Service ∙ Hard Work ∙ Transparency ∙ Integrity

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THE WEST WINGSanta Clara County District Attorney’s Office

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70 West Hedding St., West Wing, San Jose, CA 95110

T he well-organized team of thieves works quickly, gutting a gas pump

like a fish and planting the device deep inside its electronics. The credit card customers will have no idea they are victims until they get their next statements. The thieves never go near the pump again. They drive by and pull the credit card information through the ether from a custom-made Bluetooth device. Then, they vanish.

Christmas came early for some inmates in Elmwood. A uniquely recidivistic Santa Claus was serving time alongside them. Normally sparse commissary accounts were suddenly flush with outside deposits. The mastermind had outside accomplices stealing credit cards, using them to put money into inmates’ accounts. Then

he was taking his own cut. He knew what he was doing. He was serving a sentence for identity theft.

A huge haul of stolen computer chips. A credit card number-stealing virus hidden in the network of a local seafood restaurant. A computer-savvy

Police Sgt. Ronnie Lopez run the unit. Tall and serene, Sterner’s reputation is one of a pro homicide commander. Built for breaking in doors, Lopez is happiest on the street. He is the golden-tongued street cop, the kind of genial officer who gets thanked by criminals after they confess. Neither of them knew their way around a hard drive when they started.

Sterner jokes that a prosecutor once said of him that he was a “dinosaur homicide investigator who has trouble dialing his phone.’’

“It’s true I’m not a tech guy. I’ve learned a tremendous amount about it.”

Part of his job is to preach the worth of the task force to some Silicon Valley tech titans who tend not to report when they have been victimized. They have their own robust security forces. When one of their products in development goes missing it’s treated less like a stolen diamond than a swiped state secret.

When the cases do come into the unit, it takes a rare mix of tech and investigative skills found in such agents as Tim Crowley and Marshall Norton that tend to get them solved. They brought that expertise to bear

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serial server thief armed with a sledge hammer.

These are some of the concerns of a highly-specialized, highly-regarded District Attorney’s team quietly operating within an obscure office space in an obscure business park in an obscure part of Silicon Valley.

They are called REACT, Santa Clara County’s Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team.

REACT first started as an informal coffee club of investigators who had an interest in tech cases. Now the 16-member, multi-agency squad handles about 100 to 200 cases a year.

“We make amazing things happen,” a sign on the wall says, an informal way

of saying that they aim for a mix of “Big Box” cases and handle the ID theft and tech cases that many resource-strapped agencies cannot. It also trains selected police officers, who bring back their expertise to their home agencies.

Lt. Michael Sterner and San Jose

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THE REACT TEAM:Sgt. Ronnie Lopez – San Jose P.D. Sgt. Lopez is the Operations Manager for REACT. He is recognized for his expertise in interviews, interrogation and surveillance.Sgt. Michael Jacobs – Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office. Sgt. Jacobs is a member of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office Specialized Emergency Response Team and is the unit expert on tactics and training.Agent Marty Beltran – Gilroy P.D. Officer Beltran is a member of the Gilroy P.D. SWAT team and has a great deal of experience in financial crimes investigations.Agent Adam Carpenter – Fremont P.D. Officer Carpenter is a very skilled financial crimes investigator. He was recognized as the financial crimes investigator of the year in 2012 and was honored by the American Society of Industrial Security in 2013 for an outstanding high tech investigation.Agent Terrell Coleman – CHP. Agent Coleman has been a member of the Task Force for six years and

has developed an expertise in computer and mobile device forensics.Agent Tim Crowley – Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office. Deputy Crowley is a very skilled investigator who was awarded the California Institute of Criminal Investigation Outstanding Investigation Award and the 2012 High Technology Criminal Investigators Association Case of the Year Award. Agent Hung LeDang –

Mountain View P.D. Officer LeDang was recently assigned a commercial burglary in which more than 100 hard drives containing personal identifying information were stolen. He was successful in clearing

in solving one of the biggest chip heists in history.

Crowley’s first job out of Cal Poly was manufacturing computer chips. As an engineer, it was a natural fit. However, Crowley hated it. A ride-along later, he was on his way to being as sheriff’s deputy. He jumped at the chance to get back into high-tech as an investigator.

Norton, a D.A. investigator, is a Winnipeg native who was always fascinated by computers. When he

became an officer in Mountain View, he quickly gained an expertise in the data-rich cases of financial crime. “You have to like being buried in paper,’’ he said.

In early 2011, masked gunmen hit Unigen, a Fremont semiconductor company, and made off with 1.7 million computer chips.

Crowley: “It was big and complex and bold. It took all the tools in the toolbox that you get in your career.’’

