Livermore Veteran, Former Mayoral Candidate Accused Of Threatening Judge
MARTINEZ (CBS SF) -- A veteran who ran for mayor last year in Livermore has been charged with two felonies for allegedly threatening a judge, according to Contra Costa County court documents.
A criminal complaint dated July 9, the day before Joshua Laine's 34th birthday, includes one count each of criminal threats and threatening state officials or judges, specifically Judge Jill Fannin, who presides over a courtroom on the third floor of the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse in Martinez.
More information is expected to come out next week at Laine's preliminary hearing, scheduled for Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, bail has been set at $275,000 and as of Wednesday afternoon, court records indicated Laine remained in custody.
About 7,000 people voted for Laine in November, according to the Alameda County elections office. That's about 22 percent of the votes cast, but he lost by a landslide to incumbent John Marchand, who got the balance of the votes.
Laine's biography on his campaign's Facebook page says he's a graduate of Livermore High School and a former U.S. Marine who served multiple "tours of duty" prior to his honorable discharge in 2007. He also describes himself as a "devout supporter of citizen's rights first and government accountability."
He apparently represented himself in a lawsuit against the city of Livermore over an impounded truck, but a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals memorandum from 2017 found no merit to his claim that vehicle registration requirements are unconstitutional.
Likewise, Laine's claims that the city had violated the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and that the police officer who towed his truck "committed treason" also were found to have no merit.
Photos of Laine, as well as campaign materials, are still available on a Facebook page he set up for the election at https://bit.ly/2Spb7U3.
He was also featured in a 30-minute interview posted online by YouTube channel Unify Livermore, which is available at https://youtu.be/yUPYdM1zloI.
