Newly elected Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich today released his official transition report, and it shows no mercy for his predecessor, Rocky Delgadillo.
Units within the office’s Criminal and Special Litigation Branch were “downright anemic from their lack of resources, staffing, leadership and support," the report concluded. Morale among the unit’s attorneys and other staff also was “very low."
Delgadillo rebuffed that criticism when contacted for a response. He said the overwhelming majority of his budget was devoted to the criminal and special litigation branch, and the attorneys made tremendous gains in cracking down on gang crime in the city and ensuring that public schools were free of violence.
“Clearly, like any prosecutor, I would have liked to have more money, but we were in a budget crisis," Delgadillo said. “We did a lot with the money we had. I’m proud of the work that the attorneys did in the office."
Trutanich, who took office July 1, enlisted a transition team of top attorneys and community members to review the functions of the office and recommend improvements. Their report also included recommendations to increase training for attorneys, hire more investigators and adopt a transparent process for promotions and employee evaluations.
The harshest criticism of Delgadillo’s management related to the public integrity and ethics unit, which has responsibility for investigating allegations of wrongdoing against elected and appointed city officials.
“The city attorney’s office does not appear to currently investigate or prosecute violations of the City Charter related to public integrity,’’ the report states, noting “the absence of any named attorney for this unit and the absence of any specific report concerned the activities of this unit.’’
Officials with the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said the agency’s referrals to the city attorney for possible misdemeanor violations of the City Charter “were apparently not pursued," the report states.
Again, Delgadillo said that criticism was off the mark. He said, in fact, one of his most senior criminal attorneys headed the public integrity unit. Delgadillo added that, in most instances, those cases were referred to either the district attorney or U.S. attorney for prosecution since the city attorney’s office can prosecute only misdemeanors.
Delgadillo served as city attorney for eight years, and was termed out of office in July. He is now a lawyer in the Los Angeles office of Goodwin Procter LLP, and is exploring a possible run for California attorney general.
Source
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Transition team report details problems at LA City Attorney's office
Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich inherited an office from Rocky Delgadillo that is rife with morale problems and needs a major investment in staff training and other resources, according to a report authored by his transition team.
Trutanich, a Harbor City resident who took office July 1, assembled the team of more than 100 volunteer outside attorneys to examine the agency's operation, identify problems and recommend solutions.
The 156-page report also urges Trutanich to set "big hairy audacious goals" to improve the office, which has 540 attorneys and wide civil and criminal prosecutorial powers.
John Franklin, a spokesman for Trutanich, said the city attorney is combing through the report and its recommendations.
"The city attorney is taking this very seriously and it talks about problems that cannot be fixed overnight or even in six months," Franklin said.
But Franklin said many of the recommendations might have to be delayed because of the city's ongoing financial crisis and the cuts Trutanich must make to his department's $97.8 million budget.
"We are taking an 18 percent hit," Franklin said.
Aides to Delgadillo - who served in the office for eight years and is now eyeing a run for state attorney general in 2010 - said he had not seen the report and had no comment on it.
The committee working in the transition team's law firm management group "was advised repeatedly that morale in the office is low," the document said.
The report said there were a number of reasons for the malaise, including the city's budget problems but also the lack of transparency in promotions, the assignment of cases and the lack of proper equipment.
For example, the department's attorneys have to share 129 outdated BlackBerry devices. There are no laptop computers for the attorneys and, even if they had them, there has been no training in how to best use them in court.
Attorneys now receive little formal training when first hired and have few continuing-education opportunities. Many of the less-experienced attorneys learned on the job what was expected of them, with little correction offered by supervisors.
One of the issues Trutanich campaigned on was creating an Academy of Justice, which would provide training for new attorneys in the office and help keep experienced prosecutors up to date on the latest techniques and laws. The proposal was wholeheartedly embraced by the transition team.
