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For Dave -
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I think I found that lawyer you were talking about
service: Believe it or not, a Superior Court judge in San Francisco
dismissed a $10,000 vandalism case against a guy accused of wrecking
his room at San Francisco's Marriott -- saying that prosecutors had
failed to disprove his claim that he owned the hotel and therefore was
just trashing his own property.
According to court documents, it all began on a night last September
when police were called to the high-rise hotel at Fourth and Mission
streets after security guards heard a lot of crashing and the sound of
things breaking in one of the rooms.
When the officers entered the room, they found every mirror and
picture broken, food all over the floor, the bathroom a mess -- and
defendant Jason Hyde, who said he was mad at somebody.
When asked who he was mad at, Hyde would only tell the cop that he
owned the hotel and was allowed to damage his own property.
Needless to say, Hyde was promptly booked on vandalism charges.
Fast-forward to Hyde's preliminary hearing in April before Judge
Wallace Douglass, where Assistant Public Defender Christiane Hipps
began raising questions about the amount of the alleged damages --
which the hotel management and security put at $10,000.
Hipps asked Officer Sean Cronin if he had actually spoken to the
hotel's owner about the damages.
The officer explained that the damage estimate came from the hotel's
security agent and the hotel's manager -- but that no, he hadn't
spoken to the hotel's actual owner.
At which point the judge said, "The only thing I know about who owns
the place so far is this defendant's statement that he owns it."
And because it's no crime to destroy your own property -- prosecutors
didn't appear to have a case.
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Cut rest.
A creative argument that didn't work:
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Deputy D.A. Karen Catalona argued that you could pretty well infer
that if Hyde owned the Marriott that it was highly unlikely that his
own employees would call the cops and have him arrested.
"If they recognized him," the judge replied.
Even the receipts showing the defendant checking into what he claimed
was his own hotel didn't sway the judge, and with a bang of the gavel
he dismissed the case for insufficient evidence.
Prosecutors have since appealed the decision and the charges have been
reinstated -- promising yet another go-round in court.
By the way, the Marriott is owned by Host Hotels and Resorts Inc. of
Bethesda, Md.
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