Who is Mr J

Letters from Mr J

Innocence

Links

Donate

Pictures

Contact
 

News

From SignOnSanDiego.com

January 19, 2008

A former San Diego schoolteacher and his wife hugged and silently wept in a nearly deserted downtown courtroom yesterday after charges that he had molested young girls in his classroom were dropped, ending a five-year legal saga.

Thad Jesperson (center) got a hug from Joy Julian (left), a parent of one of his former students, yesterday after his hearing. Also with Jesperson were his attorney Robert Boyce (far left) and Jesperson's wife, Sydney (right).

Thad Jesperson, who once taught second grade at Toler Elementary in Clairemont, went home free after District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis abruptly decided against a fourth trial in the case.

Jesperson, 43, and a father of four, was originally charged with a dozen counts of molesting girls. But jurors across three trials struggled with the case. And each trial was tainted by juror misconduct.

No physical evidence corroborating the accusations existed, nor any witnesses. The case was built solely on the children's accusations, which came after extensive questioning by investigators.

Their stories shifted at times; the students who made the initial accusations denied anything had happened when first questioned by San Diego police.

Dumanis issued a one-paragraph statement indicating that she dropped the case so the students would not have to testify again.

“Successive prosecutions place a heavy burden on the victims of crime, especially children,” Dumanis said in the statement. “With the support of the victims' parents, we are continuing to put the children first by avoiding a fourth trial.”

The parents of one student declined to comment yesterday when reached through their lawyer. The other parents could not be located.

Jesperson has insisted that no crime was committed and no charges should ever have been brought.

“Absolutely, I am innocent,” he said, with his attorneys, Chuck Sevilla and Robert Boyce, looking on. “I have maintained that through this entire proceeding.”

The complex case began with a playground conversation. One child said Jesperson touched her on the shoulder a year earlier, and a second child characterized that as molestation, citing an episode of the TV show “Law & Order,” court records show.

When the mother of one of those children contacted police, Jesperson's journey through the legal system began.

After repeated questioning, the children said Jesperson touched them while they read with him at the front of a packed classroom. Some said the touching was a light rub over their clothes; others eventually said it was more intimate.

In the first trial, Jesperson was convicted of a single charge of molesting a student, but the jury deadlocked on 12 other counts. At a second trial, he was convicted of one charge of molesting another student, but jurors acquitted him or deadlocked on several other charges.

Prosecutors retried him on those deadlocked charges, and in December 2004 convicted him on seven molestation counts. Two months later he was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.

Then on Sept. 12, the 4th District Court of Appeal in San Diego overturned all the convictions.

Associate Justice Richard Huffman, a former prosecutor, reversed the convictions for a combination of juror misconduct that denied Jesperson a fair trial, and critical mistakes made by his defense lawyer, Robert Boyce. In one trial, a juror did not reveal important details about her past during jury selection. In another, a juror repeatedly expressed concern about a victim's mother and improperly drew on his training as a teacher during deliberations.

Prosecutors were not admitting error yesterday in clearing Jesperson.

Deputy District Attorney Tracy Prior emphasized the convictions were reversed because of defense errors, and noted three juries had returned convictions.

Prior did not mention that two of those juries deadlocked or acquitted Jesperson on some charges. She was not available to answer questions after court. Boyce said nothing during the brief hearing.

But outside court, a joyful Boyce quoted a comment Prior made after Jesperson's last trial: “Sometimes, justice takes a long time.”

A devout Mormon, Jesperson said he relied on God and “the incredible support of my family and hundreds of dear friends – many of them parents of children I've had in class – to get me through prison and this ordeal.”

In a long interview after being released from state prison on bail shortly before Christmas, Jesperson said faith and love carried him through.

“Countless things happened, things where something intervened, allowing me to be protected so I could be returned home to my family in one piece,” he said.

Jesperson described his arrest, trials, imprisonment and ultimate freedom as “very surreal, like stepping from our normal world through a portal into a place that was almost unimaginable, and now back again.”

“It took a long time for justice to be served. But all I can say now is that it's wonderful this is finally over.”

Bail set for ex-teacher facing 4th trial

By Greg Moran
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

December 5, 2007

Bail was set at $100,000 yesterday for a former elementary school teacher whose conviction for fondling children in his classroom was reversed by an appeals court in September.

Thad Jesperson was a teacher at Toler Elementary School in San Diego who was serving a life sentence after being found guilty of molesting several children.

Jesperson went on trial three times before being convicted in 2004. In September, a panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal in San Diego threw the conviction out, citing errors made by his defense lawyer at the trials.

Yesterday at a brief hearing, Superior Court Judge David Danielsen agreed to set bail at $100,000. He noted that Jesperson had been out on bail during his trials and did not flee. The judge said that while the charges Jesperson still faces are serious, he does not pose a significant risk to the community.

