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Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:00:00 PST

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Placentia cracks down on drunken drivers

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PST

The number of accidents resulting in drunken-driving arrests have remained high in Placentia over the last four years. (35 in 2004, 24 in 2005, 34 in 2006, 32 in 2007 and a projected 32 in 2008).

For these reasons, the Placentia Police Department is increasing its drunken-driving enforcement with more DUI checkpoints and a greater patrol presence. Sgt. Richard Pascarella, who runs the five-man traffic division, has just received a grant from the state to effectively start Placentia's DUI enforcement initiative. This grant will pay for a DUI trailer, including equipment necessary for DUI checkpoints, and overtime pay for officers.

For a 12 month period starting in October, Placentia will have at least four DUI checkpoints, eight saturation patrols and two warrant service operations, all funded by the grant.

Garden Grove DUI checkpoint 6/6/08

Wed, 28 May 2008 00:00:00 PST

Per the Garden Grove PD website, we note the following

May 20, 2008

The Garden Grove Police Department will be conducting a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) Checkpoint on Friday, June 6, 2008. The checkpoint will be focusing on drivers that have been drinking alcohol, using illegal drugs, and abusing prescription medication while driving. Officers will also be strictly enforcing driver license laws.

The DUI Checkpoint will take place near the intersection of Harbor Boulevard, and Quatro Avenue. There will be several officers and support personnel on duty for the exclusive purpose of the DUI Checkpoint. On average, DUI Checkpoints result in 10 DUI arrests and several citations for license violations. More importantly, checkpoints greatly increased public awareness of the problems of impaired driving, resulting in fewer impaired drivers on the road.

Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The grant began in October of 2007 and is aimed at reducing driving under the influence in the City of Garden Grove. It pays for enforcement overtime as well as educational projects during the grant period.

Anyone with questions can contact Master Officer Ed DesBiens at (714) 741-5273.

Restaurant-style pagers in courtrooms?

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:00:00 PST

SANTA ANA – Superior Court Judge Gary Paer was waiting with his family for their dinner reservation at BJ's Restaurant in Laguna Hills last summer when the lights on his hand-held pager went off signaling that his table was ready. The lights also went off in Paer's mind.As he watched the red lights flash on and off, the judge thought about his jurors.People summoned for jury duty to criminal trials in his 10th floor courtroom are often required to wait for long period of times in a cramped hallway with only a few church pew-like seats while he deals with legal issues that pop up routinely."You know what?" Paer contemplated at the restaurant. "We can hand these pagers out to jurors and they wouldn't have to wait around so much. We can page them when we need them to return to court. … This is a no-brainer."That was last July. It took six months for Paer's idea to take shape. Court staffers evaluated the idea, put the concept out for competitive bid, and finally agreed on a company to supply the pagers for a pilot project.Last week, Paer's courtroom became the first in California to have a tray of restaurant-style pagers ready for jurors. He hasn't had the opportunity to use them yet, but Paer is convinced the pagers will be a blessing to jurors in trials that last more than a few days"Many times we send jurors out in the hallway for extended periods of time while lawyers argue … issues that pop up during the trial," Paer wrote in his proposal seeking the pagers. "The court has to estimate what time the jurors are to return.""It's a guessing game," he said. Often, he'll tell jurors to be back in a few minutes, only to see arguments lasting longer that he expected."Issues result in other issues," the judge lamented, requiring him to keep jurors waiting uncomfortably outside his courtroom as 20 minutes turns into a half-hour and sometimes an hour or longer."It's the biggest complaint we get from jurors," the judge said.But with his new pagers, Paer feels he can allow jurors to wander down to the jury services room, where they can read in comfort, work on laptops, chat with others, or to the cafeteria, where they can sip coffee and grab a snack."They can go where they want, as long as it is in the courthouse," the judge said. "Then when we want them back, all we have to do is hit a single button, and it lets them know they need to head back to court. What could be simpler?"Mark Bergland, a sales manager Long Range Systems (LRS), the Texas company that sold the $1,395 system to the county for Paer's courtroom, said similar pager systems have been purchased by courts in Ventura, Sacramento and Santa Clara counties. But, he said, judges in those courts are using the pagers to send alerts to attorneys when their cases are being called, specifically in juvenile court matters where some hearings are conducted in private.Bergland said that as far as he knows, Paer's idea is the first to use pagers for jurors."The cool thing about Judge Paer's idea is that he saw a way, while having dinner, to make his courtroom more efficient," Bergland saidLRS also provides pagers for restaurants such as BJ's, PF Changs, The Elephant Bar, Lucille's Smokehouse and Cheesecake Factory, Paer said."If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for us," the judge said

