Point Reyes Light - September 16, 2004
Prominent Valley man on trial this week
By Jacob Resneck
A prominent resident of the San Geronimo Valley went on trial this week on a charge of assaulting a sheriff’s deputy and resisting arrest on Jan. 3, 2003 near the Forest Knolls town park.
Appearing before Marin Superior Court Judge James Ritchie, Walt Dickson of Forest Knolls is fighting the charges, which may have grown out of a case of mistaken identities.
Dickson, the lead guitarist of the Valley’s Sky Blue Band as well as a heating and air-conditioning contractor, was walking home from the Papermill Creek Saloon, accompanied by his ex-wife, Miriah Fox, when the incident occurred.
While en route to a reported altercation between a man and a woman, a deputy pulled alongside the couple and repeatedly asked if they were all right, which they said they were. So far, there is no evidence that they were the couple who were supposedly squabbling.
Fox, who is scheduled to testify on Dickson’s behalf Friday, told The Light the deputy asked for their identification. She said she wasn’t carrying any, but Dickson was. Fox said the deputy became angry when Dickson produced his driver’s license still encased in a plastic protector.
"The officer shouted, ‘Take it out!’" she said, "and Walt said, ‘You’re holding it. You take it out.’" When Dickson questioned the deputy’s attitude, Fox said, the deputy became angry. Dickson began backing away with his hand up when the deputy grabbed him, she said. A second deputy then arrived, and they both wrestled him to the ground.
Deputies called ‘brutal’
"They were brutal," Fox said. "It was abhorrent what they did." She said the deputies treated Dickson violently, slamming him against a patrolcar and throwing him onto the ground. "The whole time I was screaming to them to stop, and an officer screamed at me to get away," she said.
Dickson’s attorney Patrick Heron, told The Light the deputies left Dickson with a dislocated shoulder as well as cuts on his face. Dickson was treated at Marin General Hospital. Neither of the deputies was injured.
Dickson is now facing misdemeanor charges of assaulting deputy Richard Bates, resisting arrest, and public intoxication. If Dickson were to be found guilty on all three counts, he could be sentenced to two years in the county jail.
Testifying against Dickson Wednesday was deputy Bates, Sgt. Al Flores, and former deputy Matt North who is now a Petaluma city police officer.
What a neighbor saw
Forest Knolls resident Nancy Little, who was awakened by Dickson’s screams, is one of several witnesses scheduled to testify on Dickson’s behalf. Little said she had previously met Dickson only briefly and does not know him well.
"I heard what sounded like a brawl outside, and I heard Walt screaming, ‘You’re, like, breaking my fucking arm!’ and then I opened my door and he was 10 feet in front of me with a deputy on top of him [and] with his arm pinned back," Little told The Light.
Speaking Wednesday morning before the start of his trial, Dickson said, "Today the police get to testify against me, and they get to pull out all their crap. By the end of the day, I’m sure I’ll be very intimidated."
The drunk-in-public charge
Assistant District Attorney Ed Berbarian declined comment on the case, saying he feared his words could taint the jury before the completion of the trial. Deputy DA Yvette Martinez is prosecuting the case.
Fox said all three of the charges against Dickson were false: Dickson didn’t attack anyone, wasn’t resisting the deputies, and was not reeling from alcohol. "It’s all crap," Fox said. "He wasn’t stumbling. He wasn’t falling down. From the very beginning the officer was harassing him."