San Bernardino County Supervisor Paul Biane retained a criminal defense attorney last fall to advise him before he testified in front of a grand jury, the supervisor said Thursday.
Biane's campaign finance documents filed Monday for the period between July 1, 2009 to Dec. 31, 2009 show two payments totaling about $50,000 to the Los Angeles law firm of Corbin, Fitzgerald and Athey. The firm specializes in white-collar criminal defense and business litigation, according to its Web site.
Last August, the district attorney's office served subpoenas to top county officials, including supervisors. Officials were called to appear before a grand jury, starting in September.
"I don't believe anyone should testify in any legal proceeding without seeking the advice of counsel," Biane said in a statement. "So that's what I did. It's as simple as that."
A month before issuing the subpoenas, the district attorney's office announced that it was looking into the county's efforts to develop a 1,200-acre piece of land in Rancho Cucamonga and a $102 million lawsuit settlement in 2006 with Colonies Partners.
Last month, the district attorney's office revealed that it had sought a legal opinion from the Fair Political Practices Commission over a trip that Biane took in September 2008.
According to Biane's campaign finance records, he reimbursed two businessmen associated with Colonies for a flight to Virginia on a private jet and for a golfing trip that same weekend.
The state watchdog agency is being asked to examine whether Biane violated disclosure laws and properly reported the gifts he received.
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Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Self-help guru in court on manslaughter charges
Self-help guru James Arthur Ray says it was all a tragic accident when his followers began collapsing one by one in a sweat lodge at his retreat, with three of them dying. As unfortunate as the ordeal was, he says the participants knew about the risks the ceremony presented.
Prosecutors say it's a blatant case of manslaughter by a man who recklessly crammed dozens of people in a 400-square-foot sweat lodge and chided them for wanting to leave, even as people were vomiting, getting burned by hot rocks and lying lifeless on the ground.
The two sides will be on display in coming months now that prosecutors have charged Ray with manslaughter in a case that could send him to prison for more than 35 years. The 52-year-old Ray said nothing during his first court appearance Thursday, and his lawyer entered a not guilty plea.
The prospect of a conviction against Ray will depend on whether jurors view the episode as an accident or a criminal act in which he recklessly caused the deaths of the victims, the definition of manslaughter in Arizona.
Despite the shocking details that have emerged from that night in the sweat lodge, legal experts say prosecutors won't have an easy time landing a conviction.
Ray's strongest defense will be that the participants were made aware of the risks the ceremony presented, including extreme temperatures in a small space and the possibility of injury or death, and voluntarily went in, criminal defense attorneys said.
But that won't necessarily put Ray in the clear.
"Even though they assumed risks, that doesn't necessarily take the defendant off the hook," said Roy Black, a Miami defense attorney whose clients have included Rush Limbaugh and William Kennedy Smith. "He has an obligation to people. He's the one leading the program, he has a responsibility to make sure it's run safely."
Source
Prosecutors say it's a blatant case of manslaughter by a man who recklessly crammed dozens of people in a 400-square-foot sweat lodge and chided them for wanting to leave, even as people were vomiting, getting burned by hot rocks and lying lifeless on the ground.
The two sides will be on display in coming months now that prosecutors have charged Ray with manslaughter in a case that could send him to prison for more than 35 years. The 52-year-old Ray said nothing during his first court appearance Thursday, and his lawyer entered a not guilty plea.
The prospect of a conviction against Ray will depend on whether jurors view the episode as an accident or a criminal act in which he recklessly caused the deaths of the victims, the definition of manslaughter in Arizona.
Despite the shocking details that have emerged from that night in the sweat lodge, legal experts say prosecutors won't have an easy time landing a conviction.
Ray's strongest defense will be that the participants were made aware of the risks the ceremony presented, including extreme temperatures in a small space and the possibility of injury or death, and voluntarily went in, criminal defense attorneys said.
But that won't necessarily put Ray in the clear.
"Even though they assumed risks, that doesn't necessarily take the defendant off the hook," said Roy Black, a Miami defense attorney whose clients have included Rush Limbaugh and William Kennedy Smith. "He has an obligation to people. He's the one leading the program, he has a responsibility to make sure it's run safely."
Source
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