Recently in Crimes Category

From Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office:

               Gov. Schwarzenegger Signs Legislation Providing Law Enforcement with Tools to Protect Californians

Increases Megan's Law Protections, Keeps Sexual Offenders Off California Streets

 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today reinforced his commitment to public safety by signing legislation that establishes stricter probation standards for offenders with child pornography-related convictions and increases the registry requirements for sexual offenders mandated by Megan's Law. The Governor also signed legislation that will provide additional resources to evaluate convicts considered to be sexually violent predators and prevent the release of those individuals into the community.

 "Protecting Californians has always been my top priority and this legislation ensures that the state will continue to have the strictest laws and toughest penalties to protect our children against sexual predators," Governor Schwarzenegger said. "It is important to pass legislation that provides law enforcement officials with the tools they need to remove dangerous sex offenders from our streets and neighborhoods."

 The following four bills have been signed into law:

 ·        SB 1187 by Senator Jim Battin (R-La Quinta) makes changes to an existing law requiring the Department of Justice to publish the personal information of persons convicted of specified sexual offenses on the online registry pursuant to Megan's Law. This bill extends the publishing requirement to those convicted of felony child pornography starting January 1, 2010.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting today that the unincorporated Athens area had 11 shootings this summer - eight of which resulted in death.

Their story is here.

I get emails:

Ruth V. Sobeck of Palos Verdes offered this explanation for why train victim Chuck Peck's cell phone called his family all night after the Metrolink crash, even though he was killed instantly:

This is not puzzling to me. I had a bluetooth device that would dial entries from my contact list all the time, even if it was in the pocket of a jacket hanging on a chair. I know two other people who have had the same experience. I bet there was one with debris on it that might have been pressing a button, until the battery died.

This person, thinking they were anonymous, sent me this. I don't know what story she is referring to and thought the world should see her correspondence. (It came in just like this. I didn't change anything, but broke it into more readable paragraphs. And for those who don't know, all caps means the writer is shouting.)

HEY LARRY ,
YOU SHOULD BE FIRED AND BANNED FOR LIFE FROM WRITING CRIME REPORTS FOR THE DAILY BREEZE ! ! YOU ARE A LIAR AND SHOULD BE PUNISHED FOR SLANDERING AND RUINING PEOPLES LIVES !!

CERTAIN THINGS THAT YOU HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT A FRIEND OF MINE ARE 90% LIES THE PUBLIC IS SUPPOSED TO TRUST AND BELIEVE WHAT YOU REPORT !!! WHAT A CROCK OF SHIT THAT IS !!!!!

I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT YOU HAVE SLANDERED THIS PERSON AND
REPORTED HUNDREDS OF FALSE THINGS ABOUT HIM !!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU MAN. YOU REALLY NEED TO START BEING A TRUTHFUL AND HONEST REPORTER OR GET OUT OF THE BUSINESS !! IF YOU CONTINUE TO ACT IN SUCH A LEES THAN PROFESSIONAL WAY ITS GOING TO HAUNT YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE !!!

PLEASE ALL I AM ASKING OF YOU IS TO GET YOUR FACTS AN STATEMENTS FROM A RELIABLE SOURCE AND REPORT THE TRUTH !!!! NOT A BUNCH OF LIES<<<<<<<<<

I THINK YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM SAYING AND HOPE YOU WILL THINK NEXT TIME BEFORE WRITING LIES ABOUT SOMEONE JUST TO GET YOUR SATISFACTION. THANK YOU

SINCERELY ,A TORRANCE RESIDENT OF 40 YEARS

Comment: Ninety-percent lies?

We admit that we don't really know why, but we're now Twittering. Do you Twitter? We'll take advice.

You can see what I'm saying about courts @dbreezeCourts

Larry will be tweeting about crime (and who knows what else) @dbreezeCrime

*Tweet*

The National Museum of Crime & Punishment in Washington D.C. (which even I didn't know exists!) sent out a news release today to let people know that there are some artifacts on display that have California connections:

These include Kevin Costner's revolver from "The Untouchables," (Paramount, 1987) used in the station scene with Andy Garcia.  The other is Luca Brasi's mob pistol from "The Godfather" (Paramount, 1972).  It is used by Brasi, [played] by Lenny Montana, in the scene where he prepares for the meeting with Sollozzo.

