Court Filing States That as a Matter of Fact Tony Arreola and Sean Kali-Rai
are Factually Innocent
UTTER AND COMPLETE EXONERATION RAISES ISSUE OF HOW ARREOLA AND KALI-RAI WERE
THE VICTIMS OF A POLITICAL VENDETTA; ATTORNEY CALLS FOR STEPS TO BE TAKEN TO
PREVENT FUTURE POLITICAL MUGGINGS BY DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY DAVID PANDORI
AND A JUSTICE SYSTEM GONE WRONG.
SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is being released
on behalf of Tony Arreola and Sean Kali-Rai:
Court filings made by the Santa Clara County Court and the Santa Clara
County District Attorney's office state that as a matter of fact Tony Arreola
and Sean Kali-Rai were innocent of the charges filed against them December
2006 by the Santa Clara District Attorney and its Deputy District Attorney
David Pandori. The utter and complete exoneration of Messrs. Arreola and
Kali-Rai, as reflected in these filings, is the latest development in this
case that makes it clear the two were the victims of self interest and a
political vendetta by Mr. Pandori, leading one of the attorneys involved in
the case to call for steps to be taken to prevent future political muggings of
innocent civilians by a justice system gone wrong.
The Santa Clara Superior Court's ruling found that Tony Arreola and Sean
Kali-Rai were "factually innocent of the charges for which they were arrested
and charged."
Similarly, the Santa Clara District Attorney's Office citing "no
reasonable causes exist to believe" that the two men "committed the offenses
which they were arrested and charged with" stipulated "to a finding of factual
innocence."
Mr. Arreola commented on the development, "This Court judgment makes it
clear that Sean and I were, are and always have been innocent. The plain and
simple fact is that we were the victims of a former politician who became a
Deputy District Attorney to further his political career and to carry out a
political vendetta by mixing politics with law enforcement. Our families,
friends and businesses should have never suffered the pain and damages as a
result of this clear and calculated abuse of power. While happy that the
Superior Court and District Attorney have made it clear that we were the
victims in this matter, this is something that should have never happened and
it is critical that Santa Clara County takes steps to make sure that members
of the community are not victimized and hurt by a law enforcement official who
abuses the powers of government to further his personal political agenda."
Mr. Kali-Rai added, "These filings confirm what was already known from the
onset, before the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal
fees, the loss of our businesses, our good names and devastating effects on
our families and friends -- that we were innocent and merely the victims of a
system gone wrong -- what is now needed is for the Santa Clara County
government take steps to determine how it was that we were politically
targeted and what is being done to make sure it does not happen to others in
the future. The bottom line here is that law abiding citizens cannot be the
victims of a political vendetta by law enforcement."
Craig Brown, the lawyer for Mr. Arreola, stated, "The utter and complete
exoneration of Sean and Tony as reflected in these filings of factual
innocence by the Santa Clara County District Court and the District Attorney's
Office drive home -- once again -- that Sean and Tony were the victims of a
political vendetta by an out of control Deputy District Attorney who, like
Mike Nifong the irresponsible prosecutor of the Duke University students, put
his political agenda before the pursuit of justice. Sean and Tony and their
families will forever endure the terror of a search and seizure of their homes
and offices by armed officers and while these filings make clear that the two
were innocent victims it does not address the person responsible for this
miscarriage of justice, Mr. Pandori. Deputy District Attorney David Pandori
opened up a Pandora's Box when he decided to use his power as a law
enforcement officer to engage in a political mugging and it is imperative that
steps be taken to make sure that no other citizen in the future is the subject
to such a miscarriage of justice."
In July 2007, the Santa Clara District Attorney's office dismissed the
case involving Tony Arreola and Sean Kali-Rai after reviewing the evidence,
made it clear that the two men had acted properly and appropriately as a
matter of facts and law. Following the dismissal of the case, Mr. Brown
immediately called for the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Ethics
Advisor to investigate David Pandori, the prosecutor originally responsible
for the case, to determine whether the prosecutorial process had been abused.
Since then, Mr. Brown further stated, "We were recently informed by the
District Attorney's Office that an investigation of Mr. Pandori's actions was
performed and completed and that appropriate action was taken."
CONTACT: LISA COHEN
310 395-2544
SOURCE Tony Arreola and Sean Kali-Rai
Lisa Cohen, +1-310-395-2544, for Tony Arreola and Sean Kali-Rai