Outside court, supporters of the former teacher were elated, and several wiped away tears. His wife, Sydney Jesperson, said they hoped to raise enough bail money to have her husband home – perhaps in time for the holidays.

Jesperson is next due in court in January. The prosecutor on the case, Deputy District Attorney Tracy Prior, indicated yesterday that a fourth trial is likely.

“It is a shame this will have to go to trial again,” Prior said, noting that the basis for the reversal of the conviction were legal errors by defense attorney Robert Boyce.

Despite those findings, Boyce represented Jesperson at the hearing yesterday. Jesperson was not present because he is still in state prison.

Prior said that with the appeals court finding that Boyce made errors, she was concerned that any hearings in the case where Boyce represented him could cause a potential new legal error and damage the new trial.

Danielsen indicated that he too was troubled but said a hearing setting bail could go forward, and the issue of representation could be addressed at a future court date.

Jesperson was accused of improperly touching eight second-and third-grade students in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 school years. His convictions involved four of those girls. Charges relating to the other four girls were either dropped by prosecutors during the marathon legal proceedings or ended in acquittals or jury deadlocks.

Greg Moran: (619) 542-4586; greg.moran@uniontrib.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

September 14, 2007

Murrieta resident's child-molestation conviction is overturned
By ROCKY SALMON and TAMMY McCOY
The Press-Enterprise

For two and a half years, Murrieta resident Thad Jesperson and friends maintained his innocence despite child-molestation convictions spanning three separate jury trials.

He was convicted of committing lewd acts with his elementary-school students in San Diego.

This week, Jesperson's convictions were overturned by a state appeals court. The 2-1 decision found ineffective legal representation and misconduct by jurors.

In an 80-page ruling, Justice Richard Huffman wrote that Jesperson's attorney, Robert Boyce, should have objected to the prosecution showing the jurors videotaped interviews of four girls that were filled with prejudicial comments and hearsay.

Justice Patricia Benke cast the lone dissenting vote.

Jesperson's wife, Sydney, said everyone is ecstatic with the ruling.

"Our belief in his innocence has never wavered," she said Thursday from her Murrieta home. "The first questions from my kids' mouths were, 'When does he come home?' "

Despite the reversal, Thad Jesperson will not be released until the San Diego County district attorney's office has had a chance to respond. It can appeal to the court's decision to the California Supreme Court or retry Jesperson for a fourth time.

Jesperson has served more than two years of a 15-year sentence.

The case is being reviewed by the San Diego County district attorney's office's appellate division to decide what the course of action should be, said Paul Levikow, the office's communications director. Levikow could not comment further on the case.

Boyce did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Jesperson was arrested in 2003 after one of his students told her mother she had been molested and the mother called police. Jesperson was teaching at Toler Elementary School in the Clairemont neighborhood of San Diego.

Officers interviewed all of Jesperson's female students in the second and third grade and sent out letters. Eight students came forward, saying he inappropriately touched them between 2001 and 2003. He was arrested and charged with 13 counts of child molestation and committing lewd acts on the eight students.

During his first trial, some of the girls testified that the crimes took place at school. One student testified that Jesperson touched her on the leg and would touch her inappropriately while she was standing by him as he checked her math assignments.

A special education assistant who was assigned to one of Jesperson's students told school counselors that the teacher had touched the girl's leg without malice as he taught her to tie her shoelaces.

A San Diego County jury convicted Jesperson on one count of committing a lewd act and deadlocked on the remaining 12 counts.

On May 28, a second jury convicted Jesperson on one count of molestation, dismissed three charges and deadlocked on the rest.

In July 2004, San Diego County Superior Court Judge David J. Danielson ruled that Jesperson deserved a new trial because a juror discussed an experience as a victim of child molestation during jury deliberations to give credibility to the victim's side. The juror had disclosed the childhood incident during jury selection but had said it hadn't left a lasting impression.

In December 2004, a third trial started on the seven remaining counts. The jury convicted Jesperson on seven counts of child molestation after hearing testimony from some of the students. Several of the children testified that inappropriate touching took place as they stood next to the teacher's desk to read aloud to the class.

A day before Jesperson's sentencing in 2005, he submitted a motion for a retrial based on concerns about a juror who had 30 years of teaching experience. Huffman wrote that when the juror talked about his teaching expertise and teacher training, he overstepped his boundaries. Huffman wrote that Danielson should have held a hearing to determine the validity of the motion.

Throughout the case, friends, former colleagues and relatives flooded court hearings and testified to Jesperson's character.

During all three trials, no physical evidence or witnesses were presented to corroborate any of the molestation charges.

When news of the decision spread, Sydney Jesperson said she was inundated by phone calls. She said she is waiting to learn what the next step is and realizes it may take a while before her husband can return home.

She took her eldest daughter to see him Saturday and said her husband's spirits are good.

