Orange County Criminal Attorney Blog

After an attempt to modify her home mortgage went wrong, a Mission Viejo homeowner took it upon herself to investigate the company, eventually taking them to small claims court to recover around $7,000. Her efforts brought the company to the attention of law enforcement, and the company's owners now face multiple charges for theft and conspiracy.

Danielle Holmberg, as reported in the Orange County Register, met with a representative of a company, Green Credit Solutions, that claimed it could cut her mortgage payments in half. A friend had referred the company to her, so she took a meeting in mid-2009. She and her husband agreed to an up-front payment of $3,495 to modify their loan. They also paid the same fee to modify the mortgage on a house they own in Florida.

Weeks passed, and she reportedly tried to contact the company every other week. They told her repeatedly that the modification was in progress but would take time. Holmberg had researched the company online and found a large number of complaints, but she trusted her friend's endorsement and had proceeded with Green Credit anyway. After multiple conversation with the company, she decided to look deeper.

Holmberg learned that the California Department of Real Estate had ordered the company to stop collecting what it called "illegal upfront fees" several weeks before she and her husband met with them to pay the fee. The state also contended that Green Credit did not have a valid real estate license that would allow it to engage in the business of loan modification. Holmberg researched the company, its owners, and others affiliated with the business. She began to send letters, with the help of a legal aid organization, demanding the return of her $6,990.

Eventually, Holmberg filed suit in a small claims court to recover her almost $7,000 from Green Credit. She learned that her letters had drawn the attention of the California State Bar. An investigator with the Bar told her that the Bar has raided Green Credit's offices and found her demand letters. She also learned that the Department of Justice had gotten involved in the Bar's investigation. She subpoenaed the investigator, the Department of Real Estate, and the Department of Justice to testify at her small claims trial. She prevailed against Green Credit at the trial, and the court pierced the corporate veil and held the two owners personally liable.

Continue reading "Prosecution of Mortgage Loan Company for Fraud Results from Investigation by Orange County Homeowner" »

A man accused of stalking a woman over a period of seventeen years was sentenced to more than twenty-six years in prison by a Seattle court on January 24. Prosecutors said it was the longest sentence in recent memory for a stalking offense. It apparently began in 1994, when Shaun Moul, now 31 years old, was in middle school. A girl saw him having difficulty with his homework in the library and offered to help him. She described him as an "outcast" and said she just wanted to be nice. Moul began following her. Over the years, prosecutors said, he wrote her more than one hundred letters. At times he allegedly threatened to kill her and at other times threatened to kill himself. He also contacted her family members to demand contact with her.

The woman had previously obtained restraining orders against Moul. After violating a no-contact order, he received an eight-year prison sentence in 2001 and served two years. He contacted the woman's sister after his release in order to make contact with the woman again.

Prosecutors charged Moul with stalking and violation of no-contact orders. He was convicted six months ago of two felony counts of stalking and nineteen violations of no-contact orders. Prosecutors requested twenty years in prison. His sentencing hearing was held last week.

At the sentencing hearing, the target of his stalking campaign had an opportunity to address him. She told him that she had no intention of ever being with him and asked that he never contact her or her family again. Moul did not oppose a long prison sentence, saying that he did not mind being confined for the remainder of his life. The court ordered a prison term of twenty-six and one-half years, which the chief prosecutor described as the longest sentence she had ever seen for stalking. His prior prison term likely played a role in the length of the sentence.

The story paints a chilling picture of a person obsessed with someone and willing to go to great lengths to maintain contact with that person. His actions appear to have been limited to threats made through repeated letters and other attempts at contact. If his actions ever turned to overt violence, media reports do not mention it. The long-term effect of his actions on his target and her family is undeniable, but it raises the question of what exactly constitutes the crime of "stalking."

Continue reading "Seventeen Years of Stalking Leads to Twenty-six-Year Prison Sentence" »

A jury in Chicago convicted police officer Richard Bolling of reckless homicide, aggravated DUI, and leaving the scene of an accident on January 18. He remains in custody while he waits for sentencing, which is scheduled for February. He faces a maximum of fifteen years' imprisonment, although he is also eligible for probation. Bolling admitted to drinking the night of the accident that killed 13 year-old Trenton Booker, but he has consistently denied that he was legally intoxicated. Prosecutors contended at trial that Bolling received preferential treatment from police during the investigation of the accident. This led to interesting questions regarding evidence of intoxication.

