Los Angeles City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana pleaded no contest Tuesday to a misdemeanor DUI charge and was sentenced to three years probation.
Santana, 40, was arrested about 12:15 a.m. March 26 while he was driving home from a charity roast of District Attorney Steve Cooley.
He took a short leave of absence from his City Hall job shortly after his arrest, but he has since returned to work.
In addition to three years probation, West Covina Superior Court Commissioner Harold Mulville ordered Santana to pay $1,737 in fines and penalties and attend a six-month drinking-and-driving education program. He was also ordered to participate in a hospital/morgue program to see the victims of alcohol-related crashes.
Santana was initially stopped for speeding, but was arrested after failing a sobriety test, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Before Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appointed him to serve as CAO last June, Santana served as deputy chief executive officer of Los Angeles County and as an aide to county Supervisor Gloria Molina.
He was the first Latino to oversee the city's fiscal affairs and $6.7 billion budget.
He issued a statement after his arrest apologizing "for my irresponsible behavior."
Source
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Murray Case Gets Judge, June Prelim Hearing
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor was assigned Monday afternoon to the manslaughter case against Dr. Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s personal physician, and preliminary hearing was set for June 14.
Pastor has a reputation as a smart, tough judge who reads every document in every case and is a stickler for detail, according to TMZ. He handled Monday's proceedings quickly and efficiently, asking Murray if he understood his rights and whether he agreed to the date. He answered simply "yes your honor" to each of Pastor's five questions.
The June preliminary hearing will determine whether there is enough evidence to proceed to a trial. Because it requires both sides to present much of their cases, it will play out like a mini-trial, giving a preview of strategy and evidence. On Sunday, TMZ reported that Murray's defense team plans to argue that Jackson administered the fatal dose to himself as Murray took a bathroom break from monitoring him.
Pastor has handled some high-profile cases, including one involving topless pics of Cameron Diaz, Jason Priestley's DUI, and several other high-profile cases not involving celebrities.
In February, Murray pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the June 23, 2009 death of the “Thriller” superstar. If found guilty, Murray could face up to four years in prison.
Such a judgment may be a long time in coming. District Attorney Steve Cooley wants to ensure that, unlike his predecessor Gil Garcetti's failure to convict O.J. Simpson, he has all his ducks in a row.The primary purpose of the proceedings in the packed courtroom Monday were to assign a judge to the case and set a date for a preliminary hearing.
Of course, this being about Michael Jackson, nothing was so straightforward or low-key.
About 50 or 60 Jackson fans showed up outside the courthouse on Temple St. Carrying signs saying, "Justice needs to be done!" and "Conrad murray is a liar and a murderer."
The Jackson family was also there in force, with even Janet -- who was not there for the February hearing -- showing up, wearing a grey jacket, big shades and a black skirt, accompanied by her brother Randy. Also in attendance: Jackson's brother Jermaine and father Joe, who has issued notice to Murray that he intends to pursue a civil case against the doctor for wrongful death.
The family seemed much more relaxed and animated than in February, with Janet playing with her mother's hair, and Jermaine and Joe chatting with each other.
Outside, dozens of fans holding signs and wearing custom T-shirts chanted "Justice for Michael!" as the courtroom filed out.
Source
Pastor has a reputation as a smart, tough judge who reads every document in every case and is a stickler for detail, according to TMZ. He handled Monday's proceedings quickly and efficiently, asking Murray if he understood his rights and whether he agreed to the date. He answered simply "yes your honor" to each of Pastor's five questions.
The June preliminary hearing will determine whether there is enough evidence to proceed to a trial. Because it requires both sides to present much of their cases, it will play out like a mini-trial, giving a preview of strategy and evidence. On Sunday, TMZ reported that Murray's defense team plans to argue that Jackson administered the fatal dose to himself as Murray took a bathroom break from monitoring him.
Pastor has handled some high-profile cases, including one involving topless pics of Cameron Diaz, Jason Priestley's DUI, and several other high-profile cases not involving celebrities.
