District Attorney Birgit Fladager hiding case facts from residents

Back in September this site caused all sorts of controversy when we reported on the hyphy incident downtown and let the community talk about how they felt about it. It was the first real test of how the community would react to an uncensored, unedited open forum and frankly, it surprised us to see how far and fast that Modesto ran with the concept. People wrote in and expressed their opinions on police power, racial issues, music, the way that the youth here are treated and how they felt about the cultural lines between Modesto and the East Bay blurring together rapidly.

Well, the top story in the Modesto Bee and on local news channels today is again that "riot" that took place back in September.

Apparently, District Attorney, Birgit Fladager told the Bee last month that the investigation into the incident produced no adult defendants when in fact there were four men charged in the case just three days after the incident.

Fladager claims that she received bad information from her staff in regard to the case and that she took that bad information into consideration when speaking to the press. According to the story in the Bee, the four men have attended many court dates since being charged. I have to say here that it seems very unlikely to me that Fladager could have been that far in the dark in regard to what is happening in her own department. If that is really the case, I am very concerned as a citizen about the way things are happening within the ranks of our local law enforcement.

In my opinion, Fladager withheld information to try to maintain a false sense of calm in the public eye about this volatile issue. But that is simply my opinion. I could be totally wrong.

How do you feel? Would the public have ever known the truth about this incident if the mother of one man charged did not contact the Bee herself with the information?

As always, feel free to speak your mind on this. Our community took a proud stand here when the original incident took place and I hope to see that again over the course of the next few days.

-Mojo

Submitted by Motown Mojo on Fri, 2006-12-22 11:34.

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