Recent Posts in Assault Category

A former insurance claims adjuster who was suspected of terrorizing women in the 1970s as the Westside Rapist has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for seven murders that were committed in two waves of killings and sexual assaults.

John Floyd Thomas was sentenced for the killings that took place in a area stretching from Inglewood to Claremont. Police describe him as one of the California's most prolific serial killers, saying that he is still a suspect in at least 10 to 15 additional murders.

Police said the sexual attacks targeted women who ranged in age from their 50s to their 90s, many of whom lived alone. He broke into their homes at night and raped and choked his victims until they passed out or died. His sentence was part of a plea deal with prosecutors that was described as an act of pragmatism rather than an act of mercy.

She noted that capital punishment was not legal in California when all but one of the killings Thomas admitted to were committed. She said the death penalty would not have been relevant in this case because Thomas would probably die in prison during his appeals, given his age.

Thomas was born in Los Angeles and was raised by an aunt and his godmother after his mother died when he was 12. He attended public schools, and briefly joined the U.S. Air Force in 1956. At Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, he received a dishonorable discharge. The next year, he was convicted of burglary and attempted rape, which put him in prison for nearly almost 10 years. After his release, police noticed a string of assaults on elderly white women. The attacker was dubbed the Westside Rapist at the time.

The attacks appeared to stop in 1978, when Thomas was convicted and sentenced to prison for the rape of a Pasadena woman. After his release in 1983, he moved to Chino, coinciding with a wave of rapes and killings that began in the Pomona Valley area.

The Westside Rapist faded from public memory and authorities made limited progress in the Claremont killings until 2004, when the LAPD matched male DNA taken from two of the crime scenes. The final break in the case came in October 2008, when two officers collected DNA from Thomas while trying to identify the so-called Grim Sleeper serial killer, who was linked to homicides in South Los Angeles starting in the 1980s. Several months later, detectives learned that Thomas' genetic profile matched DNA evidence from four of the killings he admitted in court.

Police will conduct an intensive investigation following a murder or sexual assault. Therefore, if you are criminally charged, you will need a skilled criminal defense attorney from Marks & Brooklier. Criminal defense lawyers  Donald Marks and  Anthony Brooklier have been successfully representing clients for murder and rape charges for decades. They have the experience necessary to provide you with skilled criminal defense in all Los Angeles County Courts. It takes a dedicated legal team to fight a murder or sexual assault charge, and with our firm you can feel condifent that we will provide you with the highest quality criminal defense team. Our Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers are aggressive in the court room and look forward to defending your case. Contact us for a free case consultation.

A Garden Grove man was sentenced to four years, four months in a California State prison for kidnapping his daughter and assaulting her mother with a handgun in Lake Forest. The assault occurred during a custody drop-off in the mother's home, where Daniel Chomina was angered at seeing a male friend at the home.

He was accused of pointing a handgun at the girl's mother and her male friend at the home and then hitting the man with the gun. When the two locked themselves inside the home, Chomina broke in, took his 3-year-old daughter, and fled. A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge sentenced him to four years and four months in prison.

After driving away in his car, he called his former girlfriend and agreed to leave their daughter with his mother at an Anaheim restaurant. Chomina was facing 15 years in prison. He pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of assault with a firearm, a misdemeanor count of being in possession of a firearm, and felony counts of kidnapping and first-degree burglary.

Kidnapping is defined as using force or threats of force to take a person against their will. Abducting an individual by force and holding them against their will could result in being charged for felony kidnapping. Regardless of your relationship to the victim, the consequences of your actions will be prosecuted aggressively.

If you have been charged or under investigation for kidnapping, it is critical that you obtain an experienced Los Angeles kidnapping criminal defense lawyer right away. At Marks & Brooklier, our law firm will specially design a top legal team who will defend you against these charges. Attorneys  Donald Marks and  Anthony Brooklier are skilled kidnapping criminal defense attorneys, who will ensure you receive the legal assistance you need to aggressively fight your criminal charges.  Call our office today to schedule a free consultation.

In Santa Ana, California, a Lake Forest man goes on trial on multiple felony charges of raping five women and sexually assaulting a sixth. The charges against Sekayi Rudo White, could result in a sentence of 119 years to life in prison if he is convicted of all counts. He is accused of 14 felony counts involving six women he met in bars, had been dating, or was acquainted with during a five-year span.

Prosecutors say that three of the victims initially were too frightened to report the sexual attacks, but called police after they read news accounts of his arrest in connection with the other three women. And one of the assaults took place after he was released on $250,000 bail. He has been in custody without bail since that incident in Lake Forest on March 31, 2007.

White is accused of forcible rape, assault with intent to commit rape, sexual battery, dissuading a witness and residential burglary, plus sentencing enhancements for committing sex crimes against multiple victims, using a deadly weapon, and committing crimes while out on bail. The six incidents according to prosecutors:

On March 31, 2007, a 28-year-old woman was drinking with a friend at Patsy's Irish Pub in Lake Forest. Prosecutors say he covertly followed the victim home, knocked on her door, and was allowed inside after she recognized him. He raped her after she passed out.

On Feb. 21, 2007, he broke into the home of a 22-year-old woman he had been dating, pushed her to the ground, and stepped on her chest as he removed her clothes. He is accused of forcibly raping the victim as he held a large hunting knife to her neck.

One night in January 2007, a woman renting a room from the victim in the Feb. 21 incident was attacked in her bedroom after he broke the lock on her door. He is accused of threatening to kill her if she reported the rape.

On Aug. 13, 2006, White met a 19-year-old woman at Atlanta Lounge in Huntington Beach, California. He offered to give the drunken victim a ride home, but instead drove her to his apartment and raped her.

On Dec. 23, 2005 White met a 44-year-old woman at the Fox Sports Grill at the Irvine Spectrum and offered to give her a ride home because she had been drinking. After arriving at her Newport Beach apartment, he asked to use the bathroom. Prosecutors say he ran out of the bathroom naked, tried to rape the woman while threatening to kill her if she told anyone, but she screamed anyway and he fled the scene.

In September 2002, White met a 22-year-old woman in driving school and asked her out for a date. He is accused of taking her to a hotel in Santa Ana and forcibly raping her while she was temporarily unconscious. After the attack, he is accused of harassing the woman, who did not initially report the incident,  by showing up at her work and home.

If you have been charged with a rape or any type of sex crime, you need the skilled defense services of a Los Angeles rape criminal defense attorney who has the experience and knowledge of this area of the law. At Marks & Brooklier, attorneys Donald Marks and Anthony Brooklier are qualified Los Angeles sex crimes lawyers who will aggressively defend you. Our skilled lawyers have handled high profile cases involving rape with great success and can do the same for you. Contact us for a free consultation, 24/7, strictly confidential.