In February, Murray pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the June 23, 2009 death of the “Thriller” superstar. If found guilty, Murray could face up to four years in prison.
Such a judgment may be a long time in coming. District Attorney Steve Cooley wants to ensure that, unlike his predecessor Gil Garcetti's failure to convict O.J. Simpson, he has all his ducks in a row.The primary purpose of the proceedings in the packed courtroom Monday were to assign a judge to the case and set a date for a preliminary hearing.
Of course, this being about Michael Jackson, nothing was so straightforward or low-key.
About 50 or 60 Jackson fans showed up outside the courthouse on Temple St. Carrying signs saying, "Justice needs to be done!" and "Conrad murray is a liar and a murderer."
The Jackson family was also there in force, with even Janet -- who was not there for the February hearing -- showing up, wearing a grey jacket, big shades and a black skirt, accompanied by her brother Randy. Also in attendance: Jackson's brother Jermaine and father Joe, who has issued notice to Murray that he intends to pursue a civil case against the doctor for wrongful death.
The family seemed much more relaxed and animated than in February, with Janet playing with her mother's hair, and Jermaine and Joe chatting with each other.
Outside, dozens of fans holding signs and wearing custom T-shirts chanted "Justice for Michael!" as the courtroom filed out.
Source
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
San Francisco, San Diego And Los Angeles – Places To Visit And Sights To See
There are many nice places to visit in the West Coast, California in particular. San Francisco, for one, seems to have one of the best weather all year round, with everything being moderate. Their summers are not too warm and dry and their winters, albeit chilly, are not extreme in some areas. San Francisco is also home to Silicon Valley where much of the information technology companies are based as well as venture capitalists that have become incubators for some of the start up technology companies. San Francisco also has it’s landmarks as the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Fisherman’s Wharf and Chinatown are part of the main tourism attractions of the city. Visiting universities liker Stanford, Berkley, St Mary’s College and Santa Clara University are also interesting places to go. The city, known for its liberal stance on many issues, including gay rights, is a hodgepodge of people with different ideas, all wanting for tolerance and acceptance that has made the city a sort of sanctuary for liberalism.
San Diego is another nice place to live. It is warm during the days and cool in the evenings. This place is known for its great food, relatively low crime rate, and its coastal yet friendly attitude. One caveat though is that this city has one of the strictest policies on Driving under the Influence. In fact there are specialized DUI attorneys in San Diego whose job it is to keep people from getting convicted from a DUI citation and arrest. The reason for this strict regulation is that it makes the city less prone to DUI related incidents. And perhaps because it borders Mexico, the need for keeping vacationing college kids in check after their time in Mexico is necessary. It is the belief of the city that a DUI related death is truly unnecessary so they play tough in their rules. DUI attorneys make it a point to serve their clients well, especially out of town clients, so that they may not get convicted from a DUI arrest.
Los Angeles is the place to go because of Hollywood and theme parks. Disney Land, Magic Mountain, Universal Studios are just some of the attractions found in the Los Angeles County. It is also known as tinseltown because of the number of film studios that are based there. A lot of actors and actresses are based there or if not, have secondary homes there as well. It is a place where glamour seems to be the norm and for those struggling actors and actresses, this is their mecca.
Source
San Diego is another nice place to live. It is warm during the days and cool in the evenings. This place is known for its great food, relatively low crime rate, and its coastal yet friendly attitude. One caveat though is that this city has one of the strictest policies on Driving under the Influence. In fact there are specialized DUI attorneys in San Diego whose job it is to keep people from getting convicted from a DUI citation and arrest. The reason for this strict regulation is that it makes the city less prone to DUI related incidents. And perhaps because it borders Mexico, the need for keeping vacationing college kids in check after their time in Mexico is necessary. It is the belief of the city that a DUI related death is truly unnecessary so they play tough in their rules. DUI attorneys make it a point to serve their clients well, especially out of town clients, so that they may not get convicted from a DUI arrest.
