Judge tosses request for restraining order after Modesto sergeant misses hearing

Modesto’s roughly eight-month effort to get a restraining order against a man accused of threatening a police sergeant is over after the sergeant missed the court hearing.

The city filed for the order in mid-December after Modesto resident Adorthus Cherry allegedly threatened Sgt. Derrick Tyler at a November football game at Oakdale High School. Cherry and Tyler know each other.

Tyler — who was off duty — claimed in court records that during halftime Cherry threatened him as the two men walked past each other. “My last arrest, you set me up,” Tyler claimed Cherry said to him, according to court records. “You stopped me and then your boys came and arrested me.”

Tyler said he kept walking but Cherry followed him and screamed: “You’re a punk. I’m going to get you. I’m going to see you around. You’re a punk.” Cherry was charged in July of last year with cultivation of marijuana and possession of marijuana for sale. The case was dismissed last week at the request of prosecutors because of insufficient evidence, according to the Stanislaus County district attorney’s office.

The restraining order hearing was Tuesday in Stanislaus Superior Court before Judge John Freeland.

Senior Deputy City Attorney John Goulart said he was not able to reach Tyler by phone or email Tuesday before the hearing. Goulart said Freeland could not find good cause to reschedule the hearing because Goulart had not subpoenaed Tyler and could not explain Tyler’s absence. Goulart said he spoke with Tyler after the hearing and said Tyler told him he was off work and at the ocean.

Goulart said he had thought it was not necessary to subpoena Tyler and that he had notified Tyler about the hearing after the last court appearance on June 20. “I don’t want this all to be on Derrick Tyler,” Goulart said. “I should have given him a reminder the day before” Tuesday’s hearing. Tyler declined to comment.

The hearing had been rescheduled several times at the request of the defense. Goulart said the case also took time because of the difficulty Modesto initially had in serving Cherry with notice that it was seeking a restraining order, with sheriff’s deputies and then a private company going to his home several times. “We had a heck of a time trying to serve Cherry,” Goulart said. “He would not answer the door.”

Goulart said Modesto can refile its request for the restraining order. He has asked Oakdale police to do some follow-up investigation. Police arrested Cherry after the incident at the football game, and he has been charged with three felonies.

Cherry and Alonza Gradford — the attorney who represented him in the restraining order case – did not respond to requests for comment.

This story was originally published July 30, 2017 at 3:21 PM with the headline "Judge tosses request for restraining order after Modesto sergeant misses hearing."