Orange County Criminal Lawyer Blog

Westminster, Orange County - An Anaheim couple accused of snatching a woman's purse from her 7-year-old son in front of the Stanton Post Office were each sentenced to two years in state prison Tuesday at the West Justice Center in Westminster.

Jose Guillermo Bermudez, 30, and Christina Amber Bailey, 21, both pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery and a misdemeanor count of credit card fraud.

According to the Orange County Sheriff's Department Bermudez took the purse from the 7-year-old boy while his mother was returning to the car, which Bermudez threw the purse to Bailey, who was waiting in a nearby car, and Bermudez got into the car and both took off.

It's important to understand that unlike other theft crimes robbery is always charged as a felony, and what makes the difference in the prison sentence is if it was first or second-degree robbery, says Westminster criminal attorney Michael L. Guisti.

Many people think and believe robbery is the same as shoplifting and other theft crimes, but, Guisti stresses, robbery is when you take property that didn't belong to you from that owner's personal possession or immediate presence against that person's will using some kind of force or threat.

Since robbery involves direct contact with somebody it's taken a little more seriously, says Guisti.

The main difference between first-degree robbery and second-degree robbery is, first-degree robbery involves robbing people at their homes, robbing a store or bank,, robbing people who just used an ATM, and robbing a Brinks "money trucks," and second-degree robbery is typically mugging, which is basically what happened in this case in Stanton, explains Guisti.

Now credit card fraud isn't a crime in and of itself, but it's covered under California's theft crime laws, says Guisti.

So if you used the credit card and the total came to $950 or less you would be charged with petty theft, but if the credit card charges totaled over $950 you would be charged with grand theft, explains Guisti.

Sometimes in credit card fraud cases you can be charged with forgery if you signed a credit card receipt using the person's name, stresses Guisti.

A lot of people dismiss charges of forgery as nothing serious, but if convicted of felony forgery you could get up to three years in a state prison, Guisti explains.

If you've been arrested for robbery, burglary, shoplifting, forgery, or any theft crime it's very important to contact our Orange County theft crime attorney experts at the Law Offices of Michael L. Guisti right away.

A theft crime could send you to prison for many years, but our legal experts at the Law Offices of Michael L. Guisti have over a decade of experience winning tough theft crime cases for our clients in the courts of Orange County, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego.

So please, call now.

Santa Ana, Orange County - One man and three teenagers have been arrested after allegedly trying to break into a medical marijuana dispensary in Santa Ana early Wednesday morning after being spotted by an Orange County Sheriffs' helicopter.

Santa Ana Police responded to a report of a burglary in progress after the business owner saw the suspects allegedly take marijuana on a live video security feed, according to police.

The Sheriffs' helicopter was nearby and when they flew over the scene their "night-vision" saw four suspects climbing out of the roof of the business, and one of the teenage suspects became stuck and had to be freed by Santa Ana officers, according to investigators.

The suspects were arrested for burglary and may face possible drug charges.

Meanwhile media reports say the medical marijuana dispensary allegedly doesn't have up-to-date permits and the owner could face possible charges.

This is an interesting case in many ways, because if the suspects had marijuana on their person at the time of the arrest the district attorney could make an argument for marijuana drug charges, says Santa Ana drug crimes attorney Michael L. Guisti.

First off there is the crime of burglary, and in this case it would be second-degree burglary, which is commercial burglary, and burglary is the intent to commit a felony or petty theft once inside the building, explains Guisti.

How much marijuana and other items the suspects allegedly took from the store will determine if they'll be charged with petty theft or grand theft, says Guisti.

In California the threshold between petty theft and grand theft is $950.

What is going to be interesting to watch, says Guisti, is if the DA decides to charge the suspects with various marijuana drug charges.

Possible charges the four suspects could face are, marijuana possession for personal use, sale or transportation of marijuana, and possible drug paraphernalia charges, says Guisti.

What the suspects tell investigators could invite the more serious drug sales charge, says Guisti.

As for the business owner being in possible trouble they're a variety of possible charges the owner could face, explains Guisti, which could simply be a fine for having an expired permit, to major drug charges, and possibly even federal marijuana charges.

In a situation where a business permit expires, which is something a lot of businesses face, in a typical case it would be mostly a fine and/or closure until the permit is up-to-date, but since marijuana laws are still hazy the city attorney, district attorney or even federal government could take this opportunity to seize property and file various drug charges, says Guisti.

If you've been arrested for a theft crime, drug crime, or your medical marijuana dispensary is facing problems with the federal government, it's very important to contact our expert Orange County theft crimes attorney, Orange County drug crimes attorney, or our Orange County medical marijuana attorney at the Law Offices of Michael L. Guisti.

With attorneys and legal experts specializing in certain crimes this has allowed the Law Offices of Michael L. Guisti to have over a decade of experience winning very tough cases for our clients in the courts of Orange County, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego.

Please, call us now.

City of Orange, Orange County - A man who was apparently with a company to help renovate a Best Buy store is wanted in connection with a theft crime after allegedly taking a large television during the overnight renovation.

Police say an outside renovation company was brought in to help redesign elements of the store last month, and during the overnight job the suspect allegedly took a large television for his own keeping.

It will be interesting to to see how the District Attorney files this one, explains Santa Ana criminal attorney Michael L. Guisti.

Was this theft crime basically an impulse shoplifting matter, or if it was planned the suspect could be charged with burglary, says Guisti.

There hasn't been any report of how much this television costs, and that will be very important in figuring out just what kind of charges the suspect will be facing, says Guisti.

It's very important to understand it's the cost of an item, or items, that determines if you'll face petty theft or grand theft charges, explains Guisti.

