Recent Posts in Criminal Defense Category

A Long Beach, California homeless man was found guilty of 22 counts including attempted murder, kidnapping and mayhem. He stabbed, slashed or strangled six women from February to May 2008; all of the victims survived. The homeless man who went on a crime rampage in downtown Long Beach that included slashing two women's throats was sentenced to 11 life terms and 433 years in prison.

Charles Juan Proctor was convicted of 22 counts including attempted murder, kidnapping for robbery and mayhem. He was accused of robbing various Long Beach businesses and one in Hawaiian Gardens for cash ranging from $35 to about $700. In the process, Proctor threatened, slashed, stabbed or strangled six female shop owners.

The prosecution alleged that Proctor left a 1/4-inch-wide gash on one woman's throat. In another incident, he stuck a knife into a woman's throat and turned it when she resisted, then repeatedly slashed her face.

The victims, of varying age and race, were attacked in beauty salons, a clothing boutique and a bridal shop. The incidents occurred between February and May 2008, most of them on consecutive days in late April. The crimes were linked to Proctor through DNA he left on a cellphone case at one of the crime scenes. The genetic material was matched to Proctor's records in Nevada, where he had been arrested and convicted for assaulting a woman with a box cutter in a Hooter's parking lot in Las Vegas in 2007.

Proctor will serve nine years in Nevada prison for his conviction there, then return to California for the rest of his terms. Victims spoke at Proctor's sentencing, saying they continue to be haunted and traumatized by the attacks.

If you have been accused or charged with attempted murder, robbery or any type of violent crime, it is crucial that you obtain a qualified Los Angeles criminal defense attorney immediately. A conviction for any type of violent crime in the State of California can result in a lifetime sentence in a California penitentiary.

Los Angeles Police will conduct an intensive and thorough investigation following a violent crime. Therefore, if you are charged, you will need an experienced criminal defense attorney from Marks & Brooklier. Attorney's Donald Marks and Anthony Brooklier have represented clients for attempted muder, robbery and other violent crimes charges since 1976. It takes a dedicated legal team to fight a violent crime charge, and with our firm you can feel condifent that we will provide you with the highest quality criminal defense team possible. We will conduct our own thorough investigation of the facts and study all evidence obtained against you in order to present a strong defense. Our Los Angeles attempted murder criminal defense lawyers are aggressive and are well-versed in a court room setting and look forward to assisting you with your case. Contact us for a free consultation, 24/7.

Dr. Lisa Tseng, a Rowland Heights osteopath, is the focus of a DEA probe into the over-prescribing of painkillers. At least six of her patients in their 20s have died since 2007.

Last December, Joey Rovero and a couple of pals from Arizona State University set out on a road trip to Southern California.

They weren't headed to Hollywood or some other spot likely to attract a trio of rowdy frat boys out for a good time. Their destination was a clinic in a mini-mall off the 60 Freeway. After a short visit with Dr. Lisa Tseng, the young men left with a handful of prescriptions and headed back to ASU. Nine days later, Rovero, a muscular former high school football star, was dead of an overdose. He was 21.

Rovero was one of at least six men in their 20s who have died of overdoses since 2007 after making the trek to Tseng's office in Rowland Heights. Two others died after getting drugs from patients who got them from Tseng. Though Tseng is a general practitioner without a specialty, some patients drove from San Clemente, Palm Springs and places even farther away to see her.

Many who died were white men in their early 20s from Orange County. As kids, they played baseball and soccer and went surfing. They had nice homes and loving parents. Several shared a mischievous streak or bad-boy edge that led them to experiment with drugs. Friends and family members of some patients described their loved ones as addicts who used old injuries,  a once-shattered ankle from riding motocross, a sore knee from a snowboarding mishap or a stiff back from a car accident, as excuses to score drugs.

Tseng prescribed an array of painkillers, muscle relaxants and anti-anxiety medications, according to records. Sold under the brand names OxyContin, Vicodin, Soma and Xanax, these drugs are widely abused by teens and young adults who increasingly are ending up in detox centers, emergency rooms and county morgues. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration deemed her "an imminent danger to public health and safety" and suspended her license to prescribe drugs prone to abuse. Since then, law enforcement officers have received calls from more parents alleging that their children had overdosed after getting prescriptions from Tseng.

