Mother May Be Held in False-Accusation Case

A woman whose 12-year-old daughter accused a homeless drifter of attacking her and two friends may be arrested on suspicion of obstructing justice for failing to notify authorities when she learned the story was a lie, Garden Grove police said Thursday.

“She failed to disclose that information and left somebody in custody, when he could’ve been freed,” said Lt. Mike Handfield.

Veronica Mendez Ochoa’s daughter was the star witness for the prosecution in a case that began in May, when Eric Nordmark, 38, was arrested and charged with assaulting three girls, who were 11 at the time, in a neighborhood park when they were on their way home from school.

Nordmark was jailed for eight months and was on trial when Mendez’s daughter admitted that the assault never happened. The charges against him were dismissed Jan. 26.

Although some legal experts questioned whether an obstruction-of-justice case could be made against the girl’s mother, city leaders strongly supported the Police Department’s tough stance.

“I think [the mother and the girls] need to find out what happens when you lie,” said Garden Grove Mayor Bruce Broadwater. “They had that man in jail for eight months. Someone needs to pay the price. We can have a little mercy, but I think there needs to be punishment.”

On Monday, police arrested the three girls at school and took them away in handcuffs. Each girl was charged with conspiracy, and Mendez’s daughter was charged with an additional count of perjury for testifying falsely at trial.

An Orange County Juvenile Court commissioner Wednesday ordered two of the girls to remain in custody at least until a pretrial hearing Feb. 20. The other defendant could be released to her parents, pending the approval of probation officials.

Lt. Handfield said investigators believe that Mendez learned of her daughter’s deception on Jan. 22, a Thursday, after the girl testified in court. There was no court that Friday, and authorities had no idea there was a problem until the girl failed to show up the following Monday to continue her testimony, the lieutenant said.

At that point, prosecutors called Mendez, who said her daughter had gone to school because she did not want to return to court, according to Handfield.

The woman was told to bring the girl to the courthouse.

It was when Mendez took the girl back to testify that day that prosecutors learned of the youngsters’ lie, Handfield said.

“The mother took absolutely no action, even though we think she knew Thursday night or earlier in the day” that the girl had lied, Handfield said.

Investigators are looking not only at Mendez, but also at family members of the other girls “and anyone else they may have talked to,” the lieutenant said, declining to name other possible suspects. “We want to know if there’s anyone else who knew about the deception and failed to come forward.”

Mendez declined to comment on the investigation.

But attorney Shirley MacDonald Juarez, who represents the daughter, said police “are dead wrong” when they say Mendez made no attempt to call authorities.

Juarez said Mendez called the girl’s advocate at the district attorney’s Victim-Witness Assistance Program office in Westminster “several times” on Jan. 23. But the woman who was assigned to the girl’s case was not at work that day, the attorney added.

“She left messages on the office’s recorder telling [the advocate] that the trial could not continue,” Juarez said. “She didn’t know to call the police or the district attorney, because she had been instructed to deal only with the victim-witness office.”

Handfield said he did not believe Mendez made any such attempt.

“I don’t think it’s true,” he said.

However, Juarez said Mendez was able to talk to the advocate at the victim-witness office that morning and told her the truth.

It is unclear what, if anything, the advocate did when she heard Mendez’s story.

The office was closed Thursday because it was a court holiday.

Handfield would not say when investigators expect to finish their inquiry into Mendez’s actions.

But several law professors said prosecutors would have a difficult time pressing an obstruction-of-justice case against her.

“A private citizen is not duty-bound to come forward with exculpatory evidence. There may be a moral duty, but certainly not a legal one,” said Justin Brooks, criminal defense law professor at California Western School of Law in San Diego.

Santa Clara University School of Law professor Gerald Uelmen said police would be “on thin ice” in making an obstruction case against Mendez if her only offense was not telling police about her daughter’s actions.

“There is no duty to turn in your child if you know they have committed a crime,” said Uelmen, a former federal prosecutor.

Garden Grove officials said they stood behind the Police Department and praised its handling of the case.

Council member Van Tran said he was amazed at the girls’ ability to concoct such a sophisticated ruse and said police handled the investigation appropriately.

“The police are pretty well-trained in evidence gathering. Based on the evidence, that is what they have.... If the mother obstructed justice and participated, then definitely we should go through the process,” Tran said.