Former Inmate Alleges Beating at Orange County Jail

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:00:00 PST

A civil rights lawsuit alleging $47 million in damages has been filed on behalf of a former Orange County Jail inmate.

According to reports by ABC news and the LA Times, the man alleges that he was beaten by deputies well after they had control over him. A video has been released to the media showing the man being tazed while handcuffed and strapped to a chair. The man alleges he was tazed over 10 times and that a hood was used over his head to hide his bleeding head from the jailhouse camera system.

The March 18, 2006 incident began when the man was in a bar fight after properly celebrating St. Patrick's day. When police responded to the fight, the man was uncooperative and intoxicated. Everybody pretty much agrees on this part.

After that, it depends who you ask. According to the man who filed the suit and his legal team, this was an incident of cops losing control and going way overboard while teaching the inmate how to respect authority. The video is rather shocking which explains perfectly why it was released to the media.

If you ask the County, they will tell you that things are a little different. The man admits that he was uncooperative and this is not the story of a beating but a story of trying to safely book the inmate and control the situation and prevent injury to other inmates and/or deputies.

The use of force and violence within the jail system isn't exactly news. It's inherent in the nature of the business when you are trying to safely control a population of inmates. The use of physical force to control the inmate population can be necessary. Without it, the jail would be complete chaos.

How will this all end up? First each side will assess the risk factor. The county has to consider what it could lose at trial if the man wins and they have to control the PR factor. The plaintiff wants the largest recovery he can get, but doesn't want to be pennywise and pound foolish. If a good offer comes along, any case can settle.

The man has no criminal history which makes him a great plaintiff, but the injuries seem less than you would expect from a multiple deputy beat down-according to news reports the man has damage to his shoulder, PTSD, and has been missing a lot of work.

If there is no settlement, the next step is the big dance. If this case goes to trial we will be in for a 3 ring circus. Beating? or just part of the tough business of running a jail? Both sides have some good arguments but only time will tell if this case makes it to a jury.

DOUBLE OR NOTHING

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:00:00 PST

OJ continues to play by his own rules. He got a stern lecture and a few days in jail and once again he is out of custody.

Clark County Judge Jackie Glass told Simpson today that his bail would be doubled and that this was his "last chance" to abide by the conditions of bail.

This latest twist in the OJ saga brings up two interesting legal issues. One-How can his bail go up after he has already paid it? And two-Why is this case still going on when the alleged victim has asked for the case to be dropped?

First, let's look at the bail question. Under California law the standard for a change in bail is "change of circumstances". This means that in order for the Judge to take you into custody and require the posting of additional money, circumstances need to have changed since the time the original bail was set. In OJ's case it is clear that by violating the terms of his release, circumstances had changed. The lesson to be learned here is that when you are released on bail, the case is not over.

Posting bail may get you out of custody, but it does not make the case go away. You still must comply with the terms of the release and violate no law. Additionally, you still need to deal with the case itself. To make matters worse many jurisdictions, including California, have crime bail crime statutes which provide for additional penalties in situations where someone released on bail commits a new offense. For all these reasons, it is best to lay low and exercise extreme caution anytime you are released on bail.

