JANUARY 2010
OFFICER DAMON SMITH AUDIO TAPE EVIDENCE TAMPERING & COVER UP
Oceanside Officer Damon Smith was the "Criminal Monkey Wrench", that showed up in the middle of the Oceanside Police and Fire Departments conspiracy to manipulate an election, and seize voting control over the public treasury to expand union pay and benefits. The election conspiracy was publicly activated in January of 2009 with the filing of the Kern Recall PAC documents. The conspiracy was to manipulate the votes of citizens and some council members to buy a majority council vote, before the January 2010 vote on a new expanded union contract worth millions of dollars.
The local news media was already posting multiple articles about the election conflicts between Council members Kern and Feller, and the Firefighter's and Police Unions. Council Members Kern and Feller had opposed the filling of 3 new firefighter positions, and suggested privatizing some union positions to same tax dollars for a city with an estimated 14 million dollar deficit. A deficit that was expected to go up significantly in coming years, with just the existing citizen financial obligations to the Fire and Police public unions. Other media groups had started to question the money sources in the recall election, and investigate the Fire and Police Unions. A full criminal investigation of the Oceanside Police Department at this point in time for evidence tampering would intensify press investigations.
As Reported by GTI News PHoto:
OCEANSIDE POLICE & FIREFIGHTER ELECTION FRAUD CONSPIRACY
In late April of 2009 a reporter named Terri Figuerora of the North County Times, covering the North County Superior Courts, posted her story, "Oceanside cop's cashe of tapes under investigation". Officer Smith was giving testimony in a domestic violence case. Criminal Defense attorney Andrew Limberg stated he did not feel the officer was being completely truthful, and was actively challenging Officer Smith's testimony under oath. Officer Smith then testified that the proof of his testimony had been recorded on audio tape. As no audio tapes had been referenced in the police report, and no audio tapes had been turned over to the defense as is required by law, red flags went up. Addition questioning disclosed that Officer Smith had been secretly making audio recordings, while actively involved in criminal investigations, and hiding the tapes from the criminal justice system for the past eight (8) years. Police reports had been falsified for eight years, to cover up the existence of the tapes, and every time Officer Smith took the stand, raised his right hand, and swore to tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, he lied under oath.
OFFICER SMITH HISTORY
In 2001 Officer Smith was hired by the Oceanside Police Department, and sent to the police academy . Officer Smith was then fired from the police academy before he even graduated, for substandard performance. Officer Smith then filed a large financial claim against the City of Oceanside with allegations of racial and sexual discrimination against other police officers. As Officer Smith was a black man, and the allegations were against a white female officer, the City of Oceanside decided to back down on the termination, and rehire Damon Smith as a police officer. Police and council officials refused to say if any audio tapes were involved in the decision.
All documentation on the financial claim was quickly removed from the City Clerks office, when this reporter started asking questions in the City Council meetings, and after the North County Times reported on the documentation. As in the past, public records were suppressed, by declaring them to be part of a personnel record, of a police officer. This has become a common tactic of the Oceanside City Council and the City Attorney to cover up public and police corruption. The City of Oceanside also falsifies public speaker council records on a regular basis to keep public complaints against the council, police, and firefighters out of the permanent record.
The city agreed to re-hire Officer Smith, and the financial claim was dropped. Officer Smith went back to a police academy, and was then put on the streets of Oceanside as a police officer. Where Smith, reportedly started secretly recording criminal investigations, and hiding the tape evidence from the criminal justice system, and defense attorneys. The audio tape evidence tampering continued for eight years until Smith was caught testifying under oath in April of 2009.
THE ELECTION FRAUD PROTECTION
The Oceanside Police Department already had a series of very public criminal, and non-criminal incidents, with other officers. Officers that were involved in receiving stolen property, embezzlement, shooting family members in family disputes, multiple driving under the influence arrest, and even allegations of obstruction of justice. There were also citizen allegations of false arrest and prosecutions for political protection, and bribing of elected officials with campaign financing. All citizen complaints were suppressed by the Police and City Council.
However, in April of 2009 the most important police and firefighter activities to protect, was the on going police and fire department election fraud conspiracy. The public image of the police and fire departments during the election manipulation would be critical, and a full criminal investigation of the Oceanside Police Department for eight years of evidence tampering would be a public relations nightmare.
