A Bella Vista, CA man who threatened to kill his "girlfriend" in front of her 7 year old child, then proceeded to do just that was sentenced to a prison term of 30 years to life on April 22, 2011. 49 year old Ty Rone Pitts was sentenced in Shasta County Superior Court by Judge Bradley Boeckman on April 22 for the 1st degree murder of 24 year old Randal Leigh Wert. Wert was stabbed five times in front of her 7 year old daughter Kaylee, with three of those stabbings going through Wert's body. This was not the first felony conviction Pitts had for attacking Wert - a 2008 conviction was for choking and holding a knife to Wert's throat.
According to court documents, Pitts told a sheriff's detective that he and Wert, who worked as a shift manager at a fast-food restaurant in Redding, had been arguing the night of the stabbing and that "she continued to 'needle' and 'nag' " at him.
He then pulled an 18-inch "coconut knife" from the top of the refrigerator, and he nicked her arm with it, the court documents show. Wert then told Pitts she was "going to call the cops and he was going to prison."At that point, the report said, Pitts began to stab Wert in the upper torso.
Jankowitz said during the trial's closing arguments that Pitts inflicted the final stab wound after the bleeding and terrified Wert tried to run away from him but tripped and fell down in the driveway at their residence.
Pitts then rolled Wert onto her back and, holding the knife with both hands, raised it high over his head and plunged it into her heart, Jankowitz has said.
Karen Hallenbeck of Shasta Lake, CA said her daughter's murder has caused continuing nightmares."I miss her so much...I talk to her every night before bed...I will never forgive him." Hallenbeck read a letter from her granddaughter Kaylee who asked Pitts why he killed her mother. "I wish you were here so we could play," Kaylee said in her letter.
Hallenbeck also opined that Pitts should get life without parole since "he always said he was going to kill her in front of the children." Judge Boekman said "You predicted this and you made it happen."
Showing posts with label CA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CA. Show all posts
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
27 to life for rape of coed by fellow college student
Former Cuesta College student David Andrew Shenosky was sentenced to 27 to life on Friday, April 22, 2011 for the rape and kidnapping of a fellow student on March 27, 2010. The 23 year old plead no contest under San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge John Trice
After the incident, her eyes had broken blood vessels, consistent with the choking she described, and an examination found that she had been raped, police said. Police found a note on Shenosky’s computer expressing his regret for hurting her. The note said he loved her and wished the incident had never happened. According to the woman’s statements to police, Shenosky drove her home to San Luis Obispo after the rape and then she told her roommates, later describing the events to police.
Shenosky's sentence is as follows : 15 years to life on a single count of forcible rape, and 12 years for 2 counts of felony sexual penetration by a foreign object and a count of kidnapping, all to be served consecutively.
After the incident, her eyes had broken blood vessels, consistent with the choking she described, and an examination found that she had been raped, police said. Police found a note on Shenosky’s computer expressing his regret for hurting her. The note said he loved her and wished the incident had never happened. According to the woman’s statements to police, Shenosky drove her home to San Luis Obispo after the rape and then she told her roommates, later describing the events to police.
Shenosky's sentence is as follows : 15 years to life on a single count of forcible rape, and 12 years for 2 counts of felony sexual penetration by a foreign object and a count of kidnapping, all to be served consecutively.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Tracy, CA physician settles for millions in patient molestation cases - sentenced to 3 years imprisonment
(Original Post 2-7-10)
Peter Chi, a Livermore, CA plastic suregeon who practiced in Tracy, CA, has settled a lawsuit for $1.8 million filed by 37 female patients who alleged that they were groped and fondled by him at his practice, according to Stewart Tabak, the attorney for some of the victims. Tabak said that he and other attorneys reached the settlement because "It would be better to resolve it now." Chi's insurance company, Evaston Insurance, is trying to revoke his policy for criminal acts, not covered under the policy.
Chi, a Livermore resident, was the medical director of Beauty Renewed Laser Skin Center at 1770 N. Tracy Blvd. He was first charged in February 2009 after eight women filed reports with Tracy police. More women came forward after the investigation became public. The incidents are alleged to have occurred from May 2007 to January 2008.
The criminal case against Chi, 46, is still ongoing. He has pleaded not guilty to 51 counts of sexual battery, 15 counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object while the victim was unconscious and one count of committing a lewd act upon a child. One of Chi's accusers was 15 at the time of the alleged molestation.
Chi's trial is scheduled to start October 25. He's currently free on $500,000 bail and has surrendered his passport and medical license to authorities.
(Update 4-13-11) Chi was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment and a lifetime on the sex offender registry on April 4, 2011. The disgraced physician pled guilty to 36 counts of sexual battery and one dozen of the victims were present in the courtroom. "Renee" said that Chi botched her plastic surgery as well as groped her. "I feel like I was in a major car accident... He mutilated not only my body but my spirit. Today is judgment day."
As for Chi himself, he said just before sentencing,"I accept complete responsibility for my actions, and I am very sorry for the pain and suffering I have caused the victims and their families." San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Xapuri Villapudua chastized him for "taking advantage of mothers, daughters, and sisters."
Diana Koron, Chi's marketing director between 2004 and 2006 until she said Chi sexually assaulted her, attended Chi's sentencing. “I’m glad it’s over. I wish the sentence would be longer. But I am glad it’s over. I’ve been waiting since 2006 for him to be sentenced. Being in the courtroom yesterday was so emotionally draining....He showed absolutely no remorse whatsoever. He wouldn’t even look at anyone,”she said. Koron was not represented in any of Chi's civil lawsuits or criminal charges.
Peter Chi, a Livermore, CA plastic suregeon who practiced in Tracy, CA, has settled a lawsuit for $1.8 million filed by 37 female patients who alleged that they were groped and fondled by him at his practice, according to Stewart Tabak, the attorney for some of the victims. Tabak said that he and other attorneys reached the settlement because "It would be better to resolve it now." Chi's insurance company, Evaston Insurance, is trying to revoke his policy for criminal acts, not covered under the policy.
Chi, a Livermore resident, was the medical director of Beauty Renewed Laser Skin Center at 1770 N. Tracy Blvd. He was first charged in February 2009 after eight women filed reports with Tracy police. More women came forward after the investigation became public. The incidents are alleged to have occurred from May 2007 to January 2008.
The criminal case against Chi, 46, is still ongoing. He has pleaded not guilty to 51 counts of sexual battery, 15 counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object while the victim was unconscious and one count of committing a lewd act upon a child. One of Chi's accusers was 15 at the time of the alleged molestation.
Chi's trial is scheduled to start October 25. He's currently free on $500,000 bail and has surrendered his passport and medical license to authorities.
(Update 4-13-11) Chi was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment and a lifetime on the sex offender registry on April 4, 2011. The disgraced physician pled guilty to 36 counts of sexual battery and one dozen of the victims were present in the courtroom. "Renee" said that Chi botched her plastic surgery as well as groped her. "I feel like I was in a major car accident... He mutilated not only my body but my spirit. Today is judgment day."
As for Chi himself, he said just before sentencing,"I accept complete responsibility for my actions, and I am very sorry for the pain and suffering I have caused the victims and their families." San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Xapuri Villapudua chastized him for "taking advantage of mothers, daughters, and sisters."
Diana Koron, Chi's marketing director between 2004 and 2006 until she said Chi sexually assaulted her, attended Chi's sentencing. “I’m glad it’s over. I wish the sentence would be longer. But I am glad it’s over. I’ve been waiting since 2006 for him to be sentenced. Being in the courtroom yesterday was so emotionally draining....He showed absolutely no remorse whatsoever. He wouldn’t even look at anyone,”she said. Koron was not represented in any of Chi's civil lawsuits or criminal charges.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
"Monster" sentenced to 18 years, 8 months for attemped stabbing murder of wife
A man who stabbed his wife 63 times in front of their two children was sentenced to 18 2/3 years of imprisonment yesterday, February 28, 2011. 29 year old Brian Rolstad plead guilty to single counts of attempted murder causing great bodily injury, felony spousal abuse and two counts of felony child endangerment. The attack on his wife, Rachel, happened last spring at their Chula Vista, CA home. At sentencing yesterday, Rachel described as she drifted in and out of consciousness and saw fear on her sons' faces as their father attacked their mother.
