Author Archives: Caroline Anderson - Senior Support Specialist

POT DEALER TO DO 8 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON (Sam Spital)

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COMMENTARY BY SAN DIEGO CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER, SAM SPITAL:

“On January 24, 2013, according to the UT San Diego electronic news, U.S. District Judge Irma Gonzalez sentenced 32 year old Joshua Hester after a guilty plea to more than eight years in Federal Prison for money laundering, maintaining a drug-related business, conspiracy to distribute more than a ton of marijuana, and other charges. The Federal Government lawyer argued and the Judge agreed in imposing the sentence that Hester operated a multi-million dollar business in two medical marijuana dispensaries and used the state law to seemingly shield his operations for dealing in the sale of illegal drugs.

In 1996, Proposition 215 was passed in California as an Initiative (commonly known as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996. The purposes of the Act are to ensure seriously ill individuals have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes as long as the medical use is deemed appropriate and has been recommended by a physician who has determined the health of such individuals will benefit from the use of marijuana in the treatment of medical disorders and diseases such as cancer, AIDS, chronic pain and arthritis,  migraine headaches and/or any other illness for which marijuana is deemed to provide relief.

Essentially, under California law, one can use marijuana for medicinal purposes as long as there is a recommendation by a physician.  In addition, the Medical Marijuana Program (MMP) was established in 2003, pursuant to Senate Bill number 420 that was passed as an extension and clarification to provide qualified patients and their caregivers a registration program and the issuance of a voluntary medical marijuana identification card. The problem is that since 1972, the United States Congress has listed marijuana in Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act, which means that it has no accepted medical use and is illegal under Federal law. Since that time, however, 17 of states and the District of Columbia have legalized the medical use of marijuana given the opinion that medical marijuana dispensaries are operated for the public good to serve those who are seriously ill and as such have found relief from marijuana. The debate will continue as long as there is a conflict in State and Federal law.”

–Sam Spital

EX-BORDER PATROL UNION BOSS FIGHTS FRAUD CHARGES – Attorney files slew of motions attacking charges that he defrauded union for years (Sam Spital)

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Commentary by Federal Fraud & San Diego Criminal Defense Attorney Sam Spital:

“The digital edition of UT San Diego, formerly known as San Diego Union Tribute, published on January 22, 2013 a story concerning T.J. Bonner who previously led the nation’s Border Patrol labor union for two decades and was charged with Wire Fraud and Conspiracy, although his lawyer is now contesting both the prosecution case and procedures used to obtain an indictment sought by the U.S. Attorney who is claiming the defendant defrauded the union out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The article revealed the Government’s attorney responded to the pretrial motions attacking search warrants served on Bonner by asserting the warrants were valid and the evidence seized from his home are admissible. On the other hand the reported noted that the defense lawyer is seeking to dismiss the charges that Bonner submitted false claims for travel, meals, professional sports game tickets and reimbursement for wages; the defense contends the expense claims are legitimate because they were directly related and incurred while the defendant was working on union business. This will be a highly contested matter given the union boss has held a public role in which he served as an aggressive advocate for union members and in doing so was a powerful critic of government policy.”

–Sam Spital

Military Sex Crimes Increasing Despite Training – Officials struggle to explain why the problem has grown (Sam Spital)

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Commentary by Sex Crime Defense and San Diego Criminal Attorney Sam Spital:

“On January 21, 2013, in the digital edition of the NBC Channel 39 news, an article was published regarding the growing sexual crimes, including sodomy, adultery, pornography and related offenses such as sexual harassment. It was revealed that about 30% of commanders in the military were ousted because of sex crimes and misconduct during the past eight years.

Some top officials believe a policy of zero tolerance equally and more consistently enforced across all ranks within the military service, whether generals or admirals may curb this increased problem. Others believe the ethics training that is given in the military needs to be implemented earlier in everyone’s career.

Whether it is declining ethical values &/or alcohol and drug related issues, these problems are pervasive in the military as we have also seen in various other positions in government, all the way up the ladder to those who have been respected as leaders in the House, the Senate and even former Presidents. Perhaps the situation is no different than what exists in society today, however, we expect those in governing positions to be models for the rest of us who should be able to emulate great qualities and not substantial lapses in judgment. There may be a silver lining in that more misdeeds are being reported and the public is not ignoring such offenses &/or these transgressions, but demanding justice.

The role of the defense lawyer not only serves to refute any or all of the elements of a crime, but most often to establish the redeeming qualities of the offender, if any, as well as remorse and rehabilitation.”

