victim - Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo

Texting While Driving

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:53:00 GMT

An Orange County man was sentenced to 4 years in prison for killing a pedestrian who was walking in the crosswalk. Martin Kuehl, the driver of the vehicle, was texting while driving and was convicted of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence (California Penal Code Section 192).

Kuehl pleaded with the judge to not send him back to prison as he has been incarcerated previously for theft. But because the jury found that the accident happened due to gross negligence on Kuehl’s part, the judge was hesitant to sentence him to anything less than prison. A devastated Kuehl said “there’s not a day that passes that I don’t think of the consequences…that I caused this horrible accident.”

Kuehl’s defense during the trial was that there was a glare on the windshield which caused him to not see the victim. He denied texting while driving and said he only text messaged while stopped at a light.

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.

Jennifer Garner’s Stalker Arrested

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:43:00 GMT

Steven Burky, age 37, was arrested December 14, 2009 for stalking Jennifer Garner and violating a restraining order protecting the family. Jennifer Garner’s stalker was arrested in Santa Monica outside Violet Affleck’s school. At his arraignment, Burky pleaded not guilty on two counts of felony stalking and two misdemeanor counts of violating a court order. The judge ordered him to stay 500 feet away from Garner and her family if released.

Garner was granted a restraining order against Burky in November 2008 after she told the court she believed he posed a threat to her and her family. Garner said Burky had been stalking her since 2002. The order, which required Burky to stay 100 yards away from the family’s cars, homes and schools, was set to expire in November 2011.

In California, a restraining order or civil harassment order, is available to victims being harassed by someone they do not have a domestic relationship with– such as a friend, neighbor or even a stranger. If the victim has a domestic relationship with the person harassing them, then he/she should apply for a domestic violence restraining order instead.

A civil harassment order can last up to three years and may be renewed after that. A victim can qualify for a civil harassment order if the harasser has intentionally committed a series of acts which are frightening, annoying or harassing, and which have caused the victim substantial emotional distress. The harasser does not have to be related to the victim in any way, but the victim must be able to identify the person and find him or her to serve the papers.

A civil harassment order can order the harasser: to stay away from the victim, the victim’s home, school, work or children’s school; not to telephone or contact the victim; not to frighten, intimidate, annoy or harass the victim; not to threaten or make any physical contact with the victim; not to keep the victim under surveillance or follow the victim; and not to block the victim’s movement in public places. It can also protect the victim’s family or anyone else in the home from the harassment. Violation of the order is a crime. The Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo Petition and Defend Restraining Orders as well as defend against stalking charges (Penal Code Section 646.9).