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Naomi Perez, of Brea, was sentenced to 150 days in Orange County Jail for having sex with a student at the high school where she taught.

The relationship was discovered after Perez vandalized the student’s car when he broke off the relationship. This is always a troubling situation. The student, whether a male or a female, is not in an equal position to the teacher, either by virtue of age or power. Students can feel locked in a relationship they want to escape, fearing retribution if they speak out. That factor alone necessitates court intervention. I wonder if the defendant would have received a heavier sentence had he been a male. Since these cases rise and fall on their own specific facts, it’s hard to compare. In either event, someone in Perez’s situation will need a qualified Orange County molestation or sex crime attorney to help them sort through the applicable law and defenses to such charges. Good outcomes can be obtained with proper planning and investigation.

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Medical overbilling is a crime often overlooked by prosecuting agencies, probably because most insurance companies focus on overt, long-term acts of outright medical insurance fraud, where no services at all are rendered, or, as in the Unity case, unnecessary procedures were performed.

But charges were filed against several chiropractors and one lawyer today. Not too many details were revealed in this case, but it seems the chiros were billing for treatments that were never performed, on undercover DA investigators. A paralegal was charged with processing the claims and acting as a lawyer in the process.

If the over-billing can be documented, then there isn’t much to say about it, other than for the defendant to get out his checkbook if he doesn’t want to go to prison. But, the paralegal who was charged may have a valid defense that he wasn’t practicing law, merely assisting the attorney for whom he worked.

Whether you or a loved one has been charged with fraud, you should contact a qualified Orange County Criminal Defense Attorney to assist you with legal counsel.

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I’m beginning to wonder if there are really any young girls actually suckered into meeting an adult male through the internet anymore. All I read about are sting operations conducted by police agencies, like this one in Huntington Beach, California.

This is a typical scenario. The police begin by lurking around on chat rooms, trying to connect with a potential suspect, baiting him by leaking out false information about age, gender and willingness to meet. The male takes the bait and shows up to the rendezvous, only to be met by cops. According to national health statistics, over 100,000 reported sex abuse cases occurred in 2007.

Molestation is a very serious crime that will almost always come with prison time. If the molestation is with someone who is kidnapped, or moved from the original area of assault, the sentence will be dramatically increased due to their inability to fight back. Consent is never a defense. Frequently, these types of cases are prosecuted in federal court as well. Whether you live in Irvine, Mission Viejo or Fullerton, if you are charged with molestation, hire a qualified molestation child abuse defense attorney in Orange County right away.

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What an orderly bank robber! A white guy walks into an Orange County bank and gives the teller a note demanding money. He gets the money, then he asks for the note back. Very neat.

There really aren’t very many details, but Tustin Police would likely get the bank’s videos showing the all the interior and exterior views to see if they can firm up a description of him or his car, if he came in one. Either way, bank robbery is a federal offense, but can be prosecuted by the Orange County District Attorney. A qualified Orange County criminal defense lawyer would attempt to have the charges prosecuted in state court, as that would lend flexibility to the outcome.

Whether the robbery occurred in Tustin, Irvine, Newport Beach, Santa Ana or Westminster, the defendant will need a good Orange County criminal defense lawyer to assist him.

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Doesn’t anyone get points for ingenuity? I don’t think so in this case. Seems this kid decided he didn’t need to buy a stolen gun for “protection”. So he made one himself.

Well, he tried to fire it and it worked! Oops. It worked so well it went through some neighbors’ walls and the cops came out. Looks like our Thomas Edison is going to the grey bar motel on a felony charge of discharging a firearm into a residence. The police think he’s a gang member, too, so they’re adding those charges.

What may end up happening is that the minor may plead to a negligent discharge, instead of the more serious strike offense of a straight discharge. In either event, the police have this kid in their sights and he’ll be watched carefully from now on. All police departments and an Orange County criminal defense attorney will look for this kind of thing to be repeated.

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What kind of man steals a computer? Apparently, one who can’t squeeze under a fence. Looks like Garnica Gutierrez is. He couldn’t get his booty under a chain-link fence and was nabbed by the cops.

Seems ol’ Garnica tripped the alarm and the campus cops snuck up on him and slapped the cuffs on the miscreant.

Santa Ana is a self-insured district. This means that they can choose to replace the computer or not, maybe reducing the stock of computers on which the kids can learn.

Computers are often stolen to sell to others to get drugs. In these tough times, people will do anything to get drugs. Garnica will likely be charged with grand theft and burglary and may face prison time and have to pay restitution.

