UCI - Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo

Defense Lawyers Want Lid on DA’s Office in Irvine 11 Case

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Mon, 16 May 2011 17:41:00 GMT

Defense attorneys have filed a motion that would limit the public statements given by the District Attorney’s office in regards to the on-going case against 11 UC Irvine students. The motion argues that chief of staff for Orange County District Attorney, Susan Kang Schroeder and Assistant D.A. Dan Wagner have made public statements that were “ethically irresponsible”. It is also argued that Mr. Wagner acted inappropriately by offering his personal opinion that the students were guilty. Ms. Kang Schroeder and Mr. Wagner have both expressed their disagreement with the motion. Later this month the motion will be heard, in addition to another motion requesting that the transcripts from the grand jury investigation be excluded from evidence in the eventual trial. On June 17 a motion to recuse the District Attorney’s office from the case will be heard. All eleven students are charged with one count of conspiracy to disturb a meeting and one count of disturbing a meeting. Both charges are misdemeanors that come with a six months jail sentence, or community service, probation or fines. See, Penal Code Sections 415, 415.5 and 416.

Wanted Fugitive Responsible for UCI Fertility Scandal Arrested in Mexico City

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 21:49:00 GMT

It was 15 years ago that Orange County was rocked with a scandal that only Hollywood could have created. Dr. Richard Asch was one of two physicians responsible for the switching of frozen embryos for over a dozen unsuspecting woman; Dr. Asch is now being held in a Mexico City by authorities, while US prosecutors are awaiting to extradite him to Southern California to face federal mail fraud and tax evasion charges. Federal Mail Fraud is covered under Title 18 of the United States Code, Chapter 63, and is typically filed in conjunction with another violation.

It is not clear how authorities caught up with the wanted fugitive, but it is known that Dr. Asch and his partner, Dr. Jose Balmaceda, brought ceaseless controversy to the UC Irvine Center for Reproductive Health; UC Irvine has paid out more than $27 million to settle at least 140 lawsuits filed as a result of the fertility clinic scandal. A federal judge in Argentina allegedly tried Asch on similar fraud charges, on which Asch was acquitted. His Attorney argues that to face the same charge in the US would constitute “double jeopardy,” a procedural defense that forbids a defendant from being tried on the same charge. In many countries the protection against double jeopardy is a constitutional right, including Mexico and the United States.

Muslim Student Union Suspended at UC Orange County Campus

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:34:00 GMT

The University of California at Irvine (UCI) located in Orange County California has suspended a Muslim student group from campus for one year. The basis for the suspension arose from multiple disruptions of a speech given by the Israeli ambassador to the United States by members of the Muslim Student Union (MSU), a Muslim student group from UCI. The speech occurred February of 2010 and a recently completed investigation by the University found that the MSU had planned the disruptions and even planned what each person designated to disrupt would say.

The MSU can still appeal the decision to UCI personnel. Each of the people who disrupted the proceedings was led away by law enforcement. It is unknown whether they were individually charged with criminal acts for the disruptions. Under California Penal Code Section 415 an individual may be charged with disrupting the peace with loud noises. Video of the speech shows Ambassador Oren having to stop because of the disruptions several times and it is reported he abandoned a question and answer session scheduled for the end of the speech as a result of the disruptions.

While individuals may be charged with violations of criminal law for what may be argued is a demonstration of a political point of view, it is less clear that a group can be suspended because some of its members violated the law or conspired to disrupt the proceedings. For example, if members of the Republican Party were to disrupt a town hall meeting held at UCI to discuss health care reform, it is unimaginable that the Republican Party would be suspended from participating in group activities on campus. Similarly, it would seem that the constitutional right to association and the constitutional prohibitions against discrimination based on ethnicity and religion would cause the suspension of the MSU to be an unconstitutional act by a state institution. In constitutional law lingo a suspension in this case would be deemed an ‘overbroad’ remedy and therefore unconstitutional. See, Penal Code Section 415.

Constitutional or Discourteous?

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:04:00 GMT

Last week Michael Oren gave a speech at University of California, Irvine in Orange County, California, describing the issues he faced as Israeli ambassador. His speech was interrupted multiple times from members of the audience that did not agree with him. A video posted online showed the interruptions occurring roughly every ten minutes. Professor Petracca of the Political Science department expresses his impatience with the outbursts and called out “Shame on you!” when he took the podium to control the ruckus caused by the interruptions. He told the audience that this behavior is not appropriate for University of California students. The spirit of the event as explained by Professor Petracca and Chancellor Drake was to provide a forum for an exchange of ideas and discussion on the Middle East situation. They said that a better way for the UCI Muslim Student Union (the group expressing their dissatisfaction with the speaker) to express their disagreement would be by presenting the ambassador with questions at the end of his talk. University officials were likely embarrassed by the students’ conduct. The MSU has put on its share of displays on campus denouncing Israeli occupation and their tactics and the tolls it takes on the Palestinian community. Indubitably the University would have preferred picketing outside the speaking venue. Yet it’s important to remember that a marginalized group may feel that working within the accepted modes of expression is not effective. The outbursts managed to successfully interrupt Oren from talking, but did not communicate any counter point. Some people present complained that UCI should have taken better measures to control the crowd and that the outbursts made UCI look bad. Notably, as soon as a person yelled out they were escorted out of the auditorium. The position that UCI takes on the incident is that expression is permitted within certain limits dictated by place and time. It is unclear if the students will be charged criminally. If they are they can be charged with disturbing the peace under Penal Code section 415 (2); this penal code section prohibits using “loud and unreasonable” noise. Despite the strong protection of Free Speech in the U.S. Constitution it does appear that the manner in which the students sought to protest the ambassador fell outside the protection of the constitution.

University California Campuses Students Protesting

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:03:00 GMT

Across University of California campuses students have been protesting a 32% increase in tuition. According to the Orange County Register about 300 students protested at the University of California, Irvine in Orange County, California. Last week at UC Berkeley students had been arrested during protesting. Reportedly $800 million has been cut from state funding for the public university system. During a protest there are areas in which people cannot gather, for example blocking the entrance or exit of a building and blocking a public sidewalk. People arrested during this type of gatherings can be subject to violations of Penal Code Section 407 for unlawfully assembly which is a misdemeanor. They may also be arrested for a violation of Penal Code Section 602, Trespass. However, if the people occupy a space without blocking access or have a permit to gather then they are not in violation of the law. Similarly, if authorities ask protesters to disperse and they refuse then it’s a violation of Penal Code Section 416 (assembly for purpose of disturbing the peace). If people refuse to leave officers may ask protesters to place there hands behind their backs and explain that they will place plastic ties on their wrists and be taken in. Some follow these instructions others simply remain motionless but do not resist either. They just lie there on their backs and the officer has to position the person to be cuffed and taken in. These individuals may be charged with the most serious of these sorts of offenses, Penal Code Section 148, which prohibits obstructing an officer or resisting arrest.

Here is a video taken at the UCI, where protesters were maced last month: (Warning Contains Some Graphic Language)