Rene Botello - A Good Man and Hero



Benjamin Franklin said, ``Grievances cannot be redressed unless they are known; and they cannot be known but through complaints and petitions. If these are deemed affronts, and the messengers punished as offenders, who will henceforth send petitions? And who will deliver them? - Where complaining is a crime, hope becomes despair.''

Botello's Death Should Not Be In Vain

VOTE GAMMICK OUT OF OFFICE 

The City of Reno has fallen to a city of despair with Richard "Dick" Gammick holding the reins of the city.  He is the policymaker of the city.  

As reported in the Reno Gazette Journal:
    May 3, 2010 ... “Rene Botello was a bad cop and he should have never been in the position he was.” Gammick said he hopes Hunt's ruling sends a message to attorneys who file frivolous lawsuits.’
  www.rgj.com/.../Reno+judge++Gammick+didn+t+retaliate+in+cop+case - Cached
 per rgj site: Unfortunately, that page could not be found. (no surprise there!)

TO HELL WITH YOU DICK GAMMICK.  MR. BOTELLO IS NOW SIX-FEET UNDER AND YOU DARE GLOAT AND CONTINUE YOUR TIRADE AD NAUSEM?  DO YOU FIND SATISFACTION IN THE POSITION YOU HOLD WHILE CONTINUING YOUR BAD ACTS, BAD DISCRETION AND MALFEASANCE OF OFFICE?  MR. BOTELLO CAN NO LONGER SPEAK, AND YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO THREATEN OTHER ATTORNEYS WHO ACT OF BEHALF OF CITIZENS?  THOSE THREATS ARE FIGHTING WORDS AND SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN LIGHTLY BY ANYONE.

THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT EVIDENCE OR OTHER MATERIALS OF PUBLIC CONCERN HAVE BEEN REMOVED OR DISAPPEARED UNDER YOUR WATCH.  YOU ARE ABUSING AND HIDING BEHIND YOUR IMMUNITY.

HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN FALSELY CONVICTED BECAUSE OF THE "GROSS ERRORS" THAT YOU CHOSE TO IGNORE?  An example two years after Mr. Botello brought the problem to Gammick:

A man named Hashemi was convicted in 2003  on the faulty findings of Lily Clarkson.  This is the same nurse practitioner that Rene Botello had concerns about and that Dick Gammick ignored. Both the District Attorneys Office and the defense experts agreed that the CARE nurse findings were incorrect.  Everyone knows this, yet he is still imprisoned.

Hashemi has asked for a new trial.  Dick Gammick's response is that this motion is "frivolous."  He further accuses counsel of being "inappropriate" and a "violation of counsels duty of candor"  In other words, he is gearing up to fight without addressing the root of the problem;  the gross errors made within his office.  I would not be surprised if Gammick asks for sanctions against Hashemi's defense attorneys.    

On the Election 2010 Reno Gazette site:  Dick Gammick: Above all a District Attorney must be honest and above board at all times, especially when something has been done wrong or a mistake is made. The adage "the buck stops here" is alive and well today. The District Attorney must be ready to take responsibility not only for his/her personal actions, but for the actions of the office.

THE BUCK STOPS HERE - VOTE GAMMICK OUT OF OFFICE

Now is the time for Richard Dick Gammick to heed his own words and take responsibility for his actions.  Why did he continue to allow the testimony of nurse Clarkson when it was brought to his attention long ago by Rene Botello that Clarkson's findings were faulty?

Rene Botello is dead.  It is my opinion that Mr. Botello is dead because he had the integrity to report to Dick Gammick that the findings of the Child Abuse Response Evaluation “CARE” nurse were in “gross error.” The destruction of Mr. Botello’s reputation, loss of income and resultant “suicide” were the direct result of Doo- Little-Dick-Gammick’s retaliation.

What became of the complaints Mr. Botello made to the FBI and Attorney General's Office that mistakes were made involving sex crime examinations?  Has ANYONE investigated his complaints?  Has anyone spoken to the physicians who concluded that a "gross error" had been made in these various cases?  How many persons have been wrongfully convicted because of these errors?  Is Dick Gammick allowing questionable information to be presented as facts to obtain convictions? Just asking.....  These questions are screaming for an answer.

VOTE RICHARD GAMMICK OUT OF OFFICE   

The rgj article further writes: He said he will try to recoup attorneys and legal fees.  “It’s been a long time,” Gammick said.  There’s been two trials, several appeals and not a single allegation has been proven or upheld.”  Botello’s attorney, Diane Vaillancourt, said she was not surprised with the ruling and felt “this whole case is a travesty of justice.”

Gammick is hiding behind his prosecutorial immunity to behave badly.  That is the crust of the Botello case.   BOTELLO WAS NOT TO BE HEARD AT ANY COST.  By the way, the cost to taxpayers were astronomical defending Gammick's malfeasance.  Not to mention the very real possibility of loss of freedom and liberty to those incarcerated because of Clarkson's testimony.  All that was needed was a ruling from a judge that Gammick’s actions did not interfere with Botello's freedom of speech.  This was a cowardly ruling.   It defies common sense.  End of story.  It was a done deal before it began and continues to be so.    

Let’s start from the beginning. This story has no happy ending.

Read from the United State Court of Appeals For the Ninth Circuit:

Appellant Rene Botello alleges that after he brought to light abuses in the Washoe County District Attorney's sexual assault response program, Washoe County District Attorney Richard Gammick and Deputy District Attorney John Helzer (the "prosecutors") retaliated against him for his protected First Amendment activity, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, defamed him and subjected him to intentional infliction of emotional distress. Botello brought suit in the district court against Gammick, Helzer and Washoe County ("County"). The district court dismissed Botello's first amended complaint on the basis of absolute prosecutorial immunity, and this appeal followed. Because certain of the prosecutors' acts were not within the scope of their prosecutorial functions and were not closely associated with the judicial process, they were not shielded by absolute immunity. In addition, the County was not entitled to absolute immunity. 


We take the following facts from Botello's first amendment complaint.1 In December 2001, Botello was employed by the Washoe County Sheriff's Office ("WCSO") as a child sexual assault investigator. Botello was one of the few Spanish-speaking investigators in the County and was frequently called upon by fellow workers and outside police departments to assist in investigating cases involving Spanish-speaking victims, suspects and witnesses. In the course of his duties, he learned that Nurse Lily Clarkson, who regularly testified as a medical expert in child sexual assault cases, was "indisputably wrong" in her medical finding that a certain female child had been sexually penetrated, had no hymen and was the clear victim of sexual abuse.2 In addition, Botello learned that Clarkson was equally mistaken in her separate conclusion that the child's sister was similarly injured.

In separate follow-up examinations of the sisters, three pediatricians at three different medical facilities found that there was no physical evidence to support Clarkson's findings that the children had been sexually assaulted. The doctors who performed these follow-up examinations informed Botello that Clarkson's medical findings were in "gross error." Given Botello's awareness that suspects were routinely arrested based on Clarkson's findings and convicted as a result of her testimony, his discovery that her findings were in "gross error" deeply disturbed him.


Botello reluctantly concluded that it would be wrong for him to remain silent and that he needed to bring evidence of Clarkson's wrongful medical findings to the appropriate officials. He brought his discovery to the attention of his superiors, including County prosecutors Gammick and Helzer, who regularly utilized Clarkson's testimony in procuring sexual assault convictions. Botello also requested an audit of the CARES program to ensure the integrity of County sexual assault investigations and prosecutions.

Seriously, when will someone pay attention that there is a problem with the CARES program.  Please read this story:  http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/47124507.html

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