UPDATE, SEPT. 24, 12:31 P.M.: The hosts of KFI 640AM's afternoon John and Ken Show rally those seeking the recall of Orange County Superior Court Judge M. Marc Kelly at 3 p.m. at Ayres Hotel, 12850 Seal Beach Blvd., Seal Beach. But John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou will not be alone.
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Appellate Court Rejects Controversial Judge's Jury Misconduct Finding In Rape Case
They will be joined by Bryan Scott, chairman of the Remove Judge M. Marc Kelly Campaign, and his co-hort Patricia Wenskunas, founder and CEO, Crime Survivors, Inc. The four aim to get more signatures to advance a recall onto a ballot.
ORIGINAL POST, SEPT. 17, 7:03 A.M.: Orange County Superior Court Judge M. Marc Kelly erred when he reduced the sentence of a 20-year-old Santa Ana man who sexually assaulted a 3-year-old relative because the state law mandating a term of 25 years to life did not “shock the conscience” of the community, according to the opening brief of prosecutors' appeal of the sentence.
“While reasonable minds might differ as to whether a 25-year-to-life sentence for sodomizing a 3-year-old is reasonable, the legislature has clearly spoken,” writes Senior Deputy District Attorney Matt Lockhart in the brief. “The trial court cannot shunt the legislature's determination of punishment absent a showing that the sentence is so 'grossly disproportionate' to the offense that it `shocks the conscience and offends fundamental notions of human dignity.'”
In sentencing Kevin Jonas Rojano-Nieto to 10 years in state prison for assaulting the girl in his garage, Kelly said the maximum sentence would be “cruel and unusual punishment” and in violation of the state constitution. The mother of Rojano-Nieto and the victim had urged Kelly to show leniency for the defendant.
What has really set off recall advocates is Kelly having said “there was no violence or callous disregard for (the victim's) well being.” That's a notion Lockhart pounces on in his brief, pointing out that Rojano-Nieto had the girl masturbate him and picked her up “and pulled her pants down for five seconds. He put his penis in her butt.”
The brief includes a new allegation that Rojano-Nieto initially lied to Santa Ana police when he said the girl was injured because he kicked her “to avoid his sister's false claim of molestation.” He also first denied covering the girl's mouth so she couldn't call out to her mother for help, the prosecutor writes. “He said he stopped when he realized she was getting hurt. He said he told (the girl) he was sorry.”
Rojano-Nieto later recanted to both lies, according to Lockhart.
The defendant's attorney has an Oct. 15 deadline to respond, City News Service reports.
Founder and chairman Bryan Scott of Irvine previously announced the Committee to Recall Judge Marc Kelly is on track to get a vote on the June 2016 ballot.
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.