gang-shooting - Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo

Gardena High School Shooting

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 21:33:00 GMT

The shooting at Gardena High School earlier this week is being investigated as an accident. The teacher in the classroom heard the student say “I’m sorry” after the gun went off. The weapon was in a backpack and went off as the bag hit the desk. One bullet hit two students in the classroom. A friend of the student commented that he had brought a gun to school because he feared for his safety. The fear stemmed from a fight in school. Gardena High has a procedure to randomly wand students with a metal detector. The school was locked down for several hours after the incident. The student surrendered to police.

Because the student is a minor (under age 18) his case will be prosecuted in the juvenile justice system. On some occasions criminal cases involving juveniles may be prosecuted in the adult system, however, that is generally only the case in very serious matters. While this crime is serious because one bullet passed through two students, it appears to have been accidental in nature and will probably remain in the juvenile system. As a juvenile the student could face up to 6 years at the California youth authority or remain incarcerated until he is 21 years of age. See, California Penal Code Section 246.3 and Welfare and Institutions Code Section 602.

Police Shooting Causes Outrage

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 02:22:00 GMT

People in the Westlake area have been expressing their anger over an officer involved shooting of a day laborer. The incident occurred on Sunday, September 5, 2010, when police received calls regarding a man with a knife threatening pedestrians. When police arrived he was asked in English and Spanish to drop the knife. When he did not comply and ran toward police one of the officers shot him twice. People took to the streets Tuesday night in protest, there were incidents of rocks and bottle being thrown at police and some were arrested. Authorities and city officials did not expect such a reaction since there were witnesses describing that the man had a knife, and that the weapon was recovered at the scene. The counter argument for the department’s defense of force is that the officer should not have shot a man wielding a knife and used non-lethal weapon or aimed for the arms or legs. The man was Manuel Jamines from Solola, Guatemala and his family will be sending his remains to his native country.

Criminal Law Updates by the Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo (714) 547-4636

Here is an AP Video covering the story:

Gang Shooting Involving Orange County Iraqi War Veteran

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 22:55:00 GMT

Adrian Arroyo, found guilty Thursday of two counts of attempted murder, street terrorism, and a weapons charge in connection with a shooting in of an Iraq war Veteran in Garden Grove. (COURTESY OF O.C. DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE)

Armando Escobar served as a sergeant in the U.S. army and spent a 9-month tour of duty in Iraq without ever experiencing a gun shot wound. But all that changed on May 11, 2007 in Orange County when Escobar was shot in the face while playing volleyball with his sister in his own front yard. He was rushed to UCI Medical Center, where he was sutured internally and externally to close up his wounds. Two members of the Darkside street gang—Arroyo and Torres, were later arrested in connection with the shooting. Both men had driven into Escobar’s neighborhood around 6 p.m. on the date of incident seeking to retaliate against rivals from the 18th Street gang for an incident earlier in the day. However, Arroyo’s aim was not accurate and he hit Escobar instead.

Arroyo was later found guilty of two counts of attempted murder, street terrorism, and a weapons charge, which could result in a 50-year prison sentence. Torres was also initially charged with attempted murder, however, charges were dismissed after authorities learned he had been shot and paralyzed in a previous gang shooting in which he was sentenced to prison for more than a decade for his involvement. See Penal Code Sections 186.22; 664-187; 245(a) (1).

Teenager Receives 50 years to Life for Gang Shootings

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:49:00 GMT

16-year-old Marco Antonio Perez was sentenced on October 23, 2009, to a minimum of 50 years in state prison for a 2006 shooting that left two rival gang members dead and a third in a coma.

A jury in adult court found Perez guilty of two felony counts of special-circumstances murder for the benefit of a criminal street gang, one felony count of attempted murder and one felony count of street terrorism.

Perez was prosecuted as an adult for the execution-style shooting that took place in Santa Ana when he was 14 years old. Victims were ages 14, 15, and 16. Two other members of his gang have already been sentenced to multiple life sentences and the other three are awaiting trial.

Juveniles, or minors under the age of 18, can be prosecuted for any of the same crimes for which adults can be prosecuted. So, a child who is 14 years old can be tried in adult court for some serious crimes such as murder and attempted murder, setting fire to a building with people in it, robbery with a weapon, rape, kidnapping or carjacking, crimes with guns, drug crimes, and escaping from a juvenile detention facility without a hearing before a juvenile judge. Prop 21, which was passed in 2000, allows prosecution to direct file without a juvenile court judge making the determination as to whether the minor should remain in juvenile court or be transferred to adult criminal court. Only an experienced criminal defense attorney can then examine the possibility of transferring the minor from adult criminal court back to juvenile court for sentencing under the Reverse Remand Law, Penal Code Sections 1170.17 and 1170.19. The Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo has represented many Defendants to include juveniles charged with gang offenses (Penal Code Section 186.22)