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Former Hollister code enforcement officer Desiree Martinez has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge that she accessed and altered without permission computer software and programs belonging to the Hollister Police Department.
Neither District Attorney Joel Buckingham nor Hollister Police Chief Carlos Reynoso would discuss why Martinez would do what she is accused of doing.
Martinez was arranged April 29 and is scheduled to appear in San Benito County Superior Court on May 26 for a pre-trial conference.
Her attorney says she denies any intentional wrongdoing or interference with the city’s data.
According to the district attorney’s complaint, which was filed on March 9 and outlines the charges, Martinez added, altered, deleted and destroyed data on Oct. 14.
Reynoso confirmed Martinez served the department as a code enforcement officer and that her last day of employment was Sept. 2. He said she resigned after taking a job in another city.
Reynoso said she served in a non-sworn public safety position that supports police operations focused on non-hazardous situations such as property and vehicle enforcement, records, parking enforcement and community service functions.
He said he could not discuss what information Martinez allegedly erased and how it impacted the department because it is an ongoing criminal investigation.
Buckingham said Martinez erased about a month’s worth of data in a shared Google document. He said she faces restitution as a potential sentence, which includes the cost to potentially recover the data. That cost is not yet known, he said.
Buckingham referred BenitoLink to the police department for additional information regarding the case.
Martinez’s attorney, William Pernik, said his client denies any “intentional wrongdoing or interference with the system” and added that she was a valued and well-respected employee.
“The police decision to scapegoat Ms. Martinez is not the right answer,” Pernik said. “This law was not designed to go after former employees who create Google or Microsoft documents on personal devices and then delete them upon departure. It was designed to prosecute hackers and those who intentionally breach or tamper with data systems.”
Pernik said Martinez left her job after changes were made in management and work environment, and that the real issue was a lack of proper policy and procedures “on creation, management, and storage of data, which is something that should be handled at employee onboarding, or the exit interview—not the courthouse steps, at public expense.”
According to Martinez’s LinkedIn account, she had worked for the city of Hollister as a code enforcement officer since 2014.
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