San Jose City Councilmembers and Civil Harassment Lawsuits

 

Within a span of little over 6 months, TROs (Temporary Restraining Order) filed through the SJ City Attorney’s Office for Councilmember Peter Ortiz and by the SJ City Attorney’s Office on behalf of Councilmember Bien Doan appeared in the news for public peruse and debate.  The civil harassment  lawsuits were against constituents who expressed strong statements against the councilmembers.  It is quite rare for elected officials to file harassment lawsuits against public/press criticism and rhetoric. 

Coincidentally, both of the TROs were approved by Judge Johanna Thai Van Dat of Santa Clara County Superior Court and subsequently struck down by Judge Eric Geffon. 

Peter Ortiz vs. Robert Saenz

In a Dec 2023 court filing, Peter Ortiz claimed Robert Saenz, a local blogger (East Side San Jose Times), harassed him with defamatory statements against his support of LGBTQ issues.  Ortiz claimed that the harassment caused him to be in fear of possible violence from right-wing extremists which might lead to physical harm to him and his girlfriend.   Judge Geffon dismissed the case in April 2024 citing that the harassment is nothing more than political speech protected by the First Amendment on a topic of public interest.  Furthermore, there was no evidence that Saenz’s statements constituted threats of anything other than political consequences.

As reported by the Davis Vanguard News, Saenz said: “Peter Ortiz misused his power and disrespected those who put him in office by trying to silence criticism from San Jose’s East Side community”

Bien Doan vs. Hai Huynh

The civil harassment lawsuit of Bien Doan vs. Hai Huynh was filed in March 2024 with SJC Councilmember Doan requesting a temporary restraining order prohibiting 300 yards of distance. Doan alleged that Huynh had threatened him on three different occasions and caused him to fear for himself and his parents.   He alleged that Huynh is a gangster, and his associates are known to commit violent crimes.  In the July 2024 two day court hearing in front of Judge Eric Geffon for a permanent restraining order, SJC Deputy Attorney Maren Clouse representing Doan and Huynh’s legal defense team of Minh Steven DoVan, Patrick J. Evans and Michael Luu tried to convince the court of their side of the story.  

He Said, She Said Incidents?

To establish a credible threat to be granted a permanent restraining order, Doan tried to show the court the recurring threats received and how they had jeopardized his safety.  His claim of three incidents were rebuked by Huynh’s legal defense team that they did not occur and had they happened, it would have been politically speech in nature.   On the first day of the hearing, Doan tried to paint the picture that Huynh is a criminal because of a criminal indictment (which was later dropped) while working for Bay 101 Casino more than 25 years ago. Doan also testified that Huynh in the past also had threatened Bryan Do, a campaign supporter advising Mayor Matt Mahan during the 2022 San Jose mayoral race, and June Tran, owner of Crema Café, also a strong supporter of Mahan.

12/18/2022 Phone Call

A December phone call between him and Huynh occurred where Huynh allegedly said in Vietnamese:” Don’t mess with my brother.”   The term was perceived to him as a threat.  Huynh showed cell phone records where no calls were made or received.  Doan did not show any evidence of any existing phone calls.

 Huynh however recalled a conversation with Doan on June 30, 2022, where Phuong (Peter) Nguyen, an aide to State Senator Dave Cortese, asked him to speak to Doan.  Phuong (Peter) told Doan that he had evidence that Doan might violate campaign finance law and he would expose him.  Doan threatened to sue Phuong (Peter) for libel at which Phuong was afraid and asked Huynh to help settle the dispute. 

9/12/2023 Paloma Café Meeting

According to the complaint, a September meeting was set up by David Duong, CEO of California Waste Solutions, at Paloma Café.  Doan alleged that Huynh told him in Vietnamese, “You better be afraid of me.”  Doan testified in court that he understood the statement to mean that he could or would cause Doan physical harm

David Duong was subpoenaed by the City as their star witness.   He testified that he had not talked to Huynh for over 8 years, but texted Huynh 3 times in September to arrange a meeting to discuss Huynh’s writing in an email group that his community organization, Vietnamese American Business Association ((VABA), has a close tie with the Vietnamese communist government.   He said they resolved their differences at the meeting and subsequently texted Doan to join them for he wanted to make peace between the two.  Doan and Huynh met and talked briefly at his behest, but he did not listen to the conversation since he had to step outside to take a phone call. 

When asked about Huynh’s reputation by City Attorney Clouse, he said Huynh is known as a “Godfather” figure for his criminal reputation.  When asked if he is afraid of Huynh, Duong laughed and said: “… everybody is afraid of Hai Huynh in the community except me because I am richer”

Huynh’s defense showed the meeting never took place on that date and even if it did, Huynh never said those words.  However, Huynh testified that he had text messages from Duong asking for a meeting on  June 30, 2023.  Duong took Doan with him and met with Huynh for over 40 minutes at Paloma Café but again no threatening language was used, according to Huynh. 

