California Criminal Attorney Blog

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas announced he will seek the death penalty against two men who are accused of killing multiple people each. Andrew Urdiales is charged with five counts of special circumstances murder from cases in Orange County, Riverside County and San Diego County. Urdiales is already serving a life sentence in Illinois for the murder of two women one in 2002 and one in 2004.

Urdiales is accused of killing Saddleback College student Robbin Brandley, 23 on January 18 1986. Urdiales stabbed Brandley 41 times in the back, neck, hands and chest when she left a jazz concert on campus. According to authorities, Urdiales went to the college campus with a six-inch blade hunting knife looking for a random person to murder.

Pasqual Loera 33, of Redlands also faces the death penalty in a case where he is charged with killing Westminster couple, Julie Palasko and Dennis Koire after pretending to be interested in purchasing their vehicle. Loera, a Navy deserter, saw the car ad in Auto Trader in February 2010. He went to the couple's home and instead of buying the car, shot Palasko dead and wounded Koire with a bullet to the head before fleeing to Nevada in their vehicle. Koire was in a coma for 13 months before dying in March of 2011.

A man in his 20's or 30's robbed a US Bank in Anaheim at gunpoint. The man who authorities say is a white male, about 5'9" and 170 pounds was wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses when he entered the bank shortly before 5:00 pm, Monday.

When he entered the bank, he allegedly pointed the handgun at employees and demanded cash. The robber was given an undisclosed amount of money before he fled on foot. It is unknown if this individual is responsible for any other bank robberies in Orange County.

Scott Dekraai, 42 of Huntington Beach is unable to afford the services of a private attorney and has been appointed the Orange County Public Defender's Office according to his previous attorney. Dekraai is accused of killing 8 people in a Seal Beach hair salon on October 12, 2011, the deadliest killing in Seal Beach history.

Dekraai's previous attorney told Orange County Superior Court Judge Erick L. Larsh his law firm was in the process of assembling a defense team, however, it "now appears that my client cannot afford the services of private counsel through trial."

If convicted, Dekraai faces the death penalty in the special circumstance murder case.

A young man, Dylan Aber, 19 of Santa Ana was arrested after Orange County Sheriff Deputies found explosives in his trunk after a routine traffic stop. Authorities say the explosives were “bottle bombs” filled with low-grade explosive powder and nails. Aber also possessed a tightly wrapped box filled with nails and explosive powder. Specialized hazardous device agents were dispatched and disabled the devices without incident.

Aber, who is already on probation in Orange County for an attempted petty theft in May of 2011 is being held in Orange County Jail on $20,000 bail.

Yannis Galanis, 28, of Bellflower was sentenced to 7 years in state prison after killing his passenger and injuring an occupant of another vehicle after he crashed his pickup. Galanis plead guilty to felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, driving under the influence with a prior and driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent or more causing injury.

Galanis, who had already been convicted of a prior DUI in 2002, was driving his truck at high speeds on the southbound I-5 freeway in Anaheim. The vehicle swerved from lane to lane and crashed into another car before careening up a dirt embankment before hitting a concrete bridge head-on.

A man walking across traffic lanes on Beach Blvd in Orange County died when he was struck by a 2000 Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck at 5:15 a.m. October 22, 2011. The driver, Alexandro Cedillo of Stanton was arrested after officers conducted field sobriety tests and a DUI investigation.

Cedillo, who did stop at the scene of the crash was travelling northbound on Beach Blvd when he allegedly struck the pedestrian who was walking in the roadway. Anaheim police suspect the victim may have been hit by other drivers and are asking the public to contact them with any information.

Cedillo is in custody and should be arraigned Tuesday, October 25, 2011.