Week in review

A federal judge issued a $36.7 million judgment against Half Moon Bay Wednesday in a land deal dating back to the 1970s, forcing city officials into a special meeting last night to discuss the potentially crippling ruling.

Judge Vaughn Walker of the U.S. District Court for the Northern California District of California ruled in favor of the property owner Joyce Yamagiwa and issued the maximum penalty against Half Moon Bay. The lawsuit is the latest in the long history of legal action involving the 24-acre Beachwood property, which resides east of Highway 1 between Terrace Avenue and Grand Terrace.

The judgment for $36,795,000 represents the 2006 assessed value of the property, which the city will ultimately own once it completes payment. What they will do with the property at that point is unknown. However, that is the least the city’s problems.

The judgment is more than three times the annual city budget of approximately $10 million. That figure could rise to four times the annual budget once the city pays associated attorney fees.

Half Moon Bay has already spent $3 million over the last 15 years defending two associated lawsuits filed by Yamagiwa, according to a statement issued yesterday by the City Manager’s Office.

The property dispute has a long history dating back to 1976, when the city approved an initial tentative map for the property. That map expired in 1990 and another for residential development was approved. In 1993, Yamagiwa purchased the property on behalf of the Kennan Land Company and proposed development. At that time, the city issued a development moratorium due to the lack of available sewer capacity. When the moratorium was lifted in 1998, the Keenan Land Company proposed 85 homes on 28 acres east of the intersection of Highway 1 and Grandview Boulevard.

Man tries abducting teen girl

A man in his 30s driving a black BMW called out to a 14-year-old girl on the street yesterday morning and told her to get in the car, according to San Mateo police.

The victim was walking in the 500 block of N. Humboldt Street at around 8 a.m. when she noticed the suspect’s car in the middle of the street. According to police, as she passed by the occupant, a man described as clean shaven with a plump face and corn-rows in his hair, called out to her. The victim told him "no” and ran to school while the suspect drove away slowly.

The suspect’s car is described as an older, black four-door BMW with "white” scratches on the driver side door.

Mistrial in 18-year-old

Daly City murder case

A witness in the murder trial of Mohammed Monie, accused of prompting a teenage boy to kill a a 25-year-old Daly City man for his car parts nearly two decades ago, caused a mistrial while tesitifying Tuesday afternoon by referring to the defendant’s criminal record.

The unexpected wrinkle brought the trial to a halt less than two days after it began, leading Judge Stephen Hall to declare a mistrial and dismiss the jury at the request of defense attorney Connie O’Brien.

The prosecution objected to the move, arguing an admonition to the jury would be sufficient but Hall disagreed, said prosecutor Al Giannini.

The case doesn’t head completely back to square one — the pretrial motions decided by Hall, including the prohibition of information about Monie’s criminal history, will still stand — but attorneys won’t know when the trial returns for the second attempt until Dec. 4.

According to opening statements in the 40-year-old’s trial, Monie was either the murderer’s mastermind who ordered Rodriguez to shoot Perruquet or an innocent man identified by the admitted killer in hopes of avoiding prosecution himself.

Ironically, Rodriguez cannot be tried because in 1989 a 14-year-old could not be charged as an adult for murder and now at 33 he is past the 25-year age limit for juvenile inmates. Instead, Rodriguez will testify for the prosecution.

United dinged for

haz-mat violation

Holding hazardous waste at San Francisco International Airport without a proper permit is among the violations for which United Airlines is being fined more than $80,000, the California Department of Toxic Substances announced this week.

The DTSE announced yesterday an $85,000 consent order with United Airlines for hazardous waste violations discovered at its SFO Maintenance Operations Center during a routine inspection in October 2006. Under the terms of the order, United Airlines will pay an $81,300 penalty and a $3,700 reimbursement of DTSC administrative costs.

"It is essential that the airline industry abides by California’s hazardous waste laws and regulations in order to protect public health and the environment,” DTSC Director Maureen Gorsen said in a press release yesterday.

United Airlines released a brief statement yesterday through spokeswoman Megan McCarthy.