Facebook - Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo

Inmates Have Facebook Too!

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 06:23:00 GMT

Information has surfaced that inmates have set up their own pages on social media sites. The California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation has communicated with Facebook and reported inmate accounts. The site will “take down pages that have been updated since the owners went to prison” according to the Los Angeles Times. Some inmates have been able to post updates using smart phones. The cell phones are usually smuggled into the prison, possibly by prison staff. A contraband mobile phone can cost an inmate as much as $1,000.00. Smuggled cell phones are a problem officials are dealing with, but staff members are not searched before reporting for work, and it is not a crime for an employee to smuggle a cell phone. They can be fired but they cannot be brought up on criminal charges. The argument against allowing inmates to have pages on social networking sites is that they can continue to participate in criminal activity and it’s a medium that cannot be monitored by the department. For example, one inmate was able to view one of his victim’s pages and later sent drawings of her based on her uploaded pictures. The debate becomes whether or not it’s within the inmates rights to be allowed access to social networking sites or if it’s in the victim’s rights to deny such participation.

Look Who’s on Facebook Now!

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 22:04:00 GMT

Huntington Beach once again looks to a new strategy to reduce Drunk Driving Offenses also known as DUI’s. The city had agreed to list people cited for possible DUI in newspapers but the publications stopped listing the names. Another plan was approved to allow the Huntington Beach Police Department to list the names of people on their website arrested for suspicion of drunk driving. Now the police department and the city have discussed having the names of DUI suspects on the Huntington Beach PD’s Facebook and Twitter account. Police Chief Kenneth Small explained that they would consult with the City Attorney regarding any legal issues that would arise. If the procedure does not violate the law, then the department would most likely go ahead with the plan. Since arrest information is public in nature it is unlikely there would be a legal obstacle.

Laguna Beach Teen Stabbing

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 19:15:00 GMT

On March 29th, at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach, Orange County, a 16 year old Laguna Beach teen was arraigned and is facing assault with a deadly weapon charges for acts against three other teens and two minors. According to the Orange County Register authorities explained that the teens were arguing through texts, emails and the networking site Facebook prior to the stabbing. There was no elaboration on what the argument was about. Allegedly Michael Wilson and one teenage victim agreed to meet at Wilson’s house. There, Wilson took a carving knife and stabbed the victim in the stomach. Two friends who tried to help the victim, Julian C., suffered injuries as well. Wilson is facing three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, Penal Code Section 245(a)(1) with other than a firearm and Penal Code Section 12022.7a for three enhancements resulting from inflicting great bodily harm. Wilson is out on bail.

Police Use Social Networking Sites to Track Gangs

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:21:00 GMT

Police investigations are keeping up with the social networking trend as they investigate gang members and gang activity. Sites like Facebook, my space, and twitter serve as a way to communicate between gang members. Some use the internet to post videos and photos sometimes showing current criminal activities that they are involved in. Music and art related to the gangs are also posted for others to see and create a presence. Through pictures, art or music gang affiliation can be linked to someone the police are investigating. By monitoring these sites officials are gathering prosecutorial evidence. Many of the comments, written posts or pictures are publicly available while the site managers cooperate with officials when presented with a subpoena.

Kick a Ginger Day

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 01:46:00 GMT

A red-headed 12-year-old boy was assaulted in Los Angeles on November 20th because of a Facebook message declaring Friday as “Kick a Ginger Day.” A “ginger” is a label for someone with red hair, fair skin, and freckles. A group of seventh and eighth graders at A.E. Wright Middle School in Calabasas beat up the red-headed student on two occasions in the same day. A “South Park” episode that focused on prejudice against “gingers” is said to have ignited the Facebook message. Lieutenant Richard Erickson said the boy was “accosted by seventh- and then eighth-graders” and was “kicked and hit with fists in various areas of the body.” Fortunately, the 12-year-old did not suffer any serious injuries.

Detectives are investigating the incident as a possible assault with a deadly weapon. California Penal Code Section 245(a) (1) defines this serious crime. The law states: “Any person who commits an assault upon the person of another with a deadly weapon or instrument other than a firearm or by any means of force likely to produce great bodily injury shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years, or in a county jail for not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment.” Notably, a vehicle and almost any instrument that can be held in the hand and even a person’s foot can be deemed a “weapon” for the purposes of this law.

Penal Code Section 245(a) (1) is applicable to adults as well as children pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code Section 602. Under Welfare and Institutions Code Section 602 anyone under the age of 18 can be declared a ward of the court if they are alleged to have violated a penal code section. They are then prosecuted in the juvenile court.

View an Associated Press video on this incident.