Sacramento Law Firm News & Updates

Richard Smith was sentenced to spend the next 2 to 5 years in prison after previously pleading guilty to a third DUI charge, a Class 3A felony, which carries up to 5 years in prison.

Smith previously entered a plea as a part of a plea bargain that reduced the charge to a third conviction, even though he has seven prior DUI convictions and has been sentenced to prison twice before.

Smith’s attorney, Blaine Gillett, acknowledged his client’s battle with alcohol, but argued that his client did save the state time and expense by entering into a plea deal. Lincoln County District Court Judge Donald Rowlands did acknowledge Smith’s plea, but also acknowledged that Smith failed to appear at a previously scheduled sentencing and a bench warrant had to be issued to get him back into custody. Read More »

A lawsuit filed in Pinelas Circuit Court claims that Jacksonville, Fla.-based MarkOne Financial representatives emailed, texted, and called the residence, cell phone and workplace of Melanie Beacham nearly 23 times a day, looking to collect a debt after the St. Petersburg woman fell behind in her car payments. Unable to contact her, the collection firm thus jumped on Facebook and messaged Beacham and everyone else on her Friends list.

Although the suit is still pending in court, the judge has ruled that MarkOne is no longer allowed to contact Beacham, her family or friends on Facebook or any other social networking site. The ruling is the first of its kind, and overall addresses the rising problem of debt collectors using social media to harass/embarrass debtors into coughing up what they owe.

“That is something we’ve been fighting for, and we finally got a court ruling on that,” said Beacham’s attorney Billy Howard, head of the consumer protection department at the Morgan & Morgan law firm. Howard is also representing another client who claims that MarkOne continuously sent messages through Facebook even though the collection firm already contacted his client several times by phone. He also has ten additional cases involving debt collectors using social media to extract a payment. Read More »

Florence County deputies arrested an Effingham man for verbally and physically assaulting his girlfriend and then driving his truck through a fence causing $3,300 in damage.

They charged Justin Carl Allen, 23, Wednesday with Criminal Domestic Violence of a High and Aggravated Nature, Malicious Injury to Personal Property, Unlawful use of telephone, and Use of Vehicle without Permission with Intent to Deprive.

Investigators say Allen verbally and physically assaulted his girlfriend during a fight on Hyman Road in Pamplico on Tuesday night. Read More »

Police arrested a Gilbert man and a teenager Wednesday after they allegedly stole a Hummer and other valuables from a home, swiped lottery tickets from a store and then led patrol cars and a helicopter on a pursuit until they were arrested in Queen Creek.

Police said a burglary was reported Monday at a home near Stonebridge and Cottonwood drives and that a black Hummer H3 as well as numerous electronic items and jewelry were taken.

At about 10:23 a.m. Wednesday, police said a man was reported to have stolen lottery tickets from a Water n’ Ice near Gilbert and Guadalupe roads and was seen leaving the store in a black Hummer. Read More »

While there is no such thing as a happy divorce, it has been rightly pointed out that the wishes of the child must be seriously taken into consideration.

It is the parents’ duty to understand that their children must never be blamed for their separation, although practically, and in reality, children, especially those not yet in their teens, often blame themselves for things that they are unable to understand.

All children must be made to understand as far as possible why mummy and daddy are no longer going to stay together. Read More »

An FBI informant told former Philadelphia Police Inspector Daniel Castro in September that debt collectors were frustrated trying to recover a $90,000 debt Castro was owed by a businessman.

The debt collectors wanted to “rough up” the man, but they needed Castro’s approval, the informant told him.

“I never told my mom this before. I told them, ‘yeah, OK,’” Castro told a jury yesterday. “It was the biggest mistake of my life.”

Castro said that when he returned home after picking his son up from a halfway house on Nov. 5, he pulled into the driveway of his home and found Philadelphia cops and FBI agents waiting “with guns drawn at me.” He was arrested in front of his son. Read More »

This wasn’t the first time founding attorney Robert Bowman has been contacted by a news organization to comment on a story, but it may have been the least expected.

With the recent story about a woman filing a lawsuit against match.com, Sacramento’s News 10 contacted our offices and wanted to interview Mr. Bowman about the story. He’s been pretty busy lately, but reporter Darla Givens and he were able to catch up in front of their office.

Sacramento Sexual Harassment Attorney Robert Bowman and all the lawyers of Bowman & Associates are well versed in the law and have handled thousands of cases with success. If you or someone you know has legal questions, contact our offices in Sacramento or Folsom for a free consultation. You can speak to an experienced attorney today.

And check out the entire story on News10.net.

A California woman is suing a popular Internet dating site, saying she was sexually assaulted by a man she met on Match.com.

Attorney Mark L. Webb says he filed the Los Angeles Superior Court civil lawsuit on Wednesday on behalf of an entertainment executive identified only as Jane Doe.

The suit demands that Match.com screen its members for sexual predators. Webb says he’s asking for a temporary injunction barring the site from signing up more members until his client’s demands are met.

Jane Doe, an Ivy League graduate, currently working in television and film, met Alan Paul Wurtzel, another Match.com member, on Match.com in 2010. According to Jane Doe, they set up a date, after which, Mr. Wurtzel viciously sexually assaulted her. Felony charges against Mr. Wurtzel are currently pending in the Los Angeles Superior Court. Basic screening would have revealed Mr. Wurztel’s prior history, banned him from Match.com and prevented this attack.

Mr. Wurtzel was not a garden variety Match.com member. He was a serial sexual predator, as cursory examination of public records would have disclosed. His record in Los Angeles County, California at Central Arraignment Court (Case Number LAA5CR02442-01) alone indicates six separate convictions for sexual battery in the period preceding his attack on Jane Doe. Read More »

Newport Beach-based luxury real estate agent John McMonigle has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, according to court records.

McMonigle, whose McMonigle Group Inc. is one of the country’s top-selling brokerages for high-end homes, listed debts of between $50 million and $100 million on the individual petition, which was filed Friday in Santa Ana’s bankruptcy court.

The petition lists McMonigle having between $1 million and $10 million in assets.

The bankruptcy filing comes a little more than a week after McMonigle’s wife, Robin McMonigle, filed for divorce, according to Orange County Superior Court records. Read More »

Victims of domestic violence can be men or women; yet, the U.S. Department of Justice reports that approximately 97% of the victims of domestic violence are women. The National Violence Against Women Survey, which records incidents of violence against women in America, states that 1 out of 4 U.S. women has been physically assaulted or raped by an intimate partner. However, whatever the rate in the general population, the percentage for immigrant women is probably higher. Unfortunately, accurate statistics regarding assaults against immigrant women are difficult to come by because they will not come forth to report abuse.

In 1994 the Federal government enacted a comprehensive “Violence Against Women Act” as Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. This act had a useful application in preventing abuse of immigrant women. VAWA allowed victimized immigrants to file their own applications for lawful permanent resident status. Because the woman could self-petition, she no longer had any need to rely on a non-cooperative and abusive spouse. The Act in effect took away much of the power that the batterers held over their wives.

The immigration reforms also did not allow the battered wife to remain in the country if she had arrived on an incorrect visa status, or had overstayed it. This was a disturbing development because some abusive husbands, in an effort to retain control over their wives, knowingly did not submit an I-130 family petition for their wives. Read More »