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Ramona Gatto, however, remains convinced that her ex-husband, spurred by Fox, sued because he found out she was a lesbian, and that Fox violated her privacy rights by passing on the information. Fox, for his part, denies he's a homophobe.
"There was an incident that required the police to respond," Fox says, after a small exasperated sigh, in a phone interview. "We believed it was a situation where her daughter could be in danger, because off-duty officers carry guns. I did this solely out of concern that the father might want to know about his daughter. The police report was not confidential -- it's public. Those reports are never confidential."
Still, Ramona Gatto says, Fox stepped beyond the duties of his office and abused his powers. "He never saw the report, so it wasn't part of his job. It was like locker room talk: 'Dude, you know that chick? She's a lesbian.' You've got to remember: When you feel a certain way religiously, and you find out years down the line that you had a lesbian in your home, you're not going to be a happy camper."
Moreover, Ramona Gatto argues, Fox's position as the top county prosecutor makes him a so-called mandated reporter; that is, someone who is required to tell child welfare authorities if he thinks a child is at risk. If he was really acting out of concern for her daughter, Ramona Gatto asks, why didn't Fox inform Child Protective Services instead of her ex-husband?
In answer to this question, and several others, Chief Assistant Attorney General of California Robert Anderson reviewed the court documents and ruled that Fox is, in fact, not a mandated reporter because he is not a sworn peace officer. (Child Protective Services, as a matter of routine, did eventually investigate the incident and concluded that Marina Gatto was in no danger.) In a letter sent to Ramona Gatto last November, Anderson said Fox and Pitt were free, under the Public Records Act, to release information contained in the police report to Timothy Gatto.
"The Public Records Act does not prohibit the voluntary release of unrestricted public information," Anderson wrote. "Mr. Fox and Mr. Pitt simply violated no laws when they released the information from the police report to Mr. Gatto. ... Determining whether their assessment of the risks to your daughter was correct or whether their actions were morally justified is beyond the jurisdiction of this office.
"These men broke no laws."
Ramona Gatto's home, which she retained after her divorce, lies midway down a quiet residential street in San Carlos. It stands out among the neighbors': Huge gay pride flags, which Gatto says have been the target of vandalism and attempted arson, flutter proudly from the eaves, and the interior continues the rainbow theme with streamers and bunting. Oversize boxing gloves and championship belts are on display, interspersed with pictures and knickknacks from Gatto's numerous trips to Hawaii, along with several stacks of paper -- including media-ready biographies of the family -- that indicate just how completely Gatto's life changed on an early June morning four years ago.
She was sleeping in bed, just around the corner from the living room where she now sits, with her then-girlfriend, an off-duty police officer from Palo Alto named Jean Bready. According to the police report -- which, as with everything about this story, has itself become the object of much confusion and argument -- Ramona was awakened at about 5:30 a.m. by 11-year-old Marina's knock on the door. When Ramona opened it, Lisa Frazer, Gatto's lover and an off-duty cop from San Francisco, burst into the room and walked to the bed, where Bready lay naked under the covers. Frazer allegedly pulled the covers off, dragged Bready out of bed, threatened to kill her, and told her to "get the fuck out."
"These two chicks disliked each other immensely," says Ramona Gatto, with considerable understatement. "And I really was concerned when one of them wanted to document it."
Later that day, Bready, the Palo Alto officer who'd stayed the night in Gatto's bed, filed a police report with the San Carlos Police Department, alleging she'd been the victim of battery and threats by Frazer, the SFPD officer. Bready also reported receiving, prior to the morning in question, threatening pages and instant messages from Frazer, including one that pointed Bready to Frazer's online profile and her personal quote: "Don't touch what is not yours. ... Violators will be shot." Frazer later told police she didn't mean anything by it and never threatened to kill Bready, as Bready claimed in the police report. (Bready didn't return phone calls seeking comment for this story; Frazer declined to comment.)
When Ramona Gatto arrived at the San Carlos police station to answer some questions later on the day of the incident, she asked to speak with a female officer, and Sgt. Sandra Spagnoli took her statement. Although Gatto says she was promised the report would remain confidential -- ostensibly to protect the identities of those involved in a sex offense -- San Carlos officers, in sworn court testimony, say otherwise. They testified that they knew Gatto wasn't sheltered under California Penal Code 293, which protects the identities of sex offense victims, but not witnesses, and told her only that they would do what they could to keep the report confidential.
