San Jose Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

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" »

The owner of the Hookah Bar in Palo Alto is accused of strangling his girlfriend to death and then burning their house down to conceal the crime. Bulos "Paul" Zumot's request for a reduction in bail was denied Friday by Judge Jerome Nadler who set no bail, keeping Zumot behind bars throughout his legal fight. His case is being handled in San Jose.
Zumot, who coincidentally is represented by Los Angeles celebrity attorney Mark Geragos, claims he has a surveillance video of him working in his bar at the time of the fire. This has yet to be substantiated.

The victim is Jennifer Schipsi, but little details of her are known. We do know that she accused her previous boyfriend of domestic violence. The alleged batterer was arrested, but the case had little to no merit. Also coincidentally I happened to represent the defendant in that case. Having no merit, it was dismissed. Schipsi's alleged murder followed only a few months after that dismissal.

This case leaves many unanswered questions.

Continue reading "No Bail In Palo Alto Murder" »

I am a little late in getting to this, but there has been so much to do and write about. On June 8, Deputy District Attorney Jeff Rosen defeated incumbent Delores Carr for the coveted position of top D.A. This came with cheers and happy shouts from defense lawyers and even many prosecutors. Carr came into office vowing to rid it of corruption and manipulation. Unfortunately under Carr's tenure, things got far worse. Suppression of evidence, withholding key witness and downright lying had become all too prevalent in the office for the voters to tolerate.

To give one example, a deputy D.A. used false semen evidence to persuade a jury that the defendant was guilty of rape. In fact that was the "evidence" used by the police to coerce the defendant to confess. The DA latter used that "evidence" as authentic, which resulted in a conviction. No real semen was actually found.

In another example, the DA failed to disclose vital medical records that would have been mitigating for the defense. That DA might very well lose his license.

Carr even ordered all Deputies to boycott one certain judge because she tends to grant "too many" defense motions.

The office has been maelstrom of deceit and unfair practices. Some D.A.s refused court orders. Others ignored evidence. And all the time Carr stood by her people (the guilty ones I mean)

We hope in Jeff Rosen the office will truly be cleaned up and seek justice, not power.

Good Luck Jeff!