By the Daily Post staff
An unsuccessful candidate for Santa Clara County Sheriff — who pledged to be “the supreme keeper of the peace and the people’s protector” if elected — has been charged with perjury for falsely certifying that she had the required experience to run for the elected law enforcement job, the District Attorney’s office announced today (June 16).
California law requires that candidates for sheriff have at least one year of law enforcement experience within the last five years. Anh Colton, 48, of Cupertino, has had no law enforcement experience in the last five years, according to the District Attorney.
Colton’s arraignment is expected to be later this summer. Perjury is a felony punishable by up to four years in the county jail.
“The qualifications for sheriff are not for show,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. “The sheriff oversees the safety of thousands of people, hundreds of deputies, and our jail. It is not a job for the inexperienced or incompetent.”
The DA said he was thankful the unqualified candidate did not affect the outcome of the election.
Colton, who received about 4% percent of the vote, did not make the runoff for the sheriff’s office. Because neither of the two leading candidates for sheriff received more than 35% of the total vote, it does not appear that Colton’s unlawful participation as a candidate in the election prevented any candidate from winning outright (receiving more than 50% of the votes) at the primary. Nor did it affect who will be the participants in the runoff election.
Earlier this year, the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigations began looking at Colton’s qualifications.
Numerous comprehensive checks seemed to show that Colton was not and had never been a peace officer. She swore – under penalty of perjury – that she had such experience in her official declaration.
When a DA investigator asked her about her law enforcement experience at her home in late April, she referred him to her campaign advisor.
In May, the investigator received an email from her campaign advisor saying that the investigator should stay away from Colton and she did not have to and would not answer his questions.
A Daily Post story on April 1 questioned whether Colton had the required experience for the job of sheriff. “It isn’t clear how Colton is qualified for the ballot,” the story said. She did not return calls for comment.
While she ducked calls from this newspaper and other news outlets, she said in her candidate statement, “Elect a community-focused Kingdom Sheriff like myself.”
State law did not permit the Registrar of Voters or the DA’s Office to remove Colton from the ballot.
This doesn’t warrant a prosecution. If the voters wanted to elect Ms. Colton, regardless of any lack of law enforcement experience or qualifications, that’s the right of the people to decide. If I understand correctly there is a minimum age and durational requirements for residency purposes to run for office, that’s all that matters. Is the DA trying to make an example of this outsider with a platform that doesn’t align with their agenda?
Who wants a liar for Sheriff? And yes, you do have to have actual experience. She sounds a little unstable.
Exactly.
The D.A. was very careful to wait until after the election. It is imperative that qualified individuals are in positions of our elections. Ms. Colton is an imposter and should be punished for her stupid representations.
Why do you assume the DA waited until after the election…how do you know Ms. Colton wasn’t threatened with charges or to drop out of the race before then?
Punished for stupid representations? How should we punish all those moronic politicians and public health officials who said we could stop a 0.1 micron sized virus with masks that can’t filter below 0.3 microns (assuming perfect fit and single use)…or by shutting down the economy and schools…or to continue taking boosters when the first two injections failed? Should they hang from trees?
Particle sized at 0.3 microns are the hardest to capture because they have sufficient mass and need to be stopped by impaction/interception, like a mitt catching a ball. A 0.1 micron particle has so little mass that it sticks to the same fiber, like a feather. This is why HEPA filters are rated base on particles at 0.3 microns. If a material can capture at 0.3 microns, it can easily capture at 0.1 microns.
So, health authorities made the perfect choice by selecting masks that filter at 0.3 microns.
Joe, you’re parroting a talking point the CDC put out in March 2021. But when scientists asked for the study or studies to back this up, the CDC had nothing. The masks don’t catch 0.1 micron molecules.