San Jose Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

Quochuy "Tony" Tran is facing up to 50 years in prison in the shooting death of a 15 year old girl from Alameda. Although only 16 at the time, Tran, who is from Oakland, was tried as an adult and convicted for murder. At the time of the murder Tran was hanging out with five other teenagers at a local park on Halloween night. After being egged by another group of teens, Tran and his friends pursued the victim Ichinkhorloo "Iko" Bayarsaikhan. One youth pulled out a rifle from under his coat and shot it into the air. Bayarsaikhan and her friends scattered, but returned to the scene, believing the rifle wasn't real. Tran then picked up the rifle and shot once, hitting Bayarsaikhan in the back.

The real controversy here, however, is that the District Attorney decided to try Tran as an adult, when the five other teens were tried as juveniles. Because of this decision Tran, now 19 is looking at 50 years in the State penitentiary, while his friends will have received something significantly less. The other youths all faced criminal charges, however, among them was not murder.

Judge Carrie Panetta issued the sentence indicating that Tran should be made an example to other youths. "The deterrence effect is a legitimate goal when individuals think they will be treated differently because of their age when they commit violent crimes," the judge said.

Michael Edwards Pickels, only 32 years old, is believed to have committed suicide at Saratoga's Mountain Winery. Eyewitnesses report that Pickels, then attending a music concert with a friend, climbed up a building next to the stage and plummeted to his death onto the stage. One witness said that Pickels took off running, jumped and tumbled through the air until he landed near a lighting rig.

Pickels was out on bail for domestic violence, assault with a firearm and false imprisonment. Bail was set at $150,000, much higher than usual in my opinion.

Pickels was attending the concert with a personal friend, when he excused himself. A few minutes later the audience was shocked by the man's fall onto the stage. Kyle Rivers, a member of the audience, told police he first thought Pickels was part of the act until it became painfully obvious that the man jumped or had fallen from the building.

EMTs were called to the scene and along with a doctor attending the event worked on Pickels for an hour. The doctor pronounced him dead at the scene.

It is not clear how Pickels had access to the building roof, but Winery personnel are looking into the matter.

If this was indeed a suicide, it prompts the question whether his criminal charges had any anything to do with the decision to kill himself?

Below is a video showing where Pickels jumped from and where he landed.

Continue reading "San Jose Man Charged with Domestic Violence Plunges to Death" »

Denise Lai, a former reservist with the San Jose Police Department, was arraigned today in Merced County Superior Court. The arraignment was postponed from last Friday.

Lai, 47, is accused of killing her mother, Carolyn Ninomiya, a 65-year old resident of Los Banos. The investigation began when Lai was discovered by police in a public parking lot with what appeared to be multiple stab wounds. Her wounds were serious and she was airlifted to Los Banos Memorial for treatment. Police indicate that Lai said she wanted to die.

Lai's family attempted to call her mother, but when they were unable to make contact police did a welfare check. They discovered Ninomiya dead in her home from an apparent strangling. Her body had been there for many hours.

When questioned, Lai admitted the killing and her attempted suicide. The reasons for the murder are not known. Bail was set at $ 1 million.

The San Jose Police Department issued a statement that they will be conducting a sobriety checkpoint tonight, August 13, 2010 from 9:00 pm.m to 3:00 a.m. The police did not indicate where the checkpoint would be (although the law requires them to publish the location of the checkpoint).

The usual spots the police conduct these operations are on Monterey between Fehren and Southside. The San Jose police are not allowing points to turn away (again as required by the law) so once you get trapped into a roadblock, there is no escape. Of course this begs the question: if motorists are not allowed to turn away, what probable cause do the police have in stopping any vehicle. When there is a turnaway point and a motorist continues to drive into the stop, then there is implied or constructive consent to the stop. Just being forced into a checkpoint does not give rise to probable cause.

To see the police department's statement click here.

Continue reading "San Jose Sobriety Checkpoint Today" »

USA Swimming is again in hot water for alleged sexual abuse by San Jose area coaches. Jancy Thompson, a former professional swimmer now claims that her coach sexually abused her while she was training to become and Olympian athlete. This comes on the heels of the capture of another swim coach who is alleged to have sexually abused on his trainees some eight years ago (see my last post below).