The assault at the home in the 1300 block of Granite Springs Drive was reported shortly before 8 p.m. last June 14, according to Chula Vista police. A motive was not disclosed.
Officers arrived to find the assailant gone and the victim suffering from multiple stab wounds, most of them to her upper body. Rolstad was found about 7 the next morning, sitting in his car near Chula Vista Police Department headquarters.
"The torture was excruciating, horrifying and ruthless. I could feel each stab as it entered into and out of my body. He stabbed me over and over and all I could do is curl up in a fetal position to protect my heart while begging and hoping he would stop...You only care about yourself. Look how you washed yourself, changed your clothes and made sure you were nice and clean but left our kids crying, with blood smeared on their poor little faces, traumatized… while you left to go hide...When I see you, I see a monster."
To Superior Court Judge Esteban Hernandez, Rachel said that "Brian Rolstad is a cold-hearted, senseless human being… I see an angry man with no remorse… a vicious criminal who I believe will take revenge after his release. If he tried to kill me once, who's to say he won't try it again...He's not crazy but I'm afraid he will come back to get me when he’s released."
The perpetrator was ordered to get mental health treatment while incarcerated, something that may take place at one of California's state hospitals.
The assault at the home in the 1300 block of Granite Springs Drive was reported shortly before 8 p.m. last June 14, according to Chula Vista police. A motive was not disclosed.
Officers arrived to find the assailant gone and the victim suffering from multiple stab wounds, most of them to her upper body. Rolstad was found about 7 the next morning, sitting in his car near Chula Vista Police Department headquarters.
"The torture was excruciating, horrifying and ruthless. I could feel each stab as it entered into and out of my body. He stabbed me over and over and all I could do is curl up in a fetal position to protect my heart while begging and hoping he would stop...You only care about yourself. Look how you washed yourself, changed your clothes and made sure you were nice and clean but left our kids crying, with blood smeared on their poor little faces, traumatized… while you left to go hide...When I see you, I see a monster."
To Superior Court Judge Esteban Hernandez, Rachel said that "Brian Rolstad is a cold-hearted, senseless human being… I see an angry man with no remorse… a vicious criminal who I believe will take revenge after his release. If he tried to kill me once, who's to say he won't try it again...He's not crazy but I'm afraid he will come back to get me when he’s released."
The perpetrator was ordered to get mental health treatment while incarcerated, something that may take place at one of California's state hospitals.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Lake Forest, CA man convicted of raping 5 women faces life imprisonment
A Lake Forest, CA man was convicted of raping 5 Orange County women and sexually assaulting a sixth on Wednesday February 2, according to the Orange County District Attorney's office. 32 year old Sekayi Rudo White was found guilty of 14 counts of rape, sexual assault, making criminal threats, and burglary. White faces a maximum sentence of 119 years to life when he is sentenced April 15, 2011.
[White's] 14 felony counts includ[ed] attempted rape and forcible rape for Jane Doe No. 1; assault with the intent to commit rape, sexual battery by restraint and criminal threats for Jane Doe No. 2; forcible rape and dissuading a witness by force for Jane Doe No. 3; first-degree residential burglary of an inhabited dwelling and two counts of forcible rape for Jane Doe No. 4; forcible rape, criminal threats and first-degree residential burglary of an inhabited dwelling for Jane Doe No. 5; and forcible rape for Jane Doe No. 6.
He has also been slapped with sentencing enhancements and allegations for sexual crimes against multiple victims, rape with the use of a deadly weapon, rape in the commission of a burglary, non-accomplice present during a residential burglary, personal use of a deadly weapon, use of a deadly weapon during a sexual offense, being armed with a deadly weapon during a sexual offense, and crime-bail-crime (which means he allegedly committed a crime while out of custody on bail for another criminal case).
The attacks started in late summer 2002, when White raped a 22 year old passed out woman (Jane Doe 6)at a Santa Ana hotel. The woman woke up while White was raping her, and could not remember drinking alcohol or entering the hotel room. After the attack, Afterwards, White harassed her at home and work.
In December 2005, White met a 44 year old woman (Jane Doe 1) at an Irvine, CA bar and drove the woman to her home in Newport Beach. He used the ruse of asking to use the bathroom to emerge naked with an erect peniswhile he tried to remove her pants as he was pinning her down. White threatened to kill her if she told about the attack.That victim successfully fought him off. In August 2006, he picked up a 22 year old woman (Jane Doe 2) at a Huntington Beach bar, bringing her back to his home where he raped her.
White was indicted for the three assaults on September 2006. Even though he was held on $250,000 bail, he made bond, and raped three more women between January and April 2007, when he was arrested again and held without bond.
Jane Doe No. 3
On March 31, 2007, White is accused of going to a bar in Lake Forest, where 28-year-old Jane Doe No. 3 was celebrating her birthday. The victim had met the defendant a few months prior. At approximately 2:30 a.m. on April 1, 2007, Jane Doe No. 3 was dropped off at home by a friend. White is accused of showing up at the victim's home and knocking on her door. The victim, who was intoxicated due to alcohol consumption, opened the door, and White is accused of entering. Jane Doe No. 3 passed out in her bed. When the victim woke up, White is accused of forcibly raping her as she struggled and told him to stop. The victim punched White in the face and was able to get up and attempt to call 911. White is accused of following Jane Doe No. 3 and stopping her from calling the police. The victim ran outside and called 911 from a neighbor's home.
The defendant was re-arrested and charged April 4, 2007, with the rape of Jane Doe No. 3. The Orange County district attorney's office issued a press release about White that day, and several media publicized the case. As a result of the media coverage, three additional victims who had previously been frightened to report the crimes against them came forward to police.
Jane Doe No. 4
Jane Doe No. 4 met and began dating White in 2006 when she was 22 years old. In February 2007, White is accused of beginning to send threatening messages to the victim and spying on her by peering through the blinds into her home. On Feb. 21, 2007, White is accused of breaking into Jane Doe No. 4's home when she was alone, pushing the victim to the ground, and stepping on her chest as he removed her pants and panties. He is accused of forcibly raping the victim as he held a large hunting knife to her neck.
Jane Doe No. 5
Jane Doe No. 5 was renting a room from Jane Doe No. 4. The victim frequently locked her bedroom door using an eye-hook because she had seen White in the apartment before and was alarmed by his aggressive behavior toward her roommate. One night in January 2007, Jane Doe No. 5 locked her bedroom door and went to sleep. White is accused of breaking the lock off the door, entering the bedroom and forcibly raping Jane Doe No. 5. He is accused of threatening to kill her if she reported the rape.
Hopefully, White will get the maximum sentence for his crimes. This will insure that women in bars will not have to put up with White's lures and violence again.
LA county health inspector gets 115 days jail, lifetime SO registration for groping donut shop owner
A Los Angeles County health inspector was sentenced to 115 days in jail, three years probation and lifetime sex offender registration February 3 for groping a Pomona, CA doughnut shop owner. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Brougham meted out the sentence February 3 in a Pomona, CA courtroom. 51 year old Magdy Tawadros was convicted on January 26 after jurors found him guilty of a single sexual battery count.
The groping took place March 24, 2010, at the 45 year old victim's shop, Pixie Donuts. A surveillance camera caught Tawadros grabbing the woman in the back room of her shop and touching her chest as she tried to get away. The victim's civil attorney, Tim McDonough, elaborates on the encounter.