Whether you live in Santa Ana, Irvine or Yorba Linda, if you have been charged with theft, call an experienced criminal defense attorney right away to assist you.

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What began as a plot to uncover stashes of money ended with the death of a man over nothing: no money at all. Instead, Debbie Perna is rotting in prison on a life term after engineering the gang murder of her brother, David Montemayor, a man brave enough to run away from his captors so they couldn’t take him home and threaten his wife and children.

Perna told the gangsters that if they killed her brother, they’d get paid with cash stuffed in coffee cans. Turns out that was a rumor. No cash. Just orphans and a widow. Murder of a sibling dates back to the old testament. It’s either jealousy, greed or a combination of both. In either event, the person charged with arranging the murder has a right to due process, no matter what the freaks and weirdos who post their comments say about it. Perna could have, theoretically, had mental problems that affected her judgment. A good lawyer would explore mental defenses, particularly in a capital murder case.

To qualify for the death penalty instead of just life in prison without the possibility of parole, special circumstances need to be present. Some special circumstances include felony murder, murdering a peace officer, prosecutor or judge or multiple murders, among others. If you are convicted of murder with special circumstances, you will be on Death Row for years before being executed. If you are sentenced to murder without special circumstances, you will have to spend your life in prison. Whether you live in Santa Ana, Irvine or Anaheim, if you are charged with murder, call an experienced criminal defense attorney right away to assist you.

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While this isn’t widely reported, animal neglect and abuse is not uncommon. It’s very hard to police, though. In this case, the animal was brought to a shelter after a witness to its condition rescued it. What makes this story unique is that the defendant was an employee of…wait for it…. an animal shelter.

The owner of the shelter is going to keep paying her, saying he doesn’t want to abandon her family like she did the dog. Nice guy. Orange County prosecutors usually charge these cases as misdemeanors and try to get the defendants to clean up the house. Many of the defendants are hoarders, people who cannot get rid of things and keep a very dirty home. The filth extends to the companion animals kept in the home.

Animal cruelty is the infliction of injury or harm on an animal or the neglect of an animal. Animals are helpless creatures that often cannot fight off their attackers. If you are convicted of animal cruelty, you will likely go to jail, have to take anger management classes, pay restitution and be put on probation. Whether you live in Santa Ana, Laguna Niguel or Newport Beach, if you are charged with animal cruelty, call an experienced criminal defense attorney right away to assist you.

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There can be little doubt that the defendant in this case is a confused and befuddled person. There is also little doubt that the act of killing your own child is one of the most hated and troubling acts by society. Child abuse is repugnant in our society and we find ourselves wondering what it takes to commit such a heinous act. Mental illness?Poor upbringing? Drugs and alcohol? Fatigue over time? Anyone who is a parent knows about frustration. But what if you don’t expect to have a child? What if you are scared and worried about the consequences? What if you think you’ll be cast aside by your family should they find out you had a child out of wedlock? These are the issues one considers in this case.

Yanira Valderrama is 20 years old. She may have drowned her child in the bathroom on purpose. She may assert a claim of insanity or intoxication. In any event, she’ll never be the same and the child will never grow up.

The District Attorney may seek death on this case. To qualify for the death penalty instead of just life in prison without the possibility of parole, special circumstances need to be present. Some special circumstances include felony murder, murdering a peace officer, prosecutor or judge or multiple murders, among others.

If you are convicted of murder with special circumstances, you will be on Death Row for years before being executed. If you are sentenced to murder without special circumstances, you will have to spend your life in prison. Whether you live in Santa Ana, Fullerton or Newport Beach, if you are charged with murder, call an experienced murder defense attorney right away to assist you.

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You can’t steal this much money and be stupid, can you? Apparently, Kathy Chen thought so. Now, not so much. Chen was arrested recently for buying 35 properties using stolen names or likely paying people to use their identity to get loans.

The total amount of fraud? 17.5 million dollars. She had help. Two others, believed to be in Mexico, helped her steal the money. This kind of fraud has become rampant, especially during the credit boom earlier in the decade. Lenders didn’t look too hard at borrowers, instead relying on rising home values to protect them in case of default.

Chen, 49, of Westminster, California, is facing over 100 years in prison on these charges. Most thieves don’t save their money. White collar fraud cases can resolve well if the defendants can pay back the money, but if not, the state prison system awaits.

White Collar fraud takes many forms. Mortgage fraud is one version, and requires a lot of effort to accomplish. Whether or not Chen intended to service these loans will be an issue, in terms of degree of culpability. In any event, she will need an experienced White Collar defense attorney to assist her.

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