Brain tumor wasn't related to arrest, Hayashi now says
Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi now says her brain tumor wasn't to blame for her 2011 shoplifting arrest.
The influence of a benign tumor was referenced by both Hayashi and her attorney after the Castro Valley Democrat pleaded no contest to taking nearly $2,500 in clothing from a San Francisco Neiman Marcus store without paying. Attorney Doug Rappaport revealed the condition after a January court appearance, saying it had impaired his client's judgment but was being treated and was no longer an issue.
Hayashi herself issued a statement after the plea deal saying her "medical condition may have complicated the situation."
Seven months later, Hayashi is walking back from those statements as she gears up to run for the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. She said in a recent interview with a Bay Area News Group that it was "too bad" her attorney mentioned the tumor at all.
"My health was certainly not a factor in anything that happened," she said.
Rappaport declined to comment on his earlier statement or his ex-client's interview, saying he hadn't read the article.
"I made hundreds of comments and I'm no longer her lawyer," he said.
<;MX| ><;MX| >CAMPAIGN WATCH
Leaders of good government and labor organizations Monday launched their fight against a campaign finance measure, Proposition 32, depicting it as unfair. It bans unions and companies from using payroll deductions for politics and ends candidate contributions by either group, although both could spend unlimited sums on independent expenditure efforts.
<;MX| >WORTH REPEATING
"I don't understand how the governor made any sense of this one. It's safe to say that I will not be attending graduate school anywhere in California."
HEIDI TEMPLE, Sacramento State senior, commenting via email about the elimination of hundreds of student assistants in state government, including herself
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.
Order Reprint
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.