The accident occurred in the early morning of May 22, 2009. According to Bolling's own account of events, he had been drinking at a bar with friends. He says he only had three drinks, including a beer the bartender gave him as he was leaving. Bolling says he was driving his Dodge Charger at about 40 to 45 miles per hour when he saw a bicycle coming towards him. He says he swerved to avoid hitting the bicycle, which is when he hit Booker, who was also on a bicycle. He heard the car hit something and says he felt "stunned," but did not immediately realize he had hit a person. He drove away from the scene, but was pulled over several blocks away going the wrong way on a one-way street.

Bolling claimed in court that he was planning on returning to the scene before he was pulled over. He says that he agreed to do a field sobriety test and successfully completed the test four times. The officers who pulled him over testified at his trial that they determined at the time that he was not intoxicated, but they described that determination at trial as "erroneous." One of the officers also claimed that her watch commander told her not to do the tests until two hours after the incident. She said she felt "nervous" at the scene because several high-ranking police officers were present.

Police gave Bolling a Breathalyzer test more than four hours after the accident. His blood alcohol content at that time was .079 percent, just below the legal limit of intoxication of .08. At the trial, a forensic toxicologist with the State Police testified that, had a Breathalyzer test been performed just after the accident, he would have tested above the legal limit.

Continue reading "Police Officer Convicted in DUI, Hit and Run Case" »

A woman in Burbank allegedly approached the manager of a McDonald's restaurant on Olive Avenue on the night of January 11 and offered to trade sexual favors for free Chicken McNuggets. Witnesses also reported seeing her opening car doors of customers who were waiting in the restaurant's late-night drive-through line. The manager reportedly approached her after hearing that she was bothering drive-through customers. Early reports suggested that she was offering sexual favors to drivers, but she only extended the offer to the manager.

The restaurant manager and other restaurant employees recognized the woman. They reported that she is homeless and frequently causes disturbances at the restaurant and tries to solicit money from customers. She also reported has a history of entanglements with law enforcement. After she refused to leave the property that night, the manager called the police.

Police arrested the woman on "suspicion of prostitution," according to the Burbank Leader. Police held her on $2,000 bail. There has been no further news as to whether prosecutors have formally charged her with prostitution. It is possible that police used "suspicion of prostitution" as a pretense to arrest her in order to get her off of the restaurant's premises. Her alleged history of run-ins with police, combined with her allegedly troublesome behavior that night could have been enough of a reason to arrest her. An actual criminal charge for prostitution, given the circumstances of the case, seems rather unnecessary.

Under California law, soliciting, agreeing to engage in, or engaging in an act of prostitution is treated as a form of misdemeanor disorderly conduct. The statute, section 647(b) of the California Penal Code, does not specify a mental state required for solicitation, such as requiring that the person engaging in solicitation actually intend to engage in prostitution. The woman's actions in allegedly offering sex for food could theoretically constitute an act of solicitation.

The Penal Code in section 653.22 also prohibits "loitering" in a public place with the intent to commit prostitution. Evidence of loitering with such intent could include repeatedly engaging in conversations with passersby in a way that indicates solicitation for prostitution. The statute defines this offense as a misdemeanor as well.

Continue reading "California Woman Who Allegedly Offered Sex for McNuggets Arrested for Prostitution" »

An inmate at Theo Lacy Jail in Orange escaped on January 4, 2012 and was briefly at large. Scott Woodin, age 39, was discovered to be missing around 5:30 p.m., according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department. He had been assigned to a kitchen work detail, where he allegedly broke a small window to escape. A sheriff's department spokesperson said Woodin leaned a bench against the window to hide the broken pane. After dark, no one could see that the glass was broken.

A witness reported seeing a man dumping a jail jumpsuit at a Carl's Jr. restaurant across the street from the jail at 5:39 p.m., then running away. Police were not successful in tracking Woodin with bloodhounds that night. He remained on the run for about twenty-four hours, until sheriff's deputies arrested him in Lake Forest, about twenty miles from the jail, around 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 5.

Woodin had been serving a 314-day jail sentence. Police had arrested him on October 23, 2011 in Irvine for allegedly trying to steal a watch at a Nordstrom store. He was already on probation for theft and narcotics offenses. After the October arrest, he reportedly pleaded guilty to misdemeanor petty theft and other minor offenses. Because the arrest and guilty plea violated his probation from the earlier convictions, he would normally have been sent to state prison. A new California law, previously reported in this Orange County Criminal Attorney Blog, required authorities to send him to a county jail to serve his sentence. A court ruling, upheld by the United States Supreme Court, ordered the state to reduce the population of its state prisons by at least 30,000 inmates. The new law requires certain nonviolent offenders to go to county jail in order to meet this requirement.

