San Jose Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

On June 5, 2011, the body of Maria Esther Orozco was found in a garbage bag in a residential area of Sunnyvale. The suspect in the murder is said to have confessed to murdering Orozco, putting her into the garbage bag and leaving her on Ticonderoga Dr. Just the day before Orozco received 22 phone calls from the now suspect. His name is Feliciano Valencia-Santiago and is rumored to have had some form of relationship with Orozco.

The Mercury has reported that more phone calls were made from Valencia-Santiago's phone between May 2 and June 2 of this year.

Valencia-Santiago's next court date is June 27, 2011. It is unclear if Valencia-Santiago has retained counsel or if the Public Defender will be appointed. He is being charged with one count of murder and may be facing other charges.

Continue reading "San Jose Man Confesses to Murder" »

Johannes Mehserle, the former BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) officer was released from custody on Sunday after serving 11 months of a two year prison term, the Mercury News has reported. Mehserle was convicted this past July for involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of 22-year old Oakland resident Oscar Grant. The tragedy sparked nationwide controversy in certain minority communities who have claimed prejudicial treatment at the hands of local law enforcement.

Mehserle's criminal case was moved out of the Bay Area and to Los Angeles for fear that the local jury pool was contaminated by the media coverage. Charged with murder, Mehserle's defense was one of mistake: he thought he reached for his stun gun and not his pistol. A smart phone camera recording the event shows Mehserle reaching to side, pulling out his .44 caliber gun and shooting Grant at point-blank range. The jury refused to convict on the murder charge, but came to a guilty verdict on involuntary manslaughter.

Mehserle's release was relatively peaceful, with some protestors attending to mark the occasion.

However, Mehserle's release once again raises the issue of distrust that many minority groups have for Bay Area and San Jose police. Here in San Jose there has been a long going feud of impounding vehicles for traffic violations where a driver is unlicensed. Latino groups argue that many of these drivers are undocumented and thus the policy singles them out for harsher treatment. The policy has, however since been dropped.

In 2010 the Mercury reported over 300 cases of abuse, most of which was targeted against minority groups. A black church reported that 35 percent of its congregation recount being stopped by police for no reason. In 2007 the police department released a inner-departmental memo which showed that police have used greater force on black and Latino detainees.

However, the San Jose Police have made great lengths to curb the unequal treatment such has setting up clear guidelines, stricter enforcement and stiffer penalties.

Continue reading "Bay Area Police Officer Released From Prison" »

A California company, with outlets in the Bay Area, is set to open a "mega-sized" outlet dedicated to the increasing needs of cannabis growers in Arizona. Opening on the same day as when the state will issue 125 permits for cannabis dispensaries, the California company WeGrow is set to sell everything cannabis growers need to grow marijuana, except the plant itself.

What is being called the Home DePot of Arizona, may be put on hold however, as state officials are asking the federal courts if its citizens are at risk of being charged by the Federal Government. The U.S. Code still lists cannabis as an illegal narcotic and its use, sale and possession a crime.

Ever determined, WeGrow has indicated that the Bay Area company has plans to open outlets in Denver, and Detroit, in what will be a multi-multimillion dollar business. (Please see Reuters article dated June 2, 2011).