–Sam Spital

Oakland Museum releases photo of the stolen jewel box (Sam Spital)

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Commentary by Theft and Burglary Criminal Defense Attorney Sam Spital:

“The Examiner in their digital news on January 17, 2013 reported the Oakland Museum of California released a photo of a priceless gold encrusted jewel box created between around 1870 that was stolen earlier in the month. It was revealed this is the second theft and the police believe the same person may have been involved. Interestingly, the article noted the male suspect was seen on surveillance cameras entering a locked door. The article provides a description of the jewel box, the base and the legs to which it is connected.

The reporter did not provide any further information regarding the police investigation and/or suspect(s), did not report whether DNA was obtained nor whether the surveillance cameras provided a photo of the burglar that would be provided to the media to help identify his name and residence. Since this is the second major theft of historic artifacts, it is likely there is evidence the police may not desire revealing as part of their ongoing investigation.”

–Sam Spital

Man Kidnapped During Bogus Craigslist Dealing (Sam Spital)

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Commentary by Criminal Attorney Sam Spital:

“A suspect is facing kidnapping and attempted robbery charges in a plot that began with an advertisement on Craigslist by a seller who intended to find a buyer for his camera lens &/or photography equipment. The NBC Channel 39 online news reported on January 16, 2013 the male adult suspect who has not yet been caught was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and may have been 25 years old. The article revealed the victim met the suspect at a hotel in Pacific Beach; he had a gun and then forced the victim to drive to his bank in La Jolla to have him withdraw his money. The suspect did not like that the bank was taking too much time to get the money so he demanded the victim drive away without obtaining any money.

There have been similar robbery crimes as well as at least one murder incident related to ads placed on Craigslist and, therefore, the unsuspecting public needs to be more cognizant of the risks of meeting someone they do not know and/or to allow a would-be buyer to come to their residence. These offenses have escalated and represent a further sign of the economic crisis the country has been facing far too long; some pundits have opined the current economic decline is due to a lack of appropriate and timely leadership to obtain solutions via bipartisan consensus.”

–Sam Spital

Woman Pursued Evidence in Brother’s Murder – Nearly 2 years to the day after the tragic crash, CHP arrested a man in the hit-and-run death (Sam Spital)

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Commentary by Sam Spital, San Diego Criminal Law and Murder Defense Lawyer:

“On January 16, 2013, NBC San Diego contained an article in which a murder suspect was arrested about two years to the day after a hit and run death. When law enforcement could not identify the person responsible, the sister of Frank Yarborough, the victim in this homicide case, initiated her own investigation and through a series of steps located the individual that now has been arrested for felony hit and run. The article revealed that Dixon Russell Dixon, the driver of a Ralph’s semi-truck trailer, made a u-turn and ran over the motorcycle driven by Yarborough.

Interestingly, Dixon was actually interviewed by CHP investigators as he was eating inside his truck that was parked close to the scene of the crime. It is claimed that he said he was “in Del Taco getting lunch” so the officers did not pursue him any further. The loyalty, love and devotion of a sister clearly helped law enforcement obtain additional information in order to help determine who to arrest even after two years doing their own cold case investigation. Because it is not known what evidence ultimately led to arresting Dixon, we should presume his innocence until proven otherwise in court.”

–Sam Spital

 

Ex-Border Patrol agent sentenced for theft, child porn (Sam Spital)

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Commentary by Criminal Defense Lawyer SAM SPITAL:

“A former Border Patrol Officer convicted of interstate transportation of stolen goods, theft of government property and possession of nearly 400 photos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct was reported by CBS8.com on January 14, 2013. The U.S. District Court Judge sentenced the defendant to 3 years in federal prison and was ordered to register as a sex offender (RSO) on his plea to the theft of night-vision goggles worth approximately $10,000 and a GPS unit worth under $100.

The story did not contain any facts regarding the defendant, his lawyer’s arguments nor position of the defense. Little was revealed as to the social and family history of the defendant nor evidence of mitigation and/or remorse. Accordingly, it is difficult to evaluate the case and offer any thoughts or opinions.”

—Sam Spital

Officers Fatally Shoot Pursuit Suspect-The suspect driver allegedly accelerated toward the officers at a dead end (Sam Spital)

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Commentary by Sam Spital, Criminal Lawyer- San Diego:

“NBC Channel 39 in its electronic news on January 12, 2012 reported an officer had shot an assailant at about 1:15 a.m. when there was a pursuit of a vehicle driving at an excessive speed that in spite of the police siren and red lights flashing eventually only came to a halt at a dead end street when it made a u-turn. When the officers stopped the vehicle and ordered the occupants to exit the unreported stolen vehicle, they did not do so and instead the car was accelerated towards the officers. Even after the officers admonished the 21 year old female driver to stop, she did not. Fearing their safety, the officers who had been on the police force from 4 to 6 years fired their weapons and the driver was shot and killed in the process.