Some counties are reportedly struggling to handle the influx of inmates. This is believed to be the first escape of an inmate transferred from state prison to county jail since the new law took effect on October 1, 2011. It is also apparently the first escape from Theo Lacy Jail in around twenty years. It is at least the second escape from an Orange County correctional facility in 2012, as we previously reported on the January 1 escape of Thomas Francis Kelley from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility and his peaceful surrender two days later.

Continue reading "After Transfer of California State Prison Inmates to County Jails to Prevent Overcrowding, First Inmate Escapes in Orange County" »

A man accused of hitting his seven year-old son and then throwing him off of a tour boat in Newport Harbor last summer was convicted of child endangerment in early January. The court did not sentence him to any further jail time, instead imposing three years of probation and additional conditions. The case prompted some outrage because of the danger posed to the child, and prosecutors have expressed displeasure with the sentence.

In late August 2011, Sloan Briles, age 35, was on a tour boat with his girlfriend and his two sons from a previous marriage, ages 6 and 7. The boat, called the Queen, took passengers around Newport Harbor past various celebrity homes. According to the Orange County Sheriff's Department, Briles got into an argument with his girlfriend. The two boys witnessed the argument, and the 7 year-old appeared upset. Briles, apparently under the influence of alcohol, told the child that he would throw him overboard if he did not stop crying. Witnesses said that, as the 7 year-old was walking behind his father near the bow of the boat, Briles hit the boy, then picked him up and threw him into the water.

The Queen's crew stalled the boat, according to the district attorney, and maneuvered to try to protect the child. The captain threw him a life ring. Three other boats reportedly saw what happened and moved in to help. One of them got him out of the water and returned him to the Queen. The district attorney said that Briles eventually jumped into the water to avoid the other 85 people on the Queen, who were reportedly quite angry with him.

A sheriff's patrol boat arrived on the scene. Briles was pulled back on board the Queen, and he was reportedly hostile to law enforcement. A sheriff's deputy, according to the department, suffered minor injuries while arresting Briles. Briles maintained at the time that both he and his son had jumped into the water for fun.

Prosecutors charged Briles with child endangerment. Law enforcement noted three significant dangers to the child. Because he went into the water near the bow, the boat itself or the propeller could have hit him, causing serious injury or even killing him. In the crowded harbor, another boat could have hit him. Finally, the district attorney's office claims the boy was not a strong swimmer. Briles pleaded guilty to one felony count of child endangerment and a misdemeanor count of resisting an officer based on an offer from the court.

Continue reading "Orange County Man Who Threw Son Off a Tour Boat Gets Probation" »

A woman accused of drugging and mutilating her husband was indicted on Thursday, January 5 for felony counts of aggravated assault and mayhem. The case has captured considerable media attention for its gruesome and prurient allegations. She was scheduled for arraignment in Santa Ana on January 9, but the court continued the matter until February 2. She is still in custody on $1 million bail.

Catherine Kieu is accused of drugging or poisoning her husband in July 2011. While he was unconscious, she then allegedly tied him to the bed, cut off his penis with a 10-inch kitchen knife, and threw it in the garbage disposal. She turned on the disposal, effectively destroying the organ. Kieu called 911 herself and was there when emergency responders arrived. They found the husband still unconscious, still tied to the bed, and "bleeding profusely." According to authorities, Kieu confessed and told them that her husband "deserved it."

The husband, whose identity remains anonymous, was taken to the University of California at Irvine Medical Center. Police had reportedly recovered parts of his penis from the garbage disposal. The primary concern once the man reached the hospital, however, was to stop the bleeding. Doctors were not able to reattach his penis, but the man survived.

The couple had gotten married in December 2009. The husband filed for divorce in May 2011, about six weeks before the alleged attack. The two had continued to live together in a condo in Garden Grove.

The case inspired a great deal of media attention. Kieu's claim that her husband "deserved it" led to much speculation as to her motive for the alleged crime, but she has never spoken out again in public on the matter. Since the husband remains anonymous, his side of the story is still unknown. This did not stop people from developing scenarios, some suggesting that he was somehow abusive, and others assuming that she was crazy and violent. In reality, very few facts are known about the incident, and Kieu has pleaded not guilty. The famous nature of the case may make her defense difficult, as much of the country heard about her last summer.

Continue reading "Indictment Issued for California Woman Accused of Drugging and Mutilating her Husband" »

Federal agents arrested Dr. Julio Diaz in early January for alleged drug trafficking. Diaz, a specialist in pathology and geriatrics, worked at a Santa Barbara hospital where, according to authorities, he wrote a large number of medically-unnecessary prescriptions to his patients for a variety of common painkillers such as OxyContin and Vicodin. Patients reportedly traveled from around the country to see him, and at least two women have alleged that they traded sex for narcotics from him. Authorities believe that some patients diverted medications prescribed by Dr. Diaz to the black market, while others received the drugs for their own use. The hospital reportedly logged over 400 emergency room visits by the doctor's patients between 2009 and 2010.

