Discounts Available With Luna Bail Bonds!

max — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 01:45:47 +0000

We now have multiple discounts available for veterans, those with private attorneys and other circumstances as well.

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BELMONT: TRANSIENT MAN ARRESTED IN CONNECTION TO GROCERY STORE PURSE THEFT

max — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 18:13:41 +0000

Luna Bail Bonds Belmont Reports

After months of investigation, police have arrested a 44-year-old man suspected of snatching an elderly woman’s purse from a shopping cart at a Belmont Safeway in January, Belmont police said Thursday.
Transient Mark Damon Taylor, 44, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of stealing a 79-year-old San Carlos woman’s purse from her unattended shopping cart at the Safeway at 1100 El Camino Real on Jan. 13 around 6 p.m., police said.
Taylor also faces charges of identity theft and use of a stolen credit card after allegedly using some of the woman’s cards in San Mateo, according to police.
After police released the suspect’s photo last month from the store security camera a tip led police to Taylor. Belmont and San Mateo police have been working together on this case since January.
A woman was who was allegedly with Taylor at the time of the theft and appears to be in the security footage is not being charged at this time, police said.
The victim in this theft had set her purse in the child seat portion of her cart and walked away from it while shopping. Police remind residents not to leave valuables unattended in shopping carts as it only takes a moment for a thief to grab items.

Copyright 2012 by Bay City News, Inc. — Licensed for use by Luna Bail Bonds San Jose. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.

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UPDATE: SUPERVISOR MAR AMONG JUROR POOL FOR MIRKARIMI CASE

max — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:45:35 +0000

The juror pool for the trial of San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi on domestic violence charges began being winnowed down this afternoon, but remaining in the pool is a former colleague of Mirkarimi‘s — Supervisor Eric Mar.
Mar, who served alongside Mirkarimi on the city’s Board of Supervisors before Mirkarimi was elected sheriff in November, was one of 196 potential jurors who gathered today at the San Francisco Hall of Justice for initial instructions about the case.
Mirkarimi has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of domestic violence battery, child endangerment and dissuading a witness in connection with a Dec. 31 incident in which he allegedly bruised his wife Eliana Lopez’s arm during an argument.
Lopez has denied the charges against her husband.
When Judge Garrett Wong, who is overseeing the trial, told the potential jurors the name of the defendant in the case, many began murmuring to each other.
Wong noted the high-profile nature of the case, urging jurors not to post online or talk about it even though “there’s going to be a lot of temptation.”
The potential jurors then were asked if they have any hardships that would prevent them from serving in the trial, which Wong estimated would be done by March 16.
Roughly half of the 196 potential jurors declared hardships, while the other half — including Mar — filled out questionnaires asking them a variety of questions.
The questions included information about their backgrounds, their opinions on domestic violence-related issues and their level of awareness of the case, as well as whether they know Mirkarimi, Lopez and more than two dozen other people connected to the case.
Those remaining jurors will return to court at 9 a.m. Monday, when prosecutors and defense attorneys will begin weeding out people with potential conflicts or biases to finalize the 12-person jury along with two to four alternates, Wong said.
Mar said after filling out the questionnaire that he did not know when he responded to jury duty today that the case would involve his former board colleague.
“I didn’t know it was going to be this case but I had some sense it was coming up,” he said. “I guess I’ll be conflicted out, but it’s up to the judge.”
Mar said the case was “fascinating,” but he is not allowed to talk about its specifics, not only as a juror but as a supervisor.
Under the City Charter, Mayor Ed Lee has the option of suspending Mirkarimi as sheriff, which would lead to an Ethics Commission hearing and then a hearing by the Board of Supervisors, which would need nine votes from the 11-person board to remove him from office.
Mar said if he is in court all day Monday, he will miss one of his duties as supervisor — he chairs the board’s Land Use and Economic Development committee, which meets at 1 p.m. that day.
Earlier today, prosecutors and Lopez’s attorney Paula Canny sparred in court over a key piece of evidence in the case, a 55-second video recorded on Jan. 1 by the couple’s neighbor Ivory Madison that reportedly shows Lopez crying, pointing to the bruise on her arm and recounting the incident.
Canny argued that the video should be excluded from evidence because it was made under the guise of attorney-client privilege, since Madison represented herself as an attorney although she only graduated from law school and is not a licensed attorney.
Prosecutor Lindsay Hoopes countered that every single reference to Madison in statements by Lopez already in evidence have identified her as “a neighbor and friend,” not an attorney.
Wong denied Canny’s motion, saying that while Lopez may be the holder of attorney-client privilege, “the evidence is not being used against her” so the motion lacks standing.
The case is expected to return to court Friday morning when Wong will hold a private hearing with Christina Flores, an ex-girlfriend of Mirkarimi‘s who filed a police report last month saying that he also abused her during their relationship prior to his marriage to Lopez.
After the meeting in judge chambers, Wong will rule on whether Flores will be admitted as a witness in the trial.
Flores’ name was excluded from the list provided in the juror questionnaire today, but district attorney’s office spokesman Omid Talai said “it’s a typographical error and we still intend on calling Christina Flores” as a witness.

