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- Written by: Lake County News reports
LAKE COUNTY – A repeat sex offender found guilty of forcible sodomy on a teenage boy has received eight years in prison.
Deputy District Attorney John DeChaine reported Tuesday that Brian Keith Collins, 44, was sentenced to the upper term of eight years in prison on Monday for the forcible sodomy of a 16-year-old boy in Lake County.
DeChaine prosecuted the case, which was investigated by Det. Mike Curran of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Judge Arthur Mann imposed the maximum prison sentence after denying the Collins' motion for probation, DeChaine reported.
On July 9, DeChaine reported Collins pleaded no contest to forcible sodomy, in violation of California Penal Code section 286(c)(2).
Forcible sodomy is categorized as both a serious and a violent strike in California, DeChaine reported. As a result, Collins will not be eligible for parole until he serves 85 percent of his prison sentence.
The 16-year-old male victim alleged that Collins had assaulted him after luring him to a vacant house in Clearlake Oaks on June 6, 2006, according to DeChaine's report. The teenage victim said he had only met Collins the day before the incident. Collins was 43 years old at the time of the sexual assault. As with most sexual assaults, there were no third party witnesses to the crime.
Collins, a construction worker, was arrested on June 7, 2006, the day after the assault, and was booked into the county jail, according to jail records.
Throughout the year-long prosecution of the case, Collins had been held in custody with bail set in the amount of $75,000, DeChaine said.
Collins was already a registered sex offender and was identified as such on the Megan’s Law Web site in 2006 when he committed this current offense, according to DeChaine.
Collins' prior sex crimes consisted of two misdemeanor convictions for child molestation in violation of Penal Code section 647(a) in 1983, in San Pablo, DeChaine added.
When Collins is released from prison, the law requires that he must continue to be required to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life.
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“The evidence that U.S. attorneys were fired for political purposes has mounted for almost a year, and the credibility of our nation’s justice system has increasingly suffered,” Thompson said in a written statement.
Thompson had sent a letter to President George W. Bush five months ago calling for Gonzales' resignation.
“Rather than ‘fix the problems’ as he promised, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has only stonewalled Congress’ attempt to hold the Bush Administration accountable and has given questionable testimony about his own involvement,” Thompson said. “His resignation was long overdue. Moreover, if the investigations find that the law was broken or justice obstructed, Gonzales should face charges.
Thompson said he hopes Bush will use Gonzales' resignation as an opportunity to bring integrity back to the office of the Attorney General by appointing a nominee “who holds the law above politics and aims to strengthen, not diminish, our civil liberties.”
“This is also an opportunity to re-examine the continuation of warrantless surveillance,” Thompson said.
Thompson, who is chairman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Terrorism, Human Intelligence, Analysis and Counterintelligence, said the House Intelligence Committee will be crafting new legislation to replace the flawed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the law that governs the surveillance of foreign targets for intelligence purposes.
“We need a law that allows us to collect information on those who threaten our nation’s security, without violating the rights of law-abiding Americans,” said Thompson. “FISA should also be altered to ensure that an independent court, not the Bush Administration, determines when the communications of Americans need to be monitored.”
Visit Thompson's Web site at http://mikethompson.house.gov/.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
SACRAMENTO – State Senator Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) announced Monday that she has asked the Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) to investigate the adequacy of health care and accommodation of residents’ disabilities at the California Veterans Home in Yountville.
“It is an embarrassment that our veterans, who served our country honorably, have been treated so poorly in their time of need,” declared Wiggins. “This audit will serve as a blueprint to correct deficiencies and bring back the high standards of care our veterans so richly deserve.
“Residents and staff have reported a wide range of issues, including disabled residents that have been left unattended lying in their feces, visually-impaired veterans who have been unable to ascertain their food choices in the mess hall or decipher home communications, and inadequacy of medical equipment resulting exacerbating injuries and perhaps death,” Wiggins said.