Officer Damon Smith was not investigated, not arrested, not fired from the police department, or even suspended pending the completion of an investigation, and there was no evidence of an investigation. This lack of action against Officer Smith, by police and DA's, occurred once again as Officer Smith had a powerful hole cards. Officer Smith had the names of other Oceanside Police Officers that knew about, and participated in the eight years of evidence tampering, and it's cover up, and the DA's Office had it's own evidence tampering corruption to protect.
As Reported By GTI News Photo:
DDA LAURA GUNN OBSTRUCTION OF JUSICE, & SUPPRESSION OF WITNESS IN OCEANSIDE POLICE OFFICER DAMON SMITH EVIDENCE TAMPERING INVESTIGATION
HIDDEN IN THE SHADOWS !!
OFFICER JON DOMONIQUE AUDIO TAPE EVIDENCE TAMPERING
DA DUMANIS $20 MILLION DOLLAR EVIDENCE TAMPERING CONSPIRACY IN SOMMER MURDER PROSECUTION
CHIEF FRANK McCOY - SGT LARSON DUI AUDIO EVIDENCE TAPE CONSPIRACY
Those blue chip names of police officers, coupled with avoiding a major criminal investigation in the middle of a police and fire department covert election fraud, was solid gold. The Oceanside Police, Fire Department, their unions, and select city council members obstructed all complaints and investigations and gave Officer Smith a get out of jail free card, to keep his mouth shut. All written and oral complaints to the Oceanside Police Department, City Council, and the District Attorney's office were suppressed and buried.
The Oceanside Police Department understood, that if the mutual protection conspiracy fell apart, careers would end, and police, DA's, and elected officials could go to prison. Even the Internal Affairs Division of the Oceanside Police Department was involved in the cover up and Obstruction of Justice. The false investigation was highlighted when documents showed Officer Smith coordinating with IA Investigator Hardy on how Smith should handle the press interviews.
On October 6, 2009, with a complete lack of evidence of any real investigation of Officer Smith by the DA's office, or the Oceanside Police Department, this reporter started back at the beginning to verify the lack of an investigation. I contacted Criminal Defense Attorney Andrew Limberg, who was the attorney that discovered Officer Smith's secret recording of criminal investigations. Mr Limberg had never been contacted by anyone from the District Attorneys Office, the Oceanside Police, or any other agency investigating the evidence tapes.
Mr. Limberg stated that when Officer Damon Smith finished testifying in court, that day in April, Smith approached Mr. Limberg. Officer Smith was very concerned about how much trouble he was in, with all the hidden evidence tapes. Officer Smith stated he could not understand all the concern, and stated that his practice of recording and hiding criminal investigation audio tapes was "Common Knowledge" among the police officer he worked with at the Oceanside Police Department.
Officer Smith told a court official that his secret audio tape evidence tampering was common knowledge among the Oceanside Police officers he worked with for the past eight years!
Attorney Andrew Limberg was ground zero for the Officer Damon Smith investigation. Any competent police or DA investigator would know to start an investigation with the people that were in the court room, when Damon Smith testified under oath. Testimony that tied Officer Smith to tampering with evidence, obstructing justice, falsification of police reports, and falsifying other testimony for eight years. Andrew Limberg stated that no investigator, had ever contacted him, since that day in court. There had never been any real investigation by the District Attorney's Office, or the Oceanside Police, of the Damon Smith evidence tampering. The DA's internal investigation was geared to minimize the number of exposed cases, and the number of notification to defense attorneys, in the hope that everything would be forgotten. The Oceanside Police cover up was to protect the on going election fraud and a new contract with expanded benefits and pay.
On October the 9th, I contacted ADA Laura Gunn, head of the Damon Smith Investigation, and gave her the witness statement, his name, address, and phone number. I also gave the information to the Oceanside Police Department. This was done to test the response of the Oceanside Police and District Attorney.
$20 MILLION DOLLAR EVIDENCE TAMPERING COVER UP CONSPIRACY TO PROTECT DA'S DUMANIS AND GUNN FROM CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY IN MURDER CASE EVIDENCE TAMPERING
Three weeks later District Attorney Dumanis shut down the investigation, and stated that Officer Damon Smith had done nothing wrong, and would not be prosecuted. The Oceanside Police and ADA Laura Gunn suppressed evidence of the involvement of other police officers in evidence tampering, and the District Attorneys Office covered it up to protect cases that had previously been prosecuted.
By Woodrow L. Higdon - woody@gtinewsphoto.com