San Diego Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

Two Los Angeles men must pay a fine and participate in community service for selling phony Comic-Con tickets at last summer’s convention in San Diego.

The San Diego criminals must pay a $750 fine and pick up roadside trash. 24-year-old Farhad Lame was charged with theft pleaded guilty to the charge on Monday. Last week in San Diego Superior Court Lame’s co-defendant Navid Vatankhahan who is also 24 pleaded guilty to theft. Both men are required to complete ten days of public work service and have been placed on three years probation to pay restitution to the victims. Deputy City Attorney Kristine Lorenz said that Vatankhahan is also banned from re-selling tickets during his probation because he was the one who placed an advertisement to sell the false tickets on Craigslst.org .

Lame and Vatankhahan were arrested on the last day of the Comic-Con convention in July after the two woman who purchased the forged tickets were refused entry by Comic-Con security. The fake tickets were photocopies of an exhibiter’s ticket, which was not transferable. The two women who purchased the tickets from the San Diego Criminals each paid $120 and were told that they were two-day tickets to the Comic-Con convention. The two women bought the fake tickets on Craigslist after seeing the advertisement posted by the defendants. According to officials no Comic-Con tickets are transferable and they also cannot be resold.

San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith said “The old adage ‘if it seems too good to be true it usually is’ applies more than ever to the Internet. This is particularly true if you don’t know the identity of the seller, as is often the case with Web sites such as Craigslist.org”.

2 Men Fined For Selling Fake Comic-Con Tickets, 10news.com, December 27, 2010

2 men fined, placed on probation for Comic-Con ticket scam, cbs8.com, December 27, 2010

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Angel Gutierrez was arrested Sunday by Chula Vista Police for being involved in a fatal hit-and-run.

A 54-year-old woman who was crossing the street of the 1200 block of Third Avenue was struck by a car at about 8:30 p.m. where she died. According to Lt. Eric Thunberg, the Chula Vista police arrested Gutierrez, who is 23, early on Sunday. Gutierrez’s partial license plate number was given to the Chula Vista police by a witness that saw the white Pontiac sedan strike the woman. The authorities found the abandoned car in the 200 block of Moss Street an hour later.

Police found the San Diego Criminal’s address on his car registration and arrested Gutierrez at about 2:40 a.m. at his home in the 200 block of Date Street. Gutierrez at first told police that he had loaned his car to a “homeboy” and that he was not the one driving. The dead woman is believed to be a transient by authorities. The suspect was booked on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter. According to the medical Examiner’s office the fatally struck woman’s name is being withheld awaiting notification of close family. The results of Gutierrez’s blood-alcohol were not made available.

If you have been arrested or charged with a crime in San Diego, it may be in your best interest to seek legal advice from an experienced Criminal Defense attorney.

Chula Vista man charged in hit and run death, fox5sandiego.com, December 26, 2010

Arrest Made In Fatal Hit-And-Run, 10news.com, December 26, 2010

Continue reading " San Diego Man Arrested for Fatal Hit-And-Run " »

A San Diego Drug Crackdown in Escondido that began last May places 59 drug dealers behind bars.

“Defendants are being prosecuted either federally or through the state, depending on the severity of their charges or the quantity of narcotics and/or firearms sold, said police Lt. Chris Wynn. “To date, approximately 86 suspects have been identified, and over 1,300 items of evidence have been seized, Wynn said”.

The drug crime sweep which has been called “Operation Hidden Valley” also seized almost $100,000 in cash, along with 1.44 pounds of cocaine, 4.33 pounds of Marijuana, 35 ½ pounds of methamphetamine, 9.6 pounds of heroin, 250 doses of LSD, 3000 prescription pills, 40 ecstasy pills, and 35 weapons.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration along with detectives went undercover to collected information from the drug dealers by buying firearms and narcotics in hefty amounts. “The operation is ongoing, and additions narcotics, firearms and money seizures, as well as additional arrests, are anticipated, said Wynn.

Dozens Arrested In Drug-Dealer Crackdown, 10news.com, December 20, 2010

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Character actor Shelley Malil was sentenced Thursday for attempted murder.

