Trial opens for professor accused of fraud (Kerri Dunn and the case of the fake hate crime)

San Bernardino County Sun ^ | 13 August 2004 | Mira Katz

[CounterCounterCulture]

Trial opens for professor accused of fraud

By MIRA KATZ, Staff Writer

POMONA - A man with a tool box and not Kerri Dunn may have been the culprit who vandalized the former Claremont McKenna College psychology professor's car. Dunn's attorney said in opening statements Friday that Dunn of Redlands did not spray-paint hateful slurs on her Honda Civic and slash its tires, and during her trial he plans to call the college's electrician as a witness.

The electrician will tell the jury a man with a tool box was crouched by her car the night of the incident that resulted in the Claremont Colleges cancelling classes for a day of anti-hate rallies.

(snip)

While Lincenberg's opening remarks alluded to a man with the tool box, Bean called Michael Martinez and Dominique Zepeda who said they saw Dunn vandalize two of her own tires.

(snip)

Zepeda was in the front passenger seat and said she saw writing already on the car when it pulled into the space next to them.

Both said they saw Dunn bend over by each of the driver's side tires and heard a sound that sounded like air being let out of the tires.

(snip)

"We thought she was weird and we did not know what was going on,' Zepeda said. "At first we thought it was a prank. We also thought that it might be research on how people react to certain situations.'

[vikingchick]

She's probably trying to sell her house over in SF; the one she bought with the spoils from her siege on the Catholic Church.

Make no mistake about it:

Wherever you can look - wherever there's a fake hate crime.....we'll be there. Wherever there's a con beatin' up herself and tryin' to frame an innocent party, we'll be there. Whenever there's a person paintin' her car up with foul sayins to look like somebuddy else dunnit....well, we'll be there, too.

[CounterCounterCulture]

And it's funny, I was just thinking "whatever happened to that Kerri Dunn case?"...did a search and lo and behold the trial just started. :-)

[Bonaparte]

[ahem]... we will fight them in the parking lots... we will fight them in the art galleries... we will fight them in the admissions offices... we will never ever give up and history will proclaim this our finest hour.

[Chode]

since she reported it as a hate crime and if she is convicted of doing it herself... she should be convicted of a hate crime and all the jail time required for a hate crime

[Blue Jays]

Hi All-

Posted by Bonaparte:
"...Her [insurance] company wouldn't have moved against her unless their own investigators determined that she did the damage herself..."

I'm still having a hard time believing that this professor was driving a car around Los Angeles with swastikas, nigg*r-lover, k*ke, etc., etc. painted on the car and nobody noticed it. Regular people would remember something like that if they were just driving around town and saw the car.

The other thing for everyone to keep in mind is the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE) database. It's like a credit reporting agency for insurance claims. Insurance companies would love for everyone to have "negative" information on their database so they can justify dropping you or raising your rates at their choosing. Read about the tragedy of CLUE at: www.privacyrights.org

Wacky academic liberals are potentially dangerous and absolutely annoying, but I have just as much distrust for dirtbag insurance companies.

~ Blue Jays ~

[Blue Jays]

p.s. "Crouching Man, Hidden Toolbox" is hilarious!

[Bonaparte]

I'm still having a hard time believing that this professor was driving a car around Los Angeles with swastikas, nigg*r-lover, k*ke, etc., etc. painted on the car and nobody noticed it. Regular people would remember something like that if they were just driving around town and saw the car."

Who says she drove it around town? Isn't it more plausible that she drove it to a secluded area on campus not far from the parking lot, did her artwork out of public view, disposed of the materials, drove it the short distance to the parking space, then flattened her tires?

"...so they can justify dropping you or raising your rates..."

Right. On a claim that would probably cost them only 3K, the insurance company spends more than that consulting in-house counsel, investigating, preferring charges, paying their investigator to testify in court or work with the police and processing all the paperwork.

[Blue Jays]

Hi Bonaparte-

The case is not Insurance Company vs. Dunn, it's State of California vs. Dunn, so the insurer isn't laying out scads of money at this point. It is, however, a great chance for them to bolster their ability not to cover the wacky professor. Look at the web site I posted earlier, the insurance companies would put you or me on that list if we so much as called in to learn about our coverage for burst waterpipes....

