Fullerton Courthouse, Trespassing to Get Laptop, No File

Our client, age 29, had no prior criminal history and was gainfully employed in his family’s furniture business.

He was arrested on in late 2019 after being inside his ex-girlfriend’s apartment, for which he had a key, for about 30 seconds to retrieve his laptop and other miscellaneous possessions that were assembled and placed in a bag on the kitchen counter for him to pick up after the two broke up following an argument at Disneyland earlier in the day.

Our client’s girlfriend had threatened to destroy his laptop, which our client needed for work, so retrieving his property was a high priority. His girlfriend has a significant history of mental illness and has been hospitalized at least once in the last year on a 5150 involuntary hold. She has threatened our client and others with making false rape allegations just to have the police arrest him (and others) and keep our client or others in jail. She has previously held the client’s watch and refused to give it back, which had led to Brea police being involved in the past.

Earlier in the day, our client and his girlfriend visited Disneyland. As they were leaving, they got into an emotional, tense argument, leading to the client leaving his girlfriend and taking an Uber back to her apartment in Brea, rather than drive back with her (she drove the two to Disneyland in her car).

During the argument, his girlfriend had threatened to damage his laptop back at her apartment, so the client planned on retrieving it himself to prevent this. He had a key to the apartment. After all, she had a documented history of mental instability and was unpredictable enough that he had to take her threats seriously and not as idle hyperbole.

Fullerton Courthouse