Posts Tagged ‘homicide’

Suspect Indicted in Quadruple Hollywood Homicide

Monday, August 29th, 2011

LOS ANGELES – A superceding Grand Jury indictment unsealed today charges Alberd Tersargsyan with the murders of three family members and a woman not related to the family, the District Attorney’s office announced.

Tersargsyan, 65 (7-7-46), pleaded not guilty before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge George Lomeli in case BA 382886. Tersargsyan, who was ordered held without bail, returns to court on Oct. 17 for a pretrial hearing in Department 100, said Deputy District Attorneys Alan Jackson and Amy Ashvanian.

The four-count murder indictment was returned Aug. 26 by the Grand Jury. It charges Tersargsyan with the March 26, 2010, murder of Karine Hokobyan. The 38-year-old victim had just returned home about 8 p.m. and parked her car near her apartment on Lexington Avenue in Hollywood when she was fatally shot while still in her car.

The indictment also charges Tersargsyan him with the murders of Hokobyan’s 43-year-old husband, Khachik Safaryan, and the couple’s 8-year-old daughter, Lusine Safaryan. Their bodies were discovered fatally shot in the family’s Hollywood apartment on Dec. 11, 2008.

The indictment also charges Tersargsyan with the sniper-style shooting of Julie Kates on March 11, 2010, on Sunset Boulevard. She allegedly was murdered because the defendant thought the woman acquaintance stole a DVD from him.

The indictment alleges the special circumstances of lying in wait, multiple murders and murder of a witness, Lusine Safaryan. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty.

Tersargsyan, who was initially thought to be in his 70s, was first charged in April 2010 with Hokobyan’s murder. That case, which was later amended, will be dismissed.

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Homicide Rate in California Drops to 44-Year Low

Thursday, May 26th, 2011

SACRAMENTO - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today released updated figures showing that the homicide rate in California continued to fall during 2010, reaching the lowest level since 1966.

Preliminary figures gathered by the Department of Justice from the state’s largest jurisdictions show that the number of homicides reported in 2010 declined by 9.6% from the year before.

“The decline in homicides and other violent crimes reflects the tireless efforts of our peace officers,” said Attorney General Harris. “My office is committed to supporting their brave, relentless and selfless work in protecting the people of California from hardened criminals.”

Overall, the number of violent crimes declined 6.4% in 2010, according to statistics compiled from 89 agencies that report about 65% of all crimes committed annually in California. Forcible rape declined 6%. Robbery dropped 8.9%, and aggravated assault fell 4.6%.

Property crimes declined 2.2% in 2010. Burglary dropped 0.9%. Motor vehicle theft declined 7.2%. Arson dropped 15%. Larceny under $400 dropped 4.9%. Only larceny over $400 rose, by 0.7%.

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Phillip Spector appeals the judgment entered following his conviction by jury trial for second degree murder

Thursday, May 5th, 2011

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

PHILLIP SPECTOR,

Defendant and Appellant.

B216425

(Los Angeles County

Super. Ct. No. BA255233)

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Larry P. Fidler, Judge. Affirmed.

Riordan & Horgan, Dennis P. Riordan, Donald M. Horgan; and Charles Sevilla for Defendant and Appellant.

Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General, Lawrence M. Daniels, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

_________________________

Defendant and appellant, Phillip Spector, appeals the judgment entered following his conviction, by jury trial, for second degree murder with firearm use enhancements (Pen. Code §§ 187, 12022.5, 12022.53, subdivision (b)). He was sentenced to state prison for a term of 19 years to life.

The judgment is affirmed.

BACKGROUND

Defendant Spector was originally tried in 2007. That trial ended in a hung jury. Viewed in accordance with the usual rule of appellate review (People v. Ochoa (1993) 6 Cal.4th 1199, 1206), the evidence presented at Spector‟s 2008-2009 retrial established the following.

1. Prosecution evidence.

a. The shooting.

(1) Spector meets Clarkson at the House of Blues.

Adriano De Souza was working as a valet parking attendant at the Grill in the Alley (the Grill), a Beverly Hills restaurant. There he met Spector‟s chauffeur, who asked if De Souza wanted to work as Spector‟s backup driver. De Souza agreed because he could make between $30 and $40 an hour driving for Spector. By February 2003, De Souza had driven Spector between 12 and 15 times over the course of three or four months.

These backup driving jobs were arranged by Michelle Blaine, Spector‟s secretary, who would call De Souza a few hours before he was needed. De Souza would arrange for someone to cover his shift at the Grill and then drive his own car to Spector‟s house in Alhambra. After going through the main entrance gate, De Souza would drive to the back of the house, park, prepare Spector‟s car and wait for him to come out. Spector had two cars, a Rolls Royce and a brand new Mercedes. De Souza testified Spector would tell him where to drive and that he always understood Spector‟s directions. He and Spector communicated easily, although if Spector had been drinking he was sometimes hard to understand.

De Souza had been born in Brazil and he grew up there. He began studying English in school when he was 11 or 12 years old. In college he earned a B.A. degree in computer science. The instructional materials for his computer courses were in English. He had served for eight or nine years in the Brazilian military.

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Was the Homicide of Michael Jackson, Murder or Manslaughter?

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

The L.A. Coroner’s Office has classified the death of Michael Jackson as a Homicide.

The Associated Press reports that Los Angeles Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner, Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran’s initial autopsy findings show that Michael Jackson died from a high dosage of a powerful sedative. According to the reports, Jackson’s death was caused by lethal levels of propofol (Diprivan), a drug that depresses the central nervous system. Apparently, the cause of death may be due to the actions of a single night and/or a single doctor, or the grossly negligent treatment of several doctors over an extended period of time. The law defines homicide as the death of a human being and an unlawful act which was a cause of that death.

Should the death of Michael Jackson be classified as murder defined by California Penal code section 187 (the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought) or manslaughter defined by California Penal Code section 192 (the unlawful killing of a human being without malice)?

The law defines two kinds of manslaughter, voluntary, upon a sudden quarrel or heat of passion and involuntary, in the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to felony; or in the commission of a lawful act which might produce death, in an unlawful manner, or without due caution or circumspection.

By: Fay Arfa, Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney

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Should the police be able to lie to get a confession?

Friday, May 15th, 2009

In the case of People v. Mays issued on May 8, 2009 [Case No. C057099], the police questioned Mr. Mays about his involvement in a homicide. The defendant denied guilt and asked for a lie detector test. The police agreed to give him the test and then set up a fake polygraph and generated fake results showing the defendant lied. The defendant then made several incriminating statements.

The California Court of Appeals, Third Appellate District in Sacramento, upholds the conviction and finds that the police can lie, unless it’s coercive or is the kind of lie that would produce a false confession. The California Court of Appeals finds the fake polygraph would not have produced a false confession and that the defendant’s statements were voluntary and not coerced.

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