Embattled former Vacaville lawyer James Glenn Haskell, charged with several child sex assaults, on the witness stand for a second day in Solano County Superior Court on Monday, called the day he was arrested “a horrible day.”
As he spoke in Department 25, Haskell’s face reddened as he teared up. Responding to defense attorney Thomas Maas’ questions, the 42-year-old defendant recalled going to Solano County Jail and the knowledge that “they’re taking my kids away.”
Haskell, formerly employed at Reynolds Law, faces 16 counts, felonies and misdemeanors, alleged crimes that occurred between October 2018 and up until early February 2022, when his four adopted children were removed from his home in Vacaville.
Additionally, allegations filed later in the case in September 2022 by Deputy District Attorney Shelly Moore, included four felony counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object while the victim, the oldest of three daughters, was unaware. Among the other counts are two felony charges for inflicting injury on a child. (The Reporter typically does not identify victims of sexual abuse or sexual assault.)
Haskell, who remains out of custody on bail, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
As he continued to testify during the afternoon session, Haskell confirmed that Solano County Sheriff investigators on Feb. 3 at a Vacaville high school questioned him about his using a belt to punish his adopted son.
“I told them that I had recently spanked (the boy) twice” beforehand, he told Maas.
Confirming previous testimony, Haskell, a former bishop in a Mormon church ward in Vacaville, also recounted that, on Feb. 4, the following day, he met with friends Scott and Kristin McKenzie, telling them the reports at that time were “a devastating misunderstanding” and “I just want to get our family back together again.”
He later met with Maas at the criminal defense attorney’s Fairfield office and also testified that he had asked Scott McKenzie to write “a character letter” on his behalf, telling the couple that Maas told him, “It would be helpful.”
Days later, on Feb. 10, he testified that he appeared for the first time in dependency court, part of the Superior Court in which a judge hears cases about children who are abused or neglected.
It was in dependency court, Haskell said, that he first learned of allegations of physical injury, he allegedly used a belt to punish two of the children, severely bruising them as photo evidence showed.
After reading reports and the allegations at the time, he said they were fabricated and he began to question his “parenting,” adding, “I decided I needed to right these wrongs.”
A few days later he sought out a parenting class, said Haskell, where he learned, he added, “Not to confront the kids” with perceived lies and “bad acts.”
Throughout most of the morning session, Maas devoted his direct questioning to contradicting prosecution witness testimony about entering the oldest daughter’s bedroom room without knocking while she was dressing, among other things. The defense also showed several photos of children at a summer horse camp, a trip to Hawaii, and a trip to Sea World in San Diego, the latter two trips showing smiling and seemingly happy children.
Haskell also testified about catching two of the children in lies about their actions and taking the smartphone away from his second-oldest daughter, an eighth grader in 2021, who, he said, had “dicey” text messages on it and photos of certain body parts.
“Did you sense danger after examining the messages?” asked Maas.
“Yes,” said Haskell.
Moore, sometimes talking beyond the limits of a question’s expected answers, frequently throughout the day’s testimony objected to “narrative.” Judge Janice M. Williams sustained those objections.
He admitted to using a belt to strike two of the children, the boy and the second-oldest daughter, as punishment for lying, for being disobedient, or, in the case of the boy, for harming the youngest daughter and the youngest of the four children.
During the afternoon session, Maas showed a video of a family gathering on Christmas Day 2021, when they opened presents, and Haskell remembered it as “a happy day.”
He denied ever forcing the boy and second-oldest daughter to sleep on a bathroom floor, contradicting previous testimony, including some from one of the children. And Haskell also said he did not push the second-oldest daughter onto a pavement, leading to an abrasion as seen in photos shown on other court days.
Additionally, Haskell said the boy would harm himself, including “throwing himself against the wall,” jumping up and slamming down on his legs, and grabbing his hair and pulling it up and off his head.
Reportedly now unemployed and living in Southern California, Haskell posted $240,000 bail in May 2022.
Moore filed an amended criminal complaint in September, adding five more counts, including the four felony charges alleging sexual abuse and one misdemeanor charge alleging physical abuse of a young victim and two of the victim’s siblings.
Moore’s revised complaint also indicated the children were “particularly vulnerable” and alleged that the manner in which the crime was carried out “indicates planning, sophistication, or professionalism”; Haskell “took advantage of a position of trust or confidence to commit the offense”; and the allegations “constitute additional aggravating factors.”
In court on Sept. 15, 2022, Haskell again pleaded not guilty to the added charges.
If convicted at trial, he faces two life sentences and will be required to register as a sex offender.
Court records show that Haskell was arrested by Solano County Sheriff’s deputies on a warrant issued May 3, 2022.
He posted $170,000 bail on May 4. Court records also show that he was arrested again, on May 5, when he posted additional bail of $70,000.
On May 4, Haskell also was subject to a criminal protective order, prohibiting him from having any contact with four youths listed in the order.
The trial will be recessed Tuesday because a juror has a prior commitment. It will reconvene at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, the 18th trial day. However, the attorneys, beginning at 10 a.m. Tuesday, will meet with the judge to review jury instructions for a second time.
On Wednesday, Moore likely will begin her cross-examination of Haskell, and Maas likely will respond with some more questions on redirect.
It remains unclear when the attorneys will present their closing arguments and when jurors will begin deliberations, but, at the current pace of proceedings, the trial could possibly continue after the three-day Memorial Day holiday.