When Justice Fails - Dortch family vanishes

I have received numerous requests for an update on Dr. David Dortch's cases. Here it is. The last time I saw Dr. David Dortch and his wife Kimberly was on November 5, 2015 at a day long hearing we had in Dr. Dortch's criminal case. At the subsequent hearing on November 19, 2015, Dr. Dortch failed to appear. I do not know where he or his family are.

I wish he had been in court. We were poised to argue two very significant issues in the case, issues ironically brought to the forefront by a new judge looking at the case. The two issues were : (1) whether the prosecution had established "corpus delicti" (evidence proving that any crime had been committed); and (2) whether the defense should be entitled to discovery into communications between the Murrieta Police Department and the Riverside County District Attorney's office that might bear on whether there had been "collusion" in this case ("collusion" was the word used by the judge at the November 5th hearing).

I wish Dr. Dortch had been in court that day, but I understand why he might not have been. After two and a half years of --

• Documented misconduct by law enforcement (falsified police reports, destroyed evidence, email disparagement on a claim of "ideology," and actions prompted by the Dortch family's filing of a civil rights case),

• Documented misconduct by prosecutors (recorded voicemail of prosecutor telling Dr. Dortch to drop his civil lawsuit and "stop making trouble for himself"),

• Harassment of Dr. Dortch's attorney (me) by a judge, repeatedly by courtroom deputies, and repeatedly by court clerks,

• Failure of court clerks to file a discovery motion (thrown in a drawer for two months),

• Explicit refusal of a judge to even read discovery motions,

• Falsification of court records regarding constitutional issues,

• 30 days of incarceration for a "mental examination" without bail,

• Binding over for trial a new charge of resisting arrest despite video evidence demonstrating falsity of claim and officer admission under oath of falsifications in police reports regarding the event,

and much, much more, I don't know whether I would stay around in the hope of ever receiving a fair trial.

I would have been okay with not being at court that day because, with Dr. Dortch and his family not there, the prosecution and courtroom deputies turned next on me, unconstitutionally detaining me on my way out of the courtroom. Let me explain what happened.

As one might imagine, the prosecutors argued for Dr. Dortch's bail to be revoked, a new, higher bond be issued, and an arrest warrant be issued for Dr. Dortch's arrest. Although that is common procedure, I was particularly concerned for Dr. Dortch's safety. I already knew, from a recent preliminary hearing, that Riverside County Sheriff's Office personnel had recently met with prosecutor, Richard Necochea, about Dr. Dortch, and after that meeting, those law enforcement put in place a written take down plan for Dr. Dortch that included within it a plan for use of lethal force. It is a concern to every citizen when governmental agents have a plan to use lethal force against a citizen who has never been convicted of any crime, never used any violence, nor ever threatened or encouraged use of violence. Within this context, I vehemently argued to the Court to not issue an arrest warrant, that it was tantamount to a death sentence under the circumstances. Unfortunately, the judge did not agree.

As the judge was leaving the courtroom and the prosecutors and I were collecting are files, I looked over towards Mr. Necochea and somewhat sternly stated that if something bad happened to Dr. Dortch “it will be on your head!" This prompted angry responses from both Mr. Necochea and the attorney appearing with him, Ms. Fitzpatrick. Mr. Necochea angrily motioned to the courtroom deputy and I heard some of the word "threat" either by the prosecutor or the deputy to whom he had motioned, while Ms. Fitzpatrick angrily told me I couldn't say that, that she was "an officer of the court." (I reminded her that I was an officer of the court too, as all attorneys are.)

The prosecutors left the courtroom and as I finished packing up my computer and files, I was approached by a second courtroom deputy, one who had harassed me on prior occasions at court, saying they needed to talk to me before I could leave. As I was walking out of the courtroom, the two deputies blocked my path and insisted that I provide them with identification (they asked for my driver's license), my address, my date of birth. I reminded them that my address was on every pleading I had filed in the case, but they were not satisfied with that, so I told them that address while one deputy slowly jotted it down in a notepad. They repeatedly insisted that I provide them with my driver's license and date of birth, saying they were not going to arrest me, just write up a report. As I am permitted under the constitution, I refused to provide them with any more information and advised that they would have to go get a warrant if they wanted anything more. I explicitly and repeatedly asked why I was being detained and was never given any straightforward answer to that question.

In addition to insistence that I provide proof of my identity (even though they had no reasonable suspicion I had committed any criminal conduct), the deputies also asked me whether I was upset at my client (Dr. Dortch) for not appearing in court. Setting aside the absolute impropriety of a law enforcement officer questioning a criminal defense attorney anything about her case, I told them that I was not, and was more sympathetic to Dr. Dortch's his plight than anything else. I was finally allowed to leave.

Several weeks later I was able to follow-up on a discovery order from the court on November 5th by finally being allowed to view the physical evidence against Dr. Dortch held by the Murrieta Police Department. I can report that the Murrieta Police Department has no physical evidence whatsoever of any items that could constitute a mobile drug lab as they have reported and as was charged against Dr. Dortch.

I understand from my own extensive and continuing research, as well as many people who have contacted me over time, that Dr. Dortch's situation is, sadly, not the only example of misconduct and overreach by Riverside County's law enforcement, prosecutors, and courts. In fact, it has reached epidemic proportions, not only by my account, but by that of many other sources who have access to even more information than I have. While you may think that this only affects you if you live in Riverside County, think again. Riverside County has become the epicenter of excess in illegal wiretapping, issuance of death sentences, and many other aspects of law enforcement. Don't wait until it happens to you too to say something, to do something.