Malil is an actor who is known for playing a store clerk in the popular movie “The 40-Year-Old-Virgin” and was convicted of premeditated attempted murder and assault for stabbing his on again-off again girlfriend Kendra Beebe in August 2008. Judge Harry Elias sentenced the San Diego Criminal to 12 years to life in prison. According to Prosecutor Keith Watanabe, 45-year-old Malil will be eligible for parole in about 10 years.

The San Diego violent crime happened in Beebe’s San Marcos home. On August 10, 2008 Malil allegedly went to Beebe’s house and found her having a glass of wine with another man in her backyard who was later identified as David Maldanado. Malil brought a kitchen knife with him from his home in Sherman Oaks. According to Malil, he and Maldonado struggled over the steak knife which ended up being thrown over the fence where Maldanado then went to his car. Malil claimed that Maldonado was going to his car to grab a gun where Malil then tried to contact the authorities and grabbed a butcher knife from Beebe’s Kitchen. Malil then claims to have been struck in the head with a heavy object in which after the impact he fell down and was repeatedly beat with the object. He says that while still holding the knife in his hand he tried to defend himself. Malil says “my hands were moving 100 miles per hour. I was poking and swinging as hard as I could. I wasn’t aiming for anything. I was hoping to find space between me and who was attacking me”. Malil states that he didn’t know it was Beebe he had stabbed. Malil was arrested the following day. Malil’s Criminal Defense Attorney argued that the act was not premeditated but that Malil overreacted and acted in self-defense.

Beebe had 23 stab wounds and according to doctors, was not expected to survive. She had a stab wound an eighth of an inch from her carotid artery. At Malil’s sentencing Beebe said “Despite the stab wounds Malil inflicted, I am alive”.

Actor Guilty Of Stabbing Ex-Girlfriend Sentenced, 10news.com, December 16, 2010

"40 Year Old Virgin" Actor Receives 12 Years For Stabbing Girlfriend, sandiego6.com, December 17, 2010

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San Diego resident Eric Protas is being accused of sexually molesting a young boy and is free on bail set at $800,000.

San Diego County Deputy District Attorney John Philpott attempted to persuade the judge that the San Diego Criminal is a flight risk and asked the judge to raise the bail to $1 million at a readiness hearing in El Cajon on Thursday morning. Authorities came across new evidence where they seized a journal from Protas’ computer at home that points to Protas’s guilt. Authorities also found DNA on Protas’ bedspread. Philpott is concerned that the San Diego Criminal will flee after finding out about this new evidence from the prosecution. Philpott says “The DNA is sourced to several males. There is no way to know the age of the donor, but we know it does not come back to Mr. Protas and that gives us pause”.

After hearing Philpott’s request, the judge prohibited Protas use of the Internet with only the exception of the defendant e-mailing his defense team. Philpott showed concern about Protas’ use of his Facebook page. According to Philpott, the defendant posted many offensive things about his accuser. Philpott explains “The type of things Mr. Protas was posting, among other things, includes asking people to pray for his accuser, pray that the accuser would relent and change his story. Mr. Protas compared himself to Jesus and referred to his accuser as Judas, things as a prosecutor, I thought were offensive”.

In October during a preliminary exam, the now 14-year-old victim of the San Diego Sex Crime testified that he had sex with Protas 300 times over a span of a year and a half. The victim went to an after-school program at the Allied Gardens School of Martial Arts which Protas used to own. The 38-year-old defendant’s trail has been pushed to March 22.

DA: Man Accused Of Molesting Boy Compares Self To Jesus, 10news.com, December 16, 2010

Karate instructor faces new child molestation evidence, fox5sandiego.com, December 16, 2010

Continue reading " San Diego Ex-Karate Teacher Accused of Molesting a 13-Year-Old Boy " »

A San Diego man pleads guilty Monday to thirteen felony charges for practicing medicine without a license during the time span of November 2001 to April 2009.

Kurt Walter Donsbach of Bonita pleads guilty to those felony charges in order to avoid prison. On his March 4th hearing, the San Diego criminal is expected to serve five years of probation and possibly local jail time in addition to probation. These charges included practicing medicine without a license, delivering and selling drugs that were misbranded with intent to mislead and defraud and lastly, the attempt of grand theft. According to court documents, these charges are related to three victims.