	   CONTACT: San Francisco District Attorney's Office (415) 553-9272
	            Defense attorney Lidia Stiglich (415) 706-9301
	            Lopez's attorney Paula Canny (650) 652-7862
	            Court spokeswoman Ann Donlan (415) 551-5957

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FORMER SANTA CLARA OFFICER SENTENCED FOR GIVING INFORMATION TO HELLS ANGELS LENDER

max — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:37:36 +0000

A former Santa Clara police officer was sentenced in federal court in San Jose today to three years in prison for giving confidential law enforcement information to a Hells Angels motorcycle club member to whom he owed money.
Clay Rojas, 37, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh.
Rojas was convicted by a jury in Koh’s court in July of 12 charges related to providing computerized crime and motor vehicle information to William Bettencourt, 39, a member of the Santa Cruz Hells Angels chapter, between June and September 2010.
The convictions included conspiracy to deprive Santa Clara taxpayers of honest services, five counts of honest services fraud and six counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer for financial gain.
The information included material from the state Department of Motor Vehicles and state and national crime databases, according to a federal grand jury indictment.
Rojas, a five-year veteran of the Santa Clara Police Department, was arrested in October 2010 on suspicion of giving Bettencourt the information.
Rojas borrowed money from Bettencourt to help finance a private business he had established to sell police-related equipment, according to a sentencing brief filed by defense attorney Thomas Ferrito.
In testimony at his trial, Rojas admitted providing Bettencourt computerized information in 2010 and said he owed Bettencourt about $1,400 in a no-interest loan at the time.
But he testified, “I did it just as a favor to a friend,” and contended he did not intend to receive financial gain.
Prosecutors, however, in a sentencing brief cited statements made by Rojas to a police officer after his arrest, in which he said he had borrowed a total of $5,000 and provided the information in exchange for loan extensions and avoidance of paying interest.
Before joining the Santa Clara Police Department, Rojas was a police officer in Salinas and San Jose and served two tours of combat duty as a Marine in Iraq.

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REDWOOD CITY: DEFENDANT TESTIFIES HE STRANGLED FOOTBALL PLAYER’S DAUGHTER IN 1999

max — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:31:47 +0000

A man on trial for strangling the daughter of a Hall of Fame football player in 1999 took the stand in his own defense today in San Mateo County Superior Court.

Throughout emotional testimony that spanned several hours, Mohammed Haroon Ali, 36, covered his face and sobbed as he described the circumstances that led up to a fight in which he choked his girlfriend Tracey Biletnikoff to death on February 15, 1999.

Ali and Biletnikoff — the daughter of former Oakland Raiders wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff — were both recovering drug addicts and enrolled in drug rehab programs in San Mateo. Ali testified that days before he fought with Biletnikoff, he heard that a former girlfriend was on the verge of giving birth to a child that he had fathered.

He said he called the woman in an attempt to reenter her life and share part of the responsibility of raising the child, but she rejected the overture and hung up. The episode prompted him to relapse, Ali said. He and a friend went on a drinking binge in San Francisco, and ultimately drove back to San Mateo and bought drugs. Ali testified that when he confessed to Biletnikoff that he relapsed, she got angry and told him he was going to have to start the Project 90 substance abuse program from the beginning.

“She said I had to start the program again,” Ali said. “I had been in the program for two years. I was embarrassed.” The couple drove around San Mateo arguing, Ali said. They eventually ended up in an office at “Friendship Hall,” a meeting place for recovering addicts, and continued to argue. “We just kept going back and forth,” he said. “She was angry, and at that point I was starting to get angry, too.” Ali told Biletnikoff he was going to quit the program, and she kept “nagging” him, insisting that he stay there and restart it. The breaking point was when Biletnikoff called him “a loser” and compared him to an ex-boyfriend, who had also relapsed, Ali said.

“She started calling me names, I started calling her names,” he said.