Hsiu-Ying "Lisa" Tseng graduated from Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine with an osteopathic degree in 1996. Her California medical license remains in good standing, according to state records. She has no reported malpractice judgments against her or settlements of note and has not been charged with any crime. The drugs Tseng prescribed, although addictive, can provide much-needed relief to patients in pain. The law gives doctors broad latitude to make diagnoses and treatment decisions, but requires that they conduct physicals and document a patient's medical history.

Experts say such measures should help physicians tell the difference between a patient with real pain and an addict shopping for his or her next high. Among the most obvious signs of abuse are patients willing to drive long distances to see a doctor; patients asking for a specific medication in its most potent dosage; and patients going to multiple pharmacies to have their prescriptions filled. Tseng said she had noticed that some of her patients drove long distances to see her. She said she asked them why and was told that they had been referred by friends or relatives, an explanation she accepted.

Cases against doctors are fraught with the difficulties medical and legal authorities face in drawing the line between legitimate medicine and drug dealing. "If somebody is selling heroin or coke on the street, one undercover buy and they are going to prison," said Steve Opferman, a Los Angeles County sheriff's detective who specializes in medical fraud. "With doctors, it's a whole other matter. You need overwhelming evidence."

Matt Stavron was happiest soaring through the air on his Yamaha dirt bike after hitting a jump on the various motocross tracks throughout Southern California that he would visit with his dad and little brother. Landing wasn't always so much fun. Stavron was 13 when he suffered a compound leg fracture in the mid-1990s, the first of many injuries. He was hospitalized and given morphine for the pain. His parents think that's when he started on the road toward addiction.

Over the next decade, Stavron was in and out of rehab, battling an addiction to painkillers. As much as his son loved competing in motocross and hoped to turn pro, Bruce Stavron said, it got to the point where he began to wonder whether Matt was crashing his bike on purpose to get drugs. In 2007, however, things began to look up. Stavron spent the summer in rehab and this time, his parents said, it appeared to be taking. He had been clean for three months and was engaged to be married.

That September, Stavron's fiancee broke her neck and, rather than continue with his rehab in Long Beach, he stayed home to take care of her. He relapsed about two weeks later. His mother, Kelle, found him curled up in the fetal position on the bathroom floor, dead at age 24. Pills,  large white ones, small bluish green ones and rectangular bars,  were strewn about: There was OxyContin, Soma and Xanax,  all traced back to Tseng, more than 50 miles away in Rowland Heights, according to Orange County coroner's records. She prescribed 80 milligrams of OxyContin, intended for people in extreme pain and favored by addicts. Of the 30 tablets Tseng prescribed just two days earlier, four remained.

Stavron's parents said they had never heard of Tseng and didn't know how their son had met her. What they did know, they said, was that he had no legitimate injury requiring the sort of medication he was given. Kelle Stavron said she knows her son could have died after scoring drugs on the street, "but the truth is this doctor gave him those pills, and he died," she said. "She's gotta live with that."

Ryan Latham was 21 when he overdosed in 2008. He died of the combined effects of hydrocodone, Xanax and Soma,  the same drugs prescribed by Tseng less than a week earlier. The coroner ruled his death a suicide, noting, among other things, that Latham had grown depressed after breaking up with his girlfriend about a year earlier.His mother, Tina, said her son was particularly upset because his ex-girlfriend was about to get married. Handsome and gregarious on the surface, Latham was "pretty sensitive, emotional" underneath, his mother said. He struggled with drugs for years, but had been clean for about six months before he started seeing Tseng.

Tina Latham said her son was born with a mild case of spina bifida and had suffered a broken jaw in a fight a year or so before his death. Neither was causing him any pain, she said. In fact, Latham said, her son confided to her that Tseng, given some pretext,  "an old X-ray, whatever," would prescribe "all the drugs you want." Ronnie Wiessbrod, one of Ryan Latham's roommates when he died, recalled his friend sending him a text message from Tseng's waiting room in which he talked about other patients laughing about the things they were planning to tell Tseng to get drugs.

