCinces. The
younger DeCinces was ar-
rested Sept. 22 at a residence
on Pauma Lane and booked
into Orange County Jail, ac-
cording to police and jail re-
cords.
DeCinces was charged
last week with single felony
counts of assault with force
likely to produce great bod-
ily injury — with a sentenc-
ing enhancement allegation
of inflicting great bodily in-
jury — battery with serious
injury and making criminal
threats. He also faces misde-
meanor counts of soliciting,
engaging or agreeing to en-
gage in prostitution, child
abuse and endangerment,
possessing a controlled sub-
stance and paraphernalia,
and possessing metham-
phetamine and cocaine, ac-
cording to Orange County
Superior Court records.
DeCinces was released
from custody Friday on
$500,000 bond and was
scheduled to be back in
court Oct. 22, according to
court records. He has not en-
tered a plea.
Newport Beach police
spokeswoman Heather
Rangel declined to give de-
tails of the case, calling it an
“ongoing investigation.”
Timothy DeCinces de-
clined to comment Monday.
His lawyer, Mark Fredrick,
said he had evidence the
claims were “financially and
emotionally motivated by
the victim” but declined to
elaborate.
DeCinces most recently
worked for Pacific Sotheby’s
International Realty in New-
port Beach. He was not
listed on its website Monday.
Two women also were ar-
rested and later charged
with drug-related counts.
Amanda Lynn
Schauerte, 32, pleaded
guilty Sept. 24 to one count
each of possession of heroin,
possession of methamphet-
amine, false representation
to an officer and possession
of controlled-substance
paraphernalia, court docu-
ments show. She was sen-
tenced to 120 days in jail.
Sarah Rae Carpenter, 30,
was charged with pos-
session of heroin, metham-
phetamine and alprazolam,
the generic form of Xanax,
and possession of con-
trolled-substance parapher-
nalia, court documents
show. She is scheduled to be
arraigned Nov. 4.

Sclafani writes for Times
Community News.

Son of

ex-Angel

accused

of assault

By Julia Sclafani

TIMOTHYDeCinces, 45,
was released from cus-
tody on $500,000 bond.

Orange County district attorney

tiful,” the tweet said.

Suddenly everyone

wanted to know who the

woman was.

Emily Zamourka says

she learned to sing by imitat-

ing opera performers on TV

as a child growing up in Rus-

sia. After years of financial

difficulties and serious

health problems, the 52-

year-old says, she is home-

less, sleeping where she can

and living on $400 a month in

government aid.

But on Monday, she was

recognized at the Wilshire/

Normandie station as the

celebrity she has become,

posing for photographs with

passersby who recognized

the overnight singing sensa-

tion.

“God bless you,” one

woman shouted from across

the platform, waving her

hands in the air.

Another woman stared in

awe before embracing

Zamourka and walking

away. Commuters sneaked

photos from afar. Zamourka

smiled and waved bashfully.

“They want to say hello

because they saw me sing,”

she mused. Not everyone ap-

preciated Zamourka’s situa-

tion when they first heard

her, though. Some thought

she was a fake: a trained ac-

tor planted on the platform

to maximize social media at-

tention, not a talented

homeless woman.

Branimir Kvartuc, a

spokesman for Councilman

Joe Buscaino who tried to

find Zamourka after the vi-

deo went viral, said those re-

sponses are indicative of the

association of homelessness

with drug addiction or men-

tal illness, images that don’t

fit with Zamourka’s de-

meanor.

“Way too many people

have categorized the home-

less as a certain kind of

class,” he said. “That’s not

the case. The majority of

people are just people.”

Zamourka would de-

scribe only the basic con-

tours of her life and some of

the private struggles that

had led to her riding a sub-

way at night and walking in

Glendale, Hollywood and

Koreatown during the day,

her belongings in a pushcart

and reusable bags.

She said her lifelong love

of music began as a school-

girl in Russia, where she

learned to play the violin and

piano. At 24, she moved to

the United States and lived

in Missouri for more than a

decade, she said, working at

a nursing home and restau-

rant, far removed from her

musical roots.

“I didn’t want to be de-

pendent on anybody,”

Zamourka said. “I was hav-

ing fun. I was learning Eng-

lish.” It wasn’t until she

moved to Vancouver, Wash.,

in the early 2000s that

Zamourka rediscovered mu-

sic. She offered piano

lessons at a church, attract-

ing up to 60 students.

“The students were

happy,” she reminisced. “I

was happy with their suc-

cess.”

But medical problems

cut short her dreams of a life

in music.

In 2005, her pancreas and

liver began to fail, Zamourka

said, and she struggled to

obtain a diagnosis and treat-

ment. Friends from Russia

helped her find a hospital in

Los Angeles, and after being

admitted she required feed-

ing tubes during treatment

from December 2007 to April

2008.

Zamourka had applied

for political asylum and be-

came a legal resident in 2008.

When she was well enough to

work again, she returned to

teaching music — this time

from a Glendale apartment

a friend helped pay for. But

unlike in her Washington

job, she said, her clients were

fewer and less consistent in

their lessons, so she began to

play the violin on the streets

for extra cash.

“I love Drake,” she said of

the rapper. “That’s what I

was playing on the violin.

Everybody loved that. ‘You

used to call me on the cell-

phone.’ Everybody loved

that.”

But hard times contin-

ued for Zamourka. The

friend who had helped her fi-

nancially died of a heart at-

tack. One night as she was

playing the violin outside

Clifton’s in downtown Los

Angeles, someone took the

instrument and broke it.

“I started to get behind

with payments,” she said.

“My landlord ... one day he

said, ‘Emily, I’m sorry, but

you have to leave.’ ”

In the last few days,

Zamourka’s spirits have

been lifted by the kindness of

strangers.