Judges also weighed in on the transition team, saying many of the criminal attorneys came to court in improper attire, were ill-prepared or were forced to delay court proceedings as they checked with superiors on proposed settlements.
At least one political expert said the report was unusual for the extent to which it criticized Trutanich's predecessor.
"Usually when you do have a transition team you never see reports on what they're recommending and usually they are kinder to the person in office," said Bob Stern, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies.
"But I think this is a good idea and I wish more officials would let us know what they're planning to do once they get in office."
But one of the co-chairs of the transition team, former county District Attorney Robert Philibosian, said the report was not intended to cast blame on Delgadillo.
"This was from people with an unbiased view," Philibosian said. "What this is meant to do is point out what's the current situation, here's some new ideas and here's some innovations that should be looked at."
Jane Usher, a special assistant to Trutanich who served as executive director of the transition team, said many of the issues raised - such as morale and personnel issues - will not require major outlays of funds.
"What we are trying to do is change the culture of the office," Usher said. "That comes from leadership and effective management."
As an example, Usher said criminal attorneys complained about a lack of support to their efforts, with simple things such as having digital cameras to take pictures of evidence or video cameras to record interviews.
Throughout the report, Trutanich is urged to appeal to large law firms in the city to assist with advice on everything from handling cases and training to information technology needs. Also, the report said several firms would provide pro bono help with cases.
"The city attorney should reach out to these resources to form a permanent management advisory group," the report said.
Source
Trutanich, a Harbor City resident who took office July 1, assembled the team of more than 100 volunteer outside attorneys to examine the agency's operation, identify problems and recommend solutions.
The 156-page report also urges Trutanich to set "big hairy audacious goals" to improve the office, which has 540 attorneys and wide civil and criminal prosecutorial powers.
John Franklin, a spokesman for Trutanich, said the city attorney is combing through the report and its recommendations.
"The city attorney is taking this very seriously and it talks about problems that cannot be fixed overnight or even in six months," Franklin said.
But Franklin said many of the recommendations might have to be delayed because of the city's ongoing financial crisis and the cuts Trutanich must make to his department's $97.8 million budget.
"We are taking an 18 percent hit," Franklin said.
Aides to Delgadillo - who served in the office for eight years and is now eyeing a run for state attorney general in 2010 - said he had not seen the report and had no comment on it.
The committee working in the transition team's law firm management group "was advised repeatedly that morale in the office is low," the document said.
The report said there were a number of reasons for the malaise, including the city's budget problems but also the lack of transparency in promotions, the assignment of cases and the lack of proper equipment.
For example, the department's attorneys have to share 129 outdated BlackBerry devices. There are no laptop computers for the attorneys and, even if they had them, there has been no training in how to best use them in court.
Attorneys now receive little formal training when first hired and have few continuing-education opportunities. Many of the less-experienced attorneys learned on the job what was expected of them, with little correction offered by supervisors.
One of the issues Trutanich campaigned on was creating an Academy of Justice, which would provide training for new attorneys in the office and help keep experienced prosecutors up to date on the latest techniques and laws. The proposal was wholeheartedly embraced by the transition team.
Judges also weighed in on the transition team, saying many of the criminal attorneys came to court in improper attire, were ill-prepared or were forced to delay court proceedings as they checked with superiors on proposed settlements.
At least one political expert said the report was unusual for the extent to which it criticized Trutanich's predecessor.
"Usually when you do have a transition team you never see reports on what they're recommending and usually they are kinder to the person in office," said Bob Stern, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies.
"But I think this is a good idea and I wish more officials would let us know what they're planning to do once they get in office."
But one of the co-chairs of the transition team, former county District Attorney Robert Philibosian, said the report was not intended to cast blame on Delgadillo.
"This was from people with an unbiased view," Philibosian said. "What this is meant to do is point out what's the current situation, here's some new ideas and here's some innovations that should be looked at."
Jane Usher, a special assistant to Trutanich who served as executive director of the transition team, said many of the issues raised - such as morale and personnel issues - will not require major outlays of funds.
