San Diego Criminal Attorneys Blog

San Diego Police Officer David C. Hall of the San Diego Police Department committed suicide around 9:50 a.m. Monday, August 1 2011. Mr. Hall, a 14 year department veteran, was awaiting trial for accused crimes he committed back in February. In May he was charged with two counts of felony drunk driving causing injury, one charge of a hit and run and allegations that his BAC or blood alcohol level was greater than 0.15%. Mr. Hall plead not guilty to all charges. If he was to be found guilty of all the alleged crimes he would could have face up to three years and eight months in state prison.

The charges originated from a February 22nd vehicle accident in Serra Mesa, where a driver of a Chevrolet Suburban reported she was injured by a drunk driver who also left the scene of the accident thereby committing a hit and run. Officer Hall was later arrested and placed on paid administrative duty. He was off duty at the time of the alleged crimes. Mr. Hall blood alcohol level was registered at a very high level, .32% according to police reports which is four times the legal limit. Despite his not guilty plea to the charges a judge ordered Hall to attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings at least twice a week pending the outcome of the case.

Officer Hall was one of at least eight officers of the San Diego Police Department that had been recently accused of misconduct prompting a change in the Department's policy by Police Chief William Landsowne. Further information about these misconducts can be found here.

Police Chief William Lansdowne stated that the SDPD was well aware of the fact that Officer Hall was struggling and under stress, and the newly formed wellness unit met with him the day before he committed suicide. Along with the death if Detective Donna Williams, 52, and her daughter Bree Williams, 18, its seems that tragedy has fallen upon the San Diego Police Department.

Source:
Officer accused of DUI apparently kills himself, SignOn San Diego News

Former Oceanside Detective Brian Bruce who was accused of misconduct while on duty by Detective Aaron Miller, his partner, will not be prosecuted by the San Diego District Attorneys Office. Mr. Bruce was a former Detective for the Oceanside Police working on cases related to drugs, prostitution and gang activity.

Mr. Bruce alleged misconduct was brought about due to a current lawsuit between Mr. Miller and the Oceanside Police. Mr. Miller is fighting that he was wrongfully demoted after telling Oceanside Police of Mr. Bruce's misconduct.

Former Detective Brian Bruce was accused of stealing cash and an iPod from suspects he had arrested. Along with these accusations Mr. Bruce is also accused of stealing Mr. Millers T-shirt from his vehicle. Prosecution of Mr. Bruce is being declined because a district attorney feels that there is not enough evidence to prove he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

For more information of the crimes visit here.

Article can be found:
North County Times

Deputy Marilyn Doris Mendez of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol. Several sources confirm that she was arrested at 2:10 am Saturday in the Gas Lamp District. She was initially pulled over for making an illegal turn, but after further investigation, was arrested on suspicion of driving while under the influence of alcohol.

Deputy Mendez was off duty during the time of her arrest.

Sources told news stations that Mrs. Mendez was cited for a DUI but was never booked into jail. Deputy Mendez' arrest had enough cause to warrant the San Diego County Sheriff's Department to conduct an internal investigation.

Special treatment? I represent numerous DUI clients every week and they all seem to be booked into jail after being arrested. It appears that Deputy Mendez received some special treatment.

This article can be found:
Deputy Arrested On Suspicion Of DUI, 10 News

Oceanside Police department is reviewing evidence against former Oceanside Detective Brian Bruce. He may need to hire a criminal defense attorney to protect his rights! Mr. Bruce was accused of several misconduct crimes, including stealing cash and personal property from alleged criminals. The crimes came to light after a 1.5 million lawsuit between Detective Aaron Miller, his partner, and Oceanside Police Department. There are three main incidents that Police Chief Frank McCoy made mention of, and hinted that there could be more.

The first incident is directly involves Detective Aaron Miller, who was Mr. Bruce's partner before he resigned. Mr. Miller left for a vacation leaving his work car with personal possessions inside to Detective Bruce's care. Nothing was to be taken from the car but Detective Bruce had permission to use the vehicle. Upon return, Mr. Miller noticed that one of his T-shirts was missing from the car. He accused Detective Bruce of taking his T-shirt but he denied everything.

A few months later in April of 2009 the second allegation against Detective Brian Bruce came to light. Both Mr. Miller and Mr. Bruce were at a crime scene where they arrested a women for suspicion of dealing drugs. She had in her possession $512 dollars according to Mr. Miller who counted the money several times. Later that night Mr. Bruce had reported they had confiscated $412 dollars from the suspect. When Mr. Miller addressed Detective Bruce he stated in his defense that their was a possibility that some money might have been left at the crime scene.

The third accusation happened several days later, which was very similar to the second case. Instead this time, Detective Bruce was accused of stealing the suspects iPod Touch. Mr. Miller had only noticed because Mr. Bruce's insisted on showing Mr. Miller new music he had download.

Initially, Detective Miller did not report any of these incidents to the Oceanside Police Department because he wasn't completely sure that Detective Bruce was committing these crimes; however, after he was positive, he reported the wrong doings. For this delay in reporting, Detective Aaron Miller was demoted.