Ali said that during the fight he told Biletnikoff about his pregnant ex-girlfriend, prompting her to hit him.

“At that point the argument became unbearable for me,” he said. “I just wanted to get out of there.”

Biletnikoff blocked the doorway, and Ali said he grabbed her shoulders to try to get her to move.

“I tried to pull her,” he said, breaking down in tears and covering his face with his hand. “I held her neck.”

Judge Barbara Mallach called a second recess for the defendant to compose himself after his testimony became inaudible.

When Ali continued, he said he couldn’t believe what he did when he saw Tracey on the ground with “big eyes” and white fluid coming out of her mouth.

“Her eyes were big,” he said, crying. “She was dead.”

Scared and confused, Ali said he devised a plan to cover up the crime and make it look like Tracey had been killed in a sexual attack.

Ali said he tied a black T-shirt around her neck and choked her, while knowing she was already dead.

He then put her body in the front seat of a Project 90 van and drove her from Freedom Hall to a parking lot at Canada College, where he pulled her pants off, and dumped her down a ravine, he said.

“I tried to make it look like a sexual crime,” he said.

Ali was eventually arrested trying to drive back from Mexico in Biletnikoff’s car on Feb. 16.

Under cross-examination, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said that before today, Ali had never said he tried to cover up the homicide by making it look like Tracey had been the victim of a sex crime.

“Is that because you’re making it up?” Wagstaffe asked.

“No, I’m not,” Ali said.

Prosecutors argue that Ali strangled Biletnikoff a second time to ensure that she was dead.

He faces life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder.

Defense attorney Peter Goldscheider has argued that the homicide was a crime of passion, which carries a much shorter sentence.

This is the second time that Ali has been on trial in San Mateo County Superior Court for Biletnikoff’s murder.

He was convicted of first-degree murder in 2001 and sentenced to 64 years to life in prison.

In 2009, an appellate court overturned the conviction stating that prosecutors had improperly dismissed at least one black juror, thus requiring a retrial.

Cross-examination is scheduled to continue on Thursday.

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OAKLAND: GUMARO BAEZ SENTENCED TO TWO LIFE TERMS FOR MURDERING TEEN GIRLS IN 2008

max — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:27:03 +0000

An Oakland man was sentenced today to two consecutive life prison terms plus 100 years for fatally shooting two teenage girls four years ago in what prosecutors said was a bid to avenge the death of his brother at the hands of police.

Gumaro Baez, 22, was convicted in November of two counts of first-degree murder for the shooting deaths of San Leandro High School students Dominique Hoover-Brown, 15, and Melissa Jackson, 17, in the 6500 block of Outlook Avenue in East Oakland at about 11:15 p.m. on Feb. 3, 2008.

The teens were in a van with two men, one of whom prosecutors said was Baez’s intended target. Prosecutors alleged that the girls were killed because they witnessed Baez shoot the two men, both of whom survived.

The girls were cousins. William Battle, Hoover-Brown’s brother and Melissa Jackson’s cousin, said during today’s sentencing that the murders “shook the fabric of our family to its core and changed the lives” of all surviving family members.

Baez was also convicted of two counts of attempted murder for shooting the two men who were with Hoover-Brown and Jackson, and of personally using a gun in the incident.

In addition, he was convicted of three special-circumstance clauses: two for murdering witnesses — the teenage girls — and one for committing multiple murders.

However, jurors acquitted Baez of an additional murder count that alleged that he fatally shot 40-year-old Terrance Brown in the 3300 block of 64th Avenue Place in a separate incident at about 12:50 a.m. on Feb. 2, 2008, less than 48 hours before the girls were killed.

Prosecutor Stacie Pettigrew said she believes ballistics evidence ties Baez to Brown’s death but said there weren’t any eyewitnesses in that incident and that investigators were unable to determine the motive for it.

She said all three murders were combined into one case because they occurred within a 48-hour period in the same area, and the same gun was used.

Pettigrew said Baez was upset that his brother, 21-year-old Addiel Meza, was killed by Oakland police in the 2400 block of 62nd Avenue, near Foothill Boulevard, at about 2:40 a.m. on Feb. 3, 2007 — exactly a year prior to the girls’ killings.

The prosecutor said police responded to that neighborhood after residents reported that Meza was firing a handgun into the air. Oakland police said officers fatally shot Meza after he threatened them with a gun.

Pettigrew said Baez was upset at a man who was with Meza the night Meza was killed because the man didn’t give Meza a ride — something that Baez thought would have prevented Meza’s confrontation with police and his death.

