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Quote of the Week

January 27th, 2012, 11:02 pm by

Attorney Pat Mika, who represented 19-year-old Hooters waitress Illysa Medina after she was accused of serving a visibly intoxicated patron, said the CBI investigation of Metro VNI was nothing more than a whitewashing.

Mika said the investigation, which cleared the two undercover detectives involved in the case of wrongdoing, could not be classified as complete.

“They never talked to the victim of this false accusation and that is Illysa Medina. Nor they did they ever talk to the lawyer who represented her. They got nothing but self-serving information from the police officers who were there trying to preserve their careers, their reputations and their jobs.”

According to the CBI report, the only people interviewed were: VNI detectives Jeff True and Greg Young, police Sgt. Bret Poole, city prosecutors Elliot Fladen, Anthony Moore and Jarrett Benson, sheriff Bureau Chief Joe Breister, city spokesman John Leavitt and private attorney Vince Linden, who represented Hooters in front of the city’s liquor board.

 

Posted in: People • • • • • • • • • • • | 8 Comments »

City plans to dismiss case against Hooters waitress at hearing today

September 21st, 2011, 9:45 am by

A hearing to dismiss a Municipal Court case against a Hooters waitress accused of serving alcohol to a visibly intoxicated patron June 23 is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. today.

The Gazette will be at the hearing and report what happened on gazette.com.

In addition, The Gazette plans to film the hearing.

Municipal Court Judge Spottswood “Skip” Williams signed an order today granting the newspaper’s request for “extended media coverage.”

The misdemeanor case against the waitress, Illysa Medina of Pueblo, was scheduled to go to trial in October.

But after Hooters at The Citadel mall produced a surveillance videotape that cast doubt on the allegations made by Colorado Springs police detectives, the City Attorney’s Office told Medina’s attorney that it plans to drop the charge.

“On Sept. 13, Jarrett Benson of the City Attorney’s Office advised defense counsel that he was moving to dismiss the case against Ms. Medina,” Springs attorney Pat Mika, who is representing Medina, wrote in court documents.

“The prosecution will either submit a written notice to dismiss or orally move to dismiss the case on the scheduled date,” he wrote.

Last week, the City Attorney’s Office dismissed a complaint against the restaurant because of the videotape, which an attorney for Hooters said disputed the detectives’ allegations.

For example, police reported seeing the patron “stagger and use table chairs for balance.”

But attorney Vince Linden, who represented Hooters, said the videotape revealed that the patron “never staggered, never used tables and chairs for assistance.”

“What if I didn’t have that tape? How in the world would you even defend yourself from these allegations?” Linden asked last week.

The restaurant was up for a suspension and revocation hearing of its liquor license, which could have potentially put it out of business.

Posted in: Meetings • • • • • • | 8 Comments »