California Criminal Lawyers Blog

As Long Beach domestic abuse criminal defense attorneys, we were sad to read about the death of a toddler, allegedly at the hands of her mother. The Orange County Register reported August 3 that Linda Wilborn of Seal Beach is facing trial in the death of her daughter, Millicent, and the alleged abuse of her three other children. Millicent Wilborn died in December of last year, of blunt force trauma to the head and chest. After the death, doctors and child protective authorities discovered that the Wilborns' other three children had bruises and malnourishment, and Millicent's twin brother had a skull fracture. This came more than a year after Linda Wilborn was investigated by social workers. The children were not removed from the home after that investigation. Linda Wilborn has pleaded not guilty to assault on a child causing death and three counts of felony child abuse.

According to the article, Linda Wilborn called 911 last year to report that Millicent was not breathing. She gave several incorrect addresses for her home in a military housing complex, where her husband Derrick Wilborn works. Paramedics and emergency room doctors noticed suspicious bruises on the girl, so they called police and child protective authorities. They found signs of abuse and neglect on all four children, who ranged from eight months to three years. At the home, police officers found that the three older children were kept in a back room behind a child gate for much of the day. They found tooth marks on the doorjamb and discovered that the malnourished children were eating paint chips and bits of carpet. Derrick Wilborn was frequently absent, in part because he pursued a career as a golf pro every day after he finished his work for the military. When he came home to discover that Millicent had collapsed, he left the room and began putting together golf clubs.

In the previous incident, child protective workers intervened after Linda Wilborn left Millicent and her twin brother in a hot car at the age of four months. That investigation found that Wilborn had unspecified mental illness problems and did not meet her children's basic needs. Nonetheless, the report concluded that the risk of abuse was low and the social worker set up a "safety plan" requiring her to get caregiving help from others. On the day Millicent died, a police detective thought the couple's displays of grief were odd. He left a tape recorder running when he left the couple alone and captured them discussing conversations they believed Derrick Wilborn had had with God. Derrick Wilborn said God had told him Millicent died, and Linda Wilborn seems to imply that Derrick should have used his inside information from God to stop her. All three remaining children are in county custody.

This very sad story raises a lot of questions for our Laguna Beach domestic abuse criminal defense lawyers. From the story, it looks like Linda Wilborn may well be mentally ill. For that reason, we wonder whether the criminal charges facing her are the best way to handle the situation. Californians may plead not guilty by reason of insanity -- but to do that, they must show that they did not have the mental capacity to understand what they were doing, or to tell right from wrong. A successful insanity plea is often followed by commitment in a mental institution, so it is not much like an acquittal. Meanwhile, the article mentioned no charges at all for Derrick Wilborn, despite his apparent sanity and reported lack of attention to his family. Being a bad father is not a crime, but allowing a child to be injured or ignoring a child's dangerous situation are forms of child endangerment and neglect, both of which are crimes in California.

Continue reading "Seal Beach Mother Charged With Child Abuse and Assault in Death of Two-Year-Old" »

As Signal Hill aggravated assault criminal defense attorneys, we were interested to read an article about a Huntington Beach man charged with that crime for a confrontation in which no shots were fired. According to a July 28 item in the Orange County Register, Robert Joseph Alarcon, 30, was arrested three days earlier for assault with a deadly weapon after he pulled a firearm on a person who had come to repossess his vehicle. Alarcon is not accused of firing at the person or actually shooting, but he did reportedly demand that the person get off his property. The person left and called the police. Alarcon was not charged as of the article's publication.

The Register's report was drawn from a Huntington Beach police department report. According to the report, Alarcon responded to the repossession worker by getting angry, then displaying, loading and pointing a shotgun at the worker. The police were called around 6 p.m. July 25 with a report of a man with a shotgun. When they arrived, they found Alarcon without a firearm. However, the police investigated further and were able to obtain a search warrant for Alarcon's home. That search turned up the shotgun, disassembled and hidden. The Huntington Beach police arrested Alarcon and booked him into city jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. It was not clear whether he was still jailed as of the article's publication.

Some people may be surprised to find that it is illegal to order someone off your own property with a firearm. In fact, it can be legal -- under the right circumstances. In California, you can legally use force to eject a trespasser, as long as the trespasser doesn't leave within a reasonable amount of time and the amount of force was reasonably necessary. As Lake Forest assault with a deadly weapon criminal defense lawyers, we don't believe this applies under the circumstances described in the article. But to use the trespassing argument, Alarcon would first have to show that the repo worker was a trespasser -- which would be an uphill battle if the worker was on public land or the front steps. Generally, there are also exceptions for people who enter others' property to do a job, like postal workers. He would then have to show that the amount of force used was necessary, and that the worker didn't leave after being asked. The article doesn't go into enough details to judge this, but it may be another uphill battle.

Continue reading "Man Charged With Assault With a Deadly Weapon for Pointing Shotgun at Repossessor" »

Our Cypress domestic violence criminal defense attorneys were interested to see a recent item about the arrest of the adult daughter of Huntington Beach's police chief. Jennifer Sue Small, 31, was arrested by the Orange County Sheriff's Department for stabbing her husband, 33, in the chest at a hotel. The wound is not considered life-threatening. The sheriff's department declined to name the husband because he is a victim of domestic violence. Small is the daughter of Chief Ken Small of the Huntington Beach police department, who said his family has struggled with his daughter's domestic violence history for many years. He told the Orange County Register May 25 that he expects no special treatment for his daughter.

