San Diego Union Tribune
John Collins,the former Superintendent of Poway Unified School District, was arraigned in court Thursday on four felony counts stemming from allegations he withdrew vacation and sick pay without the approval of the school board, and for using school district funds for his own use.
Collins was fired from his position as Superintendent on July 9, 2016, after an internal investigation revealed he had taken $345,000 from the school district through unauthorized payments.
At the time, Collins was one of the highest paid school administrators in the state, with a total annual pay of over $450,000.
Last Friday, the San Diego County District Attorney’s office indicted Collins on three felony counts of appropriating funds without authority, and one felony count of misappropriation of funds.
Veteran Unlawfully Held in State Hospital for More Than Two Decades. Are There More Like Him? San Diego County agencies say they are reviewing records to see if any others were unlawfully held in California state hospitals under the state s Mentally Disordered Offender program. By Tom Jones and Monica Dean
Published January 21, 2021 •
Updated on January 22, 2021 at 2:41 pm By Tom Jones and Monica Dean
Published January 21, 2021 •
Updated on January 22, 2021 at 2:41 pm
When Mark first glimpsed his brother, Alan Alter, being escorted by Sheriff’s deputies out the back door of the San Diego County Jail, he let out a laugh of stunned relief. It was Jan. 7, 2021, and the first time he had seen or even talked to his brother in decades.
San Diego DA to oppose parole for woman convicted in murder-for-hire plot
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and last updated 2021-01-19 19:07:59-05
SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A parole hearing is scheduled this week for a woman convicted of hiring five U.S. Marines to kill her husband in Oceanside more than 35 years ago, and the San Diego County District Attorney s Office said Tuesday it would be opposing her release.
Laura Troiani, now 59, was convicted of the murder of her 37-year-old husband, Carlo, who was shot in the back on an Oceanside roadway in 1984.
The DA s Office says Troiani recruited the Marines to commit the killing by promising them a portion of the life insurance money she would collect once her husband was dead.
By City News Service
Jan 20, 2021
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Fresno County s top prosecutor has penned a letter to her counterpart in Los Angeles County, telling him that a series of controversial directives he issued upon taking office last month are “extreme and “already wreaking havoc on crime victims.
The letter, dated Monday, is the second that George Gascon has been sent in recent weeks in which a district attorney from another county has refused to grant him jurisdiction in cases involving defendants accused of committing crimes in the counties they represent.
Last week, Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert characterized many of Gascon s directives as “illegal and unconstitutional a contention repeated again by Fresno County D.A. Lisa A. Smittcamp.
“Why you didn t prosecute this police,” Carolino said. “Is that justified? Killing someone - shot seven times.”
Members of the caravan said Dennis case is just the tip of the iceberg. They point to the District Attorney s report from 2019 that documented 25 years of officer-involved shootings in San Diego County. More than 450 people were shot by law enforcement. Not a single officer who fired their weapon while on duty was arrested.
“The demand is for her to prosecute rogue officers who have killed, brutally murdered, while wearing their badges,” said caravan organizer Buki Domingos.
The District Attorney s office issued a statement saying in part, “When the evidence and facts support criminal charges in a use-of-force incident, we file them, as we did last summer against a former Sheriff s deputy charged with murder.”