By Michael Guisti on January 29, 2015
Hollywood, CA — News stories about criminal cases often focus on their more sensational or humorous aspects. Although that might help to draw public attention to an important issue or to genuinely newsworthy event; for the people who are involved, the events and their consequences are all too real.
On Tuesday, Muhammet Bilik, 35, was convicted of battery for a brawl that was captured on video in October of last year. Bilik, who was one of the many costumed individuals who take photos with tourists near the Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, is seen in the video punching a woman and throwing her onto the ground. Bilik is dressed as the character of Mr Incredible from the Pixar animated feature The Incredibles, the woman in the video is dressed as Batgirl.
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By Michael Guisti on January 28, 2015
Moreno Valley, CA — People often think that the appeals process is meant to allow those who have been convicted of a crime to prove their innocence. However, the truth is that most convictions are won on procedural grounds and sometimes only win a defendant a right to a second trial. While having a conviction overturned because of improper prosecutorial conduct or illegal evidence might seem a bit nitpicky, it is important to remember that one of our core principles is the right of everyone to due process under the law. If that due process is violated then a judge has no choice but to overturn a conviction or undo a lower court ruling.
On Monday, California’s 4th District Court of Appeal dismissed 9 of the 12 pimping charges that Mike Rios, 44, had been convicted of in 2013. However, Rios’ appellate attorney John Schuck plans to appeal the ruling on the grounds that his client’s prison sentence of 14 years 4 months was not reduced because his sentences are being served concurrently.
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By Michael Guisti on January 23, 2015
Valencia, CA — As a society we take a dim view of white collar crime. Not just because of the theft, but because of the breach of trust involved. Embezzlement, fraud, forgery, and identity theft all require the perpetrator to lie or misrepresent themselves somehow. We want to believe that our employees, elected officials, and anyone we do business with is acting in good faith, and high profile stories about white collar crimes cases undermine that belief by reminding us that a number of people engage in duplicitous and deceitful practices for the sake of personal gain.
On Wednesday, Jared Snyder, 44, pleaded not guilty to seven felony charges, four counts of grand theft and one each of embezzlement by a public officer, embezzlement by a private officer, and misappropriation of public funds. Prosecutors allege that Snyder, who previously worked as a baseball coach at Valencia High School, stole thousands of dollars from the Associated Student Body and the team’s booster club in order to pay off private expenses between 2008 and 2013.
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By Michael Guisti on January 21, 2015
Los Angeles, CA — Rewards are often offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a wanted fugitive. Usually the money is pledged by a concerned citizen or local business in order to aid the police in bringing a criminal to justice. Sometimes the suspect has already been identified, as was the case with the manhunt for Christopher Dorner in 2013. In other instances, the money will be offered to help identify the perpetrator of a seemingly random act of violence.
On Friday evening at approximately 8:40 pm, Kameron Segal, 48, was shot at least twice in Hollywood. Segal, who owns the real estate management company Williams Holdings Inc., was sitting in his Rolls-Royce behind his office on Sunset Boulevard when an unknown assailant rode up on a bicycle and opened fire on him before riding away.
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By Michael Guisti on January 17, 2015
Los Angeles, CA — In the past year, comedian Bill Cosby has faced intense media scrutiny for allegations of sexual assault going back 40 years. So far all of the alleged assaults took place too long ago for Cosby to be charged with a crime. However, the most recent accuser to come forward claims that Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her within the statute of limitations.
Chloe Goins, 24, and her attorney, Spencer T. Kuvin, held a press event at a Los Angeles police station on Wednesday to discuss Goins’ accusation. Goins claims that Cosby, 77, gave her a drugged drink at a “Midsummer Night’s Dream” party at the Playboy Mansion in 2008, causing her to lose consciousness. According to Goins, she woke up to find that Cosby was licking her toes while masturbating. Goins was 18 at the time.
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By Michael Guisti on January 14, 2015
Newport Beach, CA — You wouldn’t necessarily think that a cheating scandal at a high school would lead to criminal charges being filed. However, over the past year local news outlets have been reporting on the fraud and burglary case against tutor Timothy Lance Lai, 29, who has been accused of taking illegal measures to help students at Corona del Mar High School break into the school’s grading system and alter their grades.
The case first came to light in the summer of 2013 when a teacher discovered that someone had changed several students’ grades in the computer system. Over the course of the investigation, Lai as reportedly named as having a part in the scheme by students who were interviewed by school administrators.
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By Michael Guisti on January 8, 2015
San Diego, CA — Generally speaking, white collar crimes like fraud and bribery are punished with shorter prison terms than violent crimes like murder, rape, or assault with a deadly weapon. However, white collar crimes can draw lengthy sentences when the defendant is convicted on multiple charges or when particularly large sums of money are involved.
Cmdr Jose Luis Sanchez, 42, an active-duty officer in the US Navy, is the fifth person to plead guilty in a bribery case at federal court in San Diego. According to prosecutors, in exchange for cash, travel accommodations, and prostitutes, Sanchez and other officers helped direct business to Glenn Defense Marine Asia, a company that services ships and submarines in Asia and the Pacific. Leonard Glenn Francis, the company’s CEO has pleaded not guilty in the case.
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By Michael Guisti on January 7, 2015
Westminster, CA — In general, our criminal justice system attempts to be proportional. Punishments are weighted against the severity of the crime for which they are issued. Often convicts are temporarily or permanently deprived of freedom, forced to make remuneration for their crimes, and they can even be put to death. And even after their release, their criminal record can make it difficult to find employment and earn a livelihood. Because of the harsh punishments that are meted out for the worst crimes, it is especially important to ensure that people who have been accused of a crime are allowed to make a rigorous defense in court.
On Monday, Ryan Eric Galliher, 33, was arraigned at the Westminster Courthouse on multiple sex crimes charges. Galliher, an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department pleaded not guilty to two felony counts: attempted lewd act with a child under 14 and contacting a minor with intent to commit a lewd act, and five misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure.
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By Michael Guisti on November 4, 2014
Not because it’s necessarily surprising that elected officials and law enforcement officers are capable of the same kind of venal and petty transgressions as anyone else, but because of the systemic failure implicit in such stories. We want to believe that our electoral and hiring processes for public service weed out the bad apples and that we do put our best and brightest in positions of power, so accusations of wrongdoing can sometimes feel like they are leveled on society as a whole.
Last week an officer at the California Highway Patrol’s Dublin station resigned and was charged two felony counts of computer theft. Sean Harrington, 35, a resident of Martinez, an East Bay city, turned in his resignation on Wednesday, following an investigation into claims that he and other officers had traded nude photos stolen from the cell phones of women they had arrested. The charges against Harrington were filed on Friday, but so far prosecutors have not opted to file charges against the officers who allegedly received the stolen photos, Robert Hazelwood and Dion Simmons.
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By Michael Guisti on November 1, 2014
Santa Ana, CA — Sometimes the prosecution and defense will agree about the facts of the case, but vary greatly in their interpretation of those facts. For example, in a corruption case, the defense attorney might admit that the defendant did receive a substantial campaign donation, but that it was not accepted in exchange for any official action, while the prosecution would try to establish the transaction as a quid-pro-quo arrangement. In a recent Orange County murder trial, the jury was presented with a case in which both parties agreed that the defend had killed the victim.
On Wednesday, the jury in the trial of Steven Bruno found him to be guilty of the second-degree murder of his father, Ernest Bruno. Bruno, 23, killed his father in a condominium in Irvine on August 30, 2012. The body was discovered the next day by Bruno’s brother, David, then 17, and Steven was arrested while driving through Colorado on his way to visit a woman he had met online.
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