By Robert Haugh
Indicted Santa Clara Councilman Anthony Becker entered a not guilty plea in Superior Court yesterday on charges that he leaked a confidential Civil Grand Jury report to 49ers executive Rahul Chandhok and pro-49er publication, the Silicon Valley Voice — and then lying about it.
Becker was represented by Public Defender Christopher Montoya. That was a surprise because Becker deferred his plea last month, citing the need to select private counsel. But at the hearing yesterday, he remained represented by Montoya.
Becker was indicted in March on a felony perjury charge and a misdemeanor for allegedly leaking the document. If convicted, Becker could face up to four years in prison. He returns to court on August 2.
Becker was late to yesterday’s hearing and the Judge Daniel Nishigaya was not informed of Becker’s booking, which he was supposed to have completed prior to the hearing. Montoya claimed Becker did get booked and he would supply proof.
Following the plea, Montoya told reporters, “first time impressions of a case are often wrong or incomplete.”
This is a major story in local politics. Several TV crews and a local newspaper were at the hearing.
[…] the same day that Becker had to show up at Superior Court to enter his not guilty plea for charges that he leaked a Grand Jury report and lied about […]
Why was Becker served a search warrant at his home yesterday before his court appearance? Becker is this true? If not, you need to tell The Weekly to correct their published article about your May 3rd court appearance.
Saw that! How is it no other media wrote about search warrant? I am surprised Weakly didn’t wait until 3 am to publish story like the grand jury report. 😂😂
Davey,
Read today’s San Jose Spotlight’s article The ‘political assassination’ of Santa Clara Councilman Anthony Becker (Kevin Park is the individual that labeled this a political assassination). Good Luck, Anthony!!! May the 4th Be With You.
As usual, Becker thinks he is the victim. Crying wolf gets old. Time for people to be held accountable for their actions.
Book ‘em Danno!
If he was pre-booked then there would be a mug shot on file and available to the public. Where’s the mug shot?
Late! Wake and bake?
A person who is pending a criminal hearing, beyond an infraction, is required to be “pre-booked.” This means they must go to the arresting agencies facility and be fingerprinted and photographed. In most scenarios, they are released then and there with documentation indicating they completed the “pre-booking” process.
For those who go directly to jail and stay even for a few hours, this process is completed when the officer brings them to the local county jail and leaves them in the custody of the department of corrections. Think drunks or domestic violence suspects.
The pre-booking process is very common, but relies solely on the responsibility of the defendant.
Good background here HA.
But really, we all just want to see Becker’s ugly mug shot.
This seems odd, “…and the Judge Daniel Nishigaya was not informed of Becker’s booking,..”. I know nothing about the process but it doesn’t seem like something Becker’s side should have done. Maybe it happens more often than one would think, we just don’t hear about it. Just odd. But then so is the defendant, but I digress.