"What we are trying to do is change the culture of the office," Usher said. "That comes from leadership and effective management."
As an example, Usher said criminal attorneys complained about a lack of support to their efforts, with simple things such as having digital cameras to take pictures of evidence or video cameras to record interviews.
Throughout the report, Trutanich is urged to appeal to large law firms in the city to assist with advice on everything from handling cases and training to information technology needs. Also, the report said several firms would provide pro bono help with cases.
"The city attorney should reach out to these resources to form a permanent management advisory group," the report said.
Source
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Los Angeles cops take on notorious street gang
LOS ANGELES — A notorious street gang accused of terrorizing a neighborhood for years and killing a sheriff's deputy was the target of a coordinated assault by hundreds of law enforcement officials Tuesday.
Local police working with federal agents carried out a string of early-morning raids seeking key members of the Avenues street gang, a long-standing group that claims as its territory a swath of northeast Los Angeles. About 90 suspects were named in a massive federal racketeering indictment detailing criminal activity spanning more than a decade.
Officers in full body armor were seen at dawn Tuesday at a blocked-off staging area at the Dodger Stadium parking lot, where suspects were being processed at a portable booking area as media helicopters hovered overhead.
Scores of search warrants were served at 4 a.m. from Los Angeles to Kern County, and all the suspects were quickly rounded up, said Los Angeles police Deputy Chief Sergio Diaz. Within hours, several tattooed, shirtless men in handcuffs populated the parking lot.
There is "ironclad evidence of the crimes," Diaz said at the staging area.
"Our goal is to ... move these people out, occupy this community and support the law abiding people that deserve to live in dignity here."
Aside from murdering rivals, dealing drugs, graffiti tagging and other gang crimes, the gang is accused of making threats and carrying out acts of violence against police officers, culminating in two attacks that rocked the law enforcement community last year.
The first of these, in February 2008, saw Avenues gang members open fire with handguns and an AK-47 on Los Angeles police officers. Police shot back, killing 20-year-old Daniel Leon and injuring another man.
Then on Aug. 2, 2008, off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Juan Escalante was shot dead in front of his parents' home in the Cypress Park neighborhood northeast of downtown.
Even before the killing, authorities were investigating the Avenues, but his death increased the urgency of the operation. Earlier this year, police charged three men in Escalante's death and a fourth suspect remains at large.
The indictment details several possible motives for the murder. Carlos Velasquez, one of the men accused of killing the deputy, was heard in a wire-tapped telephone conversation telling another Avenues gang member that he killed Escalante in retribution for the death of Leon, nicknamed "Clever."
"Clever took one with him," the indictment states Velasquez said.
The 222-page indictment also alleges Avenues members posted inflammatory remarks on Web sites, including "Avenidas don't get chased by the cops. We chase them," and, "Avenidas don't just hurt people. We kill them."
Members of the largely Hispanic gang would also spray paint racist threats around neighborhoods to intimidate black people, according to prosecutors.
"This indictment attacks a criminal organization that has terrorized a community for generations," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Brunwin, the lead prosecutor in the case. "With all of the information collected over the past year, we assembled an indictment that led to dozens of arrests this morning and will make a significant difference in the neighborhoods in northeastern Los Angeles."
Tuesday's operation marks an ongoing focus on the Avenues gang, which gets its name from a series of streets running through the area.
In June 2008, another federal indictment took aim at the Drew Street clique of the gang. Prosecutors said Drew Street was the most active and violent clique within the Avenues and it produced significant drug-sale revenues for the Mexican Mafia, a prison-based gang that oversees much of Southern California's street gang activity.
That investigation resulted in the arrest of several of the clique's alleged leaders. Afterward, Mexican Mafia leaders attempted to re-organize the Avenues' presence in northeast Los Angeles by ending the clique rivalries within the gang and naming new Avenue leaders, Tuesday's indictment states.
