.
This is from a man who blabbed to reporters and to the public on his Internet site, incredible amounts of purported facts and evidence in this case. Now, he says he is "unable" to comply with Brad's request for all information about the confiscated cats "by law." Is this because all of the cats are dead and there is now no evidence of Mason's alleged felony neglect?
This is Boks reply:
Dear Mr. Jensen,
Thank you for your e-mail of October 30, 2007, to the Department of Animal Services (Department), requesting, "Any and all information on cats found at the Ron Mason property located in thel 8700
block of Napa Street in Northridge impounded by Los Angeles Animal Services."
The California Public Record Act (CPRA) §6252 (e) defines a public record as any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public's business. prepared, owned, used, or retained by any
state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics. CPRA §6254 states "Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require disclosure of records that are Records of complaints to, or investigations conducted by, the office of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice, and any state or local police agency, any investigatory files by any other state or local agency for correctional, law enforcement, or licensing purposes.."
Based on the aforementioned CPRA §6254 (f), the Department is unable to release the records you requested as they are a part of an ongoing investigation. Upon completion of the investigation you may submit a request for any records associated with the case except for those precluded from release by state or local statutes.
Boks is above the law but others are not.
Mr Boks, where are Muffin, Johny and Burt? None were ill. None were irremediably suffering, and we saw photos proving Muffin and Johny were alive when captured. Did you kill them? Did the vet think Burt was injured because he was limping from a 3 year ago operation?
.
If the documents needed to prosecute Ron Mason are "lost" then the investigation would seem to be completed, right? So Mr. Boks should be happy to provide all LAAS documentation about the disposition of animals they're legally required to protect immediately, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteBTW, in reading back on the comments about this and other L.A. animal rescue situations, I was chagrined to see more than one comment like, "Someone should do something!" The someone who should do something is YOU. YOU are paying Ed Boks' salary. You're paying Mayor Villaraigosa's salary, Police Chief Bratton's salary, and District Attorney Steve Cooley's salary. According to one report, Boks makes $165,000 a year to harass Ron Mason and others who are doing the work he SHOULD be doing.
So you should be calling Mayor Villaraigosa's office ((213) 978-0721) and complaining that your tax dollars are being wasted persecuting people like Ron Mason because his Animal Cruelty Task Force is too lazy to do the legwork to find real criminals and real cruelty. They wait for someone like Ron to come ask for help, then they attack, like a Venus flytrap.
YOU should be calling Steve Cooley's office ((213) 974-3512) and asking why they are being used by Ed Boks to advance his personal agenda, and why they left Ron Mason sitting in a courthouse all day because they were too cowardly to admit they'd made a big mistake. You should also ask why the one person the Hayden law was intended to be followed by -- Ed Boks -- is allowed to break the law 1,155 times, by his own admission, with no investigation.
Call Bratton and ask why Det. Linda Ortega told Ron Mason she could violate his civil rights anytime she wanted to.
YOU are the only one who can stop this. And yes, before you wonder, I have called, and will call again. Because if you actually care about and for animals, you'll be the next one Boks comes after.