Homeless Grandma Hopes a Trial Will Help Her Elude Jail

Wearing black jeans and a work shirt, Diane Grue arrived at Superior Court in Fullerton by bus Monday, clutching a Lucky’s plastic sack with bottled water and some pieces of fruit inside.

Nervous and a bit overwhelmed, she still was ready for her day in court. The 66-year-old woman is about to stand trial for being caught homeless.

The city of Buena Park, where she was arrested, says it doesn’t want to see this case in trial. But this is Grue’s sixth arrest in two years.

“Enough is enough,” city prosecutor Greg Palmer said.

When Buena Park police arrested a small encampment of homeless people near the railroad tracks last fall, all but Grue were allowed to pay small fines. As a repeat offender, Grue was offered 15 days in jail. She decided to fight it.

“I haven’t committed any crime,” she said. “Is it a crime not to have a place to live?”

Though hundreds of homeless have been cited for violating Buena Park’s public camping laws over the years, Grue’s is the first such case from that city ever scheduled for trial. Superior Court Judge Richard M. King set a trial date of May 29.

“We keep fining her, she keeps getting arrested,” said prosecutor Palmer, who handles four to five homeless arrests per month. “All she has to do to stop this trial is accept our 15-day offer; we think it’s quite reasonable. It’s still on the table.”

Homelessness Comes and Goes . . . Monthly

Grue wants to make it clear that she’s only homeless part of the time. She gets two government checks, one for $423 a month, the other for $384 a month. Every month, she says, she uses those checks for two weeks of motel living, with a little money left over for food, laundry, and to pay a $30 monthly fee for her storage locker, where she keeps everything she owns.

“It’s just hard to make those checks last a whole month,” she said.

Grue was accompanied to court by her companion, Steve Hofmeister, one of those arrested with her last fall. He’s young enough to be her son, but for 10 years, they say, they’ve only had each other. Most of that time on the streets.

Grue has two grandchildren, but has lost track of where they are. Her only child, a son, died a few years back, she said.

For many years, Grue worked at a board-and-care facility for the elderly, where she had her own room. When that facility closed, she managed to stay off the streets by living in an acquaintance’s garage. But code-enforcement problems forced her out.

Her worst time was when one of her homeless arrests led to 10 days in jail. She hated it, which is why she won’t take Palmer’s 15-day jail offer.

Not that she isn’t nervous about going up against him in court. Her eyes widened when she heard Palmer tell a reporter the maximum penalty for Grue’s offense is six months in jail and a $500 fine.

“Could they really do that to me?” she asked aloud.

Grue is charged with camping on public property and a separate charge of storing camping gear (her blankets for sleeping) on public property.

She’s not without help on her side. Attorney Jon Alexander agreed to take her case without a fee. Alexander also represented the Rev. Wiley Drake four years ago, when the minister was found guilty of four misdemeanor counts of violating city codes while using his Southern Baptist Church facilities for the homeless.

Repeat Offender Has Cadre of Supporters

Drake also is supporting Grue by letting her stay at his church until her trial next week. Drake continues to allow the homeless to sleep in a building at his church, though he’s had many encounters with police over the issue since his arrest.

Also sympathetic to Grue is Sgt. Gary Worrall, the Buena Park officer who arrested her. He will be the only prosecution witness.

“We don’t go around looking for homeless people to arrest,” Worrall said. “But when we get complaints, what choice do we have?”

And when Grue and friends slept along the tracks near Stanford Avenue last fall, several people who lived and worked in the area called to complain about the noise they were making, and the trash. According to Grue, it’s really that nobody wants the homeless around.

“We’ve tried showing these [homeless] people places where they can go,” Worrall said, citing many area shelters and Drake’s church. “It’s really sad. We don’t want to be here in trial on something like this.”

Whatever happens at Grue’s trial, her problem of making her income stretch a full month will continue. She’ll still be on the street two weeks a month.

“I just do the best I can,” she said. “I guess it won’t ever be good enough.”