LATHROP – Michael Berchtold, a former third-grade teacher at Joseph Widmer, Jr. Elementary School in Lathrop, has won a new chance at seeking justice and clearing his name.
A San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge has agreed to set aside his guilty plea to charges of lewd acts upon a minor under the age of 14 and will have a new trial in May.
Berchtold’s new attorney, Patrick Ewing Clancy, said his client won that second chance of proving his innocence because his former lawyer “failed to advise him” of the defense in the case. The judge agreed and made the ruling for the new court date, this time, before a jury panel.
“Once that (failure to advice) was shown, the (guilty) plea was set aside and now he’s going to trial,” said Clancy whose web site describes him as “100 percent dedicated to Criminal Law with an expertise in sex crimes defense.”
He expressed confidence that his client will be fully exonerated.
“I had four cases like this and won all of them,” said the founder of the Innocence Legal Team who works out of his Walnut Creek office but has “multiple offices” all over.
“He (Berchtold) came to me because he felt he had not been advised properly” during his first trial, Clancy said, explaining how he came to represent the former school teacher.
The judge’s ruling of setting aside a guilty plea is “significant,” he said.
“This is the first time in 35 years” that he has seen this happen in the more than three decades of his law practice, Clancy added.
“It doesn’t happen every day,” he said.
While the jury trial is set to begin in May, preliminary court dates are scheduled in April in preparation for the trial.
In July of 2009, under a plea deal he entered into with the prosecutors, Berchtold agreed to plead guilty to one count of lewd acts involving a minor in return for having all the other charges dropped. The deal was made the day before jury selection was to begin for his trial before the San Joaquin County Superior Court.
Berchtold was charged with two counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14 and three counts of annoying or molesting a child. Investigators with the Sheriff’s Department said there were three alleged female victims involved between the ages of eight and nine and were all attending Widmer School at the time of the alleged incidents. Berchtold was a third-grade teacher at Widmer at the time the allegations were made.
The case has polarized parents as well as students in the school district, particularly those who knew Berchthold personally as well as professionally. There were those who sided with the students and their families who made the allegations. But there were also those who firmly believed in Berchtold’s innocence, even going to the extent of pooling their money to raise the $225,000 needed to bail him out of jail after his arrest. The donors, who ranged from young teen-agers like Megan Chu who was a former student of Berchtold to senior citizens who knew the teacher’s family, all had to take time off to personally go to the Sheriff’s Office to drop off their donations.
Megan Chu, who was a freshman at Lathrop High School at the time of Berchtold’s arrest in 2008, even spearheaded a petition and a newspaper letter campaign aimed at seeking a “fair trial” for her former teacher with the hope of having his innocence proven in court.
Despite his guilty plea in court, Berchtold’s supporters remained fiercely behind him, said Chu’s mother, Angela.
Angela Chu told the Bulletin that Berchtold “still has the same supporters as before. People really believe in his innocence.”
As a result of the case going to trial, Berchtold, who was 32 at the time the allegations were made, lost his job with Manteca Unified where he has worked for all the seven years of his teaching career up to the time of his surrender to authorities. He is currently unemployed.
The allegations against Berchtold were made on the last day of school in 2008. Following those revelations, Manteca Unified Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Services Don Halseth said an investigation was launched and then scheduled meetings with the parents of the alleged victims the same week the allegations came to light. However, before any of those meetings could take place, Sheriff’s deputies with the Lathrop Police Services (the city contracts with the Sheriff’s Office for police protection) took over the investigation based on information they had about the allegations, said Halseth who currently holds the same position with the district.
Berchtold was initially placed on administrative leave with pay, but as the investigation continued, his employment with the district as a third-grade teacher at Joseph Widmer, Jr. Elementary School in Lathrop, was terminated.
Days after the allegations were made and the Sheriff’s Office started their investigation, Berchtold turned himself in to Sheriff’s authorities. His arrest was based on the initial charges of two counts of lewd or lascivious acts on a child under the age of 14, and three counts of annoying or molesting a child. The investigation revealed at least three female victims between the ages of eight and nine.
In addition to being a school teacher at Widmer School, Berchtold was “very active” in other youth programs in Lathrop including “youth sports and church youth programs,” according to a Sheriff’s report.
