SF News

Marin County Superior Court Judge Andrew E. Sweet unsealed documents Thursday that detail the probable cause for arresting Joseph Naso for the murders of four women, two from the Bay Area, between 1977 and 1994. The documents cite evidence that includes DNA, writings, newspaper articles, women's photos and a list of women's names and locations that allegedly implicate the former self-employed photographer in the slayings. Naso, 77, of Reno, Nev., was arrested without a warrant by Marin County Sheriff's investigators on April 11 in South Lake Tahoe when he was released from the El Dorado County jail where he was serving one year for a probation violation. He is charged with the murders of Roxene Roggasch, 18, of Oakland; Carmen Lorraine Colon, 22, an East Bay resident; and Pamela Parsons, 38, and Tracey Tayofa, 31, both of Yuba County. The probable cause documents state all four women were working as prostitutes at the time of their deaths. Sweet sealed the documents at the request of the Marin County District Attorney's Office. Naso, who is representing himself, also asked the documents be sealed. Several Bay Area and Nevada media organizations challenged the sealing, arguing they are public court records, and Sweet postponed ruling on the issue after a hearing on May 25. In his June 14 ruling, Sweet concluded that unsealing the probable cause statements would neither prejudice Naso's right to a fair trial nor the ongoing investigation. Most of the contents of the probable cause statements have already been reported in the media, and "remaining matter will likely be revealed to the public during the preliminary hearing scheduled to commence on July 11," Sweet said. Sweet also determined the probable cause documents qualified as public court records.

An attack that left a 91-year-old woman dead and her grandson wounded was no sudden quarrel but instead was the result of a months-long plan to kidnap a 2-year-old girl who was the subject of a bitter custody battle, a prosecutor said Thursday. In his closing argument in the trial of Rosa Hill, 36, and her mother, 57-year-old Mei Li, of Antioch, prosecutor Casey Bates said Rosa Hill's claim that she went to the Dublin home of Selma Hill, her husband's grandmother, on Jan. 7, 2009, to talk about her concerns about the custody arrangement for the couple's daughter was "farcical and absurd." Bates said, "There was no discussion and no effort to talk about the custody of the child." Instead, Bates alleged that Rosa Hill and Li had plotted for up to nine months to kill Selma Hill and Eric Hill, who was Rosa's husband, and kidnap the couple's daughter. He said notes later recovered by police showed that Rosa Hill and Li called their plan "Operation Custody" and purchased a cache of weapons worthy of a small army, including guns, stun guns, a sword, a hammer tool, a crossbow, a throat cutter, a knife and a baton. In addition, Bates said that when police investigated a computer that Rosa Hill and her mother used, they discovered that the two women had conducted Internet searches on how to get away with murder and how to strangle someone as well as on using deadly substances such as arsenic, cyanide, strychnine, mustard gas and ammonia. Hill and her mother also bought camouflage and multiple gloves, masks and wigs, he said. "It speaks to the absurdity of this case," Bates said. "Every contingency is considered." Rosa Hill and Li are both charged with murder and attempted murder, and Li is also charged with burglary for allegedly entering Selma Hill's home. Rosa Hill faces a term of 44 years to life in state prison if she is convicted of all the charges against her, and Li faces 38 years to life.

A San Francisco man removed from a U.S. Airways flight and arrested after he allegedly refused to pull up his pants remains in custody Thursday while prosecutors consider whether to file charges. Deshon Marman, 20, was arrested Wednesday morning on suspicion of a felony count of battery of a police officer and misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest and trespassing. However, he has not been charged and no court date has been set while prosecutors conduct additional interviews and consider what charges, if any, should be filed, according to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. He remains in custody with bail set at $10,000 and must be charged or released by 11 a.m. today. Marman, who was boarding Flight 488 to Albuquerque, N.M., was instructed by airline crew members several times to pull up his pants to cover his underwear, both before he boarded and on the plane, according to San Francisco police Sgt. Michael Rodriguez. Marman allegedly refused to pull up his pants, and when he sat in his seat, he pulled them all the way down, Rodriguez said. Police were called in around 9:05 a.m. "The captain decided he was not going to fly with that person," Rodriguez said. Eventually the captain told other passengers on board to deplane, ordered Marman to leave the plane and then placed him under citizen's arrest for trespassing, after he refused an order to leave the plane, Rodriguez said. Marman was escorted off the plane by police and then allegedly resisted officers when they tried to handcuff him. One officer received a cut to his hand and a sprained knee in the struggle. U.S. Airways spokesman Andrew Christie confirmed a passenger was removed from an aircraft and taken into custody "after repeatedly ignoring crew members' instructions." "While U.S. Airways does not have a specific dress code, we ask our customers to dress in an appropriate manner to ensure the safety and comfort of all of our passengers," Christie said.

