Estranged wife sues in truck-scratching case

Published online on Thursday, Dec. 03, 2009

By Pablo Lopez / The Fresno Bee
A city fire inspector has filed a claim against the city of Fresno and Fresno County, contending she was singled out when she was charged with felony vandalism for scratching her police-officer husband’s pickup truck during a verbal argument.
Shandra Rodems and her attorney, Jeff Hammerschmidt, said at a news conference this morning that the Fresno Police Department and Fresno County District Attorney’s Office have violated Rodems’ 14th Amendment right to equal protection under the law.
Hammerschmidt said the two agencies engaged in “selective police enforcement and selective prosecution” because Rodems’ husband, Kennan Rodems, is Fresno police officer.
He also said Shandra Rodems worked for the Fresno Police Department as a crime-scene technician, but left in August 2006 after she and other female employees complained about being harassed by male supervisors. To avoid a hostile work environment, Shandra Rodems took a $650-a-month pay cut to work for the Fresno Fire Department, Hammerschmidt said.
Each claim asks for damages in excess of $10,000. If the claims are rejected, Hammerschmidt said he will file a civil rights lawsuit on his client’s behalf.


Calls to the Fresno Police Department and Fresno County District Attorney’s Office this morning have not been returned. In a statement released this afternoon, District Attorney Elizabeth Egan said: “There is nothing out of the ordinary in the prosecution of the Rodems case.”
According to Hammerschmidt, Rodems admitted to police she used a key to scratch her husband’s pickup during an argument outside a north Fresno bank on May 4. She then offered to pay to repair the scratch on the truck — which is registered in her name, as well Kennan Rodems'.
But prosecutors wouldn’t let her pay for the repair, Hammerschmidt said. Instead, prosecutors are continuing their effort to convict Shandra Rodems on a vandalism charge, Hammerschmidt said.
Hammerschmidt, a former Fresno County deputy district attorney, said his client’s case is unusual because prosecutors typically don’t charge vandalism when it is the result of a domestic dispute. Instead, the guilty party is allowed to pay for the cost of the damage to avoid charges being filed, he said.
Hammerschmidt, who once worked as the attorney for the Fresno Police Department, also said vandalism is not a priority call with police. Usually, a police cadet or low-level police employee will listen to the victim’s vandalism complaint and write an incident report. In the Rodems case, a police officer began investigating 17 seconds after police dispatched received Kennan Rodems’ vandalism complaint against his estranged wife.
The District Attorney’s Office charged Shandra Rodems with felony vandalism, a crime with a penalty of up to three years in prison. In July, a Fresno County Superior Court judge reduced the felony charge to a misdemeanor, saying the criminal case doesn't warrant a prison sentence.
Judge Arlan Harrell also noted in his ruling that Shandra Rodems had no criminal record and had taken responsibility for her actions.
After the May 4 incident, the Shandra and Kennan Rodems filed for divorce. They remain separated.