LANCASTER – Latisha Clayton says she has been through hell in the past year. The 35-year-old Metro Bus Operator says she was falsely arrested on drug charges, jailed twice and almost lost her job of five years.
“I think it was racist of them,” Clayton said. “They destroyed my life!”
Clayton is referring to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies Anthony Delia and Daniel Farrell, whom she says were the main reasons why she was erroneously arrested and charged with transportation and sale of cocaine last year. She says she has filed a complaint against both deputies with the Internal Affairs department and is looking into filing a possible lawsuit.
She says her ordeal began on August 27, 2010, when she showed up to the Antelope Valley courthouse to give support to Aubrey Anderson, who was in court on a drug case (which was later moved to Federal Court).
Clayton says, as she was leaving the courtroom, she was accosted by Delia and Farrell.
“Delia was like ‘let me see your f**king ID!’ and then the other detective (Farrell) was like ‘yeah, it’s her, it’s her,’” Clayton said. She said she produced her California ID for the deputies who wrote down its information and then requested her mobile phone number, which she gave.
“They said ‘we’ll be in contact with you,’ and then they asked me where I worked and I told them that I worked for Metro,” Clayton said.
Clayton says she was not contacted by deputies. But on November 2, 2010, she was arrested in Los Angeles as she was on her way to work.
“I got pulled over by LAPD saying my tail light was out,” said Clayton. “Then they pulled their guns out and said ‘Step out the car, you have a felony warrant!'”
Clayton said she was horrified to find out there was a felony warrant for her arrest for drug trafficking in Lancaster. She says she was transferred to the Lancaster station where she sat in jail for three days before bailing out.
She later found out that Delia and Farrell had used her ID to have her charged with transportation and sale of cocaine. Seeing her in the courthouse to lend support to Aubrey Anderson, the deputies had tagged her as the woman in photos taken Feb. 2010 during a surveillance operation involving drug enforcement agents, an informant and Aubrey Anderson in Lancaster.
Clayton’s court appointed attorney, Randy Tennen, said the operation went down on Feb. 18, 2010, when DEA Agents sent an informant to buy drugs.
“The female arrives at the location where the informant is and gets out of a silver Honda and walks into the house, and the informant says that the female in the silver Honda brought in cocaine, which the informant bought,” said Tennen.
“So six months later, Latisha Clayton shows up to court to give moral support to Aubrey Anderson and his family, and the cops see Latisha and say ‘hey, doesn’t she look like the woman in those photos?’” said Tennen.
“I personally don’t think she looks like the woman in the photos,” Tennen continued. “When I looked at the photos I said ‘my God, it’s not her!'”
“They were going off my skin complexion and the big earrings that the girl had on,” said Clayton.
The District Attorney went ahead with the case, and tried to get Clayton to accept a plea deal, which she declined.
“Why would I take a deal for something I didn’t do?” said Clayton.
Clayton said while her case was going on, she was arrested and put in jail again for dissuading a witness – the witness being Deputy Delia.
This incident went down on December 10, 2010.
She said while in court on her case, Delia was staring at her, so she stared back. They exchanged words and were both removed from the courtroom for talking, said Clayton.
“Outside the courtroom he (Delia) said ‘you Black b**ch, you should have took the f**king deal, now you’re going to jail and I’ll make sure you go to prison,’” Clayton said. “I told him ‘I’m not taking a deal for something I didn’t do!’”
She said she went to the Sheriff’s station at the courthouse to file a complaint against Delia for the exchange, but found that Delia was already having her arrested for dissuading a witness.
“Because she exchanged words with a cop, they said she was trying to keep him from testifying… nonsense!” said Tennen.
Still, Clayton was jailed again on December 10, 2010 for dissuading a witness, and had to post bail. Those charges were later dropped.
“I wasn’t able to give my son anything for Christmas because I was in jail and had to bail out and had no more money,” she said.
Clayton says her nightmare finally ended when she was acquitted nearly two weeks ago, on November 2, 2011. Her attorney, Randy Tennen, said her innocence was simple to prove. He says the cornerstone of his defense was comparing Latisha’s photos with the photos of the woman deputies claimed to be Latisha.
