Recent Blog Posts in January 2010

The California Department of Corrections denied rumors that a portion of California’s 170,000  prison inmates would be relocated and housed in Mexico; though, it was confirmed the option was being explored. 

The statement came after Gov. Schwarzenegger recently suggested the state could save money by moving  inmates to Mexico.  Presently, more than 22,000 California prison inmates are, or are suspected of being, in the country  illegally.  

An Orange County jury convicted a Costa Mesa man of  felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence for the death of a 32-year-old pedestrian in Newport Beach in 2008.

According to prosecutors, the man was texting while driving in the minutes just preceding the accident.  Additionally, a driver behind the man also honked at him for delaying 10-15 seconds before turning on a green light.  It was after this turn that the man hit the victim, a nanny walking in a crosswalk on her way to work.     

The man, whose sentencing is set for March, faces up to 9 years in prison.  

Laguna Woods’ City Council voted to renew the city’s  red-light camera contract through July 2011.  They elected, however, to delete the provision which reduces their fees to the vendor, if there is a decrease in revenue from the red-light tickets, in anticipation that such a provision may be seen as a “cost-per-ticket” payment arrangement.  Instead the city will pay the contract on a flat fee basis at a rate of $25,000 per month. 

This concern over the type of payment arrangement is the result of last year’s court decision in which the “cost-per-ticket” contract was ruled  illegal by an Orange County Appellate Court.  While the case is currently under consideration with the California Supreme Court, and this ruling could be overturned, the city of Laguna Woods has opted to play it safe, and avoid the possibility defense attorneys will get these tickets thrown out based upon this issue, by implementing the monthly flat fee payment schedule instead.

A “cost-per-ticket” contract is beneficial to the city in that it guarantees the cost of the red-light camera program will not exceed the city’s revenue from red light tickets.  The potential that the contract can be manipulated for profit, however, raised the legal issues presently being litigated in the courts.  According to the City Council, the $25,000 monthly fee was considered fiscally safe as their red-light camera revenue numbers, while varying, typically do not fall below this amount.

The Council also voted to keep the red-light camera tickets as vehicle code violations, rather than administrative citations, in part because vehicle code violations carry larger fines.    

A DUI checkpoint in Newport Beach last Saturday netted 6 drunken drivers and 2 other non  DUI arrests.  The checkpoint, which was just one of many expected to be executed throughout Orange County as a result of the recent grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, was strategically positioned near bars and restaurants in the area.  Drivers stopped by officers were also given an educational brochure on driving under the influence.      

A  DUI crash in  Orange sent 10 people to the hospital with minor injuries.  According to reports, a minivan driven by a 21-year-old Garden Grove man collided with a sedan and then an OCTA bus.  Following a police investigation, the minivan driver, who was among those taken to the hospital, was arrested on suspicion of felony driving under the influence.

According to reports, the man has recent prior convictions for drunken driving,  hit and run as well as domestic violence.  He has also been cited in the past for  driving without a valid license and being a passenger in possession of alcohol.  At the time of this accident, the man, still on probation for his prior DUI, was driving on a suspended license and had two outstanding  warrants for his arrest.               

According to reports, the man shot and killed last week by police in Laguna Beach after an attempted hit and run accident has been identified as 25-year-old Colby Joshua Koenig.

Koenig was seen driving recklessly on the wrong side of PCH at  speeds estimated between 80 to 100 mph before crashing his vehicle.  He then began to drive his car away, allegedly attempting to flee the scene of the six car accident.  Officers at the scene fired shots at his vehicle wounding Koenig who died later at the hospital.

The shooting is under investigation with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office .  At this point, however, there is no word on whether or not Koenig had a  weapon in his car or exactly why officers started shooting.           

A 40-year-old Costa Mesa man accused last year of raping a 17-year-old female employee has been charged in a second rape.

In July 2009, the man, a former manager of a dry cleaning company, lured an underage female employee to his home under the guise of picking up work-related paperwork. Once there, he locked the girl inside and raped her.  He then threatened to report her illegal immigration status to authorities if she went to police. 

The latest charge stems from an October 2009 incident in which the man is alleged to have broken through the door of a female acquaintance and raped her. 

The additional rape charge raises the man’s prison exposure from 8 years, 8 months to 60 years to life.        

UPDATE:

Richard Lee Thompson, the man on trial for killing another man with a pool cue during a bar fight in Cypress, has been convicted by jury of involuntary manslaughter.  His sentence, which may include up to four years in prison, will be determined at next month’s sentencing.

Update: According to reports, the defendant has been released from prison after accepting the prosecutor’s offer of manslaughter with time served.

Nearly twenty six years after being sentenced to 17 years to life in prison at age 18, a Newport Beach man convicted of 2^nd degree murder for the 1984 killing of his male roommate has been granted a new trial.