Los Angeles is the place to go because of Hollywood and theme parks. Disney Land, Magic Mountain, Universal Studios are just some of the attractions found in the Los Angeles County. It is also known as tinseltown because of the number of film studios that are based there. A lot of actors and actresses are based there or if not, have secondary homes there as well. It is a place where glamour seems to be the norm and for those struggling actors and actresses, this is their mecca.
Source
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Notorious in Jackson, Brown routed foothills water south
At the same time Attorney General Pat Brown sent investigators to bore enough holes in the city of Jackson's 1950s vice establishment to cause it to collapse under the weight of grand-jury hearings, he was becoming the state's chief player in moving foothills water to Southern California.
Elected attorney general in 1950, Edmund G. Brown in 1951 pushed to the forefront of state water politics by gaining appointment to the California Water Project Authority governing board.
At around the same time, in September 1951, Brown wrote to Jackson Police Chief George Milardovich.
Brown, according to author Allen De Grange, referred Milardovich to a report that a Jackson man named Red Kelliher tried to bribe a state district attorney's investigator Sept. 17, 1951 for advance warning of raids on a "Charter Club" in Jackson.
Brown's Sept. 21 letter states, "Whatever is meant by the term 'Charter Club,' it is perfectly certain that it is nothing more than a subterfuge devised to cloak an illegal operation," and urged that Milardovich "forestall this plan."
Milardovich needed little urging from Brown. He closed brothels and gambling houses in Jackson with vigor and kept them closed until the Jackson City Council fired him in August 1953.
Right about then, early in campaign fund-raising for the next year's election, would have been when Brown first arrived in the San Joaquin Valley town of Corcoran, to hob-nob with the biggest barons of big agriculture.
That venue was ripe for Brown to befriend corporate-cotton tycoon Clarence "Cockeye" Salyer. Salyer owned 88,000 acres. He liked flexing the muscle his position brought him, for example ignoring the law with impunity in using western Fresno County Sheriff's deputies as chauffeurs and tow-truck boys when on occasion they fished a boozed-up Salyer and his Cadillac out of an irrigation ditch, according to journalist Mark Arax. Salyer became instrumental in Brown's political campaigns.
In September 1952, when Jackson Police Chief Milardovich left town for a two-week U.S. Marine Corps Reserve training session, he returned to find brothels and gambling houses reopened. He re-closed them and continued cooperating with Brown's office. In early August 1953, the city council fired him.
Pat Brown, at that time, was using his state Water Project Authority board seat toward building an aqueduct to serve San Joaquin Valley agriculture interests and wealthy Los Angeles County suburbanites. The next month, in September 1953, Brown ordered a state probe into corruption on the Jackson City Council.
By 1954, when anti-gambling hero and friend-to-big-agriculture Pat Brown was re-elected attorney general, it's a good bet he was thanking Clarence "Cockeye" Salyer. By 1958, Brown was elected governor.
Corporate giant Salyer and rising politician Brown became so close that by 1959, Salyer had carte blanche to barge, unannounced, into Brown's governor's office, according to Arax.
At some point, being Brown's money man so entranced Cockeye that he had his son, Fred, ferry Gov. and Mrs. Brown by small plane from Sacramento to make the rounds of San Joaquin Valley agriculture operations, collecting bags of campaign cash from corporate-cotton men, according to Arax. Fred Salyer so hated being bossed by Bernice Brown on such journeys that he once refused to fly north to collect "that son of a b---- and his pushy wife."
Cockeye, according to Arax, shouted over the phone to his son, "I don't give a s--- what you think. That son of a b---- is our son of a b----. Now get your a-- up here and do it."
In November 1960, a $1.75 billion bond to build Brown's pet State Water Project was approved.
Scarcely a month later, in late December 1960 - perhaps still in a celebratory mood over new water rights that Brown's project would bring him - bourbon-drinker Clarence Salyer was arrested, dead-drunk behind the wheel of his Cadillac, by officers of the California Highway Patrol. Unlike Salyer's friendly county deputies, the Chippies were unimpressed and uncooperative. They arrested Pat Brown's bag man. Salyer threatened the officers on the way to jail, according to Arax, muttering that Gov. Brown, his close friend, would hear about it in the morning.
