On the surface, it seemed like a run-of-the-mill DUI case, just one of many heard in the Santa Maria courthouse on any given day. Except The People vs. Parker James O’Sullivan was different, not so much for the defendant involved, but because of the key witness for the prosecution, a Santa Barbara police officer named Kasi Beutel.
Santa Barbara County’s top DUI officer in 2009-10, Beutel has been the center of a firestorm after the Santa Barbara News-Press published a lengthy series of articles earlier this year questioning her credibility, both personally and professionally. The articles were penned by freelance investigative journalist Peter Lance, who was arrested by Beutel on suspicion of drunken driving after an early morning traffic stop on New Year’s Day.
Subsequently, in a 13-part series of front-page articles, Lance alleged that Beutel had, among other things, manipulated his Breathalyzer results by covering the machine’s exit port and forged (or at least witnessed the forgery of) his signature on a blood-test waiver.
Throughout the exposé, Lance also reported on other arrestees who alleged various forms of misconduct involving Beutel, including suppression of evidence, forgery, and misuse of a Taser. Lance also unearthed evidence of bankruptcy fraud in the officer’s personal life.
After months of hearings, Superior Court Judge Brian Hill on Nov. 15 granted a motion brought by Lance’s attorney, Daryl Genis, to suppress evidence. The judge dismissed the case, ruling that Santa Barbara officer Bruno Peterson lacked enough probable cause to pull Lance over in the first place. Beutel was the supervising officer who actually arrested Lance.
Following that, Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley issued a press release stating Judge Hill “did not find any misconduct on any part of any of the involved officers … or any member of the District Attorney’s Office.” However, because Hill addressed the constitutionality of Lance’s traffic stop, issues involving Beutel’s credibility were never ruled upon.
“We’re not going to get to the point of having [her credibility] ever decided by a jury,” Lance told the Sun. “Because Kasi Beutel’s credibility is shattered by what I’ve uncovered … she was shielded repeatedly by various judges from ever really having to testify.
“If you think about it, in a DUI case, the credibility of the officer is everything,” Lance continued. “In the absence of a blood test … it really comes down to the motorists’ word against the cops. If the cop is in uniform, there’s always the presumption that the police is going to be honest and tell the truth; that a person really doesn’t have a chance in front of a jury unless there’s outrageous conduct.”
The dismissal of Lance’s case has had an effect on other cases involving Beutel, who made nearly 800 DUI-related arrests over the past two years. In June, Santa Barbara Judge George Eskin declared a mistrial in a case against Jonathan Batalas—a Santa Barbara man accused of driving under the influence of marijuana—on grounds that publicity from Lance’s case had tainted the jury pool.
Beutel took the stand in Batalas’ pretrial hearing, answering accusations from the defendant’s attorney, William Makler, that she backdated her 2005 divorce petition for monetary gain.
“If these allegations carried no weight, if they were unimportant, Judge Eskin in his wildest imagination wouldn’t have allowed me to do that,” Makler said of the issues he brought up. “Those kinds of questions have really not been addressed so far, and we’re six months into this scandal. Ideally we would be addressing these questions but … you can’t fight every battle.”
Eskin eventually recused himself, and Judge Hill took over. When the case settled on Nov. 4, Batalas pleaded to a significantly lesser charge of dry reckless driving, a misdemeanor for which he received a small fine and community service.
Now, reverberations are starting to be felt in North County. Parker O’Sullivan, another Santa Barbara man, was accused of DUI and hit-and-run in March after allegedly fleeing the scene of a collision and registering a blood test with a blood-alcohol reading of 0.18, more than twice the legal limit. Beutel was the arresting officer and also reported that the driver of the other vehicle positively identified O’Sullivan as the person who hit him.
In September, the District Attorney’s office motioned for a transfer to Santa Maria, claiming pretrial publicity surrounding Beutel made a fair and impartial trial impossible in
South County.
“These articles inflame the passions of Santa Barbara citizens and taint the jury pool,” declared the motion signed by Deputy District Attorney Sandy Horowitz, the lead prosecutor. “Transferring case proceedings to Santa Maria will further the aim of a fair trial for all parties involved.”
