Vandalism, West Hollywood Road Rage, Car Window Broken

Our client, age 44, was going out to dinner with his girlfriend in West Hollywood.  Our client had no prior criminal history.  He and his girlfriend lived in San Ysidro, so they had driven for over three hours before reaching the West Hollywood area.

Our client was following his car’s navigation system to the restaurant on Santa Monica Boulevard.  It was about 6:00 p.m. on mid-November evening, so it became dark early and it was difficult for our client to read street signs and look for the name of the restaurant.  They were heading west, directly into the setting sun.

Suddenly, another driver, apparently upset by our client’s driving in a way that suggested he was not from the area, darted in front of our client and slammed on his brakes for no apparent reason other than to demonstrate how dangerous it can be for someone to drive in a halting manner.

At first, our client acknowledged the other driver’s point and tried to keep his eyes on the road instead of the business signs.

However, the other driver did this again and again.  Our client was starting to get mad, despite his girlfriend being in the car with him.

Finally, the other driver came very close to causing an accident, so our client zoomed past the other driver and came to a stop.  Our client got out of his car and walked back to the other driver, asking him to get out of the car.

The other driver, age 57, apparently had no idea what was happening and, in fear for his safety, rolled up his window and locked his doors to protect himself.

In frustration, our client then punched the right most rear window of the other driver’s Volkswagen, shattering the window.  Our client then pulled over to the side of the road to talk to his girlfriend and apologize for his temper.

The other driver pulled over as well and called 911.  Los Angeles Police Department officers arrived within minutes and took an incident report, citing our client for violation of Penal Code § 594(b)(1) (“Vandalism Causing Damage of $400 or More”).  Our client signed a promise to appear in the Airport Courthouse about three months later.

Our client was not arrested and then left the scene.

About a week later, the client called Greg Hill & Associates and spoke with Greg.  He told Greg what had happened and how he was concerned with facing a felony, as he understood a broken window certainly could cost more than $400 to repair or replace.

Greg explained that the prosecution does have discretion to charge a misdemeanor for vandalism when the amount exceeds $400, which greatly calmed down the client, and explained that this case would most likely be handled by the District Attorney’s Office, as the cases arising in West Hollywood were assigned to the District Attorney’s office.

Greg then explained that if the matter was filed as a misdemeanor, the client would be eligible for judicial diversion and Greg explained how judicial diversion operated.

Greg then explained what the terms of judicial diversion might be, and besides certainly being ordered to pay restitution to the owner of the other car for the broken window, our client may have to attend anger management classes or counseling and perhaps perform some community service or community labor.  Greg then explained the difference between community service and community labor and suggested that the client enroll in and complete some anger management classes online through Open Path.

The client then retained Greg Hill & Associates and enrolled in a thirty-hour anger management class through Open Path, a class that included topics such as controlling anger in a road rage context.

The arraignment date approached and our office called the Airport Courthouse and confirmed that the case was filed as a misdemeanor and not a felony.

Greg then appeared on the client’s behalf and reviewed the police report and discussed it with the handling prosecutor, a gentleman Greg had handled many cases with over the years.

Greg then requested judicial diversion for our client, explaining that our client had already attended a 30-hour anger management class, and the judge heard the prosecutor explain the case facts.

The judge then granted judicial diversion for a period of one year, with the client being ordered to attend 26 anger management classes with credit for this by virtue of completing the 30-hour Open Path class, pay restitution to the owner of the car whose window was broken (the repair estimate was $966.06) and perform two days of community labor.

Greg accepted the terms of judicial diversion for our client, who was very happy with this resolution.

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