Law

Chemehuevi Tribe wins decision barring county from citing members

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

An officer with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department makes a traffic stop. Photo from Twitter

A federal judge has barred authorities in San Bernardino County, California, from citing members of the Chemehuevi Tribe for incidents that occur on a disputed parcel of land.

The tribe filed suit in July 2015 after its members were cited by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department for allegedly violating the state's motor vehicle laws. Some of the stops were made on a parcel of land known as Section 36.

The county responded by arguing that Section 36 isn't Indian Country but Judge Dolly M. Gee noted that the parcel is completely surrounded by the reservation. As a result, she said the tribe "raised at least serious questions" about the status of the land and whether the state has jurisdiction there.

While Gee did not resolve the Indian Country issue in an August 16 ruling, she issued a preliminary injunction that bars the county sheriff from "citing, arresting, impounding the vehicles of, and prosecuting Chemehuevi tribal members" on Section 36 while the case proceeds.

"Here, plaintiffs face the threat of continued citation and prosecution by San Bernardino County officials," Gee wrote in the 16-page decision. "Indeed, plaintiffs present evidence that defendants have cited and prosecuted several Chemehuevi Tribe members for violations of the California Vehicle Code while on Section 36. Allowing defendants to exercise state jurisdiction over Chemehuevi tribal members in Section 36 would lead to a likelihood of 'irreparable injury vis-à-vis the tribe’s sovereignty.'"

As part of the injunction, Gee ordered the county not to pursue charges against two members who were stopped in Section 36. One of them, Chelsea Lynn Bunim, had her car impounded and her mother had to pay over $500 to retrieve it, according to the complaint filed last year. She incurred more than $1,800 in legal expenses trying to defend herself from what she contends was an illegal stop.

In the second case, Tommie Robert Ochoa also had his car impounded after being pulled over by the same deputy who stopped Bunim.