"The first actual assault was a hug, at which point the female store owner distracts him and says, 'I have to look out for the customers,' and she escapes, and after that a second altercation occurs where she's reeled in and of course there's some groping that occurs, and some inappropriate hand touching and things of that nature, and at that point a second escape occurs that then leads on to a third physical altercation. He spends about 15 minutes on the premises asking the female store owner if he can date her, and asks for her phone number and apparently leaves another business card with her in an attempt to solicit her to engage in some sort of encounter with him in the future," said McDonough. The victim went to the police March 29, 2010.
Tawadros, who worked in the West Covina bureau of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, was initially placed on desk duty, but fired on April 14 after the surveillance tape came to light. According to defense attorney Michael Holmes, "Watching (the jury) view the surveillance tape it was clear they were uncomfortable with what happened and I think that was the deciding factor."
It was the second jury trial in the case. The first ended in a mistrial after Deputy District Attorney Lauren Guber failed to give Tawadros' defense attorney an audio recording she made during interviews with the alleged victim and her husband. Deputy District Attorney Daniel Rochmes prosecuted the case to conviction, Gibbons said. Rochmes could not immediately be reached for comment.
The victim impact statement by the woman and her husband said they were "so relieved now that the jury has found Mr. Tawadros guilty... In our view, he has shown no remorse for what he did and he has fabricated a gross public lie intended to prove that he was innocent and to turn the tables on his victims, our family. He used his advantageous position as a county public code enforcer to commit a criminal act while he was on duty."
A $10 million lawsuit has been filed against Tawadros by the victim.
The groping took place March 24, 2010, at the 45 year old victim's shop, Pixie Donuts. A surveillance camera caught Tawadros grabbing the woman in the back room of her shop and touching her chest as she tried to get away. The victim's civil attorney, Tim McDonough, elaborates on the encounter.
"The first actual assault was a hug, at which point the female store owner distracts him and says, 'I have to look out for the customers,' and she escapes, and after that a second altercation occurs where she's reeled in and of course there's some groping that occurs, and some inappropriate hand touching and things of that nature, and at that point a second escape occurs that then leads on to a third physical altercation. He spends about 15 minutes on the premises asking the female store owner if he can date her, and asks for her phone number and apparently leaves another business card with her in an attempt to solicit her to engage in some sort of encounter with him in the future," said McDonough. The victim went to the police March 29, 2010.
Tawadros, who worked in the West Covina bureau of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, was initially placed on desk duty, but fired on April 14 after the surveillance tape came to light. According to defense attorney Michael Holmes, "Watching (the jury) view the surveillance tape it was clear they were uncomfortable with what happened and I think that was the deciding factor."
It was the second jury trial in the case. The first ended in a mistrial after Deputy District Attorney Lauren Guber failed to give Tawadros' defense attorney an audio recording she made during interviews with the alleged victim and her husband. Deputy District Attorney Daniel Rochmes prosecuted the case to conviction, Gibbons said. Rochmes could not immediately be reached for comment.
The victim impact statement by the woman and her husband said they were "so relieved now that the jury has found Mr. Tawadros guilty... In our view, he has shown no remorse for what he did and he has fabricated a gross public lie intended to prove that he was innocent and to turn the tables on his victims, our family. He used his advantageous position as a county public code enforcer to commit a criminal act while he was on duty."
A $10 million lawsuit has been filed against Tawadros by the victim.
Fresno insurance company owner sentenced to 10 days jail, 4 years probation for peeping on female employee
A Fresno, CA boss was sentenced to 10 days jail, 20 days in a work program and four years probation Wednesday, January 26 for taking indecent photos of one of his female employees in December 2009. 51 year old insurance company owner Wellman Shew was convicted of misdemeanor peeping after he was found with "disturbing" images on his work computer. If Shew violates his probation, he will be sent to prison and the four years he is scheduled to spend on the sex offender registry will become life.
Police later searched Shew's business on North Cedar Avenue near Alluvial Avenue and found a video that showed a female employee using the restroom. Police said officers also found a fake plant on top of the toilet with a secret compartment and two boxes with holes on the side.
In court Wednesday, [prosecutor Tim]Galstan, a deputy district attorney, informed the judge that there could be multiple victims, because Shew had told police that he was not fixated on just the victim in this case. "I just kind of rotate from people to people," Shew said, according to Galstan.
Just before sentencing, Shew told Judge Dennis Peterson in Fresno County Superior Court that his actions stemmed from a porn addiction, and "Hopefully, she will find in her heart to forgive me." Defense attorney Michael Idiart said that his client has tried to make amends by attending marital counseling, paying a civil settlement, and that "He accepts his punishment and wants to move forward."
The victim also made a statment to the court, asking Judge Peterson to make her peeper register as a sex offender. "Knowledge is power - I want future employees to know what he did." Peterson, when announcing his sentence, cited the vulnerability of the victim and the "sophistication and planning" of the unlawful recording.
Police later searched Shew's business on North Cedar Avenue near Alluvial Avenue and found a video that showed a female employee using the restroom. Police said officers also found a fake plant on top of the toilet with a secret compartment and two boxes with holes on the side.
In court Wednesday, [prosecutor Tim]Galstan, a deputy district attorney, informed the judge that there could be multiple victims, because Shew had told police that he was not fixated on just the victim in this case. "I just kind of rotate from people to people," Shew said, according to Galstan.
Just before sentencing, Shew told Judge Dennis Peterson in Fresno County Superior Court that his actions stemmed from a porn addiction, and "Hopefully, she will find in her heart to forgive me." Defense attorney Michael Idiart said that his client has tried to make amends by attending marital counseling, paying a civil settlement, and that "He accepts his punishment and wants to move forward."
The victim also made a statment to the court, asking Judge Peterson to make her peeper register as a sex offender. "Knowledge is power - I want future employees to know what he did." Peterson, when announcing his sentence, cited the vulnerability of the victim and the "sophistication and planning" of the unlawful recording.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Mother of two boys gets justice - ex-husband sentenced to 6 years for forced oral copulation
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Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Bay Area serial rapist gets life for attacking four women
A Richmond, California man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for a rape spree committed against four women between 2007 and 2009 in his hometown and the nearby city of Oakland. Michael Edward Stevens, 30, was sentenced to 165 to life for 15 felonies and 2 misdemeanors. His conviction took place in July, and the sentencing took place Friday, November 5, presided over by Contra Costa County Superior Judge Laurel Brady. Crimes which merited the lifelong sentence included rape, rape in concert, various other sex crimes, false imprisonment and robbery.
Prosecutor Dana Filkowski argued at trial that Stevens is a serial rapist who took sexual pleasure in terrorizing the victims -- some of them prostitutes -- by using a gun and pretending to be an off-duty police officer after sweet-talking them into his car.
One of the victims was a deaf-mute homeless woman who testified Stevens kidnapped her off the street. Another said Stevens left her naked on the side of a road, after which she cloaked herself in a garbage bag and huddled in a portable toilet while she waited for police.
One woman said she was gang-raped by Stevens and a second man who had been hiding in Stevens' trunk when she first got into the vehicle. The second assailant was recently identified at Stevens' nephew, who was 14 when the New Year's Eve 2008 attack occurred.
The nephew, Frank Stevens Dean, now 16, is currently jailed in another county for an unrelated matter, Filkowski said. Once that case is resolved, he will be brought to Contra Costa County, where he has been charged as adult with six felonies, including rape and firearm enhancements.
One of Stevens’ victims said, ”I thank God that the victims are alive, and myself," she said. "I am happy to never see his face again." As for Stevens, just before sentencing, he said, "Murder me today, see me tomorrow... if not in this life, the next." Stevens said. "I assume that's not a threat," Brady said. "That's a promise," he replied.
Prosecutor Dana Filkowski argued at trial that Stevens is a serial rapist who took sexual pleasure in terrorizing the victims -- some of them prostitutes -- by using a gun and pretending to be an off-duty police officer after sweet-talking them into his car.
