Oxnard-- The story about the city council passing an amended Just Cause Eviction & Tenant Protection Ordinance and Rent Stabilization Ordinance in the city, April 13, continues with Mayor Pro Tem Bryan MacDonald saying that raising the burden of proof to beyond a reasonable doubt for an eviction if someone is acquitted of charges for alleged criminal activity isn’t right.
“BEYOND a reasonable doubt is a very high standard,” he said. “To me, the DA doesn’t file the charges; it’s because they can’t meet that standard or don’t believe they can meet that standard which is much higher than a civil nuisance preponderance of guilt, which is 50 percent plus one.”
He said when you look at the codes, there are nuisance codes under the penal code and codes under the civil code, and they’re almost identical.
“Except, one would require 50 percent plus one for a finding of fault or responsibility,” he said. “The other one would be beyond a reasonable doubt, which would be somewhere up around 85-90 percent for a criminal culpability finding. It seemed like having two different standards for almost the exact same code.”
Assistant City Attorney Jason Zaragoza said a criminal violation would…