So why hasn't this case been dropped? The alleged victim in the current OJ case has recently told the media he does not want OJ to be prosecuted and that he would like the case dropped and to just have this whole thing "go away". So if the victim doesn't want to press charges, the case goes away right? Not exactly.

The important thing to remember is that only the person filing the charges can move to dismiss them. If this were civil court and the alleged victim had been the one to file the charges against OJ, he would be free to drop them. The same rules apply in any civil proceeding such as divorce, restraining order applications, and civil suits for money damages. The party who files the suit, with very limited exceptions, has the authority to drop the suit.

But this is criminal court, and the charges are filed by the District Attorney, Attorney General, Local Prosecutor, etc. This means that even if the alleged victim or complaining witness wants the case to go away, the prosecution can continue. This seems counterintuitive to many clients but it is the law. The same rule applies, only the person who filed the charges can agree to drop them. Just because the victim or the complaining witness doesn't want to prosecute the case, it doesn't mean the prosecuting agency is willing to drop the case.

Even though OJ seems to play by his own rules, his ongoing legal saga does provide many opportunities to understanding our legal system. Only time will tell if the juice remains loose or if he will get squeezed again, but in the meantime you can count on one thing, all eyes will be watching.

THE JUICE gets squeezed AGAIN

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 00:00:00 PST

Well, the saga continues. This time OJ is in trouble for an alleged violation of his conditions of bail. When OJ was released he was ordered to have no communication with his co-defendants. According to these new allegations he has now broken that rule. The case is set for hearing and as always with OJ, this promises to be an ongoing drama.

Spector Mistrial

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 00:00:00 PST

A mistrial was declared in the Phil Spector trial last week. The closest the jury got was 10-2. There are two real impacts that this has. The first is that someone who most believe to be guilty is walking around town, buying Aqua Net at Walgreens. The other impact is that the State of California (i.e. the taxpayers) gets to fork over another giant pile of money to retry the case. Will this money be well spent? Time will tell, but I do not believe Spector will be so lucky the second time around.

The Juice is loose - again...will he ever go back behind bars?

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 00:00:00 PST

The quick answer is no. I know, that makes many of you mad. Sorry, just an opinion. I am not a fan of O.J. but if the facts that have been bantered about in the media come out to the jury (not necessarily a lock that will happen) then O.J. will likely not spend another day in the 'gray bar motel'. If this displeases you just keep your fingers crossed that he screws up again (seems likely doesn't it?). For more go to www.tmz.com and/or www.thesmokinggun.com

If you would like to recommend a topic for future postings, go to the contact information page and let us know what you want to talk about.

Riverside Getting a Boost in Judges

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:00:00 PST

For anyone attempting to go to trial in Riverside County you may have realized it is very slow going. Although there are several reasons, one of the problems is getting some attention. Since 1989 Riverside County has added approximately 2 million residents, but only 3 Judges. To aid in resolving that problem, a dozen retired Judges were asked back to action until the backlog of trials that have been getting put off comes back to a reasonable number. Although this is not the ideal solution, it is definitely an improvement upon what had been happening, which was simply telling litigants that they were not going to get a trial any time soon. We shall see how this helps and you can check back here for an update.

Slow Going at the Hemet Courthouse

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 00:00:00 PST

If you have recently been in the Hemet Courthouse you know that the staff there is overwhelmed by the massive increase in population in the immediate area. This has created long lines and slow processing of many filings including dissolutions and motions. To ease the pain a new Court room is being added and it is expected to open in less than a month. If you have a case pending in Hemet Court then you need the assistance of an attorney with experience in dealing with the clerks and staff directly. Contact us now for a free phone consultation regarding your case - we can help but only if you contact us soon!

The Law Offices of Mark A. Gallagher Website launch

Mon, 6 Aug 2007 00:00:00 PST

The Law Offices of Mark A. Gallagher has launched the official website.

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