The Bakersfield Californian

Trial delayed for former supervisor­ial candidate charged with calling sheriff’s office 181 times

After the Public Defender’s Office declared a conflict in representi­ng a former Kern County supervisor­ial candidate who is suspected of repeatedly calling the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, a new defense attorney was assigned to the defendant Monday in Kern County Superior Court.

David Abbasi is charged with making repeated 911 calls with the intent to annoy or harass. Abbasi pleaded not guilty to the misdemeano­r charges, calling the charges “absurd” in an email to The California­n on Saturday. According to the KCSO report submitted to the courts, Abbasi called KCSO 181 times in one month.

Abbasi said smoke from his neighbor endangered his life because he has asthma; however, KCSO sergeants told Abbasi that smoking was not an arrestable offense and his report was a misuse of the 911 line, according to the probable cause statement submitted by KCSO to the court.

At Monday’s hearing, Abbasi tried to call his own case in front of Judge Chad Louie, but the judge called Abbasi’s new defense attorney, Zaura Villagomez. The Los-Angeles-based lawyer was appointed through the Indigent Defense Program after the Public Defender’s Office declared a conflict of interest in front of Judge David Zulfa on May 17.

Abbasi kept insisting he be represente­d by the Public Defender’s Office, saying in court “there’s something fishy going on.” Abbasi proceeded to argue his constituti­onal rights with Louie while court staff attempted to call Villagomez.

Deputy District Attorney Gina Pearl cut off Abbasi, saying that Abbasi has representa­tion and should not further comment on the record without his lawyer.

When Villagomez later called into the court, she inquired why the Public Defender’s Office had a conflict of interest. Deputy Public Defender Richard Jackson said it was an office decision based on the Public Defender’s ethics code and the conflict was already declared in May. When Abbasi demanded Jackson tell the court what the conflict was, Louie denied Abbasi’s request and said Jackson did not need to explain the reasoning to the court.

Louie clarified that Abbasi does not get to pick whether his attorney is one from the Public Defender’s Office. He said Abbasi has a constituti­onal right to a court-appointed attorney or he could hire his own attorney.

Following Villagomez’s appointmen­t to Abbasi’s case, Villagomez said she will need more time to prepare for the trial, so it was delayed to June 10.