It would be unreasonable to attribute blame to the officers in such exigent circumstances because enough facts are not known as to whether the officers could have prevented the situation if they had blocked the street to prevent the car from escaping and/or obtained assistance from other patrol cars to do the same. Suffice to say, the reporter did not interview the officers and obtain more information, nor did she contact any of the passengers in the stolen vehicle to develop a more complete account of the events in question.”

–Sam Spital

Victims Stabbed, Sexually Assaulted During Mall Hostage Situation – At least 14 people were escorted from the Nordstrom Rack early Friday by LAPD SWAT members (Sam Spital)

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Commentary by San Diego Criminal Defense Lawyer Sam Spital:

“On Friday, January 11, 2013, the NBC Channel 4 online news described a sexual assault and non-life threatening stabbing at approximately 11:00 p.m. Thursday night at the Nordstrom Rack in the Los Angeles Promenade Mall where more than a dozen individuals were taken hostage. At the time the article was published, the Swat and members of the homicide and robbery division of the LAPD were still searching for at least two possibly armed assailants in the neighboring community of Culver City.

What no doubt began as an opportunity to be out shopping on a Thursday night has left far too many patrons and shoppers scared, feeling troubled and unsafe at a popular Mall in the greater Los Angeles area. The reporter did not reveal any other details in the story such as the number of similar crimes in the same location, other violent crimes in the greater Los Angeles community as well as crime trends during the past 12 months. It appears no security officers, Nordstrom employees or Mall management were interviewed as well. It is fair to say there are a growing number of violent crimes and the public must be vigilant of their surroundings no matter where they are.”

–Sam Spital

California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris Announces Nurse Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison for “Convenience Drugging” Elder Patients

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Commentary by San Diego Criminal Defense and California Professional License & Statewide Administrative Law Attorney Sam Spital:

“On January 9, 2013, the Sierra Sun Times, a local newspaper in Mariposa County, California, reported Gwen Hughes pled nolo contendere and was sentenced to three years in state prison for one count of felony elder abuse with a special allegation that the abuse contributed to the victim’s death. The article revealed the former licensed Registered Nurse ordered the administration of psychotropic medications to 23 elderly residents under care and treatment for Alzheimer’s or dementia at a skilled nursing facility who were noisy, complained &/or were argumentative as well as prone to wandering, to control and quiet them for the convenience of the staff and not for therapeutic reasons and/or prescribed by a medical doctor. According to the news article, the drugs accelerated the death of 3 patients, and all of the specific residents in question experienced an adverse physical reaction.

For a copy of the the Court Order previously suspending her license, you can click the following link:https://rn.ca.gov/public/rn260423.pdf The online license history of the former RN reveals she also allowed her license to expire (see: https://www2.dca.ca.gov/pls/wllpub/WLLQRYNA$LCEV2.QueryView?P_LICENSE_NUMBER=260423&P_LTE_ID=828) The article also noted the Medical Director of the facility, Dr. Hoshang Pormir, failed to conduct examinations and monitor the reaction to medications and as a result was placed on probation by the Court, required to make restitution in the civil lawsuits that were pending and to perform 300 hours of voluntary service.

Nothing was reported concerning any interview or dialogue with the nurse or physician, their prior employment and social history, mitigation and’/or remorse, if any. Since there are many factors considered in the sentencing of a defendant, these elements are critical to the analysis by a criminal court judge. Crimes are generally punished according to the seriousness of the offense. As a criminal defense lawyer as well as in administrative law matters, I argue in favor of mitigation, using some or all of the following elements: (1) a client’s prior criminal record; (2) her age; (3) her work history; (4) her social and family history, including use of drugs and/or alcohol; (5) her religious history; (6) whether a weapon was used in the offense. Clearly, the circumstances surrounding a crime may be of interest, however the defendant’s personal history can be persuasive as well as significant factors of rehabilitation and remorse.”

–Sam Spital

Ratings and Reviews

BBB 10.0Samuel Eugene Spital
Samuel E. SpitalClients’ ChoiceAward 2021 Samuel Eugene SpitalClients’ ChoiceAward 2020
avvo rated 10/10 in Criminal Defense avvo rated 10/10 in Juvenile Law avvo rated 10/10 in Licensing
avvo rated 10/10 in Personal Injury Top ContributorAward 2012Samuel Eugene Spital Samuel Eugene SpitalReviewsout of 207 reviews