A 23-year old Anaheim man allegedly logged onto Facebook using a profile of a male high school-age student. He would then use the account to persuade underage girls to send him sexually-explicit photos and videos, which he would then use as blackmail, threatening to forward those photos on to other high school students if the girl did not agree to send more. He is alleged to have contacted at least six girls in this manner.
On April 14, a woman was admitted to a Pennsylvania hospital for treatment of a condition apparently unrelated to drugs. While she was in the intensive care unit, her multiple cell phones rang frequently, and she was visited by a large number of people, who would stay for only a few minutes. Many of the visitors who came to see her did not even know her last name.
When suspicion of her activities mounted, police were called. They set up an undercover informant to visit her room who was able to buy 30 bags of heroin from the woman. Police quickly moved in to make the arrest. In her hospital room, they found 380 bags of heroin with a street value of approximately $3800, along with $1420 in cash.
Only one day after the deadly Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting that took the lives of 20 children and six teachers in Newtown, Connecticut, Marcos Gurrola allegedly took out a .40-caliber Glock handgun in a crowded Orange County mall parking lot and fired 54 rounds toward the Macy’s building. He stopped shooting and surrendered when two Newport Beach police officers on bicycles arrived. Gurrola was in possession of six magazines for his handgun, with even more in his car.
He was charged with 54 felony counts of firing a weapon at an inhabited dwelling, 2 counts of assault, plus two firearm enhancements. The reasons for Gurrola’s actions are inconclusive. He reportedly claimed that when he fired his gun, it made him feel better. Police said in 2012 that Gurrola told a detective he fired his gun because he was angry, but was not aiming at anybody.
With tax day coming tomorrow, it’s tempting to make a few tweaks to reduce the amount of tax you owe to the federal government. But allow yourself to get carried away and you may find yourself in federal prison on tax evasion charges. The former city of Bell chief administrator was convicted of allegedly falsifying losses on his taxes, but that’s only half the story.
As the city administrator, he reportedly misappropriated taxpayer funds to pay himself a salary far in excess of what he should have received, and then claimed more than $770,000 in non-existent losses to the IRS to inflate his take-home pay up to $1.18 million per year.
When a man applied for a job selling life insurance, his potential employer pointed out a blemish on his background check that indicated he had an outstanding tax lien. Without missing a beat, the man replied that it had been taken care of and he would send proof. Shortly thereafter, a faxed letter was sent to the company indicating that the tax lien’s “amounts in question have been satisfied completely.” It concluded with, “there are no outstanding fees or penalties due, and your record has been cleared of any restrictions or liens.” The letter was signed in the name of a US District Judge.
The company was suspicious and sent the letter to Alicemarie H. Stotler, the judge indicated on his letter. The judge reviewed the letter and saw her forged signature on it. Surprisingly, the judge knew the man, since she once sentenced him to prison for filing a false tax refund claim. She reported the crime and FBI agents who later confronted and arrested the man, who “was cooperative and made a full confession.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
On November 6, 2012, Californians voted in favor of Proposition 36, a ballot measure that allows for shorter sentences for some third-time offenders of the controversial “Three Strikes Law.”
The California Three Strikes Law was established in the 1990s and was intended to discourage repeat offenders from committing serious or violent crimes. Under the law, if a person is convicted of a serious or violent felony, it goes against their record as a “strike.” If he or she commits another serious or violent felony later, the sentencing gets harsher and a second strike is put on their record. Upon receiving a third strike, the criminal must be incarcerated in state prison for 25 years to life.
The Orange County Criminal Lawyer Blog