Desiree Newman, who

works on Wilshire Boulevard

near the Metro station, had

heard about the video of

Zamourka singing but

hadn’t seen it. On Monday,

she spied the subway singer

surrounded by reporters as

she stepped outside her

building.

“Oh, my God, I have to get

your picture,” Newman said,

holding up her phone to take

a selfie with Zamourka.

Sherry Christopher, who

works with Newman, had

some encouraging words for

the woman who had fallen

on hard times: “You’re

gonna get way more, way

more — everything — 10

times more than what you

had. You’re going to get

that.”

Zamourka said she was

grateful for the newfound at-

tention. “I want to thank

that police officer who did

that video, and I wanted to

thank God that he inspired

me to do that.”

On Monday morning,

Buscaino spokesman Kvar-

tuc connected with Za-

mourka to offer her a job.

She is scheduled to sing Sat-

urday evening at the open-

ing of Little Italy, a strip in

San Pedro celebrating Ital-

ian heritage in Los Angeles.

The event was organized

by the councilman and the

Little Italy of Los Angeles

Assn.

“She was very excited,

but I think we were more ex-

cited,” Kvartuc said. “We’re

going to treat her like a star.”

The LAPD, Buscaino and

political consultant Michael

Trujillo are working to con-

nect Zamourka with re-

sources and housing. A

GoFundMe campaign

started by Trujillo has

raised more than $43,000.

“My dreams are always

there, of course,” Zamourka

said. “Maybe it’ll come true

this time.”

EMILY ZAMOURKA says she is grateful for the newfound attention. “I want to thank that police officer who did that video,” she says.

Photographs by Robert GauthierLos Angeles Times

Subway soprano tells her story

COUNCILMANJoe Buscaino’s office has found a gig

for Zamourka in San Pedro on Saturday night.

[Singer,from B1]

staying in Mexico.

The 1951 U.N. Convention

Relating to the Status of

Refugees says the govern-

ment may not return a ref-

ugee to a place where his or

her life or freedom would be

threatened.

Deputy Assistant Atty.

Gen. Scott G. Stewart, argu-

ing for the Trump adminis-

tration, told the panel that

nothing prevents refugees

from voluntarily telling an

asylum officer of specific

concerns about remaining in

Mexico.

But American Civil Lib-

erties Union lawyer Judy Ra-

binovitz countered that mi-

grants, many of whom do

not speak English and aren’t

entitled to use interpreters,

may not understand the im-

portance of volunteering

such information. She told

the court that refugees are

not allowed to consult with a

lawyer, even if they have one.

The 9th Circuit’s May 7

order granting the Trump

administration’s request to

place a hold on the injunc-

tion was hardly an endorse-

ment of the policy. It was

granted by a motions panel

that hears urgent matters

and whose members change

month to month.

Judge Paul J. Watford, an

appointee of President

Obama on that panel,

agreed to stay the injunction

but wrote separately that at

least some migrants were

being returned to Mexico in

violation of the 1951 conven-

tion. “Some belong to pro-

tected groups that face per-

secution both in their home

countries and in Mexico, and

many will be vulnerable to

persecution in Mexico be-

cause they are Central

American migrants,” Wat-

ford wrote.

Fletcher, who also was on

that month’s motions panel,

agreed with the decision

against the nationwide in-

junction, but wrote sepa-

rately to say the policy vio-

lated a 1996 immigration law.

During Tuesday’s hear-

ing, Fletcher suggested that

the decision blocking the in-

junction does not mean that

the 9th Circuit cannot revive

it after further consider-

ation. “We heard argument

one week after the [Trump

administration] motion was

filed,” he said. “That is not a

lot of time.”

The panel also heard ar-

guments on a Trump rule

that denies asylum to people

who cross the border at a

place other than an official

point of entry.

A federal judge in San

Francisco issued an order

blocking the rule, and the

Supreme Court decided 5 to

4 last December to leave that

order in place. Trump acted

after caravans of thousands

of migrants headed from

Central America to the U.S.

border.

Paez noted that Con-

gress has specified that ref-

ugees may apply for asylum

even if they enter the coun-

try without presenting

themselves for inspection.

He asked how an agency

could later pass a regulation

“that wipes that out.”

Lee Gelernt, another

ACLU lawyer, told the panel

that “Congress understood

how dangerous it was to

eliminate asylum for people

who couldn’t make it to a

point of entry.”

Judge Ferdinand Fer-

nandez, appointed by

George H.W. Bush, was the

third member of Tuesday’s

panel. He did not ask any

questions.

The panel may rule at any

time. The losing side could

ask a larger 9th Circuit panel

to reconsider or go directly

to the Supreme Court.

Judges question Trump policy on asylum

ASYLUM SEEKERS hold a prayer service last week in Juarez, Mexico. Thou-

sands of refugees from Central America are waiting in Mexico for U.S. asylum.

Gary CoronadoLos Angeles Times

[Asylum,from B1]

Tonight’s SuperLotto Plus
Jackpot:$15 million
Sales close at 7:45 p.m.

Tonight’s Powerball Jackpot:
$60 million
Sales close at 7 p.m.

For Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019

Mega Millions
Mega number is bold

10-17-39-42-59—Mega 3
Jackpot:$45 million

Fantasy Five: 10-14-17-23-

Daily Four: 8-1-7-

Daily Three (midday): 0-8-

Daily Three (evening): 9-4-

Daily Derby:
(11) Money Bags
(7) Eureka
(4) Big Ben
Race time: 1:48.

Results on the internet:
http://www.latimes.com/lottery
General information:
(800) 568-
(Results not available at this number)

Lottery results