According to authorities, Donsbach was known as a chiropractor and a neuropathic doctor online as well as appeared on a radio show broadcasting on the internet. He stated to offer natural and nutritional remedy substitutes for various conditions such as cancer. Thomas Warwick, his attorney, claimed that his client was offering advice on alternative remedies, not practicing medicine.

A woman had developed osteoporosis over a six year time span due to a drug that Donsbach told her to take according to Gina Darvas, Deputy District Attorney. The prosecuting attorney described that Donsbach prescribed drugs that were not approved in the United States to his patients. The Rosarito beach clinic where Coretta Scott King died of cancer in January 2006 was founded by Donsbach. Mexican authorities closed the clinic a month later because of the unorthodox way they treated cancer as well as other health problems.

Fake Doctor Pleads Guilty to 13 Felonies, Sign on San Diego, Decemeber 13, 2010

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A San Diego resident plead not guilty to a murder charge on Wednesday in which she fatally stabbed her husband.

42-year-old Jennifer Trayers allegedly stabbed her husband in their North Park condominium because she suspected he was seeing another woman. The victim of the San Diego violent crime is Dr. Frederick Trayers, a 41-year-old surgeon at Balboa Naval Medical center who was stabbed in the chest, and back of the neck. Mrs. Trayers was found Monday morning near her husband’s body and was then taken to Scripps Mercy Hospital where she denied the murder charges from her hospital bed. Police arrived at the Trayers’s residence because the victim had failed to show up to work for a number of days. The authorities discovered the defendant on the opposite side of the bed with the victim where she had self-inflicted cuts on her body.

Trayers had sent an e-mail to the woman who was suspected of having an affair with the defendant’s husband, that she-the defendant- would be the last person he would be with. Deputy District Attorney, Fiona Khalil, told this to Judge Leo Valentine Jr. right before he ordered the defendant to be held on $2 million dollar bail.

Detectives believe that the San Diego homicide may have occurred as early as Saturday. Two knives were recovered and gathered as evidence. One knife was found in the bed sheets while the other was found on the bedroom floor. The defendant is facing up to 26 years to life in prison if convicted of this San Diego crime.

Wife Charged with Murder of Physician Husband in North Park, sandiego6.com, December 8, 2010

Injured Wife Pleads Not Guilty To Charges In Death Of Doctor, 10news.com, December 8, 2010

Continue reading " San Diego Woman Accused of Fatally Stabbing Her Husband " »

San Diego Parolee, David Joseph Lascelles, allegedly kidnapped and raped a 15-year-old girl from East County.

The 49-year-old suspect allegedly got together with the young girl on Monday morning on the guise of taking her shopping for Christmas presents. The San Diego kidnapping crime occurred when Lascelles and the teen arrived at a Wal-Mart store in El Cajon where the parolee allegedly pointed a pistol on the girl, grabbed her cell phone and compelled her to lie on the floor of his Mitsubishi Eagle. The San Diego sex crime occurred when Lascelles took the teen to the Fiesta Island area of Mission bay where he sexually assaulted her and held her captive for hours until about 4 p.m. where he then drove to Alpine and dropped the El Cajon resident off at one of her relatives homes.

After arriving at her relative’s home, the teen immediately reported the San Diego crime. Lascelles was taken into custody early Tuesday afternoon when members of a fugitive task force caught up with him in the 1200 block of Imperial Avenue in the East Village district of downtown San Diego. He was then booked into county jail. His court appearance was on Thursday afternoon where he plead not guilty to the charges of kidnapping and rape. His bail is held at $1 million dollars and according to prosecutors Lascelles is facing up to 142 years to life if convicted.

The victim was acquainted to Lascelles last year through one of her family members. The suspect has previously served time in prison for burglary and kidnapping convictions and has recently been living in his vehicle. Lascelles is also being charged with a similar crime on the assault of a woman in El Cajon.

Parolee jailed in kidnap, rape of teen, fox5sandiego.com, December 9, 2010

Parolee Pleads Not Guilty To Raping Teen, 10news.com, December 9, 2010

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San Diego Authorities believe that 19-year-old Billy Cook is responsible for the string of robberies around San Diego County known as the “Cover-My-Strap” robberies.

