My colleague Alex Dobuzinskis guest blogs here today. He has been covering a murder trial of John Racz. Here's his post:

She was a soccer mom before the phrase even came into vogue. Ann Mineko Racz disappeared 16 years ago. Now her husband, John Racz of Valencia, is on trial, charged with killing the woman whom friends and family members describe as a devoted mom, always taking her kids to soccer practice or helping out at their schools. The trial is taking place in San Fernando, but it's on hiatus this week.

The couple's three children are expected to testify next week. An important aspect of the case is that despite more than 30 searches, authorities have never found the body of Ann Racz, which contributed to the delay in charging John Racz. Although the Daily News has covered every day of the trial, with so much estimony and legal maneuvering by the two sides we haven't been able to fit all of it in our print articles. Here are some points that got left out:

Continue reading "Behind the scenes of the John Racz murder trial" »

Posted by Jason Kandel at 09:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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Posted by Jason Kandel at 06:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Los Angeles Police Department blog today updates the story of the officer who shot a dog the other night in Sylmar. The officer involved is identified as Landon Summey, a 25-year-old, who has worked for the LAPD for three years. He got bit in the back of the leg before he killed the dog. lapdblog
Earlier

Posted by Jason Kandel at 08:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The stories that usually make news day-to-day fall under an old phrase man bites dog. Well, today read the spin on that, "Dog bites cop - Cop shoots dog." dailynews

The story has elicited a few reader comments. One woman named, Crystal, writes:

As always, pepper spray should have been tried first. I highly doubt this Labrador/Rottie mix bit that idiot hard enough to cause any damage. This cop just isn't capable of thinking before reacting. They were in a poor/minority neighborhood, so what do you expect from them?

Another reader, calling him or herself, oH sHuD UP aLREADY, counters:

And how exactly do you know that pepper spray was not used? Right, the racist behind every tree hysteria rear its foolish head again. BTW, what would you do if a rottie mix was attacking you?....Cry about racism and suggest useless measures to repel the attack, whilst the dog locks onto your hand........

A third reader calling him or herself, Just a thought, writes:

Why was the dog out? Was it sent out to Attack? Keep your dogs on a leash because unleashed dogs are a threat to life and lethal force Can and Will be used.

Thank you for reading. Glad to see the story is getting read. And I enjoy the debate. Because of the ongoing investigation, I wasn't able to get a whole lot more than what I wrote today, but stay tuned.

Posted by Jason Kandel at 04:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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Continue reading "Does Spector have a complex?, 14-year-old girl arrested for prostitution, oldest inmate could be freed, and more" »

Posted by Jason Kandel at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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Continue reading "Surreal Hilton news, did Spector kill Clarkson?, murder behind bars, and more ..." »

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Continue reading "Ongoing Delgadillo saga, thinking how to solve the gang problem, and more" »

Posted by Jason Kandel at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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Continue reading "New gang czar, masked gunman wanted in home invasion, Delgadillo imbroglio, and more" »

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Continue reading "Bratton's future could be decided today, another lawsuit filed in May Day melee, and new crime blotter with arrests from the Valley" »

Posted by Jason Kandel at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Stories on the cop beat can be filled with irony. I think I stumbled on one today. This story came after making my routine cop calls to the Los Angeles Police Department's West Valley Division. When I called Lt. Gary Hallden, who heads detectives there, this morning looking for news, I was surprised to hear this story. It sounded like Hallden, a veteran cop, who's seen his share of the bizarre through the decades, was a little surprised too, but maybe just a tinge, though.

Continue reading "There's a lot of irony on the cop beat" »

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Posted by Jason Kandel at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So reading all this hoopla over the Paris Hilton roller coaster ride through Los Angeles County's overcrowded jail system has sparked an idea. Could the legacy of the 26-year-old blond celebrity be that her case becomes the one that prompts the powers that be to fix overcrowded conditions at the nation's largest jail system? Unlikely? The Rev. Al Sharpton, who met with Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca on Monday, thinks this case points up a serious bias in the justice system.

dailynews.com

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, meanwhile are expected today to ask for a report on why Hilton was sent home from jail last week. Supervisors Mike Antonovich and Yvonne Brathwaite Burke will ask the Sheriff’s Department to provide a report next week on Hilton’s early release from her 45-day sentence from the Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood. Sheriff Lee Baca has denied accusations of favoritism. In fact, he says, Hilton is being treated more harshly than a member of the general public. Not true, say experts. A judge has ordered her back in jail.