Thompson, a scholarship graduate from Arizona State and now resident of the South Bay, claims that Norman Hovercroft abused her at his place of work in Saratoga. Thompson has filed suit with USA Swimming, which has come under fire for past alleged past claims of sexual abuse by its trainers. More than four dozen coaches and trainers have been listed has abusers, although it is unclear if all have been prosecuted.

To hear more about this story from Thompson's lawyer please see the video link below. Bear in mind that no criminal complaint has been filed against Hovercroft; only a civil complaint has been filed agains USA Swimming.

Continue reading "Another San Jose Swim Coach Faces Sexual Abuse Accusations" »

Kaloyan Kaloyanov, a native Bulgarian man, and former international gymnastics star, was apprehended aboard a cruise ship in Mexico. Kaloyanov was accused of sexually assaulting a 15 year old girl with whom he trained. He has been on Fremont's most wanted list for more than eight years.

Kaloyanov competed in the 1997and 1998 Aerobic Gymnastics World Championships, and he also participated in several events with his wife before being charged with the assaults. The girl, now 25, accuses Kaloyanov of assaulting her twice while training with him. He was interviewed by Fremont police at which time he admitted the violations. However, the police and investigators did not arrest Kaloyanov, who fled and has been on the run for the last eight years.

Detectives recently re-opened the case and started with a Google search of the man. They found Kaloyanov's facebook page with pictures of cruise ships. After a few more keystrokes they learned that Kaloyanov worked for Carnival Cruise Lines as a fitness instructor. Fremont police, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, New York Police Department's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Task Force, the U.S. Coast Guard and ship security coordinated Kaloyanov's detention and arrest.

Kaloyanov expressed shock at the lengths the Fremont went into finding him, so many years after he fled. Detective Gebhardt of the Fremont police told reporters that he and his fellow officers never give up; not even on the coldest of cases.

Continue reading "Fremont Man Wanted for Rape Found by Simple Google Search" »

A Livermore woman is facing child rape charges in Alameda County. To be true, that is an understatement. Christine Hubbs, who attended her arraignment before Judge Walker in Pleasanton, is facing 67 separate charges, all alleging she had sexual relations with two boys. That's right, five-dozen charges of the same offense.

Hubbs was arrested this past Thursday, after one of the boy's mother reported possible illegal conduct. The mother is said to have found a nude picture of Hubbs in her son's cell phone. The alleged activity took place between December 2008 to January 2010. The unidentified minors were 14 at the beginning of the alleged activity.

It is further alleged that Hubbs gave gifts and money to the minors during the relationships. It is not known if other minors are being questioned.

Of course 67 counts seems an audacious number. Any good defense lawyer will make hay of the number of incidents alleged by two teenage boys, living in a culture that emphasizes sexual activity and promiscuity. Too many young boys make such daring claims, that one has to question the veracity of these two "victims." No doubt, they have become very popular with their friends and at school.

Certainly, sending a nude picture is inappropriate and illegal, but this does not equate to sex. We should watch this case proceed very closely. Something just doesn't smell right here.

Oakland officials and police officers have been holding talks regarding a possible new round of rioting and looting in the upcoming sentencing of Johannes Meserle Nov 5th. The fear is that Meserle will get the lower term which will incite further tension between protestors and law enforcement.

Looters caused more than $800,000 in damage following Mersele's manslaughter conviction with rumors that there were too few police on the ground to maintain the violence. The Oakland Police Department was heavily criticized for not interfering with looters at a Sears store on Broadway. It is said that the police stood by and watched the vandals. The same conduct is alleged to have occurred at a small shoe store. 38 businesses were looted and vandalized in downtown Oakland that night, and 89 people arrested.

This time Oakland police will have a policy they call "end state goals." They are planning on "zero amounts" of property damage, arrests and injuries. Police insist they were successful in the first round of violence, despite the arrests and property damage.

Oakland's Chief of Police told reporters: "We constantly seek improvement and engage in relentless follow-through...We will assign people to those shortfalls and make sure they don't happen again."

The minimum term Meserle is facing is 4 years.

Continue reading "Bay Area Cop Faces Sentencing" »