California Criminal Attorney Blog

An Orange County resident is set to begin trial next week on a series of rapes that occurred in Lake Forest, Irvine and Huntington Beach. Sekayi Rudo White, 33 his accused of 14 counts involving 6 women during a 5 year span. Most women, he met in bars, had been dating or was acquainted with. If convicted, White faces up to 119 years in state prison.

Orange County prosecutors allege several of the women were too afraid to come forward initially but finally did so after learning of White’s arrest. Rightfully so, because one of the sexual assaults took place after White was released on bail.

White is accused of forcible rape, assault with intent to commit rape, sexual battery, burglary and other sentencing enhancements. White has been in custody since he was re-arrested after the assault that took place while he was out on bail.

William Gregory Mordick, a Washington resident was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for killing his ex-wife 28 years ago. Judge John Conley sentenced Mordick for the first-degree murder conviction of Katherine Mordick in her Anaheim Hills home.

William Mordick had picked up his two daughters from Kathleen’s home to bring them to a birthday party. After he placed his kids in the car, prosecutors contend he returned to the home, slashed Kathleen’s throat and left her to bleed to death.

A cold case for many years, detectives re-examined evidence found at the scene. Forensic evidence established several places in the home that belonged to William Mordick and one key piece of evidence that showed a mixture of blood belonging to both William and Kathleen.

Huntington Beach, California is looking into the idea of posting those arrested for Vehicle Code Section 23152 (a) and (b), driving under the influence, on the social network Facebook. Huntington Beach City Council members are going to take up this idea at their next council meeting.

Councilman Devin Dwyer looked into the idea as a way of “public shame for those who drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.” While Dwyer has been criticized for such an idea, he points to other public information portals that do list those arrested for DUI in Orange County.

Public response has been mixed. The idea of public shame is not going to deter drinking and driving. If those that get arrested for DUI didn’t take the time to contemplate arrest, they surely are not going to worry about public humiliation.

Orange County Sheriff Deputy Brian Hagerman is being accused of excessive force by three people, one of whom is the brother of former LAPD Chief Daryl Gates. Stephen Gates, a former LAPD captain himself was threatened with a taser and arrested by Hagerman when he illegally parked his golf cart on the sidewalk outside of a San Clemente restaurant. Two other residents of San Clemente have also accused Hagerman of being a bully on the streets of south Orange County. These allegations of resulted in federal lawsuits against Hagerman and the county.

Hagerman, a 14-year veteran of the sheriff’s department is considered a “valued member of the OCSD” according to the department, despite having been found in violation of department policy on at least two occasions.

Trevor Coffman, of Laguna Niguel, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, plus a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury to an elder. He will serve 4 years in state prison.

Coffman, who had been drinking after a recreational softball game crashed into a Volvo killing Frank Howd, 82 and Catherine Malloy, 72. The driver of the Volvo, Sally Howd, 76, was seriously injured. Coffman was travelling down the I-5 freeway near El Toro Road when he crashed into the Volvo which had been disabled from an earlier crash.

Prosecutors argued that due to him being under the influence of alcohol and under the influence of marijuana, Coffman was impaired and thus, unable to stop his vehicle safely in order to avoid the accident. Coffman’s defense attorney argued that the disabled Volvo, was in a dark area of the freeway and did not have proper hazard lighting and the accident was due to Coffman being impaired. Coffman had a BAC of .10 slightly over the legal limit but also had marijuana in his system.

Orange County, California resident Rachel Hicks, 36 has been arrested by Orange County Sheriff’s for suspicion of having sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old boy. Hicks and the minor met in Maryland after becoming friends online playing X-Box Live.

The relationship allegedly started with online gaming then led to phone calls, a face-to-face meeting and a sexual encounter. According to Orange County Sheriff’s spokesmen Jim Amorimino, Hicks is a married mother of three and drove to Maryland after visiting family in Florida over the holidays. While in Maryland, Hicks and the boy allegedly had sexual intercourse.

As is typical in cases like this, the boy’s parents found “romantic” messages from Hicks on his cell phone and he admitted the relationship. Because Hicks had used a fake name, law enforcement officer used the assistance of ICE to determine her true identity. Hicks has also admitted to having a relationship with at least one other underage boy in California, Amormino said.

Walmart store security personnel alerted Brea Police when a man who had been seen stealing wallets out of purses left unattended in shopping carts returned to the store. Jose Bernardino Vargas, 28 of Placentia was arrested when he returned to the Brea store and store security recognized him from surveillance tape from previously reported thefts.

When Brea police arrived, they found additional stolen merchandise in Vargas’s vehicle including wallets and gift cards. Vargas admitted to police he stole the wallets and was arrested. Vargas also had a warrant out for his arrest for burglary and possession of stolen property.

