A 75 year-old Fullerton woman was convicted of felony hit and run causing death by an Orange County, California judge stemming from an incident in August of 2007.   Ana Maria Torres ran over 89 year-old Jessie Pound on August 26, 2007 as she was leaving the parking lot of Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Placentia where she had attended morning mass. Pound, whose DNA was found on a piece of clothing underneath Torres’ car, later died of her injuries. 

Torres claims to not have known she had hit or anyone and even attended a family function later that same day. Torres was also found guilty of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence as well as providing false information to a police officer. When Torres was questioned by the local police about the incident, she lied about which church service she had attended on that day and at one point claimed she had walked to church. Torres is scheduled to be sentenced on October 16^th and could face up to four years in prison. 

Los Angeles gang crime is a major problem that the entire city focuses on.  Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys work hard to defend Los Angeles gang crime defendants, many of whom have been found guilty by association.  The city, on occasion, can decide it needs better Los Angeles gang crime statistics, and so finds many men and women guilty of Los Angeles gang crime activity without their actual involvement.

The link between Los Angeles juvenile crime and high school dropouts has been shown again and again, and a new study further confirms this terrible truth.

Joe Francis, creator of the popular adult entertainment franchise “Girls Gone Wild,” pleaded guilty in a Los Angeles Court on Wednesday to falsifying his income taxes and bribing two jail workers. As part of a plea agreement, Francis is to be sentenced to a year of supervised release, and ordered to pay $250,000 in restitution and $10,000 in fines. According to court documents, Francis would be given credit for the 301 days he has already spent in jail. The adult video entrepreneur admitted to a Los Angeles judge that he underreported his corporate taxable income by as much as $563,000, while also acknowledging having given two Washoe County, Nevada jail workers as much as $5,000 in goods in exchange for food while he was in prison from June 2007 to March 2008. The plea agreement is still subject to a judge’s approval and sentencing was scheduled for November 16^th of this year. 

Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys who defend people accused of complex crimes often have to do battle with the LAPD and their advanced "crime fighting" tactics.  A competent Los Angeles criminal defense attorney has to stay up to date with all of the latest advances in police technology.  Lately, police have used various forms of technology to aid the prosecution during trials.

For example, a new Los Angeles police facility has been set up to give detectives more "up to the minute" information on crimes currently in process.  The center basically allows 911 calls to get to detectives quicker, which would theoretically allow them to get to crime scenes as fast as possible.  It also receives information from closed-circuit cameras in 400 different locations across the city. 

A federal judge has overturned the conviction of a man convicted of attempted murder in an East Los Angeles gang shooting. U.S. District Judge Gary A. Feess found that Rafael Madrigal Jr.’s attorney failed to present evidence at trial that Madrigal was at work more than 30 miles away when the shooting took place. The Judge ruled that Madrigal should be retried within 60 days or released from prison, where he is currently serving a sentence of 53-years-to-life.

Madrigal was convicted after a July 5, 2000 shooting which occurred during a spate of Los Angeles gang crime. During this particular gun fight, which stemmed from a feud between two East L.A. gangs, one man sustained and survived a gunshot wound to the head—the shot that Madrigal was convicted of taking. The victim and a friend later identified Madrigal as the shooter from Sheriff’s Department photo lineups.

Chicago Blackhawks hockey player and 2010 U.S. Olympic team hopeful Patrick Kane and his cousin James Kane were arrested and accused of the theft crimes of robbery and misdemeanor counts of both theft and criminal mischief following a predawn scuffle with a taxi driver in early August. While official details of the incident have not yet been released, Jan Radecki, 62, claims Patrick Kane, 20, and his cousin attacked him when he told them he didn’t have 20 cents change for their fare. Radecki claims the incident left him with a pair of broken glasses and several bruises. Both Patrick Kane and James Kane have pleaded not guilty. 

Violent crimes such as murder are often portrayed by the media in a sensationalist way, exaggerating details to make the whole story seem more salacious.  However, one recent murder in Stockton, California is quite shocking all on its own.