Articles Posted in Criminal Defense

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According to this recent Inland Valley Daily Bulletin article, Pomona city leaders have authorized their police department to join other law enforcement agencies in the area in a three-year regional effort to crack down on drunken drivers. Pomona’s city council voted 6-1 in favor of joining a wide range of state, county, and local law enforcement agencies throughout the area in the “Avoid the 100 DUI Campaign” that began over this past holiday season.

This campaign targets people driving under the influence in California and includes checkpoints, saturation patrols, media campaigns, and other operations designed to catch motorists with a history of driving under the influence. Since the campaign began, law enforcement officials throughout Southern California have stepped up efforts to remove drivers operating their vehicles while under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Their checkpoints, which are set up at strategic locations with little or no advance warning, have resulted in dozens of DUI arrests and scores of other charges from weapons violations to possession of controlled substances and other violations.
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A federal appeals court has ruled that a Santa Monica man, who was wrongfully imprisoned for 14 years on child rape charges, can sue the city of Long Beach and a police officer who he says fabricated the evidence in that case. According to this news report in the Long Beach Press Telegram, Leonard McSherry was exonerated thanks to DNA evidence of the 1988 kidnapping and sexual assault of a 6-year-old girl taken from a Navy housing complex in Long Beach. The DNA was matched to another man, George Valdespino, who was serving time in a different kidnapping and molestation case. The appellate court reversed the trial court’s judgment dismissing the case.

We read about these kinds of stories all the time. Wrongful convictions occur more often than we hear or know about. This especially happens in sex crime cases where victims or witnesses identify the wrong person. In the absence of an aggressive and experienced sex crime defense attorney in California, it becomes impossible for a defendant to prove his or her innocence. People such as Leonard McSherry show us the importance of “innocent until proven guilty.” However, too often the media and the public are eager to convict a defendant even before they have been proven guilty.

If you or a loved one has been charged with a serious felony such a rape, assault or murder in California, please understand that you have legal rights. Call 888-579-4844 to speak with one of our knowledgeable and experienced California criminal defense attorneys at Sitkoff & Hanrahan. We have the tools and skills it takes to get you an acquittal or even get your charges reduced. Contact us to schedule a free and comprehensive consultation.

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Law enforcement officials recently released the name of an 11-month-old girl killed by a suspected drunken driver in a hit-and-run incident in the Westlake area, according to this article in the Los Angeles Wave. Witnesses reported that 11-month-old Yudith Ausencio, her 5-year-old sister, and their mother were struck while walking across the street near the intersection of Olympic Boulevard and Bonnie Brae Street just after 6 p.m. on Sunday, February 2, 2009.

Witnesses said that the mother and two small children were crossing the street in a marked crosswalk when they were struck by a hit-and-run driver who fled from the scene. Hours later, working on a license plate number and other information provided by witnesses, Police took 30-year-old Henry Yovanni Moreno, of Southgate into custody. Moreno faces a variety of charges, including felony hit-and-run, felony DUI, drunken vehicular manslaughter in California.

Moreno, originally from Honduras, is being held without bail in jail and local law enforcement officials are waiting to hear from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement regarding Moreno’s immigration status. The mother of the slain baby is being treated for serious injuries, and her 5-year-old daughter was critically injured in the accident.
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According to this article in the Orange County Register, a Fullerton woman died early Sunday, February 1, 2009, from injuries she suffered when a suspected DUI driver ran a red light and struck her car in La Habra. Officials with the La Habra Police Department and the Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to the traffic accident around 1:30 a.m. and pronounced April Junhee Whang, 26, of Fullerton dead at the scene.

The crash is still under investigation but authorities say that Whang was southbound on Beach Boulevard in a 2004 Acura Integra and turned left onto eastbound Imperial Highway when it was struck by a 2003 Mazda 6. According to eyewitness accounts, the Mazda, driven by Brittany Deanne Schuetz, 20, of Irvine, failed to stop for a red light and struck Whang’s car at a high rate of speed. Schuetz was taken to UCI Medical Center for treatment and is being held by authorities on suspicion of felony DUI and vehicular manslaughter in California.
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In an atypical case of driving under the influence in California, a helicopter pilot for a popular rock and roll musician has been detained by Los Angeles police officers on suspicion of operating his aircraft while intoxicated. This Mercury News report about an unusual Los Angeles DUI incident claims that the suspect is a helicopter pilot for Tommy Lee, drummer for the popular rock band Motley Crue.

