San Diego Community Newspaper Group
THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2009
www.SDNEWS.com Volume 14, Number 12
Cravens’ lawyer seeks grounds for new trial BY NEAL PUTNAM | VILLAGE NEWS
Seth Cravens should get a new murder trial in the death of a slain La Jolla surfer because his attorney claims the judge committed an error by sending the jury back into deliberations after the foreman said the jury was deadlocked in an 11-1 vote. Mary Ellen Attridge filed a 40page motion for a new trial with San Diego Superior Court Judge John Einhorn, who set sentencing for Feb. 2. Cravens, 23, of La Jolla, was convicted Nov. 18 of second-degree murder in the death of Emery Kauanui Jr., 24, who died May 28, 2007, four days after being beaten outside his mother’s home in La Jolla. After five days of deliberations, the jury foreman told Einhorn the
Balloons that had obviously drifted skyward to the west and settled along the coast make for an unusual but strikVILLAGE NEWS | DON BALCH ing image in front of a La Jolla Shores-area sea cave.
UC Village residents air their gripes Retired University City residents filled Tuesday’s University Community Planning Group (UCPG) meeting to watch UC Village developers present plans for the future of the retirement community. But residents said their needs aren’t being met and they’re being treated like children — they’re prohibited from playing together. “Most of us won’t live to see the changes. We’re concerned about the now,” UC Village President Loretta Spano said. Spano and more than 20 retirees from the community filled the meeting in an effort to speak to UCPG members regarding their ongoing dispute with UC Village owners Shaun Schmidt and Christine Handley, she said. Schmidt and Handley said they planned to remodel 1,189 mostly one-bedroom senior housing units, creating one- and two-bedroom units. Although both owners began construction on some
projects, the owners said they don’t expect to complete plans for another 20 years. “They said they were taking care of the residents by building a clubhouse. They’re not for joint venture,” Spano said, adding that residents currently have a clubhouse. “Now we can’t use [the current clubhouse].” Although Spano said the owner made some verbal promises to residents, she said the seniors’ concerns continue: mainly that owners won’t allow Schmidt’s residents — who call themselves the “outer circle” — to congregate with Handley’s residents from the “inner circle.” Spano said residents have served their time on earth and deserve to be treated with respect. “They tried to put through an addendum saying you can’t have more than five guests, and if you have someone stay the night you have to let them know,” Spano said. According to John Smaha,
SEE TRIAL, Page 3
Council ponders solutions to coastal trash problems
WHERE BALLOONS GO TO HIDE
BY ALYSSA RAMOS | VILLAGE NEWS
panel was deadlocked in an 11-1 vote on the charge involving Kauanui. When the judge asked each juror if further deliberations could help in reaching a verdict, three jurors said yes. With that information, Einhorn sent them back into more discussions, and they reached a verdict involving Kauanui’s death the next day. Attridge wrote in her motion that she feared “the verdict was the result of acquiescence and not individual deliberations.” She did not cite any juror misconduct or comments from jurors, but said Einhorn committed a “prejudicial error” by ordering the jury to continue deliberations. Jurors also convicted Cravens of three felony assaults, two
attorney for Willmark Communities Inc., Willmark has created similar rules for most of its communities. “They are supposed to have registered guests. That is the issue. They want to make sure that they are not engaging in criminal activity,” Smaha said. The residents battled with Smaha and Schmidt regarding an ongoing bingo game, but Smaha said the inner and outer circle cannot engage in the bingo game — and possibly any other game — together. “My understanding is that they’re separate facilities and both sides have their own centers,” Smaha said. “And I’m understanding that they’re not allowing both sides to have organized activities.” “I would like a proclamation in writing saying they would take care of the residents right now,” Spano said. For more information about UCPG, visit www.uc-planninggroup.com. I
BY ALYSSA RAMOS | VILLAGE NEWS
The City of San Diego’s economic woes have apparently begun to trickle down, affecting its entire population. “It’s the small stuff that affects people. And I think that’s where we’re going to start seeing these small issues coming up,” said Alex Varon, spokesman for District 1 San Diego City Councilwoman Sherri Lightner. Recently residents complained citywide that trashcans have begun to disappear and crews have stopped picking up rubbish. So Varon took up one of his first missions, stopping at meetings to
ask citizens to report garbage pileups in an effort to solve the trash problem. “I spoke with one person at Parks and Rec. They said that due to budget cuts, they can no longer fund the crews,” Varon said. Although city crews left trashcans inside city parks and at the beaches, Varon said rubbish has piled up along San Diego’s coastline viewpoints and walkways as city crews removed trash containers. City officials said they cannot leave trashcans in place if there are no staff members available to remove contents, Varon said. SEE TRASH, Page 3
Trash cans at viewpoint areas, such as Coast Walk, have been removed due to budget cuts at the city’s Park and Rec department. VILLAGE NEWS | PAUL HANSEN