Lawyer Falls To Death At Hotel

[Valentine]

Uh uh, not a suicide. You'll agree after reading this.

In what police describe as a "probable" suicide leap, a prominent Monterey Bay Area attorney fell at least nine floors to his death at the Embassy Suites Hotel Monterey Bay in Seaside the morning before Christmas.

Shortly before 9:30 a.m. Sunday, officers found the body of Aptos attorney Paul Sanford in the west end of the hotel lobby, where he had landed on a large ventilation grate.

Police Capt. Steve Cercone said horrified guests were eating breakfast in the atrium at the time, and a number of witnesses saw Sanford fall from somewhere between the 9th and 12th floors.

"I'm at a loss for words," said Sanford's friend and business associate, Monterey attorney Shawn Mills. "Paul really had his fingers in a lot of different pies. He was from the East Coast, and I used to call him our 'West Coast Kennedy.'"

In addition to running his criminal defense practice in Capitola, Sanford was active in community organizations and hosted several independent radio shows in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.

For several years, he was programs supervisor at the Volunteer Center in Santa Cruz and a teacher at the Monterey College of Law, where Mills said Sanford was an alumnus who mentored many students.

Sanford recently purchased his mother's home in Pebble Beach, and Mills said his friend planned to retire there one day.

Sanford was also active in the national arena. He appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2004 beside Elk Grove resident Michael Newdow when he argued unsuccessfully that the words "under God" should be stricken from the Pledge of Allegiance.

A passionate believer in "a dynamic Constitution," Sanford always carried a copy of the U.S. Constitution in his pocket, Mills said.

"He was a champion of the downtrodden, he represented homeless people in Santa Cruz, and fought for free speech," Mills said. "He did a run across America. You name it he's done it. This is a real shock and a loss to the community."

Mills said Sanford decided in recent years to add journalism to his many occupations.

Almost immediately, he caused a stir after he joined the White House Press Corps in 2005, making waves as the first reporter to ask then-White House press secretary Scott McClellan whether the leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plame's name might be considered an act of treason.

"There has been a lot of speculation concerning the meaning of the underlying statute and the grand jury investigation concerning Mr. Rove," Sanford asked. "The question is, have the legal counsel to the White House or White House staff reviewed the statute in sufficient specificity to determine whether a violation of that statute would, in effect, constitute treason?"

McClellan was apparently flustered by the question and replied that "those are matters for those overseeing the investigation to decide."

The White House incident sparked controversy after Beltway bloggers incorrectly described Sanford as a reporter for the Air America radio network. At the time, he was associated with Watsonville radio station KOMY, an Air America affiliate, and Sanford told reporters he never claimed to work for Air America.

Sanford eventually filed suit against station owner Michael Zwerling after Zwerling was reported as saying Sanford had not been authorized to represent the station as a reporter, a statement Sanford refuted.

Mills represented Sanford in that suit, which was scheduled to begin in Santa Cruz County Superior Court in February. Mills said he did not know if the case will continue after Sanford's sudden death.

Although the dispute with Zwerling caused Sanford a great deal of stress at the time, Mills said his friend was feeling fine about it and believed he would soon be vindicated in court.

Sanford and Mills also have hosted the "Paul and Shawn Show" on Saturdays at Seaside radio station KRXA, where they covered last fall's election and interviewed former Salinas mayor and now Assemblywoman Anna Caballero, Pacific Grove Mayor Dan Cort and others.

In 2002, Sanford inadvertently found himself at the center of a controversy in Santa Cruz County when his independent election fundraising was characterized in the Santa Cruz Sentinel as last-minute "developer" contributions on behalf of supervisor candidate Mark Primack. Primack lost to incumbent Mardi Wormhoudt by fewer than 600 votes.

Friends and associates expressed disbelief at the news of Sanford's death and that it was ruled a suicide, saying Sanford seemed happy and had made many plans for this week and in coming months. Mills said he and Sanford recently decided to open a shared law office to serve Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, something Sanford was looking forward to doing.

He and Sanford spoke on the phone "around four or five times a day," Mills said, and the two had just spoken on Thursday, "tweaking a marketing plan" for their new law practice before Mills went out of town for the Christmas holiday.

"I just don't know what happened since Thursday. There was nothing on the horizon there to know this was going to happen," Mills said. "We were going to get together this week."