Although they are not part of the criminal charge against Dr. Diaz, authorities are investigating several suspicious deaths among patients treated by him. In a 2007 case, a 53 year-old woman died of a drug overdose, allegedly while being treated by Dr. Diaz for arthritis and high blood pressure. A patient who died in November 2011 reportedly had prescriptions for 2,087 pills written by Dr. Diaz during the six-week period before his death. In general, federal authorities accuse the doctor of writing numerous prescriptions for painkillers that were not merited by the patients' conditions.

Dr. Diaz's medical license has remained in good standing, but federal authorities claim he has been "on their radar" for some time. According to the Washington Post, complaints regarding the doctor go back at least fifteen years, with reports to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) beginning about four years ago. The DEA says they began their investigation in mid-2009. Some of Dr. Diaz's co-workers, who say they had flagged cases in the emergency room where they suspected over-prescription of narcotics by Dr. Diaz, claim that they reported him to the state medical board in October 2009 but never received a reply.

Dr. Diaz faces federal drug charges for trafficking in narcotics. After a hearing in Orange County, he was held without bond. He could serve up to twenty years in prison if convicted. Diaz spoke to the Los Angeles Times, saying that he would sometimes continue to prescribe narcotics to patients whom he suspected of addiction so that he could manage what they took. He characterized at as a choice between managing their drug intake or leaving them with no alternative but to obtain drugs on the street.

Continue reading "Santa Barbara Physician Charged with Trafficking in Painkillers" »

A young Oklahoma mother shot and killed an intruder in her home on New Year's Eve, after a 911 operator reportedly told her to "do whatever you can do to protect yourself."

Sarah McKinley, an 18 year-old Blanchard, Oklahoma resident, was home alone with her 3 month-old child when two men, Justin Shane Martin and Dustin Louis Stewart, allegedly tried to break into her mobile home. McKinley's husband had died of lung cancer a few days earlier. Police suspect the two intruders were looking for her husband's pain medication, and may have been under the influence of pain medication at the time.

McKinley barricaded the door to the mobile home with a sofa and called 911, reportedly speaking in a whisper to the operator. The 911 operator dispatched a sheriff's deputy and also notified the Blanchard Police Department. McKinley had a 12-gauge shotgun and a pistol. Martin had been trying aggressively to get the door open, and he finally managed to use his shoulder to force it open. McKinley asked the operator if she should shoot Martin if he made it through the door, and that was when the operator advised her to protect herself. She shot and killed Martin, who was armed with a knife. Stewart almost immediately turned himself in to police. The ordeal lasted a total of twenty-one minutes.

Prosecutors announced on January 4 that they did not intend to file any criminal charges against McKinley, stating that an initial review suggested she had not violated any laws. Her actions seem to fall squarely within the legal principle of self-defense. A person placed in fear of imminent death or serious bodily injury, who then takes reasonably necessary actions to protect themselves, is generally not criminally liable for homicide.

In this case, Martin had spent twenty or more minutes violently attempting to gain entry to the house. Evidence indicates that he and Stewart had been watching McKinley's house for some time. Someone had allegedly poisoned several of McKinley's dogs in the weeks leading up to the attack.

Under these circumstances, McKinley would have been justified in using force to defend herself and her infant son. Since Martin was armed, she could even use deadly force if necessary. Had prosecutors decided to charge her with manslaughter or another homicide-related offense, she still could claim self-defense as a defense to prosecution.

Continue reading "No Criminal Charge for Woman Told to Defend Herself by 911 Operator; Intruder's Accomplice Faces Murder Charge" »

A San Diego judge ruled last month that a man charged with the murder of his estranged wife and her male colleague is mentally fit to stand trial for the murders. Melchor Marabante, a 42 year-old registered nurse, underwent a medical examination after investigators told the court that he may have been under the influence of prescription drugs when the murders occurred. A doctor testified at a preliminary hearing that he treated Marabante for an overdose the morning of the killings. The doctor performing the medical examination for the court issued a written report to the judge stating that Marabante is presently capable of understanding the charges against him and of assisting his lawyer during trial. If convicted, Marabante faces the death penalty or life in prison.