 The museum also features multiple artifacts from Alcatraz, including postcards, letters and a prisoner "ID" camera.  Displayed is a hand-written letter on prison stationary from Robert "Birdman of Alcatraz" Stroud from Jan. 15, 1999 to his sister.  Stroud was imprisoned for murder at the age of 18 - he spent more than 54 years in jail (47-years in isolation), where he became a self-educated authority on birds and bird diseases. 

 

These are among the museum's more than 100 displays, which also includes opportunities to interact with realistic forensic labs, take a lie detector test and an FBI shooting range simulator. For more information, click on link above to the museum or call (202) 621-5567.

Got this in the inbox recently:

Dear Ms. Nix:
Gosh, your COURT TRACKER department in the DB is fantastic!
What public documents do you use to compile this valuable reporter's resource.
I'd like to maintain something like this for the rest of the county.

In Admiration,

Dwight Babamoto
Sun Valley by way of Rolling Hills

For those of you who don't know what my new best friend Dwight is talking about, you should check out my little labor of love, The Court Tracker. It's the criminal cases I'm following, most of which we've written on and will report on again when there's a significant development. I try to update it as often as possible - usually a couple times a week. It's searchable by defendant, upcoming court date, etc. One day soon, I hope to add civil cases, too.

Check it out and let me know if I've missed anything!

Things are a bit slow this week on the crime and courts beats here in the South Bay. But in the area, there are lots of interesting things going on. Here are some noteworthy crime/court stories from the Los Angeles Times today:

• Judge orders chronically late lawyer jailed in Compton
• California will fight court ruling on medical marijuana
• Dismay greets D.A.'s report on string of missteps that led to killing
• Santa Monica teacher faces 9 more abuse charges
• Band teacher at Foshay Learning Center accused in child pornography case
• O.C. grand jury urges cities to enforce spay, neuter laws

A couple of days ago we posted the mug of an unidentified man that INTERPOL was seeking as a suspected child molester.

They caught him yesterday in New Jersey.

Wayne Nelson Corliss, 58, from Union City, N.J. was identified as the man who was sexually abusing young children in Southeast Asia in hundreds of images distributed on the Internet, INTERPOL said.

Special Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement based in Newark arrested him.

Today, the Associated Press is reporting that Corliss is a small-time actor who painted faces at children's parties and performed as "the best Santa Claus anyone has ever seen."

This just arrived from the District Attorney's Office:


LOS ANGELES -- A man faces a possible state prison term after pleading no contest to killing his girlfriend's cat following an argument, the District Attorney's Office announced today.

On May 2, Scott Allen Atkinson, 45, was convicted of one count of making criminal threats and one count of intentional cruelty to an animal. Two other counts were dismissed as part of a plea agreement. Atkinson is due back for sentencing July 31 at Los Angeles Superior Court, Department 127.

The defendant killed "Tweety," a black-and-white cat, in October 2007 after he and his girlfriend argued outside their (Los Angeles) apartment, according to police reports. After the verbal exchange, the defendant allegedly went back inside the apartment and came back out sometime later, telling the girlfriend, "Follow the blood trail to find Tweety."

While Atkinson contended that he found the cat dead and put its body in a dumpster behind the apartment building, police found blood on the walls of the apartment and in the bathtub. The cat's body was never recovered.

Deputy District Attorney Stefana Antonescu said Atkinson faces two years in state prison.

Stupid criminal news from around the country and the world:

First, a 25-year-old old man waving a gun around while looking at another driver in an apparent road rage incident accidentally shot himself in the chest on Saturday in Tempe, Ariz. Here's the ABC video.

In North New Hyde Park, N.Y., a Long Island man called police to say he had just been robbed during a drug deal gone bad. The Associated Press reported that Christopher Canonico, 23, of Seaford, called police at 8:20 p.m. Wednesday.

Police said Canonico was set up by two women who agreed to buy heroin at a gas station. While they were sitting in his car, a third person with a gun came up to the car and robbed him of $340, a cell phone and wallet.

Cops arrested Canonico for drug dealing. The others got arrested for robbery.

In Dothan, Ala., a man who went to visit his probation officer on Thursday emptied his pockets to get through the metal detector at the courthouse. D'oh!

Besides putting coins and keys on the table, he also dropped two bags of pot.

Malcom Williams, 51, tried to run, but police caught him.

And in Berlin, Germany,  a thief who stole a rare coin collection took them to the bank last week. Soon after he deposited them, a bank worker recognized the coins as the set worth some $80,000 that had been stolen from his own house.

Police tracked down the thief and arrested him.