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Usually, plea bargaining is the purview of prosecutors in criminal cases, but recently the California Supreme Court has unanimously determined that judges may inform defendants of their possible sentence if they plead guilty to the charges against them.  This dangerous precedent has caused quite a stir in the state and has  completely re-defined the roles […]

Marie Johnson, 42, has taught math in the Livermore area for more than 13 years. But after pleading no contest to 9 felony charges of molestation relating to her extended connection with a 14-year-old male student, she will spend a good bit of her time in prison and most likely never teach again.  For four […]

62-year-old Jo Ann Seeney, former finance director of the San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District, has pled “no contest” to the 10 felony embezzlement charges against her in San Mateo Superior Court for her assistance in taking $450,000 from the state. It seems that Seeney and a fellow co-worker stole from the agency […]

When 15-year-old Audrie Pott took her own life this past September, it was, her mother claims, it was the fault of 3 boys who sexually assaulted Audrie at a party, then shared pictures of the assault with the entirety of her Saratoga high school.  Each of the boys involved were arrested for 1 misdemeanor and […]

According to CA Penal Code §602, trespassing is a crime that involves illegally trampling on another person’s rights by accessing their property without their permission.  Charges of this kind can range anywhere from not leaving property when you have been asked to entering someone’s property for the purpose of causing destruction to it to what […]

An unidentified man was spending time in a strip club near Jones Street and the 700 block of O’Farrell when things suddenly got out of hand.  It seems that the man began arguing with one of the employees over money.  The woman began to film his inappropriate behavior with her cell phone.  He didn’t like […]

29-year-old Keith Harding was outside of a marijuana grow house in the 1600 block of 85th Avenue when he was shot and killed.  Law enforcement officers are still unable to determine whether or not Harding’s death is connected to the activities of the grow house, but it was found on the premise during the investigation […]

We all know that the justice system doesn’t always work the way that it should. The work of Project Innocence has proved this to be true – juries don’t always understand their instructions or the evidence before them.  But in the case of Valentin Carbajal, a man accused of molesting both his stepdaughter and daughter, […]

An unknown thief managed to steal a Yellow Cab taxi near San Francisco State University and then take it on a joy ride – leaving a hefty fare for the cabbie to contend with.  The cab was left with the engine running at  the corner of Banbury St. and Denslowe Dr. when the driver got out to […]

Hercules police found two large suitcases of stolen mail in a man’s truck and more stacks of it in his home after 2 men bought cigarettes with counterfeited $20 bills.  Brandon Thomas-Harris (25) of Hercules and Justin Coulon (27) of Martinez were arrested this past Tuesday in the vicinity of “Cigarettes Cheaper” after trying to […]