Though incarcerated, Mexican Mafia leaders are able to communicate with street gangs through conversations on cell phones that are smuggled into prisons, as well as by passing folded notes to visitors.
Source
Local police working with federal agents carried out a string of early-morning raids seeking key members of the Avenues street gang, a long-standing group that claims as its territory a swath of northeast Los Angeles. About 90 suspects were named in a massive federal racketeering indictment detailing criminal activity spanning more than a decade.
Officers in full body armor were seen at dawn Tuesday at a blocked-off staging area at the Dodger Stadium parking lot, where suspects were being processed at a portable booking area as media helicopters hovered overhead.
Scores of search warrants were served at 4 a.m. from Los Angeles to Kern County, and all the suspects were quickly rounded up, said Los Angeles police Deputy Chief Sergio Diaz. Within hours, several tattooed, shirtless men in handcuffs populated the parking lot.
There is "ironclad evidence of the crimes," Diaz said at the staging area.
"Our goal is to ... move these people out, occupy this community and support the law abiding people that deserve to live in dignity here."
Aside from murdering rivals, dealing drugs, graffiti tagging and other gang crimes, the gang is accused of making threats and carrying out acts of violence against police officers, culminating in two attacks that rocked the law enforcement community last year.
The first of these, in February 2008, saw Avenues gang members open fire with handguns and an AK-47 on Los Angeles police officers. Police shot back, killing 20-year-old Daniel Leon and injuring another man.
Then on Aug. 2, 2008, off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Juan Escalante was shot dead in front of his parents' home in the Cypress Park neighborhood northeast of downtown.
Even before the killing, authorities were investigating the Avenues, but his death increased the urgency of the operation. Earlier this year, police charged three men in Escalante's death and a fourth suspect remains at large.
The indictment details several possible motives for the murder. Carlos Velasquez, one of the men accused of killing the deputy, was heard in a wire-tapped telephone conversation telling another Avenues gang member that he killed Escalante in retribution for the death of Leon, nicknamed "Clever."
"Clever took one with him," the indictment states Velasquez said.
The 222-page indictment also alleges Avenues members posted inflammatory remarks on Web sites, including "Avenidas don't get chased by the cops. We chase them," and, "Avenidas don't just hurt people. We kill them."
Members of the largely Hispanic gang would also spray paint racist threats around neighborhoods to intimidate black people, according to prosecutors.
"This indictment attacks a criminal organization that has terrorized a community for generations," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Brunwin, the lead prosecutor in the case. "With all of the information collected over the past year, we assembled an indictment that led to dozens of arrests this morning and will make a significant difference in the neighborhoods in northeastern Los Angeles."
Tuesday's operation marks an ongoing focus on the Avenues gang, which gets its name from a series of streets running through the area.
In June 2008, another federal indictment took aim at the Drew Street clique of the gang. Prosecutors said Drew Street was the most active and violent clique within the Avenues and it produced significant drug-sale revenues for the Mexican Mafia, a prison-based gang that oversees much of Southern California's street gang activity.
That investigation resulted in the arrest of several of the clique's alleged leaders. Afterward, Mexican Mafia leaders attempted to re-organize the Avenues' presence in northeast Los Angeles by ending the clique rivalries within the gang and naming new Avenue leaders, Tuesday's indictment states.
Though incarcerated, Mexican Mafia leaders are able to communicate with street gangs through conversations on cell phones that are smuggled into prisons, as well as by passing folded notes to visitors.
Source
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Area U.S. attorney is stepping down
The man who has overseen the county’s federal prosecutions for the past two years is stepping down, leaving the door open for President Barack Obama to appoint a replacement.
President George W. Bush nominated Thomas O’Brien to be the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, which includes Ventura County, in 2007. He was confirmed by the Senate that October. The appointment was for a four-year term, but he’s leaving early, he said, due to the change of administration. He declined to comment, however, on any of the conversations he’s had with the White House and Department of Justice.
