What to do when Social Services has been called—

You and your husband were arguing the other night. Neighbors called the police. The police told you that they had to arrest one of you and he chose you. You’ve bailed out of jail, you’ve contacted an experienced Orange County domestic violence or criminal defense attorney,  you are prepared for court and then you come home and there it is out of left field- a business card left on your door from the Department of Child and Family Services with a note that you must call a social worker. You call as instructed and are told that “your social worker” needs to investigate “your case.”

Continue reading »

Orange County may soon create a registry-style website for dangerous dogs. If the measure is approved by the Orange County board of supervisors there would be a few new definitions for “dangerous” or vicious” in regards to your pet.  What are the ripple effects?  You can expect higher home insurance premiums in some areas, home prices potentially affected, and less foot traffic in certain areas to business.  The recent proposal for a website that shows you the location of these dangerous animals is most likely in response to recent attacks in other counties in Southern California that resulted in bodily injury and in one Antelope Valley case death.

What does this mean for criminal law? If you have a vicious or dangerous dog and this website comes into existence, your neighborhood, depending on volume of “dangerous” or “vicious” dogs, could become a target by law enforcement.  A person having mere custody of such a dog may make them liable regardless of ownership.  If you have a guard dog or a breed that is prone to aggressiveness, you may want to consider that a photo of the dog and your address will be published to the public at large. Vigilantes have been known to occasionally target sex offenders based on the published sex offender registry, so the safety of your dog, your home, and potentially even you and your family could be at risk if the information is published in a similar dangerous dog registry.

Continue reading »

In an earlier post, I detailed an example of a lawyer who got herself into some trouble in an incident involving alcohol, police, and a whole bunch of negative publicity. That fiasco was the result of a series of poor decisions regarding her personal life that unfortunately affected her professional career. But certainly any attorney—or even a judge, for that matter—would never allow a lapse of professional conduct in the courtroom to jeopardize his or her career, right?

Prosecutors, district attorneys, and judges like to be viewed as “tough on crime.” In the case of judges, that’s how many of them get elected to their positions. Although many are objective, fair, and just in their rulings, there are some who secretly challenge the “innocent until proven guilty” paradigm of criminal proceedings. An unfortunate few officials have convinced themselves that anyone who stands before their bench must somehow be guilty; the question is, “how guilty?”

Continue reading »

Lawyers are expected to maintain an untarnished, professional public image at all times. But as is often said in the criminal world, bad things sometimes happen to good people. Combine a bitter breakup with the judgement-impairing and amnesia-inducing qualities of alcohol, and sometimes even a polished attorney can run into legal trouble.

A Brooklyn business lawyer, Stephanie Hendricks, had reportedly just broken up with her boyfriend, drank too much, and ran into trouble with police. She told The Post, “I went out. I got drunk. I had a bad night…I have no recollection from a certain point in the evening.”

Continue reading »

In February, Joe Hundley was aboard a flight from Minneapolis to Atlanta to pay a final visit to his brain-dead son in the hospital and take him off of life support. He had not slept the previous night and was consuming alcohol as a method of coping with the pain and stress of the situation.

He was seated next to Jessica Bennett, who was holding her 19-month old son on her lap. When the flight made its final descent to Atlanta, Bennett’s son began crying. Hundley became agitated and allegedly leaned over to Bennett and told her to “shut that (N-word) baby up.” He repeated the phrase to Bennett before reportedly slapping the child on the face, leaving a scratch below his right eye.

Continue reading »

More than one drink may soon be too much and could lead to a DUI arrest. As many know, the legal driving limit in California is a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of less than 0.08%. This level was drastically lowered from 0.15% in the 1980s and may now be lowered again.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended that the limit be lowered to 0.05%. Although the NTSB has no authority to make changes itself, it is an influential agency, and can encourage lawmakers to make changes in their respective states, as well as provide financial incentives for states to adopt their suggestions.

Continue reading »

We knew it wouldn’t be long until there would be a tie-in between drinking and dieting. For those of you watching your waistlines, you may want to be extra responsible when thinking about driving, especially if you are inclined to choose a sugar-free mixed drink.

The results are in: a recent study conducted by a cognitive psychologist at Northern Kentucky University shows that if you drink with a sugar-free mixer, your blood alcohol content (BAC) will actually be higher than if you consumed the same amount of alcohol with a sugar-sweetened mixer. We presume that the sweeter the drink, the greater the effect. Margaritas, which are heavily sweetened, can pack a much greater punch when consumed with a sugar-free mix.

Continue reading »

Home confinement is often an attractive alternative to doing jail time, but in some cases, making your ankle bracelet attractive carries its own punishment.

Rebecca Gallanagh was charged with the crime of public disorder for being involved in a fight outside of a local nightclub in the UK. As an alternative to incarceration, she was fitted with an electronic ankle bracelet that monitors her position through GPS satellites. She was ordered to adhere to a strict 9PM curfew in her home that officials could monitor through the signals received by the device.

Continue reading »

A Florida man Lazaro Sopena, wanted to help his new wife carry on her Vietnamese surname, and so decided to change his last name to Dinh when they were married in honor of his wife–opposite the usual custom of women adopting their husbands’ surnames.

After their marriage, he presented his marriage license to his local DMV showing that he had a new last name in effort to obtain an updated driver’s license, just as a woman would. The agency granted his request and issued a new license without any complications.

Continue reading »

Imagine you’re in court, charged with a crime, telling a judge the facts surrounding your case that show your innocence. Now imagine a police officer taking the stand and contradicting everything you’ve just said. Who is the judge going to believe? Who would a jury believe? Overwhelmingly, in a battle of credibility, a cop is going to win most of the time.