The pilot, who has not yet been named by police, was spotted by Los Angeles police operating his aircraft in an erratic manner. Police spokeswoman Karen Smith said that the pilot violated safety procedures by flying too close to a police helicopter near Van Nuys and ignoring directions from the Van Nuys flight tower. Police say that the pilot was released without being arrested after submitting to a field sobriety test. Lee, who was a passenger in the helicopter, was questioned briefly and released. The Federal Aviation Administration has begun an investigation of the incident and is waiting for toxicology test results.
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According to this report in the Los Angeles Times, federal agents have raided several Westside medical marijuana dispensaries recently, which has outraged supporters who claim that the raids violate California state law. Proposition 215, which legalized medical marijuana for people with serious illnesses and reduced criminal penalties for marijuana possession, was passed by California voters in 1996. However, under federal law, marijuana possession, cultivation, and delivery are still illegal activities and enforced by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

On Tuesday, February 3, 2009, at least three groups of DEA agents served search warrants on medical marijuana dispensaries around noon, according to DEA spokeswoman Sarah Pullen. “I can’t get into details as to the probable cause behind the warrants except for the fact that they’re dealing with marijuana, which is illegal under federal law,” she said.

Charlie Beck, Chief of Detectives at the Los Angeles Police Department said, “DEA has a legal right to do what they’re doing. Is it controversial? Yes.”
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A fugitive who fled the country after allegedly driving under the influence in California and killing a motorcyclist in 2005 has been extradited to Orange County and will face felony charges, according to this recent Los Angeles Times article. According to law enforcement officials, former Hyundai executive, Youn Bum Lee, 41, of South Korea, had been drinking with colleagues at a Korean barbecue restaurant in Garden Grove in October 2005 and consumed more alcohol at a nearby karaoke bar.

Later that night, officials claim that Lee got into a company-owned Hyundai SUV and crashed the vehicle into a concrete barrier on Freeway 55 in Santa Ana. After the crash, Lee left the SUV at the site of the crash with its lights off. Sometime later, Ryan Dallas Cook was riding his motorcycle when he failed to see the crashed SUV, slammed into it, and was killed after being struck by other motorists. Around 24 hours after the accident, Lee boarded a plane to South Korea. Weeks later, Cook’s parents filed a lawsuit against Hyundai Motor America claiming that company officials helped Lee leave the country before he could be questioned by the police.
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Gary Collins, TV host and 70-year-old actor, was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol on the evening of February 1, 2009, on suspicion of driving under the influence according to this Post Chronicle article. Law enforcement officials with the California Highway Patrol claim that Collins faces charges after being pulled over in Santa Barbara when officers spotted him driving a motor home in an erratic manner.

According to officers on the scene, Collins refused a field sobriety test although a blood-alcohol test was submitted later in the evening.

The current California DUI charges are in addition to other DUI charges filed against Collins 13 months ago. Officials claim that Collins served a four-day jail sentence in Los Angeles, and was placed on two years of probation after he pleaded no contest to a previous DUI charge stemming from a December 2007 accident.
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According to this recent article in the Santa Maria Times, law enforcement officials have filed vehicular manslaughter and California DUI charges against Jesus Martinez, 20, of Los Angeles. The charges stem from an automobile accident early in February in which a passenger in Martinez’ car suffered severe injuries that caused his death. According to law enforcement officials, Martinez was allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol when the car he was driving collided with a tractor trailer sometime during the evening of February 5, 2009.

The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office announced the charges against Martinez, which include vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence causing injury (a special allegation that great bodily injury was caused), and a misdemeanor charge of driving without a valid license.
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A woman who faces multiple charges, including driving under the influence of narcotics, was named by law enforcement authorities recently, according to this article in the Los Angeles Times. Law enforcement officials named Alisha Nichole Mankin as the person responsible for a televised chase which caused three different traffic accidents and involved pursuit from numerous law enforcement agencies. According to authorities, Mankin, of the Antelope Valley of Littlerock, and a friend left a storage facility in a rented U-Haul truck around 3 p.m. on Wednesday, February 4, 2009.

Sometime later, Mankin and her passenger were spotted by a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Deputy engaging in suspicious activity after they stopped their rented truck by a car on the side of the road. The deputy approached the two and discovered the passenger had narcotics in his possession, so they were arrested for California drug possession. But according to California Highway Patrol Officer Matt Winter, Mankin attempted to flee the scene rather than be arrested. Winter said, “The guy is in possession of narcotics, and he’s arrested. As the deputy is putting him into his cruiser, she decides to take off running. She gets into the U-Haul because the keys are in it and takes off.”
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