One of the victims was a deaf-mute homeless woman who testified Stevens kidnapped her off the street. Another said Stevens left her naked on the side of a road, after which she cloaked herself in a garbage bag and huddled in a portable toilet while she waited for police.
One woman said she was gang-raped by Stevens and a second man who had been hiding in Stevens' trunk when she first got into the vehicle. The second assailant was recently identified at Stevens' nephew, who was 14 when the New Year's Eve 2008 attack occurred.
The nephew, Frank Stevens Dean, now 16, is currently jailed in another county for an unrelated matter, Filkowski said. Once that case is resolved, he will be brought to Contra Costa County, where he has been charged as adult with six felonies, including rape and firearm enhancements.
One of Stevens’ victims said, ”I thank God that the victims are alive, and myself," she said. "I am happy to never see his face again." As for Stevens, just before sentencing, he said, "Murder me today, see me tomorrow... if not in this life, the next." Stevens said. "I assume that's not a threat," Brady said. "That's a promise," he replied.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Text messaging "lovers" receive life without parole in murder of woman's husband
Monterey County, CA Judge Larry Hayes sentenced a mother and her "lover" to life without parole for kidnapping and killing the woman's husband. Marisela Zarate Andrade, 33, and Sergio de la Cruz, 34, were sentenced to life without parole Tuesday, September 14 for the murder of Jose "Nicco" Zarate of Wasco, CA. Zarate was kidnapped April 11, 2008 from his home and his body was found three days later in the trunk of a Ford Escort near Gonzales, CA vineyard with his hands and feet bound with duct tape, shot between the eyes.
The evidence which convicted the two was collected by Monterey County Sheriff's detective Brett Speirs. These included text messages which spoke of how Marisela and De La Cruz intended to kidnap and kill Jose. Marisela would drug her husband's coffee with chloroform, then De La Cruz and another man would kidnap Jose from his Wasco home. After killing Jose, Marisela wanted De La Cruz to behead her husband to make sure "the rat (is) very dead." The pistol used to kill Jose was recovered in San Francicso during a drug raid.
She gave police different statements about the last time she saw him. When confronted with the text messages, she admitted she participated in the plan to have her husband abducted, but insisted she only wanted him beaten up, a claim she maintained at trial.
Noting that he had received a letter from Zarate Andrade prior to sentencing, Hayes said Tuesday the woman was in denial. He said the length of time the two spent planning the murder, and the content of the text messages, showed the extent of the cruelty they intended to inflict on the victim.
Judge Hayes said,"In some ways you are both very lucky the DA did not choose to (seek) the death penalty in this case. That's how atrocious this murder was." Prosecutor David Gross could have sought the death penalty because Zarate's murder occurred duing the course of a kidnapping.
Besides the life without parole sentenced, Judge Hayes sentenced Marisela to an additional 8 years for kidnapping and De La Cruz to an additional 33 to life for kidnapping and executing the victim. Hayes stayed both sentences. The victim's family attended the sentencing.
The evidence which convicted the two was collected by Monterey County Sheriff's detective Brett Speirs. These included text messages which spoke of how Marisela and De La Cruz intended to kidnap and kill Jose. Marisela would drug her husband's coffee with chloroform, then De La Cruz and another man would kidnap Jose from his Wasco home. After killing Jose, Marisela wanted De La Cruz to behead her husband to make sure "the rat (is) very dead." The pistol used to kill Jose was recovered in San Francicso during a drug raid.
She gave police different statements about the last time she saw him. When confronted with the text messages, she admitted she participated in the plan to have her husband abducted, but insisted she only wanted him beaten up, a claim she maintained at trial.
Noting that he had received a letter from Zarate Andrade prior to sentencing, Hayes said Tuesday the woman was in denial. He said the length of time the two spent planning the murder, and the content of the text messages, showed the extent of the cruelty they intended to inflict on the victim.
Judge Hayes said,"In some ways you are both very lucky the DA did not choose to (seek) the death penalty in this case. That's how atrocious this murder was." Prosecutor David Gross could have sought the death penalty because Zarate's murder occurred duing the course of a kidnapping.
Besides the life without parole sentenced, Judge Hayes sentenced Marisela to an additional 8 years for kidnapping and De La Cruz to an additional 33 to life for kidnapping and executing the victim. Hayes stayed both sentences. The victim's family attended the sentencing.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
AM Rapist gets 75 to life for attacks on San Diego area women
The judge added: “There’s no question he deserves to die in prison.”
Authorities attributed a series of rapes that occurred from June 2000 to February 2001 in Ocean Beach, Mission Beach and the College Area to a suspect they dubbed the “A.M. Rapist.” The victims — all women in their mid-20s according to prosecutors — were awakened by an intruder who choked, fondled and raped them.
Each attack occurred in the pre-dawn hours, earning the sexual predator his nickname.
Eventually, DNA evidence linked [now 34 year old Stephen]Richardson, a former Navy man who had been stationed in San Diego at the time, to each of the crimes. According to court documents, Richardson was discharged from the Navy for psychological reasons and returned to the Chicago area in March 2001. At the time of his arrest, he was married, had earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees and worked in a management position at company earning $70,000 per year.
Richardson was arrested in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights last summer, and plead guilty to five counts of rape last month on the 12th. In addition, he is suspected of a sixth rape of an Arlington Heights woman who was sexually assaulted July 29, 2003, at 4AM. That DNA profile came back positive for a match with the other 5 assaults. Charges haven't yet been filed in that case, but the investigation is still continuing.
In court, with all five of his victims looking on, he claimed that depression, loneliness, and lack on control led him to burglarize and rape, and also led to attempted suicide by drug overdose.
“I was on a destructive path with nothing to lose,” Richardson said. “Today I’ve lost everything that has ever mattered to me...What I have done to each of you has haunted me over the years. I always felt that I was living on borrowed time, but I can’t change the past.”
Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth McCluthchey called Richardson a "wolf in sheep's clothing" because the sex predator appeared to the outside world to be a family man and an upstanding member of the military. Her assessment was seconded by Richardson's wife, who said in a statement submitted to the court that she had been "lied to, deceived and betrayed."
This was seconded by two victims who chose to make an impact statement.
"Stephen Richardson almost killed me, and the assault was the worst thing I've ever gone through in my life. Perhaps [he]will come to realize how devastating his actions were."
A second woman believes that she's being watched whenever she goes to the grocery store, and worries for the safety of her daughter.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Molest victim shoots attacker, pleads guilty to voluntary manslaughter
He told [his family] McNeill began molesting him while they were on a fishing trip when Vargas was 11 years old. McNeill continued to psychologically harass Vargas into adulthood, the Vargas family said.
McNeill would drop by the house Vargas shared with his fiancee at all hours, call frequently and ask to baby-sit Vargas’ newborn daughter, his sister [Mindy Galliani] said. Galliani believes her brother snapped on the night he drove to NcNeill’s home outside of Fort Bragg carrying a .44 caliber cap and ball pistol.
The men argued and Vargas shot McNeill once in the chest, then stayed at the home for 20 minutes to make sure he was dead, preventing Liz McNeill from phoning for help, law enforcement officers said. After the shooting, Vargas disassembled the gun and divulged his accusations for the first time.
Liz McNeill and her sons have written letters urging Humboldt County, CA prosecutors to charge Vargas with lesser charges that murder, and according to Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Norman and Vargas’ attorney, Tom Hudson. Three men and a woman contacted the DA's office alleging molestation by McNeill, and Norman said the plea agreement was “a fair resolution in light of all the facts.”
Vargas has became a celebrity of sorts since his arrest immediately after the killing. His sister’s unflagging outreach efforts garnered nationwide media attention and support from the Fort Bragg community and beyond for Vargas, who many consider to be the victim in this case.
More than 2,000 people signed an online petition seeking a reduction in the charges or dismissal of the case. A dozen people claim McNeill also molested them, said Vargas’ sister, Mindy Galliani.
Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Ron Brown took into account the plea of the victim's family in accepting the plea agreement, but not the public support for Vargas, shown by a petition urging charges be dropped. “That is the reason we’re not guided by public opinion,” Judge Brown said.
Brown will sentence Vargas after an April 20 stipulated facts hearing. There is a chance that Vargas can be sentenced to more than 10 years by Judge Brown. Voluntary manslaughter carries a 21 year maximum sentence, and Vargas can retract his plea if Brown sentences him to 10-21 years.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Jurors recommend death for California serial killer, judge grants request
(Original Post 3-10-10)
By LARRY WELBORN, RACHANEE SRISAVASDI and ERIC CARPENTER
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
SANTA ANA – Courtroom spectators applauded Tuesday when an Orange County jury recommended that serial killer Rodney James Alcala be put to death for five sexual assault and torture murders committed in the 1970s.
Alcala, who represented himself during the eight-week trial, did not look at the jury as the verdict was announced after just an hour of deliberations. He stared down at the counsel table with no outward sign of emotion.
But family members of murder victims pumped their fists and cheered.
Robert Samsoe, the older bother of victim Robin Samsoe – a junior high school student who was kidnapped while on the way to ballet lessons on June 20, 1979 – raised his fist and shouted "Yes! Yes!" Robin was Alcala's last victim.
"It's a great feeling that Robin did not die in vain," Robert Samsoe told reporters later. "We got a monster off the streets for good today."
Dedee Parenteau, the sister of murder victim Jill Parenteau, who was raped, tortured and strangled in her Burbank apartment a week before Samsoe was murdered, smiled and raised her fist when the verdict was announced.
"I'll never have Jill back, but I do feel a sense of relief," she said. "I'm happy for Jill and the other girls that they got justice today."
And Anne Michelena, the sister of murder victim Georgia Wixted, smiled and accepted congratulations from friends in the courtroom. "I've waited 33 years for this," she said. "It was really hard to hear what happened to my sister, but this feels like a sense of relief."
Judge Francisco P. Briseno politely reprimanded the spectators – mostly family members of victims – after the spontaneous applause when the verdict was announced. "Remember you are in Superior Court," he said. "Please keep your composure."
Briseno said he will schedule Alcala's sentencing date on Wednesday.
The same jury convicted Alcala last week of five counts of first-degree murder, plus the special circumstances of committing multiple murders, murders during the course of sexual assault and torture, and murder during a kidnapping.
Those special circumstances findings triggered the penalty phase, where the jury's only choice was the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Jurors said later they had little difficulty making that decision.
The jury foreman, who gave his name as Jeff, said, "These were horrendous crimes. ... There was an overwhelming feeling to render a verdict of justice to show our sympathies to the families."
Juror Greg Lacey, 63, spoke to some family members of the victims. "I'm a father and a husband," he told them. "Seeing you gave us the strength to do our duty."
It was the third time that Alcala has heard a jury condemn him to death.
He was tried twice, convicted twice and sentenced to death twice before in the Samsoe case, but both of those convictions were reversed on appeal.
Before he could be tried a third time for Samsoe's death, he was linked by DNA and other forensic evidence to the sexual assaults and torture murders of the four women in Los Angeles. Those cases were merged into one trial in Orange County.
Earlier Tuesday, Alcala played lyrics from the 1960s song "Alice's Restaurant" during his 13 minutes summation and told his jurors that they would become "de facto killers" if he is executed.
Alcala told jurors that a verdict of life in prison without the possibility of parole "would end this matter now" and would provide closure to the family members of his five victims. But if jurors decided that death was the appropriate penalty, they would "instantly become wannabe killers in waiting," he said.
One juror, who gave his name as Vic, told reporters that Alcala's argument was "very insulting. He basically called us killers."
Alcala took the rare step of representing himself during the eight-week trial. He presented no evidence in the brutal Los Angeles County murders of Jill Barcomb, 18, in November, 1977; George Wixted, 27, in December 1977; Charlotte Lamb, 32, in June 1978, and Jill Parenteau, 21, on June 14, 1979.
But he continued to insist that he did not kidnap or murder Robin Samsoe, an always-smiling junior high schooler who was kidnapped as she pedaled a friend's bicycle to ballet practice on June 20, 1979. Her decomposing remains were found 12 days later in the foothills of Los Angeles County not far from Alcala's home in Monterey Park.
Alcala quickly became a suspect in the Samsoe case in 1979 when his parole officer reported to Huntington Beach Police detectives that he bore an uncanny resemblance to a police artist's composite sketch of a man in his mid-30s who talked the 12-year-old girl into posing for photos a few minutes before she went missing.
Detectives learned that Alcala held himself out as a freelance photographer and that he was in the vicinity of the beach at 14th Street where the photo incident took place. Several other young girls then came forward and identified Alcala as the photographer.
He was arrested on July 24, 1979, and has been in custody ever since, either awaiting trial or on Death Row at San Quentin Prison before his convictions were reversed.
During the investigation, detectives found dozens of photographs of young women at Alcala's home in Monterey Park and in a storage locker in Seattle. They also discovered a pouch of jewelry in that storage locker that contained gold ball earrings that Robin Samsoe's mother identified as hers.
Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy argued that Alcala was a predatory monster who sought out young women to kill because he enjoyed it, and that he sometimes kept the earrings of his victims as trophies.
Nearly a quarter of a century later, forensic examiners determined that the DNA from Charlotte Lamb – one of his Los Angeles victims – was on rose-shaped earring that were found in the same pouch as the earring belonging to Robin Samsoe.
Marianne Connelly, Robin Samsoe's mother, arrived at the courthouse about an hour after the verdict was announced. She hugged her two sons, who have attended almost every minute of the third trial, and Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, and trial prosecutors Murphy and Gina Satriano. "I am just delighted with the verdict," she said, near tears. "Three times going through this is enough. Hopefully, we'll never have to do this again."
(Update 4-10-10) On Tuesday, March 30, Alcala was sentenced to death in an Orange County, CA courtroom. Judge Francisco Briseno for the deaths of 4 victims and a teenage girl. Briseno said that Alcala's posing of bodies after death indicated that "sadistic sexual motives" were the root cause of the rape-slayings, and that he had an "abnormal interest in young girls."
By LARRY WELBORN, RACHANEE SRISAVASDI and ERIC CARPENTER
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
SANTA ANA – Courtroom spectators applauded Tuesday when an Orange County jury recommended that serial killer Rodney James Alcala be put to death for five sexual assault and torture murders committed in the 1970s.
Alcala, who represented himself during the eight-week trial, did not look at the jury as the verdict was announced after just an hour of deliberations. He stared down at the counsel table with no outward sign of emotion.
But family members of murder victims pumped their fists and cheered.
Robert Samsoe, the older bother of victim Robin Samsoe – a junior high school student who was kidnapped while on the way to ballet lessons on June 20, 1979 – raised his fist and shouted "Yes! Yes!" Robin was Alcala's last victim.
"It's a great feeling that Robin did not die in vain," Robert Samsoe told reporters later. "We got a monster off the streets for good today."
Dedee Parenteau, the sister of murder victim Jill Parenteau, who was raped, tortured and strangled in her Burbank apartment a week before Samsoe was murdered, smiled and raised her fist when the verdict was announced.
"I'll never have Jill back, but I do feel a sense of relief," she said. "I'm happy for Jill and the other girls that they got justice today."
And Anne Michelena, the sister of murder victim Georgia Wixted, smiled and accepted congratulations from friends in the courtroom. "I've waited 33 years for this," she said. "It was really hard to hear what happened to my sister, but this feels like a sense of relief."
Judge Francisco P. Briseno politely reprimanded the spectators – mostly family members of victims – after the spontaneous applause when the verdict was announced. "Remember you are in Superior Court," he said. "Please keep your composure."
Briseno said he will schedule Alcala's sentencing date on Wednesday.