"You boys are history," he reportedly said.
According to Arax, it's likely strings were pulled by Salyer and Brown on Salyer's behalf in the DUI matter.
In getting elected governor, Brown relied on a monumental reputation as a crime fighter. Fittingly, Brown said of the State Water Project, "I wanted this to be a monument to me."
Elected attorney general in 1950, Edmund G. Brown in 1951 pushed to the forefront of state water politics by gaining appointment to the California Water Project Authority governing board.
At around the same time, in September 1951, Brown wrote to Jackson Police Chief George Milardovich.
Brown, according to author Allen De Grange, referred Milardovich to a report that a Jackson man named Red Kelliher tried to bribe a state district attorney's investigator Sept. 17, 1951 for advance warning of raids on a "Charter Club" in Jackson.
Brown's Sept. 21 letter states, "Whatever is meant by the term 'Charter Club,' it is perfectly certain that it is nothing more than a subterfuge devised to cloak an illegal operation," and urged that Milardovich "forestall this plan."
Milardovich needed little urging from Brown. He closed brothels and gambling houses in Jackson with vigor and kept them closed until the Jackson City Council fired him in August 1953.
Right about then, early in campaign fund-raising for the next year's election, would have been when Brown first arrived in the San Joaquin Valley town of Corcoran, to hob-nob with the biggest barons of big agriculture.
That venue was ripe for Brown to befriend corporate-cotton tycoon Clarence "Cockeye" Salyer. Salyer owned 88,000 acres. He liked flexing the muscle his position brought him, for example ignoring the law with impunity in using western Fresno County Sheriff's deputies as chauffeurs and tow-truck boys when on occasion they fished a boozed-up Salyer and his Cadillac out of an irrigation ditch, according to journalist Mark Arax. Salyer became instrumental in Brown's political campaigns.
In September 1952, when Jackson Police Chief Milardovich left town for a two-week U.S. Marine Corps Reserve training session, he returned to find brothels and gambling houses reopened. He re-closed them and continued cooperating with Brown's office. In early August 1953, the city council fired him.
Pat Brown, at that time, was using his state Water Project Authority board seat toward building an aqueduct to serve San Joaquin Valley agriculture interests and wealthy Los Angeles County suburbanites. The next month, in September 1953, Brown ordered a state probe into corruption on the Jackson City Council.
By 1954, when anti-gambling hero and friend-to-big-agriculture Pat Brown was re-elected attorney general, it's a good bet he was thanking Clarence "Cockeye" Salyer. By 1958, Brown was elected governor.
Corporate giant Salyer and rising politician Brown became so close that by 1959, Salyer had carte blanche to barge, unannounced, into Brown's governor's office, according to Arax.
At some point, being Brown's money man so entranced Cockeye that he had his son, Fred, ferry Gov. and Mrs. Brown by small plane from Sacramento to make the rounds of San Joaquin Valley agriculture operations, collecting bags of campaign cash from corporate-cotton men, according to Arax. Fred Salyer so hated being bossed by Bernice Brown on such journeys that he once refused to fly north to collect "that son of a b---- and his pushy wife."
Cockeye, according to Arax, shouted over the phone to his son, "I don't give a s--- what you think. That son of a b---- is our son of a b----. Now get your a-- up here and do it."
In November 1960, a $1.75 billion bond to build Brown's pet State Water Project was approved.
Scarcely a month later, in late December 1960 - perhaps still in a celebratory mood over new water rights that Brown's project would bring him - bourbon-drinker Clarence Salyer was arrested, dead-drunk behind the wheel of his Cadillac, by officers of the California Highway Patrol. Unlike Salyer's friendly county deputies, the Chippies were unimpressed and uncooperative. They arrested Pat Brown's bag man. Salyer threatened the officers on the way to jail, according to Arax, muttering that Gov. Brown, his close friend, would hear about it in the morning.
"You boys are history," he reportedly said.
According to Arax, it's likely strings were pulled by Salyer and Brown on Salyer's behalf in the DUI matter.
