Los Angeles Times - 07.08.2019

LATIMES.COM WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2019B

CITY & STATE

The Huntington Beach

City School District has

amended its freedom of ex-

pression policy in response

to a federal lawsuit filed in

January by a mother and fa-

ther after their children were

barred from passing out fli-

ers during the school day en-

couraging classmates to

bring Bibles to school.

The district board ap-

proved amendments last

week designed to protect the

free exercise of religion and

private religious speech.

Additionally, the policy

states that students will not

be restricted from posting or

distributing bulletin board

materials, handbills, leaflets

or other printed matter,

whether produced in or out-

side the school, that contain

religious content.

The district also agreed

to pay $15,000 for the family’s

attorney fees.

The victory, said Bill

Becker, the family’s lawyer,

was in the explicit protec-

tion of religious speech.

“There’s this misconcep-

tion that somehow you can’t

talk about your own faith in

school,” Becker said Mon-

day.

“But what the Constitu-

tion says is that the state

can’t endorse a religion or

show preference for any par-

ticular religion,” Becker

said. “It doesn’t say that you

as an individual can’t ex-

press your own opinions

about religion.”

District officials could

not immediately be reached

for comment Monday.

Holly Bausch, the

mother of the two children,

did not respond to a request

for comment.

The issue dates to Sep-

tember when, according to

the lawsuit, Micah Bausch, a

Peterson Elementary

School student, asked his

teacher about hanging a

poster and handing out fli-

ers for the national Bring

Your Bible to School Day

during lunch and recess.

The Bring Your Bible to

School Day is an annual

nationwide event in October

sponsored by the Christian

organization Focus on the

Family.

The fliers showed a child

holding an open Bible, along

with an excerpt from

Matthew 5:16: “Let your light

shine.”

The teacher responded a

week later that Peterson El-

ementary Principal Con-

stance Polhemus said Micah

could not hang a poster but

could hand out fliers “during

free time only.” However,

when Micah’s younger

brother Nieko started hand-

ing out fliers, his teacher

stopped him until he re-

ceived permission from the

school.

Holly Bausch contacted

Nieko’s teacher and Polhe-

mus for clarification.

According to the lawsuit,

Polhemus said in an email to

Bausch on Oct. 2 that she

had not authorized handing

out the fliers and that the

boys were not allowed to dis-

tribute them during campus

instructional hours — class

time, recess and lunch — but

could hand them out off

campus before and after

school.

Polhemus contacted dis-

trict Supt. Gregg Haulk,

who told her the boys could

pass out the papers. Polhe-

mus then contacted Bausch

and said the brothers could

pass them out before and af-

ter school. Haulk said later

that the permission in-

cluded the campus.

Becker said the boys ulti-

mately did not hand out the

fliers.

Haulk said in January

that he and Polhemus were

surprised when they were

served with the lawsuit. He

said the policy had been in-

tended to prevent distrac-

tions and that the restric-

tions had nothing to do with

the fliers’ content.

Nguyen writes for Times

Community News.

Speech

rules are

changed

Huntington Beach

school board settles

suit after barring boys

from giving out ‘Bring

Your Bible’ fliers.

By Lilly Nguyen

A Riverside County Su-

perior Court judge has

blocked the release of sur-

veillance video that officials

say may help shed light on

an altercation that

prompted an off-duty LAPD

officer to open fire inside a

Costco store in Corona in

June.

Kenneth French, 32, a

Riverside man with an intel-

lectual disability, was killed

in the shooting in a food-

tasting line. His parents,

Russell and Paola French,

were wounded.

The Times requested a

copy of surveillance video

from inside the store in late

June, citing California public

records laws and state law

AB 748, which requires gov-

ernment agencies to pro-

duce video and audio re-

cordings of “critical inci-

dents” involving police that

result in death or great bod-

ily injury. That request was

denied by the city, and The

Times appealed the deci-

sion.

In response, prosecutors

last month sought a court

order that would prevent the

release of video from inside

the store, said John Hall, a

spokesman for the Riverside

County district attorney’s

office.

“We do not want to taint

the recollection of witnesses

as to what happened that

day by making the video

public,” Hall said.

Judge Eric Keen wrote in

a ruling on July 22 that re-

leasing the video would sub-

stantially interfere with an

ongoing criminal investiga-

tion into the case. The order

barred Corona and Los An-

geles police from releasing

the video for one year from

the date of the shooting.