“I will say this,” he said, “I have thoroughly enjoyed serving under both President Bush and President Obama and I also greatly respect the president’s (Obama’s) power to put his own U.S. attorneys in place.”
During his tenure, O’Brien made a mark prosecuting street gangs, said Beverly Hills criminal attorney Howard Price.
“That was his claim to fame,” Price said. “I think he’s made a significant impact on that. The question is whether the next U.S. attorney will continue that policy.”
Among his Ventura County-related accomplishments, O’Brien lists the prosecution of an Oxnard man who posed as a CIA agent and talked people into depositing thousands of dollars in his bank account to support his “mission in Iraq.” He also oversaw a $1.52 million settlement between the federal government and Community Memorial Hospital, which was accused of making improper payments, gifts and loans to physicians over a period of nearly 10 years.
One area O’Brien cut back on was environmental crimes, Price said.
“I had cases with that unit before and they were not particularly happy that the unit was being downgraded or understaffed,” Price said. “It will be interesting to see if the new U.S. attorney will beef up that office. I could see Obama being interested in environmental cases. I think from a social point of view, it’s long overdue.”
Ventura attorney Wendy Lascher, who specializes in appellate litigation, expressed hope that the district’s next U.S. attorney will focus more on corruption and high-level drug trafficking.
“One hope I have for an Obama-appointed successor is that he or she be someone who has had defense experience,” she added.
O’Brien said his final day will be Sept. 1. According to U.S. Department of Justice spokesman Thom Mrozek, it is not yet known whom his replacement will be.
“As there is no nomination from the president,” Mrozek said, “we assume that the Department of Justice will appoint an acting U.S. Attorney. I couldn’t comment beyond that.”
Insiders are speculating Chief Assistant George Cardona will be appointed to serve as acting U.S. Attorney until the Obama administration selects a permanent replacement.
O’Brien is leaving to go into private practice with the Los Angeles-based global law firm Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, where he’ll be working in white-collar defense.
There are 93 U.S. attorneys overseeing the nation’s federal districts. The Central District includes seven counties: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura. U.S. attorneys are appointed by the president for four years, with appointments subject to Senate confirmation. Each U.S. attorney is subject to removal by the president.
Source
President George W. Bush nominated Thomas O’Brien to be the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, which includes Ventura County, in 2007. He was confirmed by the Senate that October. The appointment was for a four-year term, but he’s leaving early, he said, due to the change of administration. He declined to comment, however, on any of the conversations he’s had with the White House and Department of Justice.
“I will say this,” he said, “I have thoroughly enjoyed serving under both President Bush and President Obama and I also greatly respect the president’s (Obama’s) power to put his own U.S. attorneys in place.”
During his tenure, O’Brien made a mark prosecuting street gangs, said Beverly Hills criminal attorney Howard Price.
“That was his claim to fame,” Price said. “I think he’s made a significant impact on that. The question is whether the next U.S. attorney will continue that policy.”
Among his Ventura County-related accomplishments, O’Brien lists the prosecution of an Oxnard man who posed as a CIA agent and talked people into depositing thousands of dollars in his bank account to support his “mission in Iraq.” He also oversaw a $1.52 million settlement between the federal government and Community Memorial Hospital, which was accused of making improper payments, gifts and loans to physicians over a period of nearly 10 years.
One area O’Brien cut back on was environmental crimes, Price said.
“I had cases with that unit before and they were not particularly happy that the unit was being downgraded or understaffed,” Price said. “It will be interesting to see if the new U.S. attorney will beef up that office. I could see Obama being interested in environmental cases. I think from a social point of view, it’s long overdue.”
Ventura attorney Wendy Lascher, who specializes in appellate litigation, expressed hope that the district’s next U.S. attorney will focus more on corruption and high-level drug trafficking.
“One hope I have for an Obama-appointed successor is that he or she be someone who has had defense experience,” she added.