“I took photos to the courthouse of Latisha, a frontal view to compare with the photo of the female who is looking to the front, a side view to the left, a side view to the right, to compare,” said Tennen. “I said ‘look at the photos, it’s two different people,’ and the jury apparently agreed with me because they acquitted her.”
Clayton says it took about 30 minutes for the jury to reach its verdict.
“At 9 a.m. I was in the courtroom waiting for the jury to make their decision,” said Clayton. “They made their decision at 9:30 a.m. and they came out with a verdict of not guilty.”
Though relieved at her ‘not guilty’ verdict, Clayton says it does little to take away the stress that she has suffered over the past year. She puts most of the blame on Delia and Farrell.
“They need to be punished, because what they are doing to people is wrong; they need some discipline for the way they talk to people, something needs to be done,” Clayton said. “I don’t think they need to be serving on the force if they are going to set people up on cases. I don’t think they need to be a part of the justice system.”
The AV Times contacted the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station to interview Anthony Delia regarding this story. Dep. Michael Rust said Delia was not stationed in Lancaster and was possibly at the Palmdale Station. Palmdale Sheriff’s spokesman Dep. Robbie Royster said Delia is assigned to the Operation Safe Streets Bureau, which is housed at the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station but commanded by the Sheriff’s Headquarters in Los Angeles. A representative from the OSS Bureau was to follow up with The AV Times but had not done so by press time.
We will bring you any updates from the Sheriff’s Department regarding this incident as they become available.
Ray Rangwala says
Thank God for good, decent Attorneys like Randy Tennen. JUSTICE is what he truly exemplifies.
DAWN OVERTON says
I WAS ARRESTED TODAY AND BOOKED FOR SITTING WHILE BLACK! I WAS SITTING IN MY CAR WHEN THE PALMDALE SHERIFFS DEPUTY LANE AND SPARGUR PUT LIGHTS ON ME AND DETAINED ME I GAVE MY PAPERWORK WHEN ASKED, LANE SAID GET OUT THE CAR WHEN I ASKED WHY HE SNATCHED ME OUT SLAMMED ME AGAINST MY CAR AND THREW ME IN HIS CAR AS HE WAS DOING SO HE SAID GET YOUR *** IN THE******* CAR *****! I CANT BELIEVE THE LANGUAGE! I WAS APPAULED! THEY TOWED MY CAR WITH VALID PAPERWORK AND I WAS BOOKED AND SITED. INPOUND AND TOWING FEES $300.00 NOT TO MENTION I JUST GOT THE CAR OUT OF THE SHOP FOR WORK TOTALING $1400 ONE DAY AGO! YES THE PALMDALE SHERIFF ARE CORRUPT! I AM TRAMATIZED READY TO MOVE OUT OF THE AV NEVER TO RETURN! I HATE IT HERE! I CANT CHANGE MY COLOR AND IF I COULD I WOULDNT!
DAWN OVERTON says
LATISHA CLAYTON CONTACT ME TO FILE A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT!
Michelle Egberts says
@Dawn Overton… The “cops” are supposed to protect us. But sometimes we need protection from them. Racial profiling is WRONG and it violates both the United States Constitution and California Law.
Police Misconduct, including racial profiling runs deep in our law enforcement in the AV permeating every level of the sheriff’s department, including formal and informal policies from the top down. The hazard of “driving while black or brown” is not just limited to the areas of the AV.
California Penal Code Section 13519.4 explicitly prohibits racial profiling. It says just that ” A law enforcement officer shall NOT engage in racial profiling”. The statue goes on to express the California State Legislatures displeasure with the practice. Racial profiling implicates a suspect’s Fourth Amendment constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and Fourteenth Amendment constitutional right to equal protection of the law. Generally speaking, a cop is required to have “probable cause” to make an arrest.
Police misconduct comes in many forms. It can be outright excessive force at the police station orperjury at the courthouse. It includes abuse and corruption and it happens whenever cops victimize the very people they are supposed to serve and protect. The sad reality is that police abuse continues to occur with alarming frequency on the streets and in the jails of California. Victims deserve their day in court. They deserve JUSTICE.
