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Brothers' records may be withheld from public

This story originally appeared April 9, 2004

The Bakersfield Californian | Thursday, Feb 15 2007 5:11 PM

Last Updated: Thursday, Feb 15 2007 5:11 PM

FRESNO -- An appeals court on Thursday appeared primed to overturn a local judge's ruling ordering the Bakersfield City School District to release a 1996 complaint against Fremont Elementary School Vice Principal Vincent Brothers, a suspect in the slaying of his family.

The three judges on the 5th District Court of Appeal in Fresno indicated at a hearing Thursday they believed there was not enough corroborating evidence that the complaint against Brothers was true to order its release under the California Public Records Act.

The panel is expected to issue a formal written ruling soon.

Kern County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Twisselman II in September ordered the district to release the documents and the district's investigation into allegations of violence, threats of violence and sexual misconduct by Brothers after The Californian filed suit to obtain the records.

Twisselman ruled that because the allegations were substantial in nature and the district investigation of them indicated they were "well-founded" they should be released to the public.

But the appellate justices -- Betty L. Dawson, Steven M. Vartabedian and Presiding Justice James A. Ardaiz -- Thursday indicated they felt otherwise.

"There has to be something there to lead you to believe that it is true," Ardaiz said.

Brothers was transferred from Emerson Middle School to Fremont the semester following the allegations, but the school district maintains that he was not disciplined. Newspaper lawyers have pointed to that transfer as a hint that the district took action against Brothers, even if district officials said it was unrelated.

The justices said there was no proof of that, noting that administrators are transferred all the time.

The records have not been released publicly, nor to Californian attorney Thomas Burke, and the justices noted that he faced difficulty arguing a case without the records.

"I realize that you are at a disadvantage because you are the only one here who has not seen (the records)," Ardaiz said to Burke. "So you'll just have to trust us -- and we're very trustworthy."

School district lawyer Urrea Jones made no presentation to the justices.

Thursday's hearing comes months after Brothers became a suspect in the slayings of his wife, three children and mother-in-law.

A family friend discovered the bodies of his wife Joanie Harper, 39; their children Marques, 4, Lyndsey, 2, and Marshall, 6 weeks; and Joanie's mother, Earnestine Harper, 70, in their central Bakersfield home on July 8. They had suffered gunshot and stab wounds.

Although a suspect, Brothers has not been charged in the case and continues to work for the district. He now works at the district's maintenance and operations office.