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“In towns and cities... there is no more important institution than the local paper.”
Warren Buffett
La Mirada Councilman Andrew Sarega was humiliated in court and eventually lost his frivolous case.
HMG-CN Staff Report
Hews Media Group Publisher Brian Hews has once again won a frivolous lawsuit, this time defeating current La Mirada Councilman Andrew Sarega who had filed the lawsuit to “put the La Mirada Lamplighter out of business,” by claiming the 43-year-old newspaper’s legal advertising standing had expired.
This follows a December 2016 victory in which Hews defeated a bogus defamation case filed by Central Basin Municipal Water Director Leticia Vasquez.
Vasquez was “represented” by Nana Gyamfi, apparently the only attorney Vasquez could find to represent her, as witnessed by Gyamfi’s seven major suspensions by the California Bar Association for flagrant violations.
But it was obvious to Hews and his attorney that Vasquez’ husband, Ron Wilson, was responsible for most of the litigation, saving Vasquez tens of thousands in fees.
Sarega filed in pro per, meaning he represented himself during the case, and like Vasquez, paid nothing in legal fees since her husband did the legal work.
Sarega’s lawsuit, filed against his hometown community newspaper, was in retribution of several, accurate articles published by Hews during the 2017 City Council election.
The articles culminated in an ongoing California Fair Political Practices Commission investigation of Sarega, his running mate Tony Aiello, and current Congressional candidate Stelian Onufrie, that was initiated in March 2017.
Sarega’s in pro per standing was the primary reason he lost his case.
Apparently practicing for his role as a law school student starting this fall, he committed several sophomoric errors up to and including the trial that occurred this past week at the Norwalk Courthouse.
Sarega brought a notebook with exhibits to the trial, apparently thinking he would be able to present the exhibits to the judge, similar to lawyer-based shows he apparently watches on television.
But the judge focused on the relevant statute immediately after he entered the courtroom.
That saved Sarega from extreme embarrassment.
Contained in the notebook was eleven tabs, each containing exhibits Sarega would have presented.
Yet all eleven tabs misspelled the word exhibit, with Sarega spelling the word EXIBIT.
SPELLING CHALLENGED: Examples of the tabs in the notebook Sarega brought to trial. All eleven tabs spelled the word EXIBIT.
As the trial dragged on, the judge strongly admonished Sarega several times for his lack of courtroom and litigation knowledge.
“You knew that in pro per is held to the same standard as a litigant with an attorney,” he said.
Sarega openly pleaded with the judge to allow him leeway, but the judge once again strongly admonished him.
The most egregious error occurred when the judge asked about whether Sarega filed verified statement of facts, which the statute required to be have been included in the court documents.
“I do not see a Verified Statement of Facts,” said the judge, “you must have this in the court documents.”
The VSF is a statement from the plaintiff, under penalty of perjury, that everything alleged in the lawsuit is true.
Scott Talkov
Yet Sarega conveniently left the VSF out of his court documents and the judge would not let him escape unscathed for the exclusion.
Hews’ counsel, Scott Talkov of the Riverside based Reid and Hellyer, remarked, “the judge tossed the case because Sarega refused to declare, under penalty of perjury, his allegations that the La Mirada Lamplighter is unqualified to run city legal notices in the City of La Mirada.”
Talkov continued, “essentially, the judge ruled that if Mr. Sarega doesn’t take perjury seriously, he has no business in the public courthouse.”
Present, and heard yawning loudly several times during the trial, was La Mirada resident Tony Aiello, who ran with Sarega in the 2017 City Council race and lost.
Tony Aiello
Aiello, according to sources, “ran around La Mirada after the trial saying Hews won a technicality.”
When questioned, Aiello denied the accusation. Hews also asked if Aiello would write about Hews’ victory on his blog, Aiello did not respond.
Similar to the Vasquez case, the court documents included a declaration from former disgruntled HMG-CN employee Randy Economy.
DISGRUNTLED FORMER EMPLOYEE Randy Economy and the declaration he recorded for Sarega.
Economy is now working for Stelian Onufrie and Sarega according to Federal Election documents.
A few years ago, Economy was arrested, charged with 3 major drug violations and pleaded guilty to methamphetamine possession.
The other two counts – under the influence of a controlled substance, and possessing a device used for unlawfully injecting or smoking a controlled substance – were dropped.
The information came to the attention of HMG-CN years after Economy began, and shortly before Economy’s eventual departure.
Economy with his mom Rosemary.
HMG-CN contacted Sarega for comment after the case, Sarega said, “I look forward to refiling the case in the coming weeks.”
“I guess the guy has nothing better to do,” said Hews, “but to waste La Mirada resident’s taxpayer dollars and L.A. County taxpayer dollars tying up the court system.”