UPDATE at 3:11 p.m.: My colleague Troy Anderson writes that the supervisors have called for an investigation into whether Baca's decision to release Paris Hilton from jail early was justified. Also, civil rights leaders are calling on the celebrity heiress to become the spokeswoman for improving medical and mental health care provided to female inmates.

From the Board of Supervisor's Agenda Highlights:

Supervisors Yvonne B. Burke and Michael D. Antonovich request that Board ask sheriff to report on 6/19 on reasons for the premature release of Paris Hilton from jail, including why she was not placed in an appropriate medical facility. APPROVED 4-0

dailynews.com

Earlier officer.com argued that keeping Hilton in custody was a waste of time and money.

Officer.com

Posted by Jason Kandel at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Tim Dees, the editor-in-chief of Officer.com, argues that Paris Hilton should be let out of jail. The place is overcrowded with mostly violent felons and this is not the best way to use precious resources, the author argues. While the author does not believe in slacking off on penalties for crimes such as those that Hilton was convicted of -- drunk driving and driving on a suspended license, he does believe in maximizing resources to go "where they'll do the most good." So, he says, let her out, and get her on one of those toilet cleaning crews. Dees writes:

UPDATE: The average cost per day for a female inmate in Los Angeles County is $99.64, but it costs about 10 times as much -- $1,109.78 -- to keep Hilton locked up, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Steve Whitmore told the celebrity-news Web site TMZ.com. The cost for Hilton include medical treatment and staff associated with her needs.

... Paris Hilton’s jail sentence is a waste of time and resources, no matter how much she might deserve to be there.

(snip)

Try to imagine the drama that would ensue if Paris was to get stabbed or beaten while in custody, or if she was to contract an illness caused by mold or staph infection. Then imagine the costs of the ensuing civil actions brought by Paris against the sheriff’s department, who would be happy to correct all of the health and safety problems if they had the money and space to do so.

Continue reading "'Get Paris out of jail and assign her to clean public toilets'" »

Posted by Jason Kandel at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here are a couple of national stories that could bode well for death-penalty proponents.

One reports that there's scientific evidence that says executing convicted murderers deters other homicides:

The studies' conclusions drew a philosophical response from a well-known liberal law professor, University of Chicago's Cass Sunstein. A critic of the death penalty, in 2005 he co-authored a paper titled "Is capital punishment morally required?"

"If it's the case that executing murderers prevents the execution of innocents by murderers, then the moral evaluation is not simple," he told The Associated Press. "Abolitionists or others, like me, who are skeptical about the death penalty haven't given adequate consideration to the possibility that innocent life is saved by the death penalty."

Read full text here.

The story makes no mention of the scores of convicted defendants who are later found innocent.

Crime riddle of the day: Is it possible to deter innocent people from killing innocent people they never intended to kill?

A New York Times story says that last week's Supreme Court ruling allowing prosecutors to dismiss jurors who are opposed to the death penalty in capitol punishment cases will increase the number of white, conviction-prone jurors on such cases.
Prosecutors argue that they need jurors who are going to follow the letter of the law and not their own interpretations.

Good point ... They might want to pass that thought along to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, considering all the heat he has been under from both sides of the aisle for dismissing prosecutors, apparently for political reasons.

Posted by Rick Coca at 08:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and LAPD Chief William Bratton were up in D.C. pleading with Congress to approve a bill that would toughen federal penalties for gang-related violence and provide more than $1 billion for anti-gang programs over five years.

Since 2001 more than 4,000 have been killed in gang violence in California, Villaraigosa told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"That's more lives than we lost in Iraq," a statement Villaraigosa's office released said.

Since launching an anti-gang initiative nearly six months ago, gang-related crimes in Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley have dropped as much as 30 percent in the first five months of the year.

But critics have said despite the efforts, Villaraigosa has not developed enough intervention programs. The federal legislation would provide some of that needed money but would also federalize some gang street crimes.

Two weeks ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a $48 million anti-gang initiative to treat convicted gang leaders like sex offenders by using satellite tracking devices.

Posted by Rachel Uranga at 02:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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Continue reading "Morning blotter -- May 31, 2007" »

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Los Angeles Police Lt. Corina Smith, 41, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against the department, saying she was denied a promotion to the rank of captain after a false rumor was circulated that she threatened suicide.