Transit riders who rely on the San Francisco Municipal Railway's N-Judah and J-Church lines might have to take an extra train or bus Thursday morning as crews work to repair electrical wires downed Thursday. Underground service to those two lines was knocked out after an inbound N train dislodged a power source in the tunnel at Duboce and Church streets late Thursday morning, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency spokesman Paul Rose said. A piece of equipment on top of the vehicle -- the pantograph, which connects the vehicle to Muni's overhead wires -- apparently broke minutes earlier when the train was near Second Avenue and Irving Street, Rose said. When the train entered the tunnel, it dragged down the wires in a section of the tunnel before the underground merger with other Muni Metro lines, but it also disrupted the power source for the K-Ingleside, L-Taraval and M-Ocean View lines. For about six hours, there was no underground service between Church and Embarcadero stations. Crews were able to restore power to the K, L and M by 5:30 p.m., but Rose said that the N and J underground service was not expected to be restored until this morning. Affected passengers can take another Muni Metro train to Church station and transfer aboveground to a J or N vehicle, among other alternatives, Rose said. "We're planning to work overnight to make sure that it doesn't affect the morning commute," he said.

State Sen. Leland Yee released a statement Wednesday criticizing a $384,000 severance package for outgoing San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency executive director Nathaniel Ford, who is leaving the agency at the end of the month. Ford confirmed earlier Wednesday that he is leaving on June 30, two and a half years before his contract's end. His departure will be certified at the SFMTA board's next meeting on Tuesday. Ford, who joined the SFMTA as its CEO in 2006, is receiving a $384,000 severance package that includes a year's salary, deferred compensation and unused vacation time. The deal was criticized by Yee, who is also running to become San Francisco's mayor in November. "At a time when our budget is cutting critical social services for our kids and the most vulnerable in our city, we can ill-afford to be paying excessive payouts to administrators who are no longer working for the public," he said in a statement. Yee said he has previously fought these "golden parachute" severance packages for administrators at the University of California and California State University, and as mayor, he would reform the practice. A spokesperson for the SFMTA was not immediately available for comment.

A Santa Clara man allegedly confessed to killing Maria Orozco earlier this month and then disposing of her body in a black garbage bag in a Sunnyvale neighborhood, according to a court document. The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office has filed one count of murder, with an enhancement for use of a deadly weapon, against Feliciano Valencia-Santiago, 47, for the murder of Orozco, a 46-year-old San Jose resident, in a house in the 800 block of Revere Drive in Sunnyvale. The house is less than a mile from the 800 block of Ticonderoga Drive, where on June 5 Orozco's body was found in a large, loosely cinched garbage bag between some shrubs. The residence burned down in December and Valencia-Santiago was hired as a day laborer by the homeowner to help her clean up and move her belongings, according to the court document. The Santa Clara County medical examiner's office determined that the cause of Orozco's death was trauma to the head. Orozco's cellphone records indicate that the day before she was found dead, she received 22 calls from Valencia-Santiago. But from May 22 to June 6, she received 13 calls from him. The nature of their relationship was not reflected in the statement of facts submitted by police. Surveillance video on a Valley Transportation Authority bus shows Orozco getting off the bus at about 7:10 p.m. on June 4. Last Friday night, detectives tracked Valencia-Santiago down and arrested him in Santa Clara based on leads and after recovering physical evidence allegedly linking him to the crime. He allegedly confessed to the murder to police during the arrest. He remains in custody, with no bail allowed. Valencia-Santiago is expected to plead to one count of murder on June 27 in Palo Alto, according to the district attorney's office. If convicted as charged, he faces a maximum of 26 years to life in prison.

