By Sergeant Ted Chang #4362, Antioch Police Field Services

On Tues., June 4, 2019 at approximately 6:00 pm, a 24-year-old male victim walked into the emergency room of an area hospital with multiple stab wounds. The victim was in critical condition and provided very limited information at the time. He was transported to a local trauma center where his injuries were determined to be non-life threatening.

It was determined the assault occurred on the street in the 1200 block of Prewett Ranch Drive. Officers are currently following up on investigative leads. No further information is being released at this time.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Antioch Police Department non-emergency line at (925) 778-2441. You may also text-a-tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH.

Gus Kramer from the County Assessor’s webpage.

Kramer welcomes opportunity to face his accusers

By Scott Alonso, Public Information Officer, Contra Costa District Attorney

Today, Wed., June 5, 2019 the Contra Costa County District Attorney Office’s filed a Grand Jury Accusation against Contra Costa County Assessor Gus Kramer for “willful or corrupt” misconduct while serving as the county’s elected assessor (Government Code §§ 3060 et seq). Contra Costa County’s Civil Grand Jury asserts that the defendant violated state law in creating a hostile work environment for multiple employees in the Assessor’s Office. Due to state law, our Office must accept, serve and file the accusation against the defendant. If a jury finds Mr. Kramer violated the law and if he is convicted, he will be removed from his position as the county’s elected assessor.

The Accusation alleges misconduct by Kramer which occurred from December 2013 through 2019. The Grand Jury Accusation alleges that Mr. Kramer made sexual comments towards female employees and his disparaging remarks targeted one of the victim’s ethnicity. The Civil Grand Jury found this alleged conduct was “hostile or abusive” against four employees. As a result, the Civil Grand Jury through its investigation found that this conduct by Mr. Kramer created a hostile work environment for his employees and is therefore a violation of the Fair Housing and Employment Act.

Due to the sensitive nature of the allegations and to protect the privacy of the victims we will not be releasing any of their names.

Earlier this morning Senior Deputy District Attorney Christopher Walpole presented the filing before Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Theresa Canepa in Department 35. Our Office was not involved and did not participate in the investigation by the Civil Grand Jury. The District Attorney requested a judicial hearing to determine if the Office will be recused from the remainder of this proceeding.

The foreperson for the 2018-2019 Grand Jury is Richard S. Nakano. State law lists the requirements for the Civil Grand Jury and District Attorney’s Office to process an accusation against a public official.

UPDATE: When reached for comment Kramer stated, “I welcome the opportunity to face my accusers after all these years of these behind doors accusations. When the facts come out, I have had not one, I have had not two, but I have had three independent investigations done by the county and I have been exonerated for sexual harassment, hostile work environment, and retaliation.”

“The sad part in all of this, the Grand Jury Foreman refused to hear my witnesses who would have refuted their claims. Worse he refused to give me the time I requested to present my side. They gave me two hours. I requested eight hours. The other side had more than 10 hours. Nor did he share all the information I provided him” he continued.” “The Grand Jury Foreman is guilty of obstruction of justice.”

When this is all over, the East Bay Times, the Board of Supervisors and their appointees on the Grand Jury are going to be ashamed of themselves for the unwarranted prosecution and persecution of the County Assessor,” Kramer stated. “The saddest part of this is corruption in government is alive and well on our Board of Supervisors.”

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

By Allen Payton

The six high schools in the Antioch Unified School District, plus Cornerstone Christian High School will hold their graduation ceremonies for the Class of 2019 this week.

Last night, Tues., June 4, Prospects High School (independent study) held the ceremony for their graduates at Antioch High School. Next, on Wed., June 5, Bidwell High School will hold their graduation in the Deer Valley High School Theater at 5:00 p.m. and Live Oak High School will celebrate their graduates in Antioch High School’s Beede Auditorium at 7:00 p.m.

Dozier-Libbey Medical High School will be next, holding its graduation ceremony at the Deer Valley High amphitheater on Thurs., June 6 at 7:00 p.m.

Cornerstone Christian High School will send off their graduates also on Thurs., June 6 at 7:00 p.m., in the church sanctuary.

Deer Valley High School will hold its commencement for their graduates in the stadium on Fri., June 7 at 9:00 a.m. That will be followed by Antioch High School’s graduation later that night at 8:00 p.m. in Eels Stadium.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Apologies to Prospects High School graduates for not including their ceremony in the article in the June issue. As an independent study high school the Herald was unaware there was a ceremony for the graduates. We will be running photos of the event later.

Photos by CCCSheriff

The deadline to sign up for the 2019 Youth Academy is this Thursday, June 6.

