How Judge Escalante Tipped the Scales So an Illegal Alien Won $6.7 Million Judgment Against Innocent No-kill Shelter

With the ongoing focus on illegal immigration, I would like to amplify my report of the story of illegal alien, Adriana Duarte Valentines, from Lancaster, CA.

Although illegal, and though she committed fraud to get employment, Duarte won a judgment for $6.7 million against D.E.L.T.A. Rescue—short for Dedication and Everlasting Love to Animals—the world’s largest “no-kill, care-for-life” animal sanctuary.

Duarte’s criminal conduct has been rewarded by the American legal system, and in so doing, it has punished one of the most heralded, pioneering, and compassionate no-kill animal sanctuaries in the United States.

Adriana Duarte Valentine’s legal achievement was possible by the support of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kristin S. Escalante, who used her courtroom to advocate for undocumented immigrants getting preferences over Americans. 

A Trail of Deception

Adriana Duarte Valentines entered the United States 22 years ago illegally. She came from Mexico with her husband, Raul Lopez, and her son, Raul Jr. – who also entered illegally.

While in the US, Lopez and Duarte had two more kids. In addition, Duarte also had another child with a lover.

Ironically, it was the birth of her lover’s child that allowed Duarte to sue DELTA Rescue with the claim that the not-for-profit did not do enough to accommodate her when she was pregnant. She won a $6.7 million judgment with the help of Judge Kristin Escalante.

Duarte gets off to a False Start at DELTA

In June 2017, Duarte secured a $15-per-hour job as caretaker of cats at DELTA’s 115-acre mountaintop sanctuary in Acton, California.

She told the DELTA she was a U.S. citizen and provided a fake Social Security number. She told the management that she had worked for years in rural California as an agricultural worker harvesting lettuce.

DELTA management, which employs 35 workers, most of whom are Mexican, did not verify her past employment in the lettuce fields. If they had, they would have discovered that she never picked a head of lettuce in her life.

Capitalizing on Opportunities

Nevertheless, Duarte saw opportunity  at DELTA. She observed that the sanctuary, which rescues dogs and cats abandoned in the forest and desert, had a heartfelt mission to protect animals. She also observed that nobody would notice if she put a bag or two of cat food in her truck. If anybody saw it, she could explain she was taking it offsite to the DELTA cattery on the road leading off the sanctuary to her house.

If perhaps she failed to drop the giant bags of cat food at the cattery but took it home, the only one who would notice was her husband, Raul Lopez. He was not likely to object.

Duarte also observed there was dog food—premium dry and canned—for the hundreds of dogs at DELTA.

Since no one checked what she had in her truck, she began transporting cat and dog food, janitorial supplies, and paper goods offsite.

Supporting the Local Economy

Sources familiar with Duarte told Frank Report that she stole over $300,000 worth of supplies during the two and a half years she worked at DELTA. 

Reports indicate Duarte became a supplier of dog food—canned and dry—to Mexicans who raise and train pit bulls for fighting.

To load up her truck and steal as much as possible, it behooved Duarte to put in as many hours as possible – including after the sanctuary closed. She soon attracted the attention of the overnight horse caretaker, Jorge Avalos, who lived onsite.

A Romantic Interlude

Duarte began to visit Avalos in his trailer. She could log extra hours in his trailer when no one was looking (charging DELTA for those hours) – and if the cats went without care for a few hours now and then, they would survive.

Passion grew, and beneath the stars in an animal sanctuary on a hill, Duarte surrendered her marital chastity to the horse caretaker. She found it easier than anticipated, leading some to speculate that she had surrendered it more than once to other workers onsite.

But Duarte enjoyed the horse caretaker, Jorge Avalos. Perhaps it was because, Avalos had his own trailer where she could relax, unbend, unwind, and bill DELTA for the time.

Avalos, a gentle-speaking man who enjoyed her full-figured appearance, unlike others, did not find Duarte, dressed in speedos with her belly flowing over the elastic waistband, as anything but gorgeous.