“We chased people around the world and recovered 37 million dollars in stolen chips,” Norton said.

So far there have been 14 arrests, with more trickling in.

Said Sterner: “In Silicon Valley we have a great interest in protecting our valuable resources and preventing them from becoming victims …. That’s the role we play.”

this burglary and recovered the majority of the stolen property. He also tied the suspect to 26 additional commercial burglaries.Agent Keith Miller – Santa Clara County D.A.’s Office. Investigator Miller is an extremely accomplished investigator and is the unit’s in-house expert on covert investigations. He retired as a Sergeant at the San Jose Police Department in January 2010 and joined the D.A.’s Office as a senior investigator in October of that year. Agent Tanya Neu – Santa Clara County D.A.’s Office. Investigator Neu is also a skilled investigator. She transferred from the San Mateo Police Department to the District Attorney’s Office in 2010. She has a strong background in financial crimes investigation and is an expert in real estate fraud.Agent Marshall Norton - Santa Clara County D.A.’s Office. Investigator Norton is a highly qualified High Technology Crimes investigator. He received the Financial Crimes Investigator of the Year Award in 2012 and was also awarded the California Institute of Criminal Investigation Outstanding Investigation Award and the High Technology Criminal Investigators Association case of the year award in 2012. Agent John Rizqallah – Santa Clara County D.A.’s Office. Investigator Rizqallah has become our in-house expert on organized credit card skimming operations. He is working closely with a High Technology Task Force in Southern California to identify and arrest those responsible for these crimes.Agent Stephanie Taylor – San Francisco County D.A.’s Office. Investigator Taylor is the most recent addition to the REACT Task Force. She has a very good reputation as a criminal investigator and has already completed several complex investigations.Analyst Aileen Uytingco – Santa Clara County D.A.’s Office. Analyst Uytingco is the “backbone” of the team and is always there to support the investigators. She is responsible for maintaining evidence and provides analytical and statistical support.Criminologist Gregg Yoshioka – Santa Clara County Crime Lab. Criminologist Yoshioka is a certified computer forensics examiner. He conducts all of the computer forensic examinations for REACT investigations and will occasionally assist outside agencies on exigent requests for assistance.

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Q: What was the genesis of this book?

A: Jeff approached (then D.D.A. and now Judge) Cindy Sevely because he had some interest in finding out where the Office’s photographs and other artifacts that we owned came from. Cindy volunteered me for the project … which I was happy to do. Jeff looked through the project and said “Why don’t you do a coffee table book?”

Q: What are some of the artifacts?

A: There is an original Polly Klaas wanted poster. Outside of an office there is a courtroom drawing of Richard Allen Davis (Polly’s killer) and it’s autographed by all the prosecutors thanking then D.A. George Kennedy for allowing them to use our office space during the trial. It’s quite touching and it’s one of these things you could walk by without noticing. There are old pictures of the office. The hairstyles are funny. It’s interesting to see how small it was. For a long time the D.A. was the Office. There might have been a deputy or two in the 1870s. (Napoleon) Menard was the one who made the office modern in the 1950’s. He hired deputies, not too many. I have a list of the pay scales of everyone in the office. That was fascinating to see what was a really good salary in 1946.

Q: What did they make?

A: About $400 bucks every two weeks

Q: What was the oldest homicide case file you could find?

A: 1851. The defendant was referred to as “an Indian.” He allegedly stole rope from his boss. The defendant thought his

boss was going to go to the police so he killed his boss. He was hanged shortly afterward.

Q: Who did you interview for the project?

A: Former D.D.A.’s Don Shearer, Joyce Allegro, Dale Sanderson.

I interviewed about 20 people, including George Kennedy. George

was very sentimental. He kept a lot of things that meant something

to him, but he wasn’t that interested that people got what he put up on the

walls. There’s a six-by-eight inch framed picture of a guy dressed like a devil and

he’s screaming. George told me that it reminded him of some people in the office.

Q: Did he tell you who?

A: No.

Q: Are you a historian by trade?

A: When I was in college at Loyola Marymount I was an art history major. I did well in the history classes and became friends with the head of the department. She asked me to help her with a book on the Impressionists. Later I spent a semester at Oxford researching Shakespeare’s history plays.

Q: Did anybody in the Office’s history inspire you?

A: The people in the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s - they gave up their lives for this Office. There were people on the homicide team for 20, 25 years. Joyce Allegro tried the Brenda Otto case, described as one of the most difficult cases ever tried in the county. Otto had set her sights on an older guy and her boyfriend bludgeoned the husband to death. The case had already been reversed by the California Supreme Court and a great deal of the evidence from the first trial was suppressed. Every detail, every scrap of evidence, Allegro uncovered. Both defendants were convicted of first-degree murder.

