John Chiv: Right before Ray Christie's preliminary hearing, 4 felony counts against him dismissed by the People

Aug 14, 2018

Right before Ray Christie's preliminary hearing, 4 felony counts against him dismissed by the People

Preliminary hearing for Ray Christie was scheduled for August 14. Christie is charged with 7 felony counts of cruelty to an animal and 28 misdemeanor counts of littering within 150 feet of state waters in one case; 13 misdemeanors of littering within 150 feet of state waters in a second case.

Deputy District Attorney A.J. Kamada is prosecuting the case. Mr. Ken Bareilles is representing Christie. Today at the preliminary hearing, Mr. John Cogorno sat in as co-counsel. The preliminary hearing may last multiple days. Before the preliminary,Mr. Kamada handed a statement from livestock deputy Travis Mendes to the defense right before the preliminary hearing The People decided not to call Deputy Mendes, the defense wants to subpoena him. The defense was unaware that Deputy Mendes would not be testifying until today.

Mr. Bareilles provided some information to Mr. Kamada that led the DA's office to talk to Deputy Mendes. The decision to dismiss the four felony counts came after the DA's discussion with the deputy. The defense referred to conduct by Deputy Mendes and "a bit of attitude" on the deputy's part and claimed that Deputy Mendes "has singled out Mr. Christie." The defense feelsthat the People today in court did not provide a complete picture of the information shared with the DA that led to the dismissalof the charges. They want Deputy Mendes to testify.

This matter was on the front page," said Mr. Bareilles. He said the coverage in the media has had a negative impact on the business."
Mr. Bareilles said that "we want to get the felony charges dismissed."

Mr. Kamada told Judge Cockrum that right now he did not have enough information, but the charges were dismissed because it undermines the DA's ability to put Deputy Mendes on as a reliable expert livestock witness."

I covered the testimony of the first witness CHP Warden Matthew Wells on the testimony of the 13 misdemeanors and the cross by Mr. Cogorno so far, is not going well for Warden Wells.

Deputy Mendes' testimony is crucial. I may cover some of the rest of Christie's preliminary, but it will depend on other court coverage. There are only 3 felony counts left, which maybe impacted by Deputy Mendes' testimony or lack of testimony. The rest are all misdemeanors with the same charge. I will post the results of the preliminary hearing.

In the previous coverage linked below, Mr. Bareilles said that "there is a real problem with this case."

In the audience, there were family members and supporters for Christie, including his brother and business partner, Daryl Christie.

Community members including Christie's neighbors were also in the audience.

Judge Cockrum granted the People's motion to dismiss the felony Counts 1, 2, 3 and 4 which are all cruelty to an animal.