Mills said he had spoken to Sanford's wife, Paula, and that she also was in shock. He said Sanford, a father of two, was a devoted family man.

"This is a horrible thing for his family. He would never have intentionally put his family through that trauma. Something's not right, it doesn't make sense."

Police said that before Sanford fell, hotel housekeepers saw him pacing the hallway of an upper floor. Cercone said Sanford's car was parked next to the hotel, and he was not checked in as a guest.

Police declined to state exactly why they ruled the case a suicide.

Mills said he and Sanford often met at Chili's restaurant next to Embassy Suites Hotel Monterey Bay because the KRXA studio was nearby.

Mills said Sanford should be remembered for his volunteer work in the local community. "People don't like to work for free, and Paul worked for ideology. He didn't like the attention a lot. The attention he's going to get now would upset him."

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/monterey...ws/16326502.htm

[Guest]

Not much reason to kill him really.

[solar]

Quote:Almost immediately, he caused a stir after he joined the White House Press Corps in 2005, making waves as the first reporter to ask then-White House press secretary Scott McClellan whether the leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plame's name might be considered an act of treason.

"There has been a lot of speculation concerning the meaning of the underlying statute and the grand jury investigation concerning Mr. Rove," Sanford asked. "The question is, have the legal counsel to the White House or White House staff reviewed the statute in sufficient specificity to determine whether a violation of that statute would, in effect, constitute treason?"

McClellan was apparently flustered by the question and replied that "those are matters for those overseeing the investigation to decide."

Thanks for posting this article, Valentine ...

... possibly, a poignant, and infuriating reminder to us all.

Personally, it reminds me of the "watch words" of our times:

"I gave at the office ..."

"The check is in the mail ..."

"Let's form a committee ..."

"Death and taxes ..."

"Problem, reaction, solution."

"Dis-information ..."

"Psy-ops ..."

"We're from the news media. We're here to find out the truth ..."

"We're from the Government. We're here to help you ..."

"Lone-nut assassin ..."

And ...

"Apparent suicide ..."

The number of dead bodies associated with the Clinton and Bush crime families could fill whole graveyards ...

[Valentine]

Quote:Police said that before Sanford fell, hotel housekeepers saw him pacing the hallway of an upper floor. Cercone said Sanford's car was parked next to the hotel, and he was not checked in as a guest.

Police declined to state exactly why they ruled the case a suicide.

Wonder why police declined to say. Sounds like he was going to meet someone, doesn't it.

[Valentine]

Kurt Nimmo's view:

It’s fishy as hell.

Paul Sanford, a prominent Aptos, California, attorney, who accused Karl Rove of treason in the Plame outing case, took a leap from the Embassy Suites Hotel in Monterey Bay on Christmas Eve. Police describe it as “probable” suicide, even though it appears Sanford was not depressed.

“Friends and associates expressed disbelief at the news of Sanford’s death and that it was ruled a suicide, saying Sanford seemed happy and had made many plans for this week and in coming months. [Business associate and friend Shawn Mills] said he and Sanford recently decided to open a shared law office to serve Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, something Sanford was looking forward to doing,” reports the Monterey Herald. “Mills said he had spoken to Sanford’s wife, Paula, and that she also was in shock. He said Sanford, a father of two, was a devoted family man.” Sanford “would never have intentionally put his family through that trauma. Something’s not right, it doesn’t make sense.”

On July 25, 2005, in the James S. Brady Briefing Room at the White House, Sanford asked then press secretary Scott McClellan about Karl Rove, accused at the time by Joseph Wilson, the husband of Valerie Plame, of outing his wife as a CIA employee in retaliation for Wilson’s op-ed published in the New York Times. Wilson criticized the citation of bogus yellowcake documents used as flimsy justification for invading Iraq and murdering more than 650,000 Iraqis.

McClellan was flummoxed by Sanford’s question:

McClellan: Go ahead.

Sanford: Yes, thank you. There has been a lot of speculation concerning the meaning of the underlying statute and the grand jury investigation concerning Mr. Rove. The question is, have the legal counsel to the White House or White House staff reviewed the statute in sufficient specificity to determine whether a violation of that statute would, in effect, constitute treason?

McClellan: I think that in terms of decisions regarding the investigation, those are matters for those overseeing the investigation to decide.

