San Diego Criminal Attorneys Blog

Oceanside Police officers are conducting a DUI checkpoint this memorial day weekend to look for drunk drivers. It's scheduled to run from 8p.m. on Sunday to 3a.m. early Monday morning as part of their DUI enforcement and awareness program. Police have not yet released any location on were this DUI checkpoint would be located.

Please be aware that recent Oceanside DUI roadblocks have been located on Oceanside Blvd. between El Camino Real and Rancho Del Oro and on College Blvd. between Via Cupeno and Adams street. Remember it is best to not drink alcohol and drive and if you go out drinking with friends make sure you have a Designated Driver. However, if you are arrested for a DUI please feel free to call my firm for a free legal consultation.

North County Times May 25, 2010

OCEANSIDE: Checkpoint set for Sunday night

San Diego developer James Delbert McConville and five other associates consisting of, a licensed real estate agent, a banker,and an escrow officer of a title company, were accused of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. As of now, Mr. McConville's location is still unknown and only one of the defendants has appeared in court. The scheme left hundreds of condominiums around the country in foreclosures many of these in Escondido and San Marcos in North County San Diego. Federal Prosecutors are refusing to release the address of the effected condominiums and possible developments they could reside in.

In this criminal scam buyers paid as much as ten thousand dollars to gain access to personal information of people who had good credit, so Mr. McConville could buy condos. The applications for loans that were needed to purchase the condo's contained the false information of the buyers. Mr.McConville used the money he gained from the false loans to be split up between corporations. Interestingly, he also spent the money on fine pieces of art and purchasing rare comic books.

These six people face as much as 30 years of prison for each charge of conspiracy and fraud. The question is why! Is it in these difficult economic times people make poor choices concerning their financial welfare? Or is it greed that keep these people going above and beyond what they need to live? The fact finding process of the criminal judicial will bear these answers!

You can read more of the Artile here: REGION: Developer, others indicted in condo loan scheme
North County Times May 19, 2010

Murder conviction without a body? Yes! Joaquin Murrieta Martinez,age 32, was found guilty in the murder and dismemberment of Janina Hardoy, age 24, in her Oceanside home. Mr. Martinez a known gang member testified that he did not kill Ms.Hardoy but he did contribute to the dismemberment of her hands and feet, after she was dead.

Janina Hardoy moved to Oceanside in late 2004 after living in Northern California. A few months later in early February 2005 she was murdered. Only her dismembered hands and feet were found. The location of her body is still unknown even after a four day search. Law enforcement has speculated that the body is somewhere in the Santee Landfill. Police investigators are still unsure about the cause of death as they have been unable to examine the body.

Deputy District Attorney Geoff Allard told the jury that Martinez had killed Janina Hardoy during February 2005 because she had threatened to tell the police that Mr. Martinez and fellow gang members had robbed a series of banks from Bonsall, San Marcos, Carlsbad and Encinitas. Martinez and others were arrested and sentenced to prison for these robberies. Mr. Allard also stated that her body was most likely dumped in a garbage bin behind an Escondido doughnut shop, and then later picked up by trash truck and dumped into the landfill.

A witness testified that Ms. Hardoy and Mr. Martinez had a 'stormy' romantic relationship, and that because of this her house which she used to house drifters and homeless persons began to be filled with drug users and ex-cons. The witnessed also stated that once Crystal Meth was introduced the home went from a positive vibe to a very chaotic.

Ms. Hardoy's father and stepmother were sickened with the murder of their daughter and the way Mr. Martinez was able to speak about it so calmly. Katy Hardoy, Janina Hardoy's stepmother, stated "the callousness in the way he spoke about the act, it showed he had no soul". Obviously, the jury did not believe Mr. Martinexz's account of the events as they found him guilty of murder. This case will be appealed and the appellate courts will have to decide whether the murder conviction can stand!

You can find the whole story here:
OCEANSIDE: Man guilty of murdering woman he later dismembered, North County Times May 11, 2010

Threats, even if jokingly made, on social sites such as Twitter, Facebook or Myspace can land you in hot water and charged with a crime. This is not a local story but I feel that the outcome and severity of statements made like these are very real and severe. I anticipate that prosecution for internet threats will increase dramatically in the near future! So beware what you post!

Paul Chambers, at the age of 26, made a post on Twitter stating that if his flight was delayed by the snow then he would blow up an Airport. Mr. Chambers insisted that the post he made was only a joke and that he would never blow up an airport. However, the judge found him guilty because he conveyed an offensive, indecent and obscene message over a public telecommunications networking site.

This message is important not only for Twitter, but for Facebook, Myspace, and every other public communication website, in which the message can be read by millions. Luckily, Mr. Chambers was only fined $1,500 dollars instead of time in jail for making such threats against the airline. But please know that these websites have detailed policies, and the things that you post or say on these sites can and will be used against you, especially if they are conveying messages of offensive or indecent meaning. Likewise, if you are contacted by a site investigator concerning a post do not make any statement to them without an experienced attorney.

British man convicted for Twitter bomb 'threat' ,North County Times May 11, 2010