(October 5)  The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office last week dismissed all charges against Sam Clauder, the former spokesman and finance chair for the San Bernardino County Democratic Central Committee,  more than three years after he was charged with felony child pornography possession.
The district attorney’s move came just three days before Clauder’s trial on those charges was set to commence and raises questions with regard to the motivation of the prosecutor’s office in having initiated the case against Clauder.
The case was initiated with a complaint filed by the district attorney’s office on February 25, 2009, and an arrest warrant was issued shortly afterward on March 3.
From the outset, the case against Clauder appeared marginal, at best. It was based wholly on  offending images that were alleged to have been downloaded on a computer in the control and possession of Clauder’s former wife until the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department took possession of it.
Moreover, there have been accusations all along that the prosecution was politically motivated, given Clauder’s standing within the Democratic Party and the consideration that despite county voter registration numbers by which Democrats have eclipsed Republicans, the GOP still dominates San Bernardino County politically in terms of the numbers of elected officials at the municipal, special district, county, state and federal level.
Clauder’s function within the party was key to marshaling resources to invigorate voters and encourage them to show up at the polls and vote. His arrest and prosecution dealt a significant blow to the party, which now boasts more registered voters in the county than the Republicans but continues to lag behind its rival in voter turnout at the polls.
The case against Clauder was based upon allegations made against him arising out of the break-up of his marriage, in particular that his son had found an image “depicting a minor engaging in sexual conduct” on a personal computer to which all members of the household had access during the time they lived together in the community of Crestline in the San Bernardino Mountains.
Clauder contends his wife and son provided the computer to the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Office in Twin Peaks on July 7, 2008. On January 8, 2009, both his wife and son submitted to a polygraph examination regarding their discovery of the images on the computer and failed that test.  According to Clauder, Deputy Brian Swann wrote regarding the polygraph tests “inconsistent … but we believe them anyway” in his report.
Despite the district attorney’s office’s contention that evidence implicated Clauder in the matter, no evidence was ever produced that Clauder had in fact downloaded the image in question onto the computer.
At the September 28, 2012 hearing three-and-a-half years after the charges were filed, San Bernardino County deputy district attorney Maryanne Jung Won Choi told the judge, “At this time the people wish to dismiss the case.”  Choi cited information that her office had received in July, indicating her office did not want to proceed any further. She called for the charges to be dismissed “in the interest of justice.”
A press release issued by Clauder just before the September 28 hearing claimed, “Clauder’s computer consultant has presented undeniable evidence to prove all of the alleged child pornography found on the Clauder family’s computer is traced to his son, while none of it is traced to Clauder.”
At the time Clauder was charged, he was a staffer for local Congressman Joe Baca.  Clauder was released from that position when the charges became known.
Clauder alleges that in addition to the domestic issues involving his former wife and son, members of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Twin Peaks Station had motivation to wish him harm and those two forces joining together resulted in the filing of false charges.
Clauder related that while working for the Alpenhorn News as a sports writer he reported and investigated allegations of sexual assault made against a star football player at Rim of the World High School by a fellow female student.  Clauder objected to a press release issued by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department announcing the arrest of the football player at the high school.
Clauder’s position on the press release was that the announcement  tainted the case in that if the suspect was innocent, it would ruin his life,  and that if the case was valid, the victim would be exposed to peer pressure and possible retaliation, lowering the chances of her testifying in the case.  Clauder believes the sheriffs’ press release caused a sexual perpetrator to get away with a crime because the victim and three additional victims who came forward decided not to testify in the matter.
Clauder claims he became motivated to lobby the state legislature on the issue and as a result of his actions the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Twin Peaks Station came under scrutiny.
Clauder alleges that led to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department’s Twin Peaks Station to cover up a beating that he sustained in October 2006 from several youths. Deputies falsely claimed he sustained his injuries as a result of stumbling due to inebriation at the San Bernardino County Central Detention Center, he said.
In September 2007, Clauder worked for three months as an associate editor and primary crime reporter at the Mountain News and primary crime reporter.  In that position, Clauder asserts he was able to gain additional information regarding corruption in the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department Twin Peaks Station.
Clauder spoke of spending 50 days in the San Bernardino County Central Detention Center as a result of the criminal charges and of being made “homeless” when he moved out of his family home and again when he lost his job with Congressman Joe Baca.
At the September 28 hearing, Clauder inquired of the court, “Where do I get my life back?”  Judge Glenn Yabuno responded, “I don’t have an answer.”
After the court hearing, Clauder’s attorney Raj Maline told the Sentinel, “There was conclusive proof that it was all done after he (Clauder) left the house.”  Maline further explained that at the preliminary hearing the defense was given a folder of photographs, in which there were ten photographs that could be considered child porn. “It was Trey’s (Clauder’s son’s) account on the front.”  Maline said. He asked, “How did they miss that?”
Two years ago, in discussions with Maline, Choi offered Clauder two years in the state penitentiary as part of a plea bargain.
“Friday morning she wouldn’t look me in the eye,” Clauder said.
Contacted by the Sentinel, Choi declined to comment.