Special counsel, Patrick Fitzgerald, decided not to charge Rove in the case, even though the former Donald Segretti dirty trickster understudy raised enough suspicion to warrant being called before a grand jury five times. Neocon Lewis “Scooter” Libby was charged with obstruction of justice, perjury, and making false statements to the FBI. A few weeks later, on July 13, 2006, Joseph and Valerie Wilson filed a civil suit against Cheney, Libby, Rove, and other unnamed senior White House officials, for their alleged roles in the public disclosure of her classified CIA employment.

In addition, Sanford was “a champion of the downtrodden, he represented homeless people in Santa Cruz, and fought for free speech,” according to Mills. As well, he hosted a radio talk show at KOMY, an Air America affiliate, although he was not associated with the bankrupt network. Sanford and Mills also hosted the “Paul and Shawn Show” on Saturdays at the Seaside, California, radio station KRXA.

Of course, there is no evidence Paul Sanford was pushed from “at least nine floors” above the large ventilation grate where he met his fate. As well, there is no evidence he committed suicide, or did he fit the profile of a suicide. However, there is plenty of evidence Sanford was a thorn in the side of the neocons, committing the ultimate sin of accusing one particularly nasty top drawer neocon, Karl Rove, of treason.

http://kurtnimmo.com/?p=701

[solar]

Quote:... there is no evidence he committed suicide, or did he fit the profile of a suicide. However, there is plenty of evidence Sanford was a thorn in the side of the neocons, committing the ultimate sin of accusing one particularly nasty top drawer neocon, Karl Rove, of treason.

<span style="color:#3366FF">Former Navy/National Security Agency intelligence analyst Wayne Madsen also "weighs in" on the Sanford "suicide" (at link).

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

December 28-31, 2006 -- California attorney and journalist <span style="color:#FF0000">Paul Sanford, Michael Newdow's attorney who argued before the US Supreme Court why "Under God" should be excised from the Pledge of Allegiance but <span style="color:#FF0000">who is best remembered for asking Bush Press Secretary Scott McClellan in 2005 why the leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson's name by the White House should not be considered an act of treason, died suddenly at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Seaside, California on Christmas Eve.

For over a decade, this reporter [Wayne Madsen] has been cited as a modern-day Osiris in trying to alert the world to the suspicious deaths of journalist colleagues -- from <span style="color:#FF0000">Danny Casolaro and <span style="color:#FF0000">Paul Wilcher to <span style="color:#FF0000">Gary Webb and <span style="color:#FF0000">Dale Solly.

Unfortunately, there is now again reason to believe that a journalist's death may have not been what is being reported. <span style="color:#FF0000">The suspicious deaths of opponents of the Bush Crime Family, from journalists and intelligence agents to businessmen and other private citizens, has reached epidemic proportions.

According to police who spoke to the Monterey Herald, Sanford, who was married with two children, "probably" jumped between 9 and 12 floors above the hotel's atrium to his death in what is being called a "suicide."

Odd behavior for someone who had just bought his mother's home in picturesque Pebble Beach where he planned to retire in the future. Sanford, an advocate for progressive causes, was a strong believer in the US Constitution who always carried a copy with him.

In 2005, Sanford represented a Santa Cruz homeless man who was cited by police for violating a city ordinance against using "profane or abusive" language in soliciting for money. The man had a sign in his straw hat that read "Fuck the Pigs." By pigs, the man meant the police. City prosecutors later dropped the charges.

Sanford's friends expressed disbelief that he would put his family through such a trauma resulting from a suicide.

Sanford was not checked into the hotel <span style="color:#FF0000">but often met contacts at the neighboring Chili's Restaurant. His car was parked next to the Embassy Suites.

Police had no clear evidence to rule Sanford's death a suicide other than some hotel cleaners' statements that he was seen pacing an upstairs hallway prior to his death.

[Valentine]

Hopefully this will not go away. I hope they get caught this time.

[Xsaber5]

Personally, I don't feel that I have enough knowledge of this to make an informed opinion. However, it does seem like he was there to meet someone.

What intrigues me about the article that the OP quoted is why the police declined to say why they ruled his death a suicide. If his death was ruled a suicide, that would indicate the investigation into his death, by police is closed. So, what would be the harm in them releasing the details that lead to their conclusion?