A current lawsuit between Detective Aaron Miller and the Oceanside Police Department is what brought around the investigation and accusation of crimes committed by Detective Brian Bruce.

It appears the San Diego Police Department is not the only Police Department having issues with their training and supervision of their officers and detectives!

This article can be found:
North County Times
Author of Article: Brandon Lowrey

Recently, numerous Police Officers in San Diego have been arrested and charged with serious criminal cases including rape, kidnapping, assault, stalking and DUI. San Diego Police Department have questioned the way it trains new officers and reviews existing officers. Chief of Police, William Lansdowne, proposed a seven point program that will hopefully reduce any misconduct performed by San Diego Officers.

This"new" program was initiated due to raising rates of Officer crime including accusations of domestic violence, sexual battery, DUI's and a variety of other serious crimes. Many aspects of this program emphasize the responsibility Officers have to come forward when witnessing fellow colleagues break the way or abuse their power. Breaking this "code of silence", held by many Officers, is a major goal that Lansdowne hopes to achieve.

Officers under investigation and accused of crimes include:
Daniel Dana, 26
Sergent Kenneth H. Davis, 47
Anthony Arevalos, 40
Roel Tungcab, 39
William Johnson
and several others

The program will hope to see eighteen hundred sworn Officers from San Diego make a difference in the way they operate. Allowing them to determine the differences between principled loyalty and blind loyalty. The departments name has been undermined by Officers who just blindly follow without being able to make decisions on their own. Preventing crimes committed by Police Officers is in Lansdowne and the cities top priority; succeeding will rebuild the trust and reputation that SDPD once had.

Unfortunately, for many Police Officers in the City including Lansdowne the damage of a bad reputation is hard to reverse.

My question is? Why did this "new" reform take so long to initiate?

Article can be found here:
Union Tribune
May 13, 2011

KUSI News
May 9, 2011

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

On Thursday, April 15th, a large crowd of supporters gathered in front of the Escondido City Hall building in support of the Driver License checkpoints that the Escondido police department has continuously conducted for the past six years.

More than a 150 people showed, lead by Patricia Bennett, in support of the traffic checkpoints. In contrast this support for the checkpoints and for Police Chief Jim Maher, who has been pressured to remove the traffic checkpoints or resign, the protest against the traffic checkpoints was three times smaller. What does this say about the cities feelings towards the checkpoints and the Police Chief as cars passing by drew honks and cheers? However, what's poplar doesn't always equate with justice!

These traffic checkpoints are a very controversial issue in Escondido and possible other neighboring cities who might start to adopt same or similar policy changes. Simply, are the traffic checkpoints conducted by the Escondido police department constitutional? I think not especially when every car is stopped and the driver interrogated by law enforcement about their drivers license. Supporter's claim the checkpoint have lowered the hit and run cases by a third. But the one question remains, are these checkpoints specifically targeting low income area's where Latinos are being targeted? If so, then theses checkpoints need to be reformed immediately or changed in the way they are conducted to meet all constitutional requirements.

To find this article and read the whole article visit this link:
ESCONDIDO: Rally supporting police, checkpoints draws more than 150, North County Times April 15th

San Diego County Sheriff Deputy in Encinitas pepper sprays and arrests a 60-year-old hostess of an event for U.S. Congressional candidate Francine Busby.The sheriff deputy claims that Shari Barman became combative with a deputy who was at the fundraising event to investigate a noise complaint. Wild and crazy 60 year old!!

Francine Busby said the gathering was not loud and described the deputy's use of pepper spray on Ms. Barman and guests as "shocking." Ms. Busby plans to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Bilbray for his 50th District congressional seat in 2010. Bilbray beat her out for the open seat in 2006. Politics involved?

Who was responsible for the confrontation's escalation? I'm sure the sheriff deputy will say that Ms. Barman was responsible for the escalation but hopefully a full investigation will reveal the truth! I find it hard to believe a crowd of mostly middle-aged persons at a political fundraising gathering are going to escalate a situation with a sheriff deputy investigating a noise complaint! This investigation won't go away!

San Diego & Oceanside California Highway patrol officer Abram Carabajal, now retired, was held to answer after a preliminary hearing in San Diego Superior Court, North County, Vista, [need to upload link legal resource page] before Judge Runston G. Maino. Mr. Carbajal has been charged with three felony counts of accepting a bribe, conspiracy to obstruct justice and perjury.

The three felony charges stem from an alleged fix my traffic ticket in exchange for sex back in 2006. An Encino woman, Shirin Zarrindej, allegedly conspired with former CHP officer Carabajal to have her traffic ticket dismissed in exchange for sex. Ms. Zarrindej has a prior conviction for bribing a Los Angeles police officer back in 1998 in a prostitution case at which time she served 60 days in jail.

On July 1, 2008, the two met a Oceanside hotel after Carabajal lied in court to get the speeding ticket dismissed. Ms. Zarrindej who is also being charged in the same case is claiming that she was a victim to Officer Carabajal's sexual advances and that there was insufficient evidence she conspired with or bribed him.

CHP officer accused in sex-for-ticket fixing had prior troubles, June 24, 2009, North County Times