"He is still the husband that I knew," she said. "He's funny, friendly, positive. He always wants to know about the kids."

Published: Friday, September 14, 2007


September 13, 2007

A state appeals court reversed yesterday the 2004 child molestation convictions of a popular Toler Elementary School teacher who is serving a prison sentence of 15 years to life after three separate trials.
By Greg Moran
and Mark Sauer
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS

The 2-1 decision by a panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal in San Diego was the latest turn in the emotionally charged case of Thad Jesperson, or “Mr. J” as he was known to many at the Clairemont school, which is in the San Diego Unified School District.

Jesperson was put on trial three times by San Diego prosecutors on charges relating to the alleged molestation of eight second-and third-grade students in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 school years.

His convictions involved four of those girls. Charges relating to the other four children were either dropped by prosecutors or ended in acquittals or jury deadlocks.

In an 80-page ruling, Justice Richard Huffman wrote that the verdict had to be thrown out because of a combination of misconduct by jurors and ineffective legal work by Jesperson's lawyer. The defense lawyer did not prevent jurors from hearing videotaped interviews of the children that Huffman said were filled with prejudicial and irrelevant comments.

In the face of the allegations, Jesperson always insisted he was innocent. Yesterday his wife of 20 years was elated.

“I have just been inundated with phone calls from so many wonderful people calling in support,” Sydney Jesperson said from her home in Murrieta. “Our family was so excited by this news.”
“We completely believe in his innocence, as we always have,” she said. “We are finally feeling justice is starting to be served and we continue to be hopeful.”

Prosecutors could ask the state Supreme Court to review the decision, or they could put Jesperson on trial a fourth time. A spokesman for the San Diego District Attorney's Office said yesterday the office was reviewing the decision and weighing its next step. In the meantime, Jesperson remains in state prison in Kings County.

Jesperson was arrested in April 2003 and was convicted in December 2004 at the age of 40. He had no record or previous allegations against him in his career, and had been a well-regarded teacher at Toler for five years.

Charles Sevilla, Jesperson's lawyer for the appeal, said in court papers the case had its origins on Toler's playground, where several students, including three of the later accusers, were talking at recess in late 2002. One mentioned that Jesperson had touched her on the shoulder a year earlier.

Another student said that it was child molestation and they should tell someone. Several weeks later, the mother of one of the children contacted the school and police, triggering the investigation.

There was no physical evidence supporting the allegations that Jesperson had inappropriately touched the students, and no witnesses ever corroborated the accusations, according to the appellate court opinion. When first questioned by San Diego detectives, the children who made the initial accusations denied anything happened.

Eventually, the students said they were touched by Jesperson while they read with him at the front of a classroom. Some said the touching was a light rubbing over their clothes, but others said that the touching was more intimate.

Sevilla said that under repeated questioning by police, school officials and social workers at Rady Children's Hospital, the students' story changed.

“All of them were enhanced over time,” Sevilla said.

In his opinion, Huffman noted that the credibility of the children's accusations were at the core of the case, which he wrote included “evidence of suggestive questioning by parents, social workers and school officials as well as delayed and inconsistent reporting by the children of the alleged inappropriate touchings by Jesperson.”

The trials were also tainted with juror misconduct, Huffman said. In the first trial, one juror repeatedly expressed concern that the mother of one of the students was not being treated well in court. The juror also drew on his own training as a teacher during deliberations, which was improper, Huffman wrote.

During deliberations in the third trial, one juror disclosed details of being molested as a child. He said that when he was interviewed by police, he did not initially tell them everything about the incident. That, too, was improper and biased Jesperson's right to a fair trial, Huffman said.

The panel was also critical that defense lawyer Robert Boyce did not fight harder to keep huge portions of the videotapes of the children out of evidence.

On one tape, a social worker is heard to say “we are here to make sure he (Jesperson) doesn't do that to you or any more kids.” Boyce's poor work meant Jesperson did not receive effective representation at his trial, Huffman wrote.

Yesterday, Boyce said he always believed Jesperson was innocent and said the verdict has long “been sticking in my craw.”

Justice Patricia Benke disagreed with the ruling backed by Huffman and Justice James McIntyre. She said the jurors had not committed misconduct. Further, she reasoned that Boyce had legitimate reasons not to object to the videos at the trial because he could use them to question the child witnesses, and the convictions should not be reversed on those grounds.

The faculty at Toler was torn when the allegations regarding Jesperson arose, said school secretary Priscilla Borders.

“I was surprised, certainly. You don't know what is true and what's not,” she said. “I wasn't in that classroom, so I really don't know.

“But there was never any firm decision in my mind that he was guilty,” Borders said. “My only comment is I am happy for him and his family if it turns out to be the case that he will be freed.”

up          

This is Hit No.   since April 1, 2004
This website was created by a parent from the school where Mr J taught.  
The content is 100% provided by people who care about truth and justice.