O’Brien said his final day will be Sept. 1. According to U.S. Department of Justice spokesman Thom Mrozek, it is not yet known whom his replacement will be.
“As there is no nomination from the president,” Mrozek said, “we assume that the Department of Justice will appoint an acting U.S. Attorney. I couldn’t comment beyond that.”
Insiders are speculating Chief Assistant George Cardona will be appointed to serve as acting U.S. Attorney until the Obama administration selects a permanent replacement.
O’Brien is leaving to go into private practice with the Los Angeles-based global law firm Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, where he’ll be working in white-collar defense.
There are 93 U.S. attorneys overseeing the nation’s federal districts. The Central District includes seven counties: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura. U.S. attorneys are appointed by the president for four years, with appointments subject to Senate confirmation. Each U.S. attorney is subject to removal by the president.
Source
Monday, September 28, 2009
High-profile Calif. real estate agent acquitted
LOS ANGELES — A high-profile Beverly Hills real estate agent has been acquitted of participating in a massive mortgage fraud scheme that caused federally insured banks to lose more than $40 million.
The U.S. Attorney's office says real estate agent Joseph Babajian (BAH'-bah-jahn) was acquitted on 13 criminal counts. His partner, Kyle Grasso, and appraiser Lila Rizk were convicted Monday of conspiracy and bank and loan fraud charges in U.S. District Court.
The jury couldn't reach a verdict on eight other counts against Babajian and the federal judge declared a mistrial.
Grasso was also convicted of three counts of money laundering for his role in obtaining inflated mortgage loans for homes in some of California's priciest neighborhoods.
Babajian's clients have included Barbara Streisand, Warran Beatty, David Beckham and Janet Jackson.
Source
The U.S. Attorney's office says real estate agent Joseph Babajian (BAH'-bah-jahn) was acquitted on 13 criminal counts. His partner, Kyle Grasso, and appraiser Lila Rizk were convicted Monday of conspiracy and bank and loan fraud charges in U.S. District Court.
The jury couldn't reach a verdict on eight other counts against Babajian and the federal judge declared a mistrial.
Grasso was also convicted of three counts of money laundering for his role in obtaining inflated mortgage loans for homes in some of California's priciest neighborhoods.
Babajian's clients have included Barbara Streisand, Warran Beatty, David Beckham and Janet Jackson.
Source
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorneys Secure Insanity Verdicts in Two Southern California Murder Cases
The Insanity defense is rarely successfully presented in Los Angeles courts, as California law places a high burden of proof on the criminal defense lawyers to show that the defendant did not understand right from wrong at the time of the homicide. Under California criminal law, a defendant found insane at the time of the offense is not subject to criminal punishment, and must receive mental health treatment at a state institution. Further, jurors tend to be very reticent to accept psychiatric testimony, rejecting the claim as an "excuse" or a "loophole" in the system.
The most recent murder case was litigated by Kestenbaum Eisner & Gorin, LLP in a Los Angeles downtown criminal courtroom. After a month long trial, the jury concluded last week, that the eighteen-year-old woman was insane when she suffocated her newborn, suffering from an acute stress disorder and hearing voices at the time of her baby's birth at home. Second, in a murder case tried last summer at the Van Nuys Criminal Courthouse, a twenty-year-old man with a substantial history of schizophrenia was found Insane for an assault causing death at a valley strip club. In both murder cases, the defendants were facing life in prison had the jury found they were sane at the time of the homicide. Now the two will be receiving mental health treatment at Patton, a state mental health facility in San Bernardino, California. They will remain there until, if ever, the doctors find they have regained their sanity and no longer pose a threat to society.
As part of our courtroom defense, the firm's Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys presented expert Psychiatric testimony, as well as a jury consultant. The experts explained that the symptoms from substantial mental illness such as schizophrenia often present themselves in teenage years. While psychotropic drugs address some of the symptoms, patients' dosage must be closely monitored, or the hallucinations, voices, or other symptoms continued unabated. Insufficient parental monitoring, or the parents' inability to accept the existence of the illness, leads the illness to become worse, causing more frequent psychotic breaks from reality.