Jeffrey "Neil" West did not die of an overdose. But his mother says she believes Tseng played a role in his death. In the two weeks before West fatally shot himself in July 2009, Tseng wrote him seven prescriptions totaling 325 pills,  Adderall, Xanax, Soma, hydromorphone and 80-milligram tablets of OxyContin, coroner's records show. At one point, she wrote him overlapping prescriptions for Soma, 90 tablets on July 8 that should have lasted a month, then another 45 a week later. Upon learning after his death that Tseng had been prescribing such powerful drugs to her son, she blamed the doctor for fueling his addiction.

Criminal defense lawyers Donald Marks and Anthony Brooklier have been representing clients on prescription drug and other drug related matters since 1976. When faced with unlawful prescription drug charges you need experienced Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys with experience in representing individuals for prescription drug crimes. Such charges could include offenses for unlawful prescription drug possession, drug trafficking and other drug related charges. If you have been charged with a prescription drug crime, we recommend you contact us in order to begin to prepare your case for a successful defense.

Charlie Sheen could work at a Colorado theater company by day and spend his nights in jail under a deal reached with prosecutors that calls for him to plead guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge in his domestic violence abuse case.

In exchange, prosecutors would drop criminal mischief and felony menacing charges stemming from an argument Sheen had with his wife on Christmas Day at an Aspen home where they were on vacation. The deal calls for Sheen to serve a 30-day sentence and three months probation.

A judge must still approve the agreement. Sheen was expected to appear Monday in an Aspen court. Prosecutors confirmed last week that Sheen had reached a plea agreement but released no details. Sheen, the star of the hit CBS show "Two and a Half Men," previously pleaded not guilty to menacing, criminal mischief and assault charges. The menacing charge carries a prison sentence of up to three years.

During the jail term, Sheen would be released during the day so he can work at Theatre Aspen. He could leave the jail for work at 8 a.m. and would have to return by 8 p.m. "He's being sentenced to jail, and he's being released for work, thereby, it's work," Galanter said.

Paige Price, the theater's artistic director, said Sheen had agreed to work for free. His duties would include teaching a class for professional actors and possible fundraising for the nonprofit.

"We think it is community service in that it is a nonprofit," Price said. Brooke Mueller Sheen approved the deal, Galanter said. She previously asked prosecutors to drop the charges against Sheen, but they refused, according to the lawyer. He said prosecutors had offered a deferred sentence, whereby Sheen would plead guilty to a felony and charges would be dropped after two years, which is similar to the way other cases are resolved in Colorado.

Sheen has taken anger management classes and will present evidence showing he has completed a 36-hour course. "They're both adults, and they have two beautiful babies together. I know they're working on it. I can tell you that no matter what happens, Charlie and Brooke will always be good friends," he said. On Christmas Day, Brooke Mueller Sheen told police the actor had threatened to kill her after she told him she wanted a divorce. She said he straddled her on a bed with one hand on her neck and the other holding a knife.

Charlie Sheen told police he and his wife had argued but denied threatening her. He told officers they slapped each other on the arms and that he had snapped two pairs of her eyeglasses in front of her, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Sheen told police he was upset by the divorce threat. He previously went through a bitter divorce and custody battle with his previous wife Denise Richards. Within a week of his arrest, Sheen and his wife both said they wanted to reconcile. In February, they hugged in an Aspen courtroom after a judge modified a restraining order that had kept them from contacting each other. Since the incident, both have completed alcohol rehab programs, and Galanter has said they've been sober for months.

It's not the first run in with the law for Sheen, the star of films such as "Platoon," "Wall Street" and "Hot Shots!" who agreed last month to return to "Two and a Half Men" for two more seasons. In December 1996, he was charged with attacking a girlfriend at his Southern California home. He later pleaded no contest and was placed on two years' probation.

In 1998, his father turned him in for violating his parole after a cocaine overdose sent him to the hospital. He was ordered to undergo a rehabilitation program.