She said Baez was aiming at that man when he fired into the van in the Feb. 3, 2008, shooting.

Hoover-Brown and Jackson were passengers in the man’s van and simply “were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Pettigrew said.

After Baez shot the two men in the van, he decided to kill Hoover-Brown and Jackson because they were witnesses, according to Pettigrew.

In sentencing Baez today, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Paul Delucchi said Baez’s actions, as well as a letter he wrote while he was in custody, indicate “how incredibly callous he has been and how incredibly heartless and senseless these murders were.”

Delucchi said Baez tried to intimidate witnesses and prevent them from testifying, but “fortunately those efforts failed and he was exposed during his trial as the cold-blooded killer he is.”

Shanton Jackson, the mother of Melissa Jackson and the aunt of Hoover-Brown, called Baez “truly the scum of the earth” and urged Delucchi to send him to “the worst prison in the world.”

Baez, who was dressed in a red jail uniform, smiled as he came into court today.

Battle said he was upset that Baez still “has a smile on his face” and hasn’t been remorseful for his actions.

Baez’s lawyer, Al Wax, said during the trial that Baez is innocent and that another man, 22-year-old Devshawn Walker of Oakland, was the person who killed the two girls.

Walker was also charged with three counts of murder for the two shooting incidents but he pleaded guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter last year and was sentenced to 11 years in state prison.

Pettigrew said prosecutors agreed to the plea deal because there was a lack of evidence against Walker.

Before he was sentenced, Baez said, “I empathize and sympathize with the family but I can’t be remorseful for something I didn’t do.”

He said, “Only God can judge me.”

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KEY VIDEO ALLOWED IN MIRKARIMI CASE, WHICH RETURNS TO COURT WEDNESDAY

max — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:21:42 +0000

A judge ruled today that a critical piece of video evidence in the domestic violence case against San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi will be admissible in his upcoming trial.

Mirkarimi, 50, has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of domestic violence battery, child endangerment and dissuading a witness in connection with a Dec. 31 incident in which he allegedly bruised the right arm of his wife, Eliana Lopez, during an argument in which his 2-year-old son Theo was present.

Mirkarimi was excused from attending today’s hearing, at which Judge Garrett Wong considered various motions filed by the defense and prosecutors over whether to admit statements made by Lopez to neighbors Ivory Madison and Callie Williams in the days after the incident.

One of those statements was made in a 55-second video recorded by Madison on Jan. 1 that reportedly shows Lopez crying, pointing to a bruise on her arm and recounting the incident. Prosecutors on Friday filed a motion that included still images from the video.

Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Aguilar-Tarchi told Wong the video is “the focal point and crux of our case,” and argued that it should be admissible in trial under exceptions to the court’s hearsay rules.

Aguilar-Tarchi argued that the exceptions allow for certain spontaneous statements to be admissible if they are made under the stress of excitement and are made before there is time to contrive or misrepresent facts in a case.

She pointed out that Lopez was crying during the video, which she called “the functional equivalent of a 911 call.”

Defense attorney Lidia Stiglich argued that the passage of 18 hours between the alleged incident and the statement to Madison gave her time to reflect on the incident.

Stiglich also said that the video was made for use in a custody dispute, not for a criminal case, since Lopez said in the video she was concerned Mirkarimi might try to take her son away from her.

“Just being emotional about something is not sufficient” for a statement to be admissible in trial, Stiglich said.

However, Wong ruled that the video could be used, saying it showed “a woman who is still crying and visibly upset the next day,” and that the statement’s “brief, cryptic and halting” nature “do not reflect any hint of contrivance.”

While admitting the video and other statements Lopez made to Madison on Jan. 1, Wong denied the admission of further statements she made to Madison and Williams on Jan. 4.

Wong also weighed the question of whether an ex-girlfriend of Mirkarimi‘s, Christina Flores, will be allowed to testify in the trial.

Days after charges were filed against Mirkarimi on Jan. 13, Flores filed a police report saying that he was also abusive to her when they dated between June 2007 and December 2008.

Aguilar-Tarchi said Flores described Mirkarimi as a “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” whose aggressive actions “in many instances mirror the current case.”

Stiglich argued that Flores had not reported any abuse to authorities until now, and that there are no witnesses or evidence to corroborate her accusations.

“The prejudicial nature clearly outweighs any probative value” in having Flores testify, Stiglich said.

Wong ruled that he would take the arguments under submission and ordered Flores, who lives in Southern California, to come to San Francisco as soon as possible for a private meeting with the judge so he can determine whether to allow her to testify.