In getting elected governor, Brown relied on a monumental reputation as a crime fighter. Fittingly, Brown said of the State Water Project, "I wanted this to be a monument to me."
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Maualuga charged with DUI
Cincinnati Bengals rookie linebacker Rey Maualuga was arrested early Friday in Covington on charges of drunken driving and careless driving after he allegedly struck two parked cars and a parking meter.Maualuga, 23, of Cincinnati appeared in Kenton County District Court via a video link from the jail. He pleaded not guilty and was released from jail at 10:30 a.m. on his promise to return for future appearances. He left with Covington attorney W. Robert Lotz.
Source
Source
Monday, March 15, 2010
Michael J. Wright Jr. Killed Daughter Of Woman He Was Dating
VISTA, Calif. -- A motorist whose blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit when he crashed a Lexus into cars and a big rig on Interstate 5 in Oceanside, killing the 9-year-old daughter of a woman he'd been dating, was sentenced Monday to four years in state prison.
Michael J. Wright Jr., 24, pleaded guilty on Dec. 7 to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and could have been sentenced to a maximum of 11 years behind bars under the plea agreement.
Deputy District Attorney Jodi Breton said Wright's blood-alcohol level was estimated to be .17 to .18 percent at the time of the 1 a.m. crash last Aug. 3 that took the life of Violet Rosenquist, who was riding in the rear passenger seat of the 2006 Lexus.
The girl was pronounced dead at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego. Her 3-year-old sister escaped injury.
The crash occurred after the defendant and the girls' mother left a post-memorial service gathering at which both consumed alcohol, Breton said. His girlfriend was passed out in the front seat, she said.
Wright, from Commerce in Los Angeles County, failed to notice in time that vehicles ahead of him were slowing down and abruptly swerved to the right, crashing into a Dodge Caliber, hitting a Honda CRV and slamming into the left rear of a big rig, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The driver of the Dodge suffered minor injuries, while the Honda's driver was taken to Tri-City Medical Center with moderate injuries, the CHP reported.
Wright and the victim's mother had been dating for eight to 10 weeks when the accident happened, Breton said.
Vista Superior Court Judge Daniel Goldstein sentenced the defendant to the low prison term because he had no previous criminal record, Breton said.
Source
Michael J. Wright Jr., 24, pleaded guilty on Dec. 7 to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and could have been sentenced to a maximum of 11 years behind bars under the plea agreement.
Deputy District Attorney Jodi Breton said Wright's blood-alcohol level was estimated to be .17 to .18 percent at the time of the 1 a.m. crash last Aug. 3 that took the life of Violet Rosenquist, who was riding in the rear passenger seat of the 2006 Lexus.
The girl was pronounced dead at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego. Her 3-year-old sister escaped injury.
The crash occurred after the defendant and the girls' mother left a post-memorial service gathering at which both consumed alcohol, Breton said. His girlfriend was passed out in the front seat, she said.
Wright, from Commerce in Los Angeles County, failed to notice in time that vehicles ahead of him were slowing down and abruptly swerved to the right, crashing into a Dodge Caliber, hitting a Honda CRV and slamming into the left rear of a big rig, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The driver of the Dodge suffered minor injuries, while the Honda's driver was taken to Tri-City Medical Center with moderate injuries, the CHP reported.
Wright and the victim's mother had been dating for eight to 10 weeks when the accident happened, Breton said.
Vista Superior Court Judge Daniel Goldstein sentenced the defendant to the low prison term because he had no previous criminal record, Breton said.
Source
Monday, February 15, 2010
Judge orders trial for fatal DUI suspect
SAN FERNANDO - After his second DUI conviction last year, Marco Valencia visited a coroner's office to see the dead victims of drunk drivers as part of a court-ordered drug program.
He wrote a letter to the court about the experience: "I will never forget the smell of the place and what I had seen," Superior Court Judge Harvey Giss read from the letter on Thursday. "My mind would never let me forget that those were the result of DUI."
The judge recited Valencia's words on Thursday before ruling there was enough evidence to order the 21-year-old Canyon Country man to stand trial in a third DUI case - this one fatal.
