UPDATE, SEPTEMBER 21, 2011, 11 A.M.: Gustavo here. Before the press conference even began, veteran attorney John Barnett (whom you'll remember helped to represent the Haidl gang) announce to reporters that his client, Fullerton Officer Manuel Ramos, had surrendered himself to face charges on second-degree murder. And Officer Corporal Jay Cicinelli, the infamous one-eyed cop, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and use of excessive force.
ORIGINAL POST: SEPT. 21, 10:17 A.M.: Anyone predisposed to wipe out a majority of Southern California's media
in a single blow, should rush to Santa Ana and the offices of Orange
County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas.
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At the moment, a whopping 12 news media satellite trucks are camped
outside Rackauckas' offices in preparation for the DA's scheduled 11
a.m. announcement in his first floor law library, where 60 reporters are
scheduled to be on hand to hear whether criminal charges will be filed
against six Fullerton police officers who savagely killed Kelly Thomas, an unarmed homeless man, on July 5.
Also anxiously awaiting the announcement are a handful of protesters in Kelly Thomas t-shirts.
Huddled reporters–including teams from The Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times–are
all speculating about Rackauckas' decision. No one believes he'll file
murder charges. Most think he'll file felony assault charges.
Inside
the building, Rackauckas' media staff is preparing the press conference
room. A lone television has been placed near the podium. The DA
will conduct a power point presentation and be the only person speaking at the news conference, according to his office.
Stay tuned.
CNN-featured investigative reporter R. Scott Moxley has won Journalist of the Year honors at the Los Angeles Press Club; been named Distinguished Journalist of the Year by the LA Society of Professional Journalists; obtained one of the last exclusive prison interviews with Charles Manson disciple Susan Atkins; won inclusion in Jeffrey Toobin’s The Best American Crime Reporting for his coverage of a white supremacist’s senseless murder of a beloved Vietnamese refugee; launched multi-year probes that resulted in the FBI arrests and convictions of the top three ranking members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department; and gained praise from New York Times Magazine writers for his “herculean job” exposing entrenched Southern California law enforcement corruption.