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Martinez · Courts · Wed Sep 30

Grade C, score 55 of 100 · open the full fact check 1 independent source checked · single-source check

“Walnut Creek Woman, Former Airline Pilot Convicted In Child Sexual Abuse Case”

Headline as Claycord wrote it

Story guide: details named in the linked reporting

What the reporting says

ContraCosta.news reports: “Martinez, California – Separate juries in Contra Costa Superior Court convicted Rustom Bhagwagar and Jennifer Spitz Powell on all charges related to the repeated sexual abuse of a young girl.”

Read it at Claycord

The full fact check4 outlets · Grade C
> THE MARTINEZ WIRE ▌SOURCE CHECK · SEP 30, 2026C55 / 100

Grade C · score 55/100

The best-sourced telling, by Claycord, links no document and names one person or agency on the record; the Wire's records match 2 of the 2 facts it could check.

Checked Wed Sep 30, 5:52 PM · 4 of 4 pages read

Sources checked

  1. Contra Costa County“Evidence presented to both juries showed that the sexual abuse of the victim began when she was 7 years old and occurred from on or about October 17th, 2017, to October 16th, 2022.”contracosta.ca.gov · Checked Wed Sep 30, 5:52 PM
  2. Contra Costa County“Bhagwagar and Powell each face a maximum sentence of 230 years to life in state prison.”contracosta.ca.gov · Checked Wed Sep 30, 5:52 PM

The reporting

  1. “Walnut Creek Woman, Former Airline Pilot Convicted In Child Sexual Abuse Case”Claycord
  2. “Former Airline Pilot, Girlfriend Convicted Of Child Sexual Abuse In Rare Dual-Jury Prosecution”News24-680
  3. “Juries Convict Former Airline Pilot and Co-Defendant in Child Sexual Abuse Case”ContraCosta.news
  4. “Juries Convict Former Airline Pilot and Co-Defendant in Child Sexual Abuse Case”Contra Costa County

record checkconfirmed by one source

  1. Confirmed by Contra Costa County.

    As Claycord wrote it: “Prosecutors said the abuse began when the victim was 7 years old and occurred between October 2017 and October 2022.”

    As Contra Costa County puts it: “Evidence presented to both juries showed that the sexual abuse of the victim began when she was 7 years old and occurred from on or about October 17th, 2017, to October 16th, 2022.”

    Contra Costa County

  2. Confirmed by Contra Costa County.

    As Claycord wrote it: “Bhagwagar and Powell each face a maximum sentence of 230 years to life in state prison.”

    As Contra Costa County puts it: “Bhagwagar and Powell each face a maximum sentence of 230 years to life in state prison.”

    Contra Costa County

coverage4 outlets

1 official1 newsroom2 reposts

One outlet printed the agency's release as its story

Claycord

News report · CLAYCORD.com · Wed Sep 30, 2:56 PM

Source grade C55/100

“Walnut Creek Woman, Former Airline Pilot Convicted In Child Sexual Abuse Case”

0 documents linked0 quotes1 of 2 paragraphs say where facts came from

Read the full story at Claycord

How this was graded16.5 + 3 + 20 + 10 + 6 = 55.5 of 100 · Grade C
16.5
Sourcing · of 45
3
Corroboration · of 15
20
Record match · of 20
10
Headline · of 10
6
Transparency · of 10

News24-680

Reprinted release · NEWS24-680 · Wed Sep 30

Not graded

“Former Airline Pilot, Girlfriend Convicted Of Child Sexual Abuse In Rare Dual-Jury Prosecution”

0 documents linked1 quote

Printed the agency's release as its story

Read the full story at News24-680

ContraCosta.news

Reprinted release · CC News · Wed Sep 30, 2:59 PM

Not graded

“Juries Convict Former Airline Pilot and Co-Defendant in Child Sexual Abuse Case”

Martinez, California – Separate juries in Contra Costa Superior Court convicted Rustom Bhagwagar and Jennifer Spitz Powell on all charges related to the repeated sexual abuse of a young girl.

The opening, as ContraCosta.news wrote it

0 documents linked1 quote

Printed the agency's release as its story

Read the full story at ContraCosta.news

Contra Costa County

Official release · Wed Sep 30, 3:44 PM

Official

“Juries Convict Former Airline Pilot and Co-Defendant in Child Sexual Abuse Case”

Martinez, California – Separate juries in Contra Costa Superior Court convicted Rustom Bhagwagar and Jennifer Spitz Powell on all charges related to the repeated sexual abuse of a young girl.