Orange County Superior Court judge, Daniel B. McNerney dismissed rape charges against David McKee after a jury hung 11-1 for not guilty. McKee’s defense attorney agued that with a verdict of 11-1 for not guilty, no future jury would be able to convict Mr. McKee. When the Orange County prosecutor did not object, McNerney dismissed the case.

McKee was accused of assaulting the victim he met at a bar in Newport Beach on July 12, 2006. Prosecutors alleged that when the woman slept, McKee had entered her room while she slept and raped her. Jurors, however did not agree. According to the foreman, most jurors did not think the woman was unconscious and it was a consensual sexual encounter.

According to Orange County, California prosecutors, Irvine attorney Matthew Tye, 31 is in custody on $500,000 bail for having sex with two under age girls. Prosecutors allege, Tye had sex with a 17-year-old girl and a 14-year-old girl in his home and then attempted to dissuade one of them to lie to police when he was being investigated.

According to a OCDA press release, law enforcement officials began to investigate Tye after the 17-year-old victim reported the incident to a family member and that family member reported it to police. Once they began their investigation, law enforcement officials learned of the second 14-year-old victim and possible other victims.

Tye is charged with 25 felony counts including multiple counts of unlawful sexual intercourse (PC 261.5), lewd acts upon a minor (PC 288(c)(1), oral copulation of a minor (PC 288(a)(b)(2)) and dissuading a witness (PC 136.1(b)(1)). If convicted, Tye faces 24 years in state prison and lifetime registration as a sex offender.

A woman who was the law office manager of Rinos & Martin, LLP has been charged with embezzling over $480,000.00 from the law firm. Orange County prosecutors allege Donna Joy Henderson, 67 of Orange, California wrote checks from the law firm account to her own personal account and spent the money on luxuries such as jewelry, cruises, home improvements, indoor sauna and time share properties. In an attempt to hide the fraud, prosecutors further allege she falsified business records and balancing sheets.

Henderson, who was in charge of the financial records, is alleged to have written over 122 company checks between 2003 and 2009. She is charged with one count of Penal Code Section 487(a)- Grand Theft with a sentencing enhancements for fraud over $150,000 and fourteen counts of Penal Code Section 471-Falsifying Financial Records. If convicted, Henderson faces a maximum prison sentence of 14 years, 4 months.

Even though Henderson wrote 122 checks, she can only be charged with one count of theft. This is called “Common Plan or Scheme.” Under California law, when a person uses the same method to commit theft, such as we have here, that person can only be charged once. So, to get around this law, prosecutors can charge criminal defendants with multiple counts of falsifying records and or forgery, which usually accompanies a theft. This is why it is very important to contact a knowledgeable Orange County criminal defense lawyer if you are being accused of any white collar crime or fraud

In a unique tale of events, a Laguna Hills man finally fessed up and plead guilty in Orange County Superior Court to five counts of identity theft, grand theft by false pretenses (2) and false impersonation. Ryan Matthews, had purchased a BMW with a stolen identity, however, when he defaulted on his payments and not wanting his stolen identity to receive a negative credit rating, he reported that his stolen identity had been stolen.

Now, in attempt to set the record straight, Mr. Matthews has pleaded guilty to being the purchaser of the BMW with an identity he had stolen 10 years previously. What did Mr. Matthews get for his confession? Nine months in jail and three years probation and a trip back to Jamaica by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Department.

Patricia Bororquez, a former LA sheriff deputy plead guilty to filing a false police report and unlawful discharge of a firearm. Boroquez, who was in a custody dispute with her ex-husband, accused her ex of sexually assaulting a relative. After officers conducted an investigation, it was determined the relative had not been sexually assaulted. Boroquez also plead guilty to firing a gun inside her Westminster home that caused the bullet to exit the home through a bedroom window.

Boroquez was already on probation in Orange County after she plead guilty to two DUI’s. The first DUI resulted from an arrest of Boroquez after she drove her children to the mall with a .19 BAC and the second when she backed into a parked car in Huntington Beach with a BAC of .27.

As a result of her plea, Boroquez will serve 1 year at OC Jail with 5 years of probation and she cannot own or possess a firearm.

Over a two-week period between December 17, 2010 through January 2, 2011, police agencies in Orange County arrested 743 people with VC 23152 (a) and 23152 (b) suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs. This is a significant increase over 2010 numbers where 602 arrests were made.

Also, on a sad note, there were five DUI related fatalities this year with none last year.
Anti-DUI programs funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety assist local agencies with DUI checkpoints and increased personnel over the two-week crackdown.