Patterson Irrigator | Your Local Paper - Identity theft trial moves forward

July 26, 2008 Patterson, CA

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Identity theft trial moves forward

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Written by John Saiz / Patterson Irrigator /
Friday, 04 April 2008
“(Their relationship) is not at issue.” — Dawna Frenchie Stanislaus County deputy district attorney, on Supervisor Jim DeMartini (at right) and defendant Serena Essapour (at left) There is enough evidence against the woman accused of stealing a county supervisor’s identity to put her on trial, Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Thomas Zeff ruled Tuesday. Essapour Serena Essapour, 22, of Turlock, is accused of using Supervisor Jim DeMartini’s personal information to acquire two credit cards and rack up nearly $10,000 in debt. Tuesday’s preliminary hearing consisted mostly of testimony from DeMartini. Defense attorney Mark Geragos, whose former clients include pop star Michael Jackson and convicted murderer Scott Peterson, focused mostly on the married DeMartini’s relationship with Essapour. Essapour gained access to the supervisor’s personal information after he co-signed her car loan and provided a $6,500 down payment in June 2005. Geragos repeatedly asked DeMartini how many times he dined with Essapour and if they attended the Stanislaus County Fair together. DeMartini DeMartini said he had eaten with her at several locations on several different days, but that he did not go to the fair with her. When asked directly by Deputy District Attorney Dawna Frenchie if he had a sexual relationship with Essapour, DeMartini answered no. Essapour has also said there was no sexual relationship. Aside from that question, Frenchie focused primarily on whether DeMartini gave permission for Essapour to get credit in his name. DeMartini said he did not. “(Their relationship) is not at issue,” Frenchie said during Tuesday’s hearing. Geragos also questioned DeMartini about whether he had offered to make the prosecutor a judge. DeMartini again answered in the negative. Zeff subsequently decided that the trial should go forward and scheduled an arraignment for April 15. To reach John Saiz at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 360 Comments (1) Subscribe to this comment's feed ... written by Claude Delphia , April 05, 2008 This article leaves out the fact that DiMartini pa*sed a lie detector test on the issue of his relationship with Essapour. That plus her own statement that they didn't have an affair, should end the issue and has to make many of us wonder if that whole line of guestioning was a political ploy by those paying for Geragos. Perhaps Geragos did Jim a favor by giving him a chance to answer the question and thus answer the question some others in District 5 were wondering about. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 Write comment Name Email Title Comment smaller \| bigger Subscribe via email (Registered users only) I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.