The reprieve came as a result of a California law, newly passed in 1999, which now allows a defendant to use evidence of “intimate partner battering” to mitigate the degree of certain murders. The law, analogous to “battered woman syndrome”, extends to same-sex couples the right to use evidence of psychological trauma inflicted by a victim through physical or emotional abuse as a partial defense.

At his original trial, the defendant asserted he stabbed the victim over 30 times in self-defense after the victim, more than 10 years his senior, attempted to sodomize him at knifepoint.  Further, the defendant claimed the victim had previously made numerous unsolicited sexual advances toward him and may also have raped him one time while he was unconscious.  In need of food, shelter as well as a steady supply of cocaine to feed his addiction, however, the youthful defendant stayed with the man. 

Without the support of this new law, the defense attorney was forced at the time to argue for a straight acquittal rather than attempting to get a lesser verdict of voluntary manslaughter.   

A 23-year-old Huntington Beach man has been arrested in connection with a recent DUI accident in Garden Grove which killed his 22-year-old female passenger.

According to reports, the man lost control of his vehicle while trying to traverse a curve in the road and crashed into a tree.  He is expected to face charges of felony driving under the influence, vehicular manslaughter and driving without a license.         

Trial is underway in the Orange County Superior Court in the case of a man charged with involuntary manslaughter in the 2008 death of 44-year-old Steven Toole. 

The 48-year-old defendant, Richard Lee Thompson, is accused of hitting the victim in the back of the head with a pool cue during a St. Patrick’s Day barroom brawl at Breakers in Cypress. The victim succumbed to his injuries the following day.  The defendant, however, contends he was acting in self-defense after the victim assaulted him unprovoked. 

If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum of four years in state prison. 

Update:  The 18-year-old woman left in critical condition after the car she was riding in was rear-ended by a hit-and-run driver near John Wayne Airport has died of her injuries. 

Robert Charles Serrano, the man arrested in connection with the accident, has now been charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and felony fleeing of an accident scene.  He remains in-custody in Orange County Jail on $250,000 bail.  Reports indicate Serrano has been convicted of one prior DUI as well as several traffic violations.        

18-year-old Luicci Nader of Huntington Beach has been identified as the driver of the Ferrari involved in the Christmas Eve crash which killed his 24-year-old passenger.

Nader is reported to have lost control of his vehicle, jumped the median and hit a tow truck head on, causing the Ferrari to split in two and catch fire.  He is not believed to have been driving under the influence, however, it is suspected he was speeding. 

Nader, who is still in critical condition at a Santa Ana hospital, may face charges of vehicular manslaughter if he recovers.     

Three Los Angeles men were arrested and charged in connection with a string of car burglaries spanning Orange, Los Angeles and Ventura Counties between July and December 29, 2009.  According to reports, the men targeted shoppers at Apple and Best Buy stores.  They watched the shoppers exit the stores with large purchases, such as computers and printers, and then followed them to their next shopping destination.  Once the shopper was inside the new store, the suspects broke into his/her car and stole the recently purchased items.

The men, who are believed to be involved in more than 80 such burglaries, were apprehended as the result of a sting operation executed by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in conjunction with Glendale, Ventura County, Irvine and Costa Mesa law enforcement authorities. 

All three men remain in custody at Orange County’s Theo Lacy Facility facing multiple counts of 2^nd degree burglary, unlawful tampering of a vehicle, grand theft and possession of burglary tools. 

David Brent, the head homicide prosecutor for the Orange County’s District Attorney’s Office, was arrested over the holidays for alleged domestic violence.

According to reports, Huntington Beach police responded to a 911 call from Brent’s wife in which she claimed he punched her in the face.  Apparently, the two were arguing over a Christmas present while in the parking lot of a high school. 

Brent left the scene on foot before police arrived and was apprehended nearby.  His wife, who was treated for injuries by medics, was also taken into custody.  Both were arrested and booked on suspicion of inflicting corporal injury on a spouse.  Brent was subsequently released on $50,000 bond.  

The case has been referred to the state attorney general and is currently under review to determine if charges will be filed against either party.                  

The New Year’s holiday brought an increase in Orange County DUI arrests.  According to CHP reports, between December 31, 2009 and January 3, 2010, 69 drivers were apprehended for driving under the influence of alcohol.  Fortunately, however, no DUI-related deaths were reported.  By comparison, only 59 such arrests, one of which involved a fatality, were made from December 31, 2008 to January 4, 2009.   

Santa Ana police arrested a suspect in connection with the recent hit and run accident near John Wayne Airport which sent one women to the hospital in critical condition. 

According to reports, a BMW driver rear-ended a Scion stopped at a traffic signal sending the Scion into the intersection and causing a four-car collision.  The BMW driver, who is believed to have been coming from a bar, fled the scene on foot.  Police are still investigating whether the suspect was driving under the influence.