“Additionally, the court

finds that due to the graphic

nature of the video and the

significant public attention

on the shooting, the release

of the video prior to the con-

clusion of the criminal inves-

tigation reasonably could re-

sult in harm to the suspect,

who is out of custody, and

could interfere with the in-

tegrity of the jury trial proc-

ess in any potential subse-

quent prosecution,” Keen

wrote.

Keen said the video may

be released at the conclu-

sion of the investigation if no

charges are filed or at the

conclusion of a criminal case

if prosecutors decide to pur-

sue one.

Prosecutors have not

made a decision about

whether the officer, identi-

fied as Salvador Sanchez,

who works as a patrol officer

in the LAPD’s Southwest Di-

vision, will face criminal

charges related to the June

14 incident.

Corona police are still in-

vestigating, and the Los An-

geles Police Department is

in the early stages of its own

investigation into the offi-

cer’s use of force. The latter

inquiry could take up to a

year to complete, said LAPD

spokesman Josh Ruben-

stein.

Police have said Sanchez

was off duty in the Costco

with his young son the night

of the shooting. Russell and

Paola French were also in

the store with Kenneth,

who family members say suf-

fered from an intellectual

disability and needed their

care.

The families came to-

gether in a food sample line,

where Kenneth French got

into an altercation with the

officer.

In the weeks following the

deadly encounter, sharply

different accounts of the al-

tercation emerged.

Even months later, much

of what happened inside the

Costco remains unknown.

Members of the French fam-

ily have said they believe the

video would shed light on

the situation.

The officer’s attorney,

David Winslow, has said his

client was getting a sample

when he was attacked and

briefly knocked out by

French.

“He was shopping with

his wife and 1½-year-old at

Costco. His son was in his

arms, and he was feeding his

son some samples when,

within seconds, he was on

the ground and woke up

from being unconscious and

he was fighting for his life,”

Winslow said.

Corona police said the as-

sault, which was captured

on Costco security cameras,

was unprovoked and led the

officer to fire his 9-millimeter

pistol.

Civil rights attorney Dale

K. Galipo, who is represent-

ing the French family, ac-

knowledged that Kenneth

French pushed the officer,

but said the exchange wasn’t

a justification for the shoot-

ing.

Times staff writer Richard

Winton contributed to this

report.

Release of shooting video barred

Judge rejects request

for surveillance

footage of fatal Costco

encounter in Corona.

By Hannah Fry

RUSSELL AND PAOLA FRENCHand their son, Kenneth, were all shot by an

off-duty LAPD officer during a confrontation at the Costco. Kenneth died.

Los Angeles Police Chief
Michel Moore announced
charges Tuesday against
three out-of-town gang
members accused of fatally
shooting an off-duty Los An-
geles police officer at a taco
stand during a 90-minute
crime rampage in Northeast
Los Angeles last month.
The three — two men and
a woman — were identified
as Francisco Talamantes,
23; Cristian Facundo, 20;
and Ashlynn Smith, 18. All
three are residents of Te-
mecula and have been held
without bail since their ar-
rest on Friday. Facundo
fired the fatal shot that
killed Officer Juan Diaz,
Moore said.
Talamantes and Fa-
cundo face charges includ-
ing murder with special cir-
cumstances. That would
make them eligible for the
death penalty if convicted.

Smith faces charges includ-

ing shooting into an inhab-

ited vehicle and accessory to

murder.

“This is an ongoing inves-

tigation and prosecution,”

Moore said. “This was part

of a larger crime spree.”

Friday’s arrests ended a

six-day manhunt for the sus-

pects. The department

would not release photos of

the suspects because inves-

tigators were still gathering

evidence and interviewing

people, Moore said.

Investigators had been

working nonstop but finally

got a break last week when

they learned the identity of

the alleged triggerman.

Using surveillance by

plainclothes detectives and

intelligence, Robbery-Ho-

micide Division detectives

were able to track down

those believed to be involved

in the shooting, LAPD

sources said. The depart-

ment’s Special Investigation

Section, a unit known for its

advanced surveillance tech-

niques, had the suspects

under watch for at least a

couple of days as detectives

put together evidence tying

them to the killing, the

sources said.

Capt. Billy Hayes, the

head of the Robbery-Homi-

cide Division, said investiga-

tors tied the group to a

string of crimes with surveil-

lance video, witness state-

ments and forensic evi-

dence.