As a side note, David Duong and his son, Andy Duong,  are being investigated by the FBI, IRS and US Postal Services for possible illegal political campaign contributions. A grand jury has been convened to look at possible criminal charges based on documents and information obtained from a recent raid by search warrant of his house, his son’s house, and California Waste Solutions headquarters.  To further the legal drama,  Duong has recently filed a defamation lawsuit against Huynh for calling him a communist lackey.  The anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss the case will be heard on August 6 at Santa Clara County Superior Court.

Sept 2023 Flag- Raising Ceremony

Doan claimed that Huynh confronted him at a flag-raising ceremony in the Vietnamese Heritage Garden, San Jose, with finger-pointing and yelling at him. The video obtained showed no such confrontation.  The testimony from the ceremony organizer, Trieu Ha,  and one of the attendees, county supervisor candidate Betty Duong, also collaborated there was no such incident.

To support the unsubstantiated story, City Attorney Clouse subpoenaed Tara Dang as a last-minute rebuttal witness.  Dang is an aide to Mayor Matt Mahan who was at the ceremony with the mayor.  She claimed to have witnessed a heated argument between Doan and Huynh.  She could not hear the two men because she was too far away and also was in the process of leaving.

“No Sufficient Evidence to Sustain the Proof”

It took about 15 minutes for Judge Geffon to reach his decision of not granting the permanent restraining order.  He stated he did not believe that Huynh is a gangster as being portraited, especially with all the business licenses Huynh has (Real estate broker, tax prepare services, and bail bond).  He emphasized two things that helped his conclusion that the petition (Doan) was not in danger of physical threats and his safety was not jeopardized to warrant a restraining order.   

First, the texting between the petition and respondent on June 18, 2023, where Huynh told Doan not to tell people incorrectly that Huynh is a convicted criminal, if continues, he will sue for defamation.  And Doan responded: “I will advise the City Attorney and SJPD of your threats.” 

 The judge pointed out that this was almost 7 months after the alleged threat of “Don’t mess with my brother” which caused Doan to be in fear of his life.  Along with Doan attending a Feb 2024 campaign fundraising event for Betty Duong that Huynh organized and both sitting at the same table cordially, Judge Geffon concluded: “This is not a person who is walking fear of someone”

The second thing Judge Geffon noted: “One thing that stood out during the testimony was Mr. David Duong’s statement that everybody is afraid of Hai Huynh except me because I am richer.” This comment helped change the context of the alleged threats by Huynh.   To him, David Duong meant that people are perceived to be afraid of Huynh because of the wealthy businessman image he conveys and the political power that comes with it. Thus, whatever the alleged threatening comments by Huynh to Doan, if they happened, “… is not a threat to do bodily harm, a person would not show their wealthy side if they intend to physically harm someone”.  

 Anti-Communist Sentiment and Divided Politics

Huynh’s defense team tried to paint the alleged incidents have their roots in anti-communist political discourse between Doan, David Duong, and Huynh. 

Attorney Minh Steven Dovan spoke about the anti-communist sentiment in the community and how Huynh called out David Duong and his community group VABA for their close working relationship with the communist government.  The conspiracy Dovan tried to bring up but could not articulate because Judge Geffon did not allow it since he did not see the relevance to the restraining order hearing - Councilmember Doan is close to David Duong, which makes the anti-communist activists perceive him as a pro-Communist. The community does not like an elected official to be pro-Communist, especially one of their own.  This lawsuit is about silencing Huynh and his anti-communist rhetoric.  The strong support for such a claim was heightened when David Duong took a stand as the star witness against Huynh.

Huynh gave a short interview to San Jose Spotlight right after the hearing, he said: “I’m very happy. This is the right ruling. People tried to silence me because I tried to expose pro-Communists and pay-to-play in the city of San Jose for a long time.” 

San Jose Spotlight also reported that Doan declined their interview request.

Epilogue

The Vietnamese-American community in San Jose is active politically in their anti-communist stand and the vocal community activists are staunch anti-communist in their rhetoric.  Most elected officials are aware of such sentiment and trying to play to this by promoting the former Republic of Vietnam flag and declaring resolutions of not associating with the communist government.  David Duong in the last 15 years has been a thorn to the anti-communist activists for flaunting in the media his relationships with paramount communist leaders. The paradox of course is that Duong supported so many Vietnamese-American elected officials with generous campaign donations that in many ways, he is politically influential and considered a kingmaker in the community with his connections and lavish spending on politicians.

Attorney Dovan lamented in his closing statement that the Viet community is not united. He declared: “That is a fact” and the lawsuit is a microcosm of the ongoing division among members of the community, specifically the older generation who were in their 20s and 30s during the Vietnam War, on the anti-communist issue.

Even though the court hearing was only attended by a dozen people, one of the attendees who did not want their name disclosed noted poignantly: “The crux of the trial is more about political speech and the First Amendment from being abused and silent”.