The Tipping Point

Duarte had to hide her ever-increasing volume of stealing from DELTA, and hide her lover from her husband.

She explained to her husband that she needed to stay late to steal more from DELTA and bill more hours, which was true. He did not suspect a thing.

Then, it all fell apart.

One night in May, when Avalos unprotected delved and Duarte spanned, they conceived a child. This posed a problem.

Duarte faced the challenge of hiding her pregnancy from DELTA, as the organization prohibited pregnant women from working in the catteries due to the risk of contracting toxoplasmosis—a disease linked to handling cats that can lead to infections, illness, miscarriages, and birth defects.

Leo Grillo, the founder and president of DELTA, heard rumors suggesting Duarte might be pregnant. He instructed a staff member to discreetly inquire.

Duarte, however, denied her pregnancy.

When asked why he didn’t approach Duarte directly, Grillo explained, “You don’t want to tell an obese woman that she looks pregnant.”

Tensions escalated when Duarte abruptly left work on January 31, 2020. The following day, February 1, she texted her manager, Stephen Spears, stating she had an emergency and would be absent the next day. Spears responded with, “How come?”, but received no reply.

In Duarte’s absence, Spears asked Rosabel Carillo to cover her shift. On February 2, 2020, while Carillo was at Duarte’s assigned location, she notified the manager that inventory needed to be ordered. Spears found it peculiar.

Carillo ordered less inventory for an entire week than Duarte typically consumed in a single day. Spears then informed Grillo about the discrepancies. Grillo realized Duarte had been stealing.

The Fallout of a Hidden Pregnancy

On the same day, Duarte emailed Grillo, admitting she was pregnant.

“Excuse me for not doing things right. I am having my baby. I said nothing … I felt able to continue working … I don’t want days off.” Grillo replied, wishing her well but reiterating that pregnant women could not work with cats due to safety concerns.

Two days later, on February 4, 2020, Duarte emailed Grillo again, stating she had given birth, arranged daycare, and was ready to return to work.

Grillo’s response on February 5 was blunt: “The fact that you lied to us already discredits anything else you say.”

Duarte’s husband, Raul Lopez, reacted poorly to her pregnancy. He confronted Duarte’s lover, Jorge Avalos, at a convenience store, leading Avalos to flee the scene in his truck. Lopez pursued him.  Avalos narrowly escaped serious injury or death by hiding in the bushes near his trailer.

Lopez’s aggressive behavior forced Avalos to leave the U.S. for the safety of Mexico.

After her hospitalization, Duarte found herself devastated—having lost her lover, her husband, her job, and her income from theft. In the aftermath, she sought justice for the wasteland her life had become.

Seeking In-Justice: Duarte’s Legal Battle

Determined to seek justice, Duarte sought out a lawyer widely regarded for his unscrupulous reputation: Jacob A. Nalbandyan. She drove 90 minutes to Studio City to hire him, motivated by his notorious ability to game the legal system—rumored to carry judges like so many nickels and dimes in his pocket.

Nalbandyan promptly filed a lawsuit on her behalf, asserting that she was “embarrassed, ashamed, emotionally broken, and in financial desperation.” The lawsuit included several causes of action, highlighting the ways she wanted a jury to believe her rights had been violated:

Pregnancy and/or National Origin Discrimination in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA)

Disability Discrimination in violation of FEHA

Retaliation in violation of FEHA

Pregnancy Disability Leave Retaliation

Wrongful Termination in violation of public policy

Failure to Provide Reasonable Accommodations in violation of FEHA

Failure to Engage in the Good Faith Interactive Process in violation of FEHA

Failure to Grant Pregnancy Disability Leave

Failure to Reinstate

 One-Sided Rulings

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kristin Escalante made her bias clear by calling Grillo a racist in front of the attorneys, although this comment was not made in the presence of the jury.

Her rulings systematically favored Duarte, ensuring that DELTA had little chance of mounting an effective defense.

