Cameramen awaiting San Leandro Councilmember Bryan Azevedo to emerge from federal court in Oakland in November.Vol. VI, No. 1,189
—Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, Andre Jones, David Duong and Andy Duong are scheduled to return to U.S. District Court this morning, as defense attorneys continue a sustained assault on the credibility of Mario Juarez — an East Bay political insider and former business partner of the Duong family — whose testimony is expected to be central to the government’s case this fall.
In a Jan. 29 court filing, attorneys for David Duong, the patriarch of California Waste Solutions, Oakland’s recycling vendor, label Juarez a “fraudster” and argue that a magistrate judge would not have found probable cause to search Duong’s home and electronic devices had Juarez’s background been fully disclosed.
The filing seeks to suppress evidence obtained by federal authorities following the June 2024 raids on Duong’s home and business.
According to the defense, once Juarez’s statements are removed, the search warrant affidavit relies on scant documentary evidence and fails to establish probable cause linking David Duong to any alleged scheme.
The attorneys argue Duong has met the legal threshold for a Franks hearing, which would allow the court to examine whether the affidavit contained false or recklessly misleading statements.
As in previous filings, the defense lays out an extensive case attacking Juarez’s credibility, alleging investigators were aware he harbored personal animus toward the Duongs, faced fraud charges related to the same transaction at issue, had prior arrests for theft and embezzlement, had been investigated for money laundering, and was accused in a police report just one month earlier of defrauding a business partner of $250,000.
The defense also argues that Special Agent Haunold acted recklessly by failing to conduct basic public-records checks on Juarez before relying on his claims. Attorneys further contend that a shooting at Juarez’s home was a “robbery gone wrong,” not a targeted attack, and that key facts surrounding the incident were omitted from the affidavit.
Had the magistrate judge been aware of Juarez’s history and the full circumstances of the shooting, the filing asserts, “the judge’s assessment of the affidavit would undoubtedly have been different.”
The defense notes that text messages, emails and phone records rarely mention or involve David Duong, arguing that the documentary evidence alone is insufficient to establish probable cause that he participated in any alleged scheme.
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