September 2009 Archives

A Torrance man who told police he battled boredom by driving around and shooting out the windows of South Bay cars, homes and businesses has been sentenced to six years in prison.

Gary Matthew Finmark, 44, was sentenced Friday during a proceeding at Torrance court. Judge Laura Ellison imposed the sentence after Finmark pleaded no contest to seven felony counts of vandalism, Deputy District Attorney Paul Guthrie said.

Story coming later to Dailybreeze.com.

Because a juror has some minor surgery this afternoon, the jury in the Cameron Brown trial only deliberated for two hours Wednesday morning. No notes, no peeps.

There's nothing that riles me more (and there's lots of things) than the morons who embarrass all of us legitimate Lakers fans when they rampage on our streets after a championship.

I always say that they aren't fans. They are just a bunch of idiots taking advantage of the situation. Real fans are at home celebrating with friends and family.

 As the defending champion Lakers get training camp underway today, the LAPD put out information saying they've caught another dope who caused so much trouble after the Lakers' win in June.

Here's the release:


Los Angeles: Los Angeles police and Councilmember Jan Perry announced the arrest of 24-year-old Michael Rivas of Hawaiian Gardens for looting during the June 14 melee that followed the Lakers championship game. The arrest is the twentieth made related to the melee and the first since June 15 when two persons were arrested for receiving stolen property.

"In the pictures, Mr. Rivas is laughing as he loads cases of soft drinks into a car," said Lt. Paul Vernon, head of detectives downtown. "He wasn't laughing when we showed up at his job to arrest him last Friday."

Detectives used video footage from the Shell gas station, located at 504 West Olympic Boulevard, as well as well public-domain stills and video posted on Flickr and Youtube, to identify Rivas as the man seen loading cases of soft drinks into a car. "It's nearly impossible to stay anonymous in this age of cell phones, video, and social websites; and that's a good thing, if it holds people more accountable for their behavior," Lt. Vernon added.

"We hope this arrest will be a deterrent to irresponsible, impulsive behavior during large gatherings downtown," said Captain Blake Chow, who commands the downtown Central Police Station. "We have a state-of-the-art entertainment district surrounded by burgeoning business and residential communities. We cannot allow bad behavior to impose on others' enjoyment and right to live peaceably."

"Conservative loss estimates are $300,000, in broken windows, damaged cars, and stolen property," said Deputy Chief Sergio Diaz, commanding officer of Operations-Central Bureau. "And that's a loss to all of us as taxpayers, government, private persons, and business. It isn't right, and it's never justified under any circumstances, so let's do everything we can to deter and discourage it for the future."

City Councilmember Jan Perry, 9th City Council District, thanked the detectives for their good work, and she reminded everyone of the $10,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of persons responsible for the 29 crimes committed, ranging from assault to vandalism. "There are many more pictures of people acting irresponsibly and illegally. Please help these officers find them so we can all enjoy our many entertainment outlets downtown without the fear of being hurt."

Rivas is a security guard at a Whittier hospital, where he was arrested Friday morning, September 25. He was charged with burglary, with a special circumstance for looting. His bail was set at $20,000.

Below is a chart the LAPD made (that's their punctuation error, not mine) of all the arrests with names and charges. If you click on it a couple of times, you can make it bigger to read.

Here's one that I hope you comment on. If seeing a dead person's face bothers you, don't go to the bottom of this blog entry.

Earlier today, I received a press release from the Orange County Sheriff, Coroner's Division.
We get these sort of things now and then when authorities are unable to identify dead people who have been victims of crime or accidents.

In this case, even though the woman was killed in Buena Park, perhaps somebody over here in the South Bay knows her or her family.

Here's what the Sheriff's Department said:

The Orange County Sheriff, Coroner's Division is seeking the public's assistance in identifying and locating the family of an Asian female approximately 45 to 60 years old. This individual was a pedestrian that was struck by an auto on Western Avenue, north of Melrose Street in Buena Park, California on 09/18/2009 at approximately 6:00 am. She was then taken to UC Irvine Medical Center where she later died. The unidentified lady is further described as being 5'4 1/2", 150 pounds with black (with some gray) shoulder length hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a black shirt with a pink leaf design, olive green shirt, red pants, and brown sandals. The individual was noted to have a blue backpack with her along with some keys and a garage door remote.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Orange County Sheriff's Department, Coroner's Division at 714-647-7411, and reference case 09-07744-ON.

The press release contains a photograph of the woman's blouse and face. At first I thought it was a computer-generated image, but it turns out it's the real thing.

We are running the information in the paper, but not the photograph. We rarely run photos of dead people because that upsets some people. (That happens when we sometimes use casket shots at funerals.)

The other side, of course, is that authorities could identify her more easily if her photo appears.

I doubt very much that any newspaper uses it, and it isn't likely you'll see it on TV. The Orange County Register used photos on its Web site of each of the woman's clothing items, but not her face. The shirt she was wearing is posted above.

I've posted the photograph here on the jump. Click on it only if you choose. If you clicked on the link on dailybreeze.com, stop now if you don't want to see the picture.

If you know her, call the Orange County Coroner at at 714-647-7411

Hopefully they identify her. She  probably has family overseas that has no idea why they can't reach her.

Details from officials are scarce today regarding an alleged hit-and-run Saturday night in Torrance that involved a department employee. Sources have identified the driver as Sgt. Michael Mastick, a 19-year-department veteran. Torrance police say they handed the investigation off to the Inglewood Police Department, and a spokesman there was also brief with his information.

We have confirmed that the officer rear-ended another car near Robert Road and Pacific Coast Highway around 9:45 p.m. Saturday. He obviously left, since it's being called a "hit and run." Members of the South Bay DUI Task Force were called to assist, and an Inglewood police officer was one of those to respond.

No injuries. No arrests. No more information yet.

My story will be up later on dailybreeze.com and in tomorrow's editions.

According to the Burbank Leader's account of the Friday crime, it sounds like 19-year-old Kenneth Hammond and two juvenile accomplices had quite a day!

The Stockton Record has a story about Cleveland James Enmon, who they report is a Hermosa Beach-based traveling physician being sued for allowing a patient to die - all so he can keep the man's watch.

 

After my story ran today about Westchester crime and how residents are fighting back, I learned that a community meeting is being held Wednesday night. Check out the flyer:

Sept 30 burglary mtg flyer1.pdf

Los Angeles Superior Court judges have elected Hermosa Beach attorney Stephen M. Lowry, the Metropolitan News Enterprise has reported.

New Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich appears to have his hands full with budget cuts and low morale ... without a lot of hope in sight on how to fix these problems. Rick Orlov at one of our sister papers, the Los Angeles Daily News, has the report.

If you are a regular reader of this blog or my stories on the Web site and in the newspaper, you might want to just give up on life. Gang crimes, murder, robbery, etc. It's enough to make you want to fly off to some deserted island.

Fortunately there are some stories of inspiration too. A few months ago I wrote about Francisco Hernandez, the Lennox teen who made it to Harvard despite a lifetime of hardships, including an abusive father and the death of his mother. Many kids like him would have ended up in a gang.

Today I recommend you read my colleague Douglas Morino's well-written story of Johnny Torres, a San Pedro man whose childhood did lead to a life of crime. But he found a way around it, served his country, and made it to college.

It's a good positive story to start the week. (And show it to your kids.)

Read the story.

Anyone notice that the top viewed story on this Web site today is the sobriety checkpoint notices?

I'm not sure what that means about y'all, but I'm not leaving my home tonight.

Jurors in the Cameron Brown murder retrial indicated late Friday that they were deadlocked, but the judge told them to return on Tuesday to give deliberations another go.

While the Los Angeles Superior Court jury began deliberating on Sept. 17, their schedule was not full-time and they began anew late Wednesday when an alternate replaced a sitting juror.

Brown is charged with murder and the special circumstances of lying in wait and killing for financial gain for the Nov. 8, 2000, death of Lauren Sarene Key.

The 4-year-old died after going over Inspiration Point in Rancho Palos Verdes. Prosecutors contend Brown did not want to pay child support while the defense maintains that Lauren slipped while throwing rocks over the 120-foot cliff.

Jurors in a first trial three years ago deadlocked with two voting for first-degree murder, eight favoring second-degree murder and two finding involuntary manslaughter.

Jurors in this trial have sent notes to the judge regarding the law about malice

Police issued 150 citations to drivers and towed 13 cars during crosswalk stings in Hawthorne, police said Friday.

Officers on Wednesday issued citations to drivers who failed to stop for police officers walking in crosswalks at 136th Street and Hawthorne Boulevard, and at 116th Street and Hawthorne Boulevard.

Police took to action because three pedestrian fatalities have occurred in the last two years.

Dateline's Too Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen was not on hand at the Hawthorne Police Department in March and April of 2007, but a camera crew from CourtTV was as members of the Souty Bay Internet Task Force staged their own sting to catch their own predators.

It was interesting to see un-edited footage of a local police department in action - complete with their very raw emotions.

Officer Sarah Lewis, who was not yet an officer on March 31, 2007, is seen in Detective Sean Galindo's office making a recorded phone call to the person they only knew as "Johnny" who used the screen name "wecan69." I'm not sure how old Lewis was, but she looked to be in her late teens or early 20s, but sounded like a younger teenager as she fake giggled her way through the conversation. Sun spoke sweetly to her, telling her she was "crazy" for sneaking out and seemingly trying to scope out how real she really was. Lewis was quick with her answers - such as why the phone kept cutting out (the recording device was making it do that). She quickly told him she has a habit of pulling the phone cord and she stretched it out and broke the phone, and her mom always yelled at her for that.

When the conversation was over, her dimpled smile quickly left and she turned serious again. With a shudder and a slight "ewww," they were on their way to a briefing to set up the meeting and stake-out.

A three-vehicle crash snarled rush-hour traffic heading into San Pedro Thursday night.

