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11/23 WESTMINSTER, CA: Updates on Theresa Dang's Trial
http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=0350

THERESA DANG'S TRIAL DELAYED UNTIL NOV. 29TH

Deputy DA handling this matter is 'out on vacation'
same day her case was expected to go on trial

By DUANE J. ROBERTS
duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com

WESTMINSTER, CA - When B. Kwaku Duren, attorney for
Theresa Dang, battled freeway traffic to arrive at the
West Justice Center this morning, he was ready and
eager to mount a vigorous defense on behalf of his
client. His suitcase was packed with handwritten
notes, motions, briefs, videos -- everything he needed
to show that Dang was innocent of the misdemeanor
petty theft charge that had been brought against her
by the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

Duren, like everybody else, knew that today was the
day this case was finally going to go to trial. That's
why Dang's father and about a dozen friends were
present in the courtroom. Even a reporter from KFWB
news radio straggled in during a brief recess to learn
more about what was going on.

But there was one problem. Erik Petersen, the Orange
County Deputy District Attorney assigned the task of
prosecuting this case on behalf of 'the people of
California' was nowhere to be found. Why, it was
asked-Another Deputy District Attorney on duty gave
us a most unusual explanation: Petersen was 'out on
vacation.'

Despite the fact that Orange County Superior Court
Judge Linda S. Marks, the judicial officer who
presides over Department W3, scheduled this case to go
on trial more than a month ago, Petersen decided '
unbeknownst to anybody else with perhaps the exception
of his superiors -- that this was going to be his day
to play hooky.

A delay tactic, perhaps 'It's quite possible the
Orange County District Attorney's Office is a bit
nervous about this case. They've gotten alot of flack
over this matter given the enormous amount of media
coverage that has been generated. It is
estimated that more than one million people in the
Southern California area alone have read or heard
something about it.

But let's give Petersen the benefit of the doubt.
Maybe he was enjoying his Thanksgiving holiday so much
that he just wanted to spend a bit more time away from
another grueling day at work. After all, the case the
Garden Grove Police have put together against Dang is
a real turkey; if any of us were in his shoes, we'd
probably play hooky, too.