The same jury convicted Alcala last week of five counts of first-degree murder, plus the special circumstances of committing multiple murders, murders during the course of sexual assault and torture, and murder during a kidnapping.
Those special circumstances findings triggered the penalty phase, where the jury's only choice was the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Jurors said later they had little difficulty making that decision.
The jury foreman, who gave his name as Jeff, said, "These were horrendous crimes. ... There was an overwhelming feeling to render a verdict of justice to show our sympathies to the families."
Juror Greg Lacey, 63, spoke to some family members of the victims. "I'm a father and a husband," he told them. "Seeing you gave us the strength to do our duty."
It was the third time that Alcala has heard a jury condemn him to death.
He was tried twice, convicted twice and sentenced to death twice before in the Samsoe case, but both of those convictions were reversed on appeal.
Before he could be tried a third time for Samsoe's death, he was linked by DNA and other forensic evidence to the sexual assaults and torture murders of the four women in Los Angeles. Those cases were merged into one trial in Orange County.
Earlier Tuesday, Alcala played lyrics from the 1960s song "Alice's Restaurant" during his 13 minutes summation and told his jurors that they would become "de facto killers" if he is executed.
Alcala told jurors that a verdict of life in prison without the possibility of parole "would end this matter now" and would provide closure to the family members of his five victims. But if jurors decided that death was the appropriate penalty, they would "instantly become wannabe killers in waiting," he said.
One juror, who gave his name as Vic, told reporters that Alcala's argument was "very insulting. He basically called us killers."
Alcala took the rare step of representing himself during the eight-week trial. He presented no evidence in the brutal Los Angeles County murders of Jill Barcomb, 18, in November, 1977; George Wixted, 27, in December 1977; Charlotte Lamb, 32, in June 1978, and Jill Parenteau, 21, on June 14, 1979.
But he continued to insist that he did not kidnap or murder Robin Samsoe, an always-smiling junior high schooler who was kidnapped as she pedaled a friend's bicycle to ballet practice on June 20, 1979. Her decomposing remains were found 12 days later in the foothills of Los Angeles County not far from Alcala's home in Monterey Park.
Alcala quickly became a suspect in the Samsoe case in 1979 when his parole officer reported to Huntington Beach Police detectives that he bore an uncanny resemblance to a police artist's composite sketch of a man in his mid-30s who talked the 12-year-old girl into posing for photos a few minutes before she went missing.
Detectives learned that Alcala held himself out as a freelance photographer and that he was in the vicinity of the beach at 14th Street where the photo incident took place. Several other young girls then came forward and identified Alcala as the photographer.
He was arrested on July 24, 1979, and has been in custody ever since, either awaiting trial or on Death Row at San Quentin Prison before his convictions were reversed.
During the investigation, detectives found dozens of photographs of young women at Alcala's home in Monterey Park and in a storage locker in Seattle. They also discovered a pouch of jewelry in that storage locker that contained gold ball earrings that Robin Samsoe's mother identified as hers.
Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy argued that Alcala was a predatory monster who sought out young women to kill because he enjoyed it, and that he sometimes kept the earrings of his victims as trophies.
Nearly a quarter of a century later, forensic examiners determined that the DNA from Charlotte Lamb – one of his Los Angeles victims – was on rose-shaped earring that were found in the same pouch as the earring belonging to Robin Samsoe.
Marianne Connelly, Robin Samsoe's mother, arrived at the courthouse about an hour after the verdict was announced. She hugged her two sons, who have attended almost every minute of the third trial, and Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, and trial prosecutors Murphy and Gina Satriano. "I am just delighted with the verdict," she said, near tears. "Three times going through this is enough. Hopefully, we'll never have to do this again."
(Update 4-10-10) On Tuesday, March 30, Alcala was sentenced to death in an Orange County, CA courtroom. Judge Francisco Briseno for the deaths of 4 victims and a teenage girl. Briseno said that Alcala's posing of bodies after death indicated that "sadistic sexual motives" were the root cause of the rape-slayings, and that he had an "abnormal interest in young girls."
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Former Riverside officer gets 3 months jail, lifetime SO registration for coercing woman into oral sex
A former Riverside, CA police officer will have to serve 23 more days for coercing a woman into oral sex while on duty. Robert Allan Forman, 39, sentenced yesterday, will serve a total of 3 months in jail and three years probation. Forman only has 23 days to serve on his jail term, but must register for life as a California sex offender. He was convicted December 12 of a count of forced oral copulation, and misdemeanor petty theft for stealing from a john.
According to prosecutors, Forman went to a Riverside woman's home in March 2008 to investigate a check fraud case, then returned to the house alone to receive oral sex. The woman testified she felt forced to comply because he was a police officer and she feared going to jail. Jurors acquitted Forman of a second charge when a prostitute alleged he picked her up in a local park and forced her to perform oral sex.
Forman testified that the relations were consensual, but admitted during his sentencing hearing Thursday that he acted inappropriately, said his attorney, Mark Johnson. He has maintained he is innocent of any crime. "He placed himself in a position that made him vulnerable," Johnson said.
Deputy District Attorney Elan Zektser declined to comment after the sentencing.
Johnson said his client's case can be compared to David Kushner, the Moreno Valley ex-officer sentenced to 3 months in jail and 5 years probation for 2 counts of forcible orla copulation and kidnapping.
The victim in the criminal case and the prostitute Forman was criminally acquitted of abusing have both filed complaints against the city of Riverside. These claims are for a total of $11.6 million.
According to prosecutors, Forman went to a Riverside woman's home in March 2008 to investigate a check fraud case, then returned to the house alone to receive oral sex. The woman testified she felt forced to comply because he was a police officer and she feared going to jail. Jurors acquitted Forman of a second charge when a prostitute alleged he picked her up in a local park and forced her to perform oral sex.
Forman testified that the relations were consensual, but admitted during his sentencing hearing Thursday that he acted inappropriately, said his attorney, Mark Johnson. He has maintained he is innocent of any crime. "He placed himself in a position that made him vulnerable," Johnson said.
Deputy District Attorney Elan Zektser declined to comment after the sentencing.
Johnson said his client's case can be compared to David Kushner, the Moreno Valley ex-officer sentenced to 3 months in jail and 5 years probation for 2 counts of forcible orla copulation and kidnapping.
The victim in the criminal case and the prostitute Forman was criminally acquitted of abusing have both filed complaints against the city of Riverside. These claims are for a total of $11.6 million.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Torrance, CA man who threw bride off cliff convicted of 1st degree murder - sentenced to 25 years to life
A man who threw his wife of a few weeks off of a cliff to her death in Rancho Palos Verdes will be sentenced to 25 to life for her murder in February. Brandon Manai, 28, and from Torrance, CA, was found guilty of 1st degree murder on Thursday, December 17 in the slaying of 24 year old Julie Rosas, according to Deputy District Attorney Jodi Link.
Manai, who was on probation for choking his girlfriend as a teenager, had dated Rosas only a short time before they were married June 19, 2005, in Las Vegas. The relationship had been rocky, with late-night arguments, Manai showing up at Rosas' workplace unannounced, and incessant phone calls and text messages, Link said. And things did not change after their wedding. Within 48 hours of the ceremony, Rosas was asking her friends how to seek an annulment.
Nearly two weeks later, on July 2, Manai picked up Rosas and was supposed to drive her to a downtown L.A. nightclub where she would meet up with girlfriends. Cellphone signals showed the pair made it to downtown, but they never made it to the club and her friends never heard from her, according to the prosecutor.
Manai, however, had went to the Rancho Palos Verdes cliff, where he threw Rosas 200 feet to her death around 2:30 AM. Manai confessed to a friend over lunch, and that afternoon, a beachgoer found Rosas' body, which went unclaimed until July 6, when her family filed a missing persons report.