At least one person was taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital-San Pedro following the 5:30 p.m. crash on the southbound side of the Harbor Freeway just north of Gaffey Street.

One vehicle rolled over.

All the lanes were shut down. Only the shoulder was open at 6 p.m.

FBI investigators released surveillance photos Thursday of a group of men dubbed the "Bedtime Bandits," responsible for three violent bank robberies in the South Bay.

The robbers are linked to crimes in Redondo Beach, Hawthorne and Rolling Hills Estates, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

"The group has been named the 'Bedtime Bandits' based on what appeared to be children's pillowcases used during the robberies," Eimiller said.

The Bedtime Bandits are suspected in Saturday's robbery at Chase Bank, 3001 Hawthorne Blvd. in Hawthorne; a May 22 crime at Bank of America, 27411 S. Hawthorne Blvd. in Rolling Hills Estates; and a holdup Feb. 6 at a Bank of America branch at 1601 S. Pacific Coast Highway in Redondo Beach.
 
In the latest robbery, three men entered the bank. Each carried a large gun and ordered customers, including two pregnant women, to the ground.

They removed cash from the tellers' drawers and stuffed it into pillowcases described as part of a child's sheet set, Eimiller said.

The Rolling Hills Estates and Redondo Beach takeover crimes were committed similarly.
In the first two crimes, the bandits were fully covered in clothing and facial masks. In the Hawthorne crime, their faces were not covered.

City News has learned that a juror had to stop deliberating today because he is scheduled for surgery, and he was replaced by a male alternate. That means deliberations, which began Thursday but has only been hit-and-miss due to schedules, will have to begin anew.

Still monitoring. Will keep you posted.

Want to know more, check out my seven-part series on the closing arguments and past entries here.

Here's an update on the man found dead on the bench Sept. 15 at Pier Plaza in Hermosa Beach.

His name was James Patrick Aiken, 56. The Coroner's office described him as "indigent/homeless."

His cause of death was deemed natural, a result of a bleeding duodenal ulcer and Laennec Cirrhosis.

This news release just arrived from the District Attorney's Office. This guy has been charged with more rape counts, including crimes in the 70s and 80s in Lennox and Inglewood.

LOS ANGELES - A 73-year-old man suspected of a series of rapes decades ago was charged today with five additional counts of raping and murdering women in the 1970's and '80's.

Deputy District Attorney's Darci Lanphere and Rachel Greene with the Sex Crimes Division filed the amended complaint charging John Floyd Thomas Jr. with five counts of capital murder, making it a potential death penalty case. The amended complaint includes the special circumstances of murder during commission of a rape, murder during commission of a burglary and multiple murders.

The five new counts involve victims ranging in age from 56 to 80 years old. Three lived in Inglewood. One victim lived in Claremont and one in the Lennox area. The new charges span more than a decade, from the fall of 1975 to the spring of 1986.

Thomas was originally charged on April 2 with two counts of murder after a match from DNA samples collected by LAPD officers from convicted sex offenders identified him as a suspect. The first victim's body was discovered on Nov. 26, 1972. She was 68 years old.

Thomas, who was convicted of sexual assault in 1978, is scheduled to be arraigned today at the Criminal Courts Building, 210 W. Temple St., Department 30. He was charged in the amended complaint, BA 354795.

The capital charges make him eligible for the death penalty. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty. Thomas is being held without bail.

Prosecutors have filed felony counts of forcible rape and attempted murder against a Hawthorne man arrested in an attack on a senior citizen last week.

Gary DeVaughn LaBon, 48, also faces special allegations that he kidnapped her and inflicted great bodily injury on her. He also faces an allegation that the victim was elderly, said Deputy District Attorney Mike Gargiulo of his office's Elder Abuse unit.

If found guilty, LaBon could go to prison for good.

The victim remains unconscious and in extremely critical condition in a hospital. Police had said she was 70. She is actually 69.

Should she not survive, the case could become a death penalty case.

"We are all praying for her," Gargulo said.

LaBon made his first appearance before a judge just before noon at the Airport courthouse. The arraignment was postponed until he gets an attorney. He was held on $1.5 million bail and will return Oct. 5.

LaBon, a former Marine, has previously served prison time in Pennsylvania. Today's story has the details..

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From City News Service:

A judge has thrown out a lawsuit by a county fire captain who alleged he was retaliated against for exposing what he called "Animal House" conditions at an Inglewood station.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Conrad A. Aragon heard arguments for and against the
county's motion to dismiss Thomas Encinas' case on Friday. He took the case under
submission before granting the motion later that day.

Lawyers for the county argued the fire captain's claims had no merit, but Encinas' lawyer, Genie E. Harrison, said the case should have gone before a jury.

Part VI

Continuing defense attorney Pat Harris' closing argument:

• Regarding Key-Marer: "I can't in my wildest dreams imagine what she's going through." The pain has "got to be overwhelming." But Key-Marer wants Brown convicted, she is biased and willing to say anything, even stretch the truth.
• Regarding Brown's threats to call the INS and have her deported - the INS never came. What did she do after? She invited him to a Christmas party after she supposedly got these calls.
• Videos showed Lauren skating, in the ocean and in a lake. They show she is not as timid as the prosecution wants to paint her out to be. (I'm told the videos, which I didn't see, show her getting her feet wet at the beach, but not going in and swimming).
• The idea that Lauren was a "girly girl" came from when she was 2 years old.
• An expert on family law court said this case was nothing unique and "mild" and "run of the mill."
• Leslie should have recorded all his interviews with Brown.
• That Brown or Lauren was always in front or always behind during the hike is wrong to assume. It wasn't a "military doing marches." If Lauren was behind at all, she was always very close to Brown. "It's a hike, it's not a march to see who can be in front and who cannot."
• It was never a 50 minute hike.
• Involuntary manslaughter conviction would mean Lauren's death was the result of a "misjudgment" or "misadeventure."
• Neither first or second degree murder apply to Brown. They both require intent, a desire to see someone hurt. "That's not what happened here. I think we've shown this was an accident."
• You have to make a choice between involuntary manslaughter and not guilty. Involuntary manslaughter means there was no intent to harm, but no mistake that inattention occurred here. This is not a murder case.
• "This man did not go up there and throw his daughter off the cliff."
• Brown married Patti for money, but he had no access to her money.
• Brown's mother would have paid what he owed in child support if Brown would've asked.
• Brown was able to make extra money working overtime - up to $400 to $500 a week.
• More child custody does not make a better deal financially, since you have to pay more expenses, like entertainment, gifts, school tuition, clothes, etc.
• The idea that Patti wanted Lauren was fabricated by the prosecution to explain the adoption issue.
• (Harris starts to talk softly, almost in a whisper here). In our culture, somebody's go to pay. A young child died. It's an "emotional, horrible" situation. We expect now that somebody's got to pay for it.
• We appeal to hate and revenge - the worst of human nature. Seen a glimpse of that in the discussions on the Internet about this case.
• I know there's a grieving mother, a beautiful young girl who died. I understand they "muddied" him up.
• Harris said he wanted to appeal to the good in the jurors. Look at the evidence, not the emotions, not the fact that a 4-year-old girl died.
• I really believe, when you look at the evidence, not innuendo, not speculation, not the nasty stuff - you'll find "there's no way - it's just not possible - that he picked her up and threw her over the cliff."

That's it. I'm done. Jury resumes deliberations tomorrow morning. 

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. Picking up where I left off with Pat Harris' closing argument:

Part V

• The prosecution argued Brown "premeditated" Lauren's murder. Harris said the evidence showed Brown was supposed to go to his mother's with Lauren that day, but his mother canceled at the last minute. Instead, he took her to Inspiration Point. Is that a "plan?" Harris asked. "Use common sense here."
• If Lauren didn't want to go on a hike, or do anything, she wouldn't do it, her former babysitter testified.
• Inspiration Point is visible from the road - not a secluded place to committ murder.
• Why would he go there? He's got a boat - he could've taken her sailing and killed her with no chance of being seen. "It would've been easier."
• Why would he hurt Lauren? If he's so angry at Key-Marer, why not hurt Key-Marer?
• The most "bizarre" thing in the trial was the prosecution's theory that Brown "didn't care" after Lauren fell. Would he go to the trouble to "do all this and not take the next step to make it look real?" "How absurd is it? It makes no sense. It's like doing a bank robbery and not having a get-away car."
• There are so many possible places where she could have been thrown from, but the prosecution picked the point of departure to coincide with the trajectory that could have caused the injuries found on Lauren.
• Who didn't the jury see? Detective Smith (now retired, partner of Detective Jeff Leslie). He's a  major witness but they can't get him here? Maybe it has something to do with the phonebook comment "assholes?" (There was some notation Smith made about "phonebook assholes," but I'm not sure where or what it meant).
• One of the most telling points of the trial was the prosecution's assertion that it is a 50 minute walk from the Abalone Cove parking lot to Inspiration Point if you follow the path Brown said he and Lauren took. It was not treacherous. Smith had a video in which he walked it in 28 minutes.
• Leslie is trying to make you believe Brown didn't care and was "lollygagging around" (after Lauren went over the cliff). "Except I showed actual evidence when the phone call came in" when it was over and when the paramedics arrived. "Worst case scenario" was about eight minutes until Brown got to Lauren (not 15, which prosecution contends). Leslie said the time wasn't a big deal, but it was "superhuman" of Brown to get all that done in six to eight minutes. Brown was "running like crazy."

Family members of a suicidal man under the influence of cocaine fled to safety Saturday when he fired six to eight gunshots inside his Hawthorne home.

Police responded to the home in the 12000 block of Manor Drive about 1 p.m., Hawthorne police Lt. Mike Ishii said.
.
Family members told police that Ronald Newsom, 46, had been under the influence of narcotics for four days straight and was possibly hallucinating. Family members fled the resident when they became fearful of the subject.  As they left, they heard 6 to 8 gunshots, Ishii said.