Shortly after midnight on

July 27, the three suspects

and another 21-year-old

woman from Los Angeles

vandalized a vehicle owned

by a former boyfriend on Av-

enue 33 and later tagged a lo-

cation on Eagle Rock Ave-

nue, Hayes said. The group

then allegedly tagged a loca-

tion on Artesina Place,

which is where Diaz con-

fronted the tagger.

Facundo allegedly lifted

his shirt to reveal a handgun,

Hayes said. The tagger later

returned with a group of

young men and began

threatening the 24-year-old

Diaz, his girlfriend and her

two brothers. Diaz, who was

off duty, and his group tried

to hurry to their car and

drive away to avoid a violent

confrontation.

As they got into the vehi-

cle, a gunman opened fire,

fatally wounding Diaz and

injuring one of his girl-

friend’s brothers. Tala-

mantes and Facundo

“walked with determina-

tion” back to the truck to fire

bullets into the vehicle,

Moore said.

After shooting into the

truck, the group returned to

Avenue 33 and waited for the

owner of the vandalized ve-

hicle to show up, Hayes said.

When the owner and anoth-

er person arrived, the shoot-

er opened fire on the two

people, but the gun malfunc-

tioned, Hayes said. No bul-

lets struck the other people.

Citing the ongoing inves-

tigation, the department de-

clined to reveal the name of

the 21-year-old woman who

was with Talamantes, Fa-

cundo and Smith. Hayes

said investigators were still

combing through evidence.

He also declined to say

whether the suspects could

be tied to other homicides.

The gunman claimed al-

legiance to the Avenues — a

gang that has seen its once-

powerful grip on the neigh-

borhood wane in the last

decade — and said Diaz and

his group were in its terri-

tory, a law enforcement

source said. The suspects

taken into custody were Ave-

nues gang members, accord-

ing to a source familiar with

the arrests.

Gangsters traveling into

the city to commit crimes is

not common in Los Angeles,

Moore said. But in the last

year, he has been told some

out-of-town gang members

with generational ties have

come “to, at times, create

havoc and prey upon those

neighborhoods and cele-

brate their lineage ... as odd

as it sounds.” The phenome-

non mostly occurs in South

Los Angeles, he said.

Diaz lived in Cypress

Park, just three miles north

of the neighborhood where

he was killed. He joined the

LAPD two years ago and was

assigned to the Special Op-

erations Division, which

conducts investigations into

department personnel.

Friends and family said

Diaz pursued a career in law

enforcement to make a dif-

ference. He had wanted to be

a cop since preschool, a fam-

ily member told mourners at

a vigil for the slain officer

Saturday night.

Moore, who was out of the

country when Diaz died,

praised the young officer.

“Our officer grew up in

this area,” Moore said. “He

did exactly what we ask our

officers to do.”

Diaz will be buried on

Monday.

FAMILY FRIENDS of slain officer Juan Diaz — Chris Martin and Ricardo Camacho — visit a memorial at LAPD headquarters.

Al SeibLos Angeles Times

Three charged in killing of officer

Police say suspects in

LAPD cop’s slaying

are gang members

from Temecula.

By Mark Puente

and Richard Winton

IMPERIAL BEACH, Cal-
if. — A suspected smuggling
boat capsized off the coast of
Imperial Beach Monday,
sending four people scram-
bling toward the beach, one
of whom was detained and
sent to a hospital for minor
injuries, San Diego County
sheriff ’s officials said.
The small craft with an
outboard motor was re-
ported capsized a little after
8 p.m. north of the Imperial
Beach Pier, Deputy Christo-
pher Allen told OnScene TV.
Allen said deputies be-
lieved the boat was involved
in smuggling, though it
wasn’t immediately clear if it
was smuggling people,
drugs, or both.
Deputies took a man with
minor injuries into custody
before sending him to a hos-
pital for treatment, Allen
said. Three other people fled
onto the beach and were not
immediately found.
Footage from the scene
showed wave-strewn cush-
ions, life vests, water bottles
and other debris washing
ashore as lifeguards and
deputies taped off the scene
and collected the items.
Allen asked anyone with
information about the inci-
dent to call the Sheriff ’s De-
partment at (858) 565-5200.

Riggins writes for the San
Diego Union-Tribune.

Smugglers

may have

capsized

One person was hurt

when a boat flipped. It

may have carried

drugs, officials say.

By Alex Riggins