Meanwhile, Manai tried to cover his tracks by calling Rosas' home, detrroying her belongings, and writing a diary entry where he wondered where the victim was. Cellphone records unmasked Rosas, as he was found to have been in contact with Rosas up to 55 times a day before July 3, but not at all after July 3.
(Update 2-11-10) As expected, Manai received 25 years to life. The victim's siblings were in court, and Manai said to them at the hearing, "I didn't kill your sister. I didn't throw her off a cliff. It was an accident," contridicting the verdict and the police report. Here is the letter Manai wrote to the victim's sister. Judge James Brandlin entered the letter into the record, and barred him from contacting the victim's family.
Friday, January 8, 2010
California upholds "rape by fraud" conviction of chiropractor
By a MetNews Staff Writer
An Anaheim chiropractor who molested several patients was properly convicted of the relatively new crime of sexual battery by fraud, the [California]Fourth District Court of Appeal has ruled.
In what it said may be a case of first impression, Div. Three ruled Monday that an Orange Superior Court jury reasonably concluded from the totality of the circumstances that Chi Van Pham touched the women with sexual intent, and that the women allowed him to do so because they believed his representations that the acts were part of examination or treatment.
“There appears to be no limit to the ability of our species to devise new and different bad things to do to each other,” Justice William Bedsworth commented for the court.
Jurors found Pham guilty of four violations of [California] Penal Code Sec. 243.4(c), involving three different women.
Sec. 243.4(c), enacted in 2002, is a “hybridization of molestation and fraud,” Bedsworth explained. It makes the touching of an intimate part of the victim for sexual purposes a felony if the victim is “unconscious of the nature of the act because the perpetrator fraudulently represented that the touching served a professional purpose.”
The crimes occurred between 2003 and 2005. One victim testified that while she was being treated for a car accident that occurred when she was 13 years old, Pham touched her breasts and her genitals on multiple occasions.
She said those acts made her feel uncomfortable, but she believed at the time that it was part of treatment, because she had signed a consent form acknowledging that chiropractic manipulation can be discomforting and because she trusted the doctor. She did not begin to suspect the doctor had acted improperly, she explained, until two years later, when she was working as a volunteer in his office and he made unwanted advances towards her.
Another woman, an adult involved in another car accident, said that while she was being examined, Pham touched both of her breasts. She was shocked at the time, she testified, but said nothing to the doctor or his assistant at the time.
She went home, she explained, and told her mother. She called the police a few days later.
Two of the counts involved another woman, who was referred to the doctor by the lawyer representing her in an auto accident case. On two different occasions, she said, Pham performed what she described as a “tapping rub” on her breasts and around her public area.
On the second occasion, she said, she asked the doctor why it was necessary for him to touch those areas, and he told her he was “looking for pain.”
Judge Patrick Donahue sentenced Pham to seven years in prison, the upper term of four years on the count involving a minor and consecutive one-year terms on the other counts. The upper term was justified, Donahue said, because the doctor abused a position of trust.
Bedsworth, writing for the Court of Appeal, explained the unconsciousness element:
“The unconsciousness requirement does not require proof the victim was totally and physically unconscious during the acts in question....It simply requires proof the defendant tricked the victim into submitting to the touching on the pretext it served a professional purpose....This can be accomplished even when the victim has agreed to the act in question.”
There was sufficient evidence, he said, to show that the women trusted the doctor and were totally unaware that he was seeking to fulfill sexual desires by touching them, until sometime after the conduct occurred.
An Anaheim chiropractor who molested several patients was properly convicted of the relatively new crime of sexual battery by fraud, the [California]Fourth District Court of Appeal has ruled.
In what it said may be a case of first impression, Div. Three ruled Monday that an Orange Superior Court jury reasonably concluded from the totality of the circumstances that Chi Van Pham touched the women with sexual intent, and that the women allowed him to do so because they believed his representations that the acts were part of examination or treatment.
“There appears to be no limit to the ability of our species to devise new and different bad things to do to each other,” Justice William Bedsworth commented for the court.
Jurors found Pham guilty of four violations of [California] Penal Code Sec. 243.4(c), involving three different women.
Sec. 243.4(c), enacted in 2002, is a “hybridization of molestation and fraud,” Bedsworth explained. It makes the touching of an intimate part of the victim for sexual purposes a felony if the victim is “unconscious of the nature of the act because the perpetrator fraudulently represented that the touching served a professional purpose.”
The crimes occurred between 2003 and 2005. One victim testified that while she was being treated for a car accident that occurred when she was 13 years old, Pham touched her breasts and her genitals on multiple occasions.
She said those acts made her feel uncomfortable, but she believed at the time that it was part of treatment, because she had signed a consent form acknowledging that chiropractic manipulation can be discomforting and because she trusted the doctor. She did not begin to suspect the doctor had acted improperly, she explained, until two years later, when she was working as a volunteer in his office and he made unwanted advances towards her.
Another woman, an adult involved in another car accident, said that while she was being examined, Pham touched both of her breasts. She was shocked at the time, she testified, but said nothing to the doctor or his assistant at the time.
She went home, she explained, and told her mother. She called the police a few days later.
Two of the counts involved another woman, who was referred to the doctor by the lawyer representing her in an auto accident case. On two different occasions, she said, Pham performed what she described as a “tapping rub” on her breasts and around her public area.
On the second occasion, she said, she asked the doctor why it was necessary for him to touch those areas, and he told her he was “looking for pain.”
Judge Patrick Donahue sentenced Pham to seven years in prison, the upper term of four years on the count involving a minor and consecutive one-year terms on the other counts. The upper term was justified, Donahue said, because the doctor abused a position of trust.
Bedsworth, writing for the Court of Appeal, explained the unconsciousness element:
“The unconsciousness requirement does not require proof the victim was totally and physically unconscious during the acts in question....It simply requires proof the defendant tricked the victim into submitting to the touching on the pretext it served a professional purpose....This can be accomplished even when the victim has agreed to the act in question.”
There was sufficient evidence, he said, to show that the women trusted the doctor and were totally unaware that he was seeking to fulfill sexual desires by touching them, until sometime after the conduct occurred.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Felon who raped "girlfriend's" disabled niece sentence to 12 years imprisonment
A California felon who had a previous federal conviction for bank robbery received a 12 year sentence for the rape of his girlfriend's developmentally disabled niece. Bruce Joseph Clemmons, 54, of Seaside, CA, was caught after his "girlfriend," the victim's aunt and guardian, called police on October 9, 2007, suspecting that he had sexual intercourse with her 27 year old developmentally disabled niece. These issues prevented police from questioning the victim in-depth, though she was able to tell investigators about the sexual contact with Clemmons.
Clemmons admitted the sexual contact, and knowing about the victim's issues. The conviction is his 2nd strike, and he will be on the sex offender registry for life.
Clemmons admitted the sexual contact, and knowing about the victim's issues. The conviction is his 2nd strike, and he will be on the sex offender registry for life.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Ketamine rapist sentenced to 23 years in prison
Santa Barbara Judge Rick Brown also ordered Steven Neff, who admitted attacking women and injecting them with Ketamine, to register as a sex offender and pay restitution. Judge Brown said that the attacks were calculated and sophisticated, and his actions showed “callous disregard for the victims,” who experienced “sheer terror.”
Neff's own words on paper and on the witness stand convicted him, as he wrote supposedly fictional stories about a guy who would inject women hotel guests with Ketamine, steal their belongings and money, and use the proceeds to go on a surfing and snowboarding trip. Prosecutors were able to bring evidence against Neff in the form of diary entries stating that he wanted to spy on, then rape a former girlfriend, and how he used to inject his ex-girlfriend with Ketamine around once a week during the course of their 1 1/2 year relationship, having sex with her while she was unconscious.