Phillip Garrido arrived Thursday at the state's only protected-housing prison unit, where he joins such high-profile inmates as Charles Manson and Juan Corona to begin serving 431 years to life for kidnapping, raping and imprisoning Jaycee Dugard, according to a department of corrections spokeswoman. Garrido's wife and accomplice, Nancy Garrido, was received Wednesday at Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla to begin serving 36 years to life for her role in taking Dugard, now 31, from South Lake Tahoe in 1991 and holding the girl captive in the couple's backyard near Antioch for 18 years. Phillip Garrido spent Thursday in a segregated cell at Corcoran State Prison in Kings County, but he could be eligible for a roommate in the future, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Terry Thornton said. The 14 or so inmates who reside at the protected-housing unit are allowed to interact with one another but would be in danger if they were with the generation population, Thornton said. Otherwise, though, "it functions like a general-population unit," Thornton said. Garrido, 60, pleaded guilty in April to kidnapping Dugard, plus 13 counts of sexual assault and lewd acts, with enhancements. He and his wife were sentenced on June 2 at a somber hearing at which the presiding judge said he thought Phillip Garrido "lacked a soul" and was the "poster child" of a sexual predator incapable of rehabilitation. Nancy Garrido, 55, also pleaded guilty to kidnapping plus one count of rape by force and several enhancements. She was being single-celled Thursday at the women's facility reception center while her long-term needs are evaluated, Thornton said. "Reception is a process," Thornton said. "We determine their housing and programming needs, custody level, mental health and physical health." The process can take up to 45 days, Thornton said. Dugard, who has two daughters who were fathered by Garrido, said in a statement read at the sentencing that everything the couple did to her was wrong, and she hopes that someday they realize that.

A civil grand jury report released on Wednesday indicated that changes, particularly in regard to outdated response protocols, must be made within Santa Clara County fire departments to save taxpayer money and improve efficiency. The report, titled "Fighting Fire or Fighting Change? Rethinking Fire Department Response Protocol and Consolidation Opportunities," claims that by shifting resources and adopting reforms, fire departments in the county can reduce costs and enable stations to remain open despite budget strains. Among the main critiques in the report is that fire departments send more personnel and firefighting equipment in response to medical emergencies that are not life-threatening than is necessary, draining taxpayer dollars. The fire departments' response protocol is outdated, the report maintains, because even though fire-related calls have declined, fire departments continue to use the same strategy from decades ago, when fire-related calls were more frequent, to respond to all emergencies. The report states that 70 percent of the calls firefighters respond to are for medical emergencies, whereas only 4 percent are for fires. It would be better to deploy an ambulance at the cost of $100,000 than to send a fire engine at the cost of $500,000 to taxpayers, according to the report. Another critique is that only one of every three fire crew members is trained to respond to medical situations, which indicates a "mismatch between service needed and service provided." The report makes a number of recommendations, including managing fire department personnel more effectively, changing response protocol to better respond to emergency calls that are medical-related, and exploring consolidation opportunities. San Jose Fire Chief William McDonald addressed some of the critiques at a news conference Thursday afternoon, saying that some changes within the department are afoot. He said smaller vehicles and fewer personnel, consisting of one paramedic and one firefighter, would be deployed in response to most incidents that are not fire-related. "We have lots of support and willingness to better the department," McDonald said.

The San Mateo-Foster City School District board has appointed Cynthia Simms as its new superintendent, district officials said Wednesday. Simms, currently the interim superintendent for the Los Gatos Union School District, will replace Pendery Clark, who is retiring after 10 years as superintendent. Clark's retirement was announced in January. "We are excited to have Dr. Simms as our new superintendent," board president Mark Hudak said in a statement. "She has a proven record of helping schools achieve academic excellence for all students. She will bring the experience we need to meet the challenges facing our schools" Simms said she has long admired the "unique opportunities" that the district offers students through its wide variety of magnet school options, including an International Baccalaureate program, Mandarin Chinese and Spanish immersion programs, Montessori schools, Visual Performing Arts, a year-round calendar, and its science, technology, engineering and mathematics program. "One approach doesn't fit all," Simms said. "Our job as educators is to ensure that all students achieve at a proficient or advanced level academically as well as socially, emotionally and physically -- learning through programs of instruction that best match their interests and learning styles." Simms holds a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Bethany College, a master's degree in public administration from the University of Denver and a master's degree in education from the University of Virginia, as well as a doctorate in school administration from the University of Denver. She has experience in "interest-based" bargaining with public employee unions, a process that seeks to identify common interests and concerns between parties, and is known for taking a collaborative approach, district officials said. She also has experience in budget issues and has written a resource book called "A Handbook for Coping with Decelerating Resources" for the Colorado Department of Education. Simms' appointment will be confirmed by the district board at its meeting Thursday and will take effect July 6.