Officers surrounded the residence and made several telephone calls and public address announcements without response.
.  
Believing he had possibly committed suicide or was seriously injured, officers made entry into
the residence. They found Newsom face down on the living room floor. A handgun was next to him.

Officers took Newsom into custody on suspicion of discharging a firearm and for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Three men with handguns and an assault rifle ordered customers and employees to the ground Saturday and robbed a Hawthorne bank of a large amount of cash.

The robbery occurred about 11 a.m. at the Chase Bank, 13001 Hawthorne Blvd., Hawthorne police Lt. Mike Ishii said.

No customers or employees were injured in the crime.

One robber was black, 20 to 30 years old, 5 feet 11 to  6 feet tall, 160 to 170 pounds. He wore a dark gray hooded sweat shirt and jeans.

The second man was black, 21 to 30 years old, 5 feet 8 inches to 6 fet tall, and wore a hooded sweatshirt with a  du-rag on his head, and jeans.

The third man was black, about 25 years old, 165 pounds, 5 feet 8 inches tall, and wearing a hooded sweat shirt.

Hawthorne detectives are working with the FBI in the investigation.

Some readers are posting comments asking why the Hawthorne rape suspect's past military affiliation is pertinent to the story. One called me a "POS reporter."

Gary DeVaughn LaBon is a former Marine, serving in the 1980s. He's now in custody on suspicion of raping and attempting to murder a 70-year-old woman on the sidewalk. (When the story was written, she was unidentified and believed to be 50.)

Here's why:

1. We try to include as many details as we can in any story.

2. We include suspect's occupations whenever we know them. His background showed a former address at Camp Pendleton. We ran a simple check and found he was a Marine, although we could not immediately learn his years of his service on a Friday evening.

3. Any U.S. Marine will tell you that Marines -- past and present -- are held to a high standard of behavior, just like police officers.

4. Even though he is nearly 50 years old, at one time he was strong enough to be a Marine. He is suspected of beating up and raping a woman, now determined to be 70 years old. His jail record shows him to be 5 feet 10 inches tall, 185 pounds. Look him up at www.lasd.org under "inmate information."

By the way, I've gotten heat in the past for calling someone a "former Marine." The correct term is "retired Marine." I'm told this is because once a person is a Marine, they are always a Marine.

In this case, I actually made a mistake and said "former."

Anyway, calling him a Marine was not intended to be a slam on anyone who has served or is currently serving this country. Just a few weeks ago, I wrote about a young Marine hero who died in training in California after serving two tours in Iraq. In the last eight years, I have written more stories about the deaths of our young men at war than anyone at the Breeze.

In other words, I take exception to the comments blasting me as a "POS reporter" for calling him a Marine.

Police tell me late Friday night that the victim of the Hawthorne rape has been identified. She is 70 years old. Her son reported her missing, then saw the news coverage and contacted police. She lives in Hawthorne.

Police do not release and we do not publish the names of sexual assault victims.

A former Marine was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting her early Friday morning.

Read the story.

One of two men arrested and charged for the fatal shooting of an off-duty Los Angeles police captain near Gardena once again accepted a deal from prosecutors on Friday.
Orvis Anthony, 24, of Gardena, drove the car carrying Miguel Magallon, who used an AK-47 assault rifle to kill Capt. Michael Sparkes on Aug. 10, 2004, on Redondo Beach Boulevard near Compton during an attempted robbery.
A jury recommended the death sentence for Magallon for killing Sparkes, a veteran officer and father who headed security at County-Harbor UCLA Medical Center. He returns to Los Angeles Superior Court on Oct. 15 for sentencing.
Anthony had previously made a deal with prosecutors in which he would get 50 years in prison to life for testifying against Magallon.
He held up his end of the bargain at Magallon's preliminary hearing, then changed his mind before trial.
Anthony was scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Friday in Compton Superior Court when he accepted the same deal - but this time he had to waive credit for the five years he's spent in custody, according to Deputy District Attorney Phillip Stirling.
Anthony must serve 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.

The jury stopped deliberating today about 11 a.m. and won't return until Tuesday, FYI.

Now, we begin on defense attorney Pat Harris' closing argument. I have to admit this probably won't be quite as long as the prosecution's partly because I didn't know I was going to be doing this on Tuesday, partly because I already knew what issues or areas the story was going to touch on and partly because I was getting tired and my hand starts to hurt. Please don't read anything into it if Harris' points here are numerically less than Hum's. It means nothing.

Part IV

From Pat Harris:

• Harris began by asking the jury to "take a step back" and really think about the prosecution's theory that Brown picked up his daughter and threw her over a cliff. "Sometimes, issues get amplified in court. Perspective can be difficult." "You're being asked to believe that Mr. Brown, on Nov. 8, 2000, picked up his daughter, his 4-year-old daughter, and forcefully threw her over a cliff to her death for reasons and motives which are clearly undefined in this case."
• The very act of throwing someone off a cliff - "It's that incredible of an act and that is what you're being asked to believe."
• What kind of monster would do that? "In this case, the prosecution has spared no expense to tell you Cameron Brown is that kind of person."
• The trial was a like an episode of the old series "This is Your Life," in which old friends are brought out for Brown. "They had to go to various points of the globe" like Hawaii, Montana and Colorado, looking for any evidence that Cam Brown is the type of person who would go to the top of a cliff and throw his 4-year-old daughter off.
• For example, bringing up a fight over jealousy with a former girlfriend from when he was 22.
• There is no evidence that Brown acted violent toward anybody.
• One of the friends who testified by the prosecution listed four different occassions that Brown got angry over the years. The prosecution spent "thousands of dollars" to bring this information to the jury because they think it shows that Brown is capable of walking to a cliff and throwing his daughter off. An example of what made Brown upset one time was that his father was late for breakfast.
• Harris said he wanted to introduce his client to the jury, because he is a human being and not a monster. "His name is Cameron John Brown and he is a human being."
• Harris criticized the prosecution for only referring to Brown as "the defendant" and himself as "the defendant's lawyer."
• Showing a photo of Brown, shirtless with long hair standing among surfboards, Harris said sarcastically: "That, ladies and gentleman, is the monster."
• He then presented a series of photos showing Brown and Lauren at Lauren's birthday and blowing bubbles.
• Harris discussed Jon Hans letter, that said Brown was "extraordinarily thoughtful" and a man who "couldn't possibly do what he is accused of doing."
• Another friend testified Brown was caring, thoughtful and loyal.
• Another friend said Brown was the godfather to his child, and even though Brown lived in Ventura, he would drive to Riverside County to bring gifts and spend time with the child. "That's the kind of man Cam Brown is."
• Harris noted that the former girlfriend who had the abortion testified that Brown cried about it and the abortion was her decision.
• The other former girlfriend described Brown is very nice, thoughtful and fun.
• Brown's mother said Brown was an "exceptional" son and treated his grandparents very good.
• The best witness to attest to Brown's good nature was Key-Marer, who obviously saw something worthwhile in Brown to want to date him and to try to make the relationship work. She cared about him and had good thoughts about him. Even after visitations started with Lauren, she said in her journal that things were going well (at first).
• "Is this a horrible human being? I don't think so."
• The "very heart" of this case - which was only mentioned for about a minute of Hum's 2 1/2-hour closing - is Brown's relationship with his daughter, and how other people saw that relationship.
• What did he have, in terms of relationship with his daughter? The answer is - keep in mind this is a man the prosecution said his daughter wanted nothing to do with.
• One friend (the one who called to offer his condolences a week later) said Brown was "great" with his daughter, and brought her on his boat. They had a good relationship and seemed to really like each other. He said Brown really "took to" being a father. Reading from the transcript, Harris said Brown said being a father was "pretty cool" and he brought her around. After he learned Lauren was his, everything changed about Brown's attitude towards her, the friend said.
• When Key-Marer first got pregnant, Brown "absolutely did not think it was his child and wanted her to have an abortion. But when he learned from a paternity test that Lauren was his, a friend said he was "very excited."
• Harris said he's not going to dispute a lot of what Key-Marer said happened between her and Brown before the paternity test results were known. "But everything changed the day he got the paternity test back and found out it was his daughter."
• Another friend said he went trick-or-treating with Brown and Lauren. Brown arranged it so that Lauren would be with other kids so it would be more fun for her. This was approximately a week before her death. Patti was not there. (Key-Marer had testified about the same night where Lauren was excited and dressed up as a princess but when Brown picked her up for an overnight visit, Lauren's demeanor changed. Brown told Lauren to get in the front seat, and Lauren refused, knowing she was supposed to sit in back. Things were bad at this point between Key-Marer and Brown, and Key-Marer said she was trying not to cry as Lauren got in back. As they drove away, Patti yelled: "What else do you do when you're not smacking your kid around" and laughed).
• Brown "lived for that little girl, adored her."
• Lauren's school teachers said that when Brown picked her up (not clear if this refers to Nov. 8, 2000, or just in general), he calmed her down, "held her like a father and very calmly her, 'Daddy's here now.'"
• A friend testified how Brown would talk about he couldn't wait until the kids were older and they could do all the fun things they used to do. This showed Brown thought about the "future."
• The family law mediator said Brown wanted more time with Lauren and testified his relationship with Lauren was "strong and getting stronger."
• The prosecution's theory that Brown hated Key-Marer and was vindictive from the day she became pregnant - so angry that he was gonna throw their daughter off a cliff - has a "major problem" since once Brown found out Lauren was his daughter, he got along well with Key-Marer for three months. They went to the park together, he was invited to Key-Marer's home. "He had absolutely a very good relationship with her. How did that happen if he was so bitter and angry?"
• Brown was always asking in court for more time with Lauren.
• On the adoption issue, Brown didn't want to go through with it because he "wanted his daughter." That's "an amazing piece of evidence."
• His love for Lauren was shown by how he persevered in seeing Lauren even though he had to deal with Key-Marer, who he was angry with. He brought her gifts, including a doll from his mother's collection. There were nine framed pictures of Lauren displayed in Brown's home when detectives searched - including one on his nightstand. He had lots of opportunity for free travel though his job at American Airlines, but didn't travel as much and planned his vacations to coincide with Lauren's trips with her mother. He took the freeway from Orange County every week like clockwork, one-hour each way, to spend time with her.

