Strong Words
This was the first even vague whiff of drama in the cases stacking up against the surviving scion of a prominent community family.
The hardline push for drug court likely was sparked by the fact Mr. Vera, if found guilty, faces more than five years in state prison.
Unnecessary?
Deputy Dist. Atty. Eric Perrodin insisted that public defender Gary S. Wigodsky was wasting time.
The D.A.s office was adamantly opposed, he said, because of the nature of the case, which he described as excessive charges.
Judge Keith L. Schwartz, displaying immovable sternness, told Mr. Wigodsky he was not following proper procedure in denying his request to redirect the case.
Requirements
Even though the latest drug court judge had just retired, said Judge Schwartz, the same steps as before were to be taken for convincing a separate judge to accept Mr. Vera into a program.
He reminded the public defender at least twice he had strayed from that template.
We are wasting time because the District Attorneys office is not going to agree to drug court, Mr. Perrodin said several times in different ways.
Judge Halts Discussion
Look, I am not talking about this anymore, the exasperated judge declared as he hunched forward and brought the debate to an end.
Basically, Mr. Perrodin said afterward, I am adamantly opposed to drug court because the suspect is charged with burglary, grand theft and possession of a gun.
He might have a drug problem.
But the damage he has done to the victims of these crimes, in my opinion, does not warrant going to drug court.
A Former Tenant
Mr. Perrodin said Mr. Vera only is charged with breaking in one time at Sequoia Productions on Motor Avenue, an events production company that is a former tenant of the suspects father, Albert Vera Sr.
But there were multiple occasions (he is accused of being on the property), the deputy D.A. said.
A Drug Habit?
Based on my experience as a D.A. and a former cop, Mr. Perrodin speculated that Mr. Vera allegedly stole normally affordable items from Sequoia to support his drug habit. I dont know that personally, though.
But it sounds as if he is on a road to self-destruction, trying to support his drug habit.
This Time Is Different
After years of spotty legal problems where he always seemed to escape the brunt of responsibility, sometimes with massive help from out of public view Mr. Vera is eye-to-eye with the largest crisis of his life.
On Sunday, he will mark his two-month anniversary in jail one of numerous firsts spawned by his present plight.
Without the evident aid of his well-to-do, publicity-conscious family, the 42-year-old Mr. Vera has been unable to make his $195,000 bail.
In the Beginning
Mr. Veras latest round of drug-related woes was ignited on Tuesday, March 6.
About 11 p.m., he and a neighbor, Dana Frank Goller, were arrested in El Segundo on suspicion of a late-night supermarket caper, stealing the vending box of a water-dispensing machine.
But when seven felony charges were filed against Mr. Vera alone two weeks ago, mostly for allegedly stealing small-time objects, the El Segundo caper started fading into the background.
A Courtroom Regular
Mr. Vera has become something of a courtroom staple this spring.
Throughout the last two months, he has been making almost weekly court appearances, involving separate cases and numerous investigations by the Culver City Police Dept. and the County Sheriff.
Later this month, Mr. Vera is due back in court on back-to-back days on separate charges.
Sparsely Worded
Except for occasionally and succinctly entering a plea, the handcuffed Mr. Vera, appearing in jailhouse uniforms in varying colors, has been wordless.
The principal players also have displayed a flair for silence.
The cops arent talking. And most deputies from the District Attorneys office have been equally lip-locked.
Exact Potential Sentence
If Mr. Vera is found guilty of the burglary/gun felonies, Mr. Vera could be sentenced to a maximum of five years and four months, Mr. Perrodin said.
Throughout the heated round-robin exchange this morning in the ninth-floor courtroom of Judge Schwartz no stranger to Mr. Vera by now Mr. Wigodsky, the defendants attorney, scarcely elevated his voice above a whisper.
By contrast, Mr. Perrodin and Judge Schwartz were voluble and forceful.
Avoiding Jail
This is a somewhat complicated diversionary process that mainly allows a suspect to avoid doing time.
Jane Robison, a spokesperson for the District Attorneys office, characterized the drug court concept.
If the suspects candidacy is approved by a judge, she said, he does not have to enter a plea to the pending charges. His case is set aside for the duration of the one-year program. If the suspects completes the program, at graduation, the case vanishes from all files.
Close Monitoring
The program is very intensive, Ms. Robison said. There is daily counseling, and testing is very frequent. To graduate, one must be clean and sober for six months. A minimum one-year stay is required.
At an eligibility hearing, it would be determined whether a participant is an in-patient or outpatient.
Eligibility, Ms. Robison noted, is at the discretion of the drug court judge.
Two years ago last November, Mr. Vera was ordered into a similar but not identical plan for curing drug addiction.
