San Diego Criminal Attorneys Blog

Actor, Shelley Malil, appeared Wednesday in a Vista courtroom for trial on charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and burglary. Many of you may remember Shelley Malil and his role in the hit 2005 comedy, "The 40-Year-Old Virgin", but he has also appeared in a Super Bowl beer commercial as well as numerous television programs. In August 2008, he allegedly assaulted Kendra Beebe allegedly fueled by rage and jealously. Mr. Malil pleaded not guilty to all three charges-attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and burglary-against him.

Mr. Malil faces a potential life sentence in prison because the prosecution, Deputy District Attorney Watanabe, says that the attack was planned out (premeditated) by Mr. Malil. Evidence supprotingg the prosecutions' theory is the alleged bringinga knife from his apartment to Ms. Beebe's home and then breaking in and assaulting her. Mr. Malil allegedly 'surprised' Ms. Beebe on her back patio while she was having a drink with one of her friends. It was at this time when Mr. Malil started his attack stabbing Ms. Bebee several times.

Ms. Beebe's friend stated that he was able to wrestle the knife away from Mr. Malil but then left to go get help. But while he was gone, Mr. Malil allegedly grabbed another knife, according to prosecution attorney Watanabe, and continued the violent stabbing of Ms. Beebe. Finally, the attack ended when her next door neighbor responded to an array of screams. It is alleged that Ms. Kendra Beebe suffered at least 23 stab wounds several of which were life threatening, one of which was within an eight of an inch of her carotid artery.

Background information gathered allowed prosecution to find that Mr. Malil and Ms. Beebe met on and online dating site, but their relationship was rocky and very troublesome. During the falling out of the relationship Mr. Malil had e-mailed photos of him and Mr. Beebe having sexual intercourse to her employers. Nevertheless a week before the attack the couple appeared together at a red-carpet event of a Woody Allen movie.

The full article can be found here: REGION: Attempted murder trial for actor Shelley Malil set to begin

A 28 year old man, who legally changed his name from Jon Koppenhaver to War Machine was sentenced on Tuesday after pleading guilty to felony assault charges. War Machine, a former mixed martial arts fighter, assaulted a female bar tender as well as punching a bouncer in two separate bar attacks. The assaults happened in February and March where he punched a bouncer and assaulted the female bar tender at a club in Point Loma. War Machine didn't actually strike the female bar tender but by pushing bottles off the bar toward her. At the time of both attacks War Machine was on probation for a misdemeanor assault conviction from 2008.

Judge David Danielsen initially refused the plea agreement because he felt that War Machine's poor attitude would make him unable to comply with terms of probation and would just allow him to get out of jail custody quicker. However, at Tuesday's hearing War Machine presented a three page letter explaining his willingness to comply with terms of probation and his wish to stay out of prison. He further stated that he wants to turn his life around and he has already messed his life up enough. He told the judge Danielson that he recently got married and plans to open a gym with one of his friends once he gets out of jail. Judge Danielsen agreed to give him one shot at probation sentencing with terms and conditions including one year in jail and to stay away from alcohol for three years as well as getting treatment, therapy and or counseling for his anger issues.

More and more these days, person's in the public eye including athletes and actors are finding themselves in the criminal justice system for their juvenile or misguided actions that could have been easily prevented by utilizing some restraint and or good judgment. I have represented both athletes and actors and they are just like the rest of us who from time to time do not make the best decisions even though, a lot of the time, the public puts them through a higher standard!

To find the full article visit here: War Machine gets year in jail, probation 8/24/2010

Armando Arriaga, a 46 year old California Highway Patrol officer, plead guilty on Tuesday to driving while under the influence as well as reckless driving. Mr. Arriaga was arrested on July 7th after witnesses reported that a BMW was slowly and repeatedly tapping the rear bumper of a PT Cruiser in an alley in downtown Oceanside. When Oceanside Police officers arrived they found Mr. Arriaga and his wife Melanie Arriaga both out of their vehicles. After police questioning, they learned that both Mr. and Mrs. Arriaga had an argument after spending the whole afternoon drinking wine at their home. Mrs. Arriaga decided to go sleep in her car to get out of the house, but when Mr. Arriaga constantly bugged her to come back inside she left for her cousin's house a short distance away. Mr. Arriaga pursued her in his BMW in attempt to change her mind to come back home.

Melanie Arriaga informed the officers that her husband didn't mean her any harm and had never hurt her in any way. However, the Oceanside officers arrested and booked him into jail with charges of assault with a deadly weapon as well as driving while intoxicated (DUI). Mr. Arriaga's blood alcohol concentration level measured 0.17 percent which is double the legal limit of a 0.08 percent. Mrs. Arriaga was also arrested and booked into jail on DUI charges, but her blood alcohol level measured at 0.04 percent. Oceanside police officers investigated this case thoroughly to make sure there was no signs of domestic violence, especially not to show bias towards a fellow Police Officer.

Mr. Arriaga was sentenced to five years of informal probation, a $2000 dollar fine, ten (10) days public works service, alcohol program/classes for first time DUI offenders, and 100 hours of community service. The punishment is slightly harsher than a regular first time DUI conviction in San Diego County. However, the judge felt that because of Mr. Arriaga's job as a Police Officer that better behavior was expected from him. Law enforcement officers who allegedly violate the law are also innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt! But once they plead guilty or are found guilty by a jury, their punishment should be harsher as they have sworn an oath to protect and serve!

To find the full article visit here: OCEANSIDE: CHP officer pleads guilty to drunken driving

San Diego's County Sheriff's Department have announced that the Poway Deputies will be conducting a sobreity checkpoint, DUI checkpoint, this Friday the 13th. The checkpoint will be held in the 16700 black of Espola Road and contain about 15 deputies trained specifically for DUI checkpoints. The checkpoint will last from 7p.m. Friday night to 2:30a.m. early Saturday morning. The purpose of this checkpoint, announced by authorities was to remove intoxicated drivers as well as to educate the public by increasing the awareness of the consequences of driving while drunk.

If you take this route to go home from work, Id advise taking another route as seeing most of these checkpoint cause delay in traffic. Also remember it is always a smart decision to have a designated driver and if you cant find a designated driver to call a taxi, a parking ticket is much cheaper and easier than a DUI.

For more tips regarding DUI's visit here: http://www.seanleslie.com/lawyer-attorney-1447099.html

To read the full article visit here: North County Times Local Update Section August, 13th 2010