On July 11, Valencia plowed his truck into a group of bicyclists on a remote stretch of Bouquet Canyon Road, killing a Stevenson Ranch man and severely injuring others while he was drunk on alcohol and high on methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana, prosecutors said.
He faces 13 criminal counts, including murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, hit-and-run and several DUI charges, according to court documents. After testimony, Giss set Valencia's bail at $1.3 million dollars and scheduled him to return to court on Dec. 24.
The deadly crash occurred just months after Valencia wrote the seemingly heartfelt letter in November 2008, pledging to turn his life around.
Tests taken after the crash showed Valencia had a blood alcohol level of about .18 percent - more than double the legal limit - and other drugs in his bloodstream, said Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney John Allen Ramseyer.
"The defendant clearly exhibited the willful, wanton disregard for human life," Ramseyer said.
One witness to the crash, Sheldon Haselwood, testified that he followed Valencia for miles as the suspect weaved in and out of lanes, crashing into a fence before he hit the bicyclists and sped off into the canyons.
Valencia was driving on the wrong side of the road, Haselwood testified.
CHP investigating officer Mark Griffith said fibers found on the driver-side door of Valencia's truck matched the handlebar tape from the bike ridden by Joseph Novotny, the rider who was killed.
Clothing fibers that matched Novotny's bicycle shorts also were found on the front of the truck, Griffith said.
Valencia also was seen by a witness the night before drinking with friends, Griffith added.
The deputy who arrested Valencia the day of the crash said he spotted the truck that matched witnesses' descriptions about 12 to 15 miles north of the accident, but the driver immediately sped off, leading him on a short chase.
The truck ran into a dirt embankment and stopped, and Valencia stepped out, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Jeffrey Burrow.
He then pleaded with the deputy to end his life.
"He told me to shoot him," Burrow said, "that his life was over."
He wrote a letter to the court about the experience: "I will never forget the smell of the place and what I had seen," Superior Court Judge Harvey Giss read from the letter on Thursday. "My mind would never let me forget that those were the result of DUI."
The judge recited Valencia's words on Thursday before ruling there was enough evidence to order the 21-year-old Canyon Country man to stand trial in a third DUI case - this one fatal.
On July 11, Valencia plowed his truck into a group of bicyclists on a remote stretch of Bouquet Canyon Road, killing a Stevenson Ranch man and severely injuring others while he was drunk on alcohol and high on methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana, prosecutors said.
He faces 13 criminal counts, including murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, hit-and-run and several DUI charges, according to court documents. After testimony, Giss set Valencia's bail at $1.3 million dollars and scheduled him to return to court on Dec. 24.
The deadly crash occurred just months after Valencia wrote the seemingly heartfelt letter in November 2008, pledging to turn his life around.
Tests taken after the crash showed Valencia had a blood alcohol level of about .18 percent - more than double the legal limit - and other drugs in his bloodstream, said Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney John Allen Ramseyer.
"The defendant clearly exhibited the willful, wanton disregard for human life," Ramseyer said.
One witness to the crash, Sheldon Haselwood, testified that he followed Valencia for miles as the suspect weaved in and out of lanes, crashing into a fence before he hit the bicyclists and sped off into the canyons.
Valencia was driving on the wrong side of the road, Haselwood testified.
CHP investigating officer Mark Griffith said fibers found on the driver-side door of Valencia's truck matched the handlebar tape from the bike ridden by Joseph Novotny, the rider who was killed.
Clothing fibers that matched Novotny's bicycle shorts also were found on the front of the truck, Griffith said.
Valencia also was seen by a witness the night before drinking with friends, Griffith added.
The deputy who arrested Valencia the day of the crash said he spotted the truck that matched witnesses' descriptions about 12 to 15 miles north of the accident, but the driver immediately sped off, leading him on a short chase.
The truck ran into a dirt embankment and stopped, and Valencia stepped out, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Jeffrey Burrow.
He then pleaded with the deputy to end his life.
"He told me to shoot him," Burrow said, "that his life was over."
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)