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors passed a $1.2 billion budget for 2011-12 Thursday morning on its fourth day of budget hearings. The unanimous vote came at about the same time it was learned that Gov. Jerry Brown had vetoed the state budget passed Wednesday by Democrats in the Legislature. Supervisors were faced with cutting $42.8 million from next year's budget. They restored $8.7 million in spending to the budget after reviewing items on an add-back list that included money for road improvements, the sheriff's helicopter unit and a juvenile girls' jail alternative facility, among several other programs and staff positions. The add-backs were funded by money from a number of special accounts. The budget reductions now total $34.1 million. The general fund portion of the budget increased from $379 million to $384.7 million. County Administrator Veronica Ferguson asked public safety departments to reduce their general fund budgets by 16 percent and other departments to cut 20-25 percent from their budgets. The budget initially called for the elimination of 223 positions and 63 layoffs. Now, 180 positions will be eliminated, said Jim Leddy, community and governmental affairs manager. The number of actual layoffs has not yet been determined. "This is a fair, responsible and compassionate budget," Board Chairman Efren Carrillo said.

San Francisco mayoral candidates gathered for a debate Thursday evening on the best ways to use technology to improve the city. The SFOpen 2011 debate brought together nine contenders who hope to be elected San Francisco's next mayor in November and asked them questions submitted online. State Sen. Leland Yee, Supervisors John Avalos and David Chiu, City Attorney Dennis Herrera, former Supervisors Tony Hall, Bevan Dufty and Michela Alioto-Pier, City Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting and venture capitalist Joanna Rees made up the nine candidates attending the event, held at Pier 38 in the offices of Automattic, which runs the popular blogging service WordPress. The candidates stressed the importance of transparency in government and the need to increase innovation to improve the lives of residents. Dufty said, "Being open means accepting the fact that you're not perfect," and pledged to post his daily schedule to show the public who he was meeting with each day. Herrera said he wanted to establish an office of innovation and a chief digital officer because "we have to have the mechanisms to make sure that information is getting out to the public," while Alioto-Pier said the city's budget should use more input from the public and should be searchable online. Ting said public participation through new technology was key to improving the city. "Government always works better when you have more say," he said. More than 30 candidates in all have filed to run for mayor in what appears to be a wide-open race. Interim Mayor Ed Lee, who took over when former Mayor Gavin Newsom was elected the state's lieutenant governor, has said he does not plan to run for reelection. Thursday evening's debate also kicked off "The Summer of Smart," a four-month experiment in urban innovation and open government sponsored by the Gray Area Foundation for the Arts, the city's Department of Technology, and other organizations. For more information about the project, visit www.summerofsmart.org.

A federal jury in San Francisco Thursday awarded a diabetic bodybuilder at least $152,000 on his claim that Redwood City police used excessive force on him at a scuffle at a movie theater in 2007. Douglas Burns, 50, of Cupertino, was known as "Mr. Natural Universe" after he won a competition for steroid-free bodybuilders in 2006. He alleged in a civil rights lawsuit that officers Jaime Mateo and David Gough failed to notice he was in insulin shock when Mateo pepper-sprayed him and the two officers wrestled him to the ground and struck him with batons before handcuffing him. The officers said Burns initially appeared to be drunk and to be resisting arrest. The jury in the court of U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg concluded after a two-week trial and three days of deliberation that Burns suffered damages of $217,784 in the incident. The jurors found that Mateo used excessive force and that both officers were negligent. The panel also said Burns was negligent as well and that the officers had 70 percent of the responsibility of the negligence and Burns had 30 percent. Lawyers for Burns and the city disagreed on whether Burns will receive the entire damages amount or 70 percent of it, which would be an award of $152,448. Joseph Howard, a lawyer for the city, said Redwood City will appeal the entire verdict by first asking Seeborg to set aside the judgment and then, if necessary, appealing to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Bay Area is forecast to see mostly cloudy skies and patchy fog this morning, becoming partly cloudy with highs near 60. West winds of around 5 mph are expected, increasing to southwest winds of 10 to 20 mph this afternoon. Tonight is expected to be cloudy, with patchy fog after midnight, and lows in the lower 50s. Saturday is expected to be mostly cloudy with patchy fog in the morning and highs near 60.

