By Robert Haugh
According to a report by San Jose Spotlight, local prosecutors got a search warrant to search indicted Santa Clara Councilmember Anthony Becker’s apartment and car on Wednesday.
That’s 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 it.
The move raised eyebrows in the local political and legal communities.
According to local experts, the Criminal Grand Jury would not have indicted Becker for felony perjury unless the District Attorney’s office had solid evidence that Becker leaked the 2022 Grand Jury report and lied about it.
So the searches suggest that there may be evidence of other wrongdoing by Becker or others.
San Jose Spotlight published some interesting photos of Becker’s apartment and car.
The publication has been friendly to Becker and the 49ers and got the photos from “Becker Family.”
At Santa Clara City Hall, Becker has a reputation for being messy, as the pictures show.
Photos from San Jose Spotlight, provided by “Becker Family” – Click on links to view photos.
SJSpotlight is 49er lackey. Is Chandok calling shots from ChiTown? Spinning tales for the benefit of who? Or setting up POA for showdown?
I am NOT a fan nor a supporter of Becker. Yet, his messy desk harkens to Einstein’s quote: “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk?” Just adding without comment.
He has a picture of himself on his desk (the only picture too). LOL! Maybe he does daily affirmations to himself – “You’re good enough, you’re smart enough, and gosh darn it – people like you.”
Hmm, looks like a 49er lanyard buried under the garbage. Is that an all access pass, Anthony? Hope the warrant becomes known about what the DA is looking for. Or was it the DA? Hmm.
How about having a 8 X 10 picture of yourself on your own desk?
Sorry, but the 49er lanyard at least has some redeemable value. I mean who can’t use a lanyard at some point in their life.
But the 8 X 10, really hard to find any redeemable value here.
Maybe If I had a large pet bird, lining the floor with his smiling face would be poetic justice for our City.
Better Days are ahead for sure.
Burt Field
burt.field@gmail.com
Does spousal privilege apply to conversations that took place before marriage? Mr. Becker got married in January.
The mess may have been caused by the investigators. If the judge allowed the seizure of small items such as cell phones, data cards or even personal notes, the investigators are allowed to look in all places where such items may be stored or concealed. This is probably a photo after the investigators thoroughly searched the apartment and car.
The initial allegation of perjury could have sprung into a hundred different directions based on the evidence they had at the time. Take a look at Antioch PD and their current state of affairs. One cell phone text thread led to many other investigations. I’m confident this is just the beginning of many other things to be unraveled in the near future.
It’s also funny how the SJ Spotlight is making Becker the victim. Maybe Robert can answer this. Does the media have a protection of sources and are immune to prosecution for leaking the report early?
This is why no one trusts the media anymore. Had it not been a few hundred votes, Becker would have won and we would be in national headlines.
Half Awake,
I believe that you are correct about the messiness being mostly due to investigators not taking any care to be neat in searching his home and car. Robert knows this since the Spotlight article these pictures come from describe this lack of care quite dramatically.
Even if this was simply how messy his home is I wish that people would leave that matter be without peurile personal digs. There are many matters on which Becker can be criticized without resorting to adolescent personal jokes.
On the other hand that San Jose Spotlight article is simply just Op Ed politicking. Ramona Giwargis continuing to go after Lisa Gillmor any way she can. I wrote a long comment to try to point out all the ways in which she tries to deceptively turn attention away from Becker and toward an insinuated conspiracy between Gillmor and Rosen. I am sure that there has been coordination between Gillmor and Rosen but I do not agree with Giwargis’s insinuation that Gillmor definitely leaked the report to the SCPOA. I would not be very surprised if she did but there was no need to leak it since the report was leaked to the Silicon Valley Voice and San Jose Spotlight and the Spotlight made the report available to the entire public to download.
Becker today, Jain Tomorrow.
More wrong doing? Would not be surprised, but will wait for an official report vs speculate.
I’ve been in council meetings where Becker and the 49er 5 (soon 4?) have been very blatent about ethics and potential conflicts of interest with their major donor the 49ers. Hope this investigation, indictment and maybe guilty verdict sends the message that Santa Clara council members need to follow the law and serve Santa Clara residents over the interests of single large donors.