Attorneys Make Court Appearance On Drug Planting Charges
SANTA ANA (CBS) — An Irvine couple charged with planting drugs in the car of a parent-volunteer at their son's school made their first court appearance on Monday.
KNX 1070's Ed Mertz reports Kent and Jill Easter were scheduled to enter pleas but asked for their arraignment to be postponed to August.
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Kent Wycliffe Easter, 38, and Jill Bjorkholm Easter, 39, were ordered back to court on Aug. 23 for arraignment.
Jill Easter's attorney, Paul Meyer said, it was "too early to comment" on the case, while Thomas Beinert, attorney for Kent Easter, agreed.
"Case is the initial stages, we're just starting to get together with the DA and talk about the case, so we're looking forward to gathering the information and moving forward," said Beinert.
Kent Easter has been a member of the State Bar since 1998, and his status is listed as "active", while Jill Easter is a registered attorney listed as "inactive" on the State Bar of California's website.
Neither of the attorneys have any record of discipline, according to the State Bar's website.
The Easters are charged with conspiring to put painkillers Vicodin and Percocet along with some cannabis and a pipe behind the driver's seat of the victim's vehicle, Deputy District Attorney Chris Duff said.
They were angry at the woman over how she was supervising their son at an elementary school, the prosecutor alleged.
The couple made cell phone calls and sent text messages to one another, as Kent Easter drove to the woman's home to plant the drugs in her unlocked vehicle just after midnight on Feb. 16, 2011, Duff alleged.
"We do believe the evidence is very strong," said Duff. "We have text messages between the two defendants during the time we believe the drugs were planted in the car, we have DNA evidence of both defendants on the marijuana and prescription drugs as well as the marijuana pipe that was found in the victim's car.
He also added "the victim's DNA was not on any of those items as well".
About 1:15 p.m. that same day, Kent Easter allegedly called Irvine police, gave a fake name and phone number and said he was a concerned parent who saw the woman's car being driven erratically at the elementary school.
Irvine police stopped the woman, who agreed to let police search her car and home, Duff said. Officers started to doubt the drugs belonged to the woman, and the investigation led to the Easters, Duff said.
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