The first victim—then a 22-year-old UCSB student—was jogging on Haskell’s Beach when Neff grabbed her from behind, pinned her down, and injected her with Ketamine. Neff testified that while he had her down, he masturbated through his shorts. A small bit of his DNA was later found on her jogging shorts. The woman, who went in and out of consciousness during the attack, didn’t remember if she had been sexually assaulted. Neff denied sexually assaulting her, though he admitted to being more “sexually charged” because he was on drugs. Follow-up exams were inconclusive.
The more gruesome allegation came from a former co-worker of Neff’s who alleged she had been at Neff’s home, drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana, when he came up from behind where she was sitting on a couch and she felt a prick in her neck. She soon lost her ability to function but was partially consciousness. At some point she remembered Neff inserting an enema into her and losing control of her bowels. She felt him smearing something on her face as well as his, she told the jury when she took the stand, and she believed it to be her own excrement.
Neff also admitted to attacking a French tourist on a Santa Barbara beach and a woman who was skiing on a mountain in Mammoth. Those attacks, however, were not prosecuted because the statute of limitations had passed.
The prosecutor [Senior Deputy District Attorney Ron Zonen] ran into statute of limitation-related problems at the end of Neff’s first trial, which resulted in Neff’s conviction on the exact same charges. Neff originally faced more serious felony charges of unlawful penetration with a foreign object but the jury couldn’t reach a verdict on those charges. Five days into deliberations in the first trial, the jury received new instructions detailing the option of finding Neff guilty of lesser offenses.
Zonen, in court papers, said he hadn’t asked the judge to issue instructions on lesser offenses, as he thought those charges fell outside the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations generally allows a longer time to file charges for more serious offenses. After the jury found Neff guilty of the lesser charges, the public defender filed a motion for a retrial, which was granted by the judge. Zonen then re-filed charges but this time only for the lesser charges.
Neff, who claimed at his sentencing to have a “broken heart and a contrite spirit,” hoped that the journals and short stories would help sex offender treatment providers help others “who have my problems.” Neff also apolgized to his family and community. He faces more charges.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
64 year old woman gets 6 years for "boyfriend's" manslaughter
A 64 year old Salinas, CA woman was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday for smothering her "boyfriend" to death. 66 year old Lynne Nicole Feurer pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter after being originally charged with murder. Her victim was Joseph Francis Cupita, 81, who she had met in a Chicago ballroom in the early 2000s. The couple moved to California in 2004. The presiding judge was California Superior Court Judge Larry Hayes.
On May 28, 2007, police found Cupita's body lodged between his bed and the wall in the couple's Pacific Grove apartment after an intoxicated and tearful Feurer told a newlywed at the London Bridge Pub that she'd just killed her husband.
Forensic pathologist John Hain concluded the frail man was suffocated, likely with a pillow by someone kneeling on his chest. Defensive wounds indicated he fought for his life, and Hain estimated it took minutes for him to die.
Feurer told police she and Cupita were fighting over his refusal to go to his dialysis appointment. She remembered struggling with him, but few details. Prosecutor Elaine McCleaf said the claim was disingenuous, because Feurer had the presence of mind to gather up her medications and passport before she fled.
Defense attorney Bryan Keller had planned to argue at trial that Feurer was a battered woman who acted in self-defense. He said he settled the case only when McCleaf offered manslaughter rather than a life-term murder.
But McCleaf said Feurer's alcoholism poses a danger to society. She cited three previous drunken-driving convictions and an alcohol-related theft conviction.
She argued that Cupita's vulnerability, the "gruesome" manner of his death and Feurer's callousness were all factors that aggravated her crime to the level of a maximum 11-year sentence.
Keller maintained those aggravating circumstances were balanced or overweighed by the mitigating circumstances that Feurer was a battered woman who acted in self-defense. He called for the lower term of three years.
The prosecutor said she made the offer in light of Feurer's positive contributions, community support and alcoholism.
The killer's son, Alex Feurer, said that "I remember Joe and I miss him a lot," he said. "He did many good things for my family, for my mom and me." "It [His mother's alcohol and prescription drug addictions]unfortunately cost Joe his life. But she's finally here. She's a whole person. She's not the same and she has a lot to offer."
Others who spoke at the sentencing included Reiko Hidaka Scott, cupita's ex-girlfriend, who said that "He was just such a nice, sweet, personable person. He really lived his life through his music and making people happy."
In the end, Haye rejected the battered woman defense put forth by Keller, but weighed that against Feuer's contributions and his own experiences caring for a Alzheimer's patient. Since manslaughter is a violent crime, Feurer must serve 85% of her sentence. She was credited with almost three years behind bars.
On May 28, 2007, police found Cupita's body lodged between his bed and the wall in the couple's Pacific Grove apartment after an intoxicated and tearful Feurer told a newlywed at the London Bridge Pub that she'd just killed her husband.
Forensic pathologist John Hain concluded the frail man was suffocated, likely with a pillow by someone kneeling on his chest. Defensive wounds indicated he fought for his life, and Hain estimated it took minutes for him to die.
Feurer told police she and Cupita were fighting over his refusal to go to his dialysis appointment. She remembered struggling with him, but few details. Prosecutor Elaine McCleaf said the claim was disingenuous, because Feurer had the presence of mind to gather up her medications and passport before she fled.
Defense attorney Bryan Keller had planned to argue at trial that Feurer was a battered woman who acted in self-defense. He said he settled the case only when McCleaf offered manslaughter rather than a life-term murder.
But McCleaf said Feurer's alcoholism poses a danger to society. She cited three previous drunken-driving convictions and an alcohol-related theft conviction.
She argued that Cupita's vulnerability, the "gruesome" manner of his death and Feurer's callousness were all factors that aggravated her crime to the level of a maximum 11-year sentence.
Keller maintained those aggravating circumstances were balanced or overweighed by the mitigating circumstances that Feurer was a battered woman who acted in self-defense. He called for the lower term of three years.
The prosecutor said she made the offer in light of Feurer's positive contributions, community support and alcoholism.
The killer's son, Alex Feurer, said that "I remember Joe and I miss him a lot," he said. "He did many good things for my family, for my mom and me." "It [His mother's alcohol and prescription drug addictions]unfortunately cost Joe his life. But she's finally here. She's a whole person. She's not the same and she has a lot to offer."
Others who spoke at the sentencing included Reiko Hidaka Scott, cupita's ex-girlfriend, who said that "He was just such a nice, sweet, personable person. He really lived his life through his music and making people happy."
In the end, Haye rejected the battered woman defense put forth by Keller, but weighed that against Feuer's contributions and his own experiences caring for a Alzheimer's patient. Since manslaughter is a violent crime, Feurer must serve 85% of her sentence. She was credited with almost three years behind bars.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Groping police officer pleads no contest to sexual abuse of women
A former San Leandro police officer has plead no contest to two counts of false imprisonment - a felony and a misdemeanor count - for groping two women while on the job. Forty-five year old Greg Cannedy was sentenced to 6 months home detention and 18 months probation by Judge Kevin Murphy of Alameda County Superior Court.
The misdemeanor charge came in the case of Jennifer Acuna, who Cannady abused while she was in her kitchen back in September 2006. He leaned over her body, began to kiss her, then put his hand over her crotch. The felony charge came after Cannady repeatedly showed up at Starlah Burke's house between May and December 2005, asking for sex, culminating with the groping of Burke during a traffic stop. Acuna and Burke were awarded damages of over $90,000 by the city of San Leandro.
Cannedy's attorney Michael Rains said that he believed that the allegations against Burks had no merit.
The misdemeanor charge came in the case of Jennifer Acuna, who Cannady abused while she was in her kitchen back in September 2006. He leaned over her body, began to kiss her, then put his hand over her crotch. The felony charge came after Cannady repeatedly showed up at Starlah Burke's house between May and December 2005, asking for sex, culminating with the groping of Burke during a traffic stop. Acuna and Burke were awarded damages of over $90,000 by the city of San Leandro.
Cannedy's attorney Michael Rains said that he believed that the allegations against Burks had no merit.
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