For those of you who call and e-mail, then call and e-mail, then call and e-mail some more about the case against former Torrance Parks and Recreation Director Supervisor Dan Halladay and three others - the case is over. Each pleaded guilty to one count of grand theft for the payroll and kickback scheme that netted more than $53,000. They each got three years probation and community service.

There will be a full story later on dailybreeze.com and in Saturday's newspaper.

From City News Service

GLENDALE -- An online service that is offering to hack into any Facebook account for $100 may be an Eastern European criminal enterprise that is trying to scam those who use the service, a Glendale-based Internet security firm reported today.

According to PandaLabs, Panda Security's malware analysis and detection laboratory, the
creators of the service claim, "Any Facebook account can be hacked," and promise to provide
clients with the login and password credentials to access any account on the popular social
networking site.

"The service's real purpose may be hacking Facebook accounts as they say, or profiting from
those that want to try the service," said Luis Corrons, technical director of PandaLabs. "In any
case, the Web page is very well designed. It is easy to contract the service and become either the victim of an online fraud, or a cyber criminal and accomplice in identity theft."

Part II

Part III

• At the top of the cliff, there was no evidence of slipping, sliding or disturbance in the dirt.
• During Brown's interview with Leslie, he never used Lauren's name.
• When Leslie asked him about his lack of emotion, he noted how he cried during the 911 call.
• Brown's friend, Jon Hans (who had contacted prosecutors after he tried to get a letter of support he had written for Brown's Web site taken down), testified he called Brown a week later to offer his condolences. Brown got on the phone and said, "Hey dude, what's up?" He told Hans, "I can't dwell on it, I have to move on, I can't let this ruin my life." Hum said: "It's as if nothing happened."
• A former girlfriend said Brown called her and cried about getting someone else pregnant. Hum said this shows that Brown is, indeed, capable of showing emotion.
• Friends and co-workers testified he got angry (more emotion) over "nothing."
• Another former girlfriend (the one who he had the abortion) said Brown was very emotional over the pregnancy and abortion. She said he "stalked" her, he got mad about her going out with her friends and threw her belongings over a cliff. He smashed her parked car with his, and his mother paid for the damages. She said he broke into her apartment and wrote "bitch" all over the place. Hum said Brown was retaliating because he was angry.
• In response to the defense assertion that those acts were a long time ago, 1987, Hum noted that it was only 13 years before Lauren's death and eight or nine years before his negative treatment of Key-Marer.

 

Lewis Aaron Hutchinson, 53, left, and David Shawn Davis, 34, have been arrested as suspects in more than 50 burglaries at restaurants and liquor stores in Torrance, Lomita and Redondo Beach.

Torrance police detectives arrested the men on Monday. They appeared in Torrance court today.

Police said they broke into businesses in the middle of the night, targeting bottles of high-dollar liquor, cigars and other tobacco products

Police have been working to identify suspects for a year.

"These are good people to get off the streets," Redondo Beach police Lt. Joe Hoffman said.

So, the jury now has the case. Let's see if I can get through this before there's a verdict!

Part I

Part II

• When Brown picked Lauren up at school, he didn't go home to where his wife was (she was at home surfing the Internet for ways to get Lauren), but to Inspiration Point.
• The person working the guard shack at the Abalone Cove parking lot said Lauren looked scared and something wasn't right.
• Brown had a disposable camera with him on their trek, and took three photos of Lauren between the car and the playground on the beach, purportedly to show how "happy" Lauren was. Hum argued that was part of Brown's plan. "Does it really look like Lauren's having such a great time?"
• Brown's story: After 20 minutes of playing at the playground, Lauren takes off hiking, "and we all know that is a flat-out lie because Lauren doesn't hike." Lauren was leading and Brown was having trouble keeping up because she was much too energetic. However, witnesses who saw them said otherwise and that isn't true because we know Brown was an outdoorsman in grat shape who biked an skiied, yet Lauren was a 4-year-old who had spent the day crying and hadn't even had her lunch.
• One witness said he saw Lauren four to five feet behind Brown on the trail to Portugese Point.
• Another witness said Lauren was quiet and he didn't see them talking. That same witness said he heard a short, sharp scream coming from the direction of Inspiration Point around 2:30 or 2:45 p.m. as he sat on Portugese Point. He contradicts Brown and has no reason to lie.
• A third witness said he saw Brown and Lauren at the top of Portugese Point with Brown in front and Lauren trying to keep up. He sees them approximately three times. A regular to the area, the witness said he's never seen children in that area. "We've been out there, we know why."
• A fourth witness was driving on Palos Verdes Boulevard and reported seeing Brown in front with Lauren following behind as they hiked along the road between Portugese Point toward Inspriation Point.
• A defense witness said he saw Brown guiding Lauren up the trail as she struggled on all fours to get to Inspriation Point. "She didn't want to go up there. He directed her up there." The witness said "something's not right" to himself.
• "Because he lied about everything heading up to that cliff, why would we believe what he says about how she went over?" His story is refuted by physics, the evidence and Lauren's injuries.
• If Brown is lying about everything else, then we don't have to believe him when he says Lauren slipped and fell.

 

Brian Flanigan and Patrick German were scheduled for a preliminary hearing today in Torrance Superior Court in relation to charges that they possessed illegal explosives and such for a bust just before Independence Day. The attorneys said it appeared the case would likely settle, and they were ordered back to court on Oct. 13.

A woman killed Tuesday in Monrovia turns out to be porn actress Felicia Tang, known for "Hotel Decadence" and "Strip Poker Invitational," the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports.

According to the Internet Movie Database, "she's the March/April 2006 model for the famous 2005-06 Rigid Tool calendar (2005)."

Tang's real name is Felicia Lee.

From reporter Thomas Himes' story:

Police found Lee dead on Friday inside her apartment in the 500 block of West Duarte Road in Monrovia. She had been beaten and suffocated, detectives said.

Her boyfriend, Brian Lee Randone, 45, was charged with torture and murder on Wednesday. He is being held in lieu of $2 million bail.

Read the full story.

Continued from Part I

• Key-Marer sought child support from Brown through the Orange County District Attorney's Office. He ended up paying approximately $1,000 per month for "a child he didn't want." "And $1,000 a month is a lot of money to a guy like the defendant," who was working as a baggage handler, living on a boat, surfing, skiing and "having a great time."
• Brown told a friend he wanted to get the support reduced by asking for more visitation with Lauren. He askes for joint legal custody with 32 percent visitation - about four months per year. At that point, he still had not met Lauren. "How would he know what's in Lauren's best interests? He's never even met her." "We all know the reason he's doing this is to cut his child support and that's what he cares about - himself - and that's all he cares about." "It's all about the money."
• The initial visits with Lauren go OK until Brown begins telling Lauren that his own mother is an evil, bad person (Key-Marer had begun visiting Lynn Brown with Key-Marer and allowing the two to foster a grandmother-granddaughter relationship).
• Then, Key-Marer offers to have her new husband adopt Lauren, and Brown agrees. "Why would Sarah lie about that?" Brown tells his friend he's "happy" to give Lauren up for adoption because he and his fiancee, Patti, are planning to move to Utah. Brown insists the adoption goes through right away, and gives Key-Marer 30 days or "things are gonna get ugly." This was approximately one month before Brown got married.
• But, Patti wants a family and she is 47, so can't have kids. "There is no way she will give up Lauren; she wants her for herself." Brown didn't want that, so he knows he needs to finalize the adoption before he gets married.
• But when Key-Marer puts in court documents that Brown agreed to the adoption, he gets angry because everyone finds out. Brown threatened Key-Marer: "I'm gonna get you for this" and "what goes around comes around." "He sure made good on those promises, didn't he?" Brown is "vindictive, angry" because there is no way now he will get what he wants, so he becomes "despiteful, nasty."
• "He'll pay her back for this." "Clearly the defendant is using Lauren as a tool to punish Sarah."
• Meanwhile, Lauren refuses to talk about what happens during her visits with "Papa Cam." (that was the nickname Key-Marer made for him). She does, however, come home and say: "Papa Cam is gonna put you in jail for stealing my money" and "you're a bad mommy."
• Brown made "false accusations" of child abuse against Key-Marer in court documents. He lied and told a neutral court mediator that Lauren told him Key-Marer kicked her, threw down in the kitchen and grabbed her face with her fingers. "The defendant is using Lauren to hurt Sarah." "And the defendant also does things to try to torment Sarah through Lauren."
• (in response to the defense argument that some of the things Brown did was bad parenting - like trying to put her on his motorcylce without a helmet, throwing her in a pool when she can't swim, having her ride in the front seat - and without a car seat and telling her to get her suitcase from the middle of the street): "That's not bad parenting skills" but "designed to get back at Sarah." "It's calculated to terrorize Sarah when Lauren was out of her sight." It shows the lengths to which the defendant will go to hurt Sarah, and how much he hated her and how vindictive he was. "It's payback for messing up his life."
• (at this point, Key-Marer appears to be crying while sitting in the audience listening). "She was the perfect tool the defendant could use to hurt Sarah."

One of the most frustrating things about being a court reporter is that, more often than not, I can't possibly come close to including in my story all the things that are said in court about a case. Space, and readers' attention spans, just don't make it prudent. Thus, it's safe to say that on days like yesterday, where I listened to two attorney speaks for about five hours, there is more that didn't make it into my 25-inch story than did. And that's not even including the hour or so of prosecution rebuttal I missed at the end of the day in order to make my deadline.

