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Lomita, Client Bites Neighbor in Self-Defense, No File
On a March afternoon in 2023, our client, age 40, returned to his home in Lomita from work. He lived with his wife and their young daughter. As our client was walking up to his house, he observed a man smoking a meth pipe in the front yard of his neighbor’s yard. The neighbor seemed to never work and there were always people with lots of tattoos sitting on the porch, hanging out.
Our client told the man “get rid of that.”
The meth smoker and his friends took umbrage at this and one asked our client, “Where you from?” This is a common criminal street gang challenge that asks what gang one identifies with.
Our client, unaware of the significance of this question, answered “Gardena.”
This other person then informed our client that he was a member of a white supremist gang. Our client did not respond with an apology or otherwise react with some similar form of fear or respect, so the others chased our client and tackled him, stealing his bag and punching him in the face.
As our client was being held down on the ground and being punched in the face, he bit the arm of one of the men, who immediately released our client.
Our client then ran indoors to his house and called 911. The Lomita Sheriffs responded and found the neighbor in possession of our client’s bag, which had a firearm in it, but it was not loaded.
The Lomita Sheriffs then arrested our client, as the man showed the police his bite wound. The police then took our client to Torrance Memorial, where six stitches were used to repair our client’s lip.
Our client was then taken to the Lomita Sheriff’s station, where he was booked and posted bail. Bail was set for a felony charge of allegedly violating California Penal Code § 245(a)(4) (“Assault by Force Likely to Create Great Bodily Injury”), § 422(a) (“Criminal Threats”), a wobbler; Penal Code § 25800(a) (“Carrying a Loaded Firearm”); and Penal Code § 29800(a)(1) (“Felon in Possession of a Firearm”).
As the reader may be aware, a conviction for violation of Penal Code § 245(a)(4) is not a “Strike,” under California’s Three Strikes Law and a violation of Penal Code § 422, criminal threats, is a “wobbler,” meaning it can be charged as a felony (then it is always a strike) or a misdemeanor.
As to the client’s criminal history, it merits mention that the felony at issue for the 29800 charge was a conviction of the client in 2000 for possession of marijuana, less than an ounce, for sales. This would now be a misdemeanor under Prop 64.
Our client posted bail and was told to appear for his arraignment in Torrance Superior Court in May 2023.
The client then called Greg Hill & Associates and spoke to Greg. The client explained what happened and described his criminal history.
The letter also requested, in the alternative, an Office Hearing, as that would be appropriate to ensure our client understands the gravity of his conduct and appreciates how a criminal case could be filed against him.
The letter further explained that the basis for the 29800 charge was our client’s conviction in 2000 for possession of marijuana, less than an ounce, for sales. This would now be a misdemeanor under Prop 64.
The client hired Greg Hill & Associates to write such a letter.
No case was filed, which made our client extremely happy.
We offer this summary to exemplify how not all arrests lead to criminal case filings. We quite candidly do not know if our letter influenced the District Attorney’s office at all, so we hesitate to claim we caused the no file decision. The decision not to file may have been made entirely independent of our letter.
