Orange County Criminal Defense Blog

San Francisco, CA – Just like the United States Supreme Court is the final arbiter on issues of federal and constitutional law throughout the country, each state has its own supreme court that passes judgment on state statutes. The California Supreme Court is located in San Francisco and on Thursday issued a ruling that will have a major impact on sentencing in felony cases statewide.

Ever since voters passed the so-called “three-strikes” law in 1994, criminal defendants with multiple felony convictions have faced harsher penalties, up to and including life in prison for their third conviction on felony charges. On paper it seems simple enough, but in practice it often means that defendants with a criminal record can receive a life sentence for a comparatively minor offense like robbery.

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Santa Cruz, CA – Murder is usually not so sensational a crime as fiction makes it out to be. In mystery novels and television dramas, murders are sometimes a baroque affair, planned out in advance and carried out to exacting standards. The truth is often less titillating. Homicides happen all the time, and for all kinds of reasons, and sometimes for no reason at all. But sometimes the details of a suspected murder are so sensational it can’t help but make an impression in the news.

Authorities in Santa Cruz have arrested a woman on suspicion of murdering Forrest Timothy Hayes, 51, who had previously worked at Google, Sun Microsystems, and Apple. Hayes was found dead of an apparent heroin overdose in November of last year. Alix Katherine Tichleman, 26, was booked on suspicion of murder, prostitution, destruction of evidence, and providing narcotics, but so far charges have not been filed in court.

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Santa Ana, CA – The internet grants people a certain degree of anonymity. Most people simply use this as license to be rude to each other in comment threads and discussion forums. However, someone people, believing their online actions to be invisible or untraceable use the internet to commit crimes. Among the largest categories of online crime are fraud and child pornography.

Robert Harold Dolin, 55, was sentenced to 41 months in prison on June 30 after pleading guilty to one count of possessing child pornography, a felony. The sentence was handed down by US District Judge James V. Seina, who noted in his sentence that possession and production of child pornography is “a real crime with real victims. It is serious and must be deterred.” Dolin was arrested in a probe by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arm of Immigrant and Customs Enforcement (ICE) working with the Orange County Child Exploitation Task Force and Kaiser Permanente, Dolin’s former employer.

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Anaheim, CA – Sometimes the first reaction to a news story about a shocking crime is anger. Even when a report doesn't involve anyone we know personally, we feel outrage that anyone could do something so awful. However, it is important to remember a few basic facts. First, our legal system considers everyone who has been charged with a crime to be innocent until they are proven guilty. We want to be so certain of the outcomes at trial that we give the accused an advantage out of the box. The other thing that is important to remember is that an initial report about a suspected crime is generally built up on official statements and matters of public record. The accused generally does not share their side of the story until they have hired an attorney or until the case goes to trial.

Loi Vu, 40, and Tracy Trang Le, 35, were arrested on Tuesday evening on suspicion of felony child endangerment and false imprisonment. Child Protective Services enlisted the help of the Anaheim Police Department after receiving reports that the couple had been keeping their autistic son in a large dog cage. Officers on the scene did find a cage with a mattress inside their home.

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Sacramento, CA – Sometimes in a criminal case the prosecution and defense do not dispute the facts of the case and instead are in disagreement as to whether the defendant's actions were actually a violation of the law. An example of this would be when the defendant claims self-defense in a homicide case. While they do not dispute that defendant did indeed take a life, the defense will argue that their client was acting to preserve his or her own life against an attacker. A similar situation is coming to pass as law enforcement agencies raid so called 'sweepstakes cafes," throughout the state, accusing their owners of operating illegal gambling houses.

Silk and Stars, an internet sweepstakes cafe in a strip mall in Sacramento County, allows people to play video games that simulate games of chance such as slot machines. However, local law enforcement agencies have twice attempted to close down Silk and Stars this year, saying that the cafe's machines run afoul of state gambling regulations and that businesses like it can attract an unpleasant element, leading to increased crime and drug use.

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Los Angeles, CA – One of the great concerns of our time is how best to constrain police power. While we want law enforcement to have all the tools they need to effectively fight crime, we struggle with how best to ensure that they do not overstep their boundaries and invade people’s privacy or misuse their power for their own gain. Issues of police corruption and oversight played an important part in the trial of six current and former officers with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

On Tuesday, jurors issued a guilty verdict against Lts. Stephen Leavins, 52, and Gregory Thompson, 54; Sgts. Scott Craig, 50, and Maricela Long, 46; and Deputies Gerard Smith, 42, and Mickey Manzo, 34. The six defendants were charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice after allegedly attempting to keep an FBI informant inside LA County’s jail system away from agents conducting an investigation into allegations of inmate abuse. Two of the defendants were also accused of attempting to intimidate the lead agent on the case into dropping the investigation.

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Authorities in Riverside County filed murder charges against Simon Last Cortez, 40, on Wednesday. Cortez is accused of lying in wait for and murdering his stepfather, George Gregory Alongi.

Alongi, a former Lake Elsinore city councilman, was found dead from multiple stab wounds and slashes on February 12, 2013. Though investigators did suspect Cortez's involvement, but he denied having been at the home for over a year. However, authorities say that he admitted to the murder in February while serving a prison term for drug charges. Cortez, who was being recorded, confessed to preparing for the murder by waiting until his stepfather returned home before beating him and attacking him with a utility knife. Cortez said that he killed Alongi because Alongi had beaten his wife, Cortez's mother. Because the murder charge includes enhancements for use of a weapon and lying in wait, Cortez is eligible for the death penalty.

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Orange County theft crime attorney Michael L. Guisti talks about theft crimes related to stealing from an employer and what the consequences could be.

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Federal authorities raided three medical marijuana dispensaries this week, and federal officials also filed lawsuits against property owners where the dispensaries were housed, alleging the owners of the property knew they were allowing marijuana stores to conduct business.

No arrests were made, but those running the marijuana dispensaries were detained for a time as authorities conducted their search.

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Bah humbug! It seems on the start of this holiday weekend just about everywhere there is a DUI checkpoint somewhere in Orange County.

Orange County DUI Checkpoints planned for Friday, December 23 2011:

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