Los Angeles - Ex-celebrity sleuth Anthony Pellicano, who's serving a 15-year prison term in a federal racketeering, conspiracy and wiretapping case, pleaded no contest today to a criminal threats charge involving a news reporter.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William N. Sterling immediately sentenced Pellicano to three years in prison --- to be served at the same time as the 65-year-old defendant's federal prison term.
Co-defendant Alexander Frederick Proctor, 66, also pleaded no contest to the same charge. He was ordered to serve three years in prison, which is to be served at the same time as his 10-year federal prison term in a drug case.
A conspiracy charge against Pellicano and Proctor was dismissed as a result of their pleas on the criminal threats charge, according to the District Attorney's Office.
The two were charged by Los Angeles County prosecutors in June 2005 involving an attempt to scare Anita Busch, who was then working for the Los Angeles Times.
Pellicano hired Proctor between April and June 2002 to intimidate the reporter "to cause her to fear for her life," and Proctor went to Busch's home that June and "threatened her by placing a dead fish with a rose in its mouth on the windshield of her car," according to the criminal complaint.
"He made a hole in the windshield with the intent to make it appear like a bullet hole. He also placed a sign with the word `stop' on the windshield," according to the document.
At a preliminary hearing in August in which the two men were ordered to stand trial, retired FBI agent Stanley Ornellas said the reason for the threat was a series of articles Busch was working on that probed actor Steven Seagal's purported relationship with Mafia figures. Seagal has strongly denied the allegations.
A search of Pellicano's office turned up computer records containing Busch's driver's license number and other information, the retired federal agent testified.
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Saturday, November 28, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Supreme Court Cites Los Angeles DUI Attorney as Authority
LONG BEACH, Calif., Aug. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- In a landmark decision, the California Supreme Court has cited a Los Angeles DUI lawyer as authority in reversing previous law prohibiting California DUI attorneys from offering evidence in trial that breathalyzers used in drunk driving cases are susceptible to inherent error.
In California v. Neal, the Supreme Court three times cited the legal textbook California Drunk Driving Defense, 4th edition as scientific authority for its decision. Used by California DUI lawyers statewide, the best-selling text on the subject is authored by Los Angeles DUI attorney Lawrence Taylor. As reported in TheNewspaper.com: A Journal of the Politics of Driving:
The California Supreme Court last Thursday entered a ruling allowing motorists accused of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) to question the reliability of the breathalyzer machinery used to secure convictions.
"Simply put, the machines all automatically convert the amount of alcohol tested in the tiny amount of breath taken from the suspect," California DUI attorney Lawrence Taylor explained. "The internal computer multiplies the amount by 2100 -- using the average ratio of alcohol in blood to alcohol in breath -- to estimate the amount of alcohol in the suspect's blood. Problem: We are not all average. And ratios vary from 1300:1 to 3500:1."
With this in mind, the supreme court held that partition ratio evidence may now be raised as a defense to a general DUI charge. The court, however, in previous rulings made it clear that motorists could be convicted of per se DUI regardless of any scientific evidence regarding actual intoxication. The high court cited Lawrence Taylor as an authority on the subject three times in its decision, but Taylor blasted the decision as irrational.
Known nationally as "The Dean of DUI Attorneys", Lawrence Taylor is a former Los Angeles deputy district attorney and Fulbright Professor of Law who has lectured to DUI lawyers in over 41 states. Taylor currently heads his law firm of 8 DUI defense lawyers serving clients in Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside-San Bernardino, San Diego and the San Francisco Bay area.
The decision has been widely applauded by DUI defense attorneys in California, while prosecutors have criticized the decision, predicting that it will result in far more DUI lawyers winning acquittals.
Source
In California v. Neal, the Supreme Court three times cited the legal textbook California Drunk Driving Defense, 4th edition as scientific authority for its decision. Used by California DUI lawyers statewide, the best-selling text on the subject is authored by Los Angeles DUI attorney Lawrence Taylor. As reported in TheNewspaper.com: A Journal of the Politics of Driving:
The California Supreme Court last Thursday entered a ruling allowing motorists accused of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) to question the reliability of the breathalyzer machinery used to secure convictions.
"Simply put, the machines all automatically convert the amount of alcohol tested in the tiny amount of breath taken from the suspect," California DUI attorney Lawrence Taylor explained. "The internal computer multiplies the amount by 2100 -- using the average ratio of alcohol in blood to alcohol in breath -- to estimate the amount of alcohol in the suspect's blood. Problem: We are not all average. And ratios vary from 1300:1 to 3500:1."
With this in mind, the supreme court held that partition ratio evidence may now be raised as a defense to a general DUI charge. The court, however, in previous rulings made it clear that motorists could be convicted of per se DUI regardless of any scientific evidence regarding actual intoxication. The high court cited Lawrence Taylor as an authority on the subject three times in its decision, but Taylor blasted the decision as irrational.
Known nationally as "The Dean of DUI Attorneys", Lawrence Taylor is a former Los Angeles deputy district attorney and Fulbright Professor of Law who has lectured to DUI lawyers in over 41 states. Taylor currently heads his law firm of 8 DUI defense lawyers serving clients in Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside-San Bernardino, San Diego and the San Francisco Bay area.
The decision has been widely applauded by DUI defense attorneys in California, while prosecutors have criticized the decision, predicting that it will result in far more DUI lawyers winning acquittals.
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