This is even more frustrating when we're talking about a mostly circumstantial evidence case, like the one against Cameron Brown. So, here's what I'm gonna do - I'm going to try to dump here tid-bits, comments, slices of evidence and other information that didn't find a home in today's newspaper story. Also, if you have a question about something related to this case - the evidence, why or why not somebody did or didn't do or say something, etc., I will try to answer it. I can't promise I'll know all the answers, but I'll give it a shot.

Just don't ask me what I think about anything. I'm not going to tell you.

From Deputy District Attorney Craig Hum's closing argument:

• The jury has two duties: Decide the facts from the evidence, exhibits and site visit, then apply the facts to the law decide between guilty and not guilty. "You have to decide what happened on Nov. 8, 2000."
• Brown is charged with one count of first-degree murder plus special circumstance allegations of lying in wait and killing for financial gain. For first-degree murder, jury must find that the killing was willful, deliberate and premeditated and done with malice, which can be expressed or implied. Here, there is both. Under express malice, the question is: "Did the defendant intend to kill Lauren when he threw her off a 120-foot cliff into the ocean? Of course he did. There 's not other reasonable explanation." Under implied malice, the jury has to find the defendant knew throwing Lauren off a cliff would be dangerous, but did it anyway. "It really is that simple and straightforward."

Our sister paper, the Long Beach Press-Telegram, had a story last week about Ernest Moore, a man with a history of raping older woman who was convicted and sentenced for an attack on a 59-year-old woman in Gardena. Here it is.

Neely Lejon Dinkins, 33, was charged today with hit-and-run, murder and driving under the influence in the death of a 1-year-old girl in Long Beachl. Tracy Manzer at the Press-Telegram has the details.

Manzer reports that the case files include multiple witness statements that said Dinkins initially stopped after plowing into a small plastic wagon that held 1-year-old Kaylee Alvarez and her 2-year-old brother, Oscar, and then drove on while people screamed for him to stop.

Esperanza Martinez, 65, who had been missing from her daughter's Torrance home, has been found safe at County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, her son-in-law, Dana Garvey, reports.

Martinez disappeared yesterday afternoon. She suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Apparently some police officers in another city found her and took her to the hospital.

Martinez is visiting with her husband from Mexico and did not know the area.

The woman was spotted at 190th Street and Vermont Avenue at 9:30 a.m. today, Torrance police Sgt. Bernard Anderson said.

A Los Angeles police officer responded and called for an ambulance, which took her to County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

Hospital officials notified family members about 2 p.m.


Previous entry

The LAPD sent over this news release with good news:

LAPD Officers Rescue Baby from Mother Armed with Knife

Los Angeles Police Department officers rescued a 4-month-old baby from her mother who was frantically waving a steak knife along 7th Street in downtown Los Angeles.

"What so many people don't realize is that officers do these things every day," said Lt. Paul Vernon, who heads up the LAPD Central Detective Division. "The public rarely hears about the cases where everything goes right, no one gets hurt and the suspect is apprehended."

The incident started around 8:35 AM with a report of a "woman with a knife, holding a baby." She was on the north sidewalk of 7th Street, west of Hope Street. "The officers arrived quickly and contained the woman," Vernon said. "They had a number of options from pepper spray to tasers, but the first thing they did was talk to the woman. As Officer Chris Green distracted her, Officer Arthur Gonzalez grabbed the woman's arm and took the knife, while Officer Clinton Popham grabbed the baby. It all happened in a matter of seconds."

The baby girl was not hurt and appeared to be well cared for, but she was taken to the hospital for examination as a precaution. The child will be cared for by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.

The child's identity was not clear as the woman would not speak. Detectives released photos of the child to aid in identifying her and for anyone to come forward with information about the mother and child's recent history.

The mother, 33-year-old, Malika Johnson, was booked for endangering a child. She had at least three prior arrests for child endangerment since 2004
.
Officer Green, who is 45 years old, has over 19 years with LAPD; 26-year-old officer Arthur Gonzalez has been with LAPD three years; and officer Popham, who is 40, has 11 years with the Department.

Torrance resident Dana Garvey called to say his mother-in-law is missing.

Esperanza Martinez, 65, suffers from Alzheimer's disease. She is visiting with her husband from Mexico and does not know the area.

Martinez wandered away from Garvey's home near Wood and Spencer avenues about 4:30 p.m. yesterday.

She is 5 feet 4 inches tall, 165 pounds and has blonde hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a beige blouse and olive green pants.

Family members are posting fliers. If you know where she is, call the Torrance police at 310-328-3456.

If you go by Mi California restaurant at 140th and Hawthorne Boulevard in Hawthorne, you'll notice someone smashed up the place.

That's because a 15-year-old girl crashed a Ford Contour into it.

She was at the wheel of a 15-year-old boy's  mother's car. He took the car and his friends for a joyride without her persmission. He allowed the girl to drive and she crashed into the storefront.

She ran. Police are looking for her.

The boy stayed at the scene and was released to his mother.

I bet she administers more punishment than the justice system could ever bring.

A Torrance police officer allegedly ran a red light and crashed into another car early today, witnesses and police said.

The collision occurred about 1:30 a.m. at Carson Street and Hawthorne Boulevard.

The officer was traveling north on Hawthorne Boulevard in a Chevrolet Tahoe sport utility patrol vehicle when he collided with a Ford Ranger pickup traveling west on Carson Street. That car then struck a car going south on Hawthorne, police said.

"There were no serious injuries and it preliminarily looks like our officer is at fault," Torrance police Sgt. Bernard Anderson said.

The Redondo Beach Police Department is investigating the crash.

The officer was not on his way to a call, and his lights and siren were not on.

Torrance police officials will review the investigative reports when they are completed and conduct their own internal review.

Today, jurors in the Cameron Brown murder re-trial visited five spots along the Rancho Palos Verdes cliff that figured prominently in the case. Basically, as they did during Brown's first trial three years ago, they retraced the purported path Brown and his daughter, Lauren Sarene Key, took before her fatal plunge on Nov. 8, 2000. They went to the Abalone Cover parking lot, the nursery school on the beach, up to Portugese Point, to Inspiration Point and ended at the archery range where Brown said he laid little Lauren's body after he fished her out of the surf.

Brown, wearing jeans, a blue button-down shirt and handcuffs hidden by a sweater, accompanied the jury to the first three locations, but not the last two. I don't know why.

Jurors were then scheduled to be instructed on the law back in Judge Michael Pastor's downtown Los Angeles courtroom. Tomorrow are closing arguments, which I plan to attend and report on.

A 20-year-old Manhattan Beach man pleaded guilty Monday to attempting to kill his parents with a butcher knife and was sentenced to possibly spend the rest of his life in a state mental hospital.

Robert F. MacDonald entered his plea to two counts of attempted murder at the Torrance courthouse, Deputy District Attorney Jodi Link said.

The court found MacDonald legally insane at the time of the April 30 crime and ordered him to spend up to two life terms at Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino County.

He will serve until doctors believe he is no longer a danger to himself or others.

MacDonald stabbed his 52-year-old father and 51-year-old mother multiple times at the family home in the 2900 block of Poinsettia Avenue.

The parents survived.

MacDonald had been treated for mental illness for an extended period of time before the stabbings.

The judge also issued and order for MacDonald to stay away from his parents should he ever be released, Link said.

Two men were shot today on a Wilmington street, police said.

The gunfire erupted just after noon in the 600 block of North Mar Vista Avenue, Los Angeles police Sgt. Mark Caswell said.

Two victims were taken to local hospitals. One was reported in critical condition.

The motive was not immediately known.

Officers possibly were looking for three males in a white van, police said.

Police are investigating a shooting in the 600 block of Mar Vista Avenue in Wilmington.

Officers said three men in a white van opened fire.

I'm not sure how many victims there are, but two ambulances took patients to local hospitals.

More later when it's available.

An attorney for Norma Bradford told Torrance Superior Court Judge Laura Ellison that her client didn't come to court today for her conditional exam because she checked herself into a hospital. Ellison put the exam over until Monday and agreed to hold-off on issuing an arrest warrant for the 87-year-old woman.

We'll have a fuller story later on dailybreeze.com

Previously:

1979 Torrance murder suspect's mom a no-show in court

The woman who died in a fire this morning at a transmission shop in Gardena apparently committed suicide, police said.

Myung Duck Kim, 59, of Torrance apparently set fire to herself.

She is believed to be the wife or former wife of the owner, Michael Kim.

The 87-year-old mother of Douglas Bradford, an Orange County engineer accused of the 1979 murder of Torrance registered nurse Lynne Knight, was supposed to appear in Torrance Superior Court this morning so the attorneys could question her and save her statements on video.

The District Attorney's A/V squad was all set-up, along with a camera crew from NBC's Dateline, but Mona Norma Bradford did not show.

A woman who may or may not be her attorney (it really wasn't clear) told Judge Laura Ellison that she called Mrs. Bradford's cell phone, heard rustling and whispering, then someone say, 'I'm in the hospital," according to Los Angeles Superior Court Public Information Officer Allan Parachini.

Ellison told her that Mrs. Bradford needed to report to court today, or she will issue a $50,000 warrant for her arrest.

I'm standing by and ready to run back to court if I hear she shows up.

Meanwhile, the NBC crew ran into a bit of trouble because they defied the court's order to not film anyone in the audience. Parachini said he demanded the cameraman to delete the recording, but he seemed to be resisting and trying to find a way around it - like "digitizing" the film to obscure faces. Parachini seemed pretty adamant that the recording was not going to leave the courthouse.

This is one of those crazy cases that kinda make you say, "Wow." According to a just-issued press release from the District Attorney's Office, an unidentified 50-year-old man is to appear in Inglewood Juvenile Court today for arraignment on charges he raped and murdered an 80-year-old woman in her Venice home on Dec. 17, 1975.

