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ABC – March 16, 2006
Muslim teen arrested over minor fender bender
By Dan Noyes
Davis, CA - A Northern California police department is being accused of ethnic and religious discrimination in its handling of a minor hit and run involving a Muslim family. The I-Team has been studying the records and police audiotapes in the case.
The central question in this story is why. Why are the Davis Police and Yolo County prosecutors spending so much time, effort and tax money going after a teenage girl and her family for a minor fender bender?
Jamal Buzayan thought he was living the American dream. He emigrated from Libya 30 years ago, became a research scientist at U.C. Davis, and earned good money in local real estate. Then, one night last summer, the police came to his door.
Jamal Buzayan, arrested teen's father: "The other officer came in and went this way and he put his hand on the gun."
It all began six days before in a parking lot. According to a police report, two witnesses spot the Buzayan's SUV moving near a sedan -- they "do not see contact between the two vehicles," but notice some damage to the car as the family's SUV pulls away. The witnesses leave a note for the sedan's owner, Adrienne Wonhof. With the help of Davis police, she reaches the Buzayans.
Adrienne Wonhof, hit and run victim:: "They said they hadn't hit anybody's car, and that they didn't think that they did it." Jamal Buzayan: "Her bumper is much lower than my bumper."
The damage to the two vehicles doesn't seem to match, and no one in the family recalls any collision, but Jamal writes a check for $870 anyway.
Jamal Buzayan: "And the lady came and took it on the tenth and cashed it and it was over with."
That's what he thought. Police recordings of interviews with the Buzayans explain why the trouble had just begun.
Officer Pheng Ly: "Can I come inside and talk to you for a second?"
Throughout this ordeal, the family insists the mother, Najat, was driving the SUV at the time, but Davis Police Officer Pheng Ly doesn't buy it. He whispers into his microphone about Najat's demeanor.
Officer Pheng Ly: "The subject kinda has a smile on her face when she's telling me all this. I think she knows more than what she's saying."
Then, the officer takes note of Najat's traditional head scarf.
Officer Pheng Ly: "The interesting thing I noticed about the mom is that she wears something over her head and the daughter doesn't and the witnesses didn't mention anything about that, think they would have mentioned that to me. So, it's probable the daughter was driving the car."
Ly never bothers to ask Najat about her scarf -- if he had, he would have found out that both the mother and her daughter, Halema, wear them sometimes. Still, the officer has the two witnesses check a photo lineup with Halema's picture. One identifies her as the driver, the other picks someone else. Davis Police do not take what would seem to be the obvious next step.
Whitney Leigh, Buzayans' attorney: "They never conducted any lineup that included a photograph of the mother which is standard police procedure and something that really surprised me in this case." …..
The officer drives Halema to the police station, interrogates her, and books her. He tells the girl again and again to just tell the truth, even while fingerprinting her.
Halema Buzayan: "He takes my fingerprints and every time he pushes down, he pushes down really hard, and he tells me, 'Tell the truth, tell the truth, that's all you have to do,' and he just seems so angry with me."
Dean Johnson is a former San Mateo County prosecutor and legal analyst for ABC 7. He makes three points: the police violated Halema's constitutional rights by entering the home without saying they were there for an arrest, they treated the girl as if she were an adult accused of a felony, and the police violated their own policy against filing criminal charges in a minor hit and run, if it's been settled civilly.
Dean Johnson: "It's really about whether the officer violated Halema's civil rights in the larger sense of undertaking this investigation, prosecution and arrest because of her ethnic or religious background."…..
The head of the city's Human Relations Commission believes it's a growing problem in Davis. Just last week, dozens of people came to the City Council meeting to complain about discrimination by Davis police. Cecilia Greenwald: "If this type of behavior is allowed to continue in our community, who knows how many other people this can happen to, so we must stand up for one before it happens to others."
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=i_team&id=4000500
ABC – April 3, 2006
Gag order denied in fender bender case
By Dan Noyes
April 3, 2006 - KGO - It's been two-and-a-half weeks since we first told you about the extraordinary measures Davis Police and Yolo County prosecutors are taking to prosecute a Muslim teenager for a minor fender bender. The girl and her family were back in court today, fighting for their right to talk about what happened to them.
Gag orders in juvenile cases are normally used to protect the young person's identity, but Yolo County prosecutors pushed for one today to prevent the girl and her family from talking to us.
This is the seventh time Halema Buzayan's had to appear in court in this case -- the seventh time. She's had to skip class at Davis High where she's an honor student. It's the seventh time her father has had to miss work as a research scientist at U.C. Davis.
Jamal Buzayan, Halema's father: "I think they have an agenda that is not to serve justice, but to try to handle us in a way that will break us.". . .
The case has gotten the attention of the nation's Muslim community. Basim Elkarra is with the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Basim Elkarra, Council On American-Islamic Relations: "The community is outraged, everyone is shocked. Why, why so many hearings, why take it to this level?"
In court today, prosecutors sought a gag order forbidding Halema and her family from speaking publicly about the case. It's a highly unusual move according to Dean Johnson, former San Mateo County prosecutor and legal analyst for ABC7.
Dean Johnson, ABC7 legal analyst: "The statute that protects juvenile proceedings is not there to protect the government from having its ineptitude exposed on television. The public has a right to know."
And the judge agreed. He refused to grant the motion for a gag order on the family.
All this echoes the basic question raised in a recent Sacramento Bee editorial: "Why is a fender bender such a big deal?" …..
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=i_team&id=4051404
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