Appellate court resurrects defamation suit against sheriff candidate Joe Moses.

There is a process in the Sheriff's Department if a deputy is suspected of a crime. It does not include calling a press conference and smearing the candidate, Scott Davis and Dan Mitchell, president of the Deputy Sheriff Association. Davis had just received the Deputy Sheriff Association's endorsement over the incumbent Sheriff Bernal. An investigation by the Ca Department of Justice found no merit to Moses' charges. Since Moses maintains that "what he did was right" he obviously does not know the rules of the Department that he wants to run.

Recently the appeals judges found that Moses et al. must pay Mitchell/Davis' attorney fees and the case must go to trial. Meanwhile the County taxpayers are covering the cost of defending Moses, a questionable decision by the Board of Supervisors. The Weekly did not emphasize any of these facts in its article. Investigative reporting by Royal Calkins ( Voices of Monterey Bay) and articles in the Monterey Herald give the straight story. Why is the Weekly (normally my go-to source) giving Moses an easy time, a photo op and a quote? We need integrity and reform in the Sheriff's Department, not more Bernal operatives and their lies.

Far and away Jeff Hoyne is the best selection. Unfortunately the big power behind the (D)’s and (R)’s are pushing 2 different candidates. I pray the people just do a little bit of research on all the candidates because the difference is crystal clear

I was not interviewed for this article. None of my co-plaintiffs were interviewed for this article. This article takes statements from the candidate without any scrutiny, that the appellate judges used to make their determination. The candidate was determined by 3 appellate court judges to have questionable ethics and use of evidence and the facts. These comments by the candidate in the article appear to be continued defamation.

I have to agree with the Courts…accusing your fellow coworkers in uniform of a felonious act in a public forum you know not to be true for your political gain and self serving needs is flat out pathetic!

The defaming with malice was all confirmed in a legal court in which Monterey County tax payers will be paying the attorney bill and heavy damages for these malicious acts.

Joe Moses should withdraw his candidacy and resign from the Sheriffs Office!

The appellate ruling did not merely rule "the lawsuit against Moses had enough legs to be heard in court." In a 16 page appellate ruling (unanimous ruling I might add) the 3 judge panel wrote ''(T)hey distorted the evidence in their hands in order to discredit Mitchell and Schneider and to derail Davis’ campaign for sheriff." In basic terms, they lied.

The mere fact that after all of the damage has been done Moses still has the gall to say he "would do it again" is disgusting. If he TRULY felt a crime had been committed he should have had a report taken and had it sent to his departments Internal Investigations division, all of which was never done. This is not something that should have to be explained to a Sheriff's Office Captain, who coincidentally was promoted AFTER these false allegations was made (I guess when you help your boss win an election a favor needs to be paid back?). One could only hope that Mr. Moses would see the error of his ways and apologize, however I can only imagine that he "will not dignify this with a response."