From: Times Standard
By Hunter Cresswell 6/9/16
One of the women who said she was sexually assaulted by an on-duty Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office sergeant returned to the stand Thursday morning.
Former Sgt. Jason Scott Daniels, 42, sat silently in court beside his two attorneys, Julia Fox and Steven Betz, as his trial entered its second day. Daniels — accused of sexually assaulting a woman during a search while responding to a disturbance along northbound U.S. Highway 101 near the 3000 block of Jacobs Avenue in Eureka, and groping a second woman’s breasts and making her pull down her pants during a search at a traffic stop on Samoa Bridge — faces two counts of felony sexual assault and one count of misdemeanor sexual battery. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Daniel’s first accuser, known as Jane Doe 1 to protect her identity, returned to the stand on Thursday after being taken to the hospital by ambulance during a Wednesday morning trial recess.
“I’m going through a detox program,” the 28-year-old woman said on Thursday. “I though it would be better for the case.”
Both Betz and the prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Brie Bennett, reviewed the early morning hours of Aug. 29, 2013 — during which, according to her testimony, Jane Doe 1 had an argument with friend Ruby Loureiro and a boyfriend that ended with Jane Doe 1 and Loureiro hugging it out near the highway before Daniels pulled up in his patrol vehicle.
Jane Doe 1 identified Daniels in the courtroom from the incident.
During the cross examination, Betz asked Jane Doe 1 if Daniels had touched her when she was riding in the passenger seat of his car during a courtesy transport.
“He was rubbing on my legs a bit and said how he sure would enjoy spending some time with me,” she said.
Betz then cited previous testimony from a preliminary hearing in which Jane Doe 1 said Daniels had never touched her in the vehicle.
“Do you have plans then to file a civil lawsuit in the future?” Betz asked.
“Yes,” Jane Doe 1 replied.
Betz asked Jane Doe 1 if she had prior contact with Daniel’s second accuser, Jane Doe 2.
“I’ve met her but just in passing,” Jane Doe 1 said. Jane Doe 1 said that they had talked about where to get drugs and about how to file a lawsuit, adding that neither mentioned the name of the person whom they wanted to sue.
Betz then asked if Jane Doe 1 thought that Jane Doe 2 might be copying her, but she said no.
The next to take the stand was Loureiro.
Loureiro identified Daniels in the courtroom from the incident. While Jane Doe 1 had said Daniel’s search of her body lasted two to three minutes, Loureiro told the court that it lasted six minutes.
“I noticed that he was shining a light at oncoming traffic,” Loureiro said.
Loureiro said that she couldn’t see where exactly Daniels’ other hand was, but that it was near Jane Doe 1’s backside.
Upon cross examination, Loureiro told the court that Jane Doe 2 is her cousin.
Daniels joined the sheriff’s office in 2000 and was made sergeant in 2011. He was placed on administrative leave the day before he was arrested by District Attorney’s Office investigators in October 2013 and separated from his employment with the sheriff’s office in February 2014.
