Articles Posted in criminal-law

One of the most confusing areas of criminal law is the area of murder versus manslaughter. Both murder and manslaughter involve the Defendant willfully killing another person. Notably, self defense is a defense to murder and manslaughter. First degree murder is the classic fact scenario where the Defendant plans to kill someone and executes on that plan.…

Whenever a person who is 17 or younger is arrested for a criminal offense the case is referred to the Juvenile Justice system in the county where the crime occurred. Criminal cases in the Juvenile system are treated very differently then adult cases. Whereas the authorities tend to concentrate on punishment for adult offenders, the emphasis in…

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department will work with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) in allowing immigration detainees to be housed in Orange County jails. An agreement was approved by Orange County supervisors to have detainees stay at the James A. Musick Facility in Irvine and the Theo Lacey Facility in Orange. The availability…

Edward Charles Allaway was found not guilty by reason of insanity by a court in 1977 and has been petitioning since 1995 to be released as an out- patient from a mental health facility. He was convicted of killing 7 co-workers using a rifle when he was a janitor at Cal State Fullerton. Allaway’s mental…

As the All-Star Game neared, Anaheim was getting ready for the crowds of people coming to enjoy the great American pastime. Law enforcement worked to maintain these five days of baseball family friendly. Security was a concern with the roughly 100,000 people expected to arrive in Anaheim. When attending the events at the stadium the…

In Yorba Linda a robbery suspect was shot by Brea police outside his home. According to the Orange County Register Sgt Bill Smyser explained that he did not know whether there suspect was armed at the time. Police were outside Julian S. Collender’s home monitoring when he stepped out. Police fired one shot, he died…

Corina Jo Castillo is charged with murder resulting from a Domestic Violence incident where she stabbed her live-in boyfriend once in the back with a knife. The Anaheim woman recently appeared in the Orange County Superior Court where bail was set at $3 million dollars. Her boyfriend was rushed to UCI hospital where he died several hours…

On one single afternoon last month, there were three shootings involving three teenage boys in the city of Santa Ana. That onset of violence and a recent “surge” in gang attacks have gotten police weary of the troublesome summer that lies ahead. Problems get worse in the summer since kids are out of school and…

The scene after the final game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, where the Lakers beat the Celtics 83-79, was one of mass chaos and destruction. Violence broke out shortly after the game ended. Crowds broke windows of storefronts, jumped on cars, set at least 15 small fires and threw objects at police…

On June 16, 2010, members of a tagging crew were arrested for doing hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage over the last year. The vandalism included damage during the Lakers’ 2009 victory celebration. Members looted several retail establishments, smashed car windows and even vandalized police cars. At least 31 individuals were arrested after…