Graffiti elsewhere and then driving to the parking lot? I suppose it's possible, but I can't think of anywhere I could have gone on my college campus to do something like this without someone seeing the crime being committed. Like I said, possible, but it doesn't seem likely...

Regards,

~ Blue Jays ~

[Bonaparte]

"The case is not Insurance Company vs. Dunn, it's State of California vs. Dunn..."

In order to bring charges of insurance fraud against an individual, the police and DA need a criminal complaint from the victim, from the aggrieved party. That's the insurance company. This is an entirely criminal matter, not a civil matter. The title of the case is always going to be something like "state of California v. Jones" or "People v. Jones."

And the insurance company did not press charges against her because they read something in the newspaper. They did so because their investigation revealed that she defrauded them.

Give me a break.

"...I can't think of anywhere I could have gone on my college campus..."

We're not talking about your campus, we're talking about hers. You have no idea what's "likely" on that area of her campus. My guess is that you've never even been there.

[vikingchick]

UPDATE

Testimony to end for alleged hate-crime hoaxer

By Rod Leveque , Staff Writer

POMONA -- A Claremont Colleges electrician testified Monday that he saw a strange man crouched by a car that was vandalized and sprayed with racial epithets in March.

Gary Snyder, however, said he didn't see the man deface the car and thought the stranger was simply inspecting the damage.
SNIP

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/Stories/0,1413,206~22097~2338965,00.html

[I thought Gary Snyder was a beatnik poet.]

[Bonaparte]

Thanks, vc.

[I thought Gary Snyder was a beatnik poet.]

He was. And is. I think he's living some place in the Sierras. A friend tells me he sometimes shops in his store when he's in Berkeley.

[vikingchick]

[sorry, can't get the whole story, but Kerri has been found GUILTY]

Professor Found Guilty of Own Hate Crime

Los Angeles Times (subscription), CA - 12 minutes ago
... Jurors found Kerri Dunn guilty of two felony charges for attempted insurance fraud and on one misdemeanor count of filing a false police report. ...

[Little Bill]

Other than those that have been exposed, I wonder how many alleged hate crimes over the last 40 years have been faked. Many I expect.

[Bonaparte]

Thankyou for making my day with this splendid news, vikingchick!

If they let her out on bail pending her appeal, she'll just go live in Cuba as a guest in Fidel's hacienda.

[Bonaparte]

More on the verdict here.

Hopefully the state bar won't need "prodding" to disbar this felon.

[vikingchick]

You're most welcome. And a belated LOL! we will fight them in the parking lots... we will fight them in the art galleries... we will fight them in the admissions offices... we will never ever give up and history will proclaim this our finest hour.

[Bonaparte]

From the Claremont Institute...

Hate Crimes Watch: Former Claremont Professor Kerri Dunn, Habitual Hoaxer?

Accused hate-crime hoaxer Kerri Dunn goes on trial today. If she testifies, evidence of previous misconduct may be used against her:

"Chief among the alleged prior bad acts discussed were allegations from 2000, when Dunn was arrested in Nebraska on suspicion of shoplifting.

"According to discussions in open court, the woman claimed an officer roughed her up. However, a witness later reported seeing her inflict bruises upon her own arm and tearing the buttons of her own shirt, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Martin Bean told the judge."

There is another allegation about impersonating a nurse, to obtain prescription drugs.

If you don't know, the background:

"Prosecutors allege Dunn, a visiting psychology professor at Claremont McKenna College, spray painted racial epithets on her Honda and slashed the car's tires March 9, the same day she spoke at a forum on racism at the Claremont Colleges.

"They allege she reported the vandalism as a hate crime to police, and then to her insurance company the following day.

"The incident drew widespread attention and prompted the colleges to cancel classes for a day of anti-hate rallies.

"Two witnesses later came forward and said they saw Dunn inflict some of the damage."

[Lancey Howard]

(( ping ))

[GulliverSwift]

Good to see that she's finally getting her just desserts.

[mrustow]

Thanks for the ping, Lancey.