Lawyer Sees Sculpture as a Statue of Limitations

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Justice, too.

A bronze statue in the lobby of the courthouse in Rancho Cucamonga has a defense attorney worried that it could tip the scales of justice against criminal defendants.

The statue, “Officer Down,” depicts a police officer coming to the aid of a fatally wounded colleague. On the base is a plaque listing 39 officers killed since 1903 in San Bernardino County.

Dist. Atty. Dennis Stout organized a nonprofit foundation that gathered $350,000 in donations to commission three copies of the statue to be placed at public buildings. The Rancho Cucamonga copy was dedicated as part of the nation’s annual mid-May remembrance of officers killed while protecting others.

But defense attorney Gary Ablard worries that the statue could send a pro-prosecution message to jurors.

“I think it’s a nice memorial and an appropriate memorial but it’s just an inappropriate place,” Ablard said. “The courthouse should be a totally fair and neutral place.”

Judges have decided to deal with the issue on a case-by-case basis. If jurors admit being swayed, a trial could be transferred. So far, the only request for change of venue--in a drug murder case--has been rejected.

The D.A. finds the issue a tempest in a judicial teapot.

“It’s a very cynical view of jurors to feel they’d be influenced by this,” Stout said.

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Further Proof . . . that it’s not easy being Green.

As the only Green Party member of the state Legislature, newly elected Assemblywoman Audie Bock (G-Piedmont) is doing her best to cope.

Take the bonding ritual of political party caucuses, those interminably long sessions during which Democrats and Republicans hide away in separate rooms and, usually over piles of food, strategize about their moves and demonize their opponents.

Bock is feeling a bit left out, so now when the other two parties break for their caucuses, she marches to the microphone at the Assembly chamber and defiantly announces a Green Party caucus, including a lavish meal for all comers. So far, no takers.

“I’m very lonely,” Bock told the Sacramento Press Club.

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Cantaloupe Time

California is the queen of cantaloupe production, growing the bulk of the sweet fruit for the nation’s breakfast and lunch tables. June is the heart of the cantaloupe season. Here are the tons produced in the top 10 states in 1998:

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Tons of State Cantaloupe 1 California 693,000 2 Arizona 231,250 3 Texas 105,000 4 Indiana 31,200 5 Georgia 30,000 6 Colorado 15,200 7 Michigan 7,150 8 Maryland 6,600 9 Pennsylvania 6,250 10 Ohio 5,650

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Source: Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Researched by TRACY THOMAS/Los Angeles Times

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Life at the Beach: San Diego’s laissez-faire attitude toward nudity at secluded Black’s Beach in La Jolla is being sorely tested.

Certain gay Web sites are touting Black’s (whose official name is Torrey Pines Beach) as the place for casual liaisons. Numbers of au naturel beach-goers have increased and frisky behavior has been observed by families examining the tide pools.

Complaints have reached City Hall. Cops, lifeguards and a city councilman meet this week to ponder a crackdown.

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One-offs: Like other cities, Bakersfield is girding for the Y2K problem. Police and fire disaster drills, computer Web site info, etc. But there are limits: A City Council committee nixed a task force plan to suspend zoning rules to allow the raising of chickens and rabbits in preparation for a possible food shortage. . . . Rudolfo Anaya’s Chicano-coming-of-age novel “Bless Me, Ultima” is off the ninth-grade reading list in the Laton school district between Fresno and Hanford (enrollment 80% Latino). Parents complained about vulgar words in Spanish and too much bother about witchcraft and death. . . . Because California has the death penalty, France refused to extradite to San Diego a French citizen accused in the clubbing murder of a pregnant woman and her young daughter in a love-money-jealousy mess. But the French, in a first, have decided to prosecute the defendant themselves and pay for 19 witnesses from San Diego to come to Paris for the trial, beginning Friday. A San Diego prosecutor, a D.A.’s investigator and sheriff’s detective will be there. Cultural differences are already being noted. “They drive on the same side of the road as us but they eat their salad after their main course,” noted D.A. investigator Terry Jensen, who has made several pretrial trips.

EXIT LINE

“Protect your family during Y2K with a Ruger 9-millimeter pistol, just $329.”

--Ex-San Diego Mayor Roger Hedgecock, now a talk show host, in a radio commercial for the El Cajon Gun Exchange, in which he advises to buy now and avoid higher prices resulting from gun control laws.