Friday, March 2, 2007

D.A. Opens Accusation Investigation

By Daryl Kelley
Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten confirmed Friday that he has begun an investigation into an anonymous phone message circulated Thursday that accused Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett, who represents the Ojai Valley, of harassing county employees.
“We're going to try to get to the bottom of this,” Totten said in an interview. “A section in the (law) restricts automated calling systems in a rigorous way...And the penalty is $500 per violation.”
That means that whomever circulated the anti-Bennett message could face a huge fine, he said, since many county residents received the calls. Between 10 and 20 residents called his office to complain, Totten said.
“Without exception they were upset that someone would call and leave such a message.”
It is against state law to circulate a recorded message without a live person being on the line before the message begins, so the recipient can decline to hear the message, the top prosecutor said.
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I was wondering about this! I received the message, too. There was no indication of who funded it and I thought that was a requirement.