The arrest of the younger Small came after deputies responded to a call about domestic violence at a Midway City hotel early Monday. No charges have yet been filed, but Small was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and inflicting injury. They are the latest in a list of legal problems Small has faced in the past five years. Between 2005 and 2009, she pleaded guilty to public intoxication three times, trespassing twice, one DUI and one count of battery of a peace officer. Other charges against her did not result in a guilty plea. In 2006, a court dismissed two charges of misdemeanor child abuse and endangerment against Small, as well as one misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance. Also in 2006, Small pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor corporeal injury on a spouse and misdemeanor vandalism. Those charges were later dismissed.

As Yorba Linda domestic violence criminal defense lawyers, we're interested in this case in part because it turns the usual assumptions about domestic abuse and gender upside down. We're not exactly happy that both men and women can be charged with domestic violence, but we do believe it's a point worth repeating, because many people don't believe women are ever charged. In fact, that was true in many states until fairly recently. These days, when the couple presents conflicting stories, some officers still automatically take the woman's side, despite the fact that the law is officially neutral. In this case, however, it's difficult to imagine deputies ignoring a chest stabbing. Small's history of legal problems, including spousal abuse and child abuse charges, may also have been a factor.

Continue reading "Daughter of Huntington Beach Police Chief Arrested for Domestic Violence Stabbing" »

Our Long Beach assault criminal defense lawyers have been watching news trickle in about sentencing for two biker groups involved in a 2008 bar fight. In that incident, the Set Free Soldiers fought with Hell's Angels at Blackies by the Sea in Newport Beach. The Set Free Soldiers describes itself as a Christian ministry on motorcycles, but law enforcement says they are outlaws. The fight itself left two people with stab wounds and a third injured from a blow from a billiard bar, and also triggered raids of bikers' homes a week later by various Orange County police agencies. Now, the Orange County Register reports, Set Free Soldiers leader Phillip Aguilar has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count related to the incident, possession of ammunition by a prohibited person.

Aguilar was already a convicted felon before the fight broke out, though the newspaper doesn't note what felonies or when they occurred. He was arrested in the raids along with six other Set Free Soldiers on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder; authorities believed the group planned the fight. Ultimately, only one member was charged with attempted murder. Altogether, six Set Free Soldiers and two Hell's Angels faced charges, mainly for weapons possession, gang involvement and assault. Aguilar was originally charged with three felonies: possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of brass knuckles and street terrorism. It wasn't clear why prosecutors chose to offer the plea bargain for the much less serious misdemeanor charge instead.

As Anaheim Hills assault criminal defense attorneys, we suspect Aguilar got a good plea deal because the prosecutor's office realized it didn't have much of a case. Furthermore, sloppy police work has been an issue in at least one other prosecution related to the police raids on the bikers' homes. As we wrote back in March, firearms and drug possession charges against Hell's Angel Brian David Heslington were dropped after a judge found that the search warrant for the home was supported by "false or reckless testimony." That is, law enforcement bent the rules to obtain evidence in his case. We have no reason to think this is true for every search, but it wouldn't be unusual for the problems to extend beyond the one case. This could be particularly true if the search of the homes was based on prejudice against bikers rather than solid evidence of conspiracy to commit murder -- a crime with which only one participant was ultimately charged.

Continue reading "Leader of Christian Motorcycle Gang Plea Bargains in Newport Beach Bar Fight" »

As Fullerton drunk driving criminal defense attorneys, we were interested to see a conviction in an unusual drunk driving case. Christopher Koppi, 28, was accused of driving drunk when he ran out of gas on the 57 freeway, causing a chain reaction crash that killed another man. The Orange County Register reported May 6 that prosecutors argued that Koppi was culpable in the 2006 death of Richard James Pettigrew, 59, because Koppi was too drunk to notice the light on his dashboard warning that he was running out of gas. At his sentencing on July 30, Koppi could get up to 25 years in prison, an increased sentence because he has a prior felony "strike" and because the conviction was for gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, a more serious crime than simple vehicular manslaughter.

Koppi was driving a Ford F-150 pickup on the early morning of August 26, 2006 when he simply ran out of gas and became what a prosecutor described as a dangerous obstacle. Pettigrew was directly behind him in a 1981 Datsun sedan. He was apparently unable to avoid colliding with Koppi's truck and crashed into its back. Another vehicle then crashed into the back of Pettigrew's car. Pettigrew died at the scene from multiple injuries. Police noticed several signs of intoxication from Koppi, and a blood-alcohol concentration test measured him at 0.20 two hours after the crash. Koppi's defense lawyer argued that Koppi was trying to pull over when he noticed problems with his truck, and that it was still in motion when Pettigrew hit it. He also noted that detectives didn't argue that Koppi had run out of gas until six weeks after the incident.

Our Chino Hills DUI criminal defense lawyers wonder how much Koppi's past record had to do with the jury's decision in this case. As a rule, juries are not inclined to show mercy to repeat offenders, and Koppi's prior offense was aggravated assault, a serious crime. It also has nothing at all to do with the crime alleged in this case, which was driving under the influence of alcohol. Nonetheless we wouldn't be surprised if it made jurors less likely to believe that Koppi genuinely had car trouble -- which of course is not a criminal offense. And we're absolutely sure that the prior conviction will haunt Koppi later, at his sentencing, because aggravated assault is a "strike" crime. That means the sentence for any subsequent felony is doubled, whether or not it's a strike. Gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated normally carries four to 10 years in prison.

Continue reading "Driver Who Ran Out of Gas on Freeway Convicted of DUI Manslaughter" »