[originally published in Oak Leaf News March 27, 2014]
The trial over embezzled campus parking meter money
inched closer to commencing after a March 27 readiness hearing confirmed a
preliminary hearing set for April 2.
Former Santa Rosa Junior College officer Jeffrey
Holzworth held sole responsibility, without oversight, for collecting parking
fees from SRJC campuses in Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Windsor. Holzworth, a
28-year veteran with SRJC District Police, faces 11 charges of receiving stolen
property and one charge of embezzlement, enhanced for an amount over $150,000.
Prosecutors allege Holzworth embezzled $300,000 since 2005.
Holzworth’s wife Karen faces three charges of
receiving stolen property and one charge as an accessory to a crime.
Judge Jamie Thistlethwaite presided over the brief
March 27 readiness hearing in courtroom 2 to confirm the April 2 preliminary
hearing. Holzworth’s attorney Joe Passalacqua confirmed his own readiness and
spoke on behalf of Karen Holzworth’s attorney George Boisseau, absent from the
hearing defending another case. Passalacqua said “with that caveat” of
Boisseau’s temporary absence, the defense was ready for the preliminary
hearing.
Assistant District Attorney Amy Ariyoshi confirmed
the prosecution’s readiness, and its plan to bring a written summary of their
case for the court.
The Holzworths and their defense attorney declined
to comment after the brief hearing.
Santa Rosa Police detectives served their warrants
Nov. 28, 2012 and their search of Holzworth’s personal and work vehicles, work
locker and house discovered $14,259 in quarters, $1 and $5 bills, including 16
canvas bank bags full of cash, five glass jars full of coins and $350 in $5
bills tucked in a dresser drawer. One canvas bag held $470 in rolled quarters.
“Holzworth has also told staff at the [bank] that
he owns a vending machine business, which appears to be his justification for
possessing $1 and $5 in such large quantities,” according to SRPD detective
Mark Azzouni’s search warrant affidavit. “Based on this information, it appears
that Holzworth turns in bills with small denominations ($1s & $5s) for
larger bills ($100s).”
Detectives also found notebooks full of sports
betting information, casino player’s club cards, business cards for “female
escorts” and shredded remains of SRJC parking permit machine test printouts.
Holzworth’s work locker held the laptop and cable he used to erase the internal
memories of SRJC parking permit machines. “In doing so, an accounting of the
parking machine cannot be completed,” Azzouni’s affidavit said. “If he does not
turn in the money from a particular machine, the omission would not be
recognized by accounting or police department staff. By discarding the receipt,
no one at the accounting or police departments would know that Holzworth
collected money from that particular machine. In turn, Holzworth could keep the
money.”
In a Feb. 5 hearing, Presiding Judge Kenneth Gnoss
reviewed the three search warrants served by SRPD detectives, and the evidence
collected by them. The first two warrants placed GPS trackers on Holzworth’s
vehicles and obtained his Equifax credit report, and both based their probable
cause entirely on observations made by Holzworth’s coworker Sgt. Stephen
Potter. Gnoss ruled Potter made his observations while “acting in his law
enforcement capacity,” therefore Potter’s discovery of stacks of small bills in
Holzworth’s work bag and in his personal vehicle constituted illegal searches.
The “fruit of the poison tree” legal doctrine
states an illegal or warrantless search taints any evidence discovered and
excludes the tainted evidence from trial. Gnoss excised all of Potter’s tainted
observations as well as the first two warrants based on them.
Azzouni based his third search warrant affidavit on
personal observations made by several SRPD detectives assigned to follow
Holzworth. Even after Gnoss excised all of Potter’s statements and everything
obtained by the first two search warrants, enough evidence remained for
Ariyoshi to say, “We still have everything.”
After the readiness hearing, Ariyoshi explained the
new courthouse policy where all preliminary hearings will now be conducted in
courtroom 10 under Judge Peter Ottenweller. Thistlethwaite estimated the
hearing will take about four hours.
Holzworth’s preliminary hearing starts 9:30 a.m. in
courtroom 10 of Sonoma County Hall of Justice.
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