Tuesday, November 18, 2008

1 case dismissed; lapse of time could void 3 others

By SUSAN HERENDEEN
sherendeen@modbee.com

last updated: September 08, 2008 11:59:13 PM

Mortgage fraud charges against three Modesto professionals probably won't make it to trial unless prosecutors prove that time is on their side, a judge said Monday.

Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Donald Shaver granted a defense motion dismissing charges against James Lee Lankford, owner of Century 21 Apollo, because the events in question took place in 1993 and 1999, according to prosecutors, and are governed by statutes of limitation that run four to six years.

The judge also invited new charging documents from the district attorney's office but warned that prosecutors must spell out why the charges are not banned by the lapse of time.

"If they don't amend it, it's a short case," said Shaver, who will consider further arguments Sept. 23.

Deputy District Attorney W.R. McKenzie said he will refile the case against Lankford, as well as co-defendants Den-nise Davis and Stelios Papadopoulos, by the end of the week. Attorneys for all three defendants were in court, but only Lankford's lawyer brought a challenge on the timing of the charges.

The authorities allege that Lankford arranged for his longtime friend Davis, an obstetrician, to purchase a $122,000 Modesto home from elderly widow Jewel Young in 1993.

According to an affidavit in support of arrest warrants, Davis used a $22,400 loan from Young to secure a bank loan, then took out another $22,400 loan from Young. Bank officials said Davis would not have qualified for the loan had they known the down payment was not coming out of her pocket.

Young died in 1995 at age 79. At that time, her affairs were handled by nephew Steven Harris, who held power of attorney for Young for two years.

Harris told the authorities that Davis contacted him in 1996, seeking to amend the terms of the first loan, but hung up when she learned that Young was dead. Davis stopped making payments, Harris said, and never returned his calls.

Three years later, Davis sold the home for $125,000, with Lankford's help. The authorities allege that Davis and Lankford filed fraudulent documents with the county clerk-recorder's office to erase the second loan from Young.

Documents filed with the county purported to be signed by Young, but she had been dead for three years. The documents were notarized by real estate broker Papadopoulos, who said he could not find records stemming from the transaction when investigators came calling.

Documents stashed in barn

Prosecutors claim jurisdiction over the aging case because Harris found loan documents earlier this year. They had been stashed in a barn, along with some Christmas decorations.

Lankford, Davis and Papadopoulos were arrested in late July and charged with forgery, grand theft, filing a false document with the county recorder's office, committing fraud relating to a deed of trust and making a false statement to a lending institution to obtain a mortgage loan.

Each posted $10,000 bail. They haven't entered not guilty pleas because their attorneys are trying to dismiss the charges before that point.

Prosecutors contend that the statute of limitations -- the four- to six-year period in which the authorities must file charges to retain jurisdiction over the case -- began when Harris turned the loan documents over to investigators.

Defense attorney Mary Lynn Belsher, who represents Lankford, argues that the clock started ticking as soon as Davis stopped making payments.

"If there were any crimes at all, the alleged victim certainly knew they had been committed and said nothing about them for at least 12 years," Belsher said in legal papers.

Bee staff writer Susan Herendeen can be reached at sherendeen@modbee.com or 578-2338.

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