Festival To Showcase Talents

The San Francisco Black Film Festival begins a weekend of films and performances tonight with a red carpet event and several film screenings.

The festival kicks off its 13th year with a red carpet ceremony at Yoshi's San Francisco, followed by several screenings, including a Mario Van Peebles' film, "Things Fall Apart" starring 50 Cent and Ray Liotta, at Lumiere Theatre.

"Congratulations to the San Francisco Black Film Festival as it provides a platform for known and accomplished filmmakers and actors and also emerging artists," Mayor Ed Lee said in a statement.

"The festival is significant also because it gives people from around the world an opportunity to visit our multicultural city helping to stimulate our city's film industry," Lee said.

The weekend's events will also include performances by musical artists Hope Briggs, fLO, and Keldamuzik, organizers said.

Films will be screened at various venues throughout the weekend.

Visit www.sfbff.org for a complete list of events, times, and venues.

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Swan isn't Welcome Back Home

Bella the swan is moving out after receiving a less than gracious reception from her brother and sister-in-law at the lagoon near San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts, Recreation and Park Department officials said.

The family drama began Sunday when Bella rejoined her brother, Blue Boy, and her sister-in-law, Blanche, after spending more than a month recuperating from a fractured webbed foot at her birth home in Point Reyes.

While Bella was away, Blanche gave birth to Martha.

The new parents are protective of their cygnet and aggressive towards outsiders, department officials said.

Swan caretakers at the Palace were worried there might be tension within the family when Bella returned but hoped the parents would adjust to the aunt's arrival.

But the family reunion has been fraught with bickering and sibling rivalry and caretakers feel it would be best for the whole family if Bella finds a home of her own, according to department officials.

Bella will be relocated to a home in Petaluma to give the family some space -- for now, at least.

"I hope they can at least enjoy visits over the holidays," said Phil Ginsburg, general manager of the Recreation and Park Department in a statement.

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Tracks Clear By Powell-Hyde Cable Car

A fallen tree at Union and Hyde streets that blocked the Powell-Hyde cable car line in both directions has been removed, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency officials said.

The Department of Public Works removed tree branches that had fallen onto the tracks, Muni spokesman Paul Rose said.

Bus shuttles were used to carry cable car passengers past the blocked section of track in the meantime, Rose said.

John Lee, a manager at Swensen's Ice Cream at 1999 Hyde St., said part of a tree fell on the tracks around noon, and more branches fell a short time later.

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SFFD Putting Out Inner Sunset Fire

San Francisco firefighters are responding to a fire in the city's Inner Sunset neighborhood.

The blaze was reported at 12:36 p.m. in the 1600 block of 10th Avenue, a fire dispatcher said.

Firefighters arrived in less than three minutes, he said.

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A man accused of storming into a home in San Francisco's Jordan Park neighborhood and attacking another man with a hammer early Monday morning has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the assault, prosecutors said today.

Denis Tseyref, 28, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to burglary, robbery, assault and false imprisonment charges in connection with the attack, which was reported at about 1 a.m. Monday at a home in the 3400 block of Geary Boulevard.

Tseyref and another man allegedly broke down the home's front door and encountered the 45-year-old victim, police said.

Prosecutors said Tseyref then allegedly struck him several times with a hammer in the head and knees while the other suspect held him down.

The pair then took three computers and a phone before fleeing, police said.

The victim was hospitalized but his injuries were not life-threatening.

Although property was taken, the initial motive for breaking into the home may have been a dispute over a woman that the victim and Tseyref both had dated, police spokesman Lt. Troy Dangerfield said.

The victim identified Tseyref as the attacker, and police found and arrested him later Monday.

The second suspect, described as a black man in his late 40s, had not been found as of this morning, Dangerfield said.

Tseyref pleaded not guilty to one count each of residential burglary, residential robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment, and is being held in lieu of $200,000 bail.

He will return to court on July 7 for a preliminary hearing.

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I am tired of waiting for Sixth Street to improve. It seems incomprehensible that the city cannot get a handle on this two-block stretch. It is not only smack in the center of the city center, but it is the first view...