Marabante worked as a licensed vocational nurse at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. His wife, Valerie Marabante, worked there as a registered nurse. The other alleged victim, Bernabe Villamar, also worked there as a licensed vocational nurse. The Marabantes married in April 2009 after a five-year relationship, and they separated in late January or early February 2011. About three weeks before her and Villamar's death, Valerie Marabante had filed for divorce and had Melchor served with papers.

On February 20, 2011, Marabante went to her apartment, reportedly because he suspected her of having an affair, and says he found Valerie and Villamar "kissing and hugging." He then allegedly broke into the house through a patio door and shot both of them to death, using a gun that his brother had previously taken away from him. Various media reports described Marabante's "troubled past." Several friends and members of Marabante's family, including two sons, have described his behavior around the time of the shootings. Friends report that Marabante said the medications he was taking made him feel "weird," and his son said that he thought his father was hallucinating. Marabante also allegedly told friends that he was angry with he wife, and that he wanted to hurt her, days before the shootings. After the shootings, Marabante's son and brother have both said that Marabante said he had done a "bad thing."

Continue reading "San Diego Man Accused of Murdering Two Deemed Mentally Competent to Stand Trial" »

A San Diego prison inmate working on the prison's fire fighting detail escaped from custody on New Year's Day by stealing a prison fire truck and driving away from the work site. The inmate, 51 year-old Thomas Frances Kelley, was reported to be a "model prisoner" until his escape. He must have had an exceptionally clean record in order to make it onto the fire fighting detail, which allowed inmates to work outside the prison's perimeter. A two-day manhunt ended with his peaceful surrender.

Kelley reportedly stole a yellow prison fire truck the evening of Sunday, January 1. A head count of inmates at about 9:30 p.m. that night came up one short. Sheriff's personnel reported seeing a fire truck driving haphazardly through the Spring Valley area. A caller also reported two men trying to park the truck, with some difficulty, outside of a convenience store in Spring Valley. Kelley had made it about twenty-five miles from the prison. Sheriff's deputies recovered the fire truck, but Kelley and his passenger had already fled the area.

Kelley had been incarcerated at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego since November 2010 as a result of a parole violation from a 2008 auto theft conviction. He was a minimum security inmate with a high level of privileges, given his work detail. Authorities conducted a manhunt in the area where they found the fire truck.

Sheriff's deputies spotted Kelley and a companion smoking a cigarette at a trolley depot in Lemon Grove late Tuesday morning. They identified him by a mug shot, and they approached him and asked him to identify himself. Although they said Kelley was "evasive" and offered a fake name and birthdate, he surrendered peacefully. Deputies delivered him to state parole officers. They also questioned and released his companion, who said he had just met him.

Kelley told authorities that he was trying to see his daughter. The San Diego County Sheriff's Department said they were not able to locate her. Kelley had apparently been living on the street since his escape.

Continue reading "Inmate Escapes from California Prison Work Detail in Fire Truck" »

A fundamental principle of our legal system is that everyone is entitled to due process of law, no matter how bizarre or unsettling their alleged offense may be. California criminal defense lawyers, after practicing long enough, see cases that range from the critically serious to the laughably strange. As we enter a new year, it is worth taking a moment to look at the more unusual side of criminal law, and the editors of the Rancho Santa Margarita Patch have helped us by publishing their review of Orange County's strangest "minor crimes of 2011." Several common themes emerge from their list, broadly summarized as public nudity, strange threats, unusual sights, and unfortunate bathroom behavior (a topic perhaps best left alone).

Laws relating to public nudity vary from place to place in California. Generally speaking, a person does not get into serious criminal trouble unless and until their conduct causes a public disruption or nuisance, but California law treats "indecent exposure" as a misdemeanor, defined as public exposure of one's "private parts" when other people who might be "offended or annoyed" are present. Punishment could be as much as a year in prison for a first offense, depending on the circumstances. Notable cases of 2011 included a report of a San Clemente couple taking nude pictures of one another in public, and a nude middle-aged man in San Juan Capistrano watching traffic in a shopping center parking lot. The winner, however, is clearly the report of a naked man driving a Toyota Corolla up and down the street in Aliso Viejo, repeatedly turning the dome light on and off.

Making a threat to harm another person, even a very strange threat, is considered a crime if it puts the person in reasonable fear of bodily injury. For the woman in Laguna Niguel who found fish heads on her porch, a quick internet search convinced her that it was a death threat. Her fear of imminent harm was alleviated when she learned that the fish heads were intended to go to a different porch, and eventually into a soup. A woman in Mission Viejo found her house bombarded with oranges one night, followed by grapefruit the next, in an attack the Patch editors thought might be a message about her vitamin C intake.

Continue reading "Strange Crimes of Orange County: 2011 in Review" »