The opening, as Contra Costa County wrote it

0 documents linked1 quote

The agency’s own wordsContra Costa County

Contra Costa County · Wed Sep 30, 3:44 PM

Martinez, California – Separate juries in Contra Costa Superior Court convicted Rustom Bhagwagar and Jennifer Spitz Powell on all charges related to the repeated sexual abuse of a young girl.

A jury found 46-year-old Powell guilty on Monday, September 28th, and a second jury found 35-year-old Bhagwagar guilty on Tuesday, September 29th. Bhagwagar, a former commercial airline co-pilot from Florida, and Powell, from Walnut Creek, were each convicted of eight counts of oral copulation or sexual penetration with a child 10 years old or younger and 12 counts of forcible lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14.

Due to the victim’s age and the nature of the crimes, the victim will not be named by the District Attorney’s Office to protect her identity.

The case was heard in Martinez before Judge Danielle Douglas. In a rare dual-jury format, the court tried two defendants at once while making sure each jury heard only the evidence that applied to its assigned defendant. Evidence presented to both juries showed that the sexual abuse of the victim began when she was 7 years old and occurred from on or about October 17th, 2017, to October 16th, 2022. Powell, who was in a relationship with Bhagwagar, participated with him in numerous acts of abuse against the victim.

Bhagwagar and Powell each face a maximum sentence of 230 years to life in state prison. Both remain in custody at the Martinez Detention Facility and will be sentenced by the court at a future date.

Deputy District Attorney Haleigh Parkinson of the Sexual Assault Unit prosecuted the case with support from a trial team that included legal assistants, a victim advocate, and victim support staff.

District Attorney Diana Becton said:

“This young survivor showed extraordinary courage by testifying in court and facing the people who used duress to harm her. These verdicts hold both defendants accountable. I am grateful to our entire team for their dedication in seeking, serving, and doing justice in this case.”

Case No. 01-25-02241 | The People of the State of California v. Rustom Bhagwagar

Case No. 01-25-02242 | The People of the State of California v. Jennifer Spitz Powell

The original at Contra Costa County

Read the full story at Contra Costa County

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    How the grading works

    The short version

    The Wire grades each article from what the page itself shows: whether its facts say where they came from, the public documents it links, the other outlets and sources that confirm the same story, whether its facts match the Wire's own public records, a calm headline, and a clear byline and date. The story takes its best-sourced telling's grade. The grade describes the page, never the people in it.

    The formulaGrade = 100 × points ÷ possibleA 85 · B 70 · C 55 · D 40

    Grade = 100 × points ÷ possibleeach article · 0 to 100

    Story = its best tellingA 85 · B 70 · C 55 · D 40 · F below 40

    45
    Sourcing · 25 for the share of facts that say where they came from, 0, 7 or 12 for none, one or two or more public documents linked, 0 to 8 for the people and agencies named on the record
    15
    Corroboration · 8 or 12 for one or two or more other outlets or sources confirming it, 3 more when one is official; 8 for a telling alone that links two or more documents
    20
    Record match · 20 × the key facts confirmed or matching the Wire's records ÷ the facts checked; left out when none could be checked
    10
    Headline · less for a question, capitals, an exclamation mark, a teaser or heated words
    10
    Transparency · a byline, a date, an update or correction note, the outlet's identity, the kind labelled
    This story's arithmeticone article graded
    OutletSCRHTScore
    Claycord16.532010655

    16.5 + 3 + 20 + 10 + 6 = 55.5 of 100 · Grade C

    S sourcing · C corroboration · R record match · H headline · T transparency. A dash is a part left out.

    How it is checked6 rules
    • Every input is read by rules from the page itself; the arithmetic is shown for every article.
    • An article that names no source, links no document and names no one on the record says "No sources cited", and its grade is at most D.
    • Where the Wire's own records hold the fact (a vote, a meeting, an amount, a call, a listing), the story and the record are set side by side; a vote the record tells differently holds the grade at most at D.
    • An agency's own release is the record itself and is not graded; an outlet that prints it as its story counts once.
    • Each story's key facts are checked for independent confirmation: first by rules against the Wire's records and the agencies' own releases, then each morning by research. A confirmation counts only when the Wire read the source's page itself and found the sentence on it; a government page, a public record or another newsroom's own reporting, never a copy of the story or a social post. A source that tells a fact differently is shown beside the story.
    • A page the Wire cannot read is never guessed at: it shows only its own headline, quoted, and is not graded.
    Sources6 records
    1. News reportWed Sep 30ClaycordRead
    2. Reprinted releaseWed Sep 30News24-680Read
    3. Reprinted releaseWed Sep 30ContraCosta.newsRead
    4. Official releaseWed Sep 30Contra Costa CountyRead
    5. ConfirmationContra Costa CountySource
    6. ConfirmationContra Costa CountySource