She claimed the rumor led fellow officers to call her "psycho," caused a miscarriage and made her the target of a stalker ... The rumor alleged Smith was despondent over a breakup with a fellow officer 18 years ago when she stood nude on a diving board at the couple's Glendora apartment complex and put a gun to her head, the suit said. Three LAPD internal investigations concluded the rumor was false.

Associated Press via mercurynews.com

Posted by Jason Kandel at 01:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Gangs are a big problem in the state and the nation, says Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today as he proposed a new anti-gang plan that involves treating gang members with the same harsh measures used against sex offenders and creating a new statewide anti-gang czar. You can watch a video of Governor's plan here.
dailynews.com

Posted by Jason Kandel at 01:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

You get three meals, including a choice between meatloaf and chicken ala king for dinner.

Soap, toothpaste and towels are provided.

All you need to bring is comfortable clothing and shoes, one additional clean T-shirt and one additional clean pair of socks.

Sound like a nice weekend getaway?

It's the Glendale Police Department's state-of-the-art pay-to-stay weekender jail, one of several across the state popping up as an alternative to doing hard time in the traditional sense of the phrase. Most are open only to lower-level offenders. Huntington Beach, Torrance, Fullerton and Santa Ana are among the jails with pay-to-stay facilities. A former Orange County Sheriff's assistant chief was recently sentenced to serve time in a pay-and-stay in Montebello. Wonder if he'll raise birds.

Glendale Police spokesman John Balian makes sure there are no false impressions about his department's slammer.

"It's not a Club Med. Even though it's a pay-to-stay program, you're not going to be coming here and sitting on the bench. You're going to be working. Mopping, sweeping, the day-to-day cleaning necessities in the jail."

The menu features one cold meal a day and two hot meals. Breakfast is two pieces of whole wheat bread, orange juice, 2 percent reduced fat milk -- "We don't want 'em to get obese here" -- cereal, a packet of jelly and butter. For lunch you got Oreo cookies, punch, milk, carrots, corn and a country fried steak patty. You get a choice for dinner -- meatloaf or chicken ala king.

A Glendale resident recently paid $3,060 for several weekends to stay in the Glendale facility on a DUI conviction.

How's the chicken ala king?

"You might want to ask him" Balian said.

Posted by Jason Kandel at 05:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Good morning from the dark corners of the county you live and work in ... Morning report -- May 23, 2007

• The Los Angeles Police Department blog notes the untimely death of one of its Top-10 most wanted gang members. Apparently there was a way out for Rudy Magana, a Compton Tortilla Flats gang member, who took his own life as Sheriffs deputies with the gang unit attempted to arrest him in Long Beach. Magana was wanted for the Jan. 20 shooting death of his sister's former boyfriend. The sister and victim had been arguing over the custody of their son. Magana became angry with the victim and shot and killed him.
  lapdblog
  There is a San Fernando Valley connection. Turns out Magaña had been living with his sister at an apartment in the 9500 block of Van Nuys Boulevard.
  Earlier

• A Ukrainian man was sentenced to life in prison for his part in a kidnapping-for-ransom scheme that resulted in the killing of five people - three from the San Fernando Valley - whose bodies were found in a Northern California reservoir. He didn't get the death penalty because he said the Russian mob threatened to kill him and his family if he didn't take part.
  Associated Press via dailynews.com

• My colleague Alex Dobuzinskis writes about a Santa Clarita man and his wife being sentenced to 22 years in prison for their role in an insurance scam that staged crashes on freeways.
  dailynews.com

• No soup for this guy ... A 21-year-old Palmdale man was arrested at Vons. Apparently he told workers he was going to "pull out his gun and shoot" when he was asked to leave for eating soup from the deli bar. At a Jons market, a woman was arrested for stealing more than $400 in liquor.
  glendalenewspress.com

• Marion "Suge" Knight is back in the news, this time with money woes. From The Smoking Gun ...
  

  ... the bankrupt rap music titan expects to soon downgrade to a $10,000-a-month rental ... While the majority of his monthly nut is listed as "Support," other records indicate that Knight has not been paying court-ordered child support payments (for four children by three women) and is in arrears for $545,681.

  
  thesmokinggun.com

  Posted by Jason Kandel at 07:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)