Cook was arrested by the authorities and was injured while he tried to get away from a police officer after allegedly robbing Church’s Chicken restaurant in Otay Mesa on Tuesday. Cook allegedly held what seemed to be a weapon wrapped in a T-shirt and demanded the cashier to open the register. Cook then snatched a customer’s $10 dollar bill off the counter and ran off. Authorities later learned that Cook’s weapon was not a gun, but was a hammer.

The San Diego criminal is being charged with one count each of robbery and burglary. It is believed that more charges will be made, for Cook is believed to be the one accountable for the series of San Diego armed robberies ranging from Carmel Valley to National City. In each of the thefts, authorities said a man with a bandanna covering the bottom half of his face goes to gas stations and drugstores pointing what looks to be a covered gun in clerks’ faces, ordering them to open the cash register and to give him money. In the San Diego robbery at the Valero Station, Cook is said to have threatened the clerk’s life before leaving the store without any money.

Cook attended Mar Vista and Montgomery high schools where he played football. Classmates described him as arrogant and that he was always getting into trouble. Contrary to this, two women who claim to be family friends of Cook’s, described him as a good boy. Cooks preliminary hearing is December 15, and his bail was set at $200,000.

Man Possibly Linked To Robbery Series Pleads Not Guilty, 10news.com, December 2, 2010

"Cover-My-Strap" Robbery Suspect Arrested Tuesday, sandiego6.com, November 30, 2010

Continue reading " San Diego Authorities Arrest Man Who is Believed to Be Involved in a String of Robberies " »

Two San Diego residents were arrested on Monday after their house caught on fire in which firefighters say started in the garage where the two men had a marijuana-growing operation.

San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokesman, Maurice Luque, said that the fire was reported at about 9:50 a.m. Monday morning in the 3500 block of Mount Burnham Court in the Clairemont area. Luque said “In the course of putting out the fire, crews found what was believed to be a pot growing operation in the garage”. Many indoor grow lights as well as a number of marijuana plants were destroyed during the fire. It took firefighters about 15 minutes to extinguish the flames, which caused severe damage to the garage and caused smoke damage throughout the house.

One of the men who resided in the home claimed to have a license to grow the marijuana for medical reasons. The San Diego authorities called in a narcotics task force and the San Diego criminals were arrested and taken into custody for the San Diego Drug crime. The flames caused about $600,000 dollars in damage to the house.

If you have been charged for a San Diego drug crime it may be in your best interest to seek legal advice from a San Diego Criminal Defense Attorney.

2 busted after firefighters find indoor pot garden, Fox5sandiego.com, November 30, 2010

Fire Heavily Damages Clairemont Hous, Marijuana Operation Inside, Sandiego6.com. November 30, 2010

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Lisa Hench, a 45-year-old well-known La Jolla Real Estate Agent, plead guilty to the charges to eight misdemeanor counts of corporal injury on a child on Thursday.

The defendant is being accused of scratching and pinching babies ranging from 3 months to 19 months, all at different locations and over a 4 month period of time during the fall of 2009. Hench originally pleaded not guilty to the San Diego Crime of four felony counts of child abuse in April 2010. Her change of plea to the San Diego Criminal act could end her up to 8 years in county jail.

It is ambiguous as to the reasons of why Hench, who is a mother of three, would harm eight babies by scratching them and pinching them hard enough to leave marks and make them cry. Each case of abuse happened in different locations such as schools and parks. Lainie Carswell, the mother of 7-month-old Jori who was one of Hench’s victims said “I believe she’s out there still doing it and I believe she will be caught for it again and that the punishment will be severe when it happens”. Carswell also said that Hench did not show any remorse for what she did.

Deputy District Attorney Patrick Ojeil said that Prosecutors will most likely ask that Hench not be forced to serve time in jail unless she commits the San Diego violent crime again. The defendant is to be sentenced on January 25.

La Jolla Real Estate Agent Pleads Guilty To Scratching Children, 10news.com, December 2, 2010

Mother of 3 admits scratching 8 babies, Fox 5 San Diego, December 3, 2010

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