You may contact LASD Internal Affairs @ 1-800-698-8255 and file a Citizens Complaint against these deputies. You will be assigned a Watch Commanders Service Report reference number. The report will then be sent to the Palmdale Station’s Unit Commander, who will then designate it to the Operations Lieutenant or Sergeant for investigation. You will be contacted by them to give your statement.
In the meantime, for your added protection, contact Diana Teran at the Office of Independent Review (link below) as they monitor the Citizen Complaints to ensure that allegations of officer misconduct involving LASD are investigated in thorough, fair and effective ways and don’t get “swept under the rug” trying to protect one of their own (Code of Silence)
Luckily the law protects us even when law enforcement does not. The United States Constitution and certain laws give us civil rights. These important safeguards grant us LIBERTY from and redress for, government abuse and discrimination. When your rights are violated you might be able to sue for damages or injuctive relief under federal or state law, Police Misconduct and Civil Rights Violations, 42 U.S.C 1983.
Dawn, I suggest you contact the Stephen A. King Law Firm 9701 Wilshire Blvd, 10th Floor, Beverly Hills, CA 90212 (310)598-6703. Mr. King is an excellent criminal/civil rights attorney who has proven success in his trials and is all too familiar with the 360 degrees of misjustice is the Antelope Valley.
http://www.laoir.com/
Otis says
You’re obviously bright, intelligent, educated, and sophisticated enough to convince reasonably smart people that you’re either a doctor or a tour manager for celebrity entertainers…you’ve stated that you’ve been raised as a Christian…yet, two terms in prison and lots of other jail time and courtroom appearances…
What’s wrong with this picture..?
DAWN OVERTON says
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I AM JUST NOW SEEING YOUR RESPONSE. I FILED COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE SITUATION AND YOUR RIGHT THE SHERIFFS DEPT. JUST ” SWEPT IT UNDER THE RUG” SO NAACP WILL BE RESPRESENTING ME ON MY DATE TO APPEAR! THANK YOU I WILL ALSO LOOK INTO THE LEADS YOU HAVE GIVEN! GOD BLESS YOU SWEETIE STAY STRONG!
Mike says
The first thing you should do is call the sheriff station and ask to have a hearing to determine if the had probable casue to tow your car. then file a citizens complaint. Every time you are harrassed by the police file a complaint. Dont be affraid.
Eric Moore says
I don’t know how true this is, I was told by a friend that our beatiful court house is owned by private investors and that is the reason people in the AV get charged with more felonies then other parts of LA County, it seems the more felonies the more money the court house gets to pay the rent, and that’s another reason the cops give out more trafic tickets.
Stinger says
And just who do you think those “private investors” might be, Eric?
USAirForceVeteran Ex-Con says
Nothing new. Imagine being a parolee and trying to stay out of trouble when under-covers befriend you and your stupid self falls into a sting. You win your case, but because you are on parole, you get a parole violation, and go to prison even though won your case (contact with law-enforcement)!? You get released from from prison to be put on probation. Can you say circle jerk? The ol same crap… I know I know, felons have no rights, and criminals should be hanged on Lancaster Blvd… Typical response: It was not us, it was them… Who about this one — Kill all felons, Those Sec 8’s, Sex-Offenders, Illegal Immigrants, Lazy Occupyers, Let’s make the AV safe for good ol christian folk like the ol days when Pastor Henry Hearns had to be in Sun Village before sundown. I need good law enforcement, but crooked cops?
Stinger says
Ladies and gentlemen, the signs are clear. Our once proud Sheriff’s Department is being utterly corrupted from its original mission by the Boss Hogs of the AV (Parris, Gilley, Visco, Runner, et al)!
Where is the DA? Bought off entirely.
Where is the Sheriff? Either bought off or too afraid to take command back!
James Stouvenel says
good for her, im glad she had her case brought an acquittal, she looks like a really nice person, im sad she had to go through that BS.
Abdul Majeed Askia says
Whatever happened the judge and jury had the final say ! I commend her
for her courage.Abdul Majeed Askia
James Stouvenel says
WOW, thats unreal, just like with David Grajeda’s case, deputies harrasing people unreal.