California Criminal Attorney Blog

In what is considered a very unusual case, U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney set aside the guilty plea of Broadcom Co-Founder Henry Samueli and then dismissed the entire information against him.

Judge Carney heard Samueli testify in the trial of William Ruehle, who was Broadcom’s CFO. Broadcom, an Irvine based company, is in the business of manufacturing of semi-conductors. During the conclusion of his testimony, Carney, set aside the plea and dismissed the case against him without giving the U.S. Attorney’s Office a chance to protest.

The dismissal comes on the heels of prosecutorial misconduct conducted by U.S. Attorney Andrew Stolper. Judge Carney found prosecutorial misconduct when Stolper told another Broadcom executive, David Dull, that if his testimony in the William Ruehle case was similar to his earlier deposition, Dull could face perjury charges.

Judge Carney is also the judge who previously would not accept a plea agreement between Samueli and Federal Prosecutors. In that agreement, Samueli was to plead guilty, serve 5 years of probation and pay $12 Million to the federal Treasury. Carney felt that by accepting this agreement, it would leave the impression that “justice was for sale.”

A Yorba Linda resident was charged today with raping three women, two he met online on MySpace. Jason Erpinal, 20 was charged with the multiple counts of sexual assault and faces a 45-year-to-life prison term if convicted. Erpinar is being held at Orange County Jail on $1 Million bail

Erpinar, is accused of inviting an 18-year-old girl he met online to a party in Yorba Linda. While at the party, the victim alleges Erpinar raped her in a bathroom after she was too intoxicated to resist.

Three weeks later, he invited another woman to a hotel in Newport Beach after meeting her on MySpace. This woman who is 22-years-old told officers of a similar experience in that she was raped by Erpinar after being too intoxicated to resist. When she woke up, she had a chipped tooth and scratches on her face.

During the course of the investigation, officers learned from Erpinar’s ex-girlfriend that he raped her on several occasions back in 2007-2007.

Chino Institute for Men, a California Department of Corrections Prison concluded their investigation on what started a riot that injured 240 inmates last summer. Department of Corrections spokesperson Terry Thornton said the fight began between two Los Angeles County gangs, one black and one Hispanic. Soon after the fight broke out, other inmates joined the melee.

Officials say they have charged 222 Chino Prison inmates with rules violations that will likely lengthen their stay. In addition, officials say they have 25 criminal cases pending with the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office for crimes including attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, assault by inmate and conspiracy to commit murder. Jeremy Carrasco, the Lead Deputy District Attorney for the Chino Branch Office says no cases have been forwarded to his office for review.

There were no fatalities, injuries to prison personnel, no hostage situations and no escapes during the riot. However, 55 inmates were transported to area hospitals for treatment.

A man accused of being the mastermind behind a $144 million securities and mortgage fraud scheme had his bail lowered from $144 million to $5 million. After a bail reduction hearing, Richard Fields, a Riverside Superior Court judge reduced James Duncan’s bail however, he did say he wants a hearing if Duncan can post the bail and where the money came from.

Duncan and several other co-defendants are accused of bilking hundreds of investors out of $17 million and causing over 200 homes to go into foreclosure. Investors are from Arizona and California.

Alan Mazon was arrested in Riverside on Monday for allegedly failing to register as a sex offender. Those convicted of certain sex offenses are required under the law to register as a sex offender in the city in which they reside on their birthday. Failing to register as a sexual offender could mean new criminal charges.

Mazon was booked at Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside and is suspected to be in violation of the law for not registering under penal code 2909.

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested two women in connection with robberies of elderly residents. Katherine Flores, of San Bernardino and Sofia Alvarenga of Ontario were arrested and booked at the West Valley Detention Center.

On November 26, 2009 at 11:00am a 75-year-old woman was approached by a woman in the Vons parking lot. The woman grabbed the elderly ladies purse and drove off with an accomplice. On November 27, 2009 another 73-year-old woman was robbed after returning to her residence from Vons Market. Credit cards from both victims were used at stores in Rancho Cucamonga and Colton.

Investigators were led to a motel in San Bernardino where Flores and Alvarenga were staying.

A couple of Upland CVS store clerks were faced with a handgun and demand for money by a suspect authorities identified as a black male, 6 foot tall and wearing a baseball camp and hooded sweatshirt.

When the suspect entered the Upland pharmacy, he tried to purchase alcohol and was turned away. When he returned, he had a handgun in his waistband and directed the two store workers to the safe. When the suspect stole an undisclosed amount of money, he ran out of the store.

A man who fled to South Korea after he caused a crash in Fountain Valley was sentenced to 9 years in state prison. Youn Bum Lee, plead guilty in November to vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and a sentencing enhancement for leaving the scene of an accident. Lee was travelling down the 55 freeway in Orange County, California when he collided with 23 year-old Ryan Cook. Cook was returning to his home in Huntington Beach when he was Killed on October 19, 2005.

Lee, formerly of Irvine, was an executive with Hyundai Motor Company of America. He was out drinking driving when he lost control of his Hyundai SUV and crashed into Cook.
After the accident, Lee boarded a flight to Seoul, South Korea living his family behind. After the Orange County District Attorney’s Office filed charges in April 2007, Lee was arrested in Seoul and extradited back to Orange County.