While authorities name adult crime suspects, the names of juvenile defendants are not released. If a judge finds that the man is fit to be tried as an adult, then his name can be released.

Deputy District Attorney Eva Stodel said a DNA hit came back three weeks ago identifying him as the suspect in the unsolved homicide of Alice Lewis, who was raped and strangled.

From City News Service

An Orange County sheriff's investigator was charged today with filing police reports falsely claiming she had contacted victims of crimes and determined
that no further investigation was possible.

Investigator Janet Virginia Strong, 52, is on paid leave while she faces six misdemeanor
counts of filing a false report as a peace officer, sheriff's spokesman John McDonald said.
She faces up to six years in jail if convicted.

Strong worked as an investigator for the city of Stanton, starting in 1984, McDonald said. The
city of Stanton shut down its police force and hired the Orange County sheriff to supply police
services in 1988. Some of the Stanton police force, including Strong, were absorbed into the
sheriff's department, McDonald added.

That's El Segundo police Lt. Ray Garcia and Officer Scott O'Connor standing to the right of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at a ceremony today in Sacramento. Garcia, who is closest to the gov, and O'Connor were among six law enforcement officers awarded with with the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor.

From left to right: Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr., Officer Roger Smith, Sgt. Dave Peruzzaro, Officer Bryan Paul, Officer Joe Romeo, O'Connor, Garcia and Schwarzenegger.

The student is still alleging she was sexually assaulted. That will be investigated once police determine where she was taken. She was taken to the student's apartment.

LOS ANGELES - Poster-boy "Bilby" the dog is making his debut this week in a campaign to remind pet owners that it's against the law to leave pets unattended in hot cars.

The poster depicts Bilby sitting on a pan in an open oven. "Hot Oven, Hot Car...It's the Same Thing" reads the poster. "Leaving an animal in a hot car is a CRIME."

"Leaving your dog in a hot car, even one parked in the shade, can be both a deadly mistake and a crime," said Deputy District Attorney Deborah Knaan, Animal Cruelty Case Coordinator. "If you love your dog, leave it home where it's safe."

Knaan said the District Attorney's office is launching a public awareness program to remind residents that even on mildly warm days, when the temperature is 72 degrees or hotter outside, the temperature in a car can be over 100 degrees, causing severe injury and death to animals.

Studies have shown that with the vehicle windows left slightly open, an outside temperature of 85 degrees can cause a temperature of 102 degrees inside a vehicle within 10 minutes, and 120 degrees within half an hour. A healthy dog, whose normal body temperature ranges from 101 to 102.5 degrees, can withstand a body temperature of 107 to 108 degrees for only a short time before suffering brain damage or death.

Under state law, pet owners who leave their animals unattended can be charged with misdemeanor animal endangerment and face up to six months in jail. If the animal dies, the owner could be charged with felony animal cruelty and face up to three years in state prison. 

Knaan said free posters of Bilby are available to business owners, veterinarian offices and residents who want to get the word out that the dog days of summer can be lethal to Bilby and his friends by going to the D.A.'s web site at: http://da.lacounty.gov/mr/091009a.htm.

Two would-be robbers attempted a hold-up at a Torrance GameStop store, but failed when a customer was able to call for help, police said Wednesday.

The men entered the store at Artesia Boulevard and Prairie Avenue about 6:45 p.m. Tuesday and grabbed both employees and a customer.

The robbers did not have weapons.

The customer was able to get outside and seek help from a neighboring business. The robbers ran away with nothing.

They were described as black males in their late teens to early 20s. One man's face was blocked with a bandana across his nose and mouth. The other wore a mask and a gray hooded sweat shirt.

The same business was robbed of merchandise and cash on Aug. 15.

Three men with pistols committed the crime. Their faces and heads were covered.

Representatives of 1736 Family Crisis Center, which runs domestic violence shelters and other support services for abuse victims, contacted me this week to let me know that the Lowi brothers' lemonade stand last weekend got a big turnout and they raised more than $2,000 for the non-profit organization. Shelly Ross said Daily Breeze readers came out en masse to support the worthy cause. So, thank you to everyone for reading and taking action! And kudos to Alec and Austin for a job well done.

And, as long as I have you attention, there's a couple more fundraisers on tap - both of which coincide with Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which is October.

Project HALO, which is responsible for the ties and headbands that the Lowi boys sold, will have a booth set up on Oct. 3 and 4 at the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair. This is the first time the organization will be participating in the annual event.

On Oct. 22, a fashion and jewelery boutique in Redondo Beach will be held in support of 1736. That flyer is here: 1736.pdf

Also, Artists Against Abuse will be selling their work to support 1736 at the Hillside Village Fall Festival on Oct. 10 in Torrance. That flyer is here: 17362.pdf  

INGLEWOOD (CNS) -- A 31-year-old defendant tried to slit his throat today as his trial on an attempted murder charge was nearing an end at the Inglewood courthouse, authorities said.

Judge John Meigs was in the process of ruling on whether to allow jurors in Darnell Stewart's
trial to consider a lesser charge of assault with a deadly weapon when the defendant slashed
his throat while sitting at the defense table, said Allan Parachini of the Los Angeles County
Superior Court.

The weapon was a piece of razor blade used by inmates to shave, said Steve Whitmore, a
Sheriff's Department spokesman.

"We are investigating how it was smuggled in (to the courtroom)," he said.

Stewart was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center for treatment of what
Whitmore described as superficial wounds.

The judge declared a mistrial since the jurors witnessed what happened, Parachini said.

Stewart and a co-defendant were on trial for attempted murder, but details of the case were
not immediately available from the District Attorney's Office.

El Segundo police Lt. Ray Garcia and Officer Scott O'Connor will be traveling to Sacramento on Thursday to accept state Medals of Valor from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

As  you'll recall, Garcia and O'Connor were shot during a gunbattle with a gang member in the lobby of the Pacific Theaters. The gunman was killed.

Here's a letter that Attorney General Jerry Brown sent to Schwarzenegger to announce the honors. Awards to other officers follows.

The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger
Governor of California
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814

Re: 2008 Governor's Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:

The Medal of Valor Review Board met on April 29, 2009, to assess 28 nominations
for the 2008 Medal of Valor. The Board made six selections and presented those to me for
approval. I concur with the Board's unanimous recommendations that the following public
safety officers deserve this award:

• Lieutenant Raymond Garcia and Officer Scott O'Connor, El Segundo Police Department
April 11, 2008 Lieutenant Garcia and O'Connor were working a special detail at a
theatre complex when they were told by the manager of an uncooperative man in the
lobby who was demanding a ticket refund. The officers approached and noticed the
man appeared extremely sweaty.

The subject pulled away at an attempted pat down and
then retrieved a weapon when the officers reached for him. The subject opened fire, his
first shot striking Lieutenant Garcia in the face. The round entered above Lieutenant
Garcia's lip, shattering the right side of his upper jaw, knocking out several teeth. The
bullet continued on, striking a vertebrae and finally lodging in Lieutenant Garcia's neck.
Officer O'Connor tackled the subject, but he continued firing, striking Officer O'Connor
in the chest and shoulder at point blank range.

Fortunately Officer O'Connor's bullet proof vest absorbed the impact from the torso shot, but the shoulder shot caused extensive damage, severing several tendons and muscles. The subject then got up and ran from the building. As he did so, Officer O'Connor followed, engaging the subject in a running gun battle. Lieutenant Garcia, dazed and bleeding profusely fought off his injuries and followed, also firing his service weapon. Both officers fired until the subject was incapacitated.

By CHRISTINA VILLACORTE
City News Service
The architect of the successful Summer Night Lights program was named today as Los Angeles' new anti-gang czar, tasked with overseeing the city's gang prevention and intervention programs.

Guillermo Cespedes will take over the mayor's Office of Gang Reduction and Youth
Development, replacing the Rev. Jeff Carr, who will become Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's chief of staff effective Sept. 19.

Cespedes is credited with developing the Summer Night Lights program, which in its
first year helped the city record its safest summer in more than 30 years. The program kept 16 parks across the city open until midnight, providing at-risk youths with organized activities aimed at keeping them out of gangs.

Those organized activities included basketball and soccer tournaments; workshops in
acting, dance, hip-hop, fashion, T-shirt printing, music and make- up design; and film screenings. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has praised the program as an "innovative approach to crime fighting."

According to the mayor's office, Cespedes' career in community service spans three decades. During the 1970s, he worked with various agencies helping low-income families and disenfranchised youth in Connecticut. He moved to California in 1981, and over the years has worked with agencies such as Clinica de la Raza, Oakland Children's Hospital, the East Bay Agency for Children and CalWorks.

In 2003, Cespedes served as the deputy director of the Summer of Success Baldwin Village, keeping Jim Gilliam Park busy with sports tournaments and family activities until 2 a.m. during the summer months. It became the model for the Summer Night Lights program.
From 2005 through 2007, Cespedes taught in the African Studies Department at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Cespedes has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Sacred Heart University and a Masters in Social Work from Columbia University. He also received post- graduate training from the Nathan Akerman Family Institute, Bronx State Hospital Family Studies Unit and Bristol Hospital Family Unit.

A native of Cuba, Cespedes has lived in South Los Angeles since 1999.

The LAPD just sent this notice over:

Los Angeles: Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), Pacific-LAX detectives have arrested two suspects who may be responsible for stealing 60 or more "catalytic converters" from cars and trucks in the Los Angeles area over the last few months.

The suspects typically targeted high profile vehicles such as trucks and sport utility vehicles, for their easy access to the exhaust system where catalytic converters are located. It is believed that the suspects used cordless power tools to cut or unbolt the catalytic converter from the vehicle. Because of the easy access and cordless tools, each heist probably took a matter of minutes.

Unethical metal dealers buy the catalytic converters because they contain small amounts of valuable metal such as Platinum, Palladium, and Rhodium.