In California the threshold between petty and grand theft is $950, and a new, large television can easily be worth over $1,000, and as such you would face grand theft charges, says Guisti.

It's important to point out, Guisti goes on to say, in other cases if you allegedly shoplifted thousands of items, but the value only comes to, say $400, you'll only face petty theft charges.

The point being, says Guisti, it never matters how much or how little you allegedly shoplifted, only how much those items cost to determine the seriousness of the charge.

A lot of the time police like to tag on burglary charges to shoplifting cases, but that can be difficult to prove, because if you acted on impulse to shoplift once inside the store that isn't burglary, explains Guisti.

It's only considered to be a burglary crime if you thought about shoplifting before entering the store, says Guisti.

In this case the question is, was it burglary and did the suspect "think" about doing this before entering the store, well, says Guisti, this is where a good defense attorney can come in and work to get their defendent the best possible deal and outcome.

If you've been arrested for a theft crime it's very important to contact our Orange County theft crime attorney experts at the Law Offices of Michael L. Guisti right away.

For over a decade we have won difficult theft crime cases for our clients in Orange County, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego.

So please, call us now.

Anaheim, Orange County - Authorities are searching for a man wanting for a home-invasion robbery Thursday morning in Anaheim.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department says the homeowner confronted a man who was attempted to steal birds from the homeowner's backyard, and that is when the suspect pulled out a firearm and invaded the man's home.

At one point the suspect put the gun to the man's head and the man pleaded for his life, at which point the suspect took a computer and cell phone, along with the family's dog, according to the sheriffs'.

They're a lot of serious charges here and the suspect could face up to several years in prison, says Santa Ana criminal attorney Michael L. Guisti.

The suspect will likely face charges of burglary, robbery, firearms charges, assault with a deadly weapon and assault, explains Guisti.

Many people think burglary and robbery are of the same charge and same crime, but they're very different crimes with different punishments, and should you ever find yourself involved in a theft crime it's important to know the difference, explains Guisti.

Now robbery under California law, according to Guisti, is when you take property that didn't belong to you from the owner's personal possession or immediate presence against that person's will using some kind of force or threat. Basically, robbery involves taking something directly from a person.

Now burglary is when you enter a structure with the intent to commit a felony or petty theft once inside, says Guisti.

When a person enters another's person's home to rob them it's burglary since there was the intent to commit theft and/or other crime, according to Guisti.

Now since a suspect illegally entered a residence it's assumed that he/she is going to commit a felony, but, Guisti goes on to say, in shoplifting cases police tend to add on the charge of commercial burglary, but it's not always clear-cut if the suspect intended on committing the crime before entering the store.

Many shoplifting cases are on impulse, meaning a suspect enters a store with no intention of shoplifting, but perhaps an opportunity presents itself and the suspect acts on it, but gets caught, explains Guisti.

Now, Guisti goes on to say, police may ask if the suspect thought about doing this before coming to the store today, and the suspect, unaware of these laws, may just answer "yes" even though he/she had no intent to shoplift before entering the store, but by answering "yes" the suspect now invites robbery charges.

If you've been involved in a theft crime it's important to contact our Orange County theft crimes attorney experts at the Law Offices of Michael L. Guisti who can see to it you're not overcharged.

Our expert defense lawyers have over a decade of successful experience winning theft crime cases for our clients in the Orange County courts of Newport Beach, Westminster, Santa Ana and Fullerton.

So please, call us now.

Costa Mesa, Orange County - A 19-year-old Westminster man was arrested on shoplifting charges after allegedly walking out of the South Coast Plaza with items he didn't pay for, according to police.

Police say last Saturday the Westminster man walked into Sack's Fifth Avenue, put "several items" into his bag and down his pants, and walked out of the store.

As soon as the shoplifting suspect walked out of the store the suspect was apprehended by Costa Mesa Police.

What is interesting about store security is the law states the security guard or security camera must keep a continuous watch on you from the moment you "take" something to when you walk out the store, explains Costa Mesa criminal attorney Michael L. Guisti.

If the guard or camera loses site of you even for a second perhaps you, the suspect, had a change of heart and you put the item back, and when you walk out the door if security confronts you and you have nothing it becomes a major civil liability for the store, says Guisti.

They've been a lot of people wrongly detained for shoplifting, and if this has been something you've experienced you need to contact an attorney right away and seek damages, says Guisti.

The South Coast Plaza has a lot of grand theft cases and it's important to understand it's not how much stuff you allegedly shoplifted, but the cost of item or items that determines if you'll face petty theft or grand theft charges, explains Guisti.

In California shoplifting cases the threshold between petty and grand theft is $950, and at a place like the South Coast Plaza a single item can easily be worth over $1,000, and as such you would face grand theft charges, says Guisti.

As well, Guisti goes on to say, if you allegedly shoplifted a thousand items, but the value only comes to $400 you'll face petty theft charges.

The point being, says Guisti, it never matters how much or how little you allegedly shoplifted, only how much those items cost to determine the seriousness of the charge.

A lot of the time police like to tag on burglary charges to shoplifting cases, but that can be difficult to prove, because if you acted on impulse to shoplift once inside the store that isn't burglary, explains Guisti.

It's only considered to be a burglary crime if you thought about shoplifting before entering the store, says Guisti.

Shoplifting is a very serious charge than can lead to steep fines and even prison, which is why you need to contact the Orange County theft crimes attorney specialists at the Law Offices of Michael L. Guisti.

We have over a decade of experience winning shoplifting cases for our clients in the courts of Orange County, because our goal is to win your case.

We settle for nothing less than winning, so please, call us now.