Hell's Angels Win Civil Suit (Steve Tausan)
Ninth Commandment
POSTED: 2:25 pm PDT April 5, 2005
UPDATED: 2:43 pm PDT April 5, 2005
The civil rights of Hells Angels members were violated when
authorities searched their homes and seized their property, including
their Harley Davidson motorcycles, according to a federal appeals
court ruling.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld a district
court ruling that seven San Jose police officers and one Santa Clara
County Sheriff's deputy violated the civil rights of a San Jose
chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.
The case began when a Hells Angels member was linked to a 1997 murder
at a San Jose strip club.
He was acquitted two years later, but the Hells Angels claimed that
while investigators conducted searches of members' homes in 1997 and
1998, they seized "truckloads" of property, killed three guard dogs
and misled the courts about why they conducted the raids.
Members of the group filed a civil suit claiming authorities violated
their Fourth Amendment right to be protected from unreasonable
searches and seizures.
The case weighed that constitutional right against the need for
investigators to safely and effectively do their jobs, according to
9th Circuit Judge Richard A. Paez. He wrote that the judges concluded
that the searches and seizures were unnecessarily intrusive and that
"the intrusion was severe."
The Hells Angels have asked for more than $250,000 in damages, but the
court hasn't disclosed whether the group will receive any money.
http://www.nbc11.com/news/4349988/detail.html
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Today's San Jose Mercury lead story is about arrest of the manager of
the Pink
Poodle for murder.
According to the Mercury, "The manager of Santa Clara county's most
prominent
strip club and an associate believed to be a Hell's Angel were
arrested on
Wednesday" October 8.
They are accused of a month old killing at the Pink Poodle "that has
spawned
continuing local and federal probes, massive law enforcement raids,
and now is
imbued with drug overtones."
On Tuesday, 140 law officers hit 6 locations with raids to collect
evidence.
The Pink Poodle in San Jose is a no touch strip club that features
porn
headliners. One headliner told me that she earns more money working
there
than any other club in the country.
The case originated with the slaying of a 38 year old carpenter, Kevin
Sullivan
on August 24. Sullivan had an argument across the street at the 49er
Club, a
bar. He then retreated into the strip club rather than get into a
fight.
What happened next is unclear, but Sullivan was brutally beaten at
the back of
the Pink Poodle. Sullivan died at the hospital the next morning.
http://groups.google.ca/groups?q=%2B%22San+Jose%22+%2B%22strip+club%22+%2B%22Murder%22&hl=en&lr=&selm=19971009165000.MAA18336%40ladder01.news.aol.com&rnum=1-----
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Pink Poodle pair freed
Defendants found not guilty in nightclub killing
BY SANDRA GONZALES
Mercury News Staff Writer
To the wild cheers of friends and family waiting outside the Santa
Clara
County main jail, the two defendants in the Pink Poodle murder trial
walked
out as free men Tuesday after a jury acquitted them of all charges
involving
the death of a drunken customer at the South Bay's best-known strip
club.
Only hours earlier, club manager David Kuzinich, 44, and Hells Angel
Steve
Tausan, 39, a club bouncer, had sat in a holding cell awaiting the
verdict.
Had they been found guilty, they might have spent the rest of their
lives in
prison. As it was, the pair had been behind bars without bail since
October
1997.
But in a surprising outcome for the highly publicized case, not only
did the
jury find them not guilty of murder, or the lesser charge of
manslaughter,
but it also cleared them of conspiracy to commit assault, conspiracy
to
obstruct justice and a gang enhancement in connection with the Aug.
24,
1997, slaying of Kevin Sullivan, 38, a San Jose carpenter.
``I thank God they believed in our innocence. The moment it came down,
I
broke down,'' a tearful Kuzinich said. ``I've been in chains for 16
months .
. . charged with murder. It's a very serious crime, and now that it's
over,
I'll get on with my life.''
About two dozen well-wishers -- including friends of Tausan's from the
Hells
Angels motorcycle club -- stood at the top of the jail steps as
Kuzinich and
Tausan, smiling, emerged separately. They were immediately engulfed in
a
flurry of bear hugs and kisses from tearful friends and relatives, who
clapped and cheered at their release.
``I want to thank God for giving me my life back and thank the jury
for
giving me my life back,'' Tausan said before getting into a white
limousine
with his girlfriend.
Kuzinich, surrounded by friends, his brothers, parents and wife, was
even
more emotional, saying he planned to eat steak and lobster that
evening,
then take a little trip later this week.
``Sixteen months ago, I promised my little girl that we would go to
Disneyland,'' he said. ``This weekend, she's going to Disneyland.''
Kuzinich's father and the Pink Poodle's owner, Pete Kuzinich Sr., said
that
while he was happy with the not-guilty verdicts, he was still angry
with
prosecutors.
``There's been a lot of pressure on the family. I'm so emotionally
drained,'' the elder Kuzinich said. ``You wonder why there were all of
these
charges; maybe it was the stigma of the Hells Angels and the Pink
Poodle.''
The prosecution had tried to convince the jurors that Sullivan's death
was
orchestrated on behalf of the Hells Angels. On Tuesday, lawyers for
the
motorcycle club filed an unusual federal lawsuit against a host of law
enforcement agencies alleging sweeping civil rights violations.
