Mother Won’t Be Charged in Phony Attack

Garden Grove police say they will not seek charges against a woman whose 12-year-old daughter falsely accused a homeless man of attacking her and two friends.

Eric Nordmark, a 38-year-old drifter who police said matched the made-up attacker’s description, was jailed for eight months while awaiting trial. Proceedings ended abruptly in late January after the girl failed to turn up in court and then admitted her story was a lie.

Soon after Nordmark was freed, police said the girl had told her mother about the deception four days before authorities learned of it. They said they were investigating the woman, Veronica Mendez Ochoa, on suspicion of obstructing justice for not alerting them immediately.

The girls, who had said they concocted their tale to explain getting home late after school in May 2003, were sentenced to juvenile hall and community service in March.

Garden Grove police have halted the investigation into Ochoa, said spokesman Lt. Paul Prince, who declined to elaborate.

Ochoa would not comment Friday. But her daughter’s attorney, Shirley MacDonald Juarez, said Ochoa left phone messages with the district attorney’s Victim-Witness Assistance Program the day after her daughter confessed.

“She hasn’t done anything wrong. She reported it as soon as she knew about it,” Juarez said.

The three girls have completed their juvenile hall sentences; one was released March 8, the other two March 24.

Juarez said the 12-year-old has since changed schools and is trying to resume her life. “She’s back in school, as normal as can be,” Juarez said.

She added that Ochoa will accompany her daughter to serve breakfast at a homeless shelter in the coming weeks as part of the community service.

After his release, Nordmark left for Seattle, where he received a job sorting clothes for Goodwill. He stopped skipping between homeless shelters and motels, and began renting an apartment.

Nordmark now is in Minneapolis living with family, though he plans to return to the Pacific Northwest, said his lawyer, Jerry L. Steering of Newport Beach.

“He’s kind of a lost soul ... but I think he’s doing OK,” Steering said. The lawyer said he might file suit in federal court against the city and its Police Department for withholding evidence that could have cleared Nordmark.