The LAX area seemed to be hit especially hard. When Officers assigned to the PAC-LAX Immediate Response Team (IRT) and Airport Crimes Investigative Unit (ACIU) began an investigation they quickly learned that other cities and university campuses in the Los Angeles area had also been investigating similar crime sprees targeting catalytic converters.

With the assistance from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and University of Southern California (USC) police departments, Pacific-LAX detectives were led to a common suspect vehicle description, a dark colored 1990's BMW 745.

In the early afternoon of September 4, 2009, officers saw the suspects removing a catalytic converter from a parked car on the campus of USC. With coordinated efforts and outstanding communication between campus police officers from UCLA, USC, several LAPD patrol divisions and an Air Support Division helicopter, 28-year-old Juan Calderon and 36-year-old Christopher Williams were arrested.

Calderon is being held with no bail and Williams is being held on $20,000.00 dollars bail.

Not sure if we'll have more on this - it stems from Friday's fatal officer-involved shooting in Carson. The burglary suspect shot and killed by Gardena officers is Wilson Victorian, the Associated Press reported Saturday, citing coroner officials.

Here's their brief story:

CARSON, Calif. (AP) - A 59-year-old man shot and killed by Gardena police after a chase into the neighboring city of Carson has been identified.

The Los Angeles County Coroner's office says Wilson Victorian of Compton was pronounced dead at the scene Friday.

Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Diane Hecht says when officers responded to a burglary in progress call at a business, Victorian's truck sped away. After a chase, officers opened fire and Victorian was killed.

Hecht declined to say what precipitated the shooting or to identify the officers involved.

Sheriff's homicide detectives are assisting Gardena police in the investigation. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office is also investigating

Kyle Hunter, the chief meteorologist at Fox 5 in San Diego, weighs in on the story about the Harbor College professor who was convicted of violating an order to stop bothering Channel 4 weatherman Fritz Coleman. She has strong views about how he presents the weather.

Hunter is a professional member of the American Meteorological Society and is certified by them as a meteorologist. He also is a Fellow at the Royal Meteorological Society, England.

Thank you for your report on Fritz and the weather.  As Chief Meteorologist for FOX in San Diego, where Fritz now does the weather also, I can tell you that in over 20 years of watching Fritz, I've never known him to explain a meteorological process incorrect.  Fritz has a very well established base of weather knowledge, understanding and great ability of explaining such on the tube.  I'm very proud of him.

If your reporting is correct in the "he said, she said" category, then let me say this woman is incorrect in her thinking and analysis of wind direction.  Offshore and onshore winds, other than being rather self-explanatory, are understood by the majority of folks I talk too in the community.

Fritz regularly, like myself, will say "onshore flow, winds coming from the ocean onto the land, generally more moist maritime air" or "offshore flow, these are winds that come from the land and blow out into the sea, generally drier continental air".  Fritz says that or something similarly often.

The woman also indicates that "offshore winds are desert winds" - that statement by itself is false.  Offshore winds aren't necessarily from the deserts, and they certainly are not hot because they come from there as in a Santa Ana.  Santa Ana air/winds originate from high up in the Great Basin and are moving far too fast over the deserts to pick up any of the desert floor characteristics, plus the deserts are generally "cold" by the time Santa Anas start blowing anyway.

Fritz is correct all the way around.

Best,

Kyle Hunter
Chief Meteorologist FOX 5 San Diego

PS-If you're looking for something just about all of us weather folks DO say that's wrong, it's that the marine layer "burns off" - that is not correct.  A marine layer does not "burn off" it lifts, or dissipates. The process is not one of "burning off" and it is wrong to say so.  I think we give the impression that these low clouds and fog get "burned off" by the sun from the top down, which is not true - even on the cloudiest days, some sun get through, so the ground heats up, the air begins to circulate upward, and the the marine layer begins to "mix out" from the bottom to the top.. I'm guilty of it too since it's so much in the SoCal nomenclature, but we should all get away from saying it.

A leak from a car's gasoline tank triggered the 3-acre brushfire that burned dangerously close to homes on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, a deputy said Friday.

The fire on Crenshaw Boulevard between Palos Verdes Drive North and Silver Spur Drive ignited about 5 p.m.

A teenage motorist driving about 70 mph down the hill on Crenshaw lost control and hit the curb. The crash caused the gas tank to leak, Lomita sheriff's Deputy Keith Taylor said.

The gas caught fire and ignited the thick brush at the side of the road.

Four helicopters and two Super Scoopers dropped more than 10,000 gallons of water onto the blaze, which burned next to homes behind Chadwick Academy.

The teen driver and his teenage male passenger were taken to a hospital. They were not seriously hurt.

The fire destroyed the teens' car.

COMPTON - Two women accused of beating and starving a 5-year-old boy last year both pleaded no contest today to corporal injury to a child and dissuading a witness and were sentenced to prison, the District Attorney's office announced.

Starkeisha Brown, 26, the child's mother, and 22-year-old Krystal Denise Matthews, Brown's live-in girlfriend, also admitted the allegation of causing great bodily injury to a child under 5, said Deputy District Attorney Adrian G. Roxas.

"This plea means several minor children who were witnesses, along with the young victim, are spared the ordeal of appearing in court and facing these two abusers," Roxas said.

After entering the plea, Compton Superior Court Judge Jerry Johnson sentenced Brown, who had a prior strike, to 15 years in state prison. Matthews, who had a probation violation, was sentenced to 14 years in state prison.

Brown and Matthews abused and starved the boy over several months. Officials launched an investigation last year after someone tipped the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.

When the boy was taken to Long Beach Memorial Hospital on June 9, 2008 by Sheriff's deputies, he was suffering from kidney failure, malnutrition, anemia and an untreated burned hand, officials said. Marks and injuries on the child's body were consistent with being beaten with looped objects and a belt.

On the same day the child was taken to the hospital, Brown and Matthews allegedly took someone else's 4-year-old son to a children services office to discuss the allegation of abuse and tried to pass the boy off as Brown's son, officials said. The pair allegedly bolted from the office when a worker pressed the pair on whether the boy was really Brown's son.

The other charges of child abuse, conspiracy, conspiracy to dissuade a witness and torture were dismissed in exchange for the plea.

An elderly man who lived in pack rat conditions died this morning when his house caught fire in Harbor Gateway. Firefighters found him after dousing the flames at the house in the 15900 block of Orchard Avenue.

Some neighbors were evacuated when firefighters found some explosives inside. A bomb squad arrived to dispose of them.

Here's a few photos at the scene:

Gardena police officers shot and killed a man early this morning on a Carson street, according to the authorities.

News reports stated that the unidentified man led police on a pursuit, but Sheriff's Deputy Aura Sierra said she could not confirm any details about the incident.

The man was shot at 5:52 a.m. in the 200 block of Dominguez Street and pronounced dead at the scene, Sierra said.

No officers were injured, she added.

No one from the Gardena Police Department could be immediately reached for comment.

This arrived tonight from Dr. Melanie Renfrew, the Harbor College geography professor convicted of violating an order not to harass TV weatherman Fritz Coleman. It is exactly as it came in as I promised her. Renfrew provided the photos on the jump.

9/3/09 "I want my side of the story to be told":  Dr. Renfrew responds.

Editors, Daily Breeze

Cc:  L.A. Harbor College Faculty and Staff

Dear Editors and Harbor Colleagues and Friends,

I'm already getting fan mail:  at least some people have a brain.

In your  front page article in today's paper, "Professor convicted of harassing weatherman," "Professor convicted of harassing weatherman," the first sentence is a lie:  I only wrote Mr. Fritz Coleman in 2007, not "for 2 years." You are expanding the damages against me from this poor man's confusion. 

I did not call the media because I was trying to protect both of our reputations because it was a misunderstanding, and I went to court 7 times declaring, "NOT GUILTY" to his bogus charges that I was "stalking" and "harassing" him:  that is the real story.  It is a "celebrity meltdown," and I feel bad for him, and the others at NBC whom I wrote trying to help them see obvious things they were not seeing.  That is what I finally pled "no contest to," writing to others at NBC trying to help them understand the L.A. weather so they could help their paranoid colleague.  Burbank is over the hill.  I will never agree that I "harassed" him, only that he perceived it that way.  I was trying to make him laugh in a loving, sisterly way, and he confused me with someone who was "stalking him for years," and he told everyone it was me.  That does not make it fact.

Communication is the "call" of an educator, and especially of a Geographer Professor, because geographic ignorance is so widespread.  NBC viewers have a right to correct information, but they forbid it.

Our constitution guarantees that people are innocent until proven guilty, but everyone has treated me as "guilty until proven innocent," and that's what has caused me so much pain.  I only conceded to an abbreviated plea on the 8th trip to the Burbank courthouse because I was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor, and do not have time to keep addressing this idiocy.  I believe the pain of being falsely accused and slandered wore down my immune system, and I could no longer fight off the cancerous cells.

I believe the whole thing is a huge gender crime against me.  Men can joke around with men with impunity, but if a woman sends in humor and correct facts, the fastest way to discredit her is call her a sexual predator.  The Daily Breeze choice of headlines and wording reveals your gender bias as well.  I'm as innocent as they come.  Men side with men, and even in your article, you were happy to call Dr. Hensel with his title, but never mentioned that I'm Dr. Renfrew.  It's prejudice against women and prejudice against professors.

Yep, that's smoke rising from a 1-acre brush fire at Crenshaw Boulevard and Palos Verdes Drive North.

Firefighters headed out there at 5 p.m.

One more thing on Dr. Melanie Renfrew, who is taking quite a beating in the user comments today under the story about her. Some people have come to her defense, agreeing with her opinions of how the weather is reported.

I gotta say, she was a very nice lady and I feel a bit bad today about the abuse she's taking. She even gave me a bottle of water.

During our interview at her home Tuesday, Renfrew offered me another opinion on another subject of great interest to Daily Breeze readers.

Remember Reggie the alligator?

