California Criminal Lawyers Blog

As Anaheim burglary criminal defense attorneys, we were interested to see a recent article about a home-invasion burglar who was caught by a postal worker and a neighbor to the home. According to a June 11 story from the Orange County Register, Michael Dean Hester, 50, was arrested June 4 after the mailman for the area, Harold Dade, surprised him in the act of burglarizing the home of Denise Davis. Davis was not home at the time. Dade and neighbor Scott Stone chased down Hester as he left the scene. Hester is now charged with two counts of felony burglary, one count of felony receiving stolen property and one count of misdemeanor resisting arrest. He has pleaded not guilty. Because he has a felony criminal record, the district attorney's office said a conviction could mean a third strike.

Dade told the newspaper that he regularly delivers mail to Davis's home, so he noticed when an unfamiliar bicycle showed up in front. As he approached the front door, he also noticed that the glass in the door had been broken with a brick and realized something was amiss. Then he looked up and saw a man. Dade said he thought each of them scared the other, and ran back to his truck to call the police. On his way there, he noticed Stone in a car slowing down for a stop sign and asked him to call the police. While Stone was making that call, Hester left on the bicycle, so Stone followed him to a local McDonald's. He was able to identify the man for police when they arrived. Davis praised Dade and Stone for being neighborly and involved. She recovered some, but not all, of the stolen goods, and believes that another burglar may be at large with the remaining goods.

Our Whittier burglary criminal defense lawyers are pleased that these neighbors are looking out for one another. However, we'd like to focus on the possibility that Hester will be convicted of a third strike under the three-strikes law, which always means a sentence of 25 years to life in prison. Hester's first felony convictions were for grand theft of vehicles and receiving stolen property. That was in 1991, before the three-strikes law was passed in 1994, but those felony convictions can still count as priors. However, it's not clear that any of Hester's prior felony convictions are "strikes," because strikes are always serious or violent felonies. For example, grand theft auto in itself is not a strike, but it would be if Hester used a firearm or other dangerous or deadly weapon. His second felony convictions in 1995, two counts of receiving stolen property, would not count as strikes. However, the residential burglary charge Hester now faces is a strike, so he certainly needs experienced legal representation.

Continue reading "Huntington Beach Postal Worker and Neighbor Hailed for Stopping Getaway by Burglar" »

Our Orange petty theft criminal defense attorneys were interested to see a brief item about two young men who are accused of stealing beer from a Lake Forest convenience store. As the Orange County Register reported June 10, sheriff's deputies were called to Mobile on the Run, the store, after a clerk saw two young men, ages 18 or 19, steal two packages of Budweiser. The suspects are described as white males with black hair, five feet four inches to five feet five inches, and 140 to 150 pounds. They were both wearing black shirts; one was wearing khaki shorts and the other was wearing black shorts. They reportedly fled in a white extended-cab pickup truck, along Portola Way to Lake Forest Drive. Anyone with information related to the crime is encouraged to contact the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Deputy Richard Nelson said these "beer runs" are common at convenience stores and grocery stores, which doesn't surprise us. As long as underage kids and young adults can't buy beer legally, some of them are going to make the unwise choice to steal it instead. The deputy also told the newspaper that this type of shoplifting is petty theft, but then went on to say that it can also be charged as burglary if prosecutors believe they can prove that the perpetrators went into the store with intent to steal. And that charge, he said, can be a felony. This interested our Oceanside petty theft criminal defense lawyers because we're not entirely sure that felony burglary would be charged in a case of shoplifting goods worth at most about $40. In most shoplifting cases, the charge is petty theft because the value of the goods is under $400 and not taken from the victim's person.

On a first offense with a low value like this, petty theft can be charged as an infraction rather than a misdemeanor. This keeps the crime off the defendant's record and carries a penalty of up to $250. Misdemeanor petty theft carries up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. By contrast, second-degree burglary -- which is the charge for burglary of a store -- would be a "wobbler," meaning it can be charged as a misdemeanor carrying up to a year in jail or a felony carrying up to a year in prison. Prosecutors may charge the crime this way if the crime was particularly noxious or the defendant seems headed for a life of more crime. However, to prove burglary, the prosecutors must prove that the defendant entered the store with the intent to commit larceny -- and intent can be difficult to prove. If they can find no discussions or actions to show that intent, prosecutors will have to drop the charge back down to petty theft.

Continue reading "Sheriff's Deputies Searching for Teenagers Who Stole Beer from Convenience Store" »

A recent article about an unusual burglary caught the eyes of our Dana Point burglary criminal defense lawyers. The Orange County Register reported April 22 that two men were arrested for the April 17 burglary of a home in Santa Ana. Christian Fernando Cabrera and Cesar Valle, both 20, are accused of entering the home on foot, punching a man in the face and taking laptop computers, purses and personal items. They are also accused of demanding money from residents who they said were running a house of prostitution. It was not clear whether that allegation was true or whether the alleged burglars managed to get any cash.

Victims of the robbery said the three men entered on foot around 10 p.m. on April 17. In addition to the computers and purses, the men took eyeglasses, cosmetics and identification cards. Originally, all three had escaped the scene, but victims of the robbery happened to spot Cabrera in the area on April 20. Police officers responded and arrested him on the street. Later, gang detectives were at the gang, speaking to victims about the robbery about the vehicle involved in the robbery. One of the victims pointed out a vehicle passing by that was similar, but then realized it was the same vehicle with one of the same people inside of it. That led to the arrest of Valle. Detectives immediately got into their own vehicle, called for assistance and arrested Valle without incident.

What interests our Corona burglary criminal defense lawyers about this case is the allegation that the house was used for prostitution. This would not be a defense to a charge of burglary, of course, but it might change the charges the arrested men face. California's burglary law is divided into first-degree residential burglary, which is a felony, and second-degree burglary, which is any other kind of burglary. If the alleged burglars are right that the home was being used for prostitution, they may be able to argue that a charge of first-degree burglary is inappropriate. To qualify for a first-degree burglary charge, the building that was entered must be currently used as a dwelling. If nobody lives full-time at the home in question, it may not count as a dwelling. This could lower the charges faced by Cabrera and Valle to second-degree burglary, which can be a felony or a misdemeanor, and carries no more than one year in jail or prison.

Continue reading "Two Men Arrested for Home Invasion Robbery of Alleged Brothel" »