We are now accepting applications for the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff 2019 Youth Academy! The Youth Academy will be hosted on June 17-18 from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm.

Students participating in the program will have an opportunity to interact with local law enforcement. The Youth Academy will provide demonstrations with many different divisions and resources including Air Support, SWAT, Investigations, Communications, Marine Patrol and much more.

Interested participants must be in high school or going into high school in the 2019/2020 school year and be 14-18 years of age. Students must attend both days of the Academy and not arrive late or leave early.

If you have a child that may be interested in participating in the program, please click here.

Click on ‘YOUTH ACADEMY’ for an application. Please sign and email the completed application to csu@so.cccounty.us.

Applicants of the Youth Academy will be accepted on a first come first serve basis, so please get your applications in early!

If you have any questions, please contact Specialist Le’Reina Skidmore at lskid@so.cccoutny.us.

District Attorney Diana Becton announced recently that she has created the first ever standalone Conviction Integrity Unit for the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office. The unit will investigate wrongful conviction claims of actual innocence based on new evidence and information, and cases where there is evidence involving significant integrity issues. Interested parties can submit a claim using the forms on the district attorney’s website to the Conviction Integrity Unit through the District Attorney’s Office.

“Our Office is ethically bound to consider any legal wrongs committed during a prosecution of an individual. With this new unit, the public can be assured we have resources now at our disposal to investigate prior convictions and seek justice for the wrongly convicted. We have a duty as prosecutors to uphold the law and administer fair justice for all. Our Office now joins over 30 jurisdictions across the country in a growing movement to establish Conviction Integrity Units,” said Becton.

The Conviction Integrity Unit will also assist in reviewing and developing practices and policies related to training, case assessment, investigations, and disclosure obligations with the goal of preventing wrongful convictions in the first place. The unit is supervised by Deputy District Attorney Brian Feinberg and overseen by Assistant District Attorney Venus D. Johnson.

Multiple national and local criminal justice organizations such as the Innocence Project, Fair and Just Prosecution, and Immigration Legal Resource Center support DA Becton’s move to create the Conviction Integrity Unit.

In a support letter, Fair and Just Prosecution’s Miriam Aroni Krinsky wrote: “Having a process for review of convictions through a CIU is a recognized best practice around the nation. Establishing these protocols in Contra Costa County will protect the integrity of the criminal justice process and promote public safety by bolstering trust and confidence in local law enforcement and the justice system as a whole.”

Rose Cahn, a Criminal and Immigrant Justice Attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center’s said: “We applaud the CCCDA’s leadership and its commitment to ensuring that innocent people do not face continued punishment, from inside or outside the criminal justice system.”

Northern California Innocence Project’s Executive Director, Linda Starr, also supports the creation of a standalone Conviction Integrity Unit as our Office’s new unit “includes all of the best practices — neutral, expansive, and collaborative review — which will lead to just results.”

Henry Cordon in photos from his Facebook page, left and his booking photo on the day of his arrest, courtesy of CCCDA.

An Antioch man has been indicted on federal charges of receiving and possessing child pornography, including a picture he took of himself sexually abusing a toddler, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, David Anderson said Friday.

Authorities arrested Henry Obdulio Cordon at his L Street home on May 16 following an investigation by Darryl Holcombe, a senior inspector with the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office and a task force officer with Homeland Security Investigations.

The investigation began in April when Yahoo! allegedly found child pornography in email accounts controlled by Cordon and alerted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to an affidavit filed in connection with a criminal complaint.

The complaint alleges Cordon also emailed himself images of men sexually abusing young children. In addition, Cordon also admitted to taking a photo of himself sexually abusing a friend’s 2- or 3-year-old daughter in the Middle District of Florida in 2011, according to the affidavit.

Filed on Thursday, May 30, 2019 the indictment charges Cordon with one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Cordon waived a detention hearing Friday and remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals. He is scheduled to return to court for a status conference at 1 p.m. on June 11.

Anyone with information related to the case can contact the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office at 925-957-2200.

According to police records, Clay County Florida Sheriff’s Deputies arrested Cordon (age 29 at the time) at 9:13 P.M. on June 05, 2015 in the 100 block of Arora Blvd. in Orange Park, for driving with a suspended license. It was his second such offense.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

The Contra Costa County Public Works Department will repair guardrails on Vasco Road from Camino Diablo Road to the Alameda County line. The work will occur from June 3rd – June 6th between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

The work may be rescheduled based on weather conditions. Electronic message boards will alert drivers of the scheduled work. There will be traffic control through the work area and drivers can expect delays.