A San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge has agreed to set aside his guilty plea to charges of lewd acts upon a minor under the age of 14 and will have a new trial in May.
Berchtold’s new attorney, Patrick Ewing Clancy, said his client won that second chance of proving his innocence because his former lawyer “failed to advise him” of the defense in the case. The judge agreed and made the ruling for the new court date, this time, before a jury panel.
“Once that (failure to advice) was shown, the (guilty) plea was set aside and now he’s going to trial,” said Clancy whose web site describes him as “100 percent dedicated to Criminal Law with an expertise in sex crimes defense.”
He expressed confidence that his client will be fully exonerated.
“I had four cases like this and won all of them,” said the founder of the Innocence Legal Team who works out of his Walnut Creek office but has “multiple offices” all over.
“He (Berchtold) came to me because he felt he had not been advised properly” during his first trial, Clancy said, explaining how he came to represent the former school teacher.
The judge’s ruling of setting aside a guilty plea is “significant,” he said.
“This is the first time in 35 years” that he has seen this happen in the more than three decades of his law practice, Clancy added.
“It doesn’t happen every day,” he said.
While the jury trial is set to begin in May, preliminary court dates are scheduled in April in preparation for the trial.
In July of 2009, under a plea deal he entered into with the prosecutors, Berchtold agreed to plead guilty to one count of lewd acts involving a minor in return for having all the other charges dropped. The deal was made the day before jury selection was to begin for his trial before the San Joaquin County Superior Court.
Berchtold was charged with two counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14 and three counts of annoying or molesting a child. Investigators with the Sheriff’s Department said there were three alleged female victims involved between the ages of eight and nine and were all attending Widmer School at the time of the alleged incidents. Berchtold was a third-grade teacher at Widmer at the time the allegations were made.
Friends, former students raise $225K to bail teacher out of jail
The case has polarized parents as well as students in the school district, particularly those who knew Berchthold personally as well as professionally. There were those who sided with the students and their families who made the allegations. But there were also those who firmly believed in Berchtold’s innocence, even going to the extent of pooling their money to raise the $225,000 needed to bail him out of jail after his arrest. The donors, who ranged from young teen-agers like Megan Chu who was a former student of Berchtold to senior citizens who knew the teacher’s family, all had to take time off to personally go to the Sheriff’s Office to drop off their donations.
Megan Chu, who was a freshman at Lathrop High School at the time of Berchtold’s arrest in 2008, even spearheaded a petition and a newspaper letter campaign aimed at seeking a “fair trial” for her former teacher with the hope of having his innocence proven in court.
Despite his guilty plea in court, Berchtold’s supporters remained fiercely behind him, said Chu’s mother, Angela.
Angela Chu told the Bulletin that Berchtold “still has the same supporters as before. People really believe in his innocence.”
As a result of the case going to trial, Berchtold, who was 32 at the time the allegations were made, lost his job with Manteca Unified where he has worked for all the seven years of his teaching career up to the time of his surrender to authorities. He is currently unemployed.
Berchtold case background
The allegations against Berchtold were made on the last day of school in 2008. Following those revelations, Manteca Unified Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Services Don Halseth said an investigation was launched and then scheduled meetings with the parents of the alleged victims the same week the allegations came to light. However, before any of those meetings could take place, Sheriff’s deputies with the Lathrop Police Services (the city contracts with the Sheriff’s Office for police protection) took over the investigation based on information they had about the allegations, said Halseth who currently holds the same position with the district.
Berchtold was initially placed on administrative leave with pay, but as the investigation continued, his employment with the district as a third-grade teacher at Joseph Widmer, Jr. Elementary School in Lathrop, was terminated.
Days after the allegations were made and the Sheriff’s Office started their investigation, Berchtold turned himself in to Sheriff’s authorities. His arrest was based on the initial charges of two counts of lewd or lascivious acts on a child under the age of 14, and three counts of annoying or molesting a child. The investigation revealed at least three female victims between the ages of eight and nine.
In addition to being a school teacher at Widmer School, Berchtold was “very active” in other youth programs in Lathrop including “youth sports and church youth programs,” according to a Sheriff’s report.