Wong also ruled on a motion by the defense to dismiss the case based on prosecutors releasing the pictures from the video of Lopez talking to Madison that Stiglich argued had tainted the jury pool.

Wong said he was “concerned about a fair and impartial jury pool” and ordered that the video not be released to the press before it was shown in trial.

Both sides returned to court this afternoon to deal with other issues in the case, including whether emails from Madison’s work account can be subpoenaed as evidence and motions filed by Lopez’s attorneys to dismiss the case and whether Lopez made the statements to Madison, who has a law degree, under attorney-client privilege.

Wong said that the case will return on Wednesday morning to deal with the motions by Lopez’s attorneys.

Potential jurors will then come in on Wednesday afternoon to fill out a questionnaire, and jury selection will begin on March 5, Wong said.

Stiglich said following this afternoon’s hearing that she expects a juror pool of between 175 to 200 people to be brought in, and that they will be told that the trial is expected to last about three weeks.

She said she was disappointed that the judge ruled against her on the matter of the video but said “we’re going to just keep pushing on and we’re going to just win it on trial.”

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SANTA CRUZ CO.: MAN SOUGHT WHO GRABBED 15-YEAR-OLD GIRL WHILE WALKING TO SCHOOL

max — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:16:10 +0000

Santa Cruz County sheriff’s officials are searching for a man who grabbed a 15-year-old girl when she was walking to school in Live Oak Monday morning.
The girl was walking around 8:15 a.m. when a man in a pickup truck slowly drove alongside her and came to a stop near 17th Avenue and Rodriguez Street in Live Oak in unincorporated Santa Cruz County.
Sheriff’s officials said the man jumped out of the truck and grabbed the girl. He was speaking in Spanish and the girl did not understand him.
The teen managed to break free of the man but he continued to follow her to Harbor High School in Santa Cruz, sheriff’s officials said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s office at (831) 454-2311.

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WALNUT CREEK: THREE MEN ARRESTED IN CREDIT CARD FRAUD AT NORDSTROM

max — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 16:01:56 +0000

Walnut Creek police have arrested three Southern California men in connection with a series of fraudulent credit card purchases at Nordstrom stores all over the state.

Police were called to the Nordstrom at 1200 Broadway Plaza Saturday around 4:15 p.m. by store officials who reported several suspects using fraudulent credit cards to buy gift cards, police said.

The three men were spotted in a van in the Nordstrom parking lot and taken into custody.

Nordstrom security identified the suspects and told police they were also suspected of numerous other frauds at Nordstrom stores in other parts of California.

A search of the suspects and van turned up more than $10,000 worth of gift cards and credit cards belonging to other people.

Police arrested Xianglong Cao, 30, of Monterey Park, Calif., Jarmar Taiwan Bethea, 29, of Los Angeles, and Joseph Velner Quinney, 34, of Compton, Calif. All three were held on suspicion of burglary, forgery and conspiracy, and bail is set at $70,000 each.

Anyone with more information on this incident is asked to call Walnut Creek police at (925) 943-5844.

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PALO ALTO POLICE RESPOND TO NINE BURLGARY INCIDENTS IN ONE DAY

max — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 15:52:23 +0000

Palo Alto police responded to eight home burglaries and one attempted home burglary on Friday, and they are warning residents stay on the alert.

Three burglaries occurred on the 300 block of Sheridan Avenue between 7:30 a.m. and 2:45 p.m., and another three on the same floor of an apartment complex on the 400 block of Grant Avenue between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., according to Lt. Zach Perron.

The apartment complexes in these burglaries are both secured, with locked interior hallways that require a key to gain entry. The suspects pried open the front doors and stole electronics and jewelry from inside.

Another two occurred between 8:15 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. at homes on the 1100 block of Middlefield Road and the 1600 block of Portola Avenue. The homes in those incidents were entered through a rear door, and electronics and jewelry were stolen.

A resident on the 1100 block of Hamilton Avenue also reported that a suspect tried to force entry to a pet door some time between Feb. 22 and Feb. 24. The suspect did not succeed in gaining entry.

Police are investigating links to other burglaries in all these cases.

In many recent cases, the burglars have rung the doorbell to see if anyone is home before entering. Police are urging residents to speak through their doors or otherwise acknowledge that someone is home.

Residents are also asked to secure side gates and lock doors and windows when no one is home.

To report any suspicious activity, call 911 immediately. Anyone with information on these burglaries or other recent incidents should call (650) 329-2143. Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or texted or phoned in to (650) 383-8984.

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