Cops are sworn to serve and protect their communities, right? They dress sharp, they’re well-groomed, wear a shiny badge and appear completely trustworthy. On the witness stand, they are relaxed, confident, and nearly anyone is going to believe what they say.

Continue reading »

Being arrested is not only embarrassing, but it can also endanger your employment, licensing, marriage, and reputation. And although you are technically “innocent until proven guilty,” society at large often doesn’t see it that way. Even though they don’t know all of the facts surrounding your case, if you were arrested, you were probably doing something you shouldn’t have been, right?

Not always. Arrests happen all the time, and not always with probable cause. In the case of DUI, field sobriety tests are designed to make you fail, even when sober. In a domestic violence call, an officer will make an arrest for even minor physical contacts, or when one party simply admits that some kind of physical contact occurred during their argument. People can be arrested for an assault and/or battery in self-defense, and mistaken identity occurs a lot more frequently than you would imagine.

Continue reading »

Peter Robbins is a 56-year-old actor that provided the voice of Charlie Brown in the television specials that aired in the 1960s. The “Peanuts” series includes “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” He has also appeared in other shows such as “My Three Sons” and “Get Smart.”

Recently, Robbins was arrested at the Tijuana-San Diego border where an agent discovered that he had an outstanding warrant by the San Diego County Sheriff’s office. He was booked at the San Diego County Jail website, where he is charged with allegedly committing six felony crimes including stalking and threatening to cause death or great bodily injury. His bail has been set at $550,000.

Continue reading »

A group of Yale researchers recently conducted a jury trial study. They formed a group of 471 “jurors” of various body sizes to read a case surrounding the crime of check fraud while viewing one of four possible images of the “defendant.” Each image depicted a lean female, a lean male, an obese female, and an obese male. The participants in the mock trial were asked to rate the culpability (or guilt) of the defendant on a 5-point scale.

Continue reading »

During the night of November 29, 1981, Natalie Wood, her husband Robert Wagner, and friend Christopher Walken were on a yacht anchored off Santa Catalina Island near Orange County, CA. At some point during the night, she ended up in the water without a life jacket and her body was recovered several hours later. At the time, the Coroner reported the cause of death was accidental drowning.

Thirty years later, the case was reopened after new sources came forward with additional information. For example, the boat’s skipper claims to have heard a loud argument coming from Wood’s cabin on the yacht hours before she went missing. In addition, bruises on her knees, wrists, and ankles that were overlooked in the original coroner’s report could be consistent with injuries sustained from an assault. Further, those injuries likely occurred prior to her falling in the water, according to the report.

Continue reading »

With frequent school shootings in the news, some parents want to keep their kids safe by ensuring their school’s security is adequate. One father’s attempt at testing the school’s security in Celina, TX got him arrested.

Ron Miller allegedly walked up to a greeter at his child’s school and said, “I am a gunman. My target is inside of the building. I’m going in the building. You stop me.” At that point, he supposedly entered the school building, unchallenged, and began pointing at people. With each person he pointed to, he allegedly said, “You’re dead.” After reportedly pointing at a few people in this manner, he left.

Continue reading »

Police were contacted in February, 2011 about a foul animal odor coming from a house on their street. Officers arrived to the overpowering smell of urine and feces. Besides the floor and other surfaces soaked with cat urine and droppings, the house was infested with both fleas and flies.

The officers entered the home wearing masks, but had to leave upon feeling ill and returned with full hazmat body suits and respirators. They found two children in the home, one who used a couch as a bed, with at least one child having scratches on her arms and legs. Two adults had cat feces on their feet as a result of walking barefoot in the home.

Continue reading »

Let’s face it: If you don’t want to get pulled over by a police officer, you shouldn’t give him the finger as you’re driving by. But in case you do, he’s no longer allowed to pull you over and arrest you for that reason alone.

John Swartz was pulled over and arrested in May, 2006 when he allegedly flipped off a police officer who was using a radar gun to check the speed of passing vehicles. The officer claimed that he “thought there may have been a problem in the car” and “wanted to assure the safety of the passengers.” Swartz was later charged with the misdemeanor crime of disorderly conduct, which was later dismissed.

Continue reading »

The number of inmates in Orange County jails has increased in recent years, and so has the average length of time that these inmates remain incarcerated. This has resulted in a larger number of inmates requesting medical attention in recent years. The types of medical care authorities must provide to inmates (such as kidney dialysis) are also growing. To counter this trend, sheriff’s officials will begin charging inmates next year a medical “co-pay” of $3 per visit to the nurse.

Officials at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department maintain that the fee is not meant to be a punishment. Their argument is that while some inmates may be truly sick and need to see a nurse, others may take advantage of the medical facilities to meet with friends, exchange information, or simply to get out of their cell for a while.

Continue reading »

Who doesn’t remember the Rodney King video? George Holliday, the man who recorded the video from his apartment balcony in 1991, contacted the police station about his video, but was (conveniently?) ignored. He then sent the video to a TV station that aired it in its entirety and the rest is history.

With the advent of smartphones, we can all now record others with just the touch of a button. We can upload our videos directly to Facebook, Twitter, or even YouTube instantly, where the content can quickly spread to thousands, if not millions.

Continue reading »

In a recent juvenile delinquency case, a minor stole a car and damaged it beyond repair, rendering it a total loss for insurance purposes. After admitting to the crime, the juvenile court granted Deferred Entry of Judgment (DEJ), meaning that the case would be dismissed provided the minor complete the terms of probation, which in this case included restitution, or paying the owner of the car for damages.

The court ordered the minor pay $13,000 in damages to the car owner, along with $2,000 in interest on the car loan as part of this restitution. After the criminal defense attorney filed an appeal to challenge the $2,000 interest portion, the court surprisingly denied the appeal. The reason it was denied was because there is no way to appeal a DEJ order, and the restitution is considered part of it.

Continue reading »