O’Sullivan’s attorney Genis, who also represented Lance, argued that the evidence presented by prosecutors didn’t meet the criteria to justify the transfer. However, Superior Court Judge Clifford Anderson granted the motion.
The case was set to go to trial with jury selection proceeding on Nov. 16. Five days later, at a pretrial conference, Judge Kay Kuns determined how much of Beutel’s background would come into play and made a tentative ruling to not allow references to the officer’s divorce or bankruptcy, as had been brought up in prior cases. Kuns did, however, agree to consider the claims of nine witnesses arrested by Beutel, who Genis said could testify they’d never signed their blood test waivers, implying their signatures had been forged. Horowitz told Kuns that the DA’s office had its own handwriting experts to rebut those claims.
During the hearing, Genis also expressed “contempt for Beutel and the misconduct she represents;” Kuns angrily admonished Genis for his “unprofessional comments.”
As it turned out, Beutel never appeared in a Santa Maria courtroom to testify. The case settled on Nov. 22, with Horowitz lowering the charges to a dry reckless with drunk driving terms, resulting in no jail time and a fine of less than $1,000 and alcohol classes.
Given the evidence against his client, Genis said the DA’s office should’ve had a reasonable expectation of winning the case in trial, if not for the involvement of Beutel.
“I really do think the settlement was entirely based upon the baggage brought to the case by officer Beutel,” Genis said. “Any clear-thinking lawyer who would have the task of trying the case would have to say, ‘Oh my God, this is going to be a huge mess, and there’s no telling whether I’m actually going to get a jury to decide this case without considering the dirt of my cop.’”
Horowitz told the Sun the questions raised about Beutel in previous cases had no impact on either O’Sullivan’s or Batalas’ cases, nor any others since the News-Press articles ran.
While city officials have remained tight-lipped regarding Beutel, and the officer herself isn’t responding to media inquiries, Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider and City Administrator Jim Armstrong did address the allegations brought against Beutel in an August press release.
“Under our City Charter form of government, it is the duty of the city administrator, city attorney, and chief of police to review these allegations and, if necessary, take appropriate action to initiate discipline, outside investigations, etc.,” the statement reads. “These officials take this responsibility seriously and will carefully review the allegations and take appropriate action, if it is merited by the facts.”
Since the declaration, the city of Santa Barbara has authorized a third-party investigation of Beutel, but if it’s been completed, city officials haven’t released the results publicly, and Beutel is back on patrol after a brief hiatus. As of press time, Lance said he’s yet to be contacted by anyone at the city regarding his findings.
In the meantime, Lance’s attorney Genis said any pending case involving Beutel is vulnerable to attack and could result in the returning of fines and civil lawsuits against the city, including some from his own clients.
Furthermore, Genis said the O’Sullivan case sets a precedent, with the likelihood of more of Beutel’s cases eventually landing in Santa Maria.
“I hope for North County’s sake that they don’t have to continue to take out the trash for South County,” Genis said. “It’s not fair.”
Batalas’ attorney, William Makler, said his client took a plea deal after indications his case would also be moved to Santa Maria, a situation his client didn’t want to endure.
“There are limits to what a human being can cope with in terms of cost and money and all that,” Makler said. “The court’s willingness to send the case to Santa Maria carried its own weight in terms of putting pressure on the defense to take a deal we didn’t necessarily want to take.”
With South County judges inclined to move Beutel’s cases up north to Santa Maria, Makler added, it could create further strain on an already overburdened system.
However, Deputy District Attorney Horowitz said the transfer of O’Sullivan’s case would “not necessarily” result in more of Beutel’s cases being transferred to the North County.
“The O’Sullivan case was being transferred in the midst of these articles, so the articles were in the public’s view very recent in time to when the case was going to be going to trial,” Horowitz said. “If Officer Beutel files a new case, let’s say six months from now, and there weren’t any stories between now and then about her, the judge might think that well enough time has passed that we don’t need to transfer.”
Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas can be contacted at jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 8-15, 2011.