Candidate for City Council was arrested on indecency charges.
No contest plea: "I made a mistake."
Masturbating in public is a mistake?????
LATEST April 15 - It's wasn't political favoritism.
March 27, 2008 -John Hartley, 65, who lists his occupation as a teacher, was seen urinating in a cup and masturbating in public. There were two witnesses . He was held on a citizen's arrest. Hartley was booked on suspicion of indecent exposure.
Hartley previously served on the council from 1989-93.
NO CONTEST PLEA & SENTENCING April 8 - Hartley pleaded no contest yesterday to one misdemeanor count of a lewd act in public. The City Attorney's Office dismissed a charge of public urination. A judge sentenced him to three years of unsupervised probation and fined him $500, He is expected to attend upcoming candidate debates for the June election.
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WE FOUND:
The news blog at the San Diego Union-Tribune got a copy of the arrest report that was inexplicably missing any police narrative.
You have to read Hartley's statement after the sentencing. Found at VoiceofSanDiego.org
Hartley's former aides weren't surprised at his arrest. "He had very serious emotional problems." (The story found at VoiceofSandiego is the only story that identifies Hartley as a Democrat.)
It will be interesting to see how many people actually vote for this creep.
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April 10 - Hartley has been taken off the substitute list by the San Diego Unified School District. They removed him from the roster on Wednesday. And police will not release his records.
The San Diego Police Department and the City Attorney's office have refused to release an unredacted copy of Hartley's arrest report this week, even though the case is over.CONTROVERSY CONTINUES April 15 - Hartley's actual crime is still ambigious, but VoiceofSandiego.org spoke to the two women who reported him to police. Their recollection of the facts leave no doubt as to what happened. The assistant city attorney, however, defends dropping the indecent exposure charge.
An assistant city attorney cited government code section 6254(f), which says law enforcement isn't required to release investigative reports. City Attorney Mike Aguirre, who champions open and transparent government, didn't respond to a request for the full report.
Morris also sought to dispel any notions of political favoritism by making it clear that though City Attorney Michael Aguirre, a Democrat like Hartley, signed off on the charges, he was not involved in the initial decision as to what charges to bring.The two women were indignant when Manny Lopez, a private investigator working for Hartley’s lawyer, Pancer, came to the street. Lopez, they said, was in the area around their home for two hours one day, going door-to-door talking to neighbors and eventually coming to their home and opening the front door.
Hartley's campaign manager referred to it as a minor mistake. " "He needed to take a leak."
Voiceofsandiego.org is "a nonprofit, independent and insightful online newspaper focused on issues impacting the San Diego region." [TT - Who, frankly, are a little more actively engaged in the pursuit of truth than the San Diego Union-Tribune.]
The San Diego Union-Tribune playing catch-up:
April 15 - Accuser feels Hartley received favorable treatment
