From the archives

Former All-Star baseball pitcher Vida Blue, 55, was arrested the week of March 20, 2005 in Scottsdale, Ariz. for investigation of driving under the influence after a minor traffic accident. Blue’s blood alcohol content level was not available and he was released several hours later.

The violation allegation was added to another Blue was scheduled to answer to the following Monday. Together, the two violations made it more likely that Blue would have to serve his original suspended sentence behind jail bars rather than picking up leaves on the side of the road.

On July 19, 2003, Blue was arrested on Highway 101 in the northern part of San Mateo County. Blue was in his car on the side of the road with the engine running, his foot on the brake and the emergency lights on, according to a California Highway Patrol report.

Blue, a former star with both the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics, told an officer he was returning home to Tracy from a function at Pacific Bell Park. Two sobriety tests pegged his blood alcohol content at .13.

On April 19, 2004, Blue pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated the previous summer. He was immediately sentenced to three years probation plus 20 days in the sheriff’s work program. He was also banned from locations that primarily sell liquor, such as bars. While on probation, Blue’s license was to be restricted to and from a place of employment, offender treatment or the sheriff’s work program.

Police investigate salon

A Millbrae salon and spa worker was being investigated for touching a man’s private area during a massage, police said the week of March 20, 2005.

Millbrae police spokeswoman Chris Co said the salon did not have a massage permit and had been under investigation for more than a year.

A male customer at Delite Salon Day Spa at 1615 El Camino Real in Millbrae alleged an employee there touched him inappropriately after a massage — then tried to charge him extra for it.

The customer refused to pay the extra money, police reported, and walked into the Millbrae Police Department to report the alleged incident without leaving his name.

A Delite employee who identified herself as Lee said salon employees gives shoulder and neck massages, but nothing more.

The salon gives haircuts, waxing treatments and $60 facials, but massages are not posted on its price list. Delite advertises private rooms and showers in a local weekly, and promises to be "best in relaxation.”

Man dies in police custody

A man died in the custody of San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office deputies after an altercation in which he was sprayed with pepper spray the week of March 20, 2005.

The man, 36-year-old Fernando Casares, was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

At about 2 p.m., sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the 300 block of Second Avenue in unincorporated Redwood City. A woman had called 911 and screamed into the phone for assistance while a man screamed in the background, Williams reported.

Deputies responded and Casares confronted them outside the residence, according to Williams. Casares allegedly charged toward the deputies and punched them in the face and head.

One or more of the deputies administered pepper spray, took Casares to the ground and handcuffed him.

Casares stopped breathing, which prompted deputies to call medical personnel to treat Casares for pepper spray exposure.

They began treatment and transported Casares to Kaiser Hospital in Redwood City where he was pronounced dead.

Gay marriage gets boost

A San Francisco County Superior Court ruled the week of March 20, 2005 to overturn a ban on gay marriage, and some San Mateo County supporters joined a rally in San Francisco.

Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer ruled there is "no rational purpose” for denying marriage to gay couples, and the ruling came in response to lawsuits filed by the city of San Francisco and 12 gay couples. A year prior, Mayor Gavin Newsom directed the city to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples before it was halted four weeks later by the California Supreme Court.

Kramer’s decision in part relied on Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 Supreme Court decision. "The idea that marriage-like rights without marriage is adequate smacks of a concept long rejected by the courts — separate but equal,” Kramer wrote.

He added, "The state’s protracted denial of equal protection cannot be justified simply because such constitutional violation has become traditional.”

Opponents of gay marriage from the Alliance Defense Fund said they would appeal the decision, and state Attorney General Bill Lockyer has said it is likely to be settled in the California Supreme Court.

San Francisco will still not issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

From the archives highlights stories originally printed five years ago this week. It appears in the Thursday edition of the Daily Journal.