Details emerge in Riese case

Judge refuses to dismiss the case, trial set

A Feb. 7 trial date has been set for former Del Norte County District Attorney Mike Riese, who was in court Wednesday with his attorney seeking dismissal of the criminal charges against him.

Deputy state Attorney General Brian Newman, who is prosecuting the case, stated he intends to present videotape of Riese walking around the Crescent City Safeway, call his 7-year-old daughter to the stand to testify about his driving, and produce Riese’s admission to a city police detective about having parked at Safeway.

Wednesday’s hearing was brought about by a motion to argue whether there is probable cause to move forward with charges against Riese that include one count of driving under the influence of drugs, two counts of child endangerment and a single count of public intoxication, all stem­ming from an Aug. 22 incident in which a store employee called police to say that Riese was behaving strangely.

Riese was scheduled for an arraignment Tuesday, but that was continued by appointed Judge Anthony Edwards to hear arguments about whether the motion to dismiss the charges should be accepted.

Edwards commented at the time about how infrequently probable cause motions are filed. On Wednesday, he rejected it before setting the trial date.

The motion contended that the charges had no validity and came about as a result of District Attorney Jon Alexander’s “vendetta” against Riese, said Riese’s attorney, Bob Cochran. The motion noted that the charges were filed by Newman 60 days after the August incident.

“The two officers concluded properly that no crime was committed, let alone committed in their presence,” stated the motion. “Therefore, faced with the decision if probable cause existed, these officers, armed with the best evidence concluded: no crime, no probable cause, no arrest.”

Cochran asserted that no sobriety tests were conducted on Riese, there were no witnesses who saw him drive to Safeway and he didn’t have his keys during the time officers detained him.

“There is no probable cause,” said Cochran. “The matter should be dismissed outright.”

Alexander has denied influencing the case.

Newman filed a memo to the court contending the motion doesn’t apply to individuals who have been charged with misdemeanor crimes and are not in custody.

Ultimately, Edwards agreed with Newman’s assessment, but added that if the facts of the defense motion are accurate, “I frankly don’t know if the people are going to prove any of the charges.”

Riese was ordered to be booked and then released from the Del Norte County Jail sometime Wednesday.

The misdemeanor trial is expected to last three days. A hearing is scheduled Jan. 25 for several pre-trial motions. They will likely include a change of venue motion, considering Riese’s status in the community, Cochran said.

Meanwhile, court declarations indicated another possible line of defense in the case.

Riese filed a declaration to the court stating he took Ativan, a sleeping medication, on Aug. 22. The doctor who prescribed the medication has also filed a declaration to the court stating he prescribed the medicine to Riese and he would testify that a side effect of Ativan is sleep walking.

“I am aware that approximately three-and-a-half hours after taking his medication, Mr. Riese was found disoriented at Safeway in Crescent City,” said Dr. Donald Micheletti in his declaration. “This time frame is consistent with one experiencing a sleepwalking episode. Prior to the ... time frame, it is likely Mr. Riese was not yet under the influence of this sleep medication.”

On Aug. 22 at 8:05 p.m., Safeway employees called for a welfare check for Riese. They told police Riese “appeared confused and disoriented,” according to a police report.

Video footage showed him in the pharmacy aisle, where he opened a tooth brush and other items while he was sitting on the floor, police reports state. Other footage showed Riese at the checkout counter trying to place his credit card into the change return on the counter; employees eventually assisted him in swiping his card, reports state.

Questioned outside the store, Riese told officers he was taking medication after undergoing knee surgery and had not slept for several days, reports state. He told officers he had walked to the store and was going to be picked up by his girlfriend, but his truck was in the parking lot, reports  state.

An employee at Safeway told  a detective during a follow-up interview that Riese’s truck was taking up four parking spaces, reports state. The same employee said she overheard officers asking Riese if he was driving, and he said he was before changing his response to say someone was coming to get him, reports state.

When his girlfriend arrived, she told officers she was going to take him to seek medical treatment, reports state. His girlfriend also went into the store to unsuccessfully look for his keys and cell phone — his keys were later found by employees, reports state.

Riese’s ex-wife was later interviewed twice by a detective about Riese dropping off his two daughters before going to Safeway; the first time she stated she did believe there was an exchange of children that day and Riese appeared tired, but seemed fine other than that, reports state.

During a subsequent interview on Sept. 21, she said she was caught off guard by the first call and that Riese had unexpectedly picked up his daughters from their babysitters at 4 p.m. on Aug. 22, reports state.

When she found out this occurred a couple of hours later, she called Riese who answered and “sounded like gibberish,” before his phone went dead, the reports state.

After searching several locations for Riese and the kids, she doubled back to his office and saw his truck parked crossways in the parking lot with the door and hood of the truck open, reports state.

Riese’s youngest daughter was  buckled in her car seat in the truck and crying and his other daughter was in his office with him when his ex-wife arrived, she said during the interview, reports state.

She said she placed both children in the car and left around 7 p.m.

Surveillance footage shows Riese entering the Safeway store around 6:45 p.m.

A detective also interviewed Riese, who stated he took two sleeping pills around 3:30 p.m., “and I found myself at 7 p.m. making an exchange with my ex-wife because I had my kids,” reports state.

He said he had not slept for two days and went to the doctor for medication to help him sleep, reports state.

Riese initially couldn’t remember how he got to Safeway, though later in the interview he said he parked his vehicle and walked into Safeway, reports state.

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