In her letter to the JLAC chair, Wiggins said that based on the volume and diversity of complaints that have come from residents of the home, as well as testimony by Dr. David Salopek, chairman of the Yountville Veterans Home Allied Council at an April 24, 2007 hearing of the Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee, she “lacks confidence that the California Department of Veterans Affairs is meeting its mission, goals, or vision relating to the health care and quality of life at the Yountville Veterans Home.”
“Residents have also complained of violations of their residents’ rights, disrespect for residents and their quality of life issues,” Wiggins added. “Physicians have reported the assignment of an excessive number of patients, leading to doctor burn-out and potentially inadequate care. The last thing we’d want to see is a Walter Reed type of situation at Yountville.”
The Joint Legislative Audit Committee is charged with ascertaining facts, and making reports and recommendations to the Legislature concerning the state, its agencies, departments and political subdivisions of the state. Independently, and through the State Auditor, JLAC investigates, studies, analyzes and assesses the financial practices and the performance of existing governmental and/or publicly created entities in California – in order to assist those entities in fulfilling the purpose for which they were created by the Legislature.
The committee is comprised of seven members of the Senate (including Wiggins), and seven members of the Assembly.
In her letter, Wiggins asked JLAC to direct the office of the State Auditor to investigate and then report its findings and recommendations on the following:
The adequacy of the number of physicians and other medical personnel needed to provide adequate care to the Home’s population;
Complaints by residents and personnel;
The Home’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, with emphasis on accommodation of the mobility impaired and the visually impaired;
The need for a hospital and health care administrator dedicated exclusively to coordinating and managing all health care facilities and related personnel (note: Wiggins is carrying a bill, SB 565, to create the position);
The absence of a skilled nursing facility administrator at Yountville (the Department of Veterans Affairs established the position, but then redirected it away from Yountville);
Personnel shortages and the quality of health care;
Utilization and enforcement of the Code of Conduct by the Home’s administration.
“Providing high-quality long term care for America’s heroes, our state’s elderly and infirm veterans should be a top priority for California,” Wiggins said. “We are requesting that this audit be given priority status with the Auditor General to insure that our veterans quickly receive the care they have so rightfully earned. This audit will be a valuable tool to help us determine what actions, we as policymakers and the Department of Veterans Affairs, need to make.”
The Yountville Veterans Home is a 550-acre community of and for veterans. Some 1,200 veterans (both men and women) live at the home.
Founded in 1884, Yountville is the oldest and largest veteran’s home in the United States. It currently provides 713 residential accommodations, 48 residential care (assisted living) accommodations and three levels of in-patient health care: 169 beds for intermediate care, 230 beds for skilled nursing care, and 20 beds in general acute care. July 2007 marked the opening of the new Alzheimer’s/dementia unit, which will ultimately accommodate 75 residents.
On its Web site, the California Department of Veterans Affairs says its mission is “to provide the state's aged or disabled veterans with rehabilitative, residential, and medical care and services in a home-like environment at the California Veterans Homes.”
The site also indicates that the department’s vision is that “California veterans will live the highest quality of life with dignity and honor,” with the goal of providing “high quality advocacy and services for all California Veterans; provide the best long-term care and enhanced quality of life for all State Veterans Home residents; maintain effective communication with all staff and stake holders; and use resources wisely.”
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
California Highway Patrol Officer Josh Dye reported Monday afternoon that Sally A. Waddell, 51, of Clearlake Oaks was the fatality in the collision, which took place at around 8:43 p.m. Sunday north of Diener Drive.
As Lake County News previously reported, Waddell was traveling northbound on Highway 29 in a Hyundai Accent when her vehicle crossed the double-yellow lines and collided head-on with 43-year-old Sonoma resident Tina Hendry in her 1998 Chevy 2500 pickup.
A third vehicle went into a ditch to avoid the accident, which was spotted by CHP Officer Mark Barnes, who was on his way to the Lake County Jail to deliver an arrestee, according to Dye.
Waddell died at the scene; Dye said Hendry and three passengers in her truck received minor injuries.
The cause of the accident remains under investigation, Dye said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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