Domestic violence is considered to be any act of aggression against another which results in some harm to a wife, husband, children, or any other individual in the home. Although many families have the outward appearance of normalcy, there are often underlying domestic issues that can lead to accusations of  or actual domestic violence.

Acts of domestic violence are taken very seriously by the Los Angeles Police, and the courts. Being convicted could bring about harsh punishment which could end up in jail time, fines, loss of your children and mandatory counseling. Whether you are the victim of domestic violence or accused of it, it is in your best interest to contact a knowledgeable Los Angeles Domestic violence defense attorney to represent you under these circumstances.

Foremost for anyone knowing of or being involved in some form of domestic abuse or violence should be to report the matter to the police.  The safety of yourself or your family should be your top priority.  With the assistance of our well trained legal staff, we can then prepare a restraining order against the party involved in the abuse or violence to prevent them from approaching you or your family.  On the other hand, if you have been falsely accused of domestic violence, you will definitely need our services to dispute and defend you against these charges.

At Marks and Brooklier, attorney's Donald Marks and Anthony Brooklier have successfully defended their clients since 1976 in all types of domestic violence crimes including: spousal abuse, spousal battery, child abuse, molestation, rape, Lewd and/or lascivious acts, exposure to controlled substances, battery, kidnapping, custody interference, restraining order, order of protection, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, intimidation, stalking, elder abuse, criminal trespass, assault & battery, harassment, reckless endangermant, violation of restraining orders, sexual assault, spousal rape, stalking, and false imprisonment.

If you have been accused of domestic violence, contact the Law Offices of Marks & Brooklier for an experienced criminal defense attorney.

Long Beach police made eight arrests in connection with at least 12 gang-related shootings, two of them homicides.

Through witness descriptions and surveillance footage, authorities were able to identify Ruhani Bustamante, a 28-year-old Latino, as the main suspect in connection with the October 2009 death of Esaul Villagrana and the January 2010 death of Jonathan Cordova.

On May 20, search warrants were served and Bustamante, a Long Beach resident and known member of the East Side Longo street gang, was arrested.

He has since been charged with two counts of murder, six counts of attempted murder, three counts of discharging a firearm and one count of possession of narcotics by a felon, according to the felony complaint provided by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

One of the fatal shootings he is alleged to have committed occurred last year on Oct. 26. Esaul Villagrana, identified by the coroner as a 23-year-old white man, was driving near 20th Street and Cedar Avenue when he stopped his car and exited. Police allege that Bustamante shot Villagrana as he got out of the vehicle.

Villagrana was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:10 p.m., according to the Los Angeles County coroner's office.

On Jan. 30, Jonathan Cordova, an 18-year-old Latino, was standing at East 15th Street and Stanley Avenue when Bustamante allegedly approached him, pulled out a gun, and opened fire.

Long Beach police said an 18-year-old man was injured in the incident, but his injuries were not life-threatening. Cordova was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:49 p.m., according to coroner's records.

Bustamante is currently being held at the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic.

His next court appearance is scheduled for June 9 at the Long Beach Superior Court.

If you have been accused or charged with homicide, it is important that you obtain a highly qualified Los Angeles homicide criminal attorney immediately to begin planning of your criminal defense. A conviction for murder can result in a lifetime sentence in a California penitentiary or even the death penalty.

Los Angeles Police will conduct an intensive and thorough investigation following a murder. Therefore, if you are charged, you will need an experienced homicide attorney from Marks & Brooklier. Attorney's Donald Marks and Anthony Brooklier have been representing clients for murder charges since 1976 and have the experience necessary to provide you with an exceptional criminal defense. It takes a dedicated legal team to fight a homicide charge, and with our firm you can feel condifent that we will provide you with the highest quality criminal defense team possible. We will conduct our own thorough investigation of the facts and study all evidence obtained against you in order to present a strong defense. Our Los Angeles Murder criminal lawyers are aggressive and are well-versed in a court room setting and look forward to assisting you with your case. Contact us for a free consultation, 24/7.