Q: What is the purpose of the book?

A: It’s for people who are interested in historical aspects of crimes. The reason I did do it was we had some horrible cases, brutal cases. The sacrifices the people in this office made to convict those people should be recognized.

Q: What are you going to spend your royalties on?

A: There will be no royalties.

In 163 years, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office has gone from a rural Gold Rush-era Office with exactly one employee to the largest prosecutors’ office in Northern California. Prosecutor Sam Giammona is documenting the Office’s history within

a book – and through it, the county’s most bizarre, bloody and controversial cases, from the hanging of a Native American to the prosecution of the killer of 12-year-old Polly Klaas.

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Q & A...with Deputy District

Attorney Sam Giammona

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It is that time of year again: family, food, gifts, and good cheer. Here are some tips to help you financially survive the holidays.

Returns and Refunds

A retail store in California can set its own policy on returning merchandise. It may elect to refuse any return once a purchase has been made, or accept returned merchandise for a store credit only.

A retail store in California does not have to accept your return of merchandise simply because you have changed your mind.

However, if a retail store elects not to give a full refund or store credit within 7 days after purchase, it must post that written refund policy: • on a sign at each cash register and sales counter; • on tags associated with that merchandise; • at each public entrance; or • on order forms.The policy must state: 1. whether the store will give a cash refund, store credit, or exchange for the full amount of the purchase price;

2. the time within which the return must be made; and 3. any other conditions related to the policy.

There are exceptions under this law so be a wise shopper and ask to see the refund policy.

Gift cards and gift certificates

While gift cards and certificates make for very flexible and easy gifts, you should keep in mind the restrictions allowed under California law.

While the gift card or certificate cannot have an expiration date, the card may include a dormancy fee (a fee charged for not using the card or certificate within a certain time period.) Such fees are required to be printed on the front or back of the card or certificate. You also need to consider the likelihood that the store will go out of business before you are able to use the card or certificate.

Sellers of gift cards and certificates must redeem them for cash only when the balance on them falls below $10.

If you have any consumer questions please contact:

Santa Clara CountyDistrict Attorney’s Office

Consumer Protection Unit

(408) 792-2880

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charges at 9:00 a.m. on the day the defendant’s misdemeanor trial was set to begin. The defendant was remanded into custody directly from the jury trial department.

Next, Tracy handled a case that first appeared to be a dispute between neighbors. After fantastic work of D.A. Investigator Louis Hill, who interviewed three deaf witnesses in sign language, Tracy was able to file felony charges in that case, on the day the misdemeanor trial was set to begin. Finally, that afternoon, Tracy handled her last trial case of the day -- a court trial where the defendant was charged with riding the San Jose light rail without paying for a ticket. The defendant was convicted.

Binaca may hide your breath, but not your identity. D.D.A. Paul Jhin tried the case of a robbery defendant who allegedly held up Great Mall Liquors in San Jose, armed with a stick. As the defendant fled the store with $1,000 in cash, he touched a package of Binaca breath freshener. Authorities connected him to the crime because of the print.

Investigators also found that the defendant’s Costco card matched the image of the robber caught on the liquor store security cameras. The jury took 35 minutes to convict.

Jhin’s jury deliberations were slow compared to D.D.A. Terri McLaughlin’s Assault with a Deadly Weapon case. The case involved an attack on a San Jose apartment complex owner, who was participating in a community clean-up. The owner and the defendant had argued. The defendant challenged the owner to fight. The owner walked to his car to retrieve his cell phone, intending to call police. The defendant attacked, lunging at the victim with a screwdriver. Putting his hand up in self-defense, the owner was stabbed through his wrist. The jury convicted in eight minutes.

WEST WING GALLERY

The 5th Annual Bowling forBadges Fundraiser

(CLICK each photo to read a story in electronic version or visit www.santaclara-da.org)

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D.D.A. Tracy Tefertiller has had some busy days in her first few months working as a new prosecutor on the Misdemeanor Team, but August 19 takes the cake – so far. The day began with a last-minute resolution of a case where a defendant was caught driving on a suspended drivers’ license—the defendant ultimately obtained a valid license, and the case was able to resolve without trial. Her next case involved a defendant charged with distributing electronic harmful material to a minor. With the excellent work of D.A. Investigators Mark Stevenson and Christina Palomino, Tracy determined that the defendant had been having a sexual relationship with another minor. Investigator Stevenson quickly prepared an arrest warrant, allowing the prosecutor to file new felony

Pumpkins for Charity

Chinese Prosecutors Visiting the DA

Recognition

Duane (Shewaga) of The DeadLeo Himmelsbach