Cases of insanity are devastating to all parties involved. There are no winners when a defendant is placed in a mental institution. Most importantly, the jury is recognizing the power of mental health treatment, over incarceration, for those suffering from major mental illness, while also bringing justice for the victims and their families.
Source
The most recent murder case was litigated by Kestenbaum Eisner & Gorin, LLP in a Los Angeles downtown criminal courtroom. After a month long trial, the jury concluded last week, that the eighteen-year-old woman was insane when she suffocated her newborn, suffering from an acute stress disorder and hearing voices at the time of her baby's birth at home. Second, in a murder case tried last summer at the Van Nuys Criminal Courthouse, a twenty-year-old man with a substantial history of schizophrenia was found Insane for an assault causing death at a valley strip club. In both murder cases, the defendants were facing life in prison had the jury found they were sane at the time of the homicide. Now the two will be receiving mental health treatment at Patton, a state mental health facility in San Bernardino, California. They will remain there until, if ever, the doctors find they have regained their sanity and no longer pose a threat to society.
As part of our courtroom defense, the firm's Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys presented expert Psychiatric testimony, as well as a jury consultant. The experts explained that the symptoms from substantial mental illness such as schizophrenia often present themselves in teenage years. While psychotropic drugs address some of the symptoms, patients' dosage must be closely monitored, or the hallucinations, voices, or other symptoms continued unabated. Insufficient parental monitoring, or the parents' inability to accept the existence of the illness, leads the illness to become worse, causing more frequent psychotic breaks from reality.
Cases of insanity are devastating to all parties involved. There are no winners when a defendant is placed in a mental institution. Most importantly, the jury is recognizing the power of mental health treatment, over incarceration, for those suffering from major mental illness, while also bringing justice for the victims and their families.
Source
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Arson trial under way in Carbondale wildfire
GLENWOOD SPRINGS — A 12-person jury is being asked to decide whether a rancher is responsible for starting a wildfire that burned a fisherman and homes in the Carbondale area last year.
Attorneys made opening arguments Tuesday in the criminal trial of Larry Gerbaz. They said the unusual case hinges on the question of whether the fire burned because of what Gerbaz did or some other cause.
Gerbaz faces felony and misdemeanor arson charges in connection with the April 15, 2008, wildfire. Several homes were damaged and many more were threatened. Larry Garfinkel, a retired Los Angeles police detective, was seriously burned
Gerbaz had burned a debris pile on his uncle’s property three days earlier. Prosecutors say high winds kicked up the remnants of the fire and caused it to spread after Gerbaz had gone to Denver.
“He didn’t forget to turn out the lights. He forgot to put his fire out,” prosecutor Ed Veronda told the jury Tuesday.
Veronda said several neighbors will testify they saw the fire originate on the burning debris pile, and some of them were forced to flee for their lives.
Garfinkel suffered hand and arm burns when nearby brush caught fire. He saved himself by jumping into a creek.
Defense attorney Tom Silverman told the jury Gerbaz took numerous precautions to manage and put out his fire, and the wildfire occurred during spring burning season, when many landowners in the area had obtained permits and were doing burning.
“No one knows what the point of origin was, and no one knows who was responsible, and it would be completely inappropriate to try to make Larry Gerbaz the scapegoat,” Silverman said.
He said the wind was blowing in every direction the day of the wildfire, making it impossible to trace the cause of the fire and raising the possibility that embers were blown a long distance to start the wildfire.
Carbondale Fire Chief Ron Leach testified that although winds may have been swirling, they came predominantly from one direction. He said several other landowners’ fires in the area were too far away to have been the wildfire’s source.
The trial is scheduled to last two weeks. Two full days were required just to seat a jury, partly because of the high amount of local media coverage the case has received.