Key evidence was excluded from the trial. Notably, the jury was not allowed to hear that the child was conceived on DELTA property, specifically in a trailer, nor was it permitted to know that Duarte had neglected her duties to enjoy an affair with her lover. Additionally, evidence regarding Duarte’s claims for unpaid overtime for hours spent in Avalos’s trailer was barred.

Judge Escalante also prohibited the defense from informing the jury that DELTA Rescue is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing lifelong care for abandoned animals, such as dogs, cats, and horses. Furthermore, the jury was unaware of DELTA’s 45-year history as the world’s largest no-kill sanctuary or its pioneering contributions to animal welfare.

The judge also restricted the defense from revealing Duarte’s undocumented status or her use of a fake Social Security number to secure employment. The jury was also not informed that Duarte falsely claimed to be a migrant worker who picked lettuce in the fields.

Perhaps most critically, the jury never learned Duarte had doubled her pay through the theft

A Show Trial: Judge Escalante’s Biases on Display

Judge Escalante allowed Duarte’s attorney, Jacob A. Nalbandyan, to create a two-minute video of clips of Grillo’s deposition.

At his deposition, two years after the lawsuit began, Grillo, concerned about how a thief who stole the animals’ food, had sued the sanctuary, called Duarte a “bimbo,” because of her onsite affairs, spoke of how he did not know she was pregnant because she was “obese” and called her a “lettuce picker” because that was what she told DELTA she had done in the past.

Nalbandyan’s short video, which was presented piecemeal, out of order, and devoid of context. focused solely on Grillo calling Duarte a “bimbo,” “obese” and a “lettuce picker.”

Throughout the trial, Judge Kristin Escalante allowed the playing of the video. These clips, recorded two years after Duarte’s termination, had no direct connection to the events surrounding her dismissal. Remarkably, the video was played daily, including 24 times on the day Grillo took the stand.

Judge Escalante also permitted Nalbandyan to highlight Duarte’s emotional state to the jury. Dressed in black and crying, Nalbandyan repeatedly touched her shoulders and offered comfort as she sobbed loudly in the courtroom. At one point, he urged the jury to award “ten million dollars for every tear” she had shed and would shed in the future.

In a further display of theatrics, Duarte brought her four-year-old daughter to court, dressed in rags. Nalbandyan dramatically carried her in front of the jury.

Judge Escalante was aware of the emotional impact this would have; one juror even brought a gift for the child.

During closing arguments, Judge Escalante allowed Nalbandyan to call Grillo racist and sexist, claiming Grillo minimized the significance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy.

Nalbandyan compared Grillo to a scorpion, stating, “Vicious people cannot resist hurting others,” and told the jury that Grillo would claim the paralyzed actor Christopher Reeve was faking injuries, just like he claimed Duarte was faking hers.

A Flawed Verdict: The Case for a New Trial

The trial was rife with prejudicial error, irregularities in proceedings, misconduct, and consequently the inflamed jury awarded Duarte:

• $16,002 in wages,
• $180,950 in past economic damages,
• $5,000,000 in past non-economic damages,
• $500,000 in future non-economic damages, and
• $1,000,000 in punitive damages.

Judge Escalante will rule on post-trial motions by February 10, including a potential reduction or overturning of the $6.7 million award. If the verdict stands, D.E.L.T.A. Rescue will face significant challenges that could jeopardize its ability to take in many of the animals that illegal aliens abandon at the border.

Grillo has vowed to protect the animals already in DELTA’s care no matter what happens.

However, the financial challenges presented by Duarte have prevented DELTA from taking in hundreds of rescue animals from US Border Patrol.

See also:

Illegal Alien Wins $6.7 Million Judgment Against No-Kill Animal Sanctuary – Uses Fake Social Security Number

How an Illegal Alien Endangered the World’s Largest No-Kill Care-For-Life Sanctuary

Frank Parlato

Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist, media strategist, publisher, and legal consultant.

Frank Parlato

Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist, media strategist, publisher, and legal consultant.

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