If you recall, no one saw Reggie for months and months after he was discovered at Machado Lake in Harbor City. Most people figured he had died.

When he suddenly reappeared and was captured, my colleague Donna Littlejohn spent a lot of time talking to zoologists and other experts who were examining the alligator to make sure it really was Reggie.

They concluded it most likely was.

Renfrew, however, does not believe that. And she let Donna know that in phone calls at the time.

On Tuesday, she told me she had something for me to give to Donna. She gave me a bouquet of plastic flowers. They now adorn Donna's desk.

Renfrew told me she still believes that the alligator that that was discovered and now is on display at the L.A. Zoo is not Reggie. She thinks the real Reggie is dead and someone dropped that found alligator in the lake later on.

She compared the situation to Shamu the killer whale at Sea World in San Diego and other parks. The real Shamu is dead, but there are other Shamus to take its place.

See you later, alligator.

6/10/09 I want to discuss what happened and clear my name because Fritz Coleman the weathercaster and NBC have delayed apologizing for 2 years:  he put in court papers that I, Melanie Renfrew, had been "stalking him for several years," and it is completely delusional.  He has no facts to base this on.  I just thought it was a big joke that he thought I was stalking him:  it is as delusional as if I went around saying, "Fritz Coleman is stalking me."  People are put in psych. wards for evaluation if they get that seriously off in their reason.  Judges were lied to, LAPD threat detectives were lied to, Burbank police and city attorneys were lied to, all libeling and slandering my name.

Two years ago I met him at an AMS L.A. Banquet.  I am a member of AMS nationally, and one of the leaders of AMS L.A., Dr. Steve LaDochy, and I have been friends for about 20 years since we shared an office together when I was teaching part-time at Cal State L.A. I see Steve and other geography friends sometimes at conferences and AMS meetings, and I wanted to go see them.

Sheriff's detectives sought public help Wednesday in locating a mentally disabled woman who disappeared from her Lomita home on June 4.

Raven Joy Brown, 31, was last seen leaving her home on Western Avenue around noon that day.

Brown is 5 feet 4 inches tall and 178 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes, the Sheriff's Department said.

Anyone with information should call the Missing Persons Detail at 323-890-5500.

Here's the latest report on the "Three's Company" star's criminal case.

Here's the complaint:

Rev. 900-1/99 DA Case 29826165 Page 1 Case No. 9WA12926

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, Plaintiff, v. 01 JOYCE ANNE DEWITT (04/23/1949) Defendant(s).

CASE NO. 9WA12926 MISDEMEANOR COMPLAINT

The undersigned is informed and believes that:

COUNT 1

On or about July 4, 2009, in the County of Los Angeles, the crime of DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL OR DRUGS, in violation of VEHICLE CODE SECTION 23152(a), a Misdemeanor, was committed by JOYCE ANNE DEWITT, who did unlawfully, while under the influence of an alcoholic beverage and a drug and under their combined influence, drive a vehicle.

* * * * *

COUNT 2

On or about July 4, 2009, in the County of Los Angeles, the crime of DRIVING WHILE HAVING A 0.08% OR HIGHER BLOOD ALCOHOL, in violation of VEHICLE CODE SECTION 23152(b), a Misdemeanor, was committed by JOYCE ANNE DEWITT, who did unlawfully, while having 0.08 percent and more, by weight, of alcohol in the blood, drive a vehicle.


It is further alleged as to count(s) 1 and 2 that the defendant's concentration of blood alcohol was 0.15 percent by weight and more, within the meaning of Vehicle Code section 23578.

It is further alleged as to count(s) 1 and 2 that the defendant refused a peace officer's request to submit to, and willfully failed to complete, a chemical test within the meaning of Vehicle Code Sections 23577, 23578, and 23538(b)(2).
* * * * *

NOTICE: Conviction of this offense will require the defendant to provide DNA samples and print impressions pursuant to Penal Code sections 296 and 296.1. Willful refusal to provide the samples and impressions is a crime.

NOTICE: The People of the State of California intend to present evidence and seek jury findings regarding all applicable circumstances in aggravation, pursuant to Penal Code section 1170(b) and Cunningham v. California 2007 U.S. LEXIS 1324.

I DECLARE UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY THAT THE FOREGOING IS TRUE AND CORRECT AND THAT THIS COMPLAINT, CASE NUMBER 9WA12926, CONSISTS OF 2 COUNT(S).


Executed at LOS ANGELES, County of Los Angeles, on September 2, 2009.

_____________________________________
L. HARRINGTON
DECLARANT AND COMPLAINANT


STEVE COOLEY, DISTRICT ATTORNEY

BY:

KAREN MURCIA, DEPUTY

 

Metropolitan News Enterprise is reporting that Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Garcia, who has sat as a temporary judge in San Pedro and Torrance, is running for a seat in next year's election to the Los Angeles Superior Court. The story also says he worked for a time with his family's San Pedro construction company.

This may be kind of a "duh" study that looks at how crime increases when criminals arrive. But, UC Irvine criminologist John Hipp's report is timely in the wake of news that thousands of California inmates are likely to be paroled early because of budget cuts.

From City News Service:

The prison-release plan was already a hot topic of debate in the state capital, but
it grew even more intense when Phillip Garrido, a parolee and registered sex offender
accused of abducting Jaycee Dugard when she was 11 years old and holding her hostage
for 18 years, came to light.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today asked a three-judge panel ordering California to
reduce its inmate population over the next two years by more than 40,000 to stay its
order. If the judges refuse, Schwarzenegger's administration will ask the U.S.
Supreme Court to review the case.

The prison system is under a federal consent decree to reduce the number of inmates
because it is so overcrowded prisoners' civil rights are being violated.

Schwarzenegger backs legislation to reduce the inmate population by about 37,000 over
the next couple of years by sending more convicts to county jails or ordering more
home confinement. The Assembly passed a bill Monday slashing prison spending by about $1 billion, but it excised a Senate bill's proposed release of older prisoners.

"It's a tough situation to be in to have to release people," Hipp said. "In some ways
it's an obvious thing: If you're stuck then release them, but be careful who you
release. Don't just do it across the board. And it goes the other way. Who do we slam
in prison with our limited resources? We need to be more selective."

Hipp advised officials to make sure parolees have social safety nets when they get
out of prison.

"If they're coming back to the neighborhoods then we should help them as much as we
can. For our findings, that did make a difference," he said.

In an average month, researchers found more than an 8 percent rise in aggravated
assault reports, a 20 percent increase in robbery reports and a nearly 10 percent
bump in burglary reports correlating with increases in the parolee population. When
violent parolees returned to the neighborhoods murder rates jumped up 20 percent.

If you wonder what's going on over in southeast Torrance, police are looking for a man who took off when police tried to pull him over. He ran from the car and has darted through back yards near 234th and Cabrillo.

Police don't know why he ran, but he must have a reason....

We'll find out later if they catch him.

This came in as a comment on an earlier entry, Hawthorne man killed in Wilmington after going to church. It's from Vaevae Eteuati Jr., the brother of Puncho Eteuati, who was shot to death on Sunday night. I thought it deserved it's own entry.

I miss you my brother.....it is so hard for me because I have so many unanswered questions.

My brother was taken from me because why? No reason, I say. If the shooter knew who he was shooting at, he would not have done what he did because Puncho is the most loving and humble person you would ever want to meet. He hurt not only me but my entire family especially our mother and our ailing father.....

We ask God to give the knowledge and the man power to the LAPD and investigators to catch this person who killed my brother Puncho so that he does not hurt any other family like he has hurt our family.

And the message to the person who killed my brother Puncho, that he has over 300 1st cousins, nephews, nieces, uncles and aunts and most of all his wife Channel and his children Blue and Lil Channel that these are all of the people that you hurt. So not only did you hurt his family you hurt all of his church family at the First Samoan Full Gospel Church in Compton. So do not go out bragging and boasting about what you have done because what you did will come back to you worst than this.

And I want you to know that out of the 12 children from my parents that you took away my parents baby, he was my parents favorite "so keep that in mind".

Love you always my brother,
Vaevae Jr & mountzionsite.com

By ELIZABETH MARCELLINO
City News Service
A sheriff's official today said a gang rape suspect had been identified, and 29 percent of the department's previously unanalyzed sexual assault kits had been sent away for testing.

Cmdr. Earl Shields told the Board of Supervisors that new hires were being funded to
speed up the process of clearing a backlog that had been building up for years.

The person identified though evidentiary testing is suspected in a gang rape that went to trial in 2002, he said.

The sheriff's department and Los Angeles police have been criticized by Human Rights
Watch and others for delays in testing samples of semen, saliva and other evidence
gathered in sexual assault investigations.

In November, the sheriff's department had 4,675 untested rape kits. Shields said 1,334 kits have been sent away for testing, including all that had been requested by detectives. Results have been returned on 488 kits, and 96 been added to the CODIS law enforcement database or failed to meet requirements to be added.

The department got 10 "hits" in CODIS, and seven cases are being investigated.

In one, an additional suspect was identified in a gang rape in which three men were convicted in 2002, and that evidence has been handed over to prosecutors. The intoxicated victim did not know a fourth man was involved, according to a report provided to the board.

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky called the ration of hits to entries -- nearly 25 percent -- "pretty significant," and Shields agreed, saying expected the percentage to pick up based on the LAPD's 40-50 hits per month as its backlog is cleared.

The sheriff's department and the county reached an agreement to hire people to do the
testing at a cost of about $700,000, Shields said.

The review of lab results needed for identifying evidence to be entered into CODIS is "done by the same 26 trained analysts that are handling all of our other DNA cases, such as homicides," Shields said. Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said the hire more crime lab technicians was "critical to making sure that we don't develop a collateral backlog." The department hopes to clear its backlog by the end of the June, 2011.

Yaroslavsky asked Shields for a written report monthly on the rape kit backlog and if
any other funding was needed.