As reported by the Press Enterprise and the Associated Press, this story has taken another strange and unexpected twist. Our son, Jesse, filed a lawsuit against Temecula Valley Unified School District (TVUSD) about six months ago. Now, TVUSD has filed a cross complaint against Riverside County, and the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
The rationale is striking and best summarized in paragraph 7 of the Cross Complaint (which can be viewed here).
If it should be found that cross-complainants are liable under the allegations contained in the complaint (which allegations cross-complainants have denied and continue to deny), then cross-complainants are informed and believe, and upon such information and belief allege that the negligent, unlawful and tortious conduct of cross-defendants, and each of them, including any alleged unconstitutional entrapment, search, and seizure, was active, primary and affirmative, and that the conduct of cross-complainants, if any, was passive, secondary and derivative only.
(Emphasis added)
So TVUSD is claiming that if they are found liable, the county and the police should be responsible for paying all of the damages, (as well as TVUSD's attorney fees), because of the sheriff's department's "negligent, unlawful and tortious conduct" and their "unconstitutional entrapment, search, and seizure" of Jesse.
At the same time, their response to Jesse's lawsuit continues to be that he is a drug dealer.
It appears that a few of Riverside's law enforcement community have aired their opinions in the Press Enterprise comment section (which is a common occurrence when the PE reports on this story). Here's the link, feel free to make your voice heard if you wish.
For background, read the Rolling Stone magazine article, The Entrapment of Jesse Snodgrass.
We'll take this opportunity to update you on a couple of items surrounding this case.
Depositions have begun. To date, this includes several members of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, including Daniel Zipperstein, the undercover officer who we (and now TVUSD) believe entrapped Jesse. What we are learning is incredible, to say the least.
Our legal expenses are significant, and we do need to raise more funds to pay for other upcoming depositions, which are coming out of our pocket, unlike the Temecula Valley Unified School District's legal fees, which are being paid by our taxes. We appreciate any donations to the Jesse Snodgrass Legal Fund.
In a month, Jesse will participate in his high school graduation ceremony. He received his diploma this past December, but he'll walk with his class in early June. We're very excited about this.
This is amusing. Someone (don't know who) updated the Notable Alumni section of Wikipedia's entry for Chaparral High School.
Notable alumni
- Rob Brantly, baseball player
- Allen Craig, baseball player[2]
- Tyler Glenn, lead singer of the band Neon Trees
- Sarah Hammer, Olympic Track Cycling; 2008, 2012
- Talmadge Jackson III, Baltimore Ravens Defensive Back
- Jesse Snodgrass
We're assuming that Jesse will be the first person to participate in graduation ceremonies at Chaparral High School after being listed on the notable alumni list.