Gerbaz also faces civil legal action over the fire.
Source
Attorneys made opening arguments Tuesday in the criminal trial of Larry Gerbaz. They said the unusual case hinges on the question of whether the fire burned because of what Gerbaz did or some other cause.
Gerbaz faces felony and misdemeanor arson charges in connection with the April 15, 2008, wildfire. Several homes were damaged and many more were threatened. Larry Garfinkel, a retired Los Angeles police detective, was seriously burned
Gerbaz had burned a debris pile on his uncle’s property three days earlier. Prosecutors say high winds kicked up the remnants of the fire and caused it to spread after Gerbaz had gone to Denver.
“He didn’t forget to turn out the lights. He forgot to put his fire out,” prosecutor Ed Veronda told the jury Tuesday.
Veronda said several neighbors will testify they saw the fire originate on the burning debris pile, and some of them were forced to flee for their lives.
Garfinkel suffered hand and arm burns when nearby brush caught fire. He saved himself by jumping into a creek.
Defense attorney Tom Silverman told the jury Gerbaz took numerous precautions to manage and put out his fire, and the wildfire occurred during spring burning season, when many landowners in the area had obtained permits and were doing burning.
“No one knows what the point of origin was, and no one knows who was responsible, and it would be completely inappropriate to try to make Larry Gerbaz the scapegoat,” Silverman said.
He said the wind was blowing in every direction the day of the wildfire, making it impossible to trace the cause of the fire and raising the possibility that embers were blown a long distance to start the wildfire.
Carbondale Fire Chief Ron Leach testified that although winds may have been swirling, they came predominantly from one direction. He said several other landowners’ fires in the area were too far away to have been the wildfire’s source.
The trial is scheduled to last two weeks. Two full days were required just to seat a jury, partly because of the high amount of local media coverage the case has received.
Gerbaz also faces civil legal action over the fire.
Source
Friday, August 28, 2009
Paul Hastings Lands O’Brien, the U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles
The U.S. attorneys from the Bush administration are slowly getting replaced, and slowly finding homes elsewhere.
The latest big fish to step down: Thomas O’Brien, the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California in Los Angeles. O’Brien will join Paul Hastings, where he’ll serve in the firm’s LA office.
O’Brien was nominated to the U.S. attorney position by President Bush and was confirmed by the Senate in October, 2007. Prior to becoming U.S. attorney, O’Brien served for over two years as the chief of the criminal division in the Central District of California. He also served as chief of the office’s Civil Rights section, where he investigated and prosecuted federal hate crimes, racially motivated murders, human trafficking violations and police misconduct. Earlier, he served as deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County.
O’Brien (Naval Academy, University of San Diego Law) will practice white collar defense at Paul Hastings.
In other Paul Hastings news, the firm recently picked up three patent-litigation partners from Skadden Arps: Jeffrey Randall, Allan Soobert and Jeffrey Pade. Randall will work out of the firm’s Washington and Palo Alto offices; the others will be based in D.C.
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The latest big fish to step down: Thomas O’Brien, the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California in Los Angeles. O’Brien will join Paul Hastings, where he’ll serve in the firm’s LA office.
O’Brien was nominated to the U.S. attorney position by President Bush and was confirmed by the Senate in October, 2007. Prior to becoming U.S. attorney, O’Brien served for over two years as the chief of the criminal division in the Central District of California. He also served as chief of the office’s Civil Rights section, where he investigated and prosecuted federal hate crimes, racially motivated murders, human trafficking violations and police misconduct. Earlier, he served as deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County.
O’Brien (Naval Academy, University of San Diego Law) will practice white collar defense at Paul Hastings.
In other Paul Hastings news, the firm recently picked up three patent-litigation partners from Skadden Arps: Jeffrey Randall, Allan Soobert and Jeffrey Pade. Randall will work out of the firm’s Washington and Palo Alto offices; the others will be based in D.C.
Source
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