Jury foreman Raymond Gans said Tuesday afternoon that he didn't buy
the
prosecution's attempts to establish a link between the slaying and the
Hells
Angels.
``There was nothing compelling about it at all,'' Gans said.
DA's office shocked
Deputy District Attorney Richard Titus did not return phone calls
seeking
comment, but his supervisor, Assistant District Attorney Dave Davies,
called
the loss ``a shock.''
Reached in San Diego County, Sullivan's father, James Sullivan, was
stunned
by the verdict.
``I'm flabbergasted. It's a travesty,'' Sullivan said. ``I had put a
lot of
faith in this trial, and I really feel there was enough evidence to
find
them guilty. Of course, I feel let down. But I feel the prosecution
could
have presented more to nail (them).''
Gans said jurors also had credibility problems with some of the
prosecution's witnesses, such as former Pink Poodle security guard
Frank
Adams.
Adams portrayed Tausan as the aggressor in the attack, and also
claimed
David Kuzinich had called Tausan to tell him Sullivan had disparaged
the
Hells Angels.
``The whole case was a lie from beginning to end; the feds saw this as
an
opportunity to use the state courts in an attempt to bust up the Hells
Angels,'' said Barry Morris, who represented Kuzinich, along with the
lead
defense attorney, Dennis Roberts. ``Not only did it quarrel with
common
sense but it argued with the truth, and the jury saw through it.''
Sullivan's death spawned massive federal and local investigations into
the
popular nude dancing venue and the Hells Angels as authorities tried
to
uncover evidence in the killing.
``I'm just happy that the jury took the time to look at the case
carefully
and reached a just verdict,'' said Tausan's attorney, John Williams.
Self-defense argument
During the trial, Tausan testified that Sullivan had lunged toward him
and
that the fatal tussle that followed was a case of self-defense.
He also told the jury that he had been at home watching videos with
his
girlfriend when David Kuzinich called and asked him to come to the
Pink
Poodle -- on Bascom Avenue in the Burbank district of unincorporated
Santa
Clara County -- because he was worried that Sullivan would create
trouble at
the club.
Gans said he found Tausan's testimony clear and consistent:
``I thought his explanation was plausible enough to give me reasonable
doubt.''
The verdict puts an unusual twist in the case of a former defendant,
Gary
Costanza, who as part of a bargain with prosecutors pleaded no contest
to
conspiracy to obstruct justice and conspiracy to commit assault to
avoid a
murder trial.
On Tuesday, his attorney, Bud Landreth, said he plans to ask Superior
Court
Judge Daniel Creed to set aside Costanza's plea or release Costanza
immediately when he appears before him Friday.
Davies said he had not yet considered Costanza's situation but added:
``A
plea bargain is a plea bargain.''
http://groups.google.ca/groups?q=%2B%22San+Jose%22+%2B%22strip+club%22+%2B%22Murder%22+%2B%22poodle%22&hl=en&lr=&selm=369d18b6%240%2416689%40nntp1.ba.best.com&rnum=2
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Steve Tausan Bail Bonds & Ringside Bail Bonds
(408) 287-8181
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BailOut
The acquittal of the three defendants in the Pink Poodle murder trial
earlier this year was easily one of District Attorney George Kennedy's
biggest embarrassments during his tenure. Adding a little salt to
those wounds now is the fact that one of the defendants has returned
to the scene of the crime, so to speak. Hells Angel Steve Tausan, the
strip-club bouncer accused by authorities of beating drunken customer
Kevin Sullivan to death, is now a regular sight outside the Hall of
Justice, handing out promotional materials for local bail-bond agent
Ed Mumbert. (In case readers are wondering, Mumbert was not Tausan's
bondsman in the Pink Poodle case--Tausan and club manager David
Kuzinich were held in custody for more than a year without the
possibility of bail.) Unfortunately for Eye, Tausan is on his
honeymoon and can't be reached. Assistant District Attorney Dave
Davies, a senior prosecutor who was involved in the case, insists that
Tausan's presence in front of the courthouse doesn't bug him. "He's as
free as I am," Davies waxes philosophic.
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/10.28.99/public-eye-9943.htm
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Steve Tausan
Sex Male
Nationality US American
Hometown San Jose, CA
Division Middleweight
won 3 (2 ko's) - lost 1 - drawn 0 - tot 4
http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=026935
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Lots of Lower Mainland strip clubs are owned by Hell's Angels or have
members and associattes working at them.
The College Place in New West has HA support crew members on staff as
bouncers. (J.R. Was Not Called Out).
The Turf has a Hell's Angel run amok policy, the Drake is owned by
them the Port Moody Inn might as well be owned by them. (The Port
Moody police never did solve that last parking lot shooting and Karl
the waiter deserves a shanking to the belly). The Penthouse has
frequent visits from members of the homosexual New West HA support
crew. Whatever happened to Tami :)
Extortion of strippers and prostitution are common. Of course the feds
don't seem to